My Creative Mind

My Creative Mind

Friday, April 28, 2006

From the Courtyard

These are HUGE!!! This wknd I am going to take a ruler out and messure them. Last night we worked in the yard until it got a bit chilly...oh I love this time of year!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

You know who you are......

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Weekend of Blessings

These three darling children (no bias here!!) greeted me when I walked in the door on Friday evening. All three of them chanting "36 MORE DAYS!, 36 MORE DAYS!". Yep, just over a month until we board a plane and head to Mickey's house.

Friday night was grandkid/grandparents night, giving their parents a parent night!!! Not sure how much fun their parents had but I do know the rest of us had a blast. While Rex helped Gpa put oil in my jeep, Tristan and Kaitlyn helped fix dinner. Gpa had the potatoes in the oven before I left the office, so it was an easy finish to prepare a potato bar complete with their favorite toppings.

Kaitlyn wrote out menu's, and made place cards for everyone then decided we needed candles as well. Tristan decided the motto for our meal should be "the best food for the best people" I whole heartily agree!

After dinner we played Skipbo, Tristan was crowned the new "Skipbo King" title, but gpa will not let that stand for long!

Saturday Angela and I started putting the rock face on their house....We are women, hear us roar!!! What a job! Oh my goodness, that is a job and a half. There is nothing, NOTHING these two kids will not attempt! Albert needed to get the garage door down and seal off that hole so he did that while Angela and I worked on the rock. Oh my aching body...bending, lifting, thinking...after 10 hrs I was so glad when it was too dark to work outside, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow ~ a good days work. They have a lot more rock to put up but we got a good start, I will only be able to help after work on Monday and Wednesday this wk.

This morning we awoke to another beautiful blue sky day, the 3rd in a row! Worship was wonderful, the sermon gave Ed and I a jump start on a great afternoon conversation. Dinner with momma, it is always a good day when she is emotionally up and alert. BLESSING! A quick trip to Wally World and back home by 3 p.m.

This is a picture of how we spent the rest of our Sunday. Saturday Ed got the deck washed and the patio furniture out of storage and back in place (I'll get the cushions out next wknd)...so after getting home from church and having dinner with momma we walked in the front door and straight through the house to the back door. We each grabbed the books we have been reading and I set up the foot spa. After giving myself a mini pedicure (complete with a wonderful seasalt scrub) I fixed Ed a non-fru-fru spa, poured him a glass of wine and there he sat until the sun went down. Happy feet, sunshine on our skin and the gentle sound of the water running in the Koi pond....ah...wonderful!

Over the past few days I have been feeling like a lazy bum! Even helping the kids with the rock wall I felt like I wasn't doing enough of what I should be doing. After Ed and I had our "after sermon" conversation I feel less and less like a lazy bum, but I also know that I need to get my act together and get some sewing done. I have had a few quilts pinned and ready for some zoom lines....as well as a few tops ready to sandwich. I had hoped to get all of my current tops and sandwiches done and ready to send to San Diego in preparation of our June trip into Mexico. I think I have wasted too much time to reach that goal, but I know I have enough time to get a few of them done none-the-less.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Wonderful day!

The sky blue
The air warm
Dinner on the deck
Two new Koi
("Yield" and "Got Spot")
Playful cat
Call from an old friend
Life is good!

Their On Their Way!

Niles and Nancy have set out to attend a quilt retreat in Tennessee! Oh how I wish it were me and not Niles, but from the sounds of things there would not have been space for me! I can only imagine that both Nancy and Niles will be riding on the roof of the car! Hang on Niles, I think you are in for the ride of your life!

Enjoy your trip, and send lots of pictures back home. And Niles, remember....you need to be on your best behavior so that others will invite you to visit them as well.

Thanks Nancy, I know he has already given you a hard time, but maybe things will be better from here on out!

You can keep track this trip for Niles at Nancy Quilts.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Out With the Old



out with the WRONG

in with the NEW

We aren't completely moved in, but we're getting there! It's been the longest "10 days" of our lives, but now that it is almost over (we have a short list of "please fix" things for them) we have enjoyed in our new kitchen:

our first meal (leftover pizza while unpacking)

our first "disagreement" (if he would have just listened to me!!)

our first "oops" (dang it, why didn't I hang on to the door?)

our first laughter (nevermind...somethings are meant to be private!)

our first company (my sister and my niece-in-law)

and now we are awaiting our grandkids for our first game night

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement along the way, now I need a vacation!

