Long overdue post

It's been a busy time for me. Had the opportunity to give a couple of classes on maintaining Singer Featherweight sewing machines. That is such fun. Knitting has been a blast. Need to take pics of stuff finished and post. Currently have a baby blanket on the needles. And I haven't made any more yarn purchases for a while, lol. My longarm quilting machine has a new home and the new owners will put her through her paces. My quilting will be on small pieces from now on. Gabby, my daughter Liz's little one, came to visit almost a month ago, and she has been such a joy. We have had tea parties, gone to the park and library. We have been at Connie's home for a visit. Gabby has gone fishing for her first time (caught 3 fish) and has camped out in a tent for the first time with aunt Connie. She has become proficient with Nanay's iPad. She will spend a week with my son Mike and his family and then will go back home. Sure wish she lived closer.

It's Mothers' Day

The middle of May has arrived already!  And today is the special day for all mothers. I have been so blessed to have my children.  They are wonderful adults and I am so proud of them all.  And of course, they are the source of my grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I received wonderful pics of granddaughter Cassie this week.  She has grown into such a pretty young lady. 
This has been a busy week as usual with knitting, quilting, and the usual weekly doings.  Yesterday, we picked up two tiny kittens at the Kansas Human Society to foster for a couple of weeks.  They will go back when they reach two pounds for spay/neuter, shots and be put up for adoption. 
I thought I wanted an iPad, but they are too expensive and I don't think I want a Kindle or Nook.  Guess I'll wait for the iPads to come down in price. 
I hope all have a blessed day.

It's May Already

The months are sure flying by.  Seems the older I get, the faster time flies.
It has been a stormy spring for us here in Kansas.  Lots of tornadoes, which we have been spared here at our home.  It was supposed to be sunny today but now looks like rain.
Our poodle, Lil Red, went to the groomer early this am; she really doesn't like being groomed and stayed by the door, lol.
The first vest that I have knitted has been finished.  I like the pattern ok, but not the yarn.  The next one needs to be modified some, I think. Today I am starting a scarf and will spend the afternoon at the yarn shop knitting with other ladies and having a great time.
My quilting has been slowed by having someone else's quilt on the frame and he had to go to FL to his mother's funeral.  I am still on target with my paper-pieced stars.  Posting the last two today. 
Pinterest is where I post a lot of stuff I like from both here and the web.  It is a fun thing to do. 
Miss Gabby, one of my granddaughters, comes to visit in mid-June for a month.  She turns 5 this month.  Cassie, my granddaughter in OK graduates from Oklahoma School of Science and Math this month as well.  She plans on going on to OU, where her brother and boyfriend attend.  Melissa, granddaughter in TX is taking online college classes in Health Admin. 
I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and got my APAP machine last Friday.  It is not hard to get used to, but I think a different mask is needed. 
I hope all who read this have a blessed day!!!

Time to check in again.

It's been a busy week for us.  Tuesday, there was the Queen Bees quilting small group.  The girls had a wonderful cheescake birthday cake for me and cards with gift certificates to a quilt and a yarn shop.  They are such a great group of ladies.  Wednesday afternoon, there was knitting at the local yarn shop where I spent my gift certificate, lol.  Thursday, I cleaned house all day; worked myself down to a frazzle!  Friday morning, the fellow who is buying the longarm came over to do a wall hanging for practice on the machine.  Today, I had a meeting at the Kansas Humane Society at 11 and spent a good part of the afternoon planting flowers and moving my indoor plants outside.  And also quilted three quilts on the Gammill this week.  In the evenings, there has been the vest to be knitted upon-seems like I'll never get done.
So tomorrow there is church and just doing some knitting in the afternoon. 
I'm adding some pics; Little Girl, the tamest feral cat; my iris and a quilt that our small group did for Quilts of Valor.  It was recently presented to a veteran at a motorcycle shop in a neighboring town.

WE ARE OK

Did not get a lot of sleep.  They say we had 97 tornados last night here in Kansas.  Parts of Wichita did not fare as well as we did.  Our county has been declared a disaster area by the Govenor. 
We had extensive rain and some small hail and high wind; it is still dark so don't know how the outside of the house is yet.  I had cut my beautiful Iris and they are safe inside.  The dogs were upset by the thunder and wind. 
We were watching the TV for literally hours to see if we needed to go to shelter; thank goodness we did not have to go there.  The poor TV meterologists have been on duty for hours and hours.  It is now quiet for the first time tonight since the rain started.
There is one small town in Nebraska that is 75% gone; have not heard of the casualties yet. 
Everyone have a great Sunday!!!

