July and it's hot, hot hot!

Since my last installment, quite a bit has gone on around here! On June 14, David and I celebrated 39 years of wedded bliss! Not being one for romantic dinners and such, we opted to just do our usual thing..............movie on Friday and dinner on Saturday evening. We had a business trip to Dallas; he worked while I shopped! What great fun! When we left Dallas, we headed down to Orange to attend his family reunion. I always tell people that Broussards are like ants; there are just so many you wouldn't believe! The older generation keeps decreasing in numbers and there are more babies all the time. The best part of this reunion is that both of our children and their kids were able to attend also.

The movies we've seen this month include: My Life in Ruins, The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3, The Proposal, The Hangover, David saw Transformers and I saw My Sister's Keeper. Explanation on that will come later!

Aimee, Alex, and Caitie arrived here Friday, June 26 for a week long visit. The girls wanted to see Transformers so Poppy agreed to take them. He didn't want to see My Sister's Keeper but Aimee and I did, so it was a natural solution to Friday nite entertainment. The movies were at different time so we couldn't ride together. But just as our guests arrived, we realized that the
A/C was not cooling!!!! We were not overly optimistic about getting someone out at 5:50 on a Friday evening. But one phone call and "the man" was here within 30 minutes. Poppy and the girls were able to get to their feature but "the man" was still working when it was time for Aimee and I to leave. We voted that A/C was definitely more important than the movie. We had a cool night and "the man" returned Saturday to replace the fan motor.

While the girls were here, Aimee needed to get some homework done toward her teacher certification course while Alex, Caitie and I played games and worked on sewing projects. On Sunday, David fired up the grill and played with the girls while Aimee and I caught the early feature of My Sister's Keeper. Aimee had read the book and said that although she enjoyed the movie...........the book is way better. David had to leave Sunday evening for a business trip. So for 3 nights, we were an all girls household.

On Monday, we headed to the Blueberry Patch where we braved the sweltering heat to pick 2 1/2 gallons of delicious blue fruit. When we returned home, Aimee made a big pot of chicken and dumplins while the girls and I washed and sorted the blueberries. Aimee spent the afternoon studying while the girls and I made pies............delicious, juicy, blueberry and peach pies.

Several days during the week, we went to Chrissie's to swim and enjoy a relaxing time. Caitie made several small artsy projects with fabric, sewing and markers. Alex wanted to make a quilt; so several days were spent finishing it. They both wanted frilly skirts so they chose fabric from my stash, drew their plan and I made them each a skirt. The top layer of Caitie's skirt was scraps from my bridesmaid dresses while another was scraps from my graduation dress. Alex chose fabric that I had bought to make a dress that never happened with the lining from a bridesmaid dress Aimee wore in a friend's wedding. I am sure they will get many hours of fun playing in these skirts.

















As of Friday morning, things have quietened down quite a bit.............the girls headed back to Austin, TX where their two dogs Jack and Bridget and their husband/daddy eagerly awaited their return.

In June I readThe Ocean Inside, Red Leaves, and River's Edge. Loved them all.

David and I will be attending a 4th of July party today that has come to be an annual event.
Happy Independence Day!

Summer Time.......and the living is easy!

Oh my gosh! Someone must be stealing my blog posts. Surely I have not neglected my blog all this time? Have I been in a coma or what? My last picture posted was of the challenge project I made for the Quilting Retreat I attended in April. Yvonne and I had a great time in Quitman, TX. We met 30 wonderful ladies from all over. We each made a Turning Twenty quilt top and I even made 15 Paducah 9-patch blocks for our church raffle quilt. The quilt top is finished and already quilted and ready to give away.

It has been an exciting time in that I finished piecing the border blocks for my Dear Jane quilt. It is in the hoop and I already have about 8 of the blocks hand quilted. No promises on the completion of it any time soon. I have designated it my Thursday project to occupy my hands during my church group sit and sew session.






During this time I have also finished my Mystery on the Oriental Express quilt from my online group. I hand quilted it also.





I have been busy the past few days making tote bags. I purchased a couple of pieces of color print fabric and black for lining. I sandwiched each print with batting and a lining then machine quilted with loops and swirls. I cut tote bag sections from the prequilted fabric and made 4 tote bags with outside and inside pockets. I had previously purchased nylon web for handles; it takes quite a bit for each bag because I stitch the handles around the bottom of the bag for extra strength and stability. I still have to make sturdy fabric covered cardboard inserts for the bottom of the bags.

March blows in...............

I received a package containing a variety of fabrics all sizes in the mail a couple of weeks ago. It was for a challenge associated with a retreat I will be attending in April. The challenge was to make a project using only the fabrics included which were mainly left from block of the month kits and such. There was a one yard cut of a leafy fabric. I studied the fabrics and gave it serious consideration before coming up with a plan. I wanted my project to be something that I would use. One of my aims this year has been to make small wall hangings for my stairwell. From there the idea evolved. My project is called "Lost Cabin in the Woods". I grew to like it the longer I worked on it. I decided to hand quilt it using the stitching to form cabins in the leaf fabric squares.


