SCORE !!!!

 

ah, my thread arrived from Connecting Threads ... love it to pieces .. gorgeous colors, sews like a dream and it always seems to be on sale!  orange and lime green are my new favorites

 

 

 

fixed this monster -- must be the black, every time I sew with black -- something goes wacky ... anyway .. added a chunk to the backing and finished quilting it (free motion) on the Bernina ... holy cats .. I'm out of practice (or spoiled by the long arm)  it is in the ready to be bound pile.

 

 

so I used up some scraps ... learning to toss but these came in handy and made a "perfect" sized cross body pouch to hold my camera/cell phone/keys/bottle of water while on the morning/evening/whenever walk.  couldn't find a suitable strap and didn't want to work hard at one so I used a tape measure ... wth, it works well ....

 

Happy Monday ... it's a short week, got to be productive!



this week on daisy lane

 

this creature is wreaking havoc in the neighborhood.  sly devil -- he eats the cat food in the cat shack and even managed to get the "treat" out of the live trap without getting caught in said live trap.

 

 

and here he is -- taunting the great hunter -- great hunter is starting to get irritated.  the big guns will be out this evening.  and yes the timer on the camera is off -- the am/pm's are reversed. 

 

 

elders made a trip to the camper and returned rather quickly.  this is the road going in .. the water was up to the running boards -- there is some indication an earthen dam is going to be breached so they "got the hell out of there"  ... while they could.  18 hours of driving for a 12 hour visit.  hmmm.  not so happy campers

 

So Saturday was kind of a bust.  I sewed at home ... visited the Farmer's Market, loaded the long arm with a project started quilting -- it's big and got the bottom and realized my backing was 12" to short ....argh.  So creative sewing is on the agenda for today. 

 

Went home for a nap -- because everything always looks better after a nap.  wrong.  the rains returned so I went back to the office ... actually worked on work projects (after all earning a living is important) and then loaded a crib quilt and quilted it ... I'm having a terrible time judging bobbins too ... running out with literally inches to go ...

 

so today's agenda

 

1.  figure out how to fix yesterday's quilting mess.

2.  pull some weeds

3.  vac some floors

4.  take Ruby for a drive.

 

Friday (.... i wasn't going to whine)

    but .. spent a couple of hours volunteering at the food shelf.  it had moved to it's new location.  stocked shelves, mopped floors and checked up 2, yes only, 2 customers. 

    one was a client with an adorable 14 month old daughter -- I need to get them some treats.  I'm sure baby girl needs a "blankie" and some sun dresses! 

    it's about to rain again.  bah.

M
 

yep, still

  crabby!

  sorry -- must be the hormones.

  or the freeking weather.

  road is open!!!!  but

  more rain is forecasted enough to make a difference.

 
  bright blue sharpie on my new seafoam green sweater!


  crabby crabby crabby


  (sigh) (big sigh) ...



  Diva
 

idiot blogger (that would be I)

  so add dumb to my list of faults this week ... dumb and crabby do not make a good combination! 

  I linked up to a linky party regarding first blog posts ... last Friday and never checked back ... I linked to my first serious post .. a zucchini recipe (quit laughing) ... and peeps left me messages (on the zucchini post) ... I am dumb.  here's a LINK back to that post .   holy cats it was 2008 that's a lot of rambling and a lot of pictures. 

  I joined instagram today ... the rambling may come to a slow down. 

  To calm my crabbiness ... I quilted two crib quilts today and mowed 1/2 the lawn.

  Off to meetings in Nicollet tonight and back to work tomorrow. 

M




 

crabby woman syndrome

 

yep, I'm just plain crabby ... too many weird things happening at once.  frankly, people are nuts.  maybe a tad bit lazy too.  demanding. 

 

3 meetings and 35 emails in 12 hours might have something to do with it -- 4 salesmen have called in the last hour ... one was my software company ... poor kid, I kind of unloaded on him ...

