My New Toy........

Here is a picture of my new sewing machine. It has a longer arm than the standard machines do. It's 12 inches instead of the usual 7. I am hoping this will make a big difference when I quilt small projects. The larger ones can go on the quilt frame (when it comes in)
I went to my class yesterday to learn how to use the features on the machine. I am loving it.

Today Bob and a friend went to the coast to salmon fish the river. I have lots to do as both of my brothers are now on their way here. One brother is coming from Kansas and the other from Nevada. They are both planning to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait to see them all. I haven't seen the Kansas group in three years. I also have a third brother. I wish he and his wife could make it but they said they couldn't. I tried to stress the importance of spending a little time together because you never know how long any of us have. It's been over 20 years since we all have been together. I plan to make the best of this visit. Lots of pictures and laughter and good times. I thought I would bake some peanut butter cookies for them. When we were kids and went to visit my grandmother (paternal) she always had a crock of freshly baked peanut butter cookies for us. I have her recipe and thought it would be a nice touch. She also used to make a chiffon dessert that she called Pink Puddin but I've never been able to find the recipe. I think it had a cookie crust and was made with Jello and whipped up and was a raspberry flavor. Does it sound familiar to anyone? Well, I guess I should get started with all I have to do...............

Busy week...

I'm sorry I haven't written in a few days. I have been trying to get ready for my two brothers and their wives coming for a visit. They will be arriving Friday and Saturday. We haven't all been together in almost 18 years. I have a third brother but he and his wife can't make it this time. We're getting so excited for the visit. Whenever I am with my brothers there is laughter and reminiscing and such good times. They will be here for a week. I am hoping our weather behaves itself. My one brother has never been to Oregon and the other brother came in April and it rained all week. We plan to go to Crater Lake since they haven't seen it. I checked Weather.com and the forecast looks good.

Another reason I haven't been on here is that Friday was my birthday. Hubby Bob and I drove to Eugene and went to a sewing store to look at machines (not that I needed one). We bought (gulp!) the new Bernina 820 computer machine. It does so much. It even ties a knot and cuts the thread for you if you want it to. No kidding. Also my hubby wanted to help me out with my quilting and bought me a quilting stand. I don't have it yet, since the store hasn't received the new models yet. They were promised them in October. That will give us some time to make room for it. It expands from 5 feet wide to 10 feet wide as needed. This was quite an extravagant gift, he's very good to me. I'll take a picture of the machine and post it later today. I have a class at the store tomorrow to learn how to use the sewing machine. I have to bring it with me plus all the goodies that came with it. It' pretty heavy. Weighs 39 pounds. I guess now I have to start sewing my own clothes and all. NOT!! Well, I might attempt a couple of things, like something simple that nobody would see other than Bob. A nightgown or pajamas. I will hopefully remember all I learn at the class tomorrow. My other sewing machine is feeling pretty dejected I'm sure. I was loving it until I got this bright shiny and large new one. I haven't decided if I will keep it or sell it yet. I have a friend who has offered to buy it.

Winding Down

The time is winding down on both the summer and my time for getting things ready for my brothers visit. I decided to make a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs and also to put some chicken in my slow cooker for the day they arrive. That way I can enjoy them all and not be stuck preparing food in the kitchen. My one brother will be arriving next Friday, the 10th and the other brother on the 11th. I am so excited. I tried to get my third brother to come but he and his wife can't make it. It's been over 20 years since we've all been together. I am a little bummed out over it but it will still be fun.

We had the carpet cleaned yesterday. Now I have to get all the little styrofoam squares out from under the furniture and put it back against the walls. I am hoping my sister-in-law will be okay when she gets here. She has asthma and we have 2 cats. They are afraid that they'll have to stay in a motel rather than here in our home. I am hoping the cat dander isn't bad in the guest room since they aren't in there that often. I am waiting until the day before they arrive and I'll wash the bedspread in there. Then I'll keep the door closed. My sewing stuff is in there so I'll be in and out working on my quilt. I haven't done any work on it in several days. I'm thinking I need to get in there and give a good hour a day to get it done. A friend I met at the gym who is also new at quilting has decided to try to quilt her own quilt on her machine after I talked to her about being the only one with a hand in making a quilt. I'm hoping she follows through. It's so rewarding to see what you've done so far and know that it's your own design.

Tomorrow my hubby is going fishing with a friend. I am hoping I can get down to the garage and tidy it up a bit. I am so embarrassed when anyone sees it. It's an eyesore. I love my hubby to death but he has such a bad habit of never putting things away after using them. Every time he cleans the garage it only lasts one day and then it starts to get filled up again with tools and anything else he has used. Every square inch of space is taken up with stuff stacked on it. It's so frustrating. Our house was built in the 70s and the garage was added on after the fact. So, when you look out the window in our door in the kitchen you see this disaster area called the garage.

I have been eating larger portions lately without even realizing it. I am thinking I need a slight adjustment of my band. It's been 7 months since my last adjustment and I haven't lost any weight since April. I am just maintaining. I still need to lose another 27 pounds to be at my first goal. I decided to be more mindful of what I eat and to not eat anything between meals. We are not supposed to eat between meals with the LapBand and I have kind of been snacking on nuts or pretzels or crackers and I think this is a bad habit. Those things are referred to as slider foods since they slide right through the band. So I am getting back to basics to see if I can break my plateau.

