This photo taken Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010 at about 11 a.m.. you can see how high the snow has drifted against back wall of garage and it is only about three feet below this window. It is mighty cold out there and the wind is howling plus the snow just wont quit!

This is view from floor level so you can see how deep snow is on back deck at about 11 a.m. this morning. I am going to take another one tomarrow a.m. to see how much more has piled up.

Close up of Stepping Stones by Judy Neyemeyer. Bali pops were used for this. She calls for three packages. I am glad I did not have to buy this...doing as sample for the Alley Kat in Marquette.

Tried to get all of the quilt in the photo. Do not have a real desing wall. Our house is 1 1/2 stories so the outside walls are slanted, what a waste of space!!!!! The only hope is to try and fit one down in the basement someplace but all the wall space is pretty tied up with cutting table, built in table for Bernina I use down there, Gammil, walls of fabric......

This is the fourth doll head I have done. It is a trip how they all look so different from each other but kinda alike. Will keep on making them till I am totally happy with results.

This is second head I made. I dont know why the second head did not load up, it is on disk in camera and I can see it on camera. Hmmmmm

Here are all the ladies lines up. First is on the left, last one o the right. I was unable to attend the class on Saturday due to huge snow storm...still storming...not supposed to quit until Wednesday or so. So, looks like I will be getting in a lot of knitting and sewing and maybe go down into the basement and maybe quilt a quilt top I have had done for years. We desparately need new quilts on our bed. The ones we are using now are so fragile and are literally falling apart.

Hope everyone has a good and safe week. Drive carefully if it is snowy where you are.

AUSTIN TEXAS!!!!!!!

I've been in Austin for days now and I'm lovin' it :-) I haven't been here to visit the kids since September 2002. Things have really built up around here, the trees in the neighborhood have really matured.
On Saturday we hooked up with one of Mary's friends and her 7 year old daughter. We went to this really really expensive yarn shop...boutique...they had some really neat sock yarn but no way Jose on those prices. Then we walked around a bit and then went to this really huge thrift store. I got about 7 pair of jeans in really good condition for $39. Three pair I can wear now and the other four pair I can wear in about a month or so. The ones I can fit in now are 16s!!!!! and the others are 14s!!!!!!!!! I am really jazzed. I got Eddie Bauer; Ralph Lauren; they are all brand name jeans. Oh! and I got this really neat RED corduroy shirt, I have three now...one turquoise, pink and now red. I love these things and the prices have been right on all three.
I don't know what night we are going to circ de sole but I know we are going. I am really jazzed about that too. Me and Mary are going to Fredricksburg which is a major tourist destination but we will go on a week day and hopefully miss big crowds. I think it is based on a time period and has lots of fun shops to look at. I am also working on my second pair of socks out of this really neat bamboo yarn, I love it. I only have less than a half inch on the ribbed cuff and then i start on the heel. I should have them done in the next couple of days. I really love making socks! Mary has this great book on making two pair at a time and we are going to this "half price book store". Hopefully I can find it, I can see how great it would be to make two at a time althou I have not had a problem with the "second sock" syndrome.
Mark spent the weekend at Libby's in Chicago. They really had a nice time together. He just wanted to spend time with his girl and he got that good quality time with her. I am happy for them. It has finally started to snow in earnest up in the UP...it sure has come late this year. I have never flown in the snow so that should be interesting. When I flew down here I knitted the whole way and it really kept my mind off flying...I was pretty mellow instead of being freaked out. I am not sure what I will knit on the way back up. Maybe I will get some more sock yarn.
Mary has given me her old laptop. Her newer one is about half the size of this one. This one weighs about 5# while her new one weighs about 1.5#. It comes with a bog and charger and everything. They gave me some anti virus software for my HP at home and Vista wouldn't take it and it came in real handy for this one....loaded right up. Now this is one current protection. It did take hours for the many Windows updates. But it is working great!
OMG!!!! I just got a call from this place Mark put in an application months ago. Thay just called and have a different position available for him, I hope it works out. He needs a job to feel better about himself and with it comes full benefits. I am praying on this one...pray for us....we need this sooooooooooo bad!
well, lots to do

My First Pair Of Socks!!!!

I started these socks at the end of Jan 2010 and then I got a call that they had a cancelation and would I like to get my bariatric surgery early...ah...yes. So the socks got put on the back burner.

