Change........

I am usually not so resistant to change, but this photo editing thing is driving me nuts.  I finally found something I wanted to use.  It wasn't free; I paid the fee and they still haven't sent me the code to sign in despite several emails.  If I don't hear from them tomorrow I will have to try another approach.  In the meantime, I have bought myself another camera..........a little more sophisticated than my point and shoot. I am not absolutely sure how I feel about it yet.  This week I will go in for a class and that should help.  When I downloaded my photos, I can see that they are better, even without the benefit of photo editing.  All of this being said, posting to the blog has just seemed beyond my reach.........but it is way past time.  I need to put on my big girl panties and deal with it, so here goes.  Enough whining.

We are spending a tremendous amount of time in the yard and enjoying every minute of it.  Blake has all kinds of things coming up in his garden.  I have been busy cute-ing up my garden house.  I have more fun things in my head, but here is what I have done so far:

The chicken house is now in place and the footings were poured today.  Progress is good, even though slow. 

Lots of flowers blooming in our yard.

Went to a fun class by the incredibly talented Jill and learned to make floor cloths......we actually made a smaller table matt size, but the technique is the same.  We each designed our own, and I was pleased with the way mine turned out.  It is pretty "me".  We had lots of laughter and the usual very good "Jill food".

 I have been experimenting with different twills on Miss May.  I am starting to feel more comfortable with her, and my weaving is improving little by little.

I finally finished the simple triangle alpaca shawl.  It was easy enough for someone who knits like me....barely adequately.  I did enjoy making it and am looking forward to wearing it.

It took awhile for us all to get together to celebrate my birthday. When we did, the food was good and the company even better.  Thanks to my wonderful daughters and their families.

Okay, past my bedtime.

GRATITUDES:

Living in the country.

A powerful prayer breakfast.

JESUS.

Family and friends.

Take care,

Jennie

Change is "a coming"

Tomorrow my favorite photo editing site, Piknick, is closing its doors.  I am truly sad.  It is the only really simple, but slightly more than basic, photo editing site I have ever enjoyed using.  I had it down pat, even though I never used all of the features available.  Now I have to find something else..........and even worse, I have to learn how to use it.  So, if you think my photos are worse in upcoming posts, blame Piknick.

Today was weaving day at Ann Lynn's.  I started weaving a table runner in my favorite colors: pink, green and red.  I really like how it is turning out.  I am trying to be very careful with the selvedges, which, to me, is one of the most difficult things to learn.  I have had to redo a couple of things, but this pattern is more difficult than I have woven before.  And I even sort of understand what I am doing!!!

Several people have asked me about the chickens.  They are still in the works.  As with many things, it has been more difficult to pull this whole chicken coop thing together than I expected.  But I am determined.  We bought a used shed and had it delivered last week.  The ginormous truck they sent to deliver it couldn't place it where we wanted (I told you it was more difficult than I ever imagined), so it is sitting in front of the garden fence, all cattywhompus, awaiting someone to come pull it into place with a bobcat.  Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.  Then the work can begin if we can get the contractor to understand that it needs to be done NOW.

Our yard and garden are way ahead of what they normally are......partly because we are retired and have more time to spend on it, partly because of the unseasonally warm weather.  We derive a great deal of pleasure from the time we spend outside, and it is fun to see it paying off.

Bearded Iris

Bird Feeder

Old Wheelbarrow

Rattlesnake Beans

Time to sign out.

GRATITUDES:

Gentle spring rain.

The fragrance of roses, and my favorite cologne, Evelyn Rose.

Hot showers and baths.

Take care,

Jennie

Lost........

Last week was truly a lost week in many ways.  After a wonderful Easter/Birthday Sunday, I wrenched my back on Monday working in the yard.  It was a long week.  I don't "do nothing" well.......that is probably an understatement.  The weather was gorgeous, and I wanted to be in the yard.  I had plans, I wanted to weave and stitch and hook.  It just didn't happen.  I sat or walked or reclined trying to find a comfortable position.  My accomplishments were few and I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to do much of anything.  Finally, today, I am much better.  I even worked in the yard a tiny bit.

I did finish my simple gray alpaca shawl........it awaits blocking and then I will show it to you.

And on Thursday I managed to go with my Young at Heart group from the church to the William Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum in Atlanta.  I really didn't feel like going, but this was something I had wanted to do for a long time, and it was so worthwhile.  If you have the opportunity to go, do.

