Picture taken a week before T went to San Diego to go to school. She is now in a charter school, a performing arts scool and has scolarships for the extra classes. She loves her new school but wishes her daddy was with her. Mark built this porch and steps before we left. He also painted the windows and dark trim. He basically did a major overhaul on my house before we left. I didnt want to leave after he was done. He sanded the hardwood floors, the verathane just was dry the day we left. It was like a brand new house.

Max, about 2 years old...I got him this Crystal Falls t-shirt that said "Im a keeper". Which he certainly is. Ben Franklin has the best Crystal Falls stuff around.He is such a cutie...I cannot wait until I can hug him in person.

M and T love to fish...these are mempachi...a super good red fish that you fry and put on grill. They hid in cracks or in caves...M can free dive to about 80+ feet. He has been free diving all his life. I think they had a party with all that fish.

T is tired after her party.

We are waiting for the snow. The hunters are praying for snow...opening day this weekend. It is cold and dry...the ends of my braids fly about with so much static electricity. I hate this time of year, my fingers get sore from getting zapped everytime I touch the car or any other outdoor metal object. yikes!

Almost have my 6" WOW top completed...ran out of black flannel...need more. I will do the scalloped border with some of the handdyed batik look flannels and black. I got a piece of black flannel at Ben Franklin but not sure right black. Its upstairs to see if they match or not and to keep working on the project as far as I can.

SNOW SNOW SNOW

Well....this is what it was like yesterday. Sunny but only about 40. Mark pulled up two brussel sprout plants and brought them inside...lots of baby sprouts but they are not ready yet. Isn't it pretty? The trees changed really early this year.

This was midmorning...the trees are covered with snow but not sticking to the roofs or alot on grass.

Now it is really getting colder and it is about 6p.m. The ground is covered.

You can see it piled up on edge of deck rails and chairs. Now the snow is sticking to the roof and you can see it is still snowing. Wonder what it is going to look like in the morning. Good thing we went to St.Vinnie's and got Mark some long sleeve t-shirts and a couple short sleeves for layering. He looked like a little bear this a.m. when he left.

Its Monday

I gave a gradation dye class up in Marquette on Saturday. Was very successful and fun, as usual. I have given them the option for the next class to be just a "Day of Dyeing". I would bring up various equipment and colors and they would spend the day using the techniques they have learned so far but dye more fabric. Alot of them have used most of it up for projects already, I am so proud of these students in da UP. My next big class will be on painting and printing and will cost more but I will have to supply more stuff. I cannot believe how much the price for thermofax screen has gone up...$170 for a roll!!!! Yikes!!!!! I haven't used mine in a while and am praying that it works. Welsh Products doesn't repair them anymore, but if mine doesn't work they will give me name of someone who does. Oh! and the cost of a thermofax has skyrocketed. 3M no longer makes them, but their refurbished ones are like $800 and the brand new ones are over a grand. Oh please..............let my baby work. Kind of chicken to go down there to see if it will burn a screen. My screen is old but has been kept in dark dry place, hopefully that is still good or I may have to rethink the use of thermofax screens in class...but they are so kool and fun to use.

I washing the batman sheets and was very disappointed on the quality and what was printed. I may go on eBay and try and find some better Batman fabric. At this point, I am thinking of taking the pillow apart to use as big applique for his quilt. I still need to take old crib sheet apart so I can make him some for his big boy bed. I also need to start knitting again on his afghan so I can send as Christmas gift.

It is supposed to SNOW this weekend. Can you believe that?!! Hopefully it is just a light dusting and doesn't stick. I really want my brussel sprouts to mature. They are pretty small at the bottom of the branch and very tiny as you work your way to the top. I think they need to be in the ground until November at least.........maybe will cover with thick plastic drop cloth to keep the snow off plants. I do not think the ground will freeze for months to come...hopefully.

Mark got a huge crop of tomatoes, but he had to pull em all up due to a couple nights it froze. Now I have green tomatoes everywhere ripening. As he gets a bunch ripe, he blanches them. He is bothering stewing them yet. I think he might wait until they are all done and just stew a huge pot. Makes more sense to me.

Well, it is late and I want to try and get out of bed early tomorrow to start on some projects, and finish up a small one and continue work on some others. I dyed three sets of colors on Saturday and was very disappointed with the evergreen and leaf green...they are so blue and so close in color. The third was two colors ....from left to right fuchsia and right to left turquoise...in same bags. They turned out absolutely beautiful!!! Oh well.....Maybe I will take some photos and post in the next day or two.

