Saturday, October 24, 2009

TONIGHT'S SUNSET IN THE MTS.


Feeling especially mellow this evening. The beauty of this world and the universe surrounding it just hit me in the eyeball this glorious day.
Jane

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

SUCCESS !!

From the left: Hester Able, Mary Manning, Mary Krishnamurty, Me, Sondra & Bob Horn and Nancy Knutowski. Two stroke survivors, two cancer survivors and one stunt driver survivor. Don't know the Horn histories. We are all quilters and tough as old nuts.

Anyone interested in buying raffle tickets for the lone star just let me know. Drawing next August. 100% of profit goes to scholarships for local youngsters.

Jane

Monday, October 19, 2009

TRYING TO POST PICTURE - AGAIN

I'll try again tomorrow. Error message is unintelligible. I'll tip my hat to the cyber demons and go to bed.

Jane

Horn Visit

Woke up to a cold and frosty morn here in Dixie. It was 30 degrees F here and very bright. It was so warm when I got home from Franklin late afternoon I turned off the heat and opened the house for about an hour. Supposed to be lovely for two or three days.

Sondra and Bob rolled into the parking lot at the Shriner Building simultaneously with me. We went in and joined the group. They were made very welcome by the other girls there and since one of them, a native Californian who grew up right in Horns' area had a lot to talk with Sondra about. Since the raffle quilt is full of bias edges (lone star) we were anxious to finish basting before folding it up and it is queen sized they said they'd beg off lunch and keep going. Horns immediately offered to get carry out at our favorite BBQ place so Sondra wrote down orders and I went along as navigator. We had a great visit as we all sat down to eat together. Sondra had assured me that Bob is perfectly comfortable with a bunch of women and a good sport. She was right on both counts. He's great. He is her color coordinator and goes fabric shopping with her. She is so impressed with the area that she was picking up those free real estate ad publications one sees in kiosks outside restaurants and he followed suit. They are waiting for their son to finish college and are planning to retire and are seriously thinking about this area. My guild is quite large, about 185 members (day meeting and evening meeting) but there were just six of us there today. Sometimes we have as many as 8 and sometimes as few as two or three. Sondra took a couple of pictures and one of the local girls took couple of pictures of the rest of us standing around the quilt which is posted here (I hope). A lovely day was had by all.

RATS!! The picture won't upload. I've never had that problem before. I'll try again in a new post.

Jane

AQS in Des Moines

Is anyone planning to go the the AQS in Des Moines next week? I think the dates are Oct. 28-31st. I am going with a few friends and will be there Thursday and Friday. My sister works in Des Moines so I'll probably try to touch base with her on Thursday when she gets off work. I know there are several going from this area but wondered if there was anybody from the board? Joleen in MN

for Jane in NC

Jane - good to see you posting. I'm pretty sure you got the frost, as we woke up to 34° and frost on the ground this a.m. Our skies finally cleared out on Saturday afternoon, so no snow here.

You did the right thing in giving Rufus to the shelter. I was concerned that he would be a handful. He seems to have lots of street smarts---too many, in fact. He'll find an owner who can give him the training and exercise he needs. You were a dear angel to take him in and get his health turned around.

Please give Sondra a hug for me. :o)

Doris

Sunday, October 18, 2009

AT LAST

The sun reappeared today. I'd begun to wonder if some evil demon had extinguished it. Shadow and I had a nice hike straight uphill next to house and then down again. The hip pain is gone except for the usual muscle weakness complaint. I intend to do more of that now that I have my new hiking boots; a mere $94 at the discount shoe store. I got some really nice wool thick socks from LL Bean so I'm all set. I just checked the indoor/outdoor thermometer and it is 36.9 degrees and dropping. The weather guessers have been predicting frost and possible snow flurries several days and it hasn't happened yet but might in view of the 10 PM temperature.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Rufus. I threw up my hands over a week ago. I just don't have the physical strength, speed and agility it would take to teach him manners. I even spent $100 for a shock collar and then decided I couldn't/shouldn't use it. When I got so frustrated I considered kicking him I realized he just wasn't the dog for me. He was getting more obnoxious daily and he knew he had me at a disadvantage and he was taunting me. When I'd reach for him to give him the old mommy dog grab by the loose skin on the neck he was out of reach and he knew the exact range of the water pistol so if I resorted to chasing him he'd won and I was doing his bidding. Thus he was encouraged to continue and even intensify the destructive behavior. He went to the shelter but at least his weight was normal, the ear infection cleared up along with the flea infestation, had been checked for internal parasites and had a rabies shot. The certificate proving the latter was delivered to the shelter along with him. The volunteer dog rehab and fostering organization was full.

Sondra and Bob Horn are in the area for his HS reunion in Hendersonville south of Asheville. He has some extended family in Franklin where my quilt guild meets. The ladies with whom I hand quilt on Friday also meet on Monday morning but I don't normally participate then. However, Sondra and Bob are coming to Franklin to visit family and they are going to meet me at the "quilt room" which is the Shriners' building where those kind folks allow us to keep two large frames for quilting tops for hire. We will be basting next year's raffle quilt (proceeds all go to scholarships for local kids). I'll take some pictures. At noon we are all repairing to Fat Buddies to have the worlds best BBQ for lunch. We are all looking forward to lunching with my cyber quilt friend. I told Sondra that if Bob doesn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of old women Lowe's is nearby. She says he's used to it and is a good sport. I might bring Shadow so Sondra and Bob, who are both real dog people, can meet her. I took her with me Friday as it was reasonably chilly and I didn't have concerns about leaving her in the car. The ladies all fussed at me when after I introduced her to them then turned to take her back to the car. She spent the morning being being fussed over by the ladies. She is a sweet girl.

