Saturday, October 19, 2013

Halloween is coming...

And the kids decided on a Brave theme...


Thursday, October 17, 2013

One week

In one week, this precious angel


will be twenty-one years old. I am not sure how it happened so quickly. Surely twenty-one years cannot have passed by since she arrived!

I am so lucky to have her.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Besides quilting...

Today, I began with P90X Plyometrics. That's an hour of "jump training"...basically high impact aerobics that I modify to cooperate with my 47-year-old body so that I am not injured. I still get an amazing workout, and I catch myself doing more than I could do the week before. 

Then breakfast...today's breakfast was very typical. I had a peach, half of an avocado, one slice of bacon and three eggs.

After a round of my Internet habitrail (email, Facebook, various quilting blogs and sites), I showered and D and I headed into town for a quick errand. Then home to our projects...

I bound a quilt I will be offering for sale in November, then spent the afternoon piecing another lovely quilt (also to be sold). I had a great visit with my mom on the phone while I worked.



Since today is Wednesday, I went to Bible study this evening at the Coffee Shack. We had sweet fellowship, discussing what we learned from Malachi, Psalms, and Acts.

Home to dinner in the crockpot (pot roast, with mushrooms, leeks and tomatoes) and a little reading, while D watched a History channel show on ancient Persia.  

Another productive day spent swimming to my own current! Night, all. 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Always quilting!

I pieced four quilts yesterday (yes, 4!), so no time for blogging. I quilted two today as part of my plan to prepare for an art sale on November 16. Oh, and I already sold one.



I also quilted a customer quilt! That brings my total to 18.



But I realized that I really didn't remember to eat...well, something had to go, right?

I did workout (so I probably won't be able to raise my arms tomorrow), and led my Bible study group tonight. We are all enjoying Gideon, and are challenged by it.

Tomorrow? More quilting planned! 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Weekend work

I have found a business that keeps me dreaming, scheming and designing day and night. So much so, in fact, that I "work" on weekends, and resent interruption.

This is good, right?

Yesterday I quilted a 63"x 66" quilt for a customer while streaming Once Upon A Time season 2 on Netflix. It was a gorgeous quilt, and the chocolate brown thread I chose just snuggled right in to the fabrics.




I have a stack of plans of my own for this week. I will probably start instead of napping on Sunday.

What are you creating?

Friday, October 11, 2013

Food and fun Friday

Friday night means Gingersnap time. She speaks her mind these days, and of course she gets everything she wants...she runs into my arms, and cries when she has to leave. I am "Gams."

Tonight we fed stale croutons to the fish, and she helped me drink my coffee. She asked for grapes, and I gave her some. She even remembered the "thank you."

Here we are on June 1, 2013, at "Uncle" and Aunt Maggie's wedding.


But here we are in my all-time favorite picture of the two of us from summer 2012...she is a child who knows to go for what she wants. (Do not fear; no taco was consumed.)


Good night, Gingersnap.


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Plans and progress

I met a new client Tuesday morning, and am minutes away from finishing up her first quilt, a lovely red Christmas print "Bricks and Stones" lap quilt. She chose an all-over meander pattern, which is one of my favorite ways to finish a quilt. This is the first time I have ever allowed the computer to drive the pattern, however, and I find I am kinda missing pushing the machine around myself.

Until I remember the backaches...

I signed up for an art sale at Coffee Shack on November 16, so I have a little over a month to get pieces ready to sell. I have lots of ideas! 


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Rainy, quilty day!

I was blessed to spend the day under two quilts, hand-stitching the bindings down, visiting with a friend, and listening to the rain. 



I also watched Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, which led me to introduce my friend to Nathan Fillion's Castle.

This. This is why I love my life.

Oh, and we ate such delicious food today as well. Fresh eggs from Henny Penny, with sausage and apple...pork chops, sweet potato and salad...roast beef and steamed veggies...fresh fruit for snacks. Topped it all off with a pumpkin tea made in steamed almond milk at Bible study this evening at the Coffee Shack.

Tomorrow's goal--finish two quilts! One for me, and one for a client...

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Apps often work! Technology is cool.

I have been on a blogging hiatus primarily due to the inconvenience of it all..."where is my laptop?...mutter, mutter...why does it need 16 updates?...why is it sooooo slooooooow?!?" I tried blogging from the iPad, where it comes on instantaneously, and the Internet is like turning the page in a book (thank you, Steve Jobs!) a few years ago, but didn't enjoy the peck-typing it necessitates, and felt I lost functionality.

Not anymore! Behold the Blogger App! So easy, even I can do it. :-) So sorry for all of you...I will be blogging again!

Oh, and this happened since I last blogged:


As well as this:





Monday, October 7, 2013

Well Fed

Hi, I'm back.

No promises that I'll stay, but I have had dramatic changes here in the last year, so it will take a while to catch up.

A simple change has been our diet. 2013 has been a year of health focus for us, so after instilling a routine exercise program, we also changed the way we eat to a whole foods centered program. It really simplified shopping; I only buy single ingredient fresh foods for the most part, in either the fresh produce or fresh meats sections of the grocery store. We no longer eat grains (of any kind, including "whole" grains), dairy, legumes or added sugar. Well, with some moderation...Dennis likes a spoon of sugar in his coffee, and he's switched to half and half. But no chemicals--no Coffeemate or Splenda for us.

We've lost a combined 100 pounds so far, and feel fabulous. We eat all the time, and everything we eat looks magnificent as well as tasting that way.

My newest cookbook addition is Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan, so over the next few weeks I'll post some experiments from that book...just in time for Well Fed 2 to come out.