Getting back into my routine

It is almost 1;30 a.m. and I find myself unable to get some sleep.  Oh  went to bed at a reasonable time but that was evidently a sign for my body to sleep and then wake up early also.  sigh.  What does one do when they can't sleep?  For me it is getting back into my habit of trying to  be productive when I'm awake.

I am somewhat productive this time.  I didn't want to sew since I'm not THAT awake but I did go into my stash and try to decide what to use for backing material for a couple of projects.  Before that, however, let's see some kitten pictures.  

The kittens are till skittish but slowly they will warm up to me (insert a non evil laugh).  I have to pull myself away from all that cuteness but I managed it. 

I added a border to my tumbler flag and now it will be ready to sandwich after I decide what material for the back.  The binding will be white and I have some trip from a white jelly roll that I can use for that.

Since the fabric for the backing wasn't decided yet, I switched projects.  I picked up another UFO to work on - the gnome table runner.  It seemed like  a good thing to pick up since July is just around the corner.  It can be my Christmas in July UFO project.

I added the border and now this flimsy is ready t join the tumbler ranks in "what do I us for the back" pile. 

In order to get the picture, I folded the middle over by 5".  This will probably go as a table runner for the kitchen bar area.  It is long and should work out nice.

 I do have some white fabric which has Christmas words all over it.  That might be an option.  I think I might use that fabric for my cross stitch "Christmas words Stocking" that I am cross stitching.

The cross stitch is a work in progress since it is all words and it takes me a bit to do it.  It is good that the backstitching can be done at the same time since it too uses the same colors as the words and also two threads.

Slowly but surely, the UFOs are getting tackled.  Now I just have to work on not picking up any more UFO, I mean projects, until I finish up a couple more UFOs.  :)

I think it is time for me to try and get some more sleep.  Everybody have a great day and try to stay cool.  It is currently 77F which isn't bad.  Tomorrow/today the high should be low 90s.  Thank goodness I have a good window a/c unit.

Until next time....happy stitching...happy life.

Quilting stalled until after Monday

 I won't be working on quilting for a couple of days due to a new (to me) dryer hopefully being delivered and installed by my friend Dan and my landlord Shalom.  How does that affect my quilting?  Do I love doing laundry so much that I have to stop everything and hunt up laundry to do?  Hardly.  My house is small and the rooms and doorways are small.  That means needing a clear path and as much as possible to get the dryer inside and through the living room, through the kitchen, and into the laundry room.  Oh yes, and also to get the old dryer that doesn't work out of the laundry room, through the kitchen, and then through the living room.   That doesn't sound so bad until I realized what that actually means.  I have to take down my sewing station in the living room including my ironing board.  Moving the table the sewing machine is on isn't that bad but then I also have to move my box fan, my rocking chair and cross my fingers that I won't have to move the love seat since it sticks out a TEENY bit into the door frame of the kitchen.

The kitchen!  Yeah, ok.  Looing around I see that I need to take things off of my staging area (card table) and FINALLY find room for some of the stuff.  Take down the card table and get it out of the way.  Not too bad.  Next up is the laundry room.

Hmmm.  Nothing to do about the washer.  That has to stay where it is.  I will have to move my three tiered shelf which sits next to the dryer.  Of course before I move it I have to empty it out so I CAN move it.  Then I'll put the shelf in the pantry which is off of the laundry room.  Just have to repeat the process after the newer dryer gets installed. 

Oh yeah, one more thing.  I have some of those interlocking foam pads on my floor from my kitchen through the laundry room and then into the bathroom.  Need I say more?  At least they are easily taken apart and put back together.  

I'm tired just typing all of this up.  I think I'm going to have to get part of it done and then do some cross stitch.  Even though I'll be working on some cross stitch, I did finally figure out what to use as a border for my tumbler flag.  I will need to measure things out though before cutting so I know if I have enough of it.  THAT will also have to wait until after Monday since my cutting table is also my sewing table which means it got moved.

Now on to some brighter things.  No Hayley this time but I do have a Smudgette and a Mini Orange picture. 

 ALSO...a picture of mom eating out of the same bowl as T2!!!!!!  Hmm.  Makes me wonder about those two.  I even saw T2 lick Smudges fur a couple of times and she allowed it.  Such Scandalous behavior on Sunday morning.  I would have told them to get a room but they don't pay rent so they can't use my rooms. 

I will stop now before they give us a good case of the vapors!  (grins).

Everybody have a great day and I'll let you know how the dryer moving day goes (if it happens) after Monday.

What I've been working on...

 I finally finished my test project so that  has been submitted and could start to work on other things.  The first two projects were finishing up Welcome Bunny and then starting on a tumbler flag wall hanging.  

The tumbler flag still needs a border put on and then to the quilting part.  I won't have it finished by the Fourth of July but it will be done shortly after that.

With those two projects finished, as well as my test project I thought what else can I get done?  I looked around and pulled out a UFO.  It is a Layer Cake Lattice wall hanging.  I had most of the blocks done but now decided that I need 3 more.  Here is a picture but it will change.  It is up on the wall so  I can look at it and rearrange the color blocks a bit.  