If it does snow I won't be able to go down my driveway. Someone suggested I get some all terrain tires for winter and that's what I'll do. This Prius is very prone to skids even without snow or ice. Some people have dirt driveways. I keep mine graveled at considerable expense but at least it provides resistance to erosion and traction going up and down.

That's about it for now.

Jane

This & That, Sunday at dusk

Heather, those boys look adorable in their pumpkin sweaters. The 6 month old looks much older than that...a big boy. I'm glad you moved back to Thunder Bay; imagine missing all that.

Our weather...well, we've hit, in the past two days, something resembling Indian Summer here. That means, it's warm enough to remove the dead plants and weeds in the garden and prepare everything for the winter ahead. Do I have the time and energy to partake of this gift from Mother Nature...no. The thought of what I must do to get the gardens ready for winter is purely daunting. No mold, Doris. But heavy frosts and everything is looking bedraggled.

Sara, grown kids have a way of surviving and if they don't, you'll hear from them asking to help them back home C.O.D. It's a generational shake of the head wondering where their brains are but somehow they manage to grow up and get on with life...most of them...not all.

Cooper Cooper is here again..his parents have gone on a Mediterranean cruise until early November. I've looked after Cooper since he was a pup when his parents travel each year; he's going to be seven next week and has calmed down considerably. He's an Aussie. The word 'come' hasn't been in his doggy vocabulary until just recently.

Have a speaking engagement next week for the Brampton Quilters Guild, south of here towards Toronto and the night before, my favorite author, Louise Penny, a Canadian mystery writer, is coming to our town for a reading. I'll be having supper with her at an Inn nearby. This will be exciting for me; likely one more meal out for her and the grind of doing the book circuit promoting her new book "The Brutal Telling", her fifth. She is an excellent writer and I'm looking forward to meeting her. In-between days, I'm teaching two days of colour theory here at home. If I keep my head on straight and not get muddled up, I'll have a good week. If I get muddled, I'll panic. I have to use a power-point programe with the guild and some new fangled machinery to show my pictures. Oh for the days of slide film and slide projectors and no pixel problems.

Rosey

Sunday evening/DD/weight room/etc.

Sigh. . . .yes, the DD and the whole gang left about 3:00 PM with the U-Haul behind the van. They were supposed to leave Fri. then Sat. They were going to meet us for a quick breakfast before church. Etc. Etc. I think they just had no idea how much work is involved in getting a house ready to put on the market. The house is now empty, for sale.
They hope to make it to the Atlanta area to spend the first night. My techie SIL said he had all the directions in his cell phone. I insisted that he print out a mapquest also. At least that will have the highway numbers on it. They think it will take 5 days to make the trip.
Since they are techie, they will post on facebook each night from motel rooms with WIFI as to their progress. The 13 yr. old GS is supposed to keep in touch with his geography class to keep them updated on his travels.
As far as DH, he had blood work drawn Friday, and we are waiting to hear as to when the CAT scan is scheduled.
Life continues, we have the antique bed taken apart and in DH's warehouse at his office. Still haven't decided on the floor, but are leaning towards stranded bamboo, tough, and durable and attractive.
I will start taking off the wallpaper border (at the top by the ceiling) this week. Hopefully it will come off easily.
Weather is the other topic. It has been windy, and cool. Fall is actually here. I got out my sweaters and wool blends this morning.
DORIS--Fly lady would not approve of being a pack rat. If the clothes are not fit for Goodwill, save one or 2 things for the yard, and pitch the rest in the garbage. Does it fit? Do I like it? Is it somewhat in style?
Don't wait for your kids to have to clean out your "junk" after you die.
I had to do that twice with the aunts, have sworn to DH I wouldn't ever do that to my DD.
Flylady says spend 15 min. at a time in the closet, or where you want to purge. It really is a good plan. Works for me!
OK, this is a book, of a not-so-interesting life.
Hope our DUGS in the Queensland Australia area are out of harm's way with the fires. Someone please let us know.
Sara in Fla.

Sunday morning

#and the sky is struggling to break away from overcast grey....I am keeping my fingers crossed that we do hit the 11+ Celsisus mark today.....it is the last day that I can see getting those blessed tulips in the ground ! I have not been motivated to work in the garden.....yesterday was supposed to be the day but when the kids called and said want to go to the park and feed the horses....why not ! it was cool but we had fun and got some good pics of the little guys.

Brenda, we have had a bit of snow but nothing that stayed thankfully, but Wednesday is looking horrible with predictions of 15cms.....we have the boys that day and overnite and DS#1 will be travelling on the highway so I am so hoping that the weather people are wrong again . Plus we hope to do a trip on Thursday to Duluth for a couple of nights and I am not looking forward to winter driving so soon !~

Sarah, have been thinking of you the past couple of days.....sending hugs as your family spreads out away from 'home' How is the home gym reno coming?

Doris, that picture is printed and framed and sits on my kitchen counter where it just makes me smile !

Rosey, how is your area for weather.....probably no snow but damp I imagine.....

anyways off to get started, need to buy the next size car seat for Brody for our van.....what a relief it will be not to have to lug the cradle type seat.....

Heather