A wonderful welcome

Besides coming into such a warm and lovely home for the winter, (thanks Jan & Larry!!), we also get to look at beautiful foliage each day!

Beautiful roses in bloom!  Kalee and I love sitting out front waiting for Bob to come home from golf...especially for Kalee, since she gets to go on her golf cart ride!

I love this bottle brush tree in the front yard!







And check out the Hibiscus!  We tried to make sure to cover it last winter when the temps dropped...each winter, Bob and I are afraid we'll let the plant die if it gets too cold...the temperature does drop in the late evening/early a.m. but moves up quickly during mid morning....

The flowers and limbs are hanging over onto the driveway!!!

Lovely isn't it!  It is overcast today but we had sun earlier on our a.m. dog walk.  It's 61 one out now (@ 1:46) but perfect weather for Kalee and I!  Bob will come home from golf being cold until he gets his hot bath at night!  He's an '80' degree weather guy!  Me, not so much!

We are going out for dinner tonight , New Years Eve, with 10 others...we usually don't go out on New Years but it will be nice to see everyone!  Tomorrow is another get together with everyone at LaPlantes!  They welcome all of us into their home each year...they are the best!

So Happy New Years each and all...let's hope 2014 will be the best every for us all!

we're here!

We made it safe & sound...it was a strange trip....sun so strong on Friday that you could hardly see!   I know...we shouldn't complain so we didn't....then weird drivers, lots of rain in Macon, which makes it fun to walk  dog in!  Today an accident held us up for about 45 min.  Still more traffic than we have ever run into...then 1 mile from our exit (2 miles from the community!) There was another accident!  Fortunately, we were in the far right lane...but then our gas alarm went off...we usually make it to the exit & Bob fills up before we head to the house…we did make it...
Arrived at the house& it looked so wonderful!  A huge thanks to Jan & Larry...they always make us feel like we are at home!!!
So we unload all but my art supplies from the back seat, then I take off to the grocery store (which is right across the highway, my wonderful Publix) while Bob puts together Gracie's cage.
I come home, unload groceries, get Grace & put in her in the cage, feed her then start to put away other "stuff" we unloaded...so far so good...now to make dinner...I thought it would be fun to make homemade pizza.  Got the dough ready (pizza dough by Publix), cut up onion, green pepper, mushrooms...went to put the pizza sauce out & can't find it....hmmmmmmm.  After much discussion with Bob, which I won't go into, I went back to the grocery store.  No, they didn't have it...hmmmmmm, so I bought another container...back to the house & had Bob make his own and I started to make mine...but wait, where are my olives!  I know I bought those too....hmmmmmmm.  Oh well....I did look at my receipt & did pay for both items,so I didn' t dream I bought them!
So now I was getting our salad out and started to set the table...as I was moving around a chair in the kitchen what did I find but a bag that fell onto the seat!!!  And two guesses what was in the bag!  Plus, my two cans of tuna fish & Panko crumbs....wonder how long it would have taken me to realize they were missing too! Pizza was good, I dried dishes, put away my clothes, made the bed.
Needless to say...I just took a shower, washed and dried my hair & now I am resting!   I think I've had enough for today!
Just for my record...raining when we got here, stopped when I went to the store….temp is 71 @ 9:40 p.m.  goodnight

Christmas 2013

We had a wonderful Christmas with all the kids and grand kids...but missing Ron, MJ, Ian and Kayla...but they were in our thoughts!  Just wanted to share more pictures from our ice storm...this is the beauty of winter and Michigan!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and the best to each of you in 2014!

Winter Beauty

Beautiful to look at but....

We had an ice storm last night...in addition to Kalee, not feeling well (that's another post!), trees were cracking and branches breaking throughout the night.  I was awake until after 4:30 a.m.  Needless to say I didn't get up until almost 9!  But I had to go out and take some pics this a.m....

 Bob and I both love this tree.  It's a Lancelot Crab and always has some type of berry on it throughout the year.  You'll always see birds in this tree and the different colors of the berries certainly add to its beauty.   

Berries are loaded even in winter...just hope no branches break!

Pictures don't show the beauty of this storm...there's a positive in everything, right!  

And of course I can't turn my image!  What's up with that...I took the pic portrait style but did edit and turn it...for some reason, I won't upload the way I edit it...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  

Today is cleaning and laundry day...tomorrow dog groomer, final grocery shopping, library then start some cooking.  I didn't get to have lunch with Dawn and Kris on Friday so I'm looking forward to seeing all the kids on Christmas Eve!!!  

