Saturday, March 21, 2009

Dog-tired

So, let me recount what's gone down over the past week or so. Laura moved out of her little house in with Liza and Madeleine. Unfortunately, a door was left open and Laura's big male orange cat, Budo, made a run for it. He hasn't been seen since Wednesday afternoon.... 3 days ago. We've searched and called him but he's gone. So that's very sad.

Their house looks nice but they have hookup for only one computer and one tv so everything is not perfect yet. But they get to sit outside in the sun to drink tea and have their lunch. Ryka gets to play in the yard, and even Mimi sits and peeks out the door; I predict that she'll come out and play soon.

Richard's birthday is on Tuesday. I found a couple of gifts that I think he'll like and I'll ask him if he would like to go out for lunch. Liza said he was going in to Seattle to see a play (?) and that she and Laura were watching the boys. I'm going to call him tomorrow and get the news from the horse's mouth. Both of the boys are sick with coughs and sore throats; I hope they're feeling better now. I had a very bad pain in my lower left back area.... same place I had the chest pain four years ago when I had pneumonia. It went away after a couple of days and I'm feeling fine now. also, I went to Dr. Koval to ask about a changing mole on my arm; she used nitrogen to burn it off. Well, it's not burnt off but she said it would fall off in a week or so. Otherwise I have to go back. I really hope it falls off.

Chubacca went to the vet on Friday morning. He has something like athlete's foot; his paws need to be dried off so they don't stay wet. Liza started a quilt yesterday - with kitties on it. I continue to work away on my pinwheels and they're all done.... just have to sew a "floater strip" on, then the sewn-together pinwheels. I still have a lot of sawtooth stars to make for the borders though. I'll have to do a few every darn day or I'll be doing loads of them at the end.

Not very exciting, but that's my crazy life so far... busy and a little hectic with different things going on.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Good Advice

If you click on the title of this post, it will take you to some "good advice".

In the spirit of making sure that everyone begins saving money in these times of trouble, I'm posting the link to a site I found for Dave Ramsey, Financial Advisor. It talks about how much money a person can save by not replacing their old car every four years or so. My theory has always been to drive them until they fall apart. That was advice my father gave me and I can honestly say that I have never lost the 25% I would have by buying a new car and driving it off a car dealer's parking lot.

So watch this and take his investing advice with a grain of salt.... as in watch where you invest your savings because a lot of mutual funds aren't doing so well at the moment. I doubt very much that you'll earn 12% on your savings anywhere right now but I'm not a financial advisor so let me know if you find a good deal somewhere.

Dave has a link to his website if you click on the button at the end of that video.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Doin' some quilting...

It took me more than a few days to turn the center block on point and add the borders but I finally got it done yesterday and started on the little star blocks that will go around the edge of the quilt at the end. I need a lot of them so I have to make 16 a month for the next little while.








I couldn't make up my mind to use the same blue for the borders that I had used for the sawtooths on the center block. I auditioned a darker blue and liked it much better.






Then, 4-square blocks had to be made to go around the first border, then triangles had to be added to make them turn on point so they could be sewed into a border. Very time-consuming but I think the final result will be worth the effort.



Finally, the second blue border was added, which completed the second month's BOM challenge except that 16 of those little stars have to be made and put aside for the final border. They're cute but also time consuming to make since they're made up of 8 half-square triangles sewn together with a 2 inch center square of a different color... very cute.






On to March's challenge after I finish the little stars - all 32 of them - 4 down, 28 to go. If I can finish by the end of March, I'll be caught up with the projects on this quilt.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Stop it!

Can I just say that large companies - Disney - should not use the networks they own - ABC - to showcase (commercialize) their new movies and characters. Just saying.

The View, which is rapidly becoming one huge Disney commercial, is unwatchable lately. I know that Disney owns ABC but c'mon folks, you're making me not want to ever see another one of your products. Yes, you're good but you're overdoing it, Disneyites.

I have influence, you know.... I have grandchildren who I take to movies, buy gifts for and generally speak to on a great many occasions.... and I will negatively influence them if you keep this pressure up, Mr. Disney. And yes, I do believe that you have some influence over the way your company advertises it's products... even though you're dead! You're either doing all of this from beyond the grave eg: sending thoughts to CEOs or, and I know this sounds like I'm refuting my previous comment... but, Mr. Disney, could it be that you're turning in your grave trying to get out and tell BabaWa to cut it out and stop selling out her show?

