retirement prep . . .

Mind you ... I'm still farther away than I care to be from that actual date, but still, I'm all about advance preparation.  In this case, it's about stocking up now, so when I retire and my indiscretionary funds are limited, I still have plenty of fabric, notions, and patterns to create to my heart's content. 

I made great strides towards that end this past weekend.  I visited (well, I had an appointment for) a quilter's estate sale.  And this quilter was very prolific, had a wide range of tastes, and was a most excellent piecer! Girl.  I made out. Check out my loot . . .

Yeah.  There was so much, I couldn't unload it into the RV (or the Nook--yet)!!  LOL! I unloaded it at the pavilion so I could spread it out and see exactly what I'd brought home.

This case had the beginnings of a 30's double wedding ring quilt with some gorgeous Dresden plates, too. And tons of 30's prints!

This one just had tons of yardage.  Look at those owls!!

This was two Christmas table runners.  Pieced, with batting and backing.  They just need to be quilted and bound.  WOW!

This one was filled with yardage of blues!!  *Swoon!*

This tote had tons of oriental prints.  Gorgeous stuff.  And a bunch of lantern and T blocks! 

This little tote had a TON of acrylic paper piecing templates!  And books.  And papers!

And this sweet case was filled with Lucy blocks!  Most of them are basted, waiting to be whipped together. Some are cut,  waiting to be basted.  And then there's tons of fabric, waiting to be cut, along with papers and patterns and notions.

And this case was filled with these beautiful blocks (22) and yardage (and some cut and partially pieced pieces) of the fabrics to make more!  I don't know that I'll make more of them, but I can put together a topper or something with what's there and use that fabric for something else.

There was also a tub of assorted DMC flosses, one of pretty beads and embellishments, embroidery hoops, and a stunning—STUNNING—finished quilt top in blue and white that measured 104" square.  I don't have a picture of it yet, because I have no space in which to lay it completely out! In that tote was even more yardage of the prints she'd used in the top.  

All that to say...I'm a good prepper.  Heh.  ;)

Ellie is already asking for a new project to stitch.  I was searching for a cute monkey for her (she loves monkeys), and stumbled across this precious pattern from an Etsy shop called Naive Needle:

Isn't this the most darling raccoon stitchery EVER??!  (Yes, I feel that the extra emphasis is warranted.)  But once I'd downloaded it, I decided that there was too much to transfer.  That's the only part about embroidery I don't particularly care for.  Mind you, I did attempt it.  And quit.  I decided to enlarge the design just a tad and print it on my fabric.  

Oh. Yes. I cut my material about 12.5" square and taped it to a piece of letter sized cardstock and just ran it through my printer.  It handled it just fine! I do love technology (most of the time).

Here's my finish.  SO pleased with this darling little piece ... meet Rascal & Raquel! I will probably finish it out with some simple patchwork above and below, quilt it, and display it in my mini stand.  Stay tuned on that one.

Not sure what this weekend holds . . . but I do hope to spend some time in the Nook!  (Oh yeah, and remind me sometime to tell you about the embroidery kits I've been engaged to create!)

:)

furry babies . . .

For today's Feline Friday, I thought I'd finish up sharing the cats I came across on my vacation travels.  These sweet little fur-babies live with my sister in Virginia.  The first is "Dipstick". 

I'm sure you can see how she got her name!!  That tail just *cracked* me up!  She was a real sweetheart and loved to be loved.  

This is "Fluffy-Puffy".  As you can imagine, she was named by Lucy when she was a five-year-old.  Reminds me very much of the name her mommy gave her first cat . . . "Tony-Tail".  Hahaha!

Fluffy-Puffy pretty much laid up in the kitchen window all day long.  What was funny was that the two cats had a funny arrangement worked out.  Fluffy-Puffy spent the day inside and Dipstick spent the day outside.  At night, Dipstick would come cry at the living room window ... when she did, Fluffy-Puffy would come running.  Julia would open the window and we watched the changing of the guard.  Dipstick would come in and Fluffy-Puffy would go out.  Then in the morning, when the front door was opened for the first time, they'd switch up again (and Fluffy-Puffy would head back to the kitchen window by way of her food bowl).

