Tis the Day After Christmas

Tis the day after Christmas and the house is so quiet! We had a wonderful Christmas. Everyone seemed to enjoy their gifts. The grandchildren were precious. Kameren was excited to wear her new jumper with the matching outfit for her doll. Austin loved his quilt which he saw for the first time and Keegan was into his toys big time. On Christmas Eve the turkey got done hours before it should but Seth, the master cook knew what to do. Hubby's baked apples were wonderful. Of course after several holiday drinks no one really worried about any of it. I recieved 9 pairs of fancy socks! The kids also gave us a Wii .Christmas day we went to my Mom's place and had a fantastic buffet lunch put on by the Henry Ford Village. We had lunch with Mary and the Brain, Gretel and Tummy and Martha as well as my brother, his wife and daughter and his wife's parents. We laughed and had such a good time.

Today Amy is at her sister-in-laws, Martha is working, Mary and the Brain are back in Ohio, and Gretel is out with a friend and the Tummy is visiting his grandmother. So the house is very quiet.

I am Ready!

I am ready for Christmas! All the presents are bought and wrapped(except one). The menu made, Hubby shopped for food all day. He decided on Turkey and it will be grand. The girls will all be here. Unfortunately the boys will not but they are in our thoughts. Three of the six grandchildren will also be here. The house is clean I have all the sleeping arrangements done. This holiday Nina, the black lab, will be joining us. I don't think it will phase Arnold or Cleo but Fervor is still in shock because every time the postman brings a package and rings the doorbell, Fervor hides under the bed.

Mom is 92 Years Old

Today is Mom's 92nd birthday. Last night my brother and I, with our families, took her out to dinner. We had a great time. She has a real sharp sense of humor and we love to tease her and she gives it right back. Last we she had a stress test and a carotid Doppler but passed with flying colors. She worries that as she gets older she is more trouble because she needs to be driven places.(I wouldn't let her take the bus for a stress test at 92). I told her she just gets more precious.

Poems

Today Hubby and I were remembering some of the poems we were taught when we were young. My Mom taught me "O Captain, My Captain" and my brother had to learn "Under the spreading Chestnut tree the village smithy stands" From 6th grade I remember, "The sun that brief December day rose cheerless over hills of gray" Of course there were the others that I only remember loving like "Fog" by Carl Sandburg because fog creeps on silent cat paws. I also loved the "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" with "water, water, everywhere but n'er a drop to drink. " I wonder do kids learn poems like that anymore?

Packages

Packages are arriving everyday. Amazon.com does really well by us. Besides that our daughters have learned to send packages for their husbands here so they are not investigated. Gretel is sending all her presents by mail so as not to have to worry about airport security. They warn you not to wrap things. Since she is arriving Christmas Eve and we celebrate Christmas Eve there would be little time to wrap everything. It sure builds the suspense for us.

Fish City Up to Date

I finally finished pages 7-9 of the "Fish City" directions. According to my plan I must finish 3 pages a year in order to complete the piece in 5 years. This is a totally stupid project. It is fun to work on, but it is so big and I have no idea what to do with it when I finish. It is not the kind of art work one would hang in the living room. It is also not something my children will fight over when I die. I definitely will will it to John because he is the one who gave it to me in the first place.

Arnold Update

Since we were gone on our cruise for three weeks, Arnold has been very glad to see us. He has even become a lap cat. Of course a lot of his interest in being on my lap has to do with chasing the thread as I try to embroider "Fish City." He really makes it a challenge between trying to protect him from the needle and tring to protect my fingers from his claws.

Arnold has been fascinated with looking outside the windows and he is sure that Venetian blinds are part of a plot to keep him from seeing out. At night we raise the blinds in the bedroom because he plays with them at night and we can't sleep for the noise and for trying to keep him from damaging the blinds. The neighbors, I am sure, feel we are exhibitionists with the bedroom blinds up all the time. We keep the master bathroom door closed because he likes to jump up on the vanity and swipe at the blinds to see outside. The other night we were careless and Arnold managed to see through those pesky blinds.

Santa Claus is Coming

Sorry that I haven't been blogging. There is so much to do. I have the house pretty clean and ready for the Holidays. I figure I will have nine overnight guests for Christmas. I have the tree up. My snowflakes look spectacular. I could use twice as many. Tomorrow is the Lions Christmas Party and next week is the Quilt club party. I am not done with my shopping yet but almost, just the difficult ones left.

A Perfect Evening

Last night I sat in the living room working on Fish City and hubby sat next to me reading the Smithsonian Magazine. He would tell me some of the things he had read and then would look up more about them on the Internet or the encyclopedia. It made for a stimulating discussion and a just the two of us moment.