10:00 a.m. update:  Just talked to Amber...she spent the night at Auntie's andt their electricity went out at midnight and still not on!  Yikes!  Guess we are quite lucky so far!!  

Artist, Louise Saxton

I happened upon Louise Saxton's artwork from a FaceBook post.  Her work is amazing!!!!  Talk about repurposing or reconstructing from textiles...Louise's artwork is impressive to say the least!

Grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine and enjoy some beautiful artwork (click on link above)!  Louise also has a blog and I'm now a follower for sure.  You can go to her blog here.  Enjoy!

Done but not!

I know the post title doesn't make sense but this blog is for me, right...so I know what it means...first, I want to say thank you to my blog buddy, Sherry, over at Creatology for my potpourri/sachet she made for me!  I know that I took a picture of it but dang if I can find it on my camera or on my laptop!  I'm having a heack of a time with pics lately!
Well, take another picture you say but...I packed it away to take with me to Florida!!   I thought it would smell so good and I don't know what box or bag I stashed it in!  So...you'll just have to go to Sherry's blog and check out this post!  You'll get the idea on what a lovely gift she sent me!   It does smell so good!!!  Sherry is a sweet, giving lady and you'll enjoy her blog.  She is so creative....thank you again, my friend!!

So...in between lots of lunch's out (one more tomorrow with my daughter and DIL!), I've been doing some more arm knitting!  I've only made three infinity scarves and may not make any more this winter.  My daughter has made over 11!!!  She is an over achiever!
I've made two for myself and one for a gift.  This is one I made this afternoon and I wore it tonight for dinner out.

 Speaking of eating...I think I've gained 5 lbs from eating out and it's not even after Christmas, which is when folks usually gain the weight!  Geezzzz  But starting Saturday, I'll be busy, busy....getting last minute grocery shopping, groomers for Kalee, library, cleaning out the car so I can get the back seat/floor packed up with my sewing/art supplies.  I'll do that Sunday or Monday....Tuesday, kids come up for Christmas Eve dinner and celebration and Christmas Day we have Bob's daughter and hubby for our holiday time together.
Next Thursday, I'll do laundry and we'll pack our clothes.  We never do that until the day before we leave.  We know what we're taking so no point in packing way ahead of time.  We usually have the car all packed up by 3 or 4 in the afternoon then sit and wait for morning to com!
Next Friday we head south....hope the snow holds off for the kids and for us!  We've been fortunate as only one year did we have some not so nice weather driving down the x-way.  Keeping our fingers crossed!

Count down is on!

Yep..countdown for both Christmas and heading south is on.  And with being so far ahead and relaxed! this year, I've been playing!

 I finished all the applique on my Tiffany piece...so now it's time for hand stitching in addition to free motion quilting.  I might get time to sandwich and outline quilt so the piece is stabilized before we head south...

But the fun, fun thing I did is this!

I know it doesn't look like much but....my daughter called me yesterday and asked if I've ever done any 'arm knitting'...what the heck is arm knitting!!  I never heard of it....Dawn informed me she had made 3 scarves in a little over an hour!   She then sent me to YouTube where there are several videos showing how to arm knit.  Basically, you're not using needles but your hands and arms to knit with!  Check out this pic below!   You can check out this site too for instructions.  The young lady is quite clever!

I didn't have any chunky yarn so I just used some fiber yarn I had on hand!  It really looks better on than in the picture...but if you knit and have arthritis in your hands, this is the best alternative!  It's so much fun to do...BUT....make sure you have 30-60 min. of uninterrupted time!  It's hard to walk around the house with yarn on both arms!!

Now what!

I can't believe I'm so far ahead of my normal Christmas rush!  The tree is up, the presents all wrapped and under the tree, other presents are all ready in the hands of the kids in Indiana...sewing and art supplies are all packed and I even sorted through my clothes and put ones I know for sure I'm taking south on one side of the closet... so now what do I do!

Guess I'll finish up a beaded bracelet or work on my applique piece...so nice not to be rushed this year!!!

