Another day bites the dust!

It snowed today, big fat wet flakes, for about 15 minutes.  Nothing stuck to anything.  Forecast is for 1-4 before morning but I don't know if we'll actually get anything.  I did say it would snow since I have all my flower beds uncovered!  It is cold and gray as well.

Today, I tidied up my office, found my desk (again, sigh, seems to be a daily event!) and did my taxes.  Boy did I underestimate the time needed for that, even using TurboTax.  I still have some copies needed for my Missouri taxes but that's a no brainer, I just need to buy ink for my printer.  I also gathered up the necessary stuff for my one last piece of paper work but again I need ink for the printer before I can finish that.  Maybe I'll go get that tomorrow.  I've been working on entering to the computers the stuff I've gathered for the Town of Kansas book but it's slow going and again, I need to print some things-no ink.  Really must go buy ink!

I had hoped to get the sashing on the "See What You Started" quilt but no.  I don't like doing important stuff late in the day-my eyes begin to ache and I make stupid mistake.  I will do that tomorrow.  I bought the backing and batting for it yesterday, and the backing is in the washer as I type.

I'm off now to make more of those little tiny x's!  Photos again soon.

Thurssay catch-up

I've been very bad the past few months about blogging in any sort of regular fashion.  I'd like to say that there has been some reason for it but no, just feeling dull I guess.  I'll try and do better.

The weather is trying to turn spring-like, well I guess it is spring-like for Missouri- very unsettled.  It was quite warm early in the week, high 70's and muggy, then quite windy.  Today, I woke to gray skies and the 30's again, sigh.  This is my least favorite time of the year, even if I am anxious to dig in the dirt again. I have been raking up leaves, acorns and gum balls like crazy.  All the flower gardens are cleaned up (it will surely snow with all the protection off my flowers), the front and side yards are raked leaving me only the back yard to finish.  There is still plenty of other garden related things to be done, of course.  All of my spreading roses survived the winter and are covered with new growth and tiny green leaves, please don't let it snow.  It's too soon to tell about my other new plants as many are not above ground yet.  It will be interesting to see how the hill gardens fare with more sunlight now that the gum tree is gone.

I've done some sewing, nothing to show yet.  I hope to have begun the actual quilting on my MIL's quilt by the weekend.  I'll have to light a fire under me though for that to happen!  I have been doing some knitting, it's amazing how difficult some DISHRAGS can be!  I want to do more, am trying to decide if I want to make a shawl when the yarn runs $102.00.  I may be looking for an alternative yarn.  I've worked on Tanya's sock and all the little x's will be done soon, then just the back stitching and sewing it together.  She is quite excited.
I never seem to get everything done in a day that I hope too-I wonder, do I spend too much time on the computer? Probably. And I read a lot.

Today, I've been working at paper work, some dealing with Larry's death-still.  You would think that would be behind me but I have a couple of issues that just seem to drag on and on and on.  I think tomorrow will be another paper work day.  I must really be behind?  I still need to do my taxes and work up a new budget.  I'll be redoing that in a few months when Rob and Tanya get their own place. 

Think I'll head off to pick up the needle and make little x's.

Blooms!

I promised a photo of the amaryllis when they opened so here they are. Very pretty but dang it it's not December! Closer, I guess, than June but geesh.

I'm back today from Columbia. Went down yesterday for my MIL's 80th birthday party. I think she enjoyed it and she got lots of fun things in "80's" which was fun. I spent some time at the park with Scott, Bri and Libby's bunch. It had started to sprinkle but Columbia has such an awesome playground that the boys played until the slide began to get too slick and propel them off the end! All the boys large and small had a great time, although the big ones may be sore today! It began to rain in ernest as we loaded up, Libby's gang headed back to KC and I went back to Scott's apartment where we enjoyed a good visit and I slept over on the couch. I headed home about 11ish. Today is a gorgeous spring day, clear warm and windy! I hope we don't begin getting the torrents of rain we often have in the spring, the ground is saturated already with water standing every where, I won't take many big rains before flooding becomes an issue.

I have been busy.

Today was a very busy day for me.  I'm trying to make changes in my life and my surroundings so I worked over my goals for 2011.  Broke them down into measurable parts and set an ambitious plan for the day in motion.  First, stretch and walk 3 miles, check.  Then rake the leaves, and the horrid acorns, out of the front flower beds for an hour, check.  Back inside after lunch I finished the last of the blocks seen here.

These are for a special quilt for my Mother-in-Law, hoping for a Mother's Day finish.  The block is called "Lone Star" and I never want to do it again.  I began it as hand piecing, I enjoy doing sampler quilts that way, I do not enjoy doing repetitive squares that way.  Finished up the blocks on the machine, don't like doing repetitive blocks that way either!  Guess I don't really like repetitive blocks, or at least not this one.  More pictures when the top is finished.

