Last workday before Christmas !

I'm getting ready to go in to work in a couple of hours, but wanted to take a few minutes to catch up here.

I accomplished quite a bit on my day off yesterday.  I had two little quilts that I was trying to finish for a brother and sister up the street from me.  They are being raised by their great grandmother, Rose (I've mentioned her MANY times), and have become my 'surrogate' grandkids, supplying me with much needed hugs and lovin'.

 This one is for Elisabeth.......it is hand-quilted because I started it earlier this year, just wanting something to work on and keep my hands busy.  I think she'll enjoy discovering all the different things there are to discover in the blocks.  She's 6.

The dots on the back are from a fatquarter packet that I received as a gift from my friend, Wanda Gayle.  I'm wild about this back, but it didn't photograph well with my phone.

This second quilt is for Elijah......it is machine-quilted due to time restraints.  These fabrics were among the many that JoAnn sent to me when she was purging her sewing room.  It's not my best work, but I hope that it will give him fun picking out the animals and learning how to spell and read their names.  He's 7.

This morning I got them wrapped and ready to give to the kids when they come back from visiting with their mom and other family members.

Kelley sent a package FULL of gifts, and because she got a new phone with FACETIME, we're planning on opening gifts together on Christmas morning.

As far as work goes, I got my new schedule for the first week of the new year.  I asked them to take me down from 33 hours per week to 27 or so.  Well,.......they went down to 21 !  So that means that I'll only be working 3 days per week that week.  We'll have to see if it stays that way for consecutive weeks , but I'm looking forward to the time.

In the meantime, I want to wish a joyous, blessed Christmas to all of my blogging friends, and hope that 2018 holds wonderful things in store for each of you. 

Baby, It's COLD outside !

What a weinee I've become if I think THIS is cold !   This is just normal December temps....finally.  Atleast we didn't get the big snow that they predicted for the east coast and throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and even the state of TEXAS.   How delighted those kids must have been !


But, braving what felt pretty cold to me yesterday,  I dressed in a Christmas red sweater, red boots, and my Minnie Mouse boggin, 

and headed off to our church's annual Christmas outing for the widows' group.   I usually don't attend their outings because they always take place on my workdays, but I dressed for work, popped on a red sweater that could be removed later, and went and had myself a good time. 

I ordered a meal with blackened Tilapia, not knowing that it would have some HEAT to it.   But, thankfully, the sweet tea kept it under control.  We started the dirty Santa exchange of gifts just before I had to go, so I was blessed to get to keep the wonderful "Bless This Home" doormat that I picked when it was my turn.

Then it was a short night at work, one of my 2-9 p.m. shifts, that just flew by ( I love it when that happens !)

By the way, on Friday, I brought up my desire to work fewer hours, and the person who arranges the schedules wants me to come in on Monday and let her know what I want, and we'll see what she can arrange, starting with the New Year's first week's schedule.  I'm told by one of the other workers that they always start giving fewer hours in the first couple of months of the year, but this way, she'll know to keep me on that kind of schedule unless I say differently.

So.........my widow's benefits started with the first of this month, and hopefully things will go along well at work to allow me a little more time to enjoy life.

Christmas shopping is underway too, but the kids won't get to come here.   I surely had hoped that I would atleast get a few hours with my baby girl and her crew as they stopped over for a night while on their way back to his folks' place in Oklahoma.   But plans changed.  It's possible that they'll be relocating to a base only 2 hours away sometime next summer, so I look forward to that with great hope and anticipation.

My brother, John, and his wife, Deb, took me out to dinner on the Friday after my 60th birthday, to celebrate.  We had a delicious fish dinner at a little cafe near the Tennessee river.  It was a good night !
Then, on Thursday of last week, I went out to put my lunchbox in my jeep after dinner, only to realize that I had no KEY !   When I had gone to clip them onto my beltloop that afternoon after arriving at work, I had missed the loop and they fell between my legs onto the seat.   I always hit the lock button when I get out, so I locked it without realizing my mistake.  Thankfully, when I couldn't reach the brother that lives right here in town, John graciously agreed to drive in from 5 or so miles out in the country to my house to find my hidden spare set of keys.   I wasn't even sure that there was a jeep key included in that set.  I thought that I might have only added a house and storage shed key.  But I was blessed to find that there WAS one on there, thanked THE LORD, and John, and then, on my evening break,  had more keys made.  Now I have one in my jacket pocket and one in my wallet, too !