Reverse applique

Still working away on my Tiffany piece....OK,  I'm having a heck of a time with blogger lately...if I have a pic I've 'turned' in edit program, it still won't load properly...hmmmmmmm

I've reloaded, saved, yada, yada and still can't get it to load properly...so I'm off for a glass of wine!  Frustrated to say the least!!!  UGH

It's a gift week and not even Christmas yet!

Not even Christmas and look what I've received already!  

So first up is from my neighbor, Lori!  Isn't this ornament sweet!  She's given us Bichon ornaments in the past and this one is so sweet!!

Then my DIL's mom, Nancy, sent these along to me!

 Do ya think I like Bichon's...Do ya think my family and friends know I like Bichon's!

 This is a wallet!!  I think they look more like Mandy than Kalee...

How nice of folks!!!  I have been rather busy this past week...I think I was gone every day!  This week I'm only gone Monday thru Wednesday!  Woo Hoo!!  I am doing hand work on my peacock for my 2nd Tiffany piece.  I'll post pictures later this week.  Our fiber meeting is tomorrow so we'll have show & tell then we're going out for our Christmas lunch.  Should be a good start to a good week!!
20 more days then we're headed south...I'm not stressing over packing up...guess I'm getting used to it and this year I'm not taking near as much as usual.  I'll be making our grandson, who graduates from high school in May, his T-shirt quilt while in Florida...I'll still work on other projects but this quilt will take up most of my time.  I've got all the T-shirts cut up but won't back them with stabilizer until Florida.  Easier to squish them in my packing!

My 2nd QAYG!

I finished this square (24" x 24") on Sunday (Lions didn't play so I had free time in sewing room!)...it's my 2nd QAYG piece.  Am I have having too much fun or what!

This was what I started with





And....

This is my finished square.  I'm thinking I just might use this for my Ugo background....but then I'd like to do some hand stitching on it.....decisions...decisions...with only 3 weeks or so before we head south, I might just hold off doing anything (other than stitch in the ditch to hold in place) until we get to Florida.

This week I've been gone and will be gone every day!  Geezzzz  It feels like I have a job...I hate leaving my house!  So, I'm looking forward to the weekend, so I can stay in!

QAYG Finally Hung!

Yep...I finally got to hanging up my QAYG wall hanging this past Friday!  Funny, it hangs beside Bob's chair but he never noticed!  HA...go figure!

Kalee likes dad's chair and she likes the wall hanging!

Detail shows up well with the day light!

So on to another new project....I want to work on Ugo but think I might start another hand project....sounds good to me!

We did have a very nice visit with the kids from Indiana this past Saturday.  Ron, MaryJo and Ian drove over for breakfast before they  headed over to see MJ's mom and dad in Holland, Michigan.  It's always so nice to see the kids and spend time with them.  Ian is SO tall and no, I didn't get any pictures!  Dang!  I can stand under his armpit! That's how tall he is!  And what a nice young man he is!!  That's a compliment to Ron and MJ...they are great parents and have kept the kids grounded and provided them a wonderful life foundation!

Finally, back to some art work!

It's been a busy few weeks so I am glad I finished my MACRO challenge piece several weeks ago!  Today is the reveal day!  So take a peak at Art Quilts Around the World to see all the unique art works!

This is my contribution!  It's a sunflower (in case you don't recognize it!) which was hand beaded (2 beads at a time!), background and sunflower petal fabric was created using Setacolor paint then fused/stitched, silk  leaves were stitched and background free motion quilted.

UGH...colors look really bad in this next closeup...the beads are really brighter....

And one more closeup.....

I got to pick our next challenge and I decided on Art Nouveau!  It's not due until January 31, 2014 so I should have time in between making my fiber Valentine cards!  Yikes!  Can't believe it's November 30th already!!  Where does the time go!!!!

New additions....

Well, first have to show who will be joining Darrin and his family this weekend!   Brody is a Great Dane and the kids are all so excited!!!    No, Brody isn't so excited that  he has to wear a party hat!  He just had his ears done.  Darrin said Brody is very sweet and passive and will make a great dog!  He is adorable...can't wait to  meet him, which will happen next week!

And I picked up my glass from my glass workshop at Pine Lakes Glassworks a few weeks ago!

This is the glass mug Mr. Hilty made!  I love it!!  Actually, I'm going to use it as my own private wine glass!!

This was my paper weight and the first glass piece I made!  

and this is the cooled finished piece!!!  Isn't it great!  Well, I think so!!!