I also entered today's quota of recipes to Word, touched up the paint in the hall bath, replaced some tiles in there as well and stuck some down better.  After this I'm headed in to watch (or listen) to TV cross-stitch, or maybe a couple of other things first.

Simba wanted me to take his picture, he looks quite comfortable doesn't he?  My camera is taking a trip on Monday, not me just my camera, Rob and Tanya are going to Puerto Rico for a conference and asked to borrow it. So no more pictures until they get back! 

Do not try this, so stupid!

So Jilly over at Jillyshappyquilts asked if we had done anything as stupid lately as she had (read all about it on her blog).  At the time I could only come up with stepping off the second step of the three step stool which I do nearly every time I get on the thing.  I must admit I did something much worse last week.

This is one of the tables in my office/sewing room.  I use it for a couple of things as you can see, cutting and pressing mostly although it rarely looks this good.  Most of the time it's set up this way and the iron is plugged into a surge protector which I use to turn it off and on.  Last week I had taken the iron to another room to do the actual ironing (there is not room in here for the big ironing board too) and when I brought it back I just set it down.  A couple of days later I was squaring up some blocks when that rotary cutter just whizzed right into the cord for the iron!  Big POP!!

Truthfully, I didn't think it was even plugged in but it was stupid not to move it. I wasn't hurt, didn't even get a shock. Can you see the chunk that POP took out of the rotary blade?  Needless to say I had to get out the other iron.  (I don't like this one, it doesn't heat very hot or produce much heat even though it is fairly new.)

So I'm serious about not trying it!  Go on all of you have a good laugh!

Doctor's update.

Today I got to visit with my hand specialist the lovely Dr Elton.  I have  been having pain in my left wrist for several months, at first I thought it needed rest but it's rested as much as it can and it still hurt so off I went to the primary care MD for a referral.  It took awhile to get it but at last I was able to get in to see her.  First, she asked about was the right hand-the Dupuytrens hand.  When I saw her with it last summer I had two bumps in my palm and the beginnings of a strand, I now have four bumps and three strands.  My last three fingers will be affected it seems but they are still straight not curving towards my palm.  It seems to be moving along more rapidly than I expected and she said the same.  There are some new treatments now, lazer and some shots that dissolve the tissue, I am hoping they will work for me when the time comes as the surgery requires pretty extensive therapy after.  Anyway, about my wrist.  The x-rays showed nothing but a spot of arthur at the base of my thumb and after much probing etc she hit a spot that HURT!  So the out come of all this is--tendonitis.  She thinks.  I had one of her lovely miracle shots (cortisone) and will return in 5 weeks.  It's a bit sore tonight. I'm really hoping it works as gardening season is upon us!

After I left her office I asked Samatha the GPS (also known as Sam or The B***h) to direct me to Libby's office so we could go out to lunch.  We haven't done that in quite a long time, it's nice to just be able to visit with her without the boys.  We're planning to do it again when I go back in April.

Well I'm off again for another exciting night of . . . wait for it. . . stitchery!

Done!

Do you see all those black boxes?  They hold four decades (and more) of photographs!  I've sorted them into years, boxed by decade or partial decade and then sorted into events.  I've probably made mistakes, I don't care.  There are still maybe 20 photos that I was unsure enough of that I didn't file them just put them in their decade.  I have been wanting this done for several years as all the photos where in rubber made totes (the big ones).  As of 2010 I've gone digital and will be adding photo books but no more paper photos, also the kids gave me a wonderful electronic photo frame for Mother's Day and photos from all over show up on that.  I can no go MARK IT OFF THE LIST!  Yipee!

Project updates!

 I haven't posted an update on my cross-stitch in a very long time, the last one had only the broom top completed.  I've been working steadily in the evenings with the television on for company.  I never watch TV in the daytime and seem to need it at night, go figure.  I hope to have the stitches in by months end, and will do the back stitch in April.  Then I will need to begin the next stocking in the list, three more after this one, I'd really like to get two done this year at least.


I've been wanting to get back into knitting again so I've been whipping up dish cloths.  They are easy and I like using them so why not.  I bought the yarn for a hat to compliment my Irish scarf, first wool yarn I have bought in a really long time.  Knitting always reminds me of my Great Aunt Daisy.  She taught me to knit when I was 11 or 12.  Quilting always makes me think of my Grandmother Hickam, I have a very vivid memory of her letting me stitch on the quilt on the frame.  I understand she was very picky so she most likely pulled my stitches out!  (So does baking bread by the way.)

I've been keeping busy even if I can't seem to remember a single thing I've done this week!  Cleaned house, sorted photos, did my stint at the Historical society (typing on the computer), had the boys over.  The usual stuff.  I've done some reading.  Am making good progress on Pacific Destiny and finished the first Harry Potter book-decided that if every 9 year old in the English speaking world (and some who don't speak English) knew who Harry was I should as well, besides I like reading Children's Literature.  Oh yeah, started walking through the park and over to the lake and back, about 3 miles in all, trying to lose the tonnage.