On October 2nd they had a grand opening for the new fabulously incredible shop and class area at Rainbow Gifts and Alpaca Farm. The place is simply amazing. Full of all sorts of yarn and goodies to temp you, not to mention the gorgeous clothing made out of Alpaca by a "fair trade" company in Peru. A gal there, Maryann, who has been knitting for 50 years helped me with the heel cup and I was on my way from there. The following Wednesday I finished the sock. Yipee!!!

I deligently worked on the second all by myself and finished Saturday night, Oct. 30th 2010.

Ahhhhh....my first pair of Alpaca socks. So koozy and warm. If they get wet in your shoes or boots they will still keep your feet warm. Neat huh. I cannot wait to start on my next pair but I am rather busy at the moment.

I started dyeing fabric for sale today. I dyed 33 (thirty three ) yards today. That is the most I have ever dyed in one day. Tomarrow I start the rinsing out and washing. Those colors I am not completely thrilled with will get over dyed. I am starting a journal on the colors. I number them, 1,2,3, etc. so a customer can reorder the colors she likes. Three pieces of fabric and three different colors are done in one tube together. Even thou they can order the same number, it never ever comes out exactly the same. I have to make a wall hanging out of my hand dyes as a sample. I am hoping to pick up another shop in Wisconcin. So far, I have the Alley Kat in Marquette; hopefully the one in Ironwood...both in the UP. I just need 4 or 5 shops to keep me busy with my fabric dyeing and maybe a class or two here and there.

Well, I am pretty tired and I need to get up fairly early to start the rinse out process. Will post photos of what's goin on down in the basement tomarrow. A lot of work, but so worth it in the end. I hopefully will make some $, the customers seem to love my fabrics and the shop owners make some $ too and have access to some pretty nice fabric to work with. Will also take picture of the sample when it is completed, needs to all be done by next Thursday, when we go up to Ironwood. Sleep well, I am hoping I will.

Looking out living room window, that is snow on garage roof...and my beautiful geraniums that are two years old now. they bloom all year, especially in the winter.

more snow, mark enlarged the garden. he doesnt like to mow so one of these years im gonna go out on the deck and the whole back yard will be garden.

snow on the back deck. i know it isnt much but it was only oct. 20th!!!!!

we pulled the garden and then mark enlarged it, so it is now three times as big as before. it will be great next year. i still need to finish the raspberries. i think i have cut back and taken out the dead wood of half the patch. it is hard going back out there once you stop but i need to get this done before the ground freezes. we also dug up the fairy circle out front. i have bags of iris, they had never been divided before. i think i will plant along the fence. i am going to plant the baby asiatic lillies that wont bloom for a couple more years back where the big ones came from. they are all out front in the fairy circle in the middle cause they are the tallest. i think i got most if not all the weeds...grasses. i could not believe all the roots going thru there. i separated and replanted everything and hopefully will produce beautiful flowers next spring and summer. i am going to plant garlic all around it to keep out the deer plus, i think the ground is soft enough to get a nice crop of garlic from. also a space for beets .the garden is a bit to clay like for stuff like garlic and beets but the broccolli and cauliflower and sugar snap peas and beasn did incredibly well. will plant lots more next year.

need to go upstairs and work on a sample i am doing for Alley Kat, in Marquette. it is "stepping stones" by judy nyemeyer...i know i spelt that wrong. it was tricky at first but am really enjoying it. i was not much of a papaer piecer but i love her pattern. i think it will go together beautifully. she also gave me an original pattern to make with my hand dyes...another sample of her pattern done plus help sell my hand dyes. i am also doing some overdyeing at same cost. i really like the look even thou it takes me an extra day. i am so thankful mark bought me and installed that top loading washing machine in the basement. will try and photograph some of my projects and post them soon. till then....take care

Mark got a new doo

I wish he would of smiled...he has a job interview on Thursday, so today he cut off his braids and tomarrow he shaves everything off except his mustache...and he said if they want him to shave that he will. he has NEVER shaved his mustache before, ever...

It really looks nice, like I said I wish he would of smiled. Luckily the lady that cut his hair, is the one who always has and didnt charge that much...what she charged him before before he moved to hawaii...and that was in 2000. He will need to get it cut at least once a month is not more if he gets this job. Oh please, oh please, oh please let Mark get this job. He has been out of work long enough and needs to go back to work and out of the house for part of the day. I love him very much but he is getting restless and is not used to not working. Makes him cranky to saw the least.

Otherwise, all is well here. They said we might get our first frost tonight or tomarrow night. Not good for my garden. Will have to see what happens.

September is just around the corner!