 

and why is it that people don't read -- signs, notices, letters ..

 

for instance -- "road closed" .... how difficult is is -- the freeking road is closed (and underwater) ...

 

on the water drama -- we can go south now .. no traffic past the farm yet (the silence is wonderful) ...

 

maybe some garden time tonight will help -- attitude adjustment.

 

water, water, water ...

  yes, peeps, welcome to life on a peninsula ... one way in and one way out.  A couple of days and it will crest and recede (keep hoping) ...

  I have pictures but no cord to get them from camera to desktop.  Will walk down and take some more as time passes.

  Search for Jon Smithers on YouTube -- he's got some fine videos from his drone.  It's not really a drone, but a remote controlled helicopter with the dang fancy camera attached.  Expensive toy. 

  I sewed more yesterday ...  and read.  Never did get a nap.

Stay dry and safe.

M
 

okay, I admit I sewed pretty much all day long

 

 a repeat of Saturday's post ... love 'em

 

  I was auditioning fabrics a couple of months ago (well, before Christmas and finally got around to quilting this one this week)

 

ditto this one ... a bunch of fat quarters that I attempted to make into a giant log cabin ... and things went their own way ..

liking the orange binding ... quilted in orange thread and literally quilted in 15 different patterns just keep playing with ideas while on the long arm -- after all practice makes perfect and need to play to practice.



 

there are elongated figure 8's .. and wavy lines from side to side and doodles and scrolls.  Machine bindings are giving me fits -- need to slow down and press, press, press.

 

 And this is the last of the day's competed projects.  Love the deck railings .. the pergola was in dappled shade so I couldn't get a good photo.   I also started a couple of pillow tops with the scraps.

  There was a couple of hours with a hoe in hand too.  Elder #1 is headed up to till so I'm about to follow on the ATV.  Should have sprayed when I got up this morning.
 

Island Update (????)

  facebook rumor has it that our bridges will be closing noon-ish ... unconfirmed and well, it is what it is -- it'll crest eventually ...

  so, when it rains all week what to do quilters do --- dang --- they QUILT ... it's been a very productive week on Daisy Ln.

 

  Cousin Taylor's graduation present .. I think, the binding gave me fits so I'm not very happy with it.

 

 

Sneek peek.  Had fun at the sewing machine late last night and early this morning. 

decks are handy!

 



 

clematis are perfect this time of year.

 

 

I bought an Amy Butler scrap bag and well, it's hard to chop up pretty prints .... big and bold.

 

more prints from a "mystery" scrap box I bought last winter -- ghosts, spider webs and etc.

 

and there's more .... but the camera batteries pooped out!

 

Happy Weekend

Stay Safe!

 



so, so close

   we are not an island yet, but it's darn close -- what a freeking mess -- we are fairly lucky -- no major mudslides (yet) .. just a whole lot of water.   I find it ironic that we are having a "100 year flood event" .. the 6th one in 10 years ... during a "flood mitigation project" ... we'll be dealing with road construction into winter ....

  since it seems to rain 24/7 ... and focus was an issue yesterday -- I quilted 2 crib quilts on the long arm and played with stitches ... then when I got home I bound two others -- and washed and dried 'em.  rebuilding the baby quilt stash ... more binding on projects tonight and maybe, just maybe a new project. 

stay safe (and dry)
Diva

 

2 by 2 he loaded the

  Ark.  it is still raining and raining heavy.

  My un-scientific/un-informed prediction ... we will be an island by Friday ... all roads in and out may be closed ..

  It has rained even more west of us and all that water comes this way as it drains.

  Stay Safe.

  M
 

rain, rain and more rain.

 

downtown Mankato .. overwhelmed by rainwater ... storm sewers couldn't keep up ....

 

dry here on 3rd street and home at the farm (so far)

water in the meridian between Mc Donalds and the DQ ..