Home

We got in last night from Portland. Mostly, we are taking it easy today. I am washing clothes. Have to get the baby spit-up out.(Really I am just bragging. There was only one blouse with baby spit-up) The cats are so glad to see us and follow us around all day. I have been also starching the snowflakes I made on the cruise. Some of them are surprisingly beautiful, others are just surprising. Hubby took almost 400 pictures, digital cameras are wonderful.

This is the group of eight which we traveled with along with the Cruise event planner and his wife the cruise party planner.

These are the Akaka Falls on the island of Hawaii.

The Arizona Memorial inPearl Harbor.The Grand Canyon of the Pacific on the Island of Kawai.A Pool Party aboard the ship.Walking through a lava tube on the Island of Hawaii.

Portland

We sailed to and from Hawaii on the Holland America ship "Zaandam." The Pacific wasn't very peaceful. Our first day we had seas of 12 to 17 feet with gale force winds. Hubby and I were both a little seasick. It rained everyday that we were in Hawaii, some of the excursions on Maui were canceled because of flash flood fears. We really enjoyed the big island of Hawaii and would love to go back there. We went up on the Kilauea crater. It was pouring rain but it cleared long enough for us to see. The crater has become more active in the last few years and you can no longer drive around it. We also saw the volcano at night from he ship. That was spectacular. Another neat thing we saw was the grand canyon of the Pacific on Kauai. Well worth seeing. The seas were rough on the way back and cold so that on a trip to Hawaii I never got into my bathing suit. But a cruise is always fun with the great shows and wonderful food.
Now we are in Portland and Sammy is terrific. This morning I played with him and he smiled and wiggled and made all sorts of cooing sounds to me. I am hopelessly in love with him.

Almost Ready

I have my suitcases packed except for my make up. I have one suitcase with warm weather clothes for Hawaii and another with cooler weather clothes for Portland. Hubby hasn't started packing yet. He likes to wait until the last moment. I had my hair cut and colored today(it is not naturally brown). Tomorrow I go to lunch with Mom and Thursday I have an appointment to have a pedicure and manicure. I am really looking forward to a relaxing cruise. That almost seems silly because I am retired and relax most of the time.

Fish City

One of my sadistic children gave me a counted cross stitch pattern for Christmas three years ago. It is called "Fish City." The directions alone take 15 pages and the finished project is 29 by 21 inches. I manage to get three pages a year done so I am on the 5 year plan. Right now I am pushing it to finish my third page this year. I don't know why I even start things like that. When I was first married I embroidered curtains for the bathroom to match the plastic shower curtain.

So Much to Do

We leave for San Diego on Friday and then Hawaii on Saturday. There is a lot of packing to do. Because we are going up to Portland Oregon for Thanksgiving( to see Sammy) Christmas will be fast upon us when we get home. I have been addressing all my Christmas cards so I can mail them when we get home. I am still working on Kameren's dress. I took all my scraps of light weight corduroy and am making a patchwork dress for her. So far I am still sewing the patchwork together and haven't started on the dress. I am making it a size larger in case I don't finish it. I hope she doesn't find it itchy and won't wear it.

A Quiet Saturday

Today, I spent most of the day working on a dress for Kameren. I also baked two pumpkin pies and an apple pie. Mary is having her "Giving Thanks" dinner tomorrow and I am bringing pie. Tonight Austin will be here so I can give him his quilt. I sure hope he likes it. Hubby is making a pot roast for dinner and the house smells just wonderful. The moving van with Sandi and Jerry left about noon.

Farewell dinner

Tonight we took Sandi and Jerry out to dinner. The moving van comes tomorrow morning. Sandi was upset because her cat, Tiger, got out while they were going in and out. Even though it is cold and raining he hasn't come home yet. We promised that if he does come home after they are gone we will take care of him until we can get him to them. Jerry travels a lot with his job and so Tiger is a lot of company for Sandi. Cats who like to get outside even when they are not outside cats can be a pain in the butt.

Book Club

Today my book club met. The club is made up of 8 women I have known a long time. The shortest being 20 years and the longest being 54 years. We choose a book and then meet on the fourth Thursday of the month. We rarely discuss the book but we talk for several hours. Good friends are real treasures. Unfortunately one of the group, Sandi, is moving to Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday. We will miss her a lot.

The Dollar Tree

I made my tote bags to fill for the Haven ( a program for abused women and children). Today Mom and I went to the Dollar Tree to buy stuff to fill them. We had a ball. We bought toothpaste and kid toothbrushes, sudoku books, shampoo and conditioner, hand sanitizer, hats and mittens, paddle ball games, a flashlight, hairbands, glow sticks, puzzles, nail polish and manicure set, sewing kits... When I was done I had trouble getting the bags to close. I felt that some woman, young boy, and young girl might enjoy these bags but not half as much as I did finding the stuff to fill them.

