Tonight's Sunset

This is what it looked like after the rain. It was taken from the front porch of our house.

4th of July Birthday Girl

Our sweet daughter is 5 yrs. old today. I don't think I can get any pictures uploaded due to poor internet coverage, but I'll try. Stay tuned for lots of pictures of our vacation trip to Georgia. It's just beautiful here, and even better, we're enjoying lovely weather.

To celebrate B's birthday today, we picked blackberries, went wading in the Toccoa River, and we are going to count lightning bugs and watch the big fireworks show in the local town. What more could a birthday girl want?

Re-Vamping Daughter's Quilt

Subtitle: Sometimes it Pays to Procrastinate

(This is a similar block, "before" re-vamp.)

I don't think I can get B's quilt done in time for her 5th birthday now, since it's coming up soon (4th of July). I never did sandwich it, and therefore, it has been sitting, and sitting, and waiting for something more. I figured it out! I dove off the deep-end today, without much thought (which is not my normal style), and did my first applique' right onto her quilt! Now I have to do several more, but I think it will be well worth the extra effort. I just wasn't happy with the results of the quilt top before. I'm so glad I procrastinated this time. She LOVES the one block I have fixed up so far.

(After re-vamp. I also tried the "fussy-cut" technique. Can you tell?)

I Thought Our Time Had Come.....

Yesterday, I wondered if our middle child (8 yr. old boy) had broken his ankle. It got hit really hard by the edge of a metal scooter. He wouldn't walk on it for probably 40 minutes, and I figured it was our turn to head to the emergency room for an x-ray to check it out.

I kept trying to get him to even try and stand on it, and he wouldn't. All I could do was give him some Tylenol and put an ice pack on it. We got Dad on the phone, and he had him do all kinds of goofy stuff. Before I knew it, C was standing on his bad foot/ankle only, with both hands on his head, and bending over at the waist, as if bowing. He started laughing it was so goofy, and we knew he would be alright. I am SO glad it wasn't broken. We've been pretty lucky so far. With 2 boys, both of which can be quite physical and daring at times, I always figured it would happen by now. Thank Goodness it hasn't.

Incidentally, the kids' dad had broken several bones by the time he was 6 yrs. old, and nearly cut his tongue off as well. The accidents didn't stop as he grew up. He cut his thumb off when he was 17, working on the farm, but they were able to reattach it.

Getting Into Show Business

I was informed by hubby recently that we have a couple water trucks going into show business. Okay, I'm getting a little carried away and exaggerating just a wee little bit. But, the truth of the matter is we sold one of our manufactured water trucks to the guys with Ice Road Truckers (this show is on the Discovery Channel, I believe.) They will use our truck to spray water on areas that are getting deep ruts in the ice road, to kind of fill in the uneven places with a build-up of new ice.

We also rented 2 water trucks to a company here locally, and they will be using them in the filming of a TV commercial that Tiger Woods is starring in. Our trucks will not be shown in the commercial, but used to spray water, simulating a rain storm.

We also have a couple trucks employeed with the firefighters to fight forest fires. Our trucks' water cannons can shoot water at least 100 ft. away, which is good since not all deep-woods fire is easily accessible.

I found this amusing. I hope you do too.

Me, Too!!!

Our 4-year old little sister wants her "quilting" sewing pictures on the blog too. She actually started sewing before her big brother, and was in fact his inspiration, but I never posted the pictures.

B is just practicing at this point, on real pieces of scrap fabric, but doing more "free-style" than anything else. She wants to start a quilt now, but I told her she needs a bit more practice first. She can, however, start a new piece of fabric while holding the strings so they don't get pulled underneath. She can be sewing, leave the needle down, and pivot the fabric to make a sharp corner. And she can finish a piece of fabric by clipping the threads with some snips. I will assure you, she is very careful and cautious with all of this. I was more willing to let her sew (as far as safety measures go) than I was the boys.

In one of the pictures below, notice how I had to raise up the foot pedal so she could reach it. I've got silicone hot pads underneath the phone book, as well as on top of it, so things don't slide around.

After All These Years

It took me a long time, about 17 years in fact, but it's finally finished. Here is my college quilt that I started, entirely forgot about, and discovered it in the closet, with about 10 % of the quilt top sewn together already, when I started my butterfly quilt a couple months ago. The colors are so dated, in country blue and mauve! I am pleased it turned out better than I thought it would. It was difficult because I made some mistakes on it (17 yrs. ago) and tried my best to fix things this time around. I didn't want to waste all that fabric by throwing the whole thing away! It amazes me that I cut out the entire thing with regular scissors, not the time-saving, highly accurate gadgets of today: the rotary cutter and mat. Without further introduction, here it is.

Don't you think it will make a nice picnic quilt for the park, or even a snuggle-under throw for our school room, for our family story times? Our school room gets a little chilly sometimes.