Just a lot of everyday stuff going on these days. February ended with the beginning of Lent. I finished reading The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simons. What a wonderful book. I have now started reading Alexander and Tatania which picks up where the other ended. There has been much cooking and baking lately. As we have a program at our church called Stork Bites where we bring a hot meal and frozen casseroles to a family with a new baby. Another program that I volunteer with is Dollar Lunch. We prepare lunch for college kids on Wednesday. They get a complete home cooked meal for $1. What a bargain! It is so rewarding to see how excited they are as they come through the line. They are so appreciative.

I have started the machine quilting on my king 4-patch Posie quilt but ran out of thread and am awaiting the arrival of more. Hopefully, I will get finished within the next week or two and can start enjoying it on my bed!!!

Just keeping busy!

The past month has been a flurry of planning and plodding. I did attend a quilt show in Jefferson, TX and thoroughly enjoyed the day with friends Julie and Chrissie. To prepare for the big fund raiser at church, I made 4 batches of Roux, each batch made with 5 lb of flour and a quart of oil. During the month of January, I read several books - Revolutionary Road, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, A Single Thread, All That Matters, and The Quilter's Kitchen. I liked them all. I am now reading the first in a Trilogy by Paulina Simmons call The Bronze Horseman. They are all three large books with small print. I will be consumed with them for quite a while. I also have at the ready John Grisham's newest, The Associate.

David and I continue to enjoy our weekly movie dates. We have seen some really good movies lately - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Grand Torino, Last Chance Harvey, Slumdog Millionaire, Taken, The Reader, He's Just Not That Into You, New In Town, The International.

The first week of February, I drove down to Orange, TX to visit my Mom and do a few things for her. The big thing was getting her a new flat screen TV and setting it up on the new console that had to be assembled. We got some visiting in and a little cleaning done.

Last week was Gumbo Week. Monday was the day of bell peppers, celery, and green onions; we cheat and buy the white onions already chopped. Less tears! Once everything is chopped uniformly, it is weighed and bagged in a appropriate amounts for each pot of gumbo. Tuesday and Wednesday we cook. Each pot makes 52 quarts of gumbo. We cook 5 pots at a time and two cookings each day. once cooked, the gumbo is put into quart containers and ready for pickup. By the end of the second day of cooking, we have sold over 1,040 quarts of gumbo. We all have a wonderful time together working on this project but are always glad when it is behind us for another year!

I had thought I might start my machine quilting on my 4-patch posie quilt. But just received in the mail fabric for a challenge. I will be attending a Sew n Spa in April and forgot about the challenge associated with it. So that is what is taking up my time right now. I am trying to get my creative juices flowing to come up with a idea.

David gave me a beautiful Valentine card that said all the right things along with a heart shaped box of Pecan Millionaires. He knows what I like! I gave him a card and washed his car. We went to dinner last night and played cards with friends. It was a very nice day.

It is hard to believe that our granddaughter, Alex, will celebrate her 10th birthday Tuesday. She is such a joy! We have so much fun together. She is learning to cook and sew; we have so much fun together. We also like playing games. She loves to read too.

January 19,2009

Well, since I am well into the new year, I realize that I have been excessively quiet. I continue to diligently plod along doing the hand quilting on my Mystery on the Oriental Express quilt at my Thursday quilt group. Since my new year's resolution is to whittle away my UFO stack, I began putting together my 4-Patch Stacked Posie quilt. Whew, is it big?! It will be used on my bed so needs to be a king. I have never machine quilted one so big but I plan to give it a whirl using the backing fabric design for the quilting pattern. I haven't decided on the thread color yet or done a practice run. So I have no idea when I will get to work on it. I will definitely make sure I have lots of time with no distractions.

I am looking forward to going to my first quilt show of 2009 on Friday, January 23 with two friends to Jefferson, TX.

Approaching 2009

As I sit here contemplating, I am jolted to the reality that another year has passed. Since my last post, so many family activities have engulfed my time. Aimee, Alex, Caitie, Chris and Lori were here with us for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time and even got in a little shopping. Immediately, we were vaulted right into the Christmas flurries. Chris and Lori surprised me with a wonderful evening of dinner and a Ronnie Milsap concert in early December for my Christmas. What sneaks, they all kept the secret for several months without my knowledge.

David and I made the trek to Leander, TX the weekend before Christmas to share the holiday with Aimee and her family arriving back home in time for Chris, Lori and Jordon to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning here with us. We made the trip to Orange, TX to visit family and friends the day after Christmas arriving home the following Monday. It was a nice trip. I spent last night at a "Girl's Night Out" house party just eating, drinking, and visiting. Very nice!

Here it is New Year's Eve and David and I have no plans of any kind. I guess that means we are getting old! lol It is a good thing we enjoy each others company so much.

I look forward to starting the new year with gusto with the resolutions to finish several of my quilting projects. The Dear Jane quilt is the oldest but the one that I will concentrate on the most is the 4-patch posie quilt for my bedroom. I would like to have it done for spring. If I can just refrain from starting anything new and not join in too many swaps! lol

So long 2008! Happy New Year and welcome 2009!