Its here........

As I went for my walk (short) this a.m. was amazed, no dazzeled by the colors all around me. Fall has come so fast and the leaves are turning and falling way early this year. I forgot to bring my camera but will remember for tomarrow. Wild snap dragons in yellow all along the road side with small thistle and the prettest small blue flower, will have to look that one up. The grackles still havent left and seems like there are thousands of them and they chase off the songbirds and pig all the food...except the thistle seed in the strong nylon bags. Hopefully they will be gone soon. Sunday evening we watched a group of herons flying south and then a little ways past a field covered with canandian geese resting for the night. This is my third fall and it still amazes me with the colors and sounds and sights. The sugar maples are dropping their leaves fast and it is kind of fun watching them swirl around you as you walk down the road. I will be going to quilt group tomarrow in Iron Mountain. Its in the 60s now pretty much all the time and much cooler at night. It is so quiet here at night. I so miss the sound of the pounding waves against the shore. I miss my son, Mikko and my baby girl Victoria. Will try and take some photos tomarrow and then post them.

Quilt Expo Madison

I wish they would of turned alot more our way so could of gotten better pictures. The real artist in this duo is Natalie...she came up with this technique which Nancy Z latched onto...anyway...her quilts were awesome. This lecture was only one hour, way way too short for so much information. The shortest class she will give is three days. I would like to take a five day studio class with her...landscapes.

I particularly liked this quilt, hand embroidered, medicinal plants of Nebraska. This was part of a couple mini exhibits down this hall way. I was so bummed out, when I went back on Saturday, this was also the day I was to see main show, and camera battery was dead....no...............................

I went with two gals from my guild, Karen and Marilyn. We went down on Thursday and Linda and Joyce made it down Friday afternoon. We all left this morning, Sunday, back up north. Beautiful drive both ways. There were so many vendors it was an overload. I didn't buy very much stuff. But I did take a rust dyeing class from Lois ? and it was great. I cannot wait to open up and rinse out my first piece. I see many more pieces in my future! Also took a simple beading class. Have always wanted to, have some very lovely beads I have purchased over the years. Now I have a starting point on what to do with them and how to get them there.

I am pretty tired. Mark did not have a very good weekend. His good luck girl (me) left for a couple days and he had MAJOR house difficulties that required major plumbing with lots of muck and ick in and all over kitchen and basement. But by the time I got home everything was clean and smelling sweet. Poor baby, had worked in yard Saturday, so he took a relaxing bath. Hes got a towel on and goes downstairs to grab another beer and the kitchen sinks are overflowing with the most godawful stench/black mucky water....hours later...new pipes under kitchen sink and down in basement. But he said he couldn't get the smell off him. He washed the bed sheets, all the pillows, his body many times. I guess by this afternoon he was okay. He was so glad to see me. He even picked some beautiful wild flowers for me and they are in a vase in middle of our rock table. Such a sweetie! Well, can barely keep my eyes open. Night Night

We're home

Wild morning glories...Mark brought me a bouquet of wild flowers he picked early in the morning on Saturday. He knew these would not make it and asked me what they were...I told him I grew them and he had made a trellis for them...oh.....We left Crystal around 7p.m. and drove about ten miles past the bridge where there is a really beautiful rest area. We slept in the back of the station wagon...not bad. Up early and drove the rest of the way to Dola, Ohio Friday. I cannot tell you how incredibly beautiful it was Thursday night, almost complete full moon with crystal clear sky...the drive was wonderful. The moon reflecting off lake Michigan was amazing. Looked like a view from Kauai...white sand beach the water lapping gently at the shore but it was fresh water and one of the great lakes.

For the past couple of years, whenever we get to real farm country it has always been covered in snow, under water or just dirt. What an amazing site to see mile after mile of corn and soy beans.

Mark is a real tractor nut...he used the telephoto for this shot. I think it was about 6a.m. He tried to drag me out of bed to listen to three different tractors working the fields...no thank you please. Had a real nice visit with Tom and Shawna. The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm. Mark helped Tom with the roof...Tom doing the majority of the work. I just love those old lightning rods with the glass balls. Tom wants to put them back up and Shawna does not but I think they are so kool looking. Its their turn to come up here next..two to zero so far. It started to thunder and lightning and rain Monday morning...time to go. We didn't get back to Crystal until, what almost 8p.m....650 miles in one day. And when I was lying in bed this a.m. I realized I have to climb back into my car on Thursday and drive down to Madison, WI. with two friends for Quilt Expo. Haven't been to a big mainland event since we moved here so should be fun. Looking forward to it but not the drive. Even thou the show is over on Saturday we will come back home Sunday morning I believe. First time away from Mark since I moved here. He asked when I would be home, he is planning on making a special dinner...he is such a good guy.