So, that's how my last couple of weeks have gone.   I hope you're enjoying a merry holiday time.  I'm quilting one small older project, and just finished piecing a new small one, hoping to gift them to the great grandkids of a friend/neighbor up the street.   They fill my need for little ones in my life and I want them to know that they are loved in return.    Hope I get time to FINISH these quilts !

Well, it's official......

.............I'm 60 !.............

Yesterday morning found me staying in bed, savoring a day of rest after 6 straight work days, including Thanksgiving day.  I was exhausted and worshiped God at home by being truly grateful for a comfortable bed and no commitments.  

I posted on Facebook, around noon, that all I wanted was a Buttermilk Crispy Chicken sandwich.  My dear neighbor/friend, Rose, called to ask where it could be found.   When I told her McDonald's, she sent her son, Don, to get me one.  I made myself decent really fast, and climbed out of bed long enough to take care of nature's call and answer the door for my lunch.  

I ate the sandwich, (again so thankful), turned on ICE AGE, the movie, on my IPhone, and lay back in bed again, watching and snoozing until 2:30 p.m., when my daughter called with birthday wishes.  I then decided to climb out of bed, and boy, was I refreshed !

I walked up the street to visit with Rose, and they asked me back up after supper to share some cookies and creme pie.  They are such precious friends !

Now, tonight I come home from work to find 2 birthday cards in my mailbox.  The one from my daughter just totally brought me to tears, both with the card's sentiment, and with the personal note that she wrote in it.  And, missing the one that always comes from my half-sister in California (she recently passed away), I found that her husband had gone out of his way to make sure that I still received one, this time from him.   He and I have talked by phone several times since she got sick, feeling that we could totally understand each other's sad situation.  

So, anyway, I have to say that it was a good birthday.  My biggest decision right now is whether or not to keep working.   It's really wearisome and yet it's a good time filler.  Trouble is, it's a little too time-intensive.  When my widow's pension starts in December, it will be almost the same as what I'm making by working.  And if I make more next year, (which I will if I work a full year, Social Security will withhold some of my income from them.  I need a middle ground, so I'm going to go to the LORD about it.   

But, the real fun yesterday evening was that I dug out a baby quilt that has been lying around my sewing room FOR MONTHS waiting for me to get back to hand-quilting it.  I figured maybe it would work like the old New Year's eve adage "whoever you kiss at midnight, you'll be kissing throughout the year",  I'm saying, " If you spend some time quilting on your BIRTHDAY, you'll be doing IT throughout the year!"  

It was SO ENJOYABLE working on it, and I forgot the magic that happens when you add hand-quilting to a project !   LOVE LOVE LOVE !

I SURVIVED working Walmart's Black Thursday

I want to go on record here in my blog that I worked my first Black Thursday sale at Walmart and came out totally unscathed.....glory to GOD !

I was told on Wednesday to dress warm for Thursday, because I would be working the parking lot, directing cars around to the side door where they could pick up their big items.

When I came in Thursday afternoon,  I was met by another employee, telling me that I was assigned to the associates working movies/games  INSIDE.
    Well, I ALMOST went and changed out of my fleece tights and undershirt that I was wearing, but I am so glad that I decided to wait.   The games and movies were set up in front of the long meat coolers, and it was COLD over there.   Thankfully, only my little tushy felt the cold when I would prop myself on the edge of a cooler.  The standing on my feet for hour after hour was the only rough part of the evening........mostly I felt wasted.  I had to be the bad guy that told people they were at the exit of the movie area, and that they had to go around to the other end if they wanted to shop games and movies.

I was happy when the time came for me to start stocking shelves again.