We had an empty 10 gallon fish tank on the deck with about 6" of rain water in it with various bugs floating on the surface. This American Gold Finch thought he could swim, obviously he cannot and Mark found him just about dead. With some gentle words and lots of gentle rubbing with clean dry towel, it took him about an hour to rally. He eventually ate from my hand and then we opened the door and he flew off.

My lovely giant full blossoming HollyHocks. I had in a single, paler pink and another full headed white. I am so happy with these. I think we are going to make an area out front on the left side of front porch a small garden. I am transplanting the roses, asiatic lillies, daffodils and plant a bunch of hollyhock seeds in the back. Hope this new little planting works out well. I have to totally dig up my fairy circle and divide all the iris and asiatic lillies. Plus Mark is going to rototil and get rocks out and all the weeds. Kind of a new beginning for the fairy circle.

Just one days picking...he bush beans are about done and the Kentucky Wonder pole beans haven't even flowered yet, well, I think I saw the hints of some. But those sugar snap peas just keep on acomin.....

I know this looks terrible. The third time I had surgery on the same area, they just kept taking more. Basil cell carcinoma rarely is malignant and rarely if ever matastisizes but it is very invasive. I have lost part of my upper lip on the right side. Part of what you see used to be on the inside of my mouth. This photo was taken about two days after surgery, the black eye hasn't even started to show yet. I had the stitches taken out on Thursday. We will wait a year to see what it looks like. Major bummer is that I cannot close mouth totally and have to use a straw to drink. I know this is a no no for bariatic patients but is the only way I can drink without wearing half of what I attempt to swallow. I massage it with very good lotion three times a day to soften the scar tissue so I don't have a hard lump. There is also a bit of excess tissue at bottom of right side of mouth. Oh well, will see what it looks like in a year.

I wish my hair would stop falling out, pretty soon I wont have any at all. Double whammy...surgery and then bariatric at that. Hard to get all the nutrients in the beginning when you don't feel the least bit interested in food. I am taking a biotin supplement for hair and nails, my nails are growing like crazy but I will do what I can for the hair. What is growing back is pure white and very wirey...uh oh......

Well, I just cleaned the kitchen floor after finding wet area behind freezer, smells like mushrooms. I steam cleaned it real well but still smells. Mark will have to check out tomarrow. I baked him some peanut butter cookies as a little surprise for when he gets up in the early a.m. I am going up to take another shower, all sweaty after cleaning and stuff.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I am going to be dyeing lots of fabric...hopefully in fall colors. Kat from the Alley Kat told me she sold all my hand dyes and wants more and is planning on taking some to her booth she will have at the Marquette quild show. I better get with it and send in my entry form...due on the 31st!!! Yikes!!!!!!

July is almost gone.............

Well, I am still loosing weight, weigh less than I have in 20 years! I am feeling good but my hair is falling out...everyone in support group says from about month 3 to 6 it falls out but it all comes back. I cut my hair about six inches again...was way past bottom and had to be careful, hair would get caught in unusual places. :-)

Here's my honeybunny. We are going downstairs to see Alice Cooper. I must say, Mark really enjoyed the show but it was a little loud and violent for me. Notice his "willie" braids. The next day we spent in Escanaba and went to the beach and swam. All in all, we had a great weekend.

Now, isn't this the prettiest pineapple upside down cake you have ever seen? I was so surprised it turned it so perfectly that I had to take a picture of it. Silly, I know, but it looked so good. Mark loved every last bit of it.

I have been dyeing alot of fabric. I am into wet on wet right now. If I had more space I would do yardage instead of smaller pieces. Right now I can manage a full half yard but maybe if I hang on clothes line Mark put up for me and used spray bottles I could pull it off. Will have to try.

Our garden is growing slowly, lots and lots of rain but we could use more sunshine. The other night had "tornado watch". The power never went out but the satalittle keep going down. Rained so hard and the wind blew like crazy. Anyone who survived hurricane Iniki knows the feeling. When the wind howls I cannot sleep. The thunder and lightning was constant and furious. But we survived with no downed trees or damage to property which is far luckier than some.