I teach a class up in Marquette on the 16th and then I don't think I really have to go away from home for awhile.

Made my initial appointment with doctor for bariatric by pass, first availalbe Nov. 19th. I have to go to an evening program either Sept 21 or Oct 19. before initial appointment. This will be a long road but one I am looking forward to. I know I will never get my 18 year old body back but I would like to be good to my heart and my prosthetic knees, hope they last longer if I weigh a lot less. Well, I am still so tired from trip, so up to the old sack. Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Blueberry waffles

oh my gosh! i got one of those flip waffle deals from ginny's. i love it. this is the second time i have made waffles in the past week. mark absolutely loves them. the receipe calls for egg whites folded in and i think that adds such a nice lightness. i have never ever been sucessful at making waffles before. i do not know what it is about that thing but it works. i put it oh high and wait until no more steam comes out...forget timing it. mark put my blueberry syrup(was supposed to be jam) on his and i put my newest batch of raspberry jam on mine. i could not eat the second waffle so maybe a treat for later. they say, just heat up the waffle maker, put the waffle back in lining up the square holes, close lid and reheat. i got the receipe online and it is by emeril. way easy. it calls for cake flour but i keep forgetting to buy, regular flour seems to work just fine. anywho.......it didnt get above 55 today. the wind was from the artic i am sure and it rained rained rained. going upstairs to snuggle with my sweetie and watch the tube. happy friday!

wee hours of friday

went to lambeau field last weekend, well actually, green bay. got to see a bunch of players show up for practice or something. boy! they sure don't care about green house effect, all drove big gross suvs or monster trucks. that t-shirt i have on is great. it reads "im not buying fabric, its a bailout for the textile industry". went to the three quilt shops there and it was a hit at everyone of them. i like the silver thimble the best. i think we had our bit of summer, maybe four days of mid 80s and its getting cold again. the first summer i was here was beautiful, oh well, as long as it is not snowing i am happy.
i will be teaching the WOW top mid september and then a gradation dye class first saturday in october up in marquette. i have to get on the ball and send quilt top and class info this weekend. i hate mailing that top plus info to kat on where she can get the 12" templates.
better get to bed, it is pretty late and got lots to do this weekend.

July 28th 2009

and if you look real closely you will see Snakey ( I call him Lucky since I almost ran him over with the lawn mower). He has been pretty shy, but let me get close to him today. He was sunning himself. He is a Smooth Green snake and will only get 12-18" long. He is so kool.

I was afraid this was going to happen! While we were away, most the of raspberries ripened, so I was out there for hours yesterday picking what I could. Today I turned them into a gallon of puree divided into four bags which I put in freezer. I will make jam another day. I have to still go out everyday and pick. There is a ton that are only about half way done. But this year, we took out so many plants (still have too many) and I used these really neat tall bamboo stakes to hold them "up". It worked so good. I just need a bit more room between rows for easier picking. But I will resolve this this fall when I cut out the dead canes and widen the rows. It looks scary at first but you know what is left will really fill out. Got more berries cause they had more air and also more room to grow. There are also two heads of brocolli...wish I would of picked those before I left, just starting to try and flower but still so good and tender, better than from the store. Next year our garden is going to be way big and I am planting lots of brocolli, this was my first attempt. In fact, we are having porkchops, pasta and fresh steamed brocolli for dinner tonight.

We went to Train Festival 2009 and got to go on an all day excursion on this beauty...the Nickel Plate #765. Since there were crossing less than a mile apart this baby was on it whistle almost all the time. There is nothing like the sound of a big locomotive in all its glory!

Happy Friday

Well, another week is ending here in da UP. Aren't my morning glories glorious?!! I was hoping for some blue ones, I bought at a nursery. Mark stapled some chicken wire to the fence so they can climb up the fence more easily, I will plant them much closer to the fence next year. You can barely see the lupins I grabbed...they look very stragely but they will drop their seeds and we will have some nice ones next year. There was a traffic triangle a couple blocks from the house, we had never seen them and now we know why...they decided to only mow once this summer to save money...they mowed them down in full bloom and left all the other wild weeds. I am so angry, they could have let them go to seed...creeps....