On the Thanksgiving side of things, I wound up having two different meals provided by friends and family.  I got to talk to my daughter and my brother and brother-in-law.  It was a blessed day, all in all.

I apologize to those who follow this blog for quilty goodness......I'm afraid there's not much of that going on right now.   Hopefully, more in the future !

I hope you're stuffed, blessed, and happy this weekend.  Enjoy your family time and God's goodness, and be sure to take time to be thankful.

Checking back in......

........as seldom as I post lately, this may be the last post that I make while I'm still in my FIFTIES !

For the first time since I started working, I have three days off in a row !   Next week, I have to work 6 days straight, mostly until 11 p.m.!  Then, the next day, on Sunday, the 26th, I (LORD willing) will 

turn SIXTY !!!

60 !

So, to celebrate this 3-day wonder, I drove all by myself to Columbia, treated myself to lunch at Long John Silver's, and then spent the afternoon doing some me-shopping

 and some Christmas shopping--only to find out that Kelley and the kids probably won't be heading this way for Christmas after all.

But I thoroughly enjoyed my day, and was more worn out at the conclusion of shopping than I am after a full day of work sometimes.

So, just incase I don't post again before Thursday, I'm hoping that you all enjoy YOUR time with family this coming week of THANKSGIVING.  If things get stressful, just remember that the flip side of that is very quiet and lonely.  Love the ones you're blessed to be with, and I'll try to do the same.  After all, I've found quite a sweet and fun bunch of people to spend my working days with too !

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

(especially you, Jan !)

Feeling puny

I've got my first cold of the year, and it's the first time in 40 years that I've had work to go to when I felt bad.  Makes me admire how MANY, many times my husband went to work feeling horribly bad.   He was such a good provider.

In the night last night, I coughed so hard my lungs burned and I thought that I was going to be heading out to the doctor's office.  But I managed to grab a nap midmorning, and I feel okay to go on into work right now.   My biggest problem seems to be that I don't have much appetite, so it's hard to keep up my energy; but God got me through yesterday, and I know I can continue to count on Him.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the change in seasons.

Thoughts to ponder

I'd like to share this morning's devotional reading from the little publication, Beside the Still Waters.

"Cancer, that dreaded word!  It is an incurable disease today as leprosy was in Naaman's day.  Much research is done to understand the cause and find a cure.  Sin is much like physical cancer.  It slowly but certainly eats away at the soul of man.  But human reasoning goes to great lengths to classify sin as simply the result of our weakness or our environment.  God sees everything, but sometimes cancer escapes the most skilled surgeon's eyes.  In fact, cancer may remain hidden until nothing can be done about it.

Cancer cannot be cured, though treatment can cause it to go into remission.  In contrast, sin that is properly dealt with by the blood of Jesus, can be completely cured.  Once cancer starts, it often takes the victim's life.  Likewise, if we continue in sinful  habits, they will lead to spiritual death.  As cancer causes its victim to lose his natural appetite, so sin robs us of our appetite for God and His Word.

Cancer will cause people to suffer things they never imagined before.  Sin will also bring unimagineable bondage and suffering.  Though sin eats silently like cancer, God always has a remedy for it.  The remedy is to repent and find healing through the blood of Jesus.  For cancer victims to be in remission is a cause of joy.  Being healed from sin is reason to be very glad as Naaman was after his leprosy was gone.

Patients are generally careful to follow a physician's advice for treating cancer.  But many people are unwilling to do what Christ requires to be healed from sin.  May we be among those to whom He says, "Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" (Mark 5:34)"

Celebrating and Mourning, praise GOD

It was with sadness and some shock that I learned that my sister passed away yesterday morning.

She was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer about a month ago, and while battling pain from Spinal Stenosis, she had begun chemo treatments.   But it was her heart that gave out yesterday, and she has gone to be with the LORD.

We had a wonderful, long phone conversation a week ago, and she told me that she was at peace with whatever the outcome.......healing, or passing into eternity.  I thank God that she did not have to endure a long, miserable fight with this vile disease. 

