Doing the Joy Thing

I love a bargain...half price...my very favorite flower...a treat for myself as I walked the grocery store per instructions from physical therapy!!!

The above four patch snowballed into blocks...hope to set them manana.

Maybe I should limit my grocery store walks...Look!!!!

Already, my favorite Christmas ice cream...They will be sold out by Thanksgiving!!

Arriving home this morning from an outing...A family of deer..

I only got a picture of  one or two, but there were 6 at least!!

They are in the field beside me multiplying like crazy.  I live in the woods,

in the city...love..

It was freezing this morning...65 degrees F. I needed to wear a sweater for my breakfast on the deck.

So excited for my favorite season.

Our school system drops off free meals for Corona virus, stay at home children.

The school bus comes to the end of my street with the boxed food.

In the past few weeks, we have accumulated so many apples and pears.

The pears all ripened at once.  Last night Lynsey and I made pear crumble.

This morning it was gone...Lynsey had it for breakfast!!

Tonight, I had told her that I would do her kitchen clean up, if she would peel and core the apples.

It took forever to cook them down on the stove, adding a bit of sugar and cinnamon.

We had homemade apple sauce on vanilla ice cream.  Dylan's doctor said he could eat cooked apples.

But, he was afraid.

Above a lovely card and patches from Suzette...She has the most wonderful cards and the most wonderful heart..

I am going to make a patriotic potholder  or two!!

Last thing and the best thing...a visit...Linda helped me fold the last half of my white fabric.

She took snips and I discovered fabric that I had long forgotten.

Yesterday was a bit of a slump after PT,  but, a great faithful boost from my Orkin guy set me on the right and grateful path.  He is so nice.  He came to my husband's funeral.

Twice I have called him late at night to share that I found a big and ugly roach in my house...I leave a message on his answering machine that thankfully, he leaves turned off.

The next day he calls me...Was the roach dead or alive.

I say....dead.

He says, well....I can only kill it once...ha!!

Sooo lucky to have friends.. New friends never, ever replace the old.

According to Girl Scouts...One is silver and the other gold!!

OH...one last treat:  Aoife in Spokane trying out her new pacifier

The Attack of the Covid Brain

Thank you Aoife for cheering me so!!!! Guess it is cold in Missoula!!

Below, Ashley's bag holder:

My physical therapist and her boyfriend are obsessed board game folks...When I found a bit of this fabric, I knew I could incorporate it into a plastic bag holder for her...She is leaving for her doctorate in physical therapy in January.  But, I cannot wait.. I am giving her  this good-bye, I love you, present tomorrow!!

 Last night I was in such a snit..I took it out on my son and DIL...in two different episodes....Called "Grandma O'Quilts goes nuts,"  And, "Grandma O'Quilts goes nuttier"

My doctor said get out of the house or you will die of something else

My physical therapist said that I need to walk around the grocery stores.

My DIL said I would go nuts if I did not get out of the house..

My son said the same....Oh, no..I did not listen

Instead, I obsessed about the fires and bad air, I obsessed about the children giving me COVID, I obsessed about my son working and not having time to help us. I obsessed about my failure as a remote school teacher...

I had to apologize to everyone. Self care for me is now....a cheese omelet with wild onions and 3 pieces of  cinnamon toast, just like my grandma made!!!!!  Comfort food.

The morning light brought a stunning revelation:  

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow (Thank you Suzette for the prompt!)

Here Comes the Sun  Today I am reading in my yard sooo thankful.  Yesterday I went to borrow some books from the library for the first time in 7 months...After I got to the library, someone brought the books to my car and I did not have to go in...sooo nice!!

People can be marvelous.  Look at Chay...She lives in Missoula where my girl is staying. Chay gave us good advice....Stay put because, unfortunately the smoke will follow you as the wind shifts.

The measurements for the bag:

Fabric: 20x25 inchs

Top: 11 inches of 1/4 inch elastic

Bottom:  6.5 inches of 1/4 inch elastic

Strap:  14 inches.

I got this from Muggs.  I do not think she invented it so I used it..hmm

Muggs...hope that is OK

And, isn't it wonderful that I have 6 trillion yards of 1/4 inch elastic now.

All prepared for mask making and bag making 

Acceptance of Life on Life's terms...OMG

Family on the run...left Portland for better air...Here they are in Idaho!!

Over night the air changed in Idaho from clear to hazardous.

Emily told them both to smile....Only the baby listened!!

We do not want our dear Aoife to breathe nasty air.

Bye bye Idaho...hello Missoula, Montana.

Seven weeks old and already has been in three states!!

Clearly she loves them all!!

 

 

        Oregon's Air Quality from Fires  

                   NOOOOOO!!! 