Here is my little garden. I have brocolli and red cabbage and brussel sprouts and green beans. They handled the frost way better than the tomatoes but they are coming around too. We have such a short season up here.

Who would of thought a week ago we would have a pet snake...Snakee (but I call him Lucky, cause I ran out of gas in the lawn mower and was just about to refill when I saw this green wiggly thing in the grass). Bought him a 10 gallon fish tank, Jayde dug up a section of lawn just the right size, a few other goodies and he is a happy snake...as happy a snake can be in a big fish tank. He will only get 12 to 20 inches. He is a "smooth green snake" but some people call them grass snakes cause of their color. But there is a real grass snake and he isn't half as cute as Snakee.

Well...we are off to the store. The weather has been glorious and the Pentoga Lake is WARM. I got out year pass so I can go swimming as much as I like. Very nice place. Next time I go I will take pictures. Later..............

June 4th and the sun shined today!

Well after many days of cold we have had two warm and beautiful days. It is funny what I now consider warm and wonderful...it was in the 60's today which used to be my winter temps. No longies today! :-)
The above photo was taken by Mark a couple weeks ago. The weather was deary and we had spent the whole weekend indoors so I pried Mark out of the house for a little drive and we ended up at Paint River Boardwalk right here in town. It is very nice and I thought this photo exceptional. I even had it printed to an 8x10 so we can hang on wall.
The garden is in and we are still getting frost here and there, but so far, it look like everything is hanging in there.
I go up to Marquette tomorrow for a dye class I am giving on Saturday. I cannot believe all the junk I have to take. I decided we will mix the gallons of soda ash first thing in class...a bit of exercise for everyone. All the dye will be mixed and in bottles with yorker spouts and extra quarts of the more popular colors. I have to mix the dye first thing tomorrow morning. But I will have everything else ready and packed. I have made myself a list that I can check off as Mark loads the car. We will sent Saturday night so we can noodle around Marquette on Sunday. I will be pooped for sure. Monday I probably won't do much of anything. Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

WOW top finished

I am so stoked this top is finally finished. When I got home from Wednesday quilt group two weeks ago, I had laid out all the squares and staked and labeled the piles, i sewed the top together that night...didn't go to bed until about 3:30 a.m. but it was worth it. All the colored fabrics I hand dyed over the years. I am so happy with this top...now I just need to figure out how to quilt the darn thing. I do know I will be using either a wool or alpaca batting.
Still about a foot of snow all over the place but it is melting fast.

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see it is snowing pretty hard, its supposed to snow all day and night and again tomorrow. We probably have about 6" already! and it is very wet and heavy...the cave your roof in kind. Break branches off your trees kind.....when we were in Ohio, we had three days of 70 and it was lovely. All the trees are covered with blossoms and all the bulbs are up and flowering. i hope this doesn't hurt my daffodils...they are about 6" high now. the robins are freaking out cause all the ground is covered up and they cannot get to the worms and bugs they love to eat!

I am tired from all the driving around we did the last week. We left Dola about 8:30 a.m. and got back home at 6:30 p.m. with just stops to buy gas and hit the rest stops. No sightseeing on the way back up except a few pictures from the moving car.

I am going upstairs to rest and maybe work on my cardinal quilt. Shauna, Mark's best friend in high school (Tom) wife gave me a beautiful crocheted afghan and a pair of socks. Maybe I will give her the cardinal wall quilt since the cardinal is the state bird.

Felted Bags

This is a close up of my bag...it is 100% wool, I am learning that the alpaca felts much nicer. The gal who took the class with me, Deb, I think...she chose on skein of 100% wool and the other was 50% wool and 50% alpaca and it felted better than mine. I guess that I could re felt it, but I am just going to make a lining a nice big felted button. The icord was fun to make and went quickly.

Here we are pre felt process. When I get back from Ohio, I get to start on my afghan, am really excited about this project. Should take me a while and will learn more stuff doing it too. Hope I am not biting off more than I can chew. I am always up for a challenge. Speaking of challenges, I started another paper piece project...it was on the cover of Quilt Maker years ago, the cardinal wall hanging. My last bird was definitely easier than the first that is for sure. I am getting better at the paper piecing too. I find if I fold the sew line and trim a quarter of an inch, makes placement of the next fabric easier and no trimming again. Something else to work on when I get back from Ohio. Have a great week everybody!