Praise and Glory to God !

Today I received my phone call from the Social Security Office setting up my survivor/widow's benefits.  I turn 60 next month and will become elible.  Of course, there is a percentage loss for taking it earlier than full retirement age, but I feel that this is the safer thing to do.

 The job that I am working is very labor intensive for someone of my age and weight, and I don't know how long I can keep it up.  For now, I will just play it by ear, and I may look into getting fewer hours assigned to me in the coming year, but would want to be assured that I would still be working the same position that I am now. 

Anyway, it feels good to have this taken care of.  I wasn't sure that I would also be eligle for Medicare when I turn 65, but the young man assured me that I am. 

I haven't gotten to do anymore quilting, except for making myself another potholder to carry with me for warming my dinners in the microwave at work.

Today is a beautiful, typical Fall day, and it is my day off, so I hope to clear some things out of that shed, and perhaps do a bit more 'clorox cleaning'. 

So, TA-TA for now............(where in the world did THAT come from?)

Home maintenance

I took a little time FINALLY to do a bit of cleanup around the place.

Looking out for that black snake, I stumbled across my 2 gallon sprayer, and came up with the idea of using it to clean the algae and mold off my back deck.  A couple of days ago, I cleaned the outside of my back stormdoor, and today, I used most of the clorox I had on hand, and cleaned the underskirt of my trailer around the deck.  I found that it works well on the lawn chairs, too, so I'll be buying a couple more gallons of Clorox, LORD willing.

Sixteen-patch quilt FINISHED

I finished binding this quilt just before going off to work on Saturday.  I just had time to wash and dry it before I left.

I'm very pleased with the finished quilt.  I have never tried to use an 'ugly' fabric as a neutral, but I just knew that I had to make use of these olive green 2 1/2 inch strips that were buried among the scraps that JoAnn sent to me.  I pulled out green prints to pair with them, and saved enough green strips for the quilt's binding.

The alternate blocks were made with leftover solid strips from several years ago's Black Friday sale at ConnectingThreads.com.  But most of the print scraps were found in the scrap boxes.

  Even the fabrics for the backing were a gift from Jo.

I am so happy with the finished look!  I even had my first nap under the quilt today, but it was odd as I pulled it over myself and saw the pieced back.  This one truly does come off as a fully reversible quilt !

Lottie enjoyed the time that I spent hand-quilting it, snuggling on the  edges while I worked.  She seems to approve of the finished product, too .

**************************************************************************

 NOTE:  Just for history's sake, I want to note that I found a shed snakeskin when I reached for the container that holds my mowing gloves.

 Kindof freaked me out then, and that feeling remains when I re-enter the shed now.  I put 3 mesh bags of mothballs out there, though I think that I'll go back and cut one open to spread around the floor.  I am going to have to devote a day for purging much of the contents, because I WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE EVERYWHERE out there in the future !   I always keep it organized, but I want things SEALED and thinned out.

16-Patch, quilting finished

This will be a short post just to document the timing on having finished hand-quilting the Sixteen-patch quilt.

I have several of the ugly solid olive green strips left, hopefully enough for binding.  I am so excited to have quilted this one so quickly !  I'll squeeze the binding job in when I can.

16-patch quilting has begun !

I've begun the hand-quilting on the Sixteen-Patch quilt, and I am enjoying these snatched hours of crafting pleasure.  I'm not worrying about the size of the stitches......this quilt is to ENJOY the process, and the product !

UPDATE:  Today at work, I received a "happy to help" pin, an acknowledgement of a job well done !

I AM SO BLESSED !

I won !

Our local county fair took place this past week, and they only brought back exhibitions last year, having cancelled them for many, many years.  So, last year I entered 2 quilts, just to get my foot in the door.  There were several entries, and I had hoped that it would pick up every year, with increased participation in the quilt area.

I never made it in time to see the exhibits this year, but from a picture that I saw on Facebook, it looked like there was even less participation this year than last.  With entry hours conflicting with my work hours, I thought that I would have to miss entering this year, but at the last moment, they allowed some morning entry, so I got up there in time to enter my string quilt on that last day's opportunity.