  Now Missoula, Montana is forecasting  hazardous air tomorrow.The winds must have changed...

.Em said there are fires everywhere...They are deciding where to go next as she forgot her passport. I am so stressed...not that I can do anything about anything.  The only thing I can do is:

Just go Sew...!!  So I put this UFO on the design wall...of course I have lost a block...of course!! 

When ALS was in my life, I had to buy fabric... I would look for hours online putting things in and out of my cart on several sites..It would calm. me...Now with COVID, with fires, with remote schooling, I am back at it again...not much but a little , to calm my nerves...my poor aged nerves!!

Doing the Next Right Thing to Avoid Anxiety

Starting the season right....tonight's relaxtion.

 Baby Aoife and her family are now in Idaho to avoid Portland's air quality.

It is now deemed the worst in the world. Here we have Aoife on her first road trip.

Rosie got to go too!!!!

Messing around with masks...For the first time now, I have used the adjustable elastic that my daughter sent me.  Below I found my Monopoly fabric..for a present.

On the way to finding that, I found this which I had been looking for a few weeks back...

That's how it goes around here.

This came today as part of my stress therapy...more solid fat quarters.

The next right thing was to make a relaxing bowl...Then to find the game fabric..then the surprise eyeglass fabric....then to caress..the Bella Solids fat quarter set.

I also spoke with my daughter via text forever as she and her family fled the awful smoke in Portland.

Aoife's first road trip!!!

Now, before bed, Grandma O'Quilts goes once again on her high horse.

 In America, everyone with insurance can get a "free flu shot."If you do not have insurance, It cost $40 or so...everywhere.....Free flu shot signs mean , in fine print, if you have insurance. This means that the working poor without insurance will probably go without flu shots thus endangering the rest... A family of 4 without insurance will pay $160 for flu shots this season.  They probably cannot afford to get it.

OK end of rant...off to bed...a relaxing weekend ahead...Yeah!!

The World is on Fire

 Here she is..our Aoife.  On the way home from her doctor visit.

7 weeks old, ten pounds...and totally beautiful..

She had 3 shots and did not like them one bit!!

Below, a present from Emily...a new kind of mask tie.

I hope to try these out tomorrow.

Lynsey's second try at making bread...She hated it...It was gooey...It did not hold its form. She was never making bread again...She sounded like me sewing!!!!!!

She added flour and her hands got sticky and she whined....And then, she cooked it...and now...

She is way proud of herself...Way proud...as she should be. Especially when it was made in her great-great grandma's cast iron pot!! 

Last year she read about the Holocaust...and she read about American slavery and then about migrant workers immigrating from Mexico.  She is incensed. She cannot believe that people treat other people like this..She stomped her foot and exclaimed....Why did I not know about any of this before??

Jeeze Lynsey, you are only 11.

Her conclusion was that Coronavirus is nothing compared to any of that!

I am trying to encourage her to write an opinion piece, but she refuses.

Help needed here from fellow bloggers.  There are a number of blogs I follow whose posts I never ever see on my feed.  I do not know how to get them back...Where have they gone...Reminds me of Facebook where I only see a few friends...grrr...Help needed.

The above treats came today. I told myself I had to have a treat because I was so going around the bend....again...a bundle of 17 solid fat quarters on Etsy.  Today was the day I really needed them.

I even emailed my accountant to share what I had done...I got approval!!!!  Wahoo.

The last few days have been terribly stressful...I am going to make a rope bowl tonight to calm myself.

The kids good mother came to get them after school today as Dylan did not take his AD/HD medication today.  His teacher emailed me that he joined the zoom and turned off the monitor  so he could just go do something else...Alas, his teacher is smarter than that.  He was marked unexcused absence!!

My son is getting his tires balanced and hopefully his flu shot.

I was just in the grocery store to walk and decided to get my own flu shot.

I had thought I would wait until October 1, but the new pharmacist said that she was afraid that there might be a shortage of the senior flu vaccine and suggested I take it now.  So I did.

Hopefully, the children's mother will take the kids to get theirs too..Nice to get things out of the way!!

Below is my new mask experiment.  I am going to sew the 2 inches of white elastic to the ends of the coral elastic so it can go thru the mask tube and still be adjustable...stay tuned.

Look at this:  Almost the entire west coast is on fire.

OMG  

Breathing and Humming...

Ruby star masks I made tonight..Just awaiting the super cool ties Emily ordered for me.

And this:

 The other night about 4:30 am...I heard noises downstairs....BOO!!