While we were there, we also found evidence that both cats are good mousers, too!  LOL!  Linking up with Sarah Did It! and Feline Friday -- go check it out!

Closest I'm coming to having fur-babies of my own is these guys . . .

Finally, the mamas are bringing the babies out!  They were such fun to watch yesterday afternoon. But as much as I'd love to gather 'em up for a hug and a pet, the safest distance is the one that has the RV window between me and them!!  

Happy Friday . . . and don't forget to check back tomorrow for the reveal of my third "squishy" and a giveaway!  

:)

busy bee . . .

Everything yesterday went very well. My eye appointment was terrific and I walked out of the eye care place sporting a pair of contacts and much improved vision! The improved vision wasn't as much from the contacts as it was getting my prescription updated. Evidently your vision can change significantly over a five year period. Hehe. The only down side to contacts for me is that my near vision is fine, and I have to take my glasses off to read. Which means if I'm wearing contacts, I have to put glasses *on* to read. I just traded in one pair of glasses for another. LOL! Hmmm ... I'm not so sure that's really all that funny.

It's baby, baby, baby time out here in the back center. We had a new family of raccoons visit us this week -- this little group has three babies!

It's so fun to watch them waddle after their mama. Only one of the babies was brave enough to actually get into the water, after Mama got out. The other two looked on, but stayed dry. Todd and I have fallen into calling the big group of downed trees back there "the apartment complex", because of the small opening at the bottom, center. The coons come in and out of this opening, like it's their home. As mom followed the corn down near the opening, the babies ran in and out playing and tumbling around. Quite darling!

And I was finally able to capture a good shot of some of the new fawns! They are so sweet, but still very timid about being out in the open. They don't stray too far from mama doe, yet. I think this may have been the first time they'd had a close encounter with the raccoons, though. The deer and the coons don't mind each other too much (whereas the deer will chase off a cat if they see one). One of the babies came sniffing around the raccoon trying to figure it out. The raccoon just kept on eating. No worries for him!

I've got my July BOM cut and ready to piece together. The bottom one was pretty straight-forward, but I'm playing around with color options for the top one. I don't have to turn them in until Saturday, so I've got a little time to play. This is the last turn-in for this BOM -- I'm *so* proud of myself for not having to use my Ooops! card! I may use it on Saturday, even though my blocks will be finished!

Busy, busy day today -- off to have a turnover meeting with the current editor of the guild's newsletter, then to JoAnn's for some craft supplies, a quick trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, and then I'm headed to Jocelyn's to help her with the new sewing machine and get her started on a darling wreath project she wants to make from Jones Design Company.

I should probably ... get moving!

:)

flowers, figs and watermelon . . .

I headed over to Hunter Road earlier this week. We had several different kinds of fruit trees/bushes/vines, and it seemed a shame to just let everything go to the birds! We've got a guy that comes every two weeks and mows, weed eats, and picks up limbs and such, but that's the extent of the yard work. The garden area has gone *wild*!

When I pulled up, the first thing that caught my eye were these beauties, blooming just anywhere they pleased.

They're so happy and pretty. I knew I wanted to take some home, but I needed to check out the fruit situation first. I bagged fruit first and then came back and cut flowers.

By the time I got them home they were looking a little wilted, but I gave them clean cuts, put them in a vase, and they perked right up.

The apple tree was laden with red/green apples, ready for the picking. I picked about a half bushel (as high as I could reach) and Todd and I are going to pare, core and slice them tonight while we watch a movie. Do you know that watching Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (which is what we'll put in tonight) while peeling apples from our tree was the FIRST thing we did in our RV back in July 2009, when we got it? It's like we'll be celebrating our RV anniversary tonight! I'm so glad we were able to move one of our freezers up to the camp -- I'll freeze those apples slices and we'll have apple pie filling for the winter!

For the first year since it was planted, the fig tree was filled, filled, filled with luscious fig fruit!

Aren't they beautiful?

They smell good and they taste even more wonderful. Only, besides from just popping them in our mouths, I wasn't sure what to do with them.