I had no idea if I won anything.  I went to pick up my quilt yesterday, and I was too late.  The lady had taken it home with her.  So I went to her office to pick it up this morning, and she had accidentally slept late for the FIRST time in many, MANY years !   I was beginning to wonder when I would see my quilt again, but was told that she would bring it to my house this morning before I had to leave for work.

When she brought it over, it had this nice, BIG, BLUE ribbon on it, and I was a happy camper.  Big competition or little, those ribbons get me everytime.

In other news, I showed Jodie Ann (my bff that calls the quilt ugly) a picture of the quilt in the basting frame,

 along with a picture of the backing that I pieced, .......(she's in the hospital with pneumonia again, and started showing everyone the pictures)...........and she texts me that her husband wants me to NAME MY PRICE so that he can BUY IT !    That has got to be the funniest news I've heard all week !

The HARDEST news I've gotten was just tonight.  My brother-in-law called to let me know that my sister has been diagnosed with a Pancreatic Tumor that contains cancerous cells.  They just got that information, and have to follow-up to find out more.  She was already suffering terribly from Spinal Stenosis, and, so, is in great need of prayer.  She's way out in California, and I'm here in Tennessee, so I can't be help to her physically, but I'll pray for her, and thank you for doing the same for Mary Honaker.

Sixteen-Patch backing made

Today was my day off, and I decided right out of bed that today was the day that I RE-ENTERED my sewing room !

Woo hoo !   I got an idea for making a backing for the sixteen-patch top, and went right to work on it.  I had already put together enough extra blocks to widen a 42-inch piece of fabric so that it would be wide enough to extend a couple of inches past the top on all sides.  This 'ugly' fabric was my beginning inspiration when I first went through the box of fabrics that JoAnn sent to me.

Blessedly, I also found, in that box, a gold-colored fabric that would work (it's only going to show for a couple of inches at the top and bottom of the back of the quilt), so, it didn't take me long to cut and piece it all together.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon getting a haircut (DON'T ASK !!!!!!!!!), and getting the backyard mowed.  After that, I was ready for ANOTHER shower and some recliner/t.v time.

Sabotage?

A strange thing is happening at work.  A couple of days ago, AFTER I had been there for a while, and sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., someone went through and threw packages of toilet paper around and made a mess, damaging some of the packages.  I asked then if there were cameras on every aisle, and my supervisor said, "no", and I mentioned what had happened.

Today, it escalated.  I worked on that aisle soon after getting to work, and all was fine.  Then a couple of hours or so later, when I went to stock that aisle, I found the craziest disarray of paper products.  At first, it looked almost comical, and one of my assistant managers was on the aisle, so I commented about it and showed her, and she said it was probably customers that did it.

But, the farther I went, trying to straighten the aisle, the more complicated the disarray showed itself to be.  They had gone through 3 entire sections, moving them up and down the aisle, neatly but wrongly displaying the products.  It was obvious to me that it was not a quick joke, but must have taken 20 minutes or more, and NOT by a child, either.

I don't know if someone just enjoys this crazy joke, or if it is someone who is hoping to slow me down so that I am reprimanded by my superiors when I am not as productive as I should be because of having to take time to correct things.  I mentioned it to my supervisor later, and he again thought that it was just a customer.  I wish I had taken pictures with my phone, but then I probably would have gotten in trouble, because you're not supposed to be on your phone during working hours.

I've prayed about it, and am hoping that it ceases.  I like my job and I try to get along with everyone.  I'd hate to see it spoiled by something ridiculous like this.

Life moves on

I have now been working at Walmart for over 3 months.  This past week I completed the Pathways video training program and received my first raise.  I have to give praise to God for the resilience to do this job, and, hopefully, to do it to the satisfaction of my supervisors and managers.  I like the work, and it has been a God-send in keeping me too busy to focus on James' passing and the life changes that it brought about.