Moratorium on Buying Needlework Kits

I decided I cannot buy anymore needlework kits until I finish the ones I have. Understand that I am a finisher. I know people who start lots of kits or anything and never finish them, but that's not my style. I have one kit I never finished because when we moved 32 years ago I lost the directions. Anyway I figured it will take me 14 years to finish the kits that I have. That will make me 80 years old and then I can buy some more.

Pillowcases

When I was younger, at my parents home, as soon as Santa arrived there was a mad scramble and everyone opened all of their presents. There was always the feeling "is this all?'' But at my Ex's home it was different. Beginning with the youngest each person chose a gift, not his own, to be opened. Everyone saw what that person received. In a large family like ours, especially now that there are spouses and grandchildren. This can be a long process. In fact by the end no one says,"Is this all?" in fact even the kids reach a point where they don't care if there are any more presents. I decided three years ago that instead of wrapping all the presents I would go green and make each person a pillowcase(couples have matching) and I would put all of their presents from me in it. It has been a real hit. The kids use the pillowcase as a sack to carry all their treasures home.
Now you wouldn't think a pillowcase would be that hard to make but I have made every error possible. Starting with making the line for the piping in the wrong direction on the material(a narrow long pillowcase) Attaching the piping to the wrong side of the material,(who wants piping inside the case) starting the French seam with right sides together and of course having the machine on baste when I want sew. I have 19 pillowcases to make. I have to get at least two a day before we leave on our cruise because when we come back Christmas will be upon us. I wonder if this was such a great idea.

Sunday Shopping

I told Hubby that I was going to run to Joann and Target today.(I really just wanted to get out of the house) He said that it didn't make sense to go shopping on Sunday when we are retired and the stores are so crowded on weekends. I didn't take him too seriously. I should have. At Joann's I took a number "58" when they were serving "32". The number was in the high nineties when I finished. I did get a cute blouse from Target to wear on my cruise so it wasn't a total loss.

Quilt Club Night

Last night I went to the monthly meeting of our Cameo Quilt Guild. There are 78 members in the club. It is a non-profit club because each member is required to make something and donate it to charity. I am on the charity committee(Everyone is also obligated to be on one committee).
They are making tote bags out of upholstery samples and they fill them with gifts for young boys and girls and women who go to the Haven for abused women. They also for their activity had two demonstrations, one of a rag type tote and the other a crazy quilt Christmas tree skirt. I am not much interested in the rag type work.(You show the seams and repeatedly wash them so they fray) I have too many frayed edges as it is. But the crazy quilt stuff was beautiful. I should live long enough to try all the things I want to do. The meeting ends with a show and tell segment which is enough to totally intimidate me.

Clase de Espanol

Esta Noche fuimos a nuestra clase de espanol. We are learning the preterit tense and doing some reading in Spanish. It is quite challenging for us. We have a text book, a reader and our Rosetta Stone software but I think it would take eight hours a day studying Spanish, seven days a week before we could even hope to become proficient. We found that we can understand most of Jakers and Go, Diego, Go on the Saturday cartoons in Spanish. Dora is harder to understand because she talks in a high squeaky voice. Sabado Gigante is way too fast for us.

The Fun in Funerals

I know that funerals are sad occasions and we are going to miss the deceased a lot, but there is a fun side too. We meet people we haven't seen in a long time, probably since the last funeral. There is a lot of "Remember when.." And it is always surprising to see "little kids" who now have children of their own. Today was one of those funerals. The deceased had been a neighbor when I was growing up and we have kept in touch for over 50 years.

Frustration

Last Christmas I got a new sewing machine. It has been almost a year and I am most unhappy with this machine. I intend to take it in tomorrow and tell them, it's noisy, the thread breaks much too often, and it acts like I am sewing canvas when I am sewing a light weight corduroy. I sew an awful lot and to go without my machine for a day or two is hard on me. The machine is a Janome.
Saw a new bird again today, a red bellied woodpecker. He is quite large and likes peanuts. The other day we saw a tufted titmouse for the first time.

Snowflakes

Thank goodness not real ones. When I was in Baltimore last January, Amy lent me her crochet book on making snowflakes. I have made 19 of them. I mostly do it when visiting or in the car. The car doesn't work too well because I have to watch too closely as I am an amature crocheter. Anyway I started starching them to hang on the Christmas tree. Last year I bought blue lights and blue ornaments and put white origami airplanes on the tree. It was not a resounding success. Since I bought all the blue stuff I thought I would put snowflakes on this year.

Sammy's Stocking is Finished

I finished Sammy's Stocking. We have 22 stockings hung from the mantel. Hubby says he is afraid the mantel might fall from having so many holes in it for hooks. Today at our bird feeder we saw a tufted titmouse. Not hard to identify because it was all gray with a white breast and a little gray crest.