I put it up on the wall but then had a disaster happen!  I as stepping down from my step ladder and turned too quickly.  I bumped into something and my soda, which was in my hand, flew out of my hand, turned upside down on top of my SEWING MACHINE!  Talk about a mess.  It got into my bobbin area, on top of it, underneath it, etc.  Plus I had other things on the table that got soaked as well.  I had to wash out the extra triangle blocks for the lattice quilt and they are drying now.  My notes on how to make it are all ruined.  I also had to wash/soak my wonder clips which had gotten drowned (ok, maybe too strong of a word) and more.

I cleaned it up as well as I could  I will try the sewing machine out later or possibly tomorrow to see if it still works.  :(

It won't stop me from working on something.  I have enough hand work that I will pull out in a bit.  One of them might be my hexies. A friend was wondering about EPP and I could stand to work on it more too.

Everybody have a wonderful last weekend in June!

Cuteness Galore

 I think that this post will just be to brighten up my day.  More about why I need the brightness in the next post.

So let's see some cuteness  Namely Hayley and my cats/kittens.   :)

A smudgette sighting. Hard to see since he blends in so well.

T2 coming out from under the tree to eat.

BC's turn to guard and yard.

T2 has eaten and now starts to roam.

And Roam...

BC making sure that nothing happens.

Tort imitating BC on guard duty.

BC ignoring everybody.

Mama Smudge wanting some petting time.

Tort on Guard Duty

A smudgette sighting!

T2 heard a dog so went into hiding but is finally coming back out to eat.

Of course no cuteness pictures would be complete without pictures of Hayley.

Hayley with Mama

Hayley with Grandpa

Hayley with Grandpa

Hayley with Grandma.

I hope these pictures brought a smile to your face.  Time to stop here and get to my next pot on what projects I'm working on.

SMILE and have a GREAT day.

I'm tired!

That shouldn't be a surprise.  I'm retired, I'm getting older, and I'm doing more outside.  No wonder people who retire have to watch what they do so they don't overdo it.

Today was the day that my friend Dan took me for the first of the month errands.  It started around 9:30 and off to the races (I wish) we went.  The Post Office, the Food Pantry, Dollar Tree, and Walmart.  There was a stop back at the house to put away what I got from the Food Pantry and also to adjust my Walmart shopping list.  Overall I did pretty good.  Only forgot one thing and it wasn't necessary.  I just will leave it out of the recipe  it was intended for or wait to make the recipe until I get the missing ingredient.

If that wasn't tiring enough, the pathway to the backyard caught my eye.  Or perhaps I should say that the weeds caught my eye, perhaps because they were pretty, and I knew I wouldn't relax until I started to pull them out.  Sigh.  I knew there was a reason why I didn't like to work outside in the lawn or gardens.  I'm basically lazy and don't want to work up a sweat.  Couldn't help it today.  

Here is a picture of my backyard.  Slightly overgrown?  Yeah, I thought so too.  The pathway to the backyard was just as overgrown.

After an hour I managed to get the pathway to somewhat look like one.  It still needs work done but at least I can see the path now.

Of course that meant that I needed to rake up what I pulled and cut out.  Of course I needed to put it by the curb out front.  I didn't think that would be a problem because I knew I had a wheel barrel.  Oops.  I forgot that the wheel barrel had been left in the back yard the last time it was used.  Ummm.  Perhaps I could do a version of Where's Waldo in the back yard to try and find it?  Sigh.  I guess I'll just carry armloads of the weeds to the front.

Once I started I noticed that I had an audience.  Tort reassured me that she would hold down the porch so it wouldn't get buried or lost.  BC also had taken up her place underneath the tree in the front yard in the shade.  BC, of course, left as soon as I got the camera to take a picture but I did catch Tort still lounging.

Today's total of cats came to 5.  BC, Tort, Smudge and two others.  I couldn't get a picture of the other two since they are still skittish.  One I am calling T2 since it is hard to tell the difference between that one and Tort from a distance.  I've seen T2 around before but not as a regular.  The other one is more of a patchwork of white, gold, cream and maybe brown?  I think I'll call that one Patches just to be able to give it a name.  Patches did manage to get some food before it got too busy around the door.  Hopefully she will hang around more often.

So that was my busy day.  My body is feeling the weed pulling now so I'm going to stop and take some Ibuprofen.

I hope everybody has a great evening.

Memorial Day 2021

 There are so many things that I want to remember and acknowledge but my fingers and brain get al tied up and nothing sounds right.

Today is Memorial Day.  When I Googled Memorial Day, it came u with 

"Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. ... Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971."

That might be the technical definition or explanation but I grew up with a more extended version.  When I was growing up things like parades were still possible and looked forward to.  Memorial Day and Veteran's Day were two of the biggest parade days.  The local organizations would put on a parade complete with marching bands, marching Vets in their uniforms and people standing on the sidewalks screaming their thanks and applauding.  The Vets and band would lead us to the local cemetery where a service would be held and then it was time to mingle at the local park and listen to the stories.  It was both a good time as well as a sad time.  Still it was good that the soldiers were not forgotten.