I picked sugar snap peas, green beans and broccoli. So tomarrow night I am making a chicken stir fry. Wish you were here Tori, to help us eat some of these lucsious veggies. Maybe your daddy will let you come for the summer one of these years. We would have such a good time. The raspberries are finally over...yeah...and am only waiting on the grapes and I will be done with making jam for the year. So far I have made raspberry, blueberrie and strawberry. Yummy.............

another week gone by.....

well, the garden is growing slowly but it is growing. we are getting so much rain! great for the lakes but not so good for some of the farmers around here. i have most of the raspberries staked up, some are well over 6' tall! and it makes picking so much easier. i have picked twice so far. i made mark a fresh raspberries pound cake and now i have some in the frig. when the bulk of the berries goes off i am going to be pretty busy. the weight is still coming off. i am wearing this really nice fitted blouse i bought on kauai and could never wear...now it is sort of too loose. i am thinking of maybe taking it in so i can wear a bit longer. it is supposed to get up to 100 this weekend, i dont know how well i am going to take that. i think we will be in a lake somewhere, maybe pentoga. gotta get a lifeguard hat to protect face and shoulders.and lots of sunscreen, spf 100! off to a quild meeting. we are starting to work on our next raffle quilt. i think we will start cutting the fabric and picking out the areas we want to work on. hope everyone has a happy fourth!

I cannot believe it!!!!

I cannot believe this....I know I don't look like a raving beauty but....those are my size 16WP jeans, with zipper and snap. I couldn't believe it this morning when they actually slid on and zipped up. Oh happy day...happy dance. We spent the day in town taking care of business. Mark bought a new frig which we can pick up next weekend. Our old one is 19 1/2 years old, still running but ya never know. I am just so stoked about my jeans...........

A little of this, a little of that......

These are purple finches, aren't they lovely? This is the view when I look up from my computer. I get to see lots of beautiful birds...all year long...I love it!

Here is my beautiful petunia I kept inside this winter and it has bloomed for my throughout the colder months. In another week or two I think I will let it go outside for the summer and get more green and robust hopefully before I bring in back in before the first frost. Over my kitchen sink.

I cannot tell if I look smaller in this photo, but I have lost almost 60# and those pants are a 2X vs the 4X I was wearing prior to surgery. Same with shirts...from 4X to 2X and the 2Xs are getting pretty baggy. In the background to the right, is our rock garden. Also where I have my hollyhocks and some lupines. Cannot wait for them to bloom. They didn't bloom last year, just grew, this year I start getting the flowers. Yipee! Hope it is a little nicer tomarrow so we can work in the backyard. Need to get the bunny fence up before we can plant garden. Bunny fence already around the blueberries.

May 8th 2010 SNOW!!!!!

We got 4" of very heavy wet snow last night. My raspberries have suffered a bit, many broken. The sun is out so most of this will be melted by tonight. I have lost a little over 50# in this photo. Those pants are 18/20s down from 26/28s(size 4x) and that is a 2X t-shirt. I have some shirts I will shrink out of that I will be sad about cause I love them so much. Will have to modify and make smaller. Notice the zories and sun glasses? :-)

Detail of Tori's quilt...see the kitty

Can you see the Kitty? They run around the around the top and bottom in two rows. They are cute. There are also paw prints and all sorts of fun stuff. Mikko really liked the quilting . All done from the front of my gammill. I am trying to do more custome type quilting but without a stitch regulator, I need to slow the machine way down and just be careful. I wanted to just retro fit a stith regulator to my machine but they discontinued the one I wanted. Now it is the Vision and woud cost $5000, something I do not have. One can wish and hope, I suppose.

S's quilt...Prizamatic

This is a pattern by Jeri of Jeri's Quilt's in Norway, Michigan. They have viking ships at each end of town. When Tori was here, she wanted to get in them, but it was winter and the snow was deep. Maybe when she comes for the summe one year.....Tori says S doesn't like surprises, well, if she checks out my blog she will not be surprised. I will be mailing next Wednesday. I am also sending her Tori's label for her quilt and Mikko thought S would sew on for her. The day is simply gorgeous...as was yesterday. The whole week is supposed to be hot, up to maybe 78 by Thursday. I am stoked! Have a great week!

Tori's Kitty Quilt

Tori got her quilt in the mail and has told me how much she loves it. Mikko really likes the quilting. It was all done from the front of the machine. I should of taken notes on what I did where cause I forgot, and just chanced it and it all turned out okay. Their and kitty paw prints and Kitty faces and all sorts of fun stuff. I am sorry this one post is spaced out into three but I blogged the photos from picasa and that is the only way I know how. Anyway the quilt was a hit!

one more time

I abosolutely love this photo of S and V. I am going to print it out at least 5 x 7.

Very nice pic of M and S. I just wish I had a really nice pic of M, S and V together, but somebody has to take the picture :-)

V absolutely loved the kitty quilt I made for her. I really need to make her a queen size for her bed, but I loved this quilt and the fabrics in it. Just a snuggle quilt. It is flannel so she will probably sleep on top of it rather than under it cause it is so warm on Kauai.

