more christmas and random

this is a christmas blanket for alexia

it also all flannelly and cozy

and i bought the front all in a one piece panel

yesterday i came out onto the porch and found nitzy enjoying the new (to us) chair

one day last week, as i was driving home,

the sun was shining brightly on the house,

but the trees all around were shaded

i don't know if it shows here, i am no photographer,

but it was cool

october 12th

dear diary,

happy columbus day.

we had company off and on all day. we love company. cheryl came over for coffee this morning. jesse cleared an area, this weekend, between the old house and the new house. i put a couple of chairs in the cleared area and we sat there with our coffee. it slopes upward from the road and provides a nice view of the bog and little pond.

debbie and kevin came over with shawn and mackenzie later in the morning. their printer isn't working and she wanted to print out the itinerary for the trip to oklahoma. debbie, kevin and i are going out for geny's funeral. she died saturday. she had been in and out of the hospital a lot this year, but i think it was still unexpected at this time. i have been really sad all weekend.

laurie came over around noon and had tea. she wrapped christmas presents for me. it was on my list of things to do over the holiday weekend. i am trying to get ahead of the game, since i will be leaving for japan on december 11th. i have put a small dent in my list and if i wrap as i buy, i should be in good shape before i go.

cindi came home saturday from the hospital. she has to go back as an outpatient to have more fluid drained this week. the cat scan they did before she left, showed that there was still some in her lung. they wanted to keep her until tomorrow, but she opted to go back this week instead.

i didn't get much done today, so i will scramble tomorrow to get caught up a bit before leaving early wednesday morning. the wake is thursday and the funeral friday. we come home saturday.

i have some pictures to post, but i need to get them onto the computer. i will do that a little later, so you have something to REALLY look forward to tomorrow.

october 9th

dear diary,

i am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

i think i have stepped on some toes.

anyway....

cindi is doing well and feeling better after having fluid drained from her lung. i feel really bad that she spent all morning alone, before her procedure. when i spoke with her at 9 this morning i thought they taking her to do it soon after we hung up. it turned out she spent at least 2 hours waiting. i would have gone to keep her company. her family is taking turns visiting with her this afternoon and evening. maybe i can go tomorrow. hopefully she can come home then. i hope she knows i am thinking of her.

i caught up on a lot of chores today while waiting for news from the hospital. i rolled coins. our change jar (not a big one) was full. i rolled over $50. i was pleasantly surprised.

we are going to martha and herb's for dinner tonight. i made inside out ravioli. herb's daughter is here from california. she was a little girl the last time i saw her. we will also be celebrating april's birthday. it was yesterday.

the weather is warmish and raining. the leaves are changing and falling. i really love this time of year. it is my favorite.

october 8th

dear diary,

it is staying dark later in the morning and i have a harder time getting up while it is still dark outside. i woke up at 5:07 and was really happy to not have to get up yet. i woke up again and it was 6:15. i got up. exciting reading so far, eh.

i called jesse (after making his lunch, ham and cheese w/spicy mustard on 10 grain bread, and all the usual sides) and he said that he wasn't coming over. he still had yesterday's lunch, since he got out so early.

i spoke with devin yesterday. he was napping so we didn't talk long. he had asked how i make meatloaf (beatloaf) the last time we talked, he was going to make one. i don't really use a recipe, so i told him "about this much and that much". he said it came out fine, except he used too much ketchup for the glaze for the top. (ketchup brown sugar and worcester sauce)

last week i spent most of my days cleaning and washing windows, my incentive being that the relatives were coming on saturday. this week i have done nothing. i do make the bed and load and unload the dishwasher. anyway, today i am planning to catch up on laundry and at least run the vacuum. everything else is still looking pretty good.

i will post this later in case something really exciting happens during the day!!

well i cleaned the master bathroom and that was it for chores today. i spent the day at the e.r. with cindi.. she has fluid in one of her lungs and was admitted, finally, after about 6 hours. they will probably drain the fluid tomorrow and she will feel much better. she has been sick for about a week (?) and after being on antibiotics for a few days, was not feeling any better. i'll keep you posted on her condition.

october 7 th

casey thinks i should start posting the days events, like patty, so my blog isn't so boring. he didn't say that last bit, those are my words. little does he know, it STILL won't be too interesting. hah

ok so this is my day....

dear diary,

today it was raining like mad when i got up. it was dark and gloomy. it was one crazy day of weather though. it was in the low 70's by mid afternoon and the sun was shining. then it rained again. and got sunny again.

morning was uneventful... chores, games on facebook while i waited to see if casey would be available for video chatting, he was. yay!!

jesse dropped nitzy off when he picked up his lunch and coffee. todays lunch was: roast beef on a whole wheat bulky roll, with chips, fig newtons, a cheese stick, banana, boiled egg and fruit snacks.

i was going to take nitzy to the vet for him, but he got out of work early because of the weather and took her himself.

i need to call devin to see (again) how is emt class is going.

i took gramma to get her hair done, while she was there i went and got a flu shot. then picked up a case at dr. l's and ran into the grocery store to get some bread, milk, cream and a few other things. after picking up gramma, we went to pick bryana up at school. brother dougie had a meeting and wouldn't be out in time to get her. we stopped at mcdonald's and got her a yogurt parfait (they are so yummy) and some apple dippers. ( you don't have to get unhealthy food EVERY time you go there). we dropped her off to dougie and came home.