Of course, sometimes you have a failure with your successes...and this was my ornament...actually, my 2nd one...I dropped the pipe holding my ornament and it broke!!!  This one was a challenge for Mr. Hilty to try and blow to form the ball from the heated glass...why you ask!  Because I was squeezing the end so hard it closed off the hole for him to blow into!  Hmmmm  So, I ended up with this!  And it's heavy!!!  It's glass folks!!

Actually, I rather like it!  It can be out all year long...looks like an egg for Easter, an ornament for Christmas and a beautiful piece of glass the rest of the year!!!    Gotta look at the positive!!!

What a weekend!!

It was a really fun weekend with the kids....I think I ate a lot but I also did a lot!!!  Or should I say moved a lot!!  Yikes!  They sure keep you busy...although, I cheated yesterday and watched the entire Lions game with Nick!  Amber was watching YouTubes and some of the game....I compromised by playing several games of Monopoly (the card game, which is wonderful!!!!  love that card game!).    Makes a great stocking stuffer!  It's a quick game with all the same real estate of the original game.

I'm reposting video's of the kids and I from the weekend.  These are the actual video's..only about 30 sec. but kinds funny!   We just have some more memories of our time together....Kalee is still sleeping, although i did take her for a 1/2 mile walk about two hours ago!  She loves those kids and cats!!

And look what Darrin and Kris dropped off at the house!!!  Yum...I also got a bottle of wine!!!  But I love my cherry pie!!!  And it came from Traverse City!  Can't get any better than that!!!  Thanks, kids!!!

Start of Grandma's Weekend!

My weekend with the kids started with picking up kids from school, having dinner then playing with the Wi!  Nick challenged me to a football game on Wi, which doesn't work out so well for this Wi challenged grandma!  I did get two interceptions!  WooHoo!  I sill don't know how I did but I did and that's what counts!

This was kids doing the Wi Dance Challenge!

Of course the kids had to get Grandma involved in the Wi Dance Challenge!  Yikes!  None of my kids got any rhythm from their 'mum'!!!
Today Nick has a BD Nerf party to go to so Amber and I are going shopping!!  Let's hope my energy level keeps up!!!  More coffee, more coffee please!!!!

More QAYG

I've been working on my QAYG panel and having a ball!  I guess I like patchwork and geometric work better than I think.  Funny, most of my work is pictorial and I don't like doing pictorial!  I always compalin that I can't draw so end up tracing pictures!   Hmmmmmm  So why do I end up designing most of my pieces that way.  Beats the heck out of me!!

I looked back at some of my favorite works and none of those (other than two!  My wolves & African lady) are pictorial.  My favorites have no identifying pictures in them!  Interesting...I decided I'm going to use the QAYG process for my Ugo piece (you can read about him on my post here).  The QAYG  patchwork will be perfect for creating the background I need.

Anyway, here's what I've been working on.  I finished adding the last border tonight, even though you don't see that in this picture!  I took this earlier this afternoon...

The lower border isn't quilted yet in this picture

Now that the quilting is done all  I have to do next is square it up (again!) then add facing and sleeve and hang!  Not sure how much I'll get done tomorrow.  I have some other to do items on my list but I should get it squared up at least!

Temp started out at 19 degrees this a.m. but it was 40 later this afternoon when I took Kalee for a walk.  Sun was out so it seemed warmer, except when you were walking into the wind!  Brrrrrrr

Monday and Aussome Ladies!

Today was our Aussome fiber group meeting....we scheduled to meet at my house this month as one of our members had some fabric to sell....so we set up her fabric bins downstairs.  It was fun shopping for fabric in my own home!
We had a great show and tell, as always....and of course lots of talking!  But of course we had to finish out the day with food!!!  So we headed 1/2 mile away to John's Restaurant for lunch.  Yum!!!

Starting on the left is Carol, Chris, Karen, LoisAnn and Mary - she wanted to eat and not have a picture taken!  Who can blame her.  Check out her lunch!  It's called John's Famous Meatball sandwich!

And this was Carol's Stromboli....Chris and LA also had Stromboli....

I brought a Stromboli home for Bob to eat since it was almost 3:00 p.m.  Saves from cooking and he really enjoyed it.

I'd love to show some of the show and tell from today's meeting but I better double check with the ladies to make sure that I can show their work!  Hope the say OK!!!

Until then...I'm off to do some sewing or beading....