I Never Knew

I never knew that apparently I am in need of much help in my daily activities. Thankfully, Mr. Finn is ever ready and present to give me all the "help" I need! :)

Here's my boy helping with the laundry:

Apparently I hadn't pin basted this quilt properly and some of the pins needed to come out:


Here he is acting as my stylist as I was getting ready for a party:

Not sure why he thinks I need help reading? Maybe by staying put he thinks he will keep me on task:


Of course, even a super fantastic helper needs to take some time for himself! A good nap is in order.

Thanks, Finn. You make my days much more fun!

Swap Blocks

I'm in a block swap with a small online group.   Each month we send directions for a block we want made plus a part of the fabric for making it to whoever is assigned that month.   This round we are actually making each person two blocks....normally two of the same pattern but with different fabrics.  That person makes the blocks then mails them back to us.   At the end of this swap I'll end up with 18 blocks.  I love doing this swap cuz its a great way to get a good scrappy look with many fabrics I don't have!

 The above blocks were made for a gal who is making a redwork quilt.  She requested any star blocks but to only use the the red fabric she sent or reds we had with white for the background.  In other words...one color.    That made it interesting when searching out star patterns.    Anyway, the two I decided on look pretty good.  Both are from Judy Martin's book called "Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts".  The one on the left is called "Fiery Star" and the one on the right is called "Virginia Star".   I hope she likes them and that they work well with the collection she receives.  

ABC Wednesday

J is for Jigsaw Puzzles

I have lots of memories of puzzle making. My Mom was a whiz at it. She could sit for hours and work on one. I’m more like my Dad…come in for a 5 minute stretch and then off to do something else. There was often a puzzle going at camp in NY when we’d go there in the summer. It’d be set up folks would stop by as they passed and put in a piece or two. By the time our vacation was over it’d be done.

Here’s a pic of my hubby and son-in-law seriously at work on a puzzle at our lake vacation this summer:

Even our cat likes to get in on the fun:

J is for Jewelry Making

This is something new I get to do. I have a friend (one of the Yaya’s) who has been making jewelry for a long time. She’s really good at it. Well, due to a conversation about earning badges we Yaya’s had, it was decided we’d make charm bracelets to commemorate certain events and to symbolize meaningful things to our friendship.
I’m so excited about this project! And I’m so glad I have a close friend who already is good at this hobby and can be our teacher.

Lovelies to choose from:

Some of our homemade charms and objects to add:


I'll have to remember to post a pic of our finished charm bracelets once their done.

Lots of folks participate in ABC Wednesday, be sure to check out more J blogs!

Feet Friday

I'm tired of being cold!!!

Wishing for flip-flop weather. :)

ABC Wednesday

I is for Ice Skating

I couldn’t think of any hobbies other than things to do with ice….ice sculpture….ice hockey….ice climbing…that sort of thing. I chose ice skating since it’s the only one I’ve had any experience with. Can anyone else think of hobbies that start with “I”?

When I was little I loved watching ice skating when the Olympics came on. I dreamed of being those girls in the pretty outfits…twirling away on the ice. My parents even signed me up for lessons! I loved the pom-poms on my white skates and my cute little skirt. I was sure I was the prettiest little girl ever. It was a short lived hobby. Like everything else I tried growing up…I’d take a class, love it, but want to move on to the next thing. I’m such a dabbler!

I’ve skated on and off since I was little. Mostly outdoors when I lived in upstate New York and in Montana. There’s an indoor rink here and I’ve gone a few times. We took our kiddo’s skating too, mostly when we lived in Montana….unfortunately I have no pictures.

They had the cutest little double bladed skates and I do have a picture of Jenn’s:

Check out other "I"s this week at the ABC blog main site. See you next time.

Rest

This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men.

-Captain J.A. Hadfield

This was my theme for today. To rest. It’s not that I’ve been particularly busy. I know what busy looks like and I don’t think I can consider my week to be like that. Ya know how some times you need to come home from vacation and rest? Well, it’s more like that! I did lots of fun things and I visited with friends more than usual. So I took a day to just be quietly with myself. It was a books, magazine, tv and knitting kind of day!

And soon I will cap it off with a good nights sleep! Here's to rest...be sure to get yours!

ABC Wednesday

H is for Hiking

We have always loved hiking. We hiked even when the kids were little….short ones, but still the mountains called! It was easy when we lived in Montana cuz the mountains were so close…20 minutes of driving and you’d be somewhere beautiful. Here in Washington there is a lot of wonderful hiking too…but it’s always a drive. Which has made it become more of an event than a spontaneous “what’cha want to do” sort of thing.

