I’ve been a busy bee, working on quilts for a charity group called Scraps on a Mission. I’ve finished two lap quilt sized quilt for this group using my new sewing machine. One is quilted with random loops. and the second was finished by stitching “in the ditch” with the dual feel system.
I have several other quilts in the works, but I thought I’d post pictures of the first two to be finished:

All the fabric has been donated, and five women have been working on these quilts. As of this writing, sixteen lap-size quilts have been completed since June of this year.

Thanks to these ladies, my knowledge of machine quilting has grown by leaps and bounds. I’m so glad that I have been able to participate in this endeavor. In November, the quilts will be given to a local hospital and to a rehab and nursing center.

My day started with the last session of exercise before the Labor Day weekend. I’ll have to exercise at home for the next four days because I’ll be leading the class on Wednesday and Friday. It’s not a good idea to have too much time off between the sessions when you are going to be leading them.
I had to make a visit to the dermatologist. I’ve had a growing problem with infection on four of my fingers below the nails, with four more fingers looking as though they wanted to join the fun. I really let this go too long, mostly because I thought I could get it cleared up on my own, and partly because the doc is only available to me Tuesday and Friday. When she saw my fingers, she was horrified, and gave me a shot of cortisone. I’m already seeing some improvement, and am glad that I got the help.
I stopped at the title company to pick up a check, got the car gassed up, and headed for the grocery store. Dear Husband asked for old fashioned tuna noodle casserole for dinner. At first I said, “No.” The first Friday of the month is when my quilting bee meets, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the time in the kitchen when I needed to be getting ready for them. Ultimately, I changed my mind, and made a big salad and the casserole. It was a small thing to do for DH, who asks for so little.
Tomorrow, I have a few errands to run, and then I can piece and quilt ALL DAY! YEA!!!
I hope that you all have had a good start to the holiday weekend, and that you have plenty of fun things lined up for the next few days. Have a great weekend!

We had a visit from one of my great nephews. I think he may be the tallest of the lot, and I couldn’t resist a quick picture. Dear Husband is such a good sport about short jokes. He has the biggest heart of any man I’ve ever met!

I’m sure that I rambled on about BOXES in my July entries. We decided that we would hire one of those shredding trucks to come and destroy out of date documents. We hired a youth group to bring the boxes upstairs, and then Dear Husband and I started going through the boxes.
DH separated all the pages from the binders. When he was done there was a line eight feet long of empty binders, with more binders starting a second level. I don’t think we will need to buy binders again.
While Dear Husband worked on the binders, I started going through my mothers papers. The dirt was incredible. I’m sure there was dirt left from Missouri, her previous home, about 25 years ago! We had checks and registers going back to 1982. Once those were done, I cleared out our personal papers, which was a little bit easier. I save more than I should, but I organize it in a way that makes it easy to separate the important things from the trash.
I developed a system moving things out of one box, removing paper clips, mementos and anything that couldn’t go through the shredder. I spent one Saturday sorting through the boxes at the speed of light, watching reruns of CSI:NY. When I finished the personal papers I moved on to the company documents.
Ultimately, we had forty seven boxes lined up along the back side of the fireplace in the foyer.

I even found things in the office that could go, staying up one night to be sure that everything that needed to be shredded was ready to go. Of course, the shredder came a week later, and I had to wait all day for him to show up.
Still, it’s such a relief that we have started getting this cleaned up. Now I need to use the shop vac that I borrowed from My-Sister-The-Nurse, so that I can get it back to her. No more being a sloth for me!

Today’s Word of the Day is “perspire.”
How appropriate! I lead our senior exercise class this morning. I knew going into it that I would perspire, and I came prepared with a headband. I should have taken a bath towel, too! *G*
My mother used to say that “LADIES perspire, they do not sweat!” I believe she was repeating something she had heard when she was young. Mother did neither, but I do enough of both for the two of us!
I am so very fortunate that my home is surrounded with trees and shrubs, so that when I am outside gardening, none of the neighbors, and no one passing by can see me. I am a veritable WRECK! I wear long sleeves, and frequently add a turtleneck when weather allows. I have on a hat and gloves and layers of OFF. I need to buy one of those umbrellas that people put on their patios, with the heavy base. I could roll it from place to place to shade the area where I need to work. Great idea, hmmm?
At any rate, after two hours of gardening, my shirt is filthy, stretched out and soaking wet. My slacks are just as bad, especially at the elastic waist.
I perspire. Ohhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh….I perspire. Baby, I SWEAT!!!

