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...............

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.