Bird feeders

I try to keep the feeders on my deck full and enjoy watching the variety of feathered friends stop by to eat.

 

But this one guy isn't good about sharing.... and he keeps coming back if I'm not watching carefully to shoo him away... until he empties the feeders.

 

 

math woes...

Math has never been one of my strenghts.

7x8 does not equal 54    

back to the fabric store.

Signs of Spring...

Spring Break means a special breakfast!

Smiley Pancakes!

And we enjoyed watching our backyard visitors work on setting up house...

 

 

They were verry busy ducking in and out all morning long!

Commission Quilt

This weekend's wet and cooler weather kept us inside, each to our own activity

Pokemon and cartoons were happening in the basement.


Hubby was playing games on his blackberry and watching sports on TV.
(no picture of interest here)

And I spent the day working commission bowtie quilt.

I really like these bright colors and look forward to finishing it!

That was exciting!

Yesterday started out gray as I rushed out the door at 7:15 to get to my grandson's elementary school to teach this month's art class on Rembrandt.  It was darker by the time I got to school (hmmmm?) to begin preparing the classroom with the other volunteers.    

At 8am we looked at each other as we realized the  tornado sirens were blaring!....; followed soon after with annoucement by the principal over the PA system that everyone needed to get to their safe place.  Quickly and quietly (mostly) students and teachers (and volunteers/guests like me) ducked into brick fortified workrooms, closets and restrooms.... teachers grabbed walkie talkies and emergency bags.  I ducked into the nearest workroom and we waited.  Attendance was taken to be sure all students were accounted for and info relayed to the principal.... and we stood waiting for the all clear. We could hear the heavy rains/wind pounding on the roof. The kids were great!  Teachers distracted them by reading books and testing math skills with flash cards from their emergency bags.  

There were two waves of storms blowing through with about 10 minutes between.  Designated  staff patrolled the hallways and checked in on the hiding groups during the break.   It was during that 10 min break I was allowed to go down to the 2nd grade hall and check on my grandson.  His class of 18 students were squeezed into a 4x4 restroom... talk about sardines!  The substitute teacher opened the door for some air and read to them after the first and worst wave went through...but they weren't allowed to leave the room.  They were hot and sweaty in close quarters... and what made things worse is that today was pajama day and most of them had on the favorite flannels! Cheers could be heard throughout the school when the all clear was given and the school day could begin.

After class I walked out the front door on the way to my car and saw this across the street....

A large tree had uprooted and tipped over onto the house across the street.   The electric company (?) was already there cleaning up.

I didn't see any other damage on the way home.  I heard there is some damage, fallen trees and such around the county, but no loss of life.  So I am very happy!

and speaking of happy!   Toby was sooo glad to see me.  I am sure he was hunkered down in house tucked up against the corner by the back door throughout the storms... but he was wild when I got home.  I could barely open the back gate and he was out and into the garage and ready to hide in the house.  I opened the door and he went strait to his corner in the basement and curled up.  I turned on the light and the music and he rested quietly all afternoon.

FLIMSY

I finally made it the flimsy stage with my En Provence!

I soooo love this quilt and can't wait to see how I decide to quilt it

This was a wonderful mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter.  Check out some of the other versions that were made by her loyal followers here:

 http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2017/02/mystery-monday-link-up-finale.html

A day of fishing

After reading that the lake in the local park was being stocked with trout, hubby took our grandson fishing.  The weather was gold and damp, the ground was muddy, the didn't catch a thing, but they had fun.

With the weather being so much nicer Saturday, they gave fishing another try.

Success!

 
They caught a dozen rainbow trout.  He was very proud, but wouldn't touch them... not even to pose for a picture!

5-day weekend

Schools have closed for a 5-day weekend due to illness.... flue, stomach bug and strep.... 

So we started our day out with Lego madness

After some chores and lunch we decided to take a walk along the track around the lake in town.

  

While the boys enjoyed the tire swing I stood and watched this guy fish as he brought in a nice sized trout.... and then set it free!  Yikes... I was thinking it would be perfect for dinner!

some high school kids climbing the wall

I took some pictures of nature and wildlife

  

En Provence

I am making some progress on my En Provence.... and nearing a finish.  Family and work obligations have slowed me down a bit, but I do have three of the four rows assembled.

My version is miniaturized... all blocks finish at 1.5in instead of 3in.  It was a challenge to piece these tiny blocks, but I really enjoyed myself and since I don't need any more big quilts, I may miniaturize my quilts in the future.  This smaller size will give me a variety of wall hangings to change out my decor more often.

I laid a quarter on the middle block for size reference

I have the remaining blocks and sashing complete and hope to get the last row assembled this week... hopefully in time to link up before the cutoff deadline.
But for now... here are my three rows.

Starting a New Project

Saturday morning my grandson woke up in a great mood....   And.... he decided he wanted to make a pieced pillow for his aunt.  Last year he had made one for great-grandma and now he wanted to do another.

I had been contemplating what I could distract him with so that I could make more progress on my En Provence.   He provided the answer.

I had some  extra postage stamps cut up and I sat him down and got him started.

