...and i get my life back

i can say i pretty much got lost in this quilt. i was DRIVEN to finish it! sunday night i finished the hand quilting, and tuesday i found the perfect color to bind it with. you know how you have a certain color in mind, and then you can never find it? well, i went to the fabric store and there it was. a kind of orange-y salmon-y red. thank you kaffe fasset!

so tuesday night i set to work binding the quilt, and , ta-da! it's done!

itch!

the quilt is made up of 4" squares, 20 squares x 22, about 80" x 84". i washed and dried it last night, and i love how it came out all crinkly, especially on the back. due to my "pinning together rush job", there were a few puckery places on the back. but now the whole thing looks wrinkly, so that's great!

i think violet's cooperation today was born of heat prostration (it was almost 90 degrees today!!!) rather than any desire to pose. poor girl!

excuse my color differences. i like that "retro" setting on my camera because it makes everything so soft looking, but the real color is more like the last photo.

now i can do things like mow the lawn and work in the garden...*yay*  (and maybe cook and clean...)

and, so exciting, one more day of work, then v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n!!!!!!!

it's tuesday!

not much to show from this weekend's flea marketing, but i did find these beautiful potholders!

last night i put the last stitch of quilting in my quilt. the binding fabric is in the dryer right now, and if i can tear myself away from "arrested development" tonight, i just MAY get it finished!!

where are you, my friend?

i put an orange on the tree

in the hopes of attracting this

so far---just bugs.

*************

thinking today of veterans and their families.

greening and growing

another drizzly day. one thing about the rainy weather is that i don't feel guilty sitting inside and stitching my quilt. i'd say i've probably finished quilting 300-ish squares out of 400! this morning i ran out of thread, so i'm on hold for a few hours at least...

things are growing and greening super fast around here. my big garden is already overgrown with the invasive plants that are taking it over. my gardening philosophy has turned into a survival of the fittest thing i guess...the smaller gardens i can keep up with better. the chickens also help and hinder, over-turning soil and leaving a wake of scratched up plants as they seek out bugs and worms. i just love to watch them, so i let them have their fun , and the garden just is what it is. it stills looks pretty, all wild and out of control.

i got tickets to see "the national" in a couple of weeks! sooooo excited!!

guess i better get the show on the road here-very lazy morning! have a great saturday!!!

happy friday!

so sorry for lack of posting this week! it has been quite dreary (although we really need the rain!), and all of the photos i've taken this week have basically been crap!

the new cd by "the national" came out this week, and it is soooooooooo good. slow and dreamy, beautiful and sad... here is some music by the national to start off your weekend on the right foot!

abondanza!!

our friends joe and marj just built a wood-fired brick oven and invited us for their first try making pizza! we were honored as marj is just about the best cook you'll ever meet and we knew it would be goooooood! 

that oven is so cool. they figured it was about 1000 degrees inside. you start a wood fire in the middle of the oven , and when it is hot enough, you push the wood to the back of the oven and brush out all of the ash. then you throw in a handful of flour which gets really smoky, but it shows you where the hottest spots are. then throw in the pizza and it cooks up  fast!   washed down with some of joe's amazing home brew, deeeeee-licious! brian's face says it all!

thanks joe and marj!!! (let us know when you start doing take-out!)

saturday night's alright for fighting

a decidedly '70's vibe to my yardsale haul from this morning! i also got two of those woven webbing folding chairs, you know what i mean? i love those chairs! these however, sit really close to the ground. the older woman selling them to me said "they keep you down closer to your beer cooler. just don't try to stand up later!" true!

have a great saturday!

camper time

a little late afternoon camper time!

pink rain

on sunday we visited my folks for mother's day and my father's birthday. the crab apple trees in their yard were dropping petals like pink rain! the yard was so beautiful! my niece had a good time collecting petals in her basket which she delighted in dropping on everyone's heads during picture taking time!

happy mother's day!!!

happy mother's day!!

and a belated happy birthday to you, dad!

xo

thursday

she's got legs.

she knows how to use them.

whew!

yesterday i finished the quilt top!!! it is made up of 4" squares, 400 of them, 20 squares x 20 squares, measuring 80" x 80". i started the quilting today, and that is going to take TIME!!

boy, that closeup sure shows my wobbly seams, and there are plenty of places where my points don't line up. fortunately for me these things don't bother me in the least! basically, "sewed together" is what i shoot for!

i really hope i finish this before the summer is over. better go get quilting!

PINK! in yo' face, b&%ch!

detail of vintage curtain

you have to act a little bad-ass around pink. you know, to toughen it up!

happy cinco de mayo!