Where has the week gone?

I can't believe the weekend is here again.  I can't even remember what I did this week!  It seems I did at least some sewing.  Ivy is my witness.  She lay next to my chair while I snowed bits of foundation paper all over her.   I put another row of little houses together.  I am not liking the de-papering part of it at all.  Sigh.  Oh well.

We've had some morning walks.  iPhoto says I took this pic on Tuesday.  It seems it was a beautiful day!

Wednesday we went to the State Fair with Mom and Dad.  Amazingly it wasn't crowded.  Last year I remember I could barely walk there were so many people.   I guess we picked a good time to go.  All the usual food vendors were there.  Fried pickles straight ahead.  Apparently there were fried Girl Scout Cookies this year....and even deep fried butter!  The very thought makes my arteries clench!  :-)

We walked through all the craft exhibits and stopped to check out the animals on our way back to the gate.  This year everyone is very uptight about the risk of E. coli infection.  Several people got ill last year at this fair and this year there is a new outbreak linked to the Cleveland County Fair.  Very scary.  After we left the animal building we looked in vain for one of the "many and well marked" hand washing stations and we couldn't find one.  Hmmmmm.

I love to wander through the garden exhibits.  So much inspiration.

I spent much of Thursday down at our other house with the tree people.  My poor little house is looking a bit sad stripped of it's overgrown shrubbery, but the rest of the yard certainly looks better without the dead and dying Leland Cyprus trees.   Two very large stumps were removed too.  Everything is overgrown so we still have much more work to do ourselves.

And this yard needs plenty of work too.  Sigh.  Even so, I enjoy sitting for a few minutes on the deck listening to the breezes now there are less mosquitoes.  :-)

The Tramp had to get up at 5:30 this morning to "go to work" at his desk at home.  He said it was absolutely pouring rain.  It was still dripping from the trees when Ivy and I set out for our walk.

My laughing dog!  And my first walk in my new shoes.  I went to Fleet Feet to be properly fitted.  So far my walks have been two miles max, then my feet really start to hurt.  :-(  Fingers crossed I've found a solution!

The trees are starting to turn.

Once again, lunch on the porch with the dogs at their posts.

Who?  Me?

 Sweet photos of the New Zealand grands.

 It looks like they are having a serious discussion about that car.  :-)

Today turned out to be baking day.  A tray of muffins and six loaves of bread!  Yum!

Wet

Today was a good day for ducks.  Ivy and I didn't let that deter us this morning though, the fresh air is too good for us.  And it really didn't rain on us much as our route was mostly under trees.  I had to check the pond to see if it really was raining.

Every time I stepped back to take her picture, Ivy, in her eagerness to please, kept hopping up to sit right at my feet.  She finally cooperated before we took too many steps backwards towards home!

We took the greenway trail which is mostly very quiet.  We just happened to be there at the same time as two barking and growling Boxers pulling at their owner, and a large German Shepherd wearing an impressive muzzle.  I'm sure glad the owner stepped way off the greenway so we could pass!  Just one of the reasons I don't walk Ngaire by myself.  She's too strong and too high-strung.

Later on in the day we had some real storms.  I caught this moment of black sky and sun around 3pm.  Very ominous.  (Heh.  Note the black Saturn Sky under the black sky. :-))

I finished and delivered two quilt tops to Julianne.  :-)

I was soooo sleepy this afternoon and fell asleep in my wing chair in the living room for almost two hours!  Must be the weather.  Lucky I didn't wake up with a terrible crick in my neck.  But I got my act together this evening and finished the quilt top for The Viking.

The colors are soft and don't photograph well.

ED and LZF love their dogs so I'm betting they'll enjoy it.  This is the pattern.

The Sailor Son ran his first 5K on Saturday.  Love those sunglasses!  I hope he saves his shirts for a t-shirt quilt.  :-)

Mushy brains

It's been pretty stressful around here lately (hence the mushy brain) and one of the sensible ways to deal with it is getting out and getting some fresh air and exercise.  The dogs aren't complaining!

The weather has been cool and comfortable and I can't resist stopping to capture the moods of the pond.

Breezy...

Calm....

And sometimes misty.

I'm also enjoying all the communications about grandchildren.  The Viking, one week old.  To my mind he's looking very much like his dad.  :-)

A picture of Grand #3 in the new sweatshirt his talented mum made for him!