BOM-paper piecing!

Well, I am not totally 100% happy with this one, some of the points get lost but paper piecing is not my best technique, so I think I did pretty good. In the background is what the finished quilt will look like. It is on the cover of Brenda Henning's book "Mariner's Compass Quilts~Reach for the Stars". If I could do it over, I would only purchase the CD which has the same info as the book but lets you print the blocks and stuff but not the half square triangles, there is another disc for that. I was not impressed with her directions on paper piecing but I do like the top. If you only buy the book you will need to have it spiraled from the TOP so you can use a copier.
I finished all the 12" WOW blocks. Taking to the sr. center to marrow and put some tables together, a sheet on top and lay them out. I cannot wait to see them all together and then i am going to sew like a maniac to get it done. The thought of going back to the 6" ones kind of freaks me out but I wan to finish that top too.
I go to my knitting class to marrow. We just have a little bit to do to finish the bag before we felt it. I have to put the rubber bands on the other scarf I finished today and will felt that also tomorrow. Kool huh.
We are supposed to leave for our little road trip to Ohio Tuesday morning, so I will miss a Wednesday and a whole week without any knitting. Kind of bums me out thinking about it but when I get back I get to start on a really kool afghan. I am taking the pattern with me, just in case we come across a really kool yarn shop.
The weather has been cold and nasty. So windy, makes it seem colder than it is. The wind feels absolutely artic. Just goes right thru your clothes. The snow is almost all melted in the yard. But the ground is still frozen solid. The daffodils are coming up in the front yard around the choke cherry tree. Going to have to put stakes where there are after they fade cause we really need to spread them out this next fall. The two lilac bushes are getting buds, so they made it thru the winter...end of season on super sale from wall mart so wasn't sure they would make it. This will be the first time they blossom. Better get back upstairs.

April Fools.....NOT!

trying to show how much it snowed last night.

yesterday morning the front yard was pretty much snow free and the little spruce was completely visible.

the snow plow was by this a.m. we have almost 6" already and it is still snowing! oh well, off to quilt group. my knitting class was canceled this a.m. cause she had to take care of her sick grandson. i will finish up my bag next week. i am one third done with another scarf and am waiting for two more skiens of yarn to arrive from ewen. maybe i will photo my two works in progress tomarrow.

Scarf "before" being felted

Okay, so here it is...after I took this photo we went into MaryLynn's and felted it. I made the baubles too big...now I am going to go back, retie each one smaller and the re felt just the bottom areas. I really like the way the alpaca felted so I do not want to change the main section of the scarf. I am now working on a bag using two colors at the same time on curved needles, boy, are they weird at first but I like them. I stayed up Wednesday night and knitted the 22" I needed for the bag. While we were up in Ewen yesterday, I bought some very pretty yarn...70% wool and 30% soy...sure hope it felts well. It s Patons SWS (soy wool stripes) the color is "natural plum"...will be part of another bag I have in mind....yikes!!!! now I am buying wool and alpaca and different yarns and needles and.....Yikes!!! is all I can say. I am pretty beat, was Mark's sister in laws 49th birthday, we went up to Ewen but they partied hard. Sheri, Richard and Mark left for the bar at 1230 and didn't get home until 5 a.m. ... they went to one of Sheri's friends they met at the bar, sooooooooooooo glad I didn't go with them because I wouldn't have been a very happy camper. Needless to say, Mark feels like dodo today.... big smile. He is up in bed. I am going to take a shower and read a book I bought on different surface design techniques. My dye group wants another class but something different. Oh well, I am a bit pooped out myself but I don't drink, so I am just tired.

Progress in the kitchen

This is how the cupboards where(are), the windows were painted shut, this is only one that opens after much scraping. The counter top was from the fifties and the floor, was, well, horrific with a seam in the center that was volcanoing, a real trip factor!

This is a totally new addition, the drawers were where the counter top attaches to the other one. I love these black hinges and handles, we put theses in the house in Kauai. The floor looks like sandstone, beautiful.