Friday, April 07, 2006

Norm and Niles, Long Lost Cousins!


Peggy, over at Hidden Haven Homestead, has sent her little guy, Norman, on an adventure of a life time. We so badly wanted him to join us on our trip to Disneyland and to help us on our trip into Mexico where we will be delivering quilts to an orphanage. We were so sad to hear that Norm is booked solid until September. Currently, he is on his way to Texas now that he has finished his vacation travels with Judy (at Sunshine Quilts). Wanda (at The Bee Hive) and her family will soon be sharing news of his adventures on her blog just like Judy did on hers.

Peggy and I have been talking and it was decided that Niles, Norman's long lost cousin, shouldn't miss out on any of the fun, so...Niles Zaccheaus (a wee little man) will be allowed to venture out and begin his own summer vacation travels.

We are hoping that Niles will make it back home by September when Norman is expected to visit us on the Oregon coast. After that, who knows where Norman and Niles will show up? But you can follow their adventures by visiting Peggy and stopping by here.

If you would like to host Niles, (he eats very little, is polite, and cleans up after himself) please contact me and I will add you to his itinerary. He loves meeting new people and is thrilled that we are allowing him to finally get out of town for a while.

Thanks again Peggy for encouraging us to send Niles out on his own for a while!

Monday, April 03, 2006

Don't be shocked....

....but I am headed to My Creative Mind.



Not sure what I will be doing, not sure how much I will get done...but I really need some peaceful activity tonight, some alone time, some down time, some quiet time...so I am headed in there right now. I'll let you know how it went.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Saturday, April 1 Yep...Saturday

Cutie!!!! It's April Fool's day, watch out...you never know what kind of trickster you might run into. For me, I always think about how to fool someone and then, like my joke telling, it falls flat...so I just take what comes my way and go with that. I did think about calling our oldest grandson, Rex, and telling him that our family vacation, a trip to Disneyland and various other Southern California locations would have to be cancelled...but just can't bring myself to that...it would crush him greatly!

Today is Fushia Saturday at a Pacific Northwest chain store, Fred Meyer. They do this annually each year, you buy the plants and they will pot them with the good potting soil in your pots. My girlfriend, Diana, and I go each year. This year we decided we are going to buy considerably LESS than in years past because we have been invited to a private potting party (for lack of a better term)! The lady who does all the large hanging baskets that hang on every street corner and in front of each business in our teeny tiny town has invited us to come make up hanging baskets with the left over stock she has!! I am so excited!!! She will help us mix and match the plants to make our baskets beautiful.
Flowers And Hearts We always make up our own baskets, but this year we will get to choose from speciality plants, that have been well taken care of. I am thrilled and can't wait to learn from this wonderful gardener and later this spring and summer to enjoy the color.

I bought the hardware for my lamps yesterday so this wknds goal is to get my lamps assembled, the longer I have looked at the painted pots, the better I like them...hopefully that will be the case when they are plugged in and usable. A done project is always a good project.

Again, nothing quilty going on at my house...what's new...gee, I started this year off with a quilty bang...and then the kitchen remodel started and now my house looks like a bomb went off, which has the domino effect of letting things go all over the place. I thought we had gotten to the "whatever" point of this whole thing but after not finding something that I needed a couple of days ago I was right back to the point of frustration...which really only lasted a few minutes, after all, there is nothing that can be done until it is done...so why waste my energy?

Jeanne encourages us to remember gratitudes (blessings) in our lives by each day posting some that she experiences in her daily life. This is something I learned to do at a very early age, to look around me and count my many blessings...and not only to count them but to act on them, enjoy them, and to be thankful. I have pages and pages of blessings that I have recorded over the years, how fun it is to re-read pages of journals pasts and remember where I was and what I was thinking at certain points of my life and then to realize where I am in my life now. I am one lucky gal! I have a husband who adores me, and I him (going on 30 years!). I have children who have grown up and become useful, contributing members of society. I have THEE 5 most beautiful and intelligent grandchildren (yes, I will admit to a small amount of bias here). I have a home I love (stop giggling...the kitchen is going to be loved at some point!). I live in a community that feel safe in. I have friends and family who I love and care for. Blessed? You bet!!! How could I not be?

Enjoy your day! Anticipate those blessings, they are all around us!