We had our annual family Easter dinner and egg hunt on Easter Sunday......which also happened to be my 64th birthday.  The weather couldn't have been nicer and we had a great time.  The only glitch was that the Horne family wasn't able to be here because Matt's grandmother passed away.  So......we had a second Easter egg hunt this Sunday for Macy and Jackson.......and Sara Ashley came along for round two.

Macy, Sara Ashley and Jackson

Dillon, Christopher, Colten, Robert and Sara Ashley

Jackson found the Golden Egg!

The Hornes

The Estes

Macy lost her first tooth while she was at the beach on Spring Break.

On Saturday Diane, Laura and I went to the Dogwood ATHA Spring Hook In and Rug Show.  The show was great, and as always, we just had a good time being together.  The Woolen Rooster (dear friend Kathie) was a vendor............and she was having an incredible inventory reduction sale on her "as is" wool.  She might have been reducing her inventory, but here is what happened to my stash as a result..............what can I say?????????

On my hooking frame is another rug from Anita White's Cupboard Series, Blooming Flags.  Excuse the lousy photo.  I think that I will need to replace the white on the bunting with something duller.  Otherwise, I am happy with it so far.

One of my favorite Hooking Artists, Karen Kahle, has a wonderful new blog, Crafting a Beautiful Life..........I am an avid follower.  She is so talented........I would kill to take a class from her.  She also has an etsy shop.  I have proof.  Who could resist Wild Roses, Dusty Golden Olive and Sky Dust?  But how will I ever be able to cut them into strips......they are so gorgeous, I just want to touch them and admire them.

Enough of my nonsense for tonight.

GRATITUDES:

Grandchildren.

Blue indigo buntings and Red Breasted Grosbeaks stopping at my feeders as they head North.

Fresh veggies from the garden.

Can I say retirement again???

Take care,

Jennie

BOM Rehab Monday again

I didn't make as much progress on the Tisket a Tasket BOM as I had hoped........too many irons in the fire right now.  But a little progress is better than none, no doubt........which is how much I was making before this challenge.  I got blocks 11 & 12 fused and ready to stitch, so all of the blocks are almost done, and I am pretty sure I know where I am going with the setting!  Good deal.

We are doing lots of yard work this week in preparation for our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday.  The weather is gorgeous and it feels good to be outside.  Lots of things are getting done........and with this big old yard there is plenty to do.  Here is another of our clematis, and the white bearded iris which are always the first to bloom.  This afternoon we saw the first hummingbird of Spring at our feeder.......something just told me that it was time to put a feeder out.

I am moving along slowly with my weaving.  I completed a large piece of fabric at Ann Lynn's last week and brought it home to play with.  I made a small towel and a little tissue pouch from part of it.  Plan to make a zippered project bag from the remainder.

GRATITUDES:

Time to enjoy my life.

The sound of the clocks chiming in our home.....reminding me of their previous owners, my mother and grandfather.

The spirited singing of Frankie and Fred the finches.

The first hummingbird of spring.

Take care,

Jennie

The jury is still out......

on Just Takes 2, that is.  The blocks are not as much fun as I had hoped.  In fact, some of them are quite a struggle for me.  Feathered Star took me three evenings.  That is too long to spend on something that I don't love.  That being said, I have made a commitment in time already, and I do like the blocks that are done.  But I have no intention of doing the fussy block in Set 6.......and I am two weeks behind.  So, I have decided to substitute another block the same size, but less difficult......and I will do that every time they have a block that I don't want to spend days on.  I will still have a red and white quilt of the same feel as this one, but it will be uniquely my own, and I will not have struggled so to make it.  It sounds like a win-win.  We will see.  I have already been to Quilter's Cache and chosen a block to make.  I might even get caught up.

Karen on my Prim Yahoo group has jumped into the Album Quilt of Ohio's Miami Valley, so several of us exchanged blocks with her, as we did in the original group.  Hers is the sweet little basket block on the left.  My pinwheel block goes out in the mail to her tomorrow.  She is an incredibly prolific quilter, and I suspect her quilt will be finished long before mine.

My clematis are stunning this year.  I wish I had kept up with the names of them, but I didn't.  Funny, they are all varying shades of purple.  Don't know how that happened.

A friend shared these sweet little shamrocks with me a couple of years ago.  They have spread and are doing well.  I love the old fashioned look of them.  And they are tolerant of the Georgia heat.....and droughts.