Just saying.

I will be quilting today so may have some pictures to post in my next blurb. Did I hear cheering from the pnut gallery?

Friday, March 06, 2009

Quilting onward!

Beautiful sunny day here, but below freezing at night so cold ... and oh yeah, I finished the center block in the green colors that I want for the quilt for January BOM yesterday and have started on the February BOM.



Looks much better in greens than it did in purple. I know that some people really like purple a lot but I'm not one of them that can take a lot of it, especially in a large item like a quilt.

Isn't this a great quote?
"I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate to my looks and my abilities." -- Tina Fey

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Back to quilting

I've managed to do a little work on the Stars for a New Day center block. I made it initially in purple fabric with blue and dark pink sawtooths but wanted it more in the same color of the original quilt which was green. So I hunted and hunted and now I have enough green fabric to make as many middle stars as I want.... or need. I'll post some pictures so you can see that I'm actually getting something done on this quilt after not being able to for more than a month.





Tomorrow, if I have no interruptions, I will complete the January block and be able to start on the February block.... leaving me up to speed with only the March BOM to do. That will be perfect. Now if the stars will align so I can get it all done.

Liza's birthday party was wonderful. She got to watch The Bachelor finale, which turned out to be quite exciting because he initially proposed to Melissa, the cheerleader, then six weeks later he decided that he preferred Molly, the runner-up. Quite distracting but I suppose ABC was pleased with all the drama that was initiated by Jason's turn-around in affections. Richard made salmon with rhubarb sauce over rapini and it was delicious. We ate chocolate cupcakes for dessert and Richard conjured up some lovely, delicious Lemon Drops and Cosmos for Liza. Lovely evening.

Still no cable service at the cottage and Liza is getting impatient. It's been a month of silence over there with no internet service either. Comcast is to come out and set them up on the 10th... but who knows, they were supposed to have set them up today and cancelled at the last minute. So Wednesday it will be!

The phone Liza has been using ran out of minutes today and no one realized it so Madeleine was floating around all afternoon with no way of getting in touch with her mother. Liza couldn't figure out why she didn't call... the phone would ring but wouldn't allow an answer. I added 1000 minutes so that should keep them set for a while. I think Madeleine should have her own cell phone and will be looking into buying her one. She also needs a camera.... soup from her lunch messed up her's, through no fault of her own.

Monday, March 02, 2009

The Birthday Girl

It's Liza's birthday today and we're going to have a little celebration later in the day. Laura has two doctor appointments today and Liza will go over to Seattle to be with her. Poor Laura... so sad that her ears are so messed up.... she broke an eardrum a few weeks ago when she had a bad cold. Now she needs to get it repaired. This isn't the first time she's had surgery on one ear or the other. I'm glad Liza is going with her because discussing surgery on your head isn't ever good news.

But they will be back on the 5:30pm ferry and we'll all have salmon dinner at Richard and Abigail's house tonight, then (at Liza's request) watch the finale of The Bachelor to find out who the Seattle bachelor chose to be his wife. Borrrring I know, but we will be plied with lemon vodka drinks during the show. It actually sounds like a lot of fun.

I have done no quilting for weeks and am seriously behind - by 3 months - on my BOM quilt from The Quilt Show, but I'll catch up. Some day. Part of the problem was that I couldn't make my mind up about the color scheme although I was leaning towards greens in various shades and patterns... floral, paisley and then some pink thrown in for contrast. When I finally find the time to work on it, it's going to look really good. I have all the fabric I need now.

Dean called and he has found himself a very good job as a Broker for a great bank. The previous guy retired and left all of his clients for Dean. I'm so happy for him although I was certain that Dean would be working again quickly because of his knowledge and great personality.

I just thought of a good birthday gift for Liza... a bedroom makeover! She hasn't bought a bed yet and I can pick one up (with Richard's help) and set it up with new linens in a couple of hours. It'll be a nice surprise for her, I think. Hope it works out... I can't do it by myself because I need someone to tie the bed on the minivan... they won't do it at The Mattress Store. Liability, I suppose. Or lazy! Who knows... the thing is they won't do it.

And so the day begins....