This is the new sink and counter top with sanded and repainted cabinets and drawers. Notice the three hinges on the larger doors. These are real hardwood cabs and are heavy and two hinges just don't cut it. They didn't fit properly, so Mark cut them 1/4"

It is hard to tell, but the kitchen is painted a very pretty pale yellow. You can tell it is not white due to white stove and vent. I am so happy with what Mark has done so far. He attacks one side at a time. He has to smooth the walls out with drywall mud before he can really get going. He still has the uppers to deal with. I am lovin' my new kitchen.

We didn't really change that much but that additional counter top and new floor and fixing those old doors makes such a difference. Plus he replaced the door from kitchen to back porch which lets alot more light into the kitchen.

Almost on my last skein on scarf. When I went to class MaryLynn had made one this past week and felted it and it turned out really really nice. I cannot wait to get mine felted. I plan to have it all knitted by Wednesday and then we will felt it at her place. Better get back to work upstairs. I am cutting out more pieces for my black and hand dyed WOW plus I try and do a bit of knitting everyday.

Rainbow Farms

This about sums it up for these cute critters. They can spit at you if you really really annoy them but they tend mostly to spit at each other.

This guy always has alfalfa on his head...he likes his food. These are the GUYs

Another cutie, one of the girls I think.

Some more of the girls. The yarn I am using to make my shawl is alpaca but is from Peru. I am going to buy some of Mary Lynn's when it comes in. I am going to buy white, then do the "Shibori" scarf again, but after binding with the rubber bands and before felting I will hand dye the scarf. I think it will turn out awesome!!!!!! Mark took these pictures while I was inside talking with Mary Lynn; he thinks they are really kool.

I am really stoked with the knitting I have done so far. I know you are supposed to wrap the yarn around your fingers and then with the index finger wrap around needle, but my fingers will not cooperate, I have found a method that works just fine for me. I will try and photo what I have done so far tomorrow and then post it. We have been enjoying some very nice weather, it was up to 42 today and I was outside without a coat or gloves but Mark says we will still get another two feet of snow. I just hate this part when things are melting and it is all brown and muddy. The gas company really tore up my yard, terrible! I am calling them Monday to complain. I hear they will be back in the spring and they will lay new sod and fix whatever they screwed up...but I am going to call and make sure. It is a real mess out there!

The kitchen is coming along. Mark got the built in cabs done today. He just has to shorten the drawers tomorrow. Then I guess he needs to paint and put down the rubber base along the floor. He can only work on one wall at a time. He has to remove the old wall paper before he can paint. I am very happy with the results so far. Yeah Mark!

February 23 2009

I will try and upload a better photo tomorrow, but this is what I made in my felt class I took on Saturday, the gal teaching is named Janell and is the receptionist at my Dr's!!! Anyway, it was a fun class and instead of using the expensive roving for the whole thing, she had this great, dense, "raw" wool that we made the bodies out of and then felted the nice pretty roving on the outside. A way better technique and much easier. Now I just need to find a nice fat bag of raw wool somewhere...
We went to Green Bay today, stopped at this neat ol dinner for lunch in Beecher and then back on the road. Cheech and Chong were great! Alot, well mostly, their old stuff but updated. At the end when they had everyone sing "up in smoke", they yelled to the audience, pull out your cell phones, so instead of lighters or candles they were waving over their heads with the music their cell phones open and there were all these little lights...it was so funny.
On Thursday, Sue and I completed the whole Shop Hop in one day...six shops...three in Michigan and three in Wisconsin...by the time we got to the last one I couldn't think straight...today I went back. The owner was there and remembered me from Thursday, so she let me scratch off a card, got 25% off, and bought a "paper piece" pattern for this cardinal wall hanging. Its a kit that has most of the fabric and one set of the papers, I thought you would get enough to do the whole thing but I need to copy more...was a little confused with that one...it did say on the package that you got the papers you needed for the project...anyway....maybe I will work on that this week just for the sheer fun of it. I love cardinals!

February 10th, 2009

Victoria went to one of my guild quilting Wednesdays and learned how to baste a quilt. She really did a super job!

My friend Sue beside Tori as she takes a stitch.

Tori is still stitchin' away and having good conversation with the other ladies around the frame too.

Tori is holding the frame underneath as they stretch it after it has been rolled. She had such a wonderful time and the ladies really enjoyed her company too. We didn't go the rest of the time she was here, and the ladies who showed up the following week were disappointed Tori wasn't there. But she will return this summer and we will go to at least one gathering.

