A Daffodil about to bloom. Taken on February 22, 2016
I planted these daffodils as one defense against gophers. I have seen evidence of a gopher coming above ground and digging towards the roots of one plant only to stop short of reaching the roots. I plan to buy daffodil bulbs in bulk in the Fall.
Gardening
Anyway, I have been checking the grounds for new gopher activity as I have taken measures against them. There is evidence that what we have done for the trees is stopping them dead in their tracks. There is also evidence that they definitely do NOT like daffodils. I actually saw evidence of one gopher coming above ground and digging down to the roots of one daffodil; but, it stopped short of doing damage to the roots itself. So, I am resolved to keep the existing daffodils healthy and prolific not to mention to add more daffodils this fall.
Miscellaneous
Anyway, the home and garden show was small but fun to peruse. I love going for ideas and the like not to mention getting names of businesses. I ended up buying some honey and salts from a local business that grows her own herbs and whatnot. I have always like supporting local businesses and farmers markets.
We stopped by Kerrville on the way home. I wanted to go to another quilt shop called Creations. I went there years ago and it's a lovely store. Again, I did not buy a single thing. I am way too cheap! But, I do love going for ideas and whatnot. I ended up making two trips around (inside) the store before leaving as it was filled with everything under the sun a quilter would want.
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Abby Gail got herself grounded recently. Literally. This was more for my own sanity's sake than her own.
While we were outside planting some new trees and daffodils last Sunday, she quickly and absentmindedly crossed through the fence and into the neighbor’s yard while hunting butterflies; but, I managed to grab her leash before she could get too far. She can be like a Cheetah and go from 0 to 60 mph in nanoseconds. I also discovered that I am either too old to run or badly out of shape.
Dan was inside for about five minutes while I gently struggled with a hissing, growling Abby Gail trying to get her to cross back over to our side. Dan joined me in the effort and ended up getting a scratch on his wrist. In the end, she managed to get out of her harness. I thought she was going to bolt and I would lose her.
In the meantime, Gracie, our tripod, saw the hullabaloo and ran to the fence to watch. She can run fast if she wants to. I ignored (forgot about) her because I trusted her to not cross the boundaries.
I ended up having to trespass our neighbor's yard to get to Abby Gail. While I was running/trotting to the neighbor's yard, she was running back and forth along the fence but not crossing back over (through). Dan remained on our side of the fence to keep an eye on her (and Gracie). He thinks Abby was more scared than anything because of her behavior. She was just freaked about being on the wrong side of the fence and could not figure out how to get back to our side even though there were tons of openings she could have slipped through easily.
When I arrived near her on the neighbor’s land, I squatted. She immediately approached me hissing and growling. This was not the defensive kind of communication with hair raised and ears flattened; but instead, it was her expression of displeasure, fear, unhappiness, etc., and etc. kind of communication.
She has been my weirdest unusual cat in terms of body and vocal language which is why I think she's extremely unadoptable. Most people, even cat fanatics, would be scared of her. It is just a matter of knowing and learning the cat’s language as no two cats are alike. Plus, I believe Abby Gail does have some “wild” cat in her genetics. In other words, I think she is a close descendant of a wild cat (e.g. Bengal) unlike those of domesticated cats which are many generations from a wild cat.
As soon as she sniffed my fingers and subtly relaxed, I got up and gently lifted her using both hands around the chest under her front legs. She was growling and hissing all the while; but, just hanging in there (relaxed).
Anyway, I took her over to the fence, said a quick prayer that she would go straight home and dropped her on our side of the fence. Upon landing on the ground, she immediately ran for the back door. When I arrived back in my own yard, I remembered Gracie and looked for her. She was already calmly and slowly working her way back to the immediate back yard area. I think she was highly entertained by our (and Abby’s) antics. She's a good cat that knows her boundaries.
Dan said Abby was hissing and growling with front paws on stoop. He said it was like she was cussing and swearing wanting the door opened NOW. She became grounded. She was not allowed back outside while we worked. I did not dare let her outside again until Wednesday and even then, I stayed with her as it is that time of the year when birds and butterflies are a huge attraction for her and she does not realize what she does (such as slipping through a fence) until after the fact. I just cannot stand the idea of losing her.
I inherited my mother's sewing machine which included the cabinet it resides in. My mother kept all the books and my dad kept the receipt.
As you can see, it was purchased in 1961, 3 years before I was born. And, the amazing thing is that it had a 20 year guarantee. You do not see that these days.
The confusing thing is that the instruction booklet says model 46, the receipt says 20 2002 above the word model and a plate on the back of the machine has 1120 beside the word model. So, what the hey? I do have to say that the instruction booklet matches the machine perfectly.
I have been calling it Ken which is short for Kenmore. It is now all cleaned up and ready to go. I am amazed at how well it runs. I plan to do some piecing using this machine.
{To see a larger image, go here.}
I had a lot of fun shopping amongst my fabrics. This is what I finally ended up with for the Gypsy Wife quilt. There are two or three fabrics buried in this mixture. Now, the real stress and fun begins. Picking and cutting fabrics and making the blocks and strips (stripes).
Gardening
I purchased an apple (Gala) and a Lemon hybrid (Lemon Drop) tree. We needed to go by Lowe’s to get more dirt and I ended up getting another pecan tree. We need two or more (pecan trees) to cross pollinate and I have only one surviving pecan tree growing. If the one lone pecan tree we have survives this summer, it most likely will stay alive for a very long time. I will be thrilled if the new one we purchased survives too. (general rule around here is that if a tree survives three years, then it most likely will stay alive in spite of the gophers).