 

dang it can quit at any time



Life and the little moments



so, sometimes (a lot lately) there is a heap of drama in my world -- peeps can get a bit irritated when it comes to money and income taxes ...

 

nothing like a mini ice cream sandwich to ease the tensions.

 



sunset between storms last night ... via the iPad from the parking lot of the bar .. beverages were necessary after the P & Z meeting

 

more idiots of my world.

 



 

it's still wet ... everywhere

 

elders had to drive thru water to get to the camper ... deep enough the trailer axels (axles) on the boat got wet ... not good ...

 

 

not good -- lake came up 8 inches over night

 

 

 

 

our tomato garden .. keeps out the critters ...

 

 

most peeps have trouble with matching shoes I have trouble with matching socks ... didn't notice until I got back from the garden ...

 

 

wrong season dudes ... you are 4 months to early for my neighborhood ...they are crawling around in the corn fields ...not sure what they are eating ...



rainy night craftiness

 

jean and her paper pumpkin projects ...

 



 

becky sorting stuff and tossing scraps!  sue was crocheting

 



 

jane was tying bows (or learning to tie bows)

 

we had planned a night at the scrap shack -- however, the storms knocked out a transformer (or something) on the pole and there was no power so we loaded up and headed to Becky's garage ---

 

I was productive ... cards, quilt pages and my 2012 year is slapped together ...

 

as usual good food and good laughs!

 

 

 



 

productivity

 hmmmm -- yesterday was fairly productive  ...

    finished the lawn mowing
    planted two more tubs
    bought more dirt to finish!
    hoed the squash and doused 'em for cutworms
    2 loads of laundry
    haircut (thanks Lori)
    watered all the tubs at home
   

    so far today ..
      more freeking laundry
      a truckload of trash out of the basement ...
           why do we save empty boxes?
      packed up my scrap booking for tonight
      bedding changed


   next up is cooking for tonight
   vacuuming the kitchen floor
   and off to work ... I'm going to need a rest 
   
   bring on the rain.



     

how the cool breezes blow

  My goal for yesterday was to:

     1.  mow the office lawn

     2.  get the potting soil purchased and plant the planters ...

     3.  get the payrolls done

so ... the lawn got mowed and the dirt got bought and
 

 

while buying the dirt -- I found this fabulous planter/pot on sale ... hard to resist ... very very pretty up close.  Probably should take the price tag off of it.  Need to plant the red pots ones yet.

 

The super huge bushes that used to be under the bay window got removed last fall and I've been trying to decide on a wrap around front porch or just new steps - so in the meantime ... a couple of pots of rose bushes and a pot of weird stuff ... I almost went with tomato's, peppers and eggplants ...

 

Happy Friday!

 



so much for rabbit control

  the nasty beasts ate off every one of my cantaloupe plants -- left the cukes and tomato's alone ...

  out comes the weapons.

 

big toys at work

 

so here's the beginning of the $11M building project.  It's a large hole with a lot of rock .. the lack of dirt and the amount and quality of rock explains a few tidbits.   My high school and college biology and geology were eons ago .. something about the ice age, the glaciers, the River Warren and the melting --

 

the long and short of it all -- certain species of trees don't grow well downtown .. the roots hit the rock and it's all over! 

 

the upper right side of the hole is the gas line feeding the government center -- it's large -- and expensive.

 

lets hope the weather holds -- they are 2 1/2 weeks behind.  dang. 

 



Tuesday's Treasures

 

 jake and jean and a load of yard garbage -- that dog loves to ride ...

 

 

the patch from sw to ne ... planted around their burning/bush pile (even left a road into it)

 

and looking sw from ne (opposite the previous pix) ... needs to grow and the barn needs paint ....

 



 

Sunday night at the long arm ... back loaded and ready to sew ...

 

 

and the quilt - not sure if I like it ... I really didn't think about what I was sewing just cut strips from my stash -- sewed 'em up and added the outside borders to widen ... should audition fabric selection and placement before sewing ... I probably would have skipped the bright pink print ... and moved the light pink to a different location ... and then again -- as long as it get's used it really doesn't matter!