 I had him sort through and match up several squares.  I gave him a refresher on getting started and he was off.

He completed four twosies and was ready to quit for the day.


I was able to stitch up the last four blocks and sashing blocks for my En Provence.  I'm ready to finish this soon!.

Art Class

In our elementary schools we do not have art teachers.  Classroom teachers volunteer to head up the art program and they beg for parental volunteers to help them.  I started out helping in class as an aide...  setting out supplies for each student and helping answering their questions as they made their own masterpiece.  

I'm not sure how I ended up doing it, but somehow I ended up volunteering to be the teacher!   Yikes!!!  And there I was.... last week, standing in front of 60 fourth graders teaching about one of Art Masters... Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.... the short guy who painted posters.   Yeah... that's about the limit of my art knowledge.  

Standing in front of a class with 60 pairs of eyes staring at me was un-nerving to say the least. Thank goodness for slide presentations with scripts to follow.  Thank goodness no one asked me any questions!  I'm not good at faking my way through things I know nothing about.

There were step-by-step directions on how to make your own copy of the Master.  The kids seemed to enjoy it and I and was able to lead them through the process... and everyone left with their own masterpiece... including me.

I repeated the process again this week with the second grade class and will do it again with the first graders next week.  It was definitely easier the second time around... and will probably be easier next week too.

It was an experience.  It was fun.   My grandson LOVED seeing me.   But I think I am retiring from teaching!  I'll go back to being an aide in the art class.  

Busy Life and En Provence progress

With the holidays done, school-break babysitting duties fulfilled, and family guests and visits complete... life is going back to its normal busy self.  

On mornings when I'm not running into town, if the weather is nice enough, (and if I'm feeling motivated) I walk 2-3 laps around the neighborhood with Toby.  I have to admit I've been lax on that since November and I really need to find motivation and get moving again.  After the walk, my weeks look something like this:

Monday is my paperwork day... paying bills, filing...I am beginning to get tax stuff organized.  I also pick up and clean up after the weekend activities, run errands, grocery shopping for the week.

Tuesday is the church outreach program.  We now have 10 members working with clients and assisting with rent and utilities using funds donated by parishioners.

Wednesday for the month of January I am teaching art at my grandson's elementary school...introducing and helping students make their own copy of artwork from "the masters" (miro, lautrec, rembrant, etc)

Thursday is for cub scouts.  I've become the wolf den leader and need to plan and execute activities to help them earn patches and their level badge by mid-may when the school year ends.

Friday I catch up on laundry and cleaning and errands before my grandson arrives for the weekend.  We keep him most weekends while his mom works... and some weekends... like this past weekend... we have all three boys!

Throughout the week I also work my J-O-B  4-6 hours a day quilting customer tops.  I love my job, and it is an outlet to feed my creative side, but I also need sewing time for my projects.  I attempt to set aside some sewing time for myself each day.  Some mornings I'm up before dawn and spend a quiet hour in the studio; other times I'll snag 15 minutes in the evening before bed... just to fulfill my need to create.

Bonnie Hunter began revealing clues to this current mystery quilt right after Thanksgiving.  I wasn't able to start at that point as I was finishing work on customer's Christmas gifts.  But when I did get started I worked like a madwoman; getting up way before sunrise and working until nearly midnight.   I was able to catch-up on all the piecing when the final reveal and assembly instructions were posted on New Years Eve.

I do not need another queen size quilt so I opted to make mine miniaturized to use as a wall hanging in my studio... The colors are a perfect fit!    The queen- size pattern calls for blocks that finish at 3inches.... mine are only 1.5inches! Yes I must be crazy, bu I am really enjoying putting this one together.

I couldn't continue burning the candle at both ends so my completion is taking a bit longer.  I am amazed at those that posted their finished tops and quilted tops on New Years Day!  It took me a few days to finish making the last components and now I have been working on assembling the top.  

At this point in time, I do have the first half of the top complete, and hope to finish assembling in the next couple weeks.  I really look forward to seeing it complete and hanging on my lavender studio wall.

I have promised to make four quilts for friends and family, between now and the end of June.  OMG!   What was I thinking!  Since  posting my partially complete En Provence on facebook I also have two requests for full size En Provence quilts!  I told those ladies I would have to finish these promised quilts first... and then I'll think about it!  I think I am going to have to learn how to sew in my sleep if I decide to make them!  :)

Another messy bun ... with something extra

I showed my eldest daughter the hat I made her sister and she asked for a more neutral color, like black or white.... and she wanted a bow!

I delivered this to her tonight and she was quite pleased!

Now I will be making a few more over the next few months.  A local group I belong to makes and donates hats and gloves to our local schools for needy kids.  So I will be including a few of these messy bun hats for young girls with long hair.

Nana's Babysitting Service

On most weekends we keep our oldest grandson while his mom works.  The two littles spend the weekend with their dad or their other grandmother.   But on occasion, we have all three!  That makes for a lot of activity.

There is coloring and lots of snacks

  

Chores, like laundry and table setting

and, of course, lots of Mickey Mouse