With Father’s Day coming up, Dad is on our minds. My-Sister-The-Nurse was visiting with us, and asked for help in scanning a picture of Dad to post on Facebook. We actually chose to use his picture as our profile picture for the week, so that it would be present each time we post.
Dad was an exceptional man. There are a lot of funny stories about him as a teenager. He went to Pillsbury Military Academy at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, in Minnesota, and then on to college in the Chicago area. Dad worked for Public Service, which became Commonwealth Edison, as an electrical engineer. I believe that he worked his way up the ladder to become Testing Engineer for a major area of Illinois, before he retired early to develop his own business.
My parents are survived by their five children: four daughters and one son. My brother followed in Dad’s footsteps to become an electrical engineer, and we have a niece who is also an electrical engineer. Education was and is valued in our family. It never occurred to me that there might be other options than going on to college once I finished high school.
I chose to get my first degree in music education, and became a band director. I suppose I knew in the back of my mind that Dad didn’t quite understand my choice, but he never said a word about it. As long as I was willing to work hard in my chosen field, it was fine with him to let me choose that field. I joined an adult community band in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and my family came to hear one of the concerts. Dad was seated where he could see my hands as I played, and for some reason, that experience brought home to him what it was for me to be a musician. Having him attend that concert is a memory I hold dear.
We lost Dad more than 25 years ago. I so regret that Dear Husband didn’t have the chance to meet Dad. They have the same work ethic, and the same belief in the need for a moral life. Both are nurturing people, able to stand back and let children test their wings, while providing assurance that the rock, the foundation, will always be there.
So, I’d like to share with you one of the last pictures taken of my Dad.

I miss you, Dad!

My youngest sister, Frankie, of Just My Opinion, (who, btw, needs to start posting again) calls working in the garden “dirt therapy.” She’s absolutely right. Even if I work too long and come in aching, I still feel better for all that I have accomplished. I believe that’s one of the major reasons people garden, other than the obvious reason of growing food.
Yesterday was quite cool, but I was outside, weeding along the sidewalk in jeans and a turtleneck, happy as a clam to be grubbing in the dirt. I pulled thistles and dandelions, and was able to assess what I need to get on my next trip to The Growing Place.
I started to pull out the dead stalks of purple Homestead verbena from last year, and discovered that it had wintered over. I bought three more plants last week, so we are going to have a LOT of verbena. That’s okay with me. I hope it grows past the edge of the garden, onto the sidewalk, as it did a few years ago. It was beautiful in late summer and the fall.
I need to get at least one, perhaps two roses, and a dahlia. Where some of my English garden plants have died off, I’m going to sow cosmos and cleome. That area is toward the back of the garden and the taller plants will look good there.
I’m aware that the gardens across the front of the house lack balance, and I’m not sure what I want to do about that. I know it will have better “curb appeal” if I repeat things, but it means taking out or moving plants that I like. Do I satisfy myself, or think about pleasing a potential buyer?
We’re in a short down-time on blooms. The tulips are done but the iris have not yet opened. I have a tiny group of alliums in bloom, and pansies and million bells in pots, but other than the lilacs down the yard nothing much is happening. I think in about ten days it might all go crazy! lol
I hope to plant more seeds in the raised veggie bed this afternoon, and pull some of the weeds in the herb garden walkways. I eased a support over the East Friesland salvia in the corner of one bed, so that this year it won’t flop over. Had I waited even one more day that chore would have been really difficult.
Dirt therapy. Perhaps I can solve the woes of the world while I spruce up my gardens. Sounds like a plan!!

This will be my first Mother’s Day without my Mother. We’ve had a number of those “firsts:” my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and the return of the egrets. She would have loved this spring, with the glorious array of daffodils and tulips.

I wasn’t expecting anything for Mother’s Day. I have grown step-children, but no children of my own. I chose to celebrate my mother, to entertain her and keep her company, so that my sisters could be with their families. That felt right to me.
My “baby” sister sent me the most wonderful card. It talks about our relationship as sisters and the love that we share. She wished me a Happy Mother’s Day. I called her, and we had a lovely long talk. I told her how much it meant to me that she had sent the card. Her response was that she doesn’t have a mother to send these things to now. It really hit home that Mother is gone.
I hope that all of you who still have mothers will celebrate with them on Sunday, and share all the memories you have accumulated over the years.
Happy Mother’s Day!

Remember the amaryllis that I was going to throw away??
Well, that bulb that saved itself by sending up a bud on a two inch stalk, eventually grew to be THIRTY-SIX INCHES tall! It’s so tall, I had to add a bamboo stake to the pot to help it stand, and I’m going to have to find something sturdier to hold it now that all four blooms are open.
This, is what I have been blogging about: