Saturday, June 14, 2008

ROOMMATE

It looks like I have a roommate but it's not cast in concrete. Sondra wants to come but won't be sure until next week and if she is able to make it to the retreat we'll share a room.

I just got on here without signing in. I just hit the sign in link and I was on. I hope that was an anomaly. I'd sure hate for the spammers and grumps to get through.

If Sondra doesn't make it I'll post another plea.

Jane

Friday, June 13, 2008

ROOMMATE

HALP! I'm looking for a roommate for Pembroke. This trip is pricey enough but I'm determined to go. On to the airlines and Travelocity to make reservations.

Jane in NC

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I'm IN for Grace's Retreat

I wasn't sure if it was going to work but looks like it will. If you have been to any of the BB retreats over the years, you know how fun it is to finally put faces to some of the names. I was fortunate enough to get to MN Babes 2000, Rosey's Retreat and the Lakeside Michigan retreat.... and now Grace's in Pembrooke It's not too late to get in on the fun. Dates are September 26-27 but I know some are coming 25 thru the 28th. The hotel is holding rooms until July 1st -"Econo Lodge" in Pembroke: 1-800-553-2666, by e mail info@ econolodgepembroke.com or by website @ www.econolodgepembroke.com. You would fly/drive into Ottawa. I'm not sure who is going but I know it will be fun..... We were under a tornado watch here last night and DH saw two small ones go behind the building where he was - nothing here but boy have we had rain. My sister in Iowa had 4 inches in her basement after 7+ inches last week. My sister in Missouri told me there are a number of roads closed in her area due to the high water. We had a bit of hail last week but otherwise have been lucky to miss any really bad weather here. Better get movin' - just wanted to put in a plug for the Retreat - I'm getting excited already and it is several months off - This was the excuse I needed to finally get a passport! I'm planning to get my passport application taken to the courthouse today. Joleen in MN

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

memories do come back

even if it is two days later.
One of the comments I wanted to make in my last post was to wish Jean a very Happy and wonderful European trip. Make lots of memories and I will be looking forward to sharing some pics in Sept.
Have fun. Sorry but that is the only one that surfaced and that @ 5 am this morning. How weird.
Hugs to all Grace

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dog training rained out again

Well, this is the second Tuesday evening of dark and stormy nights that rained out the dog training. She does well when she sees the leash. She must have been tracking something this morning, as ran with nose down all over the yard before going potty.
Cute picture of the dog on the snow.
I'd love to pack up some squirrels and send them to N. Z. or somewhere other than my back yard. I put some opaque stuff on the back door windows, as she would whine and bark every time she saw a squirrel. It was driving me crazy.
I'm looking to a fun weekend with some quilty girls. One GF's husband is going to the college baseball playoffs in Nebraska, so 2 of us are going to quilt for 2 days. Fun. DH only wants a Panara's bagel in bed on Sat. morning for father's day, then I'm off for the day.
We had power outtages off and on all afternoon, due to the thunder storms. Luckily my machine was off. I was trying to watch a movie, but gave up, as the TV kept going on and off.
Going to have a quiet evening since I can't go to doggy school.
Sara in Fla.

I'm in - maybe

I just finished a quilt of 30s prints in the 9 patch and snowball design. The color arrangement makes the blocks look like stars. I will give it to my cousin who has planned our first family reunion ever. The last time many of us were together was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary in 1959. All of our parents are gone so it is a wonder we can still have this connection.

My next project is to prepare backings for three tops finished earlier. If I was smart enough to locate my folder where the photos have been deposited I would share pictures. Someday, maybe.

We are having more than our share of water in Iowa - our count here is more than 10 inches for June already. One evening the storms blew the basement window open during a tornado warning and the water came gushing in. At least we were there when it happened and could
mend that problem, but the water table is so high we are still getting seepage in the basement. Fortunately we have never finished the basement so we are just vacuuming water from the concrete floor. The same night electricity was out for 30 minutes but we only had to vacuum one missed cycle of the sump pump from the floor. Now the sump pump is sparking. If the rain ever quits we will need to fix/replace that. I fear the danger from that as much as the storms.

