It’s Monday --- Early…. I’m not even going to dread going to work... the weekend was awesome. Chelsey came home. Don needed something picked up in Green Bay--- so we sacrificed ourselves for some shopping endeavors. We had so much fun. There was lunch out and small purchases but tons of ‘window’ shopping.

The weather was crummy, but we took turns driving and it wasn’t raining inside. I had all of my new kids in Sunday school yesterday and each one is cuter than the next. I’m a football junkie so Sunday afternoon the family watched the NFL games and we got Chelsey back on the road to school. This was a hard week to send her back. I guess it’s because we had so much fun.

I spent Sunday evening decorating with pumpkin quilts. My mind says I don’t need anymore more… but there are so many beautiful ones out there it’s so hard to resist.

Purchases… Bath and Body Works is a “must” stop on the shopping trip.
The Fall Pumpkins scents are my favorites. The wooden leaves are Dollar Tree purchases. I removed all the raffia and changed it to Grosgrain ribbon.

There is a consignment shop that is always a favorite stop in Appleton.
The painted tea-dyed towel I couldn’t resist.

My last purchase was the pumpkin sign.
The photo doesn’t do it justice. There are black crows sitting on top of it.

The last couple of photos are just fall corners in my house.
The quilts have all been shared in prior years, but pulling out old quilts is like visiting an old friend. Don made the quilt ladder for me for my birthday.
This is the first Fall I’ve had it to decorate. I do have my eyes open for two new projects.
I want to paint an old chair black and one red. I love quilts thrown over old chairs. And half of the fun of getting the chair is searching for it.

I have plans for quilting tonight…. Maybe pictures tomorrow….

The borders are tea-dyed and the houses are built.

I’m washing the wool as I type. I’m so glad the weekend has arrived. Ransom and I have already gotten our run in. I made chocolate chip cookies for Chelsey. She’s coming home this weekend. What is it about homemade cookies that says ‘I love you’?

I’ve got a pot of Jambalaya cooking… Cornbread with it and we’ll call it supper. Several have asked about my folks in Louisiana. They’re OK. They were without power for 4 days--- most would think “No big deal”, put couple that with 90 degree temperatures and it’s pretty unpleasant. They have lots of tree limb damage and their church is 18 inches deep in water. That was pretty devastating to them…but buildings can be repaired and no lives were lost so they’ll be OK.

One last thing---I’m going to date myself—guess what I’m listening to? Remember Christopher Cross? I ordered Eric a book on CD for ‘back to school’ because he’s way too cool for pink boxes. He listens to it while he travels in his car. Anyway I ordered Christopher Cross’s Greatest hits--- such great memories in every song…..Google it and listen….

Onto the weekend…..

I’ve been sewing--- but every time I try to take a photo of the progress there seems to be an obstacle… It’s raining, the camera battery needs charging, and People drop by the house… so we’ll just have to hold onto the suspense.

I’ve been in Wichita Kansas this week for an Aviation seminar. While the seminar for fine, there’s no doubt my heart is at home. Don and Ransom were bachelors without me. And though every one of Ransom’s water bowls was empty he lived and I count the adventure a success. Ransom has almost caught up on his water intake too.

I did make some purchases.
I saving up fabric for a homespun project, so that’s where the yellows and purple pieces come in. I have a couple of friends into “pink” so those were definitely stash builders. I have just been in love with the Kansas Troubles piece so I purchased 3 yards just for the sake of that.

My final purchases were wool pieces for my Saltboxes in the Corner quilt. Wool is pricey… never purchased any before. I’ve had several pieces in kits but never purchase that kind of fabric as stand alone pieces. Should I pre-wash the pieces before appliquéing with them? I’d appreciate any advice.

It’s not a tornado or a hurricane… this is the current view from the back ‘covered porch.’