I am upset with the post office, i sent three boxes on Jan 14. One to Max in SLC and he got it in three days but the box to Mikko and the other to Victoria are still lost in space. I went to the post office and was told tough titties since I didn't buy a delivery confirmation. It is so weird that BOTH packages to Hawaii are missing. One I could maybe understand, but BOTH!!!!!!!! Hopefully they will turn up soon.

It is 42 and rainy and everything is slick as glass. But it is supposed to snow in the next day or two so all this yukky brown slush and ice will get covered up with a pretty new blanket of snow. The new squirrel preventers are working like a charm 4" x 5' sheet metal heating duct material. They cannot get their little fingernails into it and cannot wrap their arms the 4" width...yippee... nothing makes me smile more than a yard of frustrated squirrels.

February 3rd 2009

We did eat at "Carlos O'Kelly's" this year and the food was excellent. When it said it was hot it was really really hot. Made Mark's eyes water and that is how he likes it...and yes, there is a Carlos O"Kelly.

This is Ken and Joan, he is 70 and she is 60 and they won the dance contest two years in a row. They are such a joy to watch together, they are so cute! We had a wonderful time at the 50th anniversary of the Winter Dance Party, our favorite act for the three days was John Mueller's Winter Dance Party...they were so good! We think we might go to Green Bay next year which is a weekend earlier but closer and shorter. Would like to see Clear Lake/Mason City in the summer!

Found the best quilt shop, Country Threads in Garner, they were the very first shop on the cover of the Quilt Sampler Magazine in 1995, kool huh. Was really a great place and they have quilt camp in the winter time.

Need to get into the sewing room tomorrow. It has taken me two days to get the laundry done and put away and just resting after the grueling weekend.

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Not much going on...stayed home this weekend to get some things done before we go off to Iowa next week. Its the 50th anniversary Winter Dance Party...50 years since Buddy Holly died. Me and Mark have so much fun on our road trips and he is hoping to be layed off when we return. He will collect unemployment and do projects around here...like a complete kitchen remodel with travel sprinkled in there. We are going to be going to Austin to see Bernie and Mary and then up or over to Salt Lake City to see my beautiful Max and Aimee. If I see Elton, I will see him but I am not sure if I will seek him out. I dont want any trauma on my trip. It is still pretty darn cold. -10 all day long but at least the sun was out today and made it more bearable. The birds are very active eating up all the black seed in the feeders. Hope to post more later in the week.

jan 17....birdies....

It is really snowing this morning and the purple house finches and golden finches are hitting the feeder heavily. This one used to have just bird seed but it just rotted with no takers. We cleaned it out and filled with oily black sun flower seed and these little guys will have this feeder empty by tomorrow. We are going to a Tech hockey game for my birthday. We could by Keweena Bay and stop by Portage quilt shop, where there is a sale OR go thru the village of South Range where they have this really awesome shop, etc. etc..... we are going thru South Range. Its my birthday and we are going to have a great time snow or no snow! Hope everyone has a greatweekend.

Friday January 16th

Mark sees Tori trying to hand feed the birds one last time, it is like she doesn't want to leave.

She would announce, "we're in the village of Alpha boyzzzzzzz". Don't know why, but it sounded so cute. We would go to the Alpha General Store to buy our milk, I have a milk card and they stamp it every time you buy a 1/2 gallon or more and after 10 you get one free! It is a really pretty drive between my house and Alpha. We would drive it everyday hoping to see deer or birds or turkeys or fox.

Here we are at the air port...Tori is the only one truly happy. This gets her one week closer to going home to daddy! We had so much fun and are really hoping we get her for two weeks this summer. She wants to come in th summer time, she could see the possibilities. She will have so much fun! I miss my Tori so much!

jan 8

I did it! I made Tori her wizard robe from a crummy little sketch in her wizard book. It is made of two layers...the first a filmy forresty fabric and the slip is a dark forrest green taffeta type satin stuff. I sewed them as one...rightsides together...nightmare...struggle...gasp...but I got it done and she absolutely loves it. The best thing she has gotten since she came to the UP she says. She only has on her wizard robe and socks and is running up and down this long path laughing with her hair flowing in the wind. I couldn't get her to come in. She said the magic in the robe was keeping her warm...I finally got her in the house. I had to draw up a facing for around the neck. I will sketch out a pattern tomattow. I want to make her a soft linen type one I can embroider on with possibly a large hood or a cape with a hood to go along with it. I am so happy I got it done, such little things make her so happy. We leave for Chicago tomattow morning......