So after a little google time, I found a recipe at Linda's Italian Table for Freezer Fig Jam. I'll substitute Splenda and use a no-sugar pectin and we'll have fig jam for our winter biscuits, too! Whoohoo! I'll take care of them tomorrow or Saturday. While I'm thinking about it, if you're into Italian food, Linda's Italian Table is filled with scrumptious recipes and lots of interesting Italian information.

Finally, the watermelon. Watermelon is a favorite in our home over the summer, especially if it's seedless. Todd and I enjoy it as much as anything for a light, cool summertime dessert. Evidently we're not the only ones. A couple of weeks ago I threw the leftover rind out into the habitat. Within the hour it had disappeared! So yesterday, when I threw out another rind, I kept a closer watch. Sure enough, it didn't take long . . .

One of our little raccoon friends has decided he really likes watermelon too.

Yes, you!

What wonderful summer bounty -- from flowers to fruits to critters -- God is so good!

:)

hodgepodge . . .

Really I have just a strange collection of odds and ends from my life to share today. All of them are important to me in one way or another, so I just piled 'em up together. There's no wonder I don't have a design wall per se . . . I've been too busy buying fabrics and running the video on my camera . . .

First, a nod back to Knoxville and the AQS show. One of the most poignant exhibits there was the traveling Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative exhibit. Unfortunately, in order to preserve the quilts, no photography was allowed, but you can see photos of it HERE at their website and some HERE if you "like" them on facebook. (Photo from the website.)

I had actually had an opportunity earlier in the year to put the name of a dear friend and mentor on one of the squares. I was so excited and touched to find her name -- my handwriting -- on the exhibit (yes; that's the thing I had a part in that was hanging at the AQS show) . It's a very beautiful and moving display and would have been worth the AQS entrance fee if that had been all I'd seen. If you have the opportunity to see it, I highly recommend it.

Next? I got not one, but TWO happy packages in the mail! The first was this wonderful collection of books - and you can see, there are some great titles (and a cute little notepad which is perfect for list-making and/or doodling)!

This came from Peggy at The Simple Woman's Day Book.

The second package came from Karen over at Lisnaweary Quilts. She picked my names, "Cactus Kid & Bo" for her little guys on her Wild West Quilt.

Aren't these fun and pretty? Perfect for the little cowgirl in my life (and I do have one or two).

Saturday I got to spend a couple of hours with my favorite little man, Sawyer Graham. I cannot believe how busy and chatty he is!

Just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

See that frown? That's what happens when you try and read your books upside down!

Great profile shot, non?

Just so HAPPY!

I managed to whittle this little clip down from the eleven minute mini-movie it originally was. It's still entertaining to me -- and I've already watched it a dozen times!

Remind me to share why the pig says, "La la la!" I love being a grandmaaaaaa. :)

Then finally, from today, we have new visitors at the camp!

Mama Raccoon and her sweet little babies! They were the first raccoon babies I've ever seen. We saw the first fawn of the season up here last week -- but it was very timid and wouldn't come out for a camera shot. With the baby raccoons I had no such problems.

They were so cute -- and they didn't get too far from mama at first.

Todd commented how amazing it is that we're seeing them in the daylight like this.

Something startled them (another raccoon -- a big male -- came out to eat) and they went dashing up the tree!

After they'd been in the clearing for a while, they got a little braver and let mom get more than six feet away. But my favorite part of their visit I managed to catch on video . . .

Isn't that fun?!?!

All right, I've got a busy, busy (but fun) week in store. Tomorrow I'm off to a church finances seminar and then we've got Community Groups in the evening. I've got a dear, quilty friend coming for lunch and iced tea on Wednesday followed by an evening with the Ignite ladies at the movies (Winnie the Pooh), then Thursday I've got some book-keeping to do before I head off to my guild meeting. Friday I've got lunch at Emma's with a sweet young lady from church, and then a Friday evening ladies' conference at Lighthouse Baptist, and then Saturday morning is the Sulky Thread workshop. Whew! I'm out of breath just typing all that! Good thing the list Todd gave me for the week was such that I finished everything but one item today!

:)