In today's society, it is easy sometimes to forget that.  To forget the simple things  like saying thank you.  It is a small thing but means so much to most everybody.  So, let me say Thank You to all who served whether it was in a combat situation or just a desk clerk.  Thank you also to the families that stayed at home and help support our soldiers.  It wasn't easy for either group.

Picnics are aso associated with Memorial Day.  That was the theme (semi) for my Memorial Day meal.  I asked my friend Dan to come over and we sort of had an indoor picnic.  That meant sandwiches and salads.  My meal also had to be made from what I had on hand since I wouldn't be able to go to the grocery store until AFTER Memorial Day.  So my meals consisted of:

Sandwiches - Sloppy Joes and BBQ (Pork)

Dips - Garlic Ranch Dip, Salsa and Sour Cream Dip

Ritz Crackers and another type of cracker for the dips

Macaroni Salad - a new recipe (Thanks Connie).  I will use less sugar next time

Deviled Eggs

Apple Pie with Whipped Topping for dessert.

It is time for me to sign off for now.  I have a pipe that sprung a leak and my landlord is here to see where the leak is at and where we need to shut off the water at.  I can't see where it is leaking but it sounds like a mini Niagara Falls.  I'll let you know what happened in my next post.  Everybody have a great day.

Memorial Day Weekend

 Sorry for not posting earlier but life has been hectic.  I've been dealing with Social Security  Administration, trying to get things set up for Social Security when I turn 65 in July.  I wasted 10 days when the 800 number gave me wrong info.  Finally I got the number for our somewhat local branch and found out that the person I talked to had given me wrong information.  I did get some things straightened out and now am back in a holding pattern.  Sigh.  Things will evetually get straightened out.  Patience Bonni...patience.

This will be a somewhat short post.  I have lots to do to get ready for Monday's company and meal.  But I did want to share some more pictures of Hailey.  

In case you are tired of seeing her picture (gasp) I thought I'd show you some more of the cats again.  Yeah, you're probably tired of seeing them too.  hehehe

Those are pictures of Smudge (dark) and BC.  Didn't get one of Tort this time.  We had a lot of rain last night so I'm not sure if they will be out early today or not.  Hopefully they got their dinner all eaten before the rain came. 

I need to run and get some non crafting stuff done.  Everybody have a good weekend and I'll chat with you next time.

Another Day in the Neighborhood

The rain has come on and off for the past week and it looks like the weekend won't be different.  That's ok.  It gives me time to think on projects and what I want to do  It also gives me time to put my foot through the floor and call the landlord to get it fixed.  Yep, that's right.  The other day I was walking into my sewing room and my foot went through the floor.  I'm a bit bruised and have body aches but nothing broken and nothing that Ibuprofen won't take care of.  Of course I have talked to my landlord and he will be coming over probably today.  He thinks it should be an easy fix and that he just needs time to get off work in order to take care of it or arrange for somebody else to take care of it for him.  

The week hasn't been a total loss.  I finished and hung up my Covid-ville wall hanging.

Now George, my dragon, gets to add it to the things he is protecting in that corner of the house.

I also received my new mug.  It says Egg Fever and the picture on it is the frog lady from the Mandalorian series.  It's not for everyone but I like it and it made me smile.

I did manage to figure out why, besides being lazy, I hadn't finished my Welcome Bunny sign.  It needed a border on it. I cut out a five inch border but it will get it cut down to somewhere between 4" - 4 1/2" before binding gets put on.  I like it better now.

That's about it for the news this time.  I did, however, manage to grab some more pictures off of Facebook of Haley.  Enjoy and have a great day!

Welcome to May

 If April showers bring May flowers, what does May showers bring?  That's what I have today...showers.  Actually I think we are supposed to get showers for the next three or four days.  Showers are good incentive to stay inside and work on things.  Here is a picture of my design wall and what I am working on.

The top row shows my work in progress.  The turtle I made before and I thought it needed some companions so I am working on the gecko now.  These pieces are fused down but I will probably add more and when I do my hand button hole stitching over everything, I will fill in the gaps.  Perhaps some more fabric too but we'll see.

The second row shows row 6 of the 9 patch stitch along.  It is 8 blocks wide but this one is just folded in half to take the picture.  Row 7 will be the spool block but I haven't started that yet.

The third row are my blocks for the Ladies Aid BOM.  The first two blocks are all stitched but since I bought the whole pattern as a whole, I don't have to wait for the next block.  I have block 3 all fused down but not stitched down yet.  I really like working on this BOM since the blocks are 15 inches finished and they are not "cluttered".  It's a break from some of the other stitching I'm doing. 

I ran across a picture of my layout for a cross wall hanging that I did for a friend whose last name is Cross.  I think I got it from one of the ladies from my Facebook group but can't remember.  I do know that I didn't write down directions besides noting that the squares finish at 2 1/2".  Just keep adding borders until you get the size you want.

I did find some more pictures of Haley so I'll end today with those.  :)

I love seeing pictures of my nephew interacting with his first grandchild.  :)

I hope everybody has a great day!