All my pics of hikes are fairly recent ones. I looked all over for some from the backpack trip hubby and the kids took over the Olympic Mountain range….their longest hike…but couldn’t find a single one. Shoot!

Anyway. Here are some others to peek at:

Hubby and kids camped at Lake Ozette and hiked out to the beach. Miles of boardwalks.

Hubby and I at Glacier National Park. This was a beautiful 5 mile or so hike that ended at that half frozen lake. Gorgeous!

Saguaro National Park in Tucson. My first look at the desert and those amazing cacti! And my first non-mountain hiking experience.

Hiking in Mesa Verde, Colorado.

Hiking in Scotland. On this particular day we were hiking along a bay to get to that little castle in the distance...in the middle of the picture. Its the castle ruins on the land that belongs to the MacLean of Lochbuie clan....my Scottish heritage.

Lots of folks participate in ABC Wednesday, be sure to check out more blogs!

Feet Friday

Catching a movie with a little one snuggled on your lap. Priceless. :)

ABC Wednesday

I thought of a few hobbies that start with “G”: gardening, golf, graphology and genealogy. Since we’ve only done one, it was a no-brainer on which I’d choose.

G is for Gardening

Our early gardening experience was a small bed in the back of the house we rented when we first moved to WA. Our landlords were wonderful people who even let us have chickens on the property! We grew the basics and our kids had their first tastes of home grown vegetables…nothing like it. When we bought our first home (on acreage) we could expand our gardening vision. So the little bed became a plowed up spot. We tried many more types of vegetables….success with some (green beans and peas grow well in the Northwest) and not so much with others (our asparagus bed never did take off). For me, my favorite gardening method was the “square foot” way. A plowed up field was too big to take care of. I’m so visual that all I saw was this HUGE job of weeding. I couldn’t break it down into small portions in my head. Square foot gardening allowed me to concentrate on one little bed…which never seemed like too much work.

Hubby and I haven’t done much gardening since the kids left home. We talk about it every spring. One little four foot bed. Just one. Maybe this year?

Lots of folks participate in ABC Wednesday, be sure to check out more blogs!

Quilters Dream

I've made a lot of quilts and I have to say this is a picture of joy to this quilters heart. Someone enjoying one of my creations. I love the fabric search, I love ironing, I love cutting fabric up into all those little pieces, I love sewing it all back together again.....I love it all. But I love this more.
Snuggle up, my sweet jewel and know Nana is hugging you via fabric and thread!
xxxooo

Random 365 Pictures

I have been participating in the 365 Project, as I mentioned in an earlier post.  Have to say, I'm not doing too badly!   I do forget occasionally and have to quick take a pic of something from the day before I go to bed....or I'm setting up a picture like a still life cuz I forgot to take one while out.   But I am pleased with myself that I've managed for nearly 2 months now.   Here are a few random pics from the past two weeks.

Do you know what kind of fruit this is?   Its called "Cherimoya" and we saw it for the first time this morning.  The produce manager gave us a taste and hubby had to bring one home.  Kinda tasted like a combo of banana and mango or maybe banana and papaya...definitely banana in there.  

 We were hit with snow again this week.  This time it didn't stick around too long...but enough for me to click this pic of our cat's little paw print. 

We have an old fashioned hand crank coffee grinder.  One morning during a visit, Liam ground our morning coffee.  Such concentration!  
You can see all my 365 Project pictures at my Picasa site.  

Feet Friday

Ahhh...a lovely February day at the beach.  Only thing better would be if it was July and warm!   :)

ABC Wednesday

F is for Flower Arranging

 Who doesn’t love to get flowers?   Isn’t it great that there are folks who love to make bundles of beauty?   I know I do.  When Jenn was growing up my Mom would send her a bouquet of flowers for her birthday with the same number of flowers in it that she was turning.  Here’s a pic of one…can you guess which birthday it was?

The next pic is of my nieces when they were little and on a visit to our house.  Dress up is a must for little girls.  The kids picked flowers from our property to make just the right bridal bouquet.  

F is also for Four-H   (hee, hee….4H)

 I started a 4H rabbit club for my kiddos when they were 8 & 6.   We had a great time for many years and learned so much.  After a time we added other projects but rabbits will always have a place in my heart and will always define 4H for me.  

The kids would come to my house with their bunnies and we would groom, practice our fitting & showing and learn rabbit facts.   Most of the kids competed at the county fair.