Don and I had decided on Direct TV as a treat now that the kids are fleeing the nest. But as it turns out, we have way too much forest for the high tech satellite device. So we were going to cut down 2 trees for the project. We had a forester come in and gave me serious talking to about tree safety, about how thinning out certain trees will allow others to flourish. He also talked to me about disease in certain trees and conservation. Well, he won me over, and 25 trees came down. I’m not sad… my garden will grow better. The house will be safer, trees will get bigger and truthfully after the mess is cleaned up, I don’t think I’ll even know their gone. It’s kind of like thinning the garden out… it only hurts for a little while….Oh --- and—we decided against Direct TV… We decided we didn’t want to become couch potatoes and that it probably wasn’t really good for us any way… regular cable would suffice….

Maybe tomorrow I can get the quilt blocks photographed and include another post….

Fall is settling in….
From the Covered Porch……..

I’m about to head out to work for the morning…but I had a wonderful weekend. We’ve been enjoying the last of the summer temperatures. I have been nursing the garden and hoping I can make it another month without frost. I have been quilting up a storm. Here is August’s block in the House Sampler block of the month. I love the chimney…

The other project I’m working on is the Saltboxes in the Corner quilt.
The pattern was a gift from Colleen. We had planned on working on it together, but I’m completely unreliable and she’s an incredibly busy woman.
We have been changing the look of our den in the basement. My cute green jelly cupboard has now been painted black. I’m trying to “embrace” the entire “black” theme and I’ve wished over this quilt a long time. The middle is complete. Here is one of the corner houses.
I have completed a green house also. I only have a blue and gold one left to whip up. I tea dyed muslin yesterday for the appliqué portion. I’ve decided to use wool. I have blue and green. With a business trip ahead, I’m hoping to find enough red and gold to complete the flowers and hearts. This quilt will be draped over the door of the cupboard I think.

Chelsey is surviving college. She came down with a fever of 102 and tonsillitis on Wednesday. Pretty much a major meltdown, I talked her through getting to a doctor on her own and getting to Wal-mart for antibiotics. Guilty--- I called Wal-mart and warned them she was coming, and asked them to package up Ny-quil, cough drops and juice. I asked for a special dose of ---“Acting like you care”.

“Mom—just come and get me--- I can’t do this…”
“Chels, you can. One day you’ll be working in New York City and I won’t be there. I know you can do this.”
“No, I can’t…”
“Yes, you can….”

And she did……

I was strong on the outside, but on the inside I was crumbling....And it turned into a bonding thing with her new roomate and the kids on her dorm floor really rallied behind her taking her temp and checking on her. She's going to make it.

Posting two days in a row…. Got to be a first for this summer. You can tell from the darkened snapshot, the days are indeed getting shorter in the U.P. I completed my Four Season block for August and just couldn’t wait to share.
We still haven’t found a routine…but the kids both seem pretty content—for a brief moment in time so I’m considering Life being good right now. I cleaned my sewing machine and took a few minutes to pick up. I feel like I’m finding friends again. It’s been good typing messages to you all the past few days.

We’ll leave this as a short post ending my blessings for the day:

Safe travel for all of us in the last week.
Leftovers with Don—everything is better if you have someone to share it with.
Cooler temps…no air conditioning with the fresh air venturing in from the Screen doors…

Well, we did it….We got Chelsey settled in for her new start… She off and running for college. Tons of firsts…. New friends, new responsibilities (Mom can’t rescue stained clothes), sharing a dorm room, and sharing a bathroom with three other girls. While she does have a flair for the dramatic---I believe she’s very capable of solving her own problems… it’s called growing up.

I think Don and I must be growing up too. It’s hard letting go and it’s hard not rescuing her at the ‘drop of a hat’. We are learning to settle her spirits down --- breathe--- and give her a chance to first brainstorm a solution to each problem. Not easy for two incredibly driven parents… and two pretty “structured” people…

I sent her off with this pink box. I didn’t give it to her until the moment we left. I had been collecting items for a while for this day. Thinking about necessities and things she would need without “Mom“ around.

We doodle together. We have every book Lindsay Ostrom has written.
I remember days of sitting at the kitchen table practicing together. I remember, “Mom, mine are never as good as yours…” Now, she doodles with the best—the book is really just a memory because she doesn’t even need it. I included Sharpie markers with a tag—‘No one is as sharp as you…’ There is the emergency can of Spaghetti-O’s to go with her pink can opener.
When she was little, I always wanted her to have Little Red Shoes, but they were hard to find, expensive and probably impractical.
I found a tiny pair and tagged them . If you are going to be a writer, you definitely need journals. I included twistable crayons. Coloring is cheap therapy on days with the blues.

I thought of things she always borrows from me. Panty hose, Eyeliner and mascara, my silver and gold hoop earrings.
Thinking I wouldn’t be there—she definitely need them in the Survival kit.
There’s an umbrella because both my college kids think they are too cool for an umbrella until it’s storming outside.
I found two Barbie ornaments that just seemed to fit.
The Little black Dress and the Wonder Woman outfit because I know in reality she is stronger than I ever was at that age.

Oh -- and Dark chocolate M & M's sorted by color......you definitely have to have chocolate.

Don and I …. And Ransom will begin to settle in to our new routine…

I’m still here--- Not a lot of quilting going on… maybe a little hand stitching at night before turning in. Doesn’t mean I’m sitting idol; it just means I’m taking summer for all it’s worth.

Quilt stuff first….A girlfriend at work went to a quilt shop in Ironwood…. She’s not even a Quilter. She did it for me. She was vacationing and stopped and filled her cell phone with snapshots. What a girl!!! She even brought me back a pattern and fat quarters.
I almost feel like I was there. But even more than that… it’s great to be thought of by someone else. She told me the fabrics are from a Japanese line.

My friend is the Queen of Rubber Stamping. I am definitely a rookie, but I keep practicing. She shows me every thing quilt related. This was her latest find. Quilt stamps. Right now, I’m short on time, but here’s a rookie attempt at using them for her thank you note.

I have dreams of using them on quilt labels and postcards… and those days will come… just not right now. I really appreciate her. It’s nice having something to talk about besides work….

Life at home. A week ago, we took the kids and their dates kayaking for a day. Most fun I’ve had in a while. I had my family with no cell phones and no television. We were all first-timers and made great memories. Boulders would appear in the middle of the river and the kids would swear they were icebergs and start quoting “The Titanic” and singing the theme song. I laughed so much. Chelsey and I went to see ‘Sisters on the Traveling Pants II’ this weekend and did the last of her college dorm room shopping. We take her to college on Thursday. Don laughs when he looks in the bags---‘They don’t have Wal-mart where she’s going????’ We have to go into great detail about it being a ‘Shopping Experience’ and that he should have been there. But she’s stocked now with Tide, Ramen Noodles, Shampoo, and the all important Memory CD filled with Power Songs to get her through any loneliness she might have. Somehow--- I just can’t picture the kid lonely….. I think I may be the one needing the Power Songs… this is a lot harder for me than I thought it was going to be. We’ve been grilling and playing cards with Chelsey and friends at night. Life is about to change.

I’ve got a care package built for her and we’ll show the photos in Thursday’s post…. I hope this is a good week. Lots of things on my mind.

Lots of family time this weekend---Kind of helps heal the spirit. We went to Don’s office picnic Saturday afternoon. It would have been much easier to just hide in the garden or sewing room, but I really need to think about starting to “get a life” when Chelsey leaves for school in a couple of weeks. Once we got to the picnic, we had a great time.

Sunday after church I finished my postcards and got them ready to mail. My favorite is the strawberry. Here’s the link for the postcard stamp that I used on the back. If life is busy, these are quick projects that you can share with others I really enjoy them.

I even got Don to start marking our snowshoe trail for this winter. When I trekked back in January, I really wondered—what does this look like in the summer… in the fall, so we started marking a route and now we’ll be able to appreciate the changes.

Thanks for the comments for my daughter and community. While I don’t think there is ANYTHING good to come out of this…I hope that Chelsey doesn’t become scared, or cynical, but does become not quite so trusting as she heads off to school. Small town comfort is just a myth….

What’s on the docket this week? Definitely cleaning my sewing room and sewing machine… it’s their turn…. And I want to take time out to appreciate little things like:

Eating cherry tomatoes right off the vine right in the middle of my garden.
Eating a home grown cucumber like a banana—just add salt…
Filling jelly jars with zinnias as more bloom every day….

A gift in the mail--- on a day that I really needed it. I’ve mailed over 3 dozen postcards—this is the first I’ve ever received. I often wondered the feeling my friends, my Mom or even Sunday school kids had when they received theirs… I was right on target. It was just the feeling I was aiming for. Thanks again Susan.

Aside from the everyday tides of life—the ups and downs were totally different that day than I had ever experienced before. Our community made national news for totally horrible reasons. Four teenagers were shot, three fatally by a total stranger. Teenagers from 17 to 20 years old swimming at a local railroad bridge happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just when we get lulled into thinking “Not in my town” we get the shock of our lives. Hey it could have been my kids—they both swam there before… talk about reality check. Chelsey’s taking it pretty hard. While only one boy was a friend, in a small town you know everyone.

There are no “right words”. I’ve always considered our woods as a comforting place. But I was scared to death to leave my house that Friday morning after it happened on Thursday with the guy still loose with an assault rifle. I had never been so glad to see state troopers as I was when they were at my office when I got there. They had refueled their helicopters there throughout the night looking for the guy. They did get the guy 16 hours later—why did he do it? I don’t know, but there’s no answer to justify this.

Chelsey has a friend that ran—literally—for his life that lived. Funny, I pick at her lately about using the house as a closet because she’s never around, working two jobs and an active social life. She’s never home. That Thursday night when everything went crazy, she had stayed home with us. Something she hadn’t done in ages. Cellphones put our world in a different place now. She had friends calling and checking to find out where she was before it was announced on the TV, radio, or internet. It continued throughout the night. I sent her to Green Bay the next day with a friend. I didn’t want her in town with this guy on the loose. There were so many speculations—I wanted her away from the rumors. But even in Green Bay, news travelled.

She worked today. Calling to check in every hour or so. She’s still having a tough time. ‘Mom, I have helped people pick out clothes for funerals before, but I could always separate myself from the situation. I know why they need these clothes today. This is so hard. Mom—I don’t want to talk about it.’
I just told her that people need strength, and maybe they draw strength from her. But she doesn’t realize the comfort she can give others. A tough lesson for an 18 year old kid.

I didn’t mean to dump on anyone, I guess I’m rambling because as a parent I am living the “what if” scenarios in my mind. I can’t imagine the heartache the parents are going through.

Eric surprised us and came home for a couple of days--- Just what the family needed. Everyone was “jockey-ing” for time with him. If that kid doesn’t feel loved--- he won’t ever…. Even Ransom was in on the act.

So I just got a couple of stitches in last night.
The Ladybug Postcard will be for Don’s cousin that just recently had a baby. I was hoping for a baby quilt to be made for her, but it’s just not happening right now. But she will get a postcard welcoming her into the world. Amanda did the baby’s room in Ladybugs. The other postcard will be for a couple of friends that recently lost their husbands. I made two just a like of that one.
Never easy.

We have Chelsey’s softball game tonight, so it’s pretty safe to say that I won’t have much time for sewing. But It’ll be there when I do get the chance.

Gratitudes:
Scholarship Money for Chelsey—easing burdens ahead.
Safe travel for Eric coming home
Pretzels
First Cherry tomatoes of the season

Summer is fleeing and I’m trying to cram as much into it as I can. In the Upper Peninsula I find myself trying to enjoy the outside weather as much as I can because the winters keep us really sheltered inside. I was talking to my Mom about the great summer but how at the same time I haven’t sewn as much as I would like to. Just not enough hours in the day…. She keeps me grounded and reminds me I have all winter to sew. But when you are a Quilter---It’s just not a seasonal activity for you…we all just have to find balance I guess. I’ve been working on My Journey of a Quilter block, but I hit a roadblock when I ran out of thread.
My Mom is rescuing me and mailing me DMC 838, as our Wal-Mart doesn’t carry it and it was our only source for thread. Another example of little things you should never take for granted….