Easter Sunday and my 74th Birthday

Looks like I'm tardy as usual in keeping this blog up to date. 

We are having a wonderful, sunny day here in Kansas.  The yard is so tall from all the rain we may have to get a hay baler to come in and tame it down.
The iris and spirea are blooming a little early this year due to the warm weather and abundant rain.
We had a wonderful brunch and church service this morning.  Our friend Kevin went with us.  Afterwards Don took a pic of me in front of the spirea bush for my  birthday.  He bought me a lovely Fossil purse earlier in the week. 
I shall update my pics today.  I plan to just having a great day and doing almost nothing, lol.
I have six weeks left to get my longarm quilting done before the new owner picks the Gammill up.  And my knitting is progressing nicely with a vest in progress.

Catching up

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted.  February  has been a really busy, fast month.
Sarajane has recovered from her dental procedure and is doing fine.  We lost one of the feral cats, the one I first called Sweetie, thinking he was a she.  Apparently he got hit by a car and bled out internally.  The next day Little Girl came up to be petted for the first time and has rapidly become quite the little pet.  Have not picked her up as of yet, but it will happen.  Stumpy has run off the other boy cats.  As soon as we can, he will be neutered and I hope that solves the problem.  Fred has been the most tramatized by Stumpy and has lost a lot of weight.  I saw him last night and when I picked him up, he is thin.  So much for the pets; Red is doing just fine.
Our quilt retreat was just super.  Not a lot of girls; 33 total I think.  But this time of the year, the winter weather is uncertain and probably affected the attendance.  Anyway, I had a great time, finished a top for QOV and made several of the stars (got ahead for once on those).  Got better acquainted with some of the girls in the guild. 
Finished the sock class and am almost done with the second sock that I did by myself. Yeah! 
Crocus are starting to bloom and the daffodils are up a few inches.  Spring is not far away; I love the spring.
My daughter Connie was in town for a short time and got to spend a couple of hours with her, which was a very good thing.
Don had a nasty virus, which he passed on to me.  So this week has not been great.  Hopefully by the weekend I shall feel much better.
Yesterday it was 73 here in Wichita. Today the temp is at 38 at almost 9am and we are supposed to have a very windy day.  So much for spring.
Take care everyone.

Quiet Thursday

Today has been an easy going day except for Sarajane's trip to the vet for a dental.  They pulled eight teeth, making a total of 10  since last August.  Poor little girl !!
I've done some knitting,  loading a quilt on the longarm and arranging blocks for a QOV quilt and cutting the border fabric.
I'm adding some comments from Allfreeknitting.com regarding a giveaway of yarn.  I hope I win it, but you can enter if you wish, lol.
We are giving away two skeins of Blue Face Worsted Yarn in Pumpkin King to one lucky winner. This gorgeous artisan yarn retails for $24 a hank, but it is so worth the money! Each 4 oz. hank features 200 yards of hand painted yarn spun for its strength and durability. I'm making a nice autumn cowl out of my stash, but this yarn could easily be used for a fall sweater, mittens or a hat.  www.allfreeknitting.com

It is supposed to rain most of the night and I surely hope it does as we really need the moisture to relieve our dry winter. 
And today is groundhog day, but I don't put much stock in the groundhog. 
Have a pleasant evening, all.

Warm, sunny day in Kansas

So on January 31st, it was 68 degrees and sunny!  The dogs played outside and enjoyed the warm day.  The cats all sunned most of the day.  We do have rain forecast for later in the week and we surely do need the moisture. 
As for myself, I spent most of it working on Quilts of Valor.  Had to go to the LQS and get some border and background fabric for two QOVs.  Then went to the store aned got some vinegar to set the dye in some blue and red fabrics.  Also picked up some Pine Nut Hummus for Don and a cooked chicken for supper.  We will use the rest of the chicken tomorrow in wraps. 
Tonight we watched Biggest Loser and and worked on knitting the cuff for the sock class.  
It's almost bedtime, so goodnight everyone and God Bless You!!