It was always a treat to qualify for the state fair.  This is Jenn with her red Satin bunny….the silly boy who kept standing up instead of staying politely in the position he was suppose to be in.   He made everyone smile with his table antics.

Check out ABC Wednesday for more “F” posts.  It’s fun!

Spring is around the corner!

We have crocuses that come up randomly in our front yard. Cute little harbingers of spring! I am known for my black thumb when it comes to bulbs....dunno why......I just can't seem to keep any alive. Years ago we heard about someone who planted crocuses in their yard cuz you can mow over them when they are done blooming. Around here there is no need to mow yet. Sounded like a great idea and perhaps one that wouldn't require any bulb care...which maybe would mean they'd live. And they did. February is when we start looking for them. Beautiful.


Miss Bonnie loves nothing more than hanging outside with her "pack". She's enjoying her sticks while I'm laying in the grass trying to get good shots of that crocus. :)

Feet Friday

My step mom sent this sweet card to me in the mail in honor of Feet Friday! Thanks, E!

Friendship and Vacation

“Life would get busier and more varied, populated both by beautiful things and unfortunate circumstances. If their friendship demanded exclusivity or solitude, it couldn’t work. If it required everything to go as planned, it would turn brittle, and ultimately it would break. On the other hand, she knew that if they could be flexible and big, if they could encompass change, then they would make it.”
Ann Brashares

I have always loved this quote from “Girls in Pants. The Third Summer of the Sisterhood”. This last year with the Yaya’s has been one of both “beautiful things and unfortunate circumstances”…marriage, separation, birth, moving, cancer, retirement, college graduation, children leaving home, parents ailing…and we have encompassed change (some times with a bunch of kicking, screaming and tears!) and we have made it.

This year’s vacation was such a wonderful time of renewal…of choosing to grow together…to love together…to be together. What I enjoy most about our time at the beach is the level of intimacy we gain by not having to go home and do life. We have many uninterrupted days to talk. One day flowing into another.

We were blessed by waking up our first morning to snow. I have never seen snow on the coast before. We took just enough time to run onto the beach, get our pictures, then back to the warm house and a warm drink. It was seriously cold with the wind blowing like it only does at the coast.

Our group project this year was aprons. I only made one while the other girls each made two. They all turned out so dang cute!
Dancing was on the agenda for each night. One does have to do something to burn the immense number of calories consumed! Toga night dancing was the best.



The weather turned clear and nice after the snow. That meant beach walks. I was “challenged” to get an artistic shot…which resulted in getting quite wet as I couldn’t get up fast enough!

Pacific Beach has a couple of cute shops to be explored. Although we certainly didn’t need to find the fudge place!

Time to start putting away our pennies for next year! :)

ABC Wednesday

This was one of those weeks (of which I think there will be many!) when I wondered why I decided to have a theme for ABC Wednesday! It’s hard enough for me to even remember to do the posts, let alone have to come up with ideas under the theme of hobbies. I may not make it to Z! Anyway….here goes....late but done.

E is for Equestrian

We have never had horses, nor have horses been our hobby! But we have many friends who do. I have no pictures of them, though. But I have been on a horse and have pictures to prove it. :)
Hubby and I went to Glacier National Park in Montana for our honeymoon in 1980. We took a horse ride on one of our days there. We wanted to do the 6 hour ride but it was cancelled due to snow along the trail. All they were doing were 2 hour rides. We were thinking 2 hours was lame…but thank you Jesus the others were cancelled! We were sore, sore, sore. Who knew sitting in a saddle would be so hard on one's backside? What did we know at 19?!

Fast forward 26 years later. We are back in Glacier on vacation. Staying in the hotel we couldn’t afford on our honeymoon…so fun....and decide we *have* to ride horses again. There was no question about how long of a ride we’d go on….give us the shortest one! Age brings wisdom, huh?


Check out ABC Wednesday for more blogs participating. It’s fun!

Feet Friday

I enjoyed sharing a different kind of Feet Friday post a while ago. I’ve been surfing inspiring stories on the web that involve feet in some manner so I could post more. The story of Aimee Mullens was the very first one I found…and it fits…so be sure to read about her here.


David Puckett, working with PIPO (Positive Image Prosthetics Orthotics) Missions, has brought freedom of movement to many people in Mexico who otherwise wouldn’t have it. I first heard of him during the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute show a while back. I knew I’d want to share his story here on a Feet Friday post.