It does feel good to receive that paycheck and know that I am able to keep the bills paid on by own, by the grace of God.

I don't spend much time in my sewing room.  I guess I have time in my mornings, but have been so spoiled in being able to work on a project until it was completed quickly, that I just haven't adapted to sneaking in an hour here and there.

After completing the sixteen-patch top, I purchased a polyester batt to use in it.  I just wanted to get a light, fluffy quilt for Summer, but I'm afraid that time is getting away from me and it will become a Fall/Winter quilt if I finally get around to it soon.  I need to get it basted while I can still do that outside on the carport, but I haven't been successful in coming up with a backing that pleases me.  My girlfriend that provided most of the fabrics has already deemed the quilt UGLY, but I think it will be quite 'interesting' and pleasing to me when it is finished.  My tastes have always run contrary to popular likes.
Honestly, though, it does remind me of the kind of quilt that you find well-used, sticking out of a doghouse, or under a vehicle that is undergoing repair of some kind.   HA !

I still battle to keep the lawn mowed, only using my Friday's off, generally, to get it done.  My garden produced plenty of nice-sized tomatoes.  In fact, it produced more than I got around to using or giving away, and sadly, I have had to throw a few away that got over-ripe waiting for me to eat them.
I have only had one Moonflower bloom this year, and I surprisingly found it in bloom when I rounded the yard with the jeep this morning, heading for Church.

My cucmbers, only two hills, grew well enough for me to make up about six or so little jars of refrigerator pickles.  After that, I think that I damaged them while mowing inside the garden fence, because the ones growing since them have not been as good, some even turning yellow while still small.  But, boy oh boy, do those sweet  pickles go well with supper !

First Tomato of 2017

It's small, but atleast the tomato worms didn't get it !   I found 3 of them over the last 2 days, the worms, I mean, and I smashed them under my shoe !   I hope there will be no more.  I also picked a 3-inch cucumber.  I used to love them small and crisp like that, but my false teeth put an end to that.

And this pink hardy hibiscus blooms out at the edge of my backyard.......it is SO BEAUTIFUL, it doesn't even look real in this photo.

I bought another 2 Coneflower plants last night at work........ a lighter orange one, and a pink one.   They had finally marked them down $3 apiece AFTER I'd purchased 2 at full price of $6.72, so I paid $3.72.  Then, today when I went in, they had marked them to $3 even.  I don't plan to buy more unless they go to a buck or something.

A bit of gardening.......

I don't want to make this a long post, but I'm doing so little planting this year, that I wanted to be sure and note the fact that I have finally purchased some Coneflowers !

I have wanted to try these in my yard for years, as so many of the perennials that I have access to are of the 'bloom-today, gone in a week' variety, it seems.  I get the idea that these coneflowers start blooming in the early summer and continue through into the Fall.........THAT, I need !

I never cared much for the original color of pinkish-purple that I've always seen, but when I caught a glimple of red ones last year, I knew my time had come.  But I procrastinated and missed them then.

 Working at Walmart now, I am daily visiting the garden center on the lookout for clearance-priced flowers.  It makes me SICK that they will rather throw a whole LOT of them into the dumpster rather than lower them any further in price than just a nominal discount.  This is a change from the days when I've bought plants for as little as two, and eight cents.......SERIOUSLY.  I mean, they looked half-dead --- or MORE-- and I was actually rescuing them.  Rescued many a plant, yes ma'am, I did !

Anyway, I couldn't take the wait, and finally just broke down on payday and purchased 2 plants at full-price, $6.72 per plant.  I picked out a red-orange bunch, and a pot that mainly contained a buttery-golden yellow, but also had a true red flower growing off to the side in the pot (BONUS !)  I had to rip the red one's roots loose from the yellow bunch, so it is struggling a bit from the trauma, I noticed today, but hopefully it will make a beautiful comeback and flourish along with the others.

I decided to plant them within the fence that encloses my garden, figuring that they will be safe from nibbling deer until they are well-established.  The hope is that they will multiply GREATLY over the next few years and that I will be able to spread them around the yard in several locations.