It's a sunny day in Kansas

My, this week has flown by!  Let's see, did I get anything done this week???  Yes, our quilting small group got a top ready for quilting that goes to QOV and they will put another together at the  next meeting in two weeks.  And I almost have a jelly roll top ready to quilt.  Just need to find a border.
My sock class was great and I have homework for the class next week.  The Twist in Wichita is a great yarn shop to just sit and knit or crochet and visit. I did get my cuff done for a show and tell on a knitting board I belong to.  And am making a gift for my valentine swap partner on the same list.  It is half done, hope to get it finished today.
The  new cat, Stumpy, has run papacat off.  Poor guy has to sneak to get a bite to eat.  I thought I had a home for Stumpy, but it didn't work out.  Now I am on the list to get him neutered and rabies shot. Perhaps then I can find him a home.  He is a sweet cat.  And I hope to take new pics of all the  feral cats next week when it is warm and they will be more visible.
Have a blessed day, all.

ANOTHER SUNDAY IN KANSAS

Hello everyone!!!  It is in the mid 50s here with rain moving in.  At least it is not snow and/or ice.
This has been a busy January.  Trying to get some quilting done and lots of other things.  I started a sock class at one of the local knitting shops.  It is fun so far. 
We had some mini workshops at the last quilt guild meeting.  One was on making a pon-shawl.  So since Hancocks had their heavy fleece on for 70% off, I had to make one and put some machine embroidery on it.  I really like it.
The new cat is still here and haven't found his family yet.  He causes quite a stir when he gets mad at papacat.  Time to get the gonads removed. I do not think he intends to leave.
Red went to the groomer Friday am and they put the cutest bows on her for Valentine's.  Here is a pic of both our girls.  Neither dog likes her picture taken.  Sarajane has to have all her upper teeth between the canines removed on Feb 2nd.  She just had a dental in August, but this is just so sad.  They don't know yet about her canines.  I have to put mouthwash in her mouth  every day - she hates it.
My next two blocks in the "50 Paper Pieced Blocks" by Carol Doak are done and you and see them.
I have two Quilts of Valor to get quilted as soon as I can.  I seem to always be behind-my own fault for getting into too much stuff.
Have a blessed week, everyone.

Hello There!!

January is just flitting by, it seems.  The weather has been just super this past week.  Today it is mostly cloudy, windy and in the mid 40s.  Could certainly be much worse.
I'm posting my second star block in the series called Alaska.  I have all the pieces cut out for the next one, but will probably not get started on it today.
We are going to start a project at church for the next several months.  In conjunction with a mission group going to Africa to see about re-opening a hospital in Mozambique, we want to make little "pillowcase" dresses and boxer shorts for the children there.  Pastor will take them with him, so shipping won't be a problem. Our youth pastor wants to involve the youth, so we will be teaching beginning sewing in this process. 
In the feral cat colony, there is a new addition.  He is an intact male that at some point has had half his tail cut off.  Since he seems to have joined the group, we shall have him neutered and rabies shots done through Friends of Felines.  This group has been so good to us in helping with the trapping of our colony.  MamaCat definitely does not like him and routinely chases him off.  Perhaps when he is neutered, she will be better to him.
I do have a quilt on the longarm that needs attention this coming week.  I'm having a little difficulty trying to decide just how to quilt it.  Think I just need to stand and look at it until something comes to my feeble brain, lol.
Have a blessed week, all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here it is already, 2012.  Seems like last year flew by soooo fast. 
We went to church this am, no sunday school.  Had a great service.  We are joining in with other to read through the Bible this year-have to try to keep up.
Yesterday it was 66 here in Wichita, a great day!  Today it is going to be about mid 40s and sunshine.
We don't have any black-eyed peas; maybe black beans? 
I suppose I shall do some knitting, perhaps some machine embroidery and really need to get Shawn's quilt on the longarm.  I did not even remember having it to quilt-evidentally  I've had it for a few years!
I certainly hope 2012 will be a healthy year and I get lots of unfinished quilting done.  Someone is interested in the longarm, so I need to get caught up so I can sell it.
Have a blessed day, all.