 

bring on Wednesday .. so ready for a full day at the office ...

 

last day of

   school.
   for me.
   this month.
   this one is in Mankato, so I'm loving the 12 mile commute.
   ethics, 8 hours.
   I'm attempting to talk myself into getting excited.

   weird weekend, a lot of quilt piecing, a spot of working at the office, a spot of shopping at JoAnn's  (needed purple ribbon), a bit of gardening, and last night, as in Sunday night. 

   I brought a top into the office, loaded it on the long arm and quilted it all in 2 1/2 hours.  Pictures are at home ... will attempt to upload from the iPad later. 

   It is binding week -- 2 crib quilts and this twin need to be bound!  Volunteers welcome!

Happy Monday ....

M
 

yeppers

so, in between the thunder last night, I planted (seeded) some more cantaloupe, two rows of zinnias, some sunflowers and then I had 8 tomato plants that needed a home. 

 

I couldn't find seed for carnival squash so I ordered it via the Internet yesterday and it's due to arrive on Monday ... lets hope for a late fall. 

 

Raining steadily this morning.  Which is good for the seeds!

 

Whipped up a quilt top this morning .. need a gift (quickly)

 

 



home sweet home

  16 hours of continuing education over 2 days ... nasty ... add 4 hours of drive time ... mornings were quick but afternoons were nasty ... road construction seems to be happening everywhere.

  I planted last night and Wednesday night.  Hoping to beat the rain.  100 hills of watermelons, 25 hills of cantaloupe, 3 kinds of squash, a bunch of pumpkins and well, yet to plant are the tomatoes, zinnas and sunflowers ... 20 minutes and I'll be done.

  I'm late, it's wet and lets hope for a really late frost.

M
 

stop and smell the

lilacs ... our Miss Kim lilacs are currently blooming.

Still in the big City getting educated ... we are next to the airport where the jets take off every 15 minutes and rattle the windows and shake the floors ... 

I was a good Diva last night and planted 100 hills of watermelons, yep, this is more than last year ... but almost a month later than last year.  Time will tell -- remember I retired.  

I would have planted squash but down in the hole it was still to wet -- more rain forecasted for late afternoon and early evening -- might have to "mud" them in if it keeps rain.  Only 25 or 30 hills, canteloupe and pumpkins are next.  Felt good to get my hands dirty.

I saved an entire long row for zinnas and sunflowers.   Pretty's are always a good thing.

M

A couple of education days.

yep a day in the City .. seeing Ikea everytime I circle the building for fresh air ... 10 hours to go ....

pretty darn dull.... stole ice tea from the beverage cart ...

kitchen garden is rabbit proof ... got to love elder #1 and his snow fence ... the "caution" tape is to warm them of impending doom.

So it rolls in the City

why is it ...

  when you should have the least to do ... the other stuff starts stacking up?   Yesterday, I crossed off everything on my Monday list ... my Tuesday list is still full.

   I probably need to give up the lists.  But then I'd get nothing done, ever.

   Well, the lawn is mowed.  Check off that one.


M
 

Wedding Weekend !

so, it was wedding weekend for the Johnson side of the clan.  Miss Emily J married Mr. Ryan P of Cleveland.

 

Isn't Emily a beautiful bride -- flower girl Ana Kate is pretty spectacular too.  AK did a great job of being a flower girl -- didn't fidget a bit.  Since I had a front row seat ... we readers sat in the very front row.  dang. 

 

we ate well, we partied a bit and enjoyed the show on the dance floor -- I even wore a dress (yes, a dress) ... doesn't happen very often, but it was  a special day.

 

many thanks to Ryan & Emily for inviting me to be a part of the event it was a beautiful wedding ...

 

Happy Monday

M



ps.  I wore the purple dress ... all night long!  I think I shocked a few peeps!