Flu Shot

Today I went to our local Kroger store and got my flu shot. I get one every year and haven't ever caught the flu so I guess I'll never know if it works or if I wouldn't have caught the flu anyway.
Today the hinge on the kitchen cupboard turntable door broke. Hubby say it will probably be expensive to replace because it looks a little complicated and the make on the hinge is "Ferari."

Facebook

The kids all use facebook so I decided to try it. I am not a regular user. It surprises me the comments,"I'm going to bed." or "I'm hungry." I have found it an interesting way to find my former piano students. I have so far found six of them. Some of my students had very common names so they are difficult to find, like Steele, or Bush. It is a good way to show pictures of happenings between family members though.

Austin's quilt

Well, I finished Austin's quilt. I have made over 40 quilts and have given away all but 5. There is something special about making a quilt and giving it away. It makes it special for a much longer time. I only give them to friends (including my children) who I want to keep in touch with forever. Austin loves cats and has two of his own. I bought the pattern at Joann's and it is called "Sawtooth Cats" by The City Stitcher.

Here is a picture of my latest grandchild, Samuel Ravi Injety Uicker. He is all of 1 month old. We call him Sammy. He was born on his grandfather, Sam's birthday.

Fall is Here

On the way to church this morning I noticed a lot of the leaves have started to change color. On the thistle bird feeder, I noticed that all the goldfinches have changed to their winter colors. We even turned the furnace on a few nights ago and I got the quilt out for our bed. ( I store all my quilts on the guest bed during the summer so they don't wear in the folds) . I haven't got my winter coat out yet but Martha needed hers when she was working on the night shift constructing the eight mile bridge. The church had it's Oktoberfest this weekend. Unfortunately they had a lot of rain but this afternoon we will go over for a brat and beer.

Sammy's Stocking

At Christmas time I hang up Christmas stockings for Hubby and myself, my mother and all seven children their spouses and grandchildren. The stockings have all been embroidered with our names on them. Since Sammy was born on August 25th I am busy making him his stocking. The stockings are a quilted fabric with an Aida cloth top made by Charles Crafts. Unfortunately several years ago they quit making them so I called the factory and bought their 13 remaining stockings. If you go back to my posting in December 2008 you can see pictures of the other stockings I have made.

Mr Wizard

Hubby has decided to explain to our grandson, Keegan, how computer programming works. He made a video explaining the different number systems as a start and is working on another giving the history of computers. I was given the job of looking over his script. He mailed the first DVD out although he had some minor problems with Arnold walking in front of the camera and lying down on his notes. Hubby is really into scientific videos especially after his success with the caterpillar and butterfly videos.

October

I was going through my list of favorite blogs and finding that no one had blogged. So disappointing. Then I got to Kittalog. She said that since it was National Blog Month she was going to blog every day. What a bonus. I love reading her blog. I think I will try to blog every day this month as well. I could use a more interesting life. Right now I am finishing the quilt for Austin. Hubby and I are taking a Spanish Class and working with the Rosetta Stone. We both are Master Gardeners ( although the garden is pretty much done for the year). We are also member of the Lion's Club.

Diet Blues

I have been trying this week to really stay on my weight watchers points and I was doing really well until today. I went to a wedding reception. Need I say more. It was the appetizers( I can't spell the French word) that got me. I really just want to not outgrow my 16 talls. Most stores don't carry tall sizes above 16. I cleaned out my closet and gave all my size 12 pants to the Salvation Army. If I ever get down to a size 12 again I will be delighted to buy all new clothes.

Helpful Arnold

Arnold follows me like a puppy everywhere I go. That is kind of nice except when I am trying to sew or quilt. I have a basket on the floor with a towel in it that he likes to sleep in and I have cleared a table by the window. He likes to lay there too. But sometimes he wants to get even closer and he will lie on top of what ever I am working on. He is a hefty cat and I really don't want him on the quilting frame. My quilting frame is a Grace self basting frame which means the top is on one roll, the bottom on another and the batting on a third. It all rolls together as you quilt. The other night, as usual, Arnold jumped onto the quilt on his way to the counter top. In the process he dumped all my little quilting pins. I didn't think much about it ( or of it for that matter) but several days later as I was quilting I began to find safety pins inside the quilt. I found the pins he spilt landed on the batting roll. I had to unroll the quilt far enough to get my hands in it and pull all the safety pins out.