Over the last couple of weeks, I purchased 3 bags of 3-each Stargazer Lily bulbs while they were reduced to $1.00 per bag.......I mean HOW COULD I NOT?  I planted them in 3 different locations.

Also, this year, the Hibiscus plant that has been trying to grow at the corner of my garden finally bloomed, and, wonder of all wonders, it is deep pink !

  Hallelujah, God is good.  I have one original deep pink Hibiscus plant that Rose gave to me the year that I moved here, and no matter how many seeds I have planted from it, they always tend to grow either white, or light pink new plants.  Even the plants that have come up at the base of the original are light pink.  So I am over-the-moon ecstatic about this new plant.

I also have had great success with Tiger Lilies growing around here now.  They are making a beautiful showing this year.

My phlox are flourishing and multiplying, and have produced a light pink one at their edges....beautiful.

 As far as vegetables go, my tomato plants have one ripening now, plus, there are inch-long cucumbers on the two cucumber plants as well.

Time to surface again !

I can hardly believe it's been over a month since I posted here !

I got the job (at Walmart, if you remember), and it seems to be about all I do anymore !   My days off are separated, since I get Fridays and Sundays, so I don't have time to get into anything bigtime, before it's time to walk away again.

But I've learned to slip in a couple of hours in the mornings if I want to piece something, and with all those boxes of fabrics stacked around my sewing room (the ones that Jodie Ann sent), I just had to find something to play with.

I have enjoyed seeing the different versions of 16-patch block quilts around the quiternet, so I decided to try one for myself.  Jodie's boxes included a bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips in an olive'y green that most people would find ugly.  But I've always had an affinity for 'ugly' fabrics, loving to prove that they can make beautiful, interesting quilts (atleast to my eye, anyway).

I had leftover solid 2 1/2 inch strips from Connecting Threads' strip sets, so I set out to find interesting prints to go with the different colors.  In the above photo, the blocks are sewn, but not assembled into a top yet.

This morning, before work, I got about halfway through assembling rows.  I just want a quilt that is big enough to sleep under when I crawl into hubby's recliner for a snooze.  I may even try a polyester batting, because the cotton/poly roll of batting that I have been using is producing quilts that are much too heavy.  I want something light for this time of the year.

Back to the work-front......I'm loving my job !   It is HARD WORK, and I am giving it my all and doing well at it, but it does consume a lot of my time.  Still, I'm able to meet my bills and manage my monthly budget now, on my own, for the first time in my life, and, for that, I am truly thankful to the LORD for giving me the desire of my heart, and the strength to carry it through.

In family news, James' (hubby's) sister passed away last Tuesday.  She was the last of the seven siblings, which leaves me as the only surviving spouse of any of the siblings.  She lacked one week turning 79, (in fact, today would have been her birthday), but she has been in seriously poor health in a rehab/nursing home for 2 years or more.  The family couldn't even tell her that my husband passed away, so she must have had an extra surprise waiting for her when she got to heaven.

So, that catches me up, except for today's news.  My daughter's 12th wedding anniversary is July 2nd, and she sent me a photo of her early anniversary gift.  Now,..........I love my son-in-law, but I'm ready to hit him over the head with a shovel.   They love to ride together on his motorcycle, and that's okay, I guess, but now he went and bought her HER OWN BIG BIKE !   That gives me pause.  I'll just have to leave their safety in God's hands, and give up trying to worry over things that haven't even happened.

She does look happy, doesn't she?
I love their love.

BIG family day !

My son-in-love, Tim, is career army, and for 13 years now, between 3 deployments, many moves, and being a husband and father of three, he has been squeezing in classes toward getting his college education.

My daughter, while being wife and mommy, and holding down full time teaching positions, has devoted as much time as she could to being his tower of strength throughout this process.

Today, she proudly watched the reward of Tim's very great effort, and her own.  Tim received his Associates degree !

And his mom got to fly in from Oklahoma to be there for the big day and to spend a week with the family.

