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.

True confessions

I have a question for all my followers with the band. Are any of you drinking carbonated beverages yet? It's been 2 years and 2 months since I had my surgery and a couple of weeks ago I got to craving a Diet Dr Pepper. I mean, I didn't drink diet soda much before but occasionally it just hit the spot, you know what I mean? When I had my consultation before surgery I thought the surgeon told me never again have carbonated beverages or caffeine. I drink decaf tea or coffee most of the time. Once in a while I'll have a half cup of the real thing but I haven't tried the carbonated stuff. Well, I broke down and bought a 12 pack of it last week. I tell you it tasted so good, but the burping and gurgling is really embarrassing. My hubby and I were sitting on our deck yesterday after planting a couple of little bushes in our planter and I sipped my Dr Pepper as we relaxed. A short time later I took another little sip and gurgle, burp, gurgle. The burps I could conceal but the gurgles you can't hide. He turned and looked at me like " What the Hell?? " It tasted awesome but I was just wondering if any of you have tried drinking them since surgery. I have a problem drinking water most of the time, it gives me heartburn. Also any Crystal Light products with citrus fruit in it gives me heartburn. It seems they all have some kind of citrus in them. I have been drinking skim milk on occasion and it goes down and doesn't cause heartburn and tastes good too. I also broke a cardinal rule recently and had a glass of milk with my meal. Oh, the good old days. I have gone astray, I know. What has gotten into me? Not only am I drinking the forbidden fruits but I am drinking while eating on occasion. I think I need a serious talking to. Tell me I am not the only one.................

Almost done.......

I finished quilting the table topper the other night. I am now working on the strips for the binding to go around the edges. This is the part I don't think I will like very much. I went to the gym this morning for my two classes. Yesterday I woke up feeling exhausted. I showered and got dressed to go to the gym and felt so wiped out that I decided not to go. I had invited some friends for dinner and didn't want to cancel so I just rested in the morning and our two husbands went fishing so I vacuumed the house and went to the store for a few items I needed for dinner. The dinner turned out really good (Stuffed Shells, Antipasto Salad, and Cheesy Garlic Bread) and we even played some cards after dinner. It's so fun to get together with friends.

I have to get busy now and finish my laundry and then I have to go to the store for a couple of things for tonight's dinner. Taco Salad. Yum! It's so nice to be able to eat whatever I want even with the LapBand. I just can't eat the quantity I used to. And there are a few things I have trouble eating such as really fibrous foods like fresh pineapple or some pastas like angel hair. But most of my favorites I can still eat.

Quilting................

I put my quilt top and the batting and the backing together yesterday and last night I began quilting it. I was a little apprehensive at first since I didn't want to mess it up and then have to tear out all the stitches, but once I got started I realized it is fun. Lots of fun. I am just doing a stitch that meanders back and forth and although it's not perfect (after all it is my first one) it looks pretty darned good. Once I finish it, I will post another picture of it. That is after I sew on the binding and it's done. I hope to finish the quilting portion this afternoon when I get home from church. I can see how people get the quilting bug. I find myself looking at fabric in fabric stores or quilt shops now and before they never really interested me. I am anxious to tell my friends at church that I started it. My friend Lori will be so happy for me. She has helped me when I bought my machine and also to pick out the fabric on this table topper. I hope you can see the quilting portion of the topper. I have only quilted around the floral outer edge so far.

Our weather has been crazy the last week. We went from having beautiful sunny spring days to cold, dark and pouring down rain. It felt like winter all over again. Native Oregonians say this is part of a ten year cycle. At least the native that I talked with last night. He said this weather would continue through June. Well, not much I can do about it. It sure is different than I have been used to for most of my life. Living in Southern California for the majority of my life I am used to sunshine most of the time and when it rains it only rains for maybe a day or two or a week at the most and then the sun is out again. But you can't beat the summers here. I temperatures are so much nicer. Usually in the mid 80s and SoCal of course is in the 90s and 100s a good part of the summer. We planted a new azalea bush with bright orange flowers. I am hoping it takes and the deer leave it alone. We were driving down our driveway the other day and 7 deer were crossing our yard two of them were obviously heavy with babies. Their bellies were just bulging. I love when the fawns are born each spring. The doe keeps them hidden for the first several weeks and then she will move them to a new location and that is when we usually see them for the first time. Lots of the time the doe will have twins and they are so darned cute to watch. She will be eating grass (or one of my plants) and they romp around and chase each other. It's adorable. One of my favorite things for sure.

Well, I need to get in the shower and get ready for church. Have a Blessed Day everyone!

Monday morning dreary.......

Well, after 3 beautiful days of warm sunshine I guess it's time to "pay the piper" so to speak. It rained last night, in fact we even had some thunder and lightening. That is very unusual here. It is supposed to be rainy off and on most of the week. I am so ready for the rains to end but I know we really need it. After all that is how all those trees stay alive and thrive.

I need to get to the gym today. I have slacked off a bit in the last few weeks. Oh, I have still been going but I haven't really been applying myself all the time. So, I am determined to get back on my program of 5 days a week and working up to a sweat each of those days. My body is starting to get saggy and the skin is getting loose. So sad, but at my age I can't prevent it. I have loose skin even on my forearms. I am dreading having to wear short sleeves once the weather gets warmer. I wish I could just have all my skin pulled up and tightened. But, even with my skin being a little loose, it beats all the fat that was there before. I am still very proud of myself for all the hard work I have put into working out.

Tomorrow night I am going to a meeting at my church for a quilters group who make quilts for people who are sick. It's a prayer quilt group and the name is "Squares of Hope" I am eager to be a part of something so wonderful. I know a couple of people who went through cancer the last couple of years and they received one of these quilts. They said the quilt meant so much to them knowing it had been prayed over by the women who came together to make it that their healing was escalated and they recovered that much faster. Isn't that inspiring?

I made a pot of cauliflower cheese soup yesterday that was so yummy. I pack it into small containers and freeze them. Then I can just pop them into a bowl and microwave it when I am ready to eat it. I can't wait til lunch today to have my first bowl. Well I hear my hubby moving around so I have to get going and get to the gym. Have a good day everyone!!

My First Project........

Here is my first project. It's a table runner. I still have to put the batting in and the backing but the top is done. I am so proud of my little quilt so far. I am wishing I had picked different colors. My friend Lori helped me pick them out and I like them only they really won't look good in my dining room. Maybe I can gift them to someone.
This is my sewing center that I bought. It's a Bernina machine and the table is custom made and also has a place for your serger (if you have one). The white table with my table runner on it is the cutting table. It opens to 80 inches. Both sides lift up and it also has drawers on the ends and the whole bottom has a shelf where items can be stored.












The next picture is an additional cabinet for storage of fabric or books or whatever I want to store in it. Isn't it nice looking? The lady who sold them to me also threw in a pair of left handed scissors, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, a whole drawer of thread, about 15 bobbins, rulers and templates for cutting and other assorted goodies including Bernina manuals. I think the price was right at $1200. What do you think?

We did lots of work in our yard yesterday. Bob got two truckloads of bark mulch and we put it around all of our trees and bushes. We also put it in our garden areas. It gives such a finished look to your plants and it helps to keep the moisture in. I also put it around the tops of our container garden on our front deck.

Last night for dinner I made Pork Carnitas and also Pinto Beans. I was only able to eat one of course but it was very good. We had two really pretty days and the temperature got up to 80 here in our town. Today a little rain is in the forecast and over the next few days showers too.










The day bed next to this cabinet needs a bedspread. I hope to make a quilt for it soon. I haven't quite decided what pattern to make but my class in beginning quilting should help me to feel more confident in making it.