A Trip to Maryland

Last weekend Hubby and I went to Maryland to visit the grandchildren (and their parents). Russell is looking good and full of energy. Thursday night we went to a restaurant in Hyattsville called Franklin's. The food was great but the parking lot was wanting. While we were having dinner someone broke into our car and stole Hubby's camera and his Garmin. Bummer! On Friday we toured the Bureau of Engraving and Mt. Vernon. They were both neat. No pictures. On Saturday we met up with Amy and the kids. Keegan and Russell are only 6 months apart and had a great time together at the Baltimore Science Center and Kameren gets prettier and sweeter every day. No pictures. Sunday Amy's family and Hubby and I went duck pin bowling. It really is hard to get a good score but lots of fun. No pictures.

Obsessive

Whenever I start a quilt I really obsess on finishing it. It starts with the piecing but accelerates once the quilt is on the frame. I make an Excel spreadsheet and divide the quilt into parts for both assembling and quilting. I assign each part a number of points and then decide how many parts I can reasonably do in a day. I then calculate a finish date for the assembling and the quilting. Each time I finish one of these parts I list it as complete in my spreadsheet and the sheet calculates whether I am ahead or behind schedule and, at this rate, when will I finish. Because I become obsessive about quilting I always finish ahead of schedule. I must admit that this time I was quilting away and wondered if maybe I shouldn't take a break after this quilt.

Michigan State Fair

Hubby and I manned the booth for the Michigan State Extension Office and Master Gardeners for two days last week. It is always fun to talk to the people although most of the time they ask gardening questions which we don't know how to answer. We were in the same building as the "Miracle of Life" exhibit. Here is a picture of a new lamb. Hubby also took video of a calf being born. He has it posted on U-Tube. After our work was done we walked around the fair, looked at all the animals and the quilt and photography displays. Then we ate a Coney Dog.

A New Grandchild

My son, Bill, and his wife had a baby boy, Sammy, last week. He weighed only 4 pounds 9 ounces so he is still in the hospital but is doing well. I made a quilt for him. It is a tumbling block pattern which I pieced and quilted by hand. I also knitted a blanket, sweater, overalls and a hat. I made them promise not to laugh at my attempts. Unfortunately, they are all in Portland, Oregon so I mailed my crafts along with lots of cute baby clothes which I bought. We plan to see them for Thanksgiving.

The Lion's Golf Outing

Yesterday was the Lion's Club Golf outing. I don't play golf, in fact this was the first time I have ever been on a golf course. I helped with regestration and learned what "Mulligans" and "Skins" were. I was also in charge of the "Marshmallow Drive." For a $100 prize contestants payed $5 for 2 marshmallow and tried to drive them as far as they could. The winner actually did it about 45 yards. Some people tried an iron club and disintegrated the marshmallow on the tee. I wish I had pictures maybe I will later.

Hubby and the Butterflies

Hubby spent all day yesterday on the front porch. The chrysalis were ready to open. He had planned on taking time lapse video of them out on the deck in the backyard but it was raining. He couldn't leave his camera out in the rain. So he set everything up on the front porch, but he couldn't leave his camera unguarded on the front porch. His set up was quite ingenious and the resultant video is great.

Honey, I Broke the Garage Door Opener

Yesterday, Hubby and I were cleaning the garage. We really did a great job. At one point though, the garage door suddenly closed without anyone touching the controls. We opened the door again and were confused as to why that would happen. It happened again. While we took a lunch break the door closed once more and would not open again. Since we have a Genie garage door opener, Hubby called the service man who spent an half hour on the phone diagnosing the problem. He said it was the wire between the control and the opener. Hubby recalled that I had asked about some wires hanging in the garage. He asked if I touched them. I said "No, but I swept the cobwebs off of that area. Maybe I brushed them." Apparently I caused them to touch and shorted out the garage door opener. Now I had no idea they were live wires. His comment was "You let those wires touch and you are an Electrical Engineer." Obviously he isn't or he would have taped the ends when he disconnected them. Husbands can be real pain in the butts.

The Rosetta Stone

For our wedding anniversary, Hubby and I bought ourselves the Rosetta Stone Program for Spanish. It is really pretty good but we need to work on it daily and it is a little exhausting. It is not the kind of software that teaches you Spanish while you are sleeping. The plan is immersion. Nothing in the program is in English. Everything is done with pictures and the Spanish words. It will work quite well in conjunction with our Spanish class which we take at the local high school community education program.

The Front Entrance Is Complete

Hubby planted all ten rosebushes, sealed the pavers. put down mulch and got Gretel's "Tummy" to help replace the bench. We are very pleased with the new look.

Today we worked as Master Gardener's out at the Tolgate farm. Our task was to weed the rose gardens as well as the gardens down by the pond. I surprised myself by identifying poison ivy before I pulled it out. We learned not to cut off the rose hips at this time of the year because that will encourage the plant to grow and could cause greater damage from winter kill.