WHICH was also important because of the fact that my youngest grandson celebrated his 8th birthday today !  That's the baby of the family and he's not a baby anymore !  I don't have birthday celebration photos yet, but maybe I can update with them later.

Sadly, my computer won't let me download the rest of the photos that I want to share.  

Anyway, it was a blessed day all around.  I wish I could have spent it with them.

Instead, I drove to the local medical center first thing this morning to try and get some relief from this SNOTTY nose and cough I've had for a week.  I've self-medicated all week, but when the cough was very painful in the middle of the night, I knew that I wanted x-rays.  Good news is that a bit of bronchitis is all that showed from the lung shots,......NO PNEUMONIA , praise God !   So, I got a antibiotic/steroid cocktail shot in the hip.,,,,,,,,,which nearly rendered me one-legged for about 15 minutes.......and a couple of prescriptions.  I felt good enough this afternoon, after a 2 hour nap, that I strapped on a mask (to guard against all the dust and pollen) and managed to get the backyard mowed FINALLY.   

So, it's back to work tomorrow, if the world doesn't come to an end tonight, and hopefully I won't be soaking through 3 hankies and a WHOLE LOT of tissue.

Be careful what you ask for !

YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT !

I got the job at Walmart ! 

  And it's WEARING ME OUT !

Seriously, though, I'm VERY happy to have the job

I applied for,

 but it is taking some serious getting

used to ! 

  Everybody I'm working with is much 

younger than me,

 and I am having to hustle to pull

my own weight .

Tonight, I am aching and weary, 

but celebrating the fact that

tomorrow is my DAY OFF!

I don't see myself having a lot of time

or energy for quilting anytime soon.

Just trying to keep up with the mowing

will be enough for now.

BUT THERE'S ALWAYS WINTERTIME !

GOD BLESS YOU ALL !

HE'S AWFULLY GOOD TO ME!

ALMOST one step closer !

The lady from Walmart called today and asked if I could come in for ORIENTATION this coming Friday morning at 8 a.m.-----------YES MA'AM !, LORD willing, I WILL BE THERE !

So, for me, that means that it's time to look around and see what needs doing NOW,  before my 'free' time becomes greatly limited.  Today, that meant sweeping out the shed and restoring it to a semblance of order, and then mowing the scrabbly areas of the backyard and most of the front yard.

But before mowing the front, I got my 6 tomato plants put into the area of my garden that I re-tilled this week.

THEN when I mowed the front yard, I used the grasscatcher, and spread the clippings around each tomato plant in hopes of keeping the weeds down.  I've never tried this method at the BEGINNING of the planting season, so I hope I have success.  Last year, I only used clippings during the drought season to keep in the moisture when I watered the garden areas.

Vintage Amy Butler/Happy Quilt

At the end of last year, I came across this blog post, featuring the following quilts,

 and I was mesmerized by the sheer joy and laughter it brought about in me.  I shared the photos with my daughter, telling her that I just had to make one like it someday.  How could you not be happy with such a quilt within your view?

Well, my friend, JodieAnn, started sending boxes of fabrics to me that she was clearing out of her sewing room, and, then, as many of you know, my husband passed away from his Mantle Cell Lymphoma.  In the following hard days after his passing, the pretty fabrics reminded me to revisit the idea of a quilt to make me smile, or even, heaven help me, laugh again, somehow.

So, bits at a time, I started free--piecing this little quilt.  Over the last month and a half, I have gotten it pieced, and yesterday I got a chance to machine-quilt it.   I used my walking foot to outline the lettering, and then did a medium-sized meandering all over the rest of the little quilt  I haven't yet bound the edges.  It only measures around 28 x 32 inches, and will be a good size to hang from the quilt rack that is on my living room wall.

It's not quite as joyous as the all over 'HAHAHAHAHAHA',  but, then again, neither am I.  But there is hope.  Just as I hope there are many more quilts in my future, I believe that, someday again, there will be much more laughter.

"NOW THANKS BE UNTO GOD, WHICH ALWAYS CAUSETH US TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST......."  II Corinthians 2:14