I have trusted my luck here long enough. Good to hear from so many of you.
Laura in IA

Monday, June 9, 2008

Hello,
Wow we are incredibly hot here and very humid. I really do not want to complain too much because we just spend 6 months in winter and this will be over soon, but it is Hottttt
Yesterday we kept listening to the weather warning for Southern Ont. , so last night we did nothing else but talk on the phone to check if everyone was alright.Sometimes too much information is of no help at all.
I was going to make some comment on some of the post and now that I am sitting here with a blank page, you guessed it my mind is also a blank. So suffice it to say I did make comments and suggestion and such to some of the posts and I do apologize if you could not make out what I mumbled.
trying to do a little sewing but mostly my mind is on getting time schedules for the retreat. It is really hard yet because the numbers are not complete yet but I am having fun changing my mind lots.
Hoping to answer the letters I have received later this week. I have a busy day tomorrow but after that the days are free until Friday when we go to the Charlie Pride show. A bunch of red Hat ladies are hoping to be in the front rows. Will see how that goes.
Take care
Grace

Marion - you out did us with your snow, but I am not complaining! Little DD2 would have loved to have had that though!

Sara- you go girl on that marathon training. I used to do road walking ( i can't run due to a spinal injury) and I stopped once I started my nursing degree due to a lack of time and living on this cold mountain. Boy do I notice my fitness level has dropped.
I know I have to get back into it soon.
On my last day off I spent nearly the whole day in the sewing room and only went outside for firewood. Really not good enough!

Happy Belated Birthday Jean, may your year be filled with little joys and big hearts.

Oh to have a squirrel problem in my garden! I know they are a pest and I look forward to seeing some real ones. DD2 and i recently read a book about english squirrels. My problem is a bit bigger than a squirrel.
one of the boys who work for my husband left a gate open- we had 45 contract grazing dairy cows go walkabout, some getting out past our house into the driveway and onto the road in the night. With that and some young stock getting let out of the driveway paddock, my house garden has just been annihilated. flowers and veg. Aaaarrrgh!! I QUIT. Until the house fences are done, I am not going to do anymore gardening unless it is a pot plant.
I have just given a neighbour the seedling trees I was growing- kowhais and oaks, which survived being crushed, chewed and trampled. I shall go and applique tulips on my mothers quilt in reds and golds to cheer me up!

Have a great day everyone. We have sunshine here too but its like shining a torch into a freezer.
Cheers, Tenneh on the mt

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Cold bottom !!


We don't often have snow here, but the cold snap that Thea was writing about, hit here on Saturday too. "Holly" didn't quite know what to make of it !! It's all gone now and it's quite warm again. DH has gone to golf !
I had time to vacuum the living room while the photo was posting. The time thing is a problem, but it shouldn't be. It's just that we are so used to things being speedier. It's actually quite remarkable to think that it is possible to type a letter , have it published and available to a world-wide audience , within minutes !!!
Haven't done much quilting lately. Still busy sorting and mounting photos of our visit to the Northern Hemisphere ! I think I've just about finished that now, so I look forward to digging out the favourite UFO and spending time on it in the coming weeks. My sewing buddies have been unavailable due to ill health and travel plans and it's amazing how , without the impetus of meeting together, the sewing can get overlooked.
DH. has painted the laundry and new vinyl went down yesterday. He is very proud of himself . It's the first room he has ever painted ! I won't be in a hurry to suggest that he does any more...., some things are better left to experts !
Enjoy your visitor Rosey. How kind of you to take time to show her around. I'm sure she will appreciate that.
Great to hear from Thea and Jean and Beverley. It would be lovely to hear from more of the previous regulars. We've got something special here and we need to keep it going.
Hope the week has started well.
Marion.