Rainy Day

Today was a rainy day and was pretty chilly. It felt like an Autumn day so I made beef stew for dinner. It was comfort food and so good and warm. I didn't really get much accomplished today. I did some laundry and grocery shopping. My brothers will be here next weekend and I am trying to plan a few meals to have while they are here. I am thinking of using my crock pot for a meal or two. I'm checking out my Fix it and Forget it cookbook. If anyone has a suggestion on a meal for 6 adults and one little girl I'd sure appreciate it.

I didn't get any quilting done today. I did go into the sewing room/guest room and look at it. I keep wishing I had started with a bigger meandering (that is the freehand quilting style I am using) than I did. It's going to take me longer and I'll be using a lot more thread. Oh well, it is my first so whatever happens I think I am doing ok. I think it looks pretty good, regardless of how long it will take me to finish it. Tomorrow my friend who got me started in quilting and I might go to Eugene to look at the latest machine out by Bernina. It's a pricey Momma. I can dream can't I ? To tell you the truth, my husband wants to buy it for me. I sometimes have to hold him back. He is very impulsive and thinks nothing of spending a small fortune just to make me happy. You've gotta love a guy like that.

My First Quilt

I haven't posted here in so long. I guess I have been busy with other things. Facebook for one, but even that has been fading lately. Most of my time is being spent on my quilting projects. I am quilting my first quilt. I decided to try to do it myself on my machine. It's going to take a while but I can claim it's mine from start to finish that way. I also bought fabric to make a table runner for Autumn. I couldn't find the fabrics I really wanted but I did get the seasonal ones in Joanne's. Also, a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went up the coast to Newport to meet some friends for lunch and on the way home we stopped at a quilt shop. He came in with me and saw a fishing quilt on the wall. He said he would love it if I would make it for him. So I bought the kit to make it and some extra fabric to make it bigger. He's 6'4" and always needs a longer quilt. I also bought some fabrics that caught my eye in blue and yellow. They had about 12 different ones and I bought a half yard of 7 of them. I am starting to get quite a collection of fabrics for future projects.

In two weeks, two of my brothers are coming with their wives to visit us. One of them has never been to Oregon and is really looking forward to seeing it. I am hoping the weather continues to be as beautiful as it's been. I hope summer holds out a little longer and fall doesn't slip in. He lives in Kansas so he's used to different weather but I would like for the temperatures to stay like they've been in the low 80s or even the 70s is fine. We'll take them to Crater Lake for sure. None of them have seen it and if any of you come to Oregon, it's well worth seeing. It's beautiful.

I just reread my post and it's kind of boring so I apologize for that. I have been having a time with my reflux the last few days. Today we made ribs in a new smoker and I tried the rub the instruction manual said to make. It was soooooo spicy I could hardly eat them. Too much cayenne pepper. I got heartburn while I was still eating it. That is why I am up now in the middle of the night. GRRRRR! Next time I'll only use a tiny bit for a little kicked up flavor not a mule kick. Other than that the ribs were good.

Well I think I'll try and get back to sleep now. My cat is laying on my legs and purring.

So nice to be home.......

I am home. We've been camping for the last 3 weeks and fishing. Hubby is fishing twice a day. Five a.m. and then he goes out again at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and comes in around 8 or 9. A little much for me. Thankfully we have friends there so the guys go fishing and we stay in camp. I brought my quilting with me to work on in the RV but I reached a point where I needed more room so I packed it all up and gathered the laundry as well as the lists of things I needed at the store and from home and Chloe and I came home for a few days respite. So nice to be home. So quiet too without the TV going all the time. I love my husband dearly, but what he likes to watch on TV and what I like to watch are totally different. I got a lot accomplished yesterday. I went to the store and bought some paint and started painting the trim on the windows in our living room and dining room. It really needed it. I looks great. I will do the second coat today. We hadn't painted them since the windows were framed in because our cats are always walking on the sills. Since the cats are in the motor home with my hubby I figured, now is the time.

I am getting ready to go in and work on the quilt now. I made another table topper for a friend of mine for her birthday next month. I am in the process of quilting it now. It's about 1/3 done then I need to put the binding on and it's finished. I really am loving quilting.

I haven't been eating very well the last few weeks. Too much snacking. And I haven't been getting my exercise in either. So this morning I am going to the gym for a much needed workout. I just thought............I am taking a vacation from my vacation. Hmmmmmm!

Summer finally has arrived in Oregon.....

It's so nice to have sunshine and warm to hot days. We went to a local lake here called Diamond Lake last week. We stayed a week and went fishing and had lots of friends come by as well as being with several other couples while we were there. This picture was taken at a pizza parlor near the lake. We had a great time and caught lots of fish. Next week we are having a fish fry with lots of friends from our church. It should be loads of fun too.

I've been off here a while again. I can't seem to get myself organized this year. Anyway, I missed the last class of my quilt class. It was Thursday night and I volunteered to work in the church nursery this past week. One of the little babies had a runny nose. Her mom assured us it was allergies and not a cold. Well after being with her for 3 days I got myself a full blown cold. On Thursday I came home feeling terrible and aching all over. I went to bed and missed my class. Now I have 12 finished blocks and no guidance on how to complete the quilt. I am going to go to the quilt shop and plead with them to give me a little info on how to finish it. I'm sure they'll be accommodating to me. I hope.