The Monarch Larvae

The latest in the continuing saga of Hubby's Monarch caterpillars is that they have formed chrysalis. Hubby took time lapse photography of the process. Yes they are in a plastic shoebox in the dining room.

Maintenance

Tomorrow I have my colonoscopy. Now for any of you not old enough to need this maintenance procedure, the procedure itself isn't bad but the prep is terrible. Just remember getting old is not for sissies.

Leaf Casting

Hubby and I took a class at the Tolgate farm on making cement casts of leaves to use as garden decorations. The class was fun especially if you like the feel of squeezing cement through your fingers,( while wearing rubber gloves of course). We used all kinds of leaves from Hosta's to cabbage leaves and some of the big weed leaves as well as rhubarb leaves.

Tiger Baseball Game

Every year the Lathrup Lion's Club goes to a Tiger baseball game. For the last three years they have lost on those occasions. This time it was a terrible game with 2 runs for the Twins in the first inning and the game went downhill from there. The final score was 11-0. The crowd was doing the wave because they were getting bored. The companionship of my fellow Lions and their friends and families always make it a fun experience anyway. My fellow Lion, Sandi, has MS and has difficulty walking. The stadium provided a wheel chair with an attendant right at the gate and when we left, our section usher put in a call and within 10 minutes we had a wheelchair with an attendant to take us out of the park.

10 Things in Each Room

It is so HOT today that I decided to do the "10 Things in Each Room" form of housekeeping. I learned this from my Mom when I was little. It is related to the "Pull 100 Weeds a Day" rule of gardening. Anyway I pick up 10 things in each room and that is my housekeeping for today. Then I will go back to working on Austin's quilt. Hubby took a picture of my craft room to show the scope of my fabric dilemma.

Hubby has a Swamp Milkweed growing in his rain garden. It is a favorite for Monarch butterflies. Last year the eggs disappeared and no caterpillars formed so this year, when he finds an egg he brings it inside. He keeps the caterpillars with fresh leaves in a plastic shoe box. They seem to be doing well. He hopes to release the butterflies when the emerge.

A New Quilt Project

I started a quilt for my Grandson, Austin.It is a scrap quilt that I am doing in shades of dark blue, dark green, brown, rust and dark red. I have all my scraps of cloth in plastic shoe boxes organized according to color. I have lots of scraps. 10 boxes of blues, 5 of reds etc. But do I have enough of the right shades? No! I went to Joann's with my Mom and spent another $100 and still I am struggling to get the right combinations. I need brown combined with blue,green or red. Anyone who thinks a scrap quilt is made of scraps obviously has never made one.

A Fun Doctor

This month of August, Hubby and I are catching up on all our doctor and dentist visits. This morning I saw my gynecologist (or as Archie Bunker would say, the groinocologist). Ordinarily that wouldn't exactly be fun but this doctor is terrific. When he came into the room, he said "Hola, Como esta Usted?" because he had made a note that Hubby and I were learning Spanish. He then congratulated me on maintaining my weight, which sure beat telling me I was fat. He said so many people eat to make their sedentary life style more exciting. I mentioned I watch very little television, just the McNeil Lerher report and the Weather Channel. He said the Weather Channel is MTV for old folks.

Oshkosh

Last weekend Hubby and I went to the EAA airshow in Oshkosh Wisconsin. We spent two days there which is plenty for me. Thankfully the weather was perfect, nice and cool. There usually aren't a lot of trees on an airstrip. One of the neat flying things we say was "Elvis", a Sikorsky S-64 heavy lift helicopter owned by Erickson Air-Crane. It can deliver 2,600 gallons of water to wildfires. It fills the tank in 20 seconds. This helicopter was also used to remove and replace the statue from the top of the U.S. Congress building.

We also saw Burt Rutan's "White Knight II" which is a carrier aircraft intended to launch "SpaceShipTwo" the commercial spacecraft. It is like two airplanes connected at the wing(sort of a Siamese twin aircraft). We also saw the Airbus 380, talk about big!

Now that we are home, with no company, August will be busy with Doctor appointments, fixing the house and getting some quilts done.

Lots of Visitors

The month of July has been very busy. In between visitors, Hubby and I went to the "Thunder Over Michigan" air show in Ypsilanti sponsored by the Yankee Air Force. ( A group of military airplane enthusiasts) The Blue Angles performed for us. I love the sound of a jet overhead. Afterwards I even got the autograph of one of the pilots.

Jim's wife and their son, Dante came to visit. We took them to Greenfield Village and Dante was excited to try the stilts. They have an area where kids can play with toys popular 100 years ago. He also was very excited to ride the train. On Sunday, Amy came with her kids and they all had a rousing game of "Lets Fall out of the Hammock."