Posting takes so long, for slow speed dial up

This is why I'm not here very much any more...but then the amount of spam on the other site is horrendous so it is worth the wait as my slow speed dial up takes its time downloading this site. Yes, I agree, it is nice to catch up on news from older posters and Thea, welcome. It's good to read your posting and Beverly's from Britain as well.

It's early morning here, the dogs time-table unfortunately was enthusiastically not realistic and out they went at 5:15 this morning. A long day now for me but I love the early mornings here in summertime although officially it is not so until June 21. We've had scorching hot weather this week, storms rolling through and the threat of a tornado just north of us last night which ended in us having a short but fierce thunderstorm coming through here after supper but nothing more than that. It's cooled down a bit this morning and hopefully the day will remain more temperate.

I'm driving to the airport later today to pick up a very nervous passenger (hoping that predicted thunderstorm for later today misses Toronto Pearson airport). She is a cyber friend, whom I have not met, from California and we've been corresponding ever since we 'met' on the chicken chat line (a forum for chicken owners and breeders). One would not think of breeding chickens..they seem to multiply like Jean's feral cats, a never ending supply of hen's eggs producing various breeds of chickens. She is here until the 18th so I have planned mini excursions for her to see southern Ontario which I will enjoy too.

From the wintry winds down under to the northern climes where the sun is just now rising over the back woods and softly leaving patches of golden yellow on our lovely green grass...white is nice; green is much better. I'd like to live in these temperatures all my life. Winter tests the patience of a very patient person by its longevity. I think of it as a quiet time for resting and quilting. One day I wonder if I'll get swallowed up in it's wintry tentacles just waiting for spring.

I posted a question to the BB board yesterday and couldn't get back on to explain how I'd solved my problem. I heated oil and applied it to the gummy surface of my plastic containers..poof, off the gum came.

Rosey

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Tenneh on the Mt

Hi girls!
I am still here on the Mt, where it is wintery and cold, with a blast of snow over the last 2 days. Much of that got washed away by rain overnight.

It is lovely to see so many of the old BB still out there chatting! I think of you often.

Life has been very challenging and very tiring over the last 18 months since DH lost his leg in an accident.
I am still working at the hospital but exploring other options of work with out the long travel times. They are limited when you live so far in the back blocks.
DH managed the haymaking season, but is unwilling to really talk about how he can manage. I think he is suffering from depression as well, and he has lots of phantom pain. However he does not want to see anyone about it and battles on. He now has leg 3, leg 2 was very unsuccessful, so mobility is a big issue. The cold as well is a challenge, but we are here for the winter.

It was a dry summer in parts of NZ but we squeaked through with light rain, then went into a very dry autumn. With the cold we have had a long spell of spectacular autumn colour locally which has delighted the soul. However we have gone hard for feed into the winter now but we kept back some of our own hay, so with good management we will make it through to the spring.

I have not quilted much at all. I have smocked and made Pjs for my little girl, so now I am turning my interest back to the quilts. I have just cut some I Spy fabrics to send to Hungary. I don't know what their fabric supplies are like there! I met my friend after she and her husband came to visit NZ and he died climbing a local Mt. He was only 42, and she is in her early 30s. We have kept in touch since, and she went home to her two little children aged 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. She has had a horrendous time coping. I sent her a photo of My DD2 on her I spy quilt. She liked it, and it turns out she is a very experianced seamstress, so I am starting her into quilting! I have enjoyed going through my stash, and am sending her the materials to make 2 lap quilts for her kids. Hopefully the bright colors with help cheer her up.
My next big focus is to work on my mums applique quilt and mark a wholecloth quilt for myself.

DD1 has come back from her long planned trip to Vietman with her school, and had a fantastic time- holding snakes and eating exotic foods. Her red hair made her stand out and she found it hard to have people touching her hair and skin so much- she stood out in the crowds. It has certianly given her a taste for travel though. she got a tummy bug on the flight out from Vietman, and says she knows where every toilet is between terminal 2 and 5 in Singapore! She missed any oppourtunity to go to Dutyfree shopping there!

Love and Hugs to you all,
Cheers from Thea under the windswept peaks.

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