Of course, I was nervous and called for my son.  There he was with a pipe cutter

and a grin on his face.  He said that an idea came to him while he was sleeping that he could take a part off the old hot water heater to put on the new one...He got up, he fixed it and we have had hot

water ever since.. OMG so grateful I had kept my mouth shut...Now this saved money!!!!

My beautiful new Aoife is in Portland,Oregon with my girl and her man...Boom the winds knocked the electricity off....Boom, an air quality alert from the surrounding fires..  They are told to keep their windows shut..hmmm...Aoife is sleeping and does not seem to  mind.  I mind and I am in Charlotte with electricity and no fires.!!!

Power out for 49,000 customers as high winds move in to Portland

A High Wind Warning is in effect until 1 p.m. Tuesday. Winds in Portland picked up just before 5 p.m., bringing wildfire smoke from the east.

The two granddarlings are home.  Last night their father took them on a bike ride with the dog through the woods.  They ended up at Trader Joe's ...in the dark...calling grandma to come get them.

Good memories.  They have lots of folks who love them.

They are going to their mother's again this upcoming weekend.. I do not know what I will do with all the relaxation I am getting!!

And then there was today...such a surprise stress city...out of the blue...

Grandma breathing, Grandma humming.

Two emails from teachers that Dylan is not doing his work.

There is a rule in this house that if any teacher takes time out of her/his busy day to contact me, there will be consequences...Thus:

Thank you Dylan for making my bobbins!!!

Lynsey has studied hard and has good grades...She wanted to borrow my I-pad for Tik Tok

I encouraged her to find something else to do...as I sliced the eggplant.

She said...Well, then I will make dinner myself and you can sew.

Voila...eggplant parmesan...It was so yummy...It took me awhile before I realized that she had forgotten the Mozzarella cheese...Sooo funny...

As I was cleaning the kitchen, I found this under a dish towel..

What is this??? Oh, said Lynsey, I am trying the bread again.  I want to get it right this time.

How can I be stressed with a girl like Lynsey.

One day at a time, Grandma....one day at a time!!!

Patching it Up with a Story or Two

My daughter told us she was pregnant in January..We were thrilled.

In February, I decided to look around in Marshals for some baby things.

You know,  once a grandma...always a grandma.

I found about 6 or 7  lovely cozy sleepers in the various small sizes.

Thank God I went then because a month later, the country closed down.

When I was home from the store, I found this extra pair of pants wadded between one of the outfits.

There was a small stain on the knee.  I kept it and I kept it and wondered what to do with it.

My girl is quite the fussy one with baby cloths as I was.

Tonight was the night I used the new ball point needle, a small zigzag stitch and did a rough

applique over that spot.

I also fixed the hem on my comfy black pants.

These were my first knit projects.

Below is my exciting new purchase of the polyester thread that I was told to use when working with knits.  Isn't it a pretty sight!!!  Colorful thread!! With bobbins to boot!

Alas...I should have known.  It was a mistake.  What did I think I was getting for

$14?????? Certainly not Aurefil!!!!!

With a thrill, I started on my new adventure, I threaded the needle...Why so hard to thread..??.

I started sewing.  The needle broke, Why???? Because the thread was so rough and thick.

In my excitement, distracted by the glorious picture of the pretty threads on Amazon.and the good price..It never occurred to me to look for the Size of thread.

This new thread and its bobbins will have to be  donated...Where, I do not know.

I already threw away the box.so I cannot return it.

On the above two projects, I used regular Aurefil and it worked just fine.

Don't you just hate to learn lessons the hard way...and over and over again??

At least this time, the lesson only cost $14.

It is 12:30 am   My son and his friend have been working on the new water heater for four hours.

I just tip toed out to peak...no guys and no new water heater.

I had wanted to hire it out, but my son insisted he could do it to save money.

Please God help me keep my mouth shut and just go to bed !!!!!

The Glory of it All

Aoife is 6 weeks old.  This is her first sewing lesson.

Our Aoife and our Janome...sigh...what a team!!!

A wonderful evening out...Peter's paradise...outside, 6 feet apart with masks

13 members of our widows group having a safe and wonderful time.

Aoife in her wrap so her mother can cut out quilt blocks..

Way to go!!!!

My son and a buddy are installing our new hot water heater.

I am locked in my sewing room so I will not give out any advice.

What to do now...Oh, more...free time..hmm

I think I will get out my polyester thread and with the ball point needles Eithne sent me, I will try to mend my every present favorite black pants.

Oh, dear....this is what happens at my house...On the way to mend my pants, I found these...

Six blocks were done.  I cut more white squares and put it all in a bag...

For me, that is called organization!!!!!

 This is  day three of another good day %#&  WOW!

Today was so glorious...stunning...fall for sure..The change in the way the light comes from the sky.