Getting Ready for Dante

Tomorrow my grandson, Dante, is coming to visit. I vacuumed every surface because he is allergic to cats. Gretel, John and Amy have cat allergies as well. I vacuum before they come too. I washed the bedding in the guest room and closed the door so no cats can get in there. I also turned on the air purifier that we bought for that room and our allergic guests. Dante is also allergic to peanuts and tree nuts so I went through my cupboards and took anything with nuts in it down to the basement. I was surprised that other that nuts themselves and peanut butter there wasn't too much. My Fiber-One bars have nuts in them. We also took the peanut feeder for the birds down out of the backyard. Dante is only 7 years old.

Hair

Now that I am getting older shaving my legs has become a real problem. I used to do it in the shower but at the age of 66 standing on one leg in the shower is not such a good idea and besides I can't see the hair without my glasses on. I am tired of missing spots. Nair really smells bad and still misses spots. A few years ago, before a cruise I had a full leg wax done so I could comfortable wear a bathing suit. The girl at the salon made such a deal about my not having enough leg hair to make it worth while. I don't have much but it still gets long. So yesterday I bought a ladies electric shaver. It was wonderful. It only took minutes and I could do it while sitting down with my glasses on. As you get older you take such joy in small accomplishments.

A Special Week

I have been really busy! Gretel has spent the last week with us and Mary spent most of the week here as well. We did a lot of sewing and knitting and going out to lunch. Tuesday, Martha had the day off and we all went down to a wonderful restaurant in Mexican Village. Wednesday we went to lunch with my Mom and sister-in-law. The two girls did all the cooking and we really ate well. Felafel sandwiches, risotto, onions and fennel and jicama salads, homemade ice cream too. I find that as my daughters grow older I really enjoy their company. Today Gretel is finishing the hem in the dress we made for her and then tomorrow she leaves. I will miss her.

Grandchildren

Amy came to visit with her two children. They were on their way to a camping trip so they had their bikes with them. Blue was really proud of how well she could ride and was showing us her skills. Zeke liked the carousel at Greenfield village. We have a membership there and it is a great place to take visitors. Arnold enjoyed the kids and even though Blue said he was "heavy" , she carried him around a lot. Arnold kept coming back for more.

The 4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July by going to Mary's house and having a barbecue. The Brain made absolutely perfectly grilled steaks and we had all the favorites, corn on the cob and watermelon. The weather was perfect and it was incredibly pleasant sitting out in the backyard. My Mom even came with us. Martha was taking lots of snapshots with her new camera. I especially like this one of Mom

California

We spent last weekend in California. We flew into Los Angeles on Thursday night. Friday we visited the Queen Mary and her Russian submarine consort, then we spent the rest of the day driving across LA to Santa Barbara. Bill and Tiger were staying there. We had a nice dinner with them at a waterfront restaurant. The next day we met up with Gretel, the Tummy, Bill and the rest of the wedding people and toured some vineyards.

Hubby likes this picture of me after tasting 18 different wines.On Sunday before the wedding we went to see the Santa Barbara Mission with Gretel and the Tummy. When we got there we bumped into Bill and Tiger.

Just before the wedding we walked along the waterfront. Gretel wondered how anyone could work out here when it was too beautiful to stay indoors.

Losing Things

Why is it we never lose those earrings that we don't know why we ever bought in the first place, the ones we never wear. But if you have a favorite pair of earrings, their life span drops by a factor of ten. I have a little drawer of single earrings that I keep hoping I will find the match for. I am always certain I vacuumed these earrings up, or the cat dragged it away and it fell down the heating duct. Today I can't find my little leaf earring it is the color of peridot and I wear them all the time, my daughter-n-law made them for me several years ago. At least I got several years out of them.

Hawaii

Yesterday we booked a cruise to Hawaii. We will be going with two of my high school friends and their husbands. The cruise leaves from San Diego, 5 days at sea, 1 day on each of 5 islands and 5 days at sea. Hubby is seasick already just thinking about it. I love a cruise. I love being pampered and waited on. I like Holland America for that reason ( and no kids). Today is the first hot day and Hubby just turned on the air conditioning for the first time. It seems we have been waiting forever for it to warm up.

Lions Golf outing

I am on the committee for the Lions Golf outing. Today I went to Ford Village, the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn and the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn looking for sponsors or door prize contributors. Has anyone done this before? Any suggestions on where to go?

A Busy Weekend

Well, the garage sale is done. Some of the Lions are in their late 70's and seemed to be doing a lot better than me for stamina. Hubby and I worked from about 8 AM until 4:30 PM. Hubby directed traffic and I was a sales person. Sunday we had a car load of stuff that didn't sell. I went through it and threw some of it out and the rest saved for next year. I also cleaned out the car. Hubby had bought a bale of straw for the garden ( in between the rows) and the car was a mess. I vacuumed the car and even used Fantastic on the vinyl. Then I needed a Margarita. I made some frozen ravioli and that was it for the day.

