Fessing up time. I’ve been so busy with my off-line life that I haven’t been able to read your blogs as frequently as I would like. It’s been hit or miss for the last six weeks, just as my posting has been hit or miss.
But, I want to bring to your attention a blog that is going to close down (in it’s present format) at the end of November. If you haven’t been reading Billy’s blog: I Could Have Been A Contender, you need to get to know him in the month you have left.
Billy promises that he will surface elsewhere after November. I, for one, would hate to loose track of him. I’ve followed his life reports since I was just a tad of a blogger. I visited him one day, when he was having difficulties with Type Pad, and I suggested he talk with Bogie…and it’s been love ever since.
Go give him your support, and be sure to follow where ever he decides to go!
Checking In
Redeagle1, otherwise known as the Great and Beneficent ~T~ has been working on my blog again, as you can see. I swear she’s a magician.
I knew that I wanted to try something similar to the design of her blog, but I couldn’t find a picture of a quilt that worked for the background. Earlier this year Cop Car gave me Electric Quilt 5, so I went to the software to design a quilt for the backdrop. I gave five versions of this star to ~T~ to play with, and this is what she gave me, in less than 24 hours!
You can tell that I’m firmly entrenched in Autumn colors. You’ve seen the batik quilt (September 4th) that was finished this year, and now the blog carries those warm reds and oranges. You have to know that this is my favorite time of the year. I’m like a sunflower: just plant me and watch me turn my face to the sun as it passes overhead! *G*
I may ask ~T~ to do a little tweaking for me, but this is likely to be the format for my blog for a while. Let us know what you think.
Patch, Patch, Patch
Don’t you just love being a homeowner?
We’ve known for a year or so that we needed to re-shingle the roof. I can’t tell you why we stalled, but we are well past the time when it HAS to be done. The weather was so hot this year that the shingles have deteriorated, and it’s not safe to be on the roof now.
Entertainment
Did I tell you that two of my sisters and I finally got to see “Menopause, The Musical”?
It was one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen! Who would have thought that menopause would ever be used as the subject for a show, and that the show would have an extended run?
Basically, it’s an opera. The entire show is sung, with new lyrics given to pop songs from the past. It’s set in a department store where four women all reach for the same bra, and end up bonding as they shop and discuss dealing with hot flashes and memory loss.
If you have the opportunity to see it, GO! Especially, if you can take a group of your sisters or girlfriends. Everybody deserves a night of laughs like this.
Glorioski, Sandy!
Yesterday made up for the last two miserable days we spent watching marching bands!
Dear Husband and I spent the day together. While he went for coffee and a pecan roll, I got my hair cut. Then, we stopped at the Farmer’s Market for apples, pumpkins, dried fruit and corn for the squirrels. When the chores were finished, we began a leisurely trip to Chesterton, Indiana, to watch another marching band competition
Beneficence
Beneficence: The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness.
Just a quick note about beneficence…
I am personally practicing beneficence this week. I don’t know that I’d say this bounty springs from purity or goodness, but it was a logical extension of my interests. A reader of this blog asked me if I’d care to create a “Quilt Room In A Bag” for a quilter who had lost everything due to Katrina or Rita. You all know that quilting is dear to my heart, so how could I refuse? I’ll blog more about it tomorrow, in case any of you would like to participate in this activity. I’ve asked my quilting bee if they would care to contribute items, and I hope that we are able to put together several bags. I personally think it’s a cool idea!
Preparations
I was getting ready to make a trip last weekend, and took the time to send Cop Car a note. I told her about all the things I wanted to get done before we left. I had cleaning and laundry to do, and some bookkeeping for the company. I wanted to water the container garden and feed the birds and pack the car. It was important to me that the house be clean when I left, so that I wouldn’t come home after a great weekend and feel that I had to clean.
You’ll have to ask Cop Car to tell you about the all the cleaning she did the day before her oldest daughter was born. We must think alike, because coming home to a clean house is high on our list of preferences.
What Are The Odds?
Last year, about mid-October, we went to Indiana to watch one of my nieces march in a band competition. We had anticipated typical Fall weather, so we packed for every contingency: lightweight pants and tops, and sweaters to layer, along with jeans and jackets and gloves and boots.
It was a good thing we had taken all those clothes because the morning of the competition was frigid, and by the time we were seated in the stands of a high school football field (on metal stadium seats), the temperature had dropped, and it looked like we might see the first snowfall of the season. I was really concerned for the girls in the color guard because they had to be freezing in their lightweight costumes.
So, what are the chances that we would hit similar conditions this year, when both my nieces are marching? We drove to Fort Wayne for the competition. It was COLD!! At least this time there was no threat of precipitation, but the wind was nipping at us. We had two lightweight flannel throws wrapped around Elegante Mother and we huddled together to stay warm.
In a former life I used to be a band director, so you’d think I’d be used to a little inclement weather, but that was a LONG time ago. It was a joy to see the girls march, but I was relieved when we could return to the car and warm up.
This seems to have become a traditional trip, driving the back roads of Illinois and Indiana to see the girls march. We have three years of these competitions left. I plan to have my entire winter wardrobe along next time, and I bet you that it’s sweltering out! What are the odds?
The Annual Trek
We’ve been unusually busy at Chez Buffy the past few weeks. We’ve made it a habit to visit with my youngest sister during the fall. She and her family live in Indiana, so it’s not a major trip, but we wend our way through the farms of Illinois and Indiana and it takes us anywhere from four to five hours to make the trip. Normally.
Cutting back?
It seems to me that I read something recently that suggested that some plants winter over better if you wait to cut them back in the spring. I’ve made it a practice to put the gardens to bed for the winter by cutting everything back and raking up any rose debris. I have a number of plants that get wintered over in the garage in large pots. The one rose that’s left in my garden will be trimmed back, mounded with dirt to protect the graft, encircled with a cage and covered with shredded leaves.
I need to surf to see what I can find about waiting to cut the plants back. It seems to me that chrysanthemums were included in that list, and maybe iris, but I can’t remember the others. I want to check on daylilies, clematis, ornamental grasses and several herbs.