I signed up to participate in Lynda Hall's Block Party this year.  The blocks will be turned into quilts and auctioned for Quilts for a Cause.  She has done this for several years, but this is the first time I have participated.  The blocks went together quickly.......which was good, since I waited till the last minute to do mine.  They will go out in the mail tomorrow, too.

That is it for tonight.

GRATITUDES:

 Working in the yard and enjoying the beautiful spring growth all around.

Cold doggie noses.

A little granddaughter who is growing up to be quite a young lady.

Take care,

Jennie

BOM Monday

I started the day with my annual mammogram appointment.........and I passed!!  Don't have to go back for another year.

Tonight, after much deliberation, I pulled out the BOM that I want to work on first.......following along with the BOM challenge at Pink Pincushion (see button on my sidebar).  I decided that I would start with something small, something that I had already made considerable progress on, and something that I still loved.........the choice was "A Tisket A Tasket" by Bunnyhill Designs.  It is available for sale now, but back when I started it, it was a freebie from Anne.  I had been working on it when our house flooded.....had completed blocks 1-8, and the blocks were on my sewing table when everything flooded.  Fortunately, the blocks and fabrics were okay, but I discovered later that the pattern for Block 11 was lost.  
A couple of months ago, I contacted Anne who generously emailed me the pattern for the lost block.  I never downloaded it off the computer.  Luckily everything is still all together, Block 11 is downloaded, and I am on my way.  I am doing the blocks with fusible and machine buttonhole applique.  After dinner tonight I got Blocks 9 & 10 fused and ready for stitching.  I hope to get 11 & 12 fused tomorrow.  Hopefully by the end of the week all of the blocks will be finished and ready for setting.  A little nudge is a good thing, Pink Pincushion!

Tomorrow Blake has a dental appointment and then we have to go buy a new stove......GRRRRRRRRRR.  I have wanted a new stove, but not right now.  Last week it was an a 

new HVAC unit for the main level.  At this point the only two mechanical things we haven't replaced in this house are the fridge and the hot water heater.........and I am not holding my breath.

GRATITUDES:

A normal mammogram, and my great doctor at Breast Care Specialists.

The happy chatter of grandchildren in the car on the way home from school.

Swinging on the back porch with my sweet little Rascal.

Take care,

Jennie

Finishes

I had a couple of finishes as of last night.......both of them hooked.  The first was long overdue, and probably.....no, certainly....would still be unfinished if it were not for our upcoming guild rugshow, Off the Hook.  Nothing like a little pressure to get you moving.  The rug, seen here previously, had been finished for awhile......except for the binding.  I just couldn't make a decision about how to finish the edge.  A braided border was the winner, and, I think, the right decision.  Many thanks to dear friend, Kathie Meyers (Simple Braided Borders for Hooked Rugs), for her wonderful instructions on braiding borders!!!

The next one was Blossom Bunny from Anita White's Cupboard series....just in time for Easter.

I love this series of little matts......they are quick and easy and the designs are really cute.  It is nice to be able to change them out with the seasons.

Tonight we went to The Bedford School for their annual Dinner/ Auction.  We have two grandchildren who attend there.  It is a wonderful school - a real blessing for these children with special learning needs.  We are always inspired by the slide presentations and the speakers, who are alumni and their parents.  It is heartening to see that these young people have utilized the skills they learn at Bedford to become successful in their lives.  I cannot express how wonderful and caring the staff at this school is.  

We worked in the yard for awhile today, and I cooked two loaves of "Extra Tangy Sourdough Bread"...two yummy loaves of bread quite different from the first recipe.  I cannot believe I am actually making good, homemade bread!!!

I came across this blog today, and lo and behold, my addiction has a name and other victims.  BOM addiction.  There, I have said it.  My name is Jennie, and I am a BOM addict.  What is it about getting those little packages of lovely fabrics and patterns in the mail each month, all picked out for you....all you have to do is stitch.....or not.  I wouldn't even venture to say how many BOMs I have in various stages of completion, and not even started, but neatly packaged together awaiting my attention.  Maybe this challenge is just what I need to get moving on them!  Time will tell, but it is worth a try.   Stay tuned.  At least I know that I am not alone..........

That is it for tonight.

GRATITUDES:

The Bedford School and its staff.

"Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.

Retirement.

Take care,

Jennie