Monday, December 17, 2007

Still sick, but working anyway

I can't believe it, but I'm still sick as a dog! 8 days now, yuck! I am so tired of this. And to make things worse I had a very severe allergic reaction to one of the meds I'm taking. After a long night, I have recovered from the allergic reaction, but not the original disease. Hopefully soon.

But as time waits for no man (or woman) I'm still trying to work....a little at a time. And to top it all off, I had some minor but annoying machine issues, but as luck would have it my dealers were in the state and came by this morning and took care of things.

Other good news is this post card I received from Karen today...how cool is this! Love the tux!

The other thing I accomplished this weekend is getting my registration done for MQS and my hotel reservations. So I feel good about that. Now I just need to get a quilt done for the show!


And speaking of shows, I sent my entry form in today for the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show. It is a juried show, so we'll see if I get in again this year.

And the other interesting news this week...I was contacted by the editor of "On Track" Magazine (IMQA's magazine) They are starting a new feature called "Creative Lines" and want to feature my quilt from MQS last year in the next issue! What an honor! I of course agreed and did the interview.

So in spite of feeling just awful for the last week, a lot of good things have happened, and I have gotten some work done.

And in closing tonight, I leave you with some kitty pictures. My SIL keeps asking for pictures with a reference so she can see how big the kittens have gotten. So today, Don took pictures of me holding each of the kitties to send her. Her response was "They're BIG" lol.

The first is Harry...he's 9 months old.

And this is Chloe...she's 14 months old.

Hope you have a great night...stay warm!


Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Distributing quilts

Today I went to a local nursing home to distribute quilts made by my guild members. Below are a couple pictures I took of the 2 ladies that assisted me today..Susie on the left, and Carol (AKA Grandma Claus, as she called herself today).
The residents were most appreciative of the quilts, and it is such a joy to be able to do this for them.
So this was the highlight of my day.
The rest was spent cleaning and catching up on the laundry from my trip. I caught a terrible cold...on the plane most likely, so I'm feeling a little slow. I think I'll take some meds and turn in early. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like being productive. And maybe catch up on my blog reading! Thanks to all of you that welcomed me home...I missed you all.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Postcards

I got this postcard from Mary this week. She was using bias to make letters...pretty neat, huh!
And then waiting for me when I got home, was this very elegant postcard from Margie. The MQR exchange theme was black, white and 1 color.
And here are mine for this theme. If you are part of this exchange and want to be surprised you need to leave now.
I just finished them before I left for Virginia and got them in the mail today ...What lies behind the green door????????




Kind of a Florida thing....



Home Again

I'm home again! Exhausted and sick (you know how it is with air travel this time of year). But I had a great time! It was so good to see so much of the family. The reunion on Mother's birthday went great and she had a grand time.

I'm still going thru the photos, but here are a few to get you started. This is my 1 year old granddaughter Fiona and her daddy (my son Stephen) Can you tell daddy is wrapped around her little finger already?!

And this is my daughter Kelly with her daughters....Samantha (5 years old) on the left of Kelly and Kara(12 years old) to the right of Kelly. ( The drama queen with her hand to her head) Though in all fairness, Kara's day didn't start out too well. She is prone to awful migraines and had one that morning when she woke up. As the day progressed she felt better, fortunately. I sure hope she out grows those terrible things. And another one of Sam and Kara


And her is Mary (in the center) with our sister Ann to the right and Ann's son Ben to the left (with his back to us) and her husband Jamie behind on the steps.

And then on Sunday, between all the family stuff, Mary and I went to lunch with Vicki. I won't post a picture...you can see one on Vicki's blog if you are interested. She is just as she seems on her blog. I guess who we are comes thru in our writing. It was great fun to meet and talk with her. And she gave me this beautiful fabric that she dyed along with beads to match!



I had a mostly uneventful trip home. And I must say, that it is nice to come home to warm, tropical weather. And even with the bad cold I caught from the plane ride....somehow, I don't feel quite as miserable as I would if I were cold.
I spent my day, catching up on laundry, and my husband. And snuggling with the kitties. I did get my MQR postcards in the mail too.
Tomorrow, I will deliver quilts to the local nursing home on behalf on my guild, and get back to work....got to finish the background fill on that raffle quilt!
Hope you all had a good week too.




Tuesday, December 4, 2007

I'm ready!

Well Mary thought I needed to update my header with more recent photos of the babies. So she took the latest photo I had taken and cropped it. All I had to do was insert it into the layout. How's that for great sisterly help!

I'm all packed and ready to go! I leave at 7 am in the morning. Mary and I will both go to Atlanta, where she'll meet up with Adam (her youngest) and we'll go to Virginia (on separate planes, but at the same time) And we'll arrive at the same time (hopefully) and My son, Stephen ( Fiona's dad) is picking us all up at the airport.

I am so excited, I probably won't sleep a wink tonight! I will miss my hubby who is staying home with my babies. But it will be so great to see all the kids, Mother ,all my siblings, nieces and nephews and even some aunts and uncles and cousins!

And Vicki!

Next post will be from Virginia! I'm packed for cold weather.(well as well as a Florida girl can).
And I'm off at first light!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Getting excited!

Only 2 more days until I leave for Virginia! I can't wait! I'll get to see my kids and granddaughters, and all my brothers and sisters, Mother, and some extended family. I also will have time with Mary. And Mary and I will be going to meet Vicki in person. Almost too much excitement!

And then today I received a gift certificate to Lakeside Quilting from my MQR secret quilter! How great is that?

And this photo op happened this morning and I was able to capture it before they moved. (actually, they went to sleep and were there like that for 3 hours! LOL)
Aren't they so sweet? And, Gina, course they wouldn't eat Rudy...look at those faces! Now lizards and frogs...well that's a different story!

The raffle quilt is coming along nicely...down to finishing the background fill in the borders. But that final bit will have to wait till I get home from my trip.

And another great thing...it cooled off...upper 70's during the day low 50's at night!! No air conditioning. I have my sliders open in the studio and it's like I'm working outside! I love it! Won't last too long, but I'll enjoy it while it does. At any rate, even the heat beats snow and ice in my book! But I do enjoy these cooler days. Guess this is what you Southern California gals have all the time! Nice!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Pictures as promised

I got allot accomplished on the raffle quilt today: I'm in the final stages...background fill. I got about 1/3 of it done today.

This evening, just as it was getting dark, I got these pictures. It is a favorite time of the day for the kitties. Here is Chloe in the typical ragdoll flop and roll pose.

And then here's Harry watching for lizards! By the way, he caught 2 lizards and 1 frog before he came in from the lanai for the night. He is my hunter.

And yesterday Bonnie mentioned to Mary she should do a family book. Well she did, about 10 years ago. This is the cover.

In this photo from the book..notice the matching outfits for all the girls! My Mother made those; down to the hats! LOL I am the tall one beside Mother, Mary is the next tallest, standing between Mother and I. You may notice there is a SLIGHT age difference. The babies are our 2 youngest sisters. As for the boys, looks like Patrick might have pilfered the hymnal from church!


This is the last page from that book. The center is Mother, with all the most of the grandchildren around...my children are missing. But the baby in her lap is my oldest granddaughter, her great-granddaughter Kara, who is now 12 years old. there are since, 2 more great- granddaughters; Samantha, 5 and Fiona 1.



And this , also from that book is a photo of Mary and I. It was taken at my home in rural Virginia, probably close to 8 years ago.




Memories are wonderful! I hope you all enjoy yours.