I picked my first mess of green beans on Sunday.
I’m cooking them tonight. I have one tomato ready to pick but the rest are still pretty green.
Here’s a snapshot from my front flowerbed. It’s on the North side of the house and is shaded all but a couple hours of the day.
I just love impatiens. Marigolds line the garden fence.
This geranium has been my rescue project for the summer. It almost died on me, and I’ve nursed it back to health most of the summer. I think it’s just a beautiful color.


Last night Don & I road our bicycles to supper. We grabbed a sandwich at a local restaurant and rode home. We’ve only had one day over ninety degrees, the remainder hovering at around 80. The windows and doors were open all weekend, gathering fresh air through the house.

I’ve almost completed 6 fabric postcards, maybe snapshots tomorrow. I’ve also been working on a few things for Chelsey to take to school, 24 days away… Ransom entertained us all weekend. We’ve been doing some target shooting on the back of the property. He’s a born hunter and dances when the rifles come out. It’s been years since I shot a rifle. Don and I had fun and my aim is getting better all the time….

Looking back over this post… Summer is being filled with all of the good stuff… Have a good week.

Life – you get out of it what you put into it. I’ve reminded myself this several times this week, so I’m having a pretty good week. On the way home from work Tuesday I pulled over to the side of the road and picked a batch of Black-eyed Susans
for the kitchen table--- first of the season. Don’s been working late so Ransom and I have been trekking out daily on our own. It’s been threatening a thunderstorm or two each evening, but always misses us. The wind knocked down these acorns before they were ready…


Quilting---this wasn’t on my list, but I couldn’t resist. It’s a Needle case. It’s from a free pattern of Cinderberry Stitches. Linda had made one.
I had not even heard of a needle case until about a year ago. My needles are stored on spools of thread, bulletin boards, pattern sheets… hit or miss.
It’s discovery mission every time I need one. I had printed and studied the pattern for while. Then Linda encouraged me to do it. The embroidery was a piece of cake. I think my stitches are getting better. Practice is definitely the answer. The assembly instructions weren’t easy for me, I’m a visual person, but when I took it a step at a time at “acted in faith”, took everything literally and was careful not to read too much into each step. It worked--- and I now have my very own needle case. After work tonight, I’m going collecting my needles . I never really considered myself a ‘Blue’ person, but the thread and fabric called me. The project was fun and easy--- I recommend it to everyone.

I’m about to make my lunch—a ham sandwich, mayonnaise only--- grab my coffee, and head out to the hangar….

Two blocks completed this weekend. My July House sampler block looks a little off sides but after the seam allowances are taken up I think it will look fine.

My Capricorn Quilts BOM is set for July too.

It’s now the 14th of the month and I’m going to spend the remainder of the month on 3 things/ maybe 4:
Postcards
A Baby Quilt
Journey of a Quilter BOM
Connecting the blocks on my Primitive garden.

Realistically, I’ll probably get one thing done off the list unless we have an incredibly rainy July. But it’s nice to know I’m never short on entertainment.

Eric made in safely back downstate. It was hard to see him go. He was home for 5 days, but it just wasn’t long enough. Went to church yesterday. There were 9 kids in my Sunday school class. They’ll promote in about 9 weeks. You can tell they’re growing and ready to move on. You get them broke into the routine and then you have to give’em up. I guess that’s the way it is with most things in life.

Green tomatoes, green beans and inch long, and quarter size green peppers in the garden--- it’s come along nicely.

Ransom and I got 3 good walks in over the weekend. We need to get out and pick flowers for the table this evening.

Thought for the week: Value. What is Value? What do you give Value to? Have you ever been told you have Value?