Miscellaneous
I am reading it once again due to the fact the Shannara Chronicles is on TV. The TV series started with the second book (The Wishsong of Shannara) of the trilogy. I have been reading the book while I am down and out due to sickness (had stomach troubles one day and a minor cold with an ear ache and sore throat another day). I also tend to read while outside with the cats. I would stand out there with Abby’s leash attached to my wrist and just read. Gracie is usually so well behaved that I do not need to have her leashed up and almost always, she listens to me and stays within her boundaries that I have established.
Turning down the volume of life allows you to listen to God. .~ Our Daily Bread ~
This house often looks like a mess simply because I spoil my cats. Both of them love packaging paper that comes in boxes. I will often throw them down on the floor in their play areas. And then, just before we head to the recycling place, I will gather them up, fold them, and place them in boxes designated for the "dump" (a place with a recycling dumpster).
Back in December, I caught Gracie resting amongst some of the packaging paper in the den in between her insanity moments. Just yesterday, both of them played in and around some packaging paper in my room and it was highly entertaining watching them. It is a rare event to see them chase and play with one another.
Here is a list of current, about to happen, or future quilt a longs {QAL} that you may or may not be interested in joining. All are free. There may be options in which you can purchase fabrics and the like; but, I prefer to choose my own.
Top Three Rows of Fabrics are Stonehenge by Northcott. I just love the colors and whatnot and thought they would be perfect for the Gypsy Wife quilt. However, I do not tend to stick with a line of fabrics. The bottom row are from shopping amongst my fabrics and thought they go well with the colors and whatnot of Stonehenge. This is just the initial stage. It is a work in progress.
Gardening
I have also researched a bit on my regular sewing machine because I have decided to give free motion quilting one more try as I want to quilt the black, white and red quilt too. The last time I tried was years ago and after research , I discovered that my machine needed a few parts to make it (free motion quilting) work. I have them on hand and am in the process of gearing up courage to change out the few parts so that I can try free motion quilting on that machine again.
Yes, I am slow. I am methodical. And, I tend to need to gather up courage to mess around with the machines because I am still very much a newbie when it comes to sewing machines.
Anyway, I managed to fill up bobbins (five total) for the mid-arm machine; but, threading that machine was a failure until I finally figured out what I did wrong. In case you don't know, the mid arm is brand new to me and never been used. Hopefully, I will be more successful this coming week.
Miscellaneous
Faith is not about everything turning out okay.
Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.~ unkown ~
I could not find Gracie and looked everywhere for her. Much to my surprise, she was eventually found in an unusual spot. She looked so content that I did not disturb her.
By the way, the crochet clown doll on the left is the very first one my Mother made. She was going to undo her work "because it was just practice"; but, I would not let her. I grabbed and stored it in my room and never let it go.
(completed January 30, 2016)
I purchased the sign for less than six dollars. I wanted it to stand out when I hang it above the door; so, the only scrap wood we had that worked was leftover flooring. Dan cut the piece of flooring down to size and stained the edges with a walnut color. The sign was placed on top of the flooring and viola! We now have a sign above the Guest / Game room.
I do not think I ever posted about the sign that hangs above my room (the studio) which was put up eons ago. Here it is:
Signs above doors happens to be a thing of mine lately. I plan to hang one above Dan's office, our room, and the guest bathroom in the future.
DIY
I plan to re-purpose the scraps from the shelves to make smaller shelves on what I call the "wonky wall".
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.~~ adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns
Abby Gail, January 30, 2016, Shot with Phone
My tired little girl. She ran up to the top of the cat tree without begging to have her harness taken off. I think she was hoping for another outing later. And yes, she did go outside again.
Around the fourteenth of December 2015, I won five of Quiltmaker's Designer blocks from their 100 Blocks, Volume 12 magazine.
When I found out I won, I brainstormed trying to come up with how I could use these blocks. I mean, there were a variety of ways including making some blocks of my own and adding them to the winning blocks to the quilt. But, I could not really proceed until I had the blocks in my hand.
When the blocks arrived in the mail, I decided to frame and hang them up above my desk in my room. I do want to create a sign listing the block numbers from the magazine. I just have not decided how I want to do that yet.
And yes, my desk is a mess. Don't judge. Ha!
I took a look at my template and in the course of research, I discovered that policy of the hosting site, ImageShack, for the images of the blog has changed. I have also discovered that my account at ImageShack is considered "abandoned" as of February 1, 2016. Thus, the images for the blog are now lost. The sad thing is that I was never notified of the policy changes. If I had known, I would have taken measures to prevent this from happening.
I was content with the look of my blog which is why it has not really changed over the years. But, I am being forced to change the look of this blog and I am not a happy camper. You do not want an unhappy camper blogging. Ha!
I no longer consider myself to be a "newbie" at blogging, templates, and whatnot. However, I am extremely lazy. I like having a software that does the work for me. But, I no longer want multiple hosting sites for my pictures and images. Thus, the blog will look a mess for awhile until I get answers concerning the choice of the image hosting site. One site for ALL images, especially if I have to pay for it, is enough. To have multiple sites is ridiculous and could be potentially costly.
So, I am asking that y'all hang in there with me and this the awful looking blog. One day soon, hopefully real soon, it will be back to looking nice again.
Not much happened this past week (January 24 - 30, 2016). I was focused on a variety of things such as chores and an early spring cleaning.
Animals
I have to say that Abby had it coming to her for harassing Gracie one too many times (jumping on her from behind). I checked Abby over when she calmed down. She is unhurt. Her fur may be short; but, it is rather dense. And, she is no longer bothering Gracie. I guess she got the spanking of her life and had her fill of violence. Ha!
Company
Unconditional love is an illogical notion but such a great and powerful one.~ Seen on a church sign ~