I asked M and S what kind of quilt they would like as wedding gift. S didn't care, said anything would be great. M is a bit more specific. The design is up to me but the entire quilt, including back has to be made completely of my hand dyes. I have a top in mind and will dye the fabrics especially for the purpose. After a couple of dye classes I can order some bolts of PFD mercerized bleached cotton and start dyeing. This will be fun!!!!

The lamp in my thermofax has burned out...whahhhhh....$85 just for the bulb. Will have to figure how to put in. Made some screens using my print goco which uses old fashion flash bulbs. We went thru 2 1/2 paks and then found out they are $29.95 per pak to replace. Boy! I hope those screens work out. I tore away the cardboard and put the screens in the small thermofax frames so they would be reuseable. Need to make some fabric paint and try them out. I would prefer using the thermofax for classes.

The birds disappeared when it snowed but they are back full force emptying the feeders as fast as we can fill them. My favs are the robins and the rare northern flicker that visits our yard. I just love the varity of birds here. So many.............

Staples out in one more week!

Well....it sure hurts more than I thought it would but less than when I had my knees done. On February 15th I had my bariatric surgery. I must say I am getting mighty sick and bored on semi liquid diet but hopefully next Thursday I get the go ahead for the soft...real food.

Ya know what I miss and crave the most?....not chocolate, or ice cream, but raw crisp veggies. Every time I see that Hidden Valley commercail with the raw cauliflower (instead of popcorn) and the kids eating the bid salads.....I have lost almost thirty pounds already. So many more to go but thirty?!!

Must pound the protein so the hair won't fall out plus don't want to damage heart. Need to get creative with protein shakes...whey protein.

I am tired...can hear Mark snoring through the floor. Hope you are all doing well. Will post before surgery photo and then Thursday at the clinic I will have them take one of me with my camera. They take photos and measure and weigh you and all. xo susan

Let it Snow

Aren't these lovely? I bought six of these when we went down to Ohio last year. I think there are two plants in this pot and they are doing great. To the right is a pot with one that is struggling, I am hoping it pulls through. I just love these dark rich colors in the gloom of winter. My rubber plant is doing well, but if I was on Kauai it would be in the ground outside and about 6' tall by now :-) .... but we are not on Kauai so we do what we can to bring some color inside for the winter.

I have yet to quilt any of the quilt tops I made in December...bad me...but I promose to do it soon. I am having my bariatric surgery in March I think so it would be good to get them done beforethat time. I only have a few wall hangings for our bi-annual quilt show so I need to get on the ball plus the quilts on our bed are in such ratty condition I don't know how much longer they can hold out.

V is doing well in school in San Diego but she really misses her daddy and Kauai. I am not sure if she will go next year or what. I am slow in getting her birthday gift done (jan.26th) and I must mail off before surgery also. So much to do and time is getting short.

I havent heard from Aimee or Max in a while. I hope all is well on that front. She doesnt have a phone so I cannot call her or talk to Maxman.
Well, I hope everyone is having a great week. Until next time xo

I am 60?!!!! today!

I cannot believe that I turned 60 years old today...hard to believe...seems only yesterday my boys were just babies and I was a young woman. Now.......
I really need to photograph and post pictures of projects I have worked on lately. I finished three quilt tops around Christmas, I still need to go into the basement and spend some quality time with my gammil to get them done. I finally finished the "quilt" afgan I started last year. I made Max Batman sheets and jammies and just need to finish his Batman quilt. His mom says she has a hard time getting him out of his jammies and into clothes for school. He is so cute!
My beautiful Victoria will be nine years old on the 26th, I am working on something very special for her... I hope she will love it.
We have been having a wierd winter...lots of sunshine with no snow...Mark says this is the least snow he can remember. But, it is only January and late February and March are the worst around here so we are not out of it completely yet. It sure is cold and damp. I prefer the snow cause if is colder but dry. Damp cold goes thru your bones.
I go for my "multidisiplenary" day for my bariatric surgery. I already have had all my preop labs, xrays and ekg. I wonder when they will actually do the surgery. I know this is not a quick fix but I am excited to get on with it. Really need to get a pool lined up. I miss swimmin on a regular basis. Fresh water cannot compare to the ocean but I must make do with what I can.
I will try and get photos tomarrow if possible. I think I am going to put up a desing wall in the basement so I can hang stuff and photograph better. Until then...............