My Gratitudes:
Vanilla Milkshakes
My K Swiss Tennis Shoes
My thermos of Coffee this morning—Will get me through the day

Friday evening—I made it to the weekend. Eric came home Wednesday for a few days and I don’t think I slept as good as I did Wednesday night in a long time. There’s just something about having all your kids under one roof --- no matter how old they are.
Quilting business first.
Here is my Four Season BOM Summer house. I love each block every month. I had spotted this wheelbarrow set up in someone’s yard on our bike rides. So today after work, my camera and I went trespassing and grabbed a couple of snapshots. The clothes pin at the bottom holds it still and the wind kept tossing it around.

I took the water hose to the garden this evening. The rain keeps missing us and it looked pretty thirsty. I planted a coneflower perennial.
The stem keeps shooting off new flowers. I Hope it survives our cold winters and comes back each year.

Both kids went to Green Bay together today. We’ve all been fighting for time with Eric. Chelsey decided a road trip was the best way not to have to share. Hey—I’m glad they’re such good friends.

Don and Eric have movie plans tomorrow so I’ll get some time for sewing.
I sent my Sunday school class letters this week. It was the first time in about five weeks. I’ve never gone that long without writing them. I guess I’ve kind of been going through a dry spell…but maybe it’s over. I kind of feel like I’m getting back into the groove of things.

I’d like to make some post cards this weekend. Maybe it’ll happen. But there are so many parts of summer to enjoy….

Have a great weekend.

It’s Independence Day… The beginning of a three day weekend. As I lay in bed this morning, (6:30am as compared to the usually Friday 4:30 am) I contemplated the upcoming day. For the first time in about twelve years I had no child in the town Fourth of July Parade. I guess it’s a sign of things ahead and the many changes to come. As a quiet reflection I decided not to attend the parade but yet sit back and remember good memories of the past. I got up with Ransom, and stitched until Don awoke.

Don and I ran three miles and began our day. Eric is away at school and Chelsey ran frantically to meet friends for the parade and a day at the lake. It would be just Don and I --- and Ransom for the day. We ate on the back Covered Porch.
The Daisies grow wild in our woods. Ransom and I picked a bundle. Lunch was grilled shrimp and steamed vegetables followed by a lazy afternoon nap.

We woke to our afternoon pot of coffee on the porch. Funny—we both find ourselves pondering the next few months ahead.. not with dread..just with curiosity.

Ransom and I are off to the garden to battle the weeds. Don is staining one of the 7 six panel doors for the upstairs. It’s our ---scratch that----his home improvement project for the summer. They’re just beautiful… We’ve got a two mile run with Ransom this evening and our bike ride on the docket….oh and I plan on talking Don into Ice cream.

Enjoy your weekend--- these summer days pass so quickly

I did it… My goal was to get caught up on my Block of the month projects by June 30th and I did it. I even had a few hours to spare. My house sampler has 6 months together now--- The neighborhood is growing.
I love every thing about it-- The fabrics, their colors and the ease at which this piece goes together.

Summer is in full swing now. Here is an early morning photo of a perennial in my garden.

The flowers close up every night and reopen during the day. I just love the yellow.

I didn’t share it at first because I was too upset. Then it got to the point where in the grand scheme of things it really didn’t matter. But now I can talk about it. We’re going to say someone borrowed my bike and forgot to return it. Don refuses to let me throw a tantrum and scream someone stole my bicycle. So we are going to hang onto the premise that it was borrowed. I was crushed. It had been a birthday gift and while it wasn’t the most expensive bike on the market, it wasn't the cheapest either. For a couple weeks after the discovery I road Chelsey’s bike and decided I’d mourn for a year and possibly replace the vehicle in 2009. After all, we can only ride about 4 months a year. Well, Don came home from the store one day---“I found something you need…” We went and looked….he said---“Mel, it looks just like you…” I was in love. It was a boy’s bike, less than $100 bucks and it came home with me. The borrowers did not need my basket so after a red spray painting it has been attached to it’s new home. Now having over 100 miles across the wheels—I’m sharing a photo…My New Bike….


Chelsey has now described me as a “Cute Dork…” She’s probably correct, but man--- it’s a great bike…One speed, pedal brakes, and a basket…..