Stormin'

Tuesday we had a pretty out of season day. It was warm, we were under a tornado watch all day and in the afternoon a storm rolled in that had wind gust around 60 mph per my weather gauge and the back awning was gone.

Have you ever wondered where big scary rottweilers go during thunder storms? That's right ... under the baby's crib. Finn was saying, "Git! Git!"

Well, there was no rain today but tonight we are going down to 28 degrees. My new apple trees just started sprouting leaves this week so of course it would...

Sharing my space

Here are some pictures of the kids hanging out in the sewing room. It just happened that they all joined me in here one afternoon after school and I thought, "Wow, they're all here in the smallest room of the house getting along." They stayed in there with me for quite a while chatting to me and each other while I finished a few things up. It was pretty nice.

Finished.

You can't really see the beaded details very well in the pictures but the snowmen quilt is done. It was a project that was chosen right around Christmas craft crunch time thinking it would be quick because there isn't really any piecing involved. However, it's turned into a project that I could probably add to, add to and add to some more without end. So I decided to follow a friend suggestion and add beads. On the top are beads that resemble little cranberries and in the sky part there are little crystal beads sewn on to resemble stars. It needed the "pop" of the beads and I'm thankful I used the suggestion.

It is time for the quilt to move onto it's new owner and for me to move on to something new. It's a Christmas quilt and it is February after all...

Found Treasure

Here are some items I've come across while getting things better organized in the sewing room. All of the things were Gram Galla's that were handed down to me. The two tea towels with crochet tops were both finished except for needing buttons added on so last night I sewed a button onto each so they could be used.

The patterns I kept coming across here and there and so I kept them all together and was perusing them and laughing a bit about the styles.



There are a few that I would actually consider making with a little update of fabric and some minor alteration. The two simplicity patterns and the classic dress with the tie in front have potential. The rest are good for a little snicker.

The one with the 'unique' fabric in the picture was actually started by Gram and is cut out and has the zippers already in place, it was cut out for the blue skirt/ white shirt pattern it's pictured with. I think this is one of her projects I won't be finishing.

The picture of three patterns circa 1980 something are going to be sent to my friend Marsel. I'll let her make those up and wear them... Shoulder pads anyone?

The last picture is of my shelf addition to the sewing room.

My Apologies...

My sincere apologies for not keeping up with the blog once again. There is no valid excuse for this other than I tend to get into the habit of living life rather than writing about it.

The past week I've been stripping wallpaper in our bedroom whenever I had a free moment and then Bob spackled, sanded and painted the walls. It's not perfect but it's a big improvement from the stained, peeling wallpaper that was there.

I also knitted a pair of clogs for myself and then felted them so they would fit me as apposed to a big Gorilla. This was my first time experimenting with felting and it was so cool to watch it shrink and come together into this tight fabric.

Rylin learned to ride his bike sans training wheels. We are very proud of him as one day he just decided he wanted his training wheels off and he was going to do it! He did!

Yesterday, I hung a new shelf over the cutting table in my sewing room. This is a big deal because I did it myself and the shelf is quite heavy so it took a trip to Depot to get some wall toggles because I have no desire to patch more walls at this point were it to fall.

Today's plan is to organize all the fabric, notions, yarn and the kid's art stuff into labeled bins as to be more efficient. When you have a limited amount of time to accomplish things without interruption every minute counts. Up till now we've had a sort of "junk drawer system" which meant that whenever something needed put away you put it wherever you could squoosh it in. The kids are very good at that system. Hopefully, they will appreciate not having to dig through my stuff to find theirs so we'll see.

I am still working on the same wall hanging quilt I was working on before Christmas. It is to the point where I either need to sit down and work on it till it is complete or put it in a box in the attic and pretend it never existed. "What snowman quilt? What are you talking about snowmen? You know quite well it doesn't snow in Florida... you're losin' your mind I tell ya..." I've got it all worked out, it will be fine.

Last week, I got a case of what I thought was hives. I was thinking maybe I was allergic to the drywall dust or wallpaper glue I was stripping. But then I started feeling allover, hit by a Mac truck not well... So I went to the Dr. and I don't have hives it's this icky virus I've never heard of Pityriasis Rosea and occording to the Dr. this can last 6-8 weeks. She gave me steroids and some medicine to help with the aches and hopefully it will have a short run. Chicken pox lookin' spots don't really suit me and Bob still isn't convinced that it's not "catchy". I considered asking the Dr. for a note saying I COULD be allergic to drywall dust or wall paper glue and that I shouldn't do it anymore.. that Bob should just go ahead and take care of it. However, I am trying to be a better person, good girl, kinder wife whatever you want to call it. So instead, I decided to just be grateful it's not Leprosy, it crossed my mind in the worse moments and that it should be gone before it's bathing suit time. (Does Leprosy still exist?)

The picture of the birds was taken in my front yard. It was a day when I had planned to go to the beach and just have a walk, see the ocean, pick shells. Well, the beach day was cancelled and I went out to start laundry and there were this pair of birds that are very tropical looking and seem to belong at the the beach. I just thought it was great that on a day when I wanted to go so badly God sent me a bit of the beach to my own front yard.

A Great Visit With Wonderful Friends

There is no better gift than a good visit with good friends, especially ones you don't see very often. My friend Marsel and her two children David and Abigail are down here visiting her family. They live in Canton, GA so these visits aren't often enough.

Monday the kids were off school and we were blessed with a visit from Marsel, her mom Cindy and the kids. We had six kids in the house and it went surprisingly well in spite of that with no big melt downs by any of the kids.

Frankie gave David and Finn rides on his Razor Motorcycle... although, Finn was not pleased with the sharing of his chauffeur. Finn also tried to procure Abigail's new sparkly flip flops for his own personal use.

We had pizza, turtle brownies and strawberry cheesecake. I could do this every week just to have an excuse to eat those sorts of foods. It was nice to also get opinions on my projects, new bedroom paint color etc. They even offered to help me clean my sewing room because it was trashed due to the bedroom painting episode. How many people get to have friends that good??? I'm betting not many.

I wish we all lived closer so we could do this all the time. The kids and I would definately love it. Thanks so much for coming Marsel and Mrs. M. it got really quiet here after you all left and I got the feeling I wasn't the only one a little sad about missing my friends.

Frankie's 10th Birthday

Here are some pictures from Frankie's 10th birthday (February 9th). As you might guess he got a new bike as getting into the double digits is a big deal.

Frankie continues to do well in school and chorus in the spring he has a couple big concerts going on one will be at the Clay County Festival. He is also a huge help to me and a great big brother to Finn and Rylin. He even taught Finn how to swing on the 'big kid swing'. Notice Rylin refused to go without so he climbed into the baby swing...

Do you think Rylin might look a little excited over the prospect of eating cake?