Merry little breezes....sewing and reading and visiting with friends.

And, Aoife...bringing the joy of new life.

Look what Michele found for me!!!!

Pitiful Pearl by the Ronnie Ross Quintet

Grandma O'Quilts Did not Outgrow AD/HD

 I worked on four patches today...to put in my parts department...Having a nice parts department inspires creativity on a blue kind of day.  I also cut and ironed the backings for the purple quilt I just finished and for the Chicken Feed quilt.

Focus,  Impulsivity, Hyperactivity....

UGH...My son has it too...only he has OCD to tame it. Here he is cutting the batting for two quilts in 

preparation for spray basting.  I was trimming the batting...myself.. He told me I was being careless...and he would do all the trimming himself.. Gladly...I handed it over.

But, before I did...yup...this is me...the woman who has been quilting for 50 some years..

While trying to trim back the edges of the batting...sure...I cut right into a front square...

I am not happy with myself...not at all.....

Dearest Eithne made this for me.  I think she is re-framing my craziness into something nicer.

Thank you Eithne...I just love it.  It came in the mail today.

This came with it.  On the Upcycle videos this past week, the presenter had one of these.

I had never ever heard of it...Was going to order one when Eithne  offered to give me hers.

This afternoon the leaves came down. 

 They were not too pretty, but they were leaves down

And, that means fall...my very favorite season ever.

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to a big party...Lots of old people stuffed in a room doing the rumba.

NOT! ...a small gathering in a driveway with masks, 6 feet apart....no rumba. Still fun.

If this post looks unbalanced...it is the fault of the New Blogger..just sayin'

Wild and Free....Well..Kinda....

 Wild and free and fun sewing here....a one or two day job...not like that Chicken Feed one that had to stew forever on the design wall.  This quilt makes me happy.

The border fabric is designed by Philip Jacob.

The quality of the fabric is very very poor.

It must be a knock off because I know that designer would never print on such fabric.

I have no idea where I got this fabric years ago...must have been online where I could not feel the quality.

The children are gone for five days.  Took my old car to the elementary school to get some supplies and drop off some donations...So nice to wave from a distance..Staff all masked and gloved!!

Then...off I cruised with the windows open and the air conditioning on high...,I love to do that....When  I was 16 and learning to drive...My mechanic daddy told me never to do that...always the rebel...even at my age. Ha!!

 I walked in the big wide aisles of the new Waverly Harris Teeter....Thank you Nancy for keeping me on the straight and narrow!!  The walking was a script from my physical therapist.

I am getting stronger!!! Wahoo...

Home to finish the above quilt top.

Now I have two tops finished..for my son to spray baste.

I spoke with Aoife today...no smile...she was all about her feeding...I do not blame her.

Just a Lovely Wednesday

Aoife loves her bath time..smiling at her mother, showing off her dimples 

Six weeks old....love

 Today...was a great day...First time in forever that I felt better after physical therapy instead of worse.

I was told to go to the store and walk and walk and walk using a shopping cart.  I could die if I go out or die if I stay in...OMG   Crazy life we have..

Got my new eyeglasses....The eyeglass fitter came up to me to ask what brand my purse was..Well that gave me a huge lift!!!  It was the purse that I had made for myself from my man's suede jacket..Carrying my man with me at all times...plus it is light weight and comfy.

That this girl liked it so much that she asked for the brand...made me smile all the way home!!

The school system is giving out packets with lunch and breakfast.  My son went to pick them up. It is a weeks worth of food for remote schooling.  Thank you Rachel for the cheer..

The children were delighted...all the  familiar food that they usually get from school at lunch.  I did not realize how happy it would make them...nostalgic for school.  Plus, they just help themselves to breakfast and lunch..no bother for me.. Win and win and win..

Well...It looks like Aoife likes Wednesdays too.!!!  Isn't She Lovely

Wonderful zoom with my Wednesday night quilting group...Celebrating a good day.

I have been busy working on my purple Jeni Baker top, but my design wall is in my son's room and he went to bed.  Now, that sounds like a great idea.

A Mental Health Day

 The folding of the whites and a friendly visit outside with masks!!!!

A three hour visit yielded two shelves of the whites folded plus laughter.

Lynsey wanted a family meeting tonight...OK..girl go for it  She wants an organized chart for chores so she can do them when she wants and be free without being told what to do.  Ok..She wrote down her ideas.  Then her tired father expressed his opinion and this is what happened to our Lynsey at the family meeting...She pulled that hoodie right over her face....probably so she could control herself...Oh, my...

Now, Grandma needs another mental health day...

My right shoulder is with pain...looks like I am headed to joint replacement number 5.

Did I say I need another  mental health day??????