We've also been heavy on comfort food lately.   We were very tired today from working at the other house, so tonight's dinner was something quick and easy, and I had to laugh when I saw how very much it reflected our different tastes.  The Tramp had his steak with Bombay Potatoes and Madras Lentils.  Not only does he like them but they are only 90 seconds from microwave to plate.  I can't complain about that.  But I caught myself shuddering as he poured them onto his plate and without thinking said, "Ewwww!"  lol

But then again, I had spinach (yum!) on my plate which The Tramp won't touch with a ten-foot pole.   As far as he's concerned, the cow ate the green stuff for him.   So I guess we're pretty even in the yuck department.  :-)

The cooler weather also means I'm out of flip flops and back to fighting cold feet.  The boots have been dug out of the back of the closet!

Despite the brain mush, one and a half t-shirt quilts are done, just the borders to do on the second one tomorrow morning.  I also got all the blocks done and sewn into rows on The Viking's first quilt.  A satisfying end to the weekend.  Onward to Monday!

New things

New pictures keep coming in from the hospital in New Jersey.  Isn't our Viking the cutest new thing?  :-)

Mama certainly thinks so.

And Daddy is already wrapped around that tiny little finger.

We had another video chat yesterday evening and ED reminded me that she'd asked me to make some Pee-pee Teepees.  Oh for heaven's sake.  What will they think of next?   But I found various tutorials online for pee-pee teepees, wee-wee wigwams, wee-wee tents and the cutest - wizz-ard hats, and cranked out a few this morning so I could go to the post office (in the pouring rain) to send off a box of baby goodies.  Oh yeah.  The post office is closed today.  Oops.  

First though, I went to have lunch with Mom and Dad and their friends and showed them my little fabric cones.  At the lunch table Dad gave us all a good chuckle with a story from his time in the Royal Canadian Airforce during WW II.  Apparently another young man had brought in his wife and new baby boy to show off and during a diaper change the infant let loose.  The dad snatched off his uniform hat and used it to catch the flow!  (one of those narrow hats that come to a point in the front and back)  Too funny!  

In The Sandbox.....after changing to dry clothes and turning the heat on (brrrrr today!).....I finished cutting out The Viking's first quilt.

Also new today is a Little Green Machine.  We have a large carpet cleaning machine but it's such a pain to drag out for little spots.  I did a round of the upstairs and now there are towel covered clean spots all over the place.  :-)  Yay!  It works!

And as an extra bonus, it fits on the awkward shelf in the closet under the attic stairs like the space was made for it.  One of those small happenstances that can make your day.  Ya know?

The Viking

The last memory quilt in this series of four is finished and out of my house.  Yay!  Sewing has been put aside for the moment as our other house is now empty of tenants and we are concentrating on getting it ready for sale or new tenants.  Of course no one takes care of your house like you would, but geez.  After a couple of weeks not eating or sleeping properly because of the stress and worry, I've put on my big girl panties and we're dealing with it.  Enough said.

Much excitement this morning as Grand #6, The Viking, arrived just a bit early.  He upset his mama by requiring a caesarian, but all is well and we had a wonderful video chat this evening.  Ain't technology wonderful!  :-)

The hallways at this house finally have their second coat of paint.  We've cleaned up the mess and I'll get the final coats on the woodwork between other projects.  It's all a bit "hospital," with white on white on white, but we are really liking it.  (Of course there's no black dog hair clinging to it yet.)  The powder room looks good too, in the palest, almost white, lavender.  Note to self - must put a daylight bulb in that fixture asap.

The fall weather has been very pleasant though the mosquitoes are very busy having their last fling.  Sigh.  As usual for me, even sitting on the screen porch is risky.  But it's nice to have lunch out there when the house is full of painting mess.   The dogs, though they forget regularly, aren't allowed to pester us while we're eating.  Maisy is looking all squinty-eyed waiting while I eat my lunch.  Ivy is at my feet and Ngaire is sitting next to me quietly drooling.  :-)

Who's funny looking?  This is my Mona Lisa smile.

Could you eat a little faster?  I'm tired of holding the pose.

Sigh.  I'm still waiting.  My ears have collapsed!

Hey!  What's going on?

Oh wow.  Is more food coming???

And so it goes.....