i had some shipping to do when i got back so i packed it up and went to the post office, getting there only 5 minutes before they closed.

husband doug has gone to running class. i went a few times and walked the track at the high school while he ran, but it is wicked windy now and will be too cold. it will also be dark before he finishes up and, also, i am a lazy slug.

we will probably have leftover chili for dinner or red beans and rice, with smoked sausage. i am going to make a salad to go with whichever....

stealing from casey

beautiful, beautiful mama

sweet baby, almost ready

my sweet baby, i think i see a resemblance

merry christmas

this is the blanket i made for sweet baby ray

for christmas.

it was really easy because i bought the

front piece all put together in a panel.

same thing with the back,

all the little squares were already sewn together.

i just tied the front, batting and back together and sewed

on the binding.

it is all flannelly and chenilley.

very cozy.

i hope he loves it.

blanket # 2

when i finished with casey's blanket

i decided to try making another one.

i made this one for bellah,

chelsie's new baby.

i think it came out pretty cute.

sadly.... 2 of the turkeys were hit on 6a.

turkeys

these wild turkeys have been spotted in the neighborhood all summer.

a mama and 8 babies.

nitzy has had fun chasing them a couple of times,

when i let her out, not realizing they were in our yard.

cheryl said she saw them eating at her bird feeder.

the babies are almost the same size as their mom, now.

we see them on 6a, too, and worry that they will get hit.

blanky done

the edging is cut and stitched to the front (by machine)

and back (painstakingly by hand)

TA DAH!!!

and it is in japan waiting for sweet baby ray

(although casey may be snuggling with it for now)

(i had to edit this post, when i realize i had already posted practically the same stuff!!)

i can't keep a secret

remember casey's blanket?

i had the bright idea to "fix" it and

send it to casey and chieko

for sweet baby ray

i went to tumbelweeds and picked out some fabric

i had to remove all of the old, shredded backing

and worn out filling.

i managed to get it taken apart without

harming the printed top piece.

then i had to go back to tumbleweeds and sign up for some

one on one instruction on how to "quilt"

the first night i went, i cut and sewed a border onto the original

blanket, along with some additional fabric to bolster (?)

the very thin (loved) original piece

i went back the following week and layered

the top part

the new batting

and the new back.

after pinning the 3 layers together,

i hand tied the blanket in about

a million places

(i exaggerate!)

i don't know if you can

click on the pictures to see more detail

there is no class tonight,

so i will go back next week to sew on the binding.

this was going to be a surprise, but

i told casey this morning.

i am such a loser.

randomness

the lettuce is growing faster than we can eat it.

we share

the lilies

the daisies

nasturtiums

we had some of these in our salad the other night

beans!!!

little jerry

well here he is.... for now anyway.

he got a check up and his shots have been updated.

he jumped out of the car window today on the way home from the vet.

we were just one house away from home, he was on my lap, i was going slow.

he is roaming in the bog/woods at the moment.

he was not thrilled to be kept inside since tuesday..

i sure hope he comes back later.

i just spent $200+ on vet bills, haha.

here he is enjoying his first night back.

pppuuuurrrrr

blanky

this is casey's old blanket.

we brought it everywhere.

if we went for a bike ride, it was folded up and put on the seat, a cushion of sorts.

it was so loved and worn we had to sew a new back onto it.

just a sheet, but it held together until casey didn't need it any more.

he didn't take it to japan.

he left it for me.

you won't believe this!!!

cheryl and i were coming home from the post office this morning.

when we got to the next door neighbors house, there was a black and white kitty walking up their driveway.

we stopped and called "little jerry"

he turned and looked at us (it was him!!) and continued to walk up the driveway.

i got out and kept calling to him.

he didn't run away.

he let me pick him up, but jumped down when i started walking toward our house (he scratched me)

so i sat at patted him while cheryl drove to her house for cat food (i had given the rest of mine away). then i picked him up again and brought him home, into the lab, away from nitzy, where he wolfed down some food. then he heard nitzy outside the door and quickly hid out behind one of the cabinets.

he has a vet appointment in a couple of hours.

i hope i can get him out.

i am embarrassed that we buried someone else's cat in our back yard, but i feel a little better about being so unsure that the other cat was really him.

hair cut

i had my hair cut "etc. " today

sweet baby ray

not to be copying casey's blog,

but i am.

this sweet baby is a boy.

ray is the only name i have heard mentioned.

both great-grandpa's on casey's side are ray,

so is casey's middle name.

well, raymond, really.

i just can't wait to meet him when he gets hisself borned!!

aahh... summer

how pretty is she??

bryana resting on nitzy on the porch

nitzy resting on bryana on the floor

umbrellas

this is what we want

this is what we have

i guess we can comfort ourselves with this

.... maybe this ....

pretty funny

ha ha ha

i bought this hat to wear so my "natural" hair color doesn't fade in the sun.

no chance of that lately.

i hope i didn't waste $2.50.

did i mention it is raining?