Getting Ready for the Lions Garage Sale

I must admit I don't go to garage sales and I won't ever have another one. The Lions Club, however, has an annual garage sale. They rent out the spaces in the city hall parking lot and also have a spot where the Lions club sells its stuff. I work it every year. It is kind of fun. I am likely to give stuff away just to get rid of it and have made up my mind that whatever doesn't sell is dropped off at the Salvation Army. The weather is supposed to be good. I have boxes of stuff ready to be taken over. Hubby will work directing traffic at the sale.

Bird of Spray

Hubby planted his vegetable garden and was so excited when the carrots and cucumbers came up. Apparently so were the birds and bunnies because the next day the plants were gone. So the "gadget man" went out and bought a water sprinkler that is motion activated. It was officially called "A Bird of Prey" but as you can see, I forgot about it and got too close to the garden and got sprayed.

Some Projects Completed

My daughter, Amy, loaned me one of her knitting books. It is called the wonderful Wallaby. I made a sweater for myself. I had wild ambitions of making one for everyone with different families having different colors. I thought I would start out with Hubby and myself. That was a good thing because I made a lot of mistakes that I hopefully won't make on the others. Mary suggested that the knitting daughters could make the sweaters for their families and that would cut down dramatically on the project. I will have to bring that up with them. Here is my Wallaby.

I also finished some summer clothes for Kameren. She is six years old now and I know the day will come when she won't want to wear things Grandma made. I am sure they will seem old-fashioned. I hope her mother will not be afraid to tell me when that time comes.

Arnold is afraid of ...ANTS!

Arnold, our big black cat, is always trying to sneak outside. When he is successful he usually rolls around on the cement and we can easily catch him. Arnold is a very confident cat, nothing seems to upset him - or so we thought. Last Saturday we took Arnold outside, on a leash. He did very well. He didn't fight it all, munched on some grass (which he later barfed up in the house), and checked things out. Finally he laid down on the wooden deck to rest. We were all sitting on the deck. I saw the ant approach Arnold. As soon as he saw the ant he jumped up and ran over to my side and laid down. I pointed out another ant to him and he went berserk. He jumped up ran to the end of the leash and wiggled out of the harness. We put him back in the house and he wouldn't go near the door again for the rest of the day. I wonder if there are fire ants in Baltimore(Arnold's home town) and maybe he had an unfortunate experience with them.

A Clean House

One of my daughters often has arguments with her husband about not keeping a clean enough house. She has a small place and a lot of stuff. It brings back memories of when I had 5 children in a 900 sq. ft house. There was no way I could keep the place clean. Floors had to be scrubbed at least weekly and it took only a day to trash the bathroom. Keeping track of the laundry was another problem. My husband never understood why I couldn't do a better job. Now that I am married to Hubby, every time I clean he accuses me of having too much caffeine! We have a much bigger house and there is just the three of us (and three cats) but we still have too much stuff. Since I do a lot of sewing, knitting and embroidery, there are threads everywhere. When I cleaned the family room this morning, Hubby had two radio controlled models out with their boxes and a new motion activated sprinkler to scare the birds out of his garden (with it's box) along with the tripod from when he was trying to get a good picture of the Baltimore Oriole. The cats of course leave hair everywhere.

Hot Water

I know that when they say,"You are in Hot Water" that is bad. But not having hot water isn't so good either. Yesterday the hot water heater died and leaked precious fluids into the basement. This morning Hubby and I heated water on the kitchen stove to take a sponge bath before church. The system was simple get wet, soap up, scrub, and rinse off. Since the temperature in the house was quite cool this morning, it was a very refreshing bath! Hubby has gone out shopping with the hope or a quick installation. Martha, fortunately, will be staying at a hotel in Lansing for a comprehensive class on cement.

A Busy Week

Last Monday Hubby decided he was ready to fly his RC Model Airplane. We found an acceptable

field and he did it!. He wanted me to take his picture with the plane while it still was in one piece. His first landing was pretty good. On the second he ended on his nose and the third time he hit a post. The airplane was surprisingly durable.

On Tuesday we went to the Oakland County Farmer's Market. Wow did they ever have the flowers. I bought a hanging begonia, 3 flats of wax begonias, and some other plants. The man we wanted to get our tomato plants from wasn't there so we will go back next Tuesday again.

Wednesday, Mary's father in law had a heart attack. It has been very difficult for the Brain. His Dad is still listed as critical after three surgeries since Wednesday. We are all praying for him.

Today we went to Tony Paco's in Toledo Ohio to meet Mary for lunch and give her the cane that her grandfather used. Oh Last Monday Mary found she had broke a bone in her foot.