Eating and creating

 
   Eating and creating things are two things I have to do.  I have a shop, studio, creative center in what use to be our two and a half car garage.  We removed the garage door and put in a wall and David put up pegboard and I painted the walls and the floor.  The ceiling hasn't been finished, but now I have a great place to go when I want to do my quilting, crafting, sorting of fabric, etc.    I also refinish furniture here and the above chair is one I am working on right now.  I will sand it, stain it and put a sealer on it and then it will go in our diningroom.

     Today I asked David if he would make dinner since I was going to be extra busy making things in my shop.  Things I cannot show because they are gifts for certain people.  He made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and I made us salads and it was all so good.  David's meatloaf is really good.  He said he would tell me what he put in it after I ate it and I told him not to tell me because it might make me sick.  Whatever he put in it, it was delicious.

 

 

                   This is what my shop looks like while I am creating.  I tend to root through all my fabric to find the perfect piece and leave it in piles until I am finished. 

            This is a pile of fabric I am working with.  I have about four or five projects going at the same time.  Isn't it funny, with so much fabric I would have to go out and buy some more?  It's true, I do.   I am using alot of Pamkitty Morning fabric right now and I love its colors and brightness.  

 

      

 Whoops, how did food slip in here again?  David was a good boy and ate all his green beans.

  

      I will leave you with a picture of my messy shop which I am not ashamed of because I know I will eventually get it back in order again only to mess it up again when I start on other projects.  Bye.

Little people and a dog who thinks she's one

       This is my black lab, Bonnie.  She is seven years old and far past the pup stage.  This summer she discovered she could lay on her back and she has been doing it ever since.  She looks like a bat in this picture when it hangs upside down in a cave.  She doesn't know that.  She thinks she's adorable and so do I.  But on to something I've been working on.

             You know those nesting Russian doll?  I forget what they are called, but I saw alot of them in Alaska and thought they were wonderful.  I thought, why can't I make a stuffed doll that looks like one of those so I drew a pattern and started in making these dolls.   I have become addicted to making them I'm afraid.  I was only going to make six, but now I have fourteen and I see no end in sight as I have a hundred ideas to make more.  Each has its own personality and, of course, I had to name them.  The two above are Dave and Grandma Nana.   He is quite dapper and she is your typical sweet old granny.

        

        This is Ruth.    She reminds me of my Aunt Ruth who always looked so nice when she dressed up.  She always smelled good too and she always had a smile on her face although she had a hard life.  So I like to think this little Ruth is happy and enjoying life to the fullest.

     This is plaid Patty.  Or plaid Pat if it looks like a boy to you.  Remember Pat on Saturday Night Live who no one could ever figure out if he/she was a boy or girl?   Maybe I should put a bow on Patty's head to distinguish her.  Or maybe not.

           This is a few of the gang together sitting on my quilts on the sofa lounging away while I try to write this blog and get the pictures posted that I want.  I am new to this and I get so dang frustrated sometimes and my husband is trying his best to teach me, but today I think the computer is playing tricks on me with things I've typed disappearing and pictures not uploading.  I am just happy I got this far.         

         

            I will just leave you with a very happy dog.  She doesn't even know or care what a computer or a blog is.  Maybe she is fortunate.  I think I'll go and lay on my back in my bed for a while.  I'm exhausted with this whole thing.  Bye.

Posing

    David and I went to the Santa train with Sara, Jeremy and the boys.  There were alot of different characters there that would pose with the children.  Since the grandboys were not too keen about posing, Sara and I did it for them so we could get some pictures of the characters.  Here we are with Rudolph. 

        The Grinch was there being his usual naughty self.  He was so funny.   The grandboys got to sit on Santa's lap and we finally got them in a picture.   

   
        Sara and I aren't the only ones who have been posing lately.    This is one of Belle's favorite poses.  I've never seen a dog who liked to lay on her back the way she does.  Bonnie is looking bored with the whole thing although she also has learned just lately how to lay on her back and does it quite often.  I will post some pictures of her another day.

        
         Here's a stack of fabric posing for me.  It will soon be made into a quilt and some dolls I am presently working on.   I'll be showing them soon also. 


         It's been a fun weekend with the Santa train and then the grandboys' co-birthday party today.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and ready for the week ahead.  Only three more weeks 'til Christmas.  Just wish the season lasted longer.  It goes so fast.  Bye for now.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

  Thanksgiving is the one holiday when we should all slow down, take time to count our blessings and take a breath before the Christmas season.  Unfortunately, it has just become a speed bump to the hurry and scurry of holiday shopping, parties, and dinners.

   Thanksgiving was originally started to thank Almighty God for the past year and for all his blessings and his caring for us.  Now people sit outside big box stores waiting to grab one of maybe four big screen televisions they have in stock and for sale.

   I have decided that at this house we will not shop on Thanksgiving.   If we don't get the biggest or best thing going this holiday season it really doesn't matter.  At this house we will take a few moments to remember who has provided all that we have, who has died for us, who is Lord of all.  At this house God is remembered and we thank him for the loved ones who surround us and those not so near, but still in our hearts.  We are so thankful for everything we have.  God bless everyone who reads this and may all your Thanksgivings be ones of thankfulness and blessings.

Meet my dogs and other things

       When I started my blog I called it "I Love My Dogs," mainly because I had brain freeze and couldn't think of anything else.  I soon changed the name, but I still love my dogs and today I am going to introduce you to them..  The woebegone faced pup in the above picture is Bonnie.  Her full registered name is Miss Bonnie Blue named for Rhett Butlet's and Scarlette O'Hara's daughter in the greatest movie ever made, "Gone With the Wind."  Most of my pets have had names from the movie.   Bonnie joined our family over seven years ago and is a real spaz dog at times.  I have heard that black labs are a little more hyper than the yellow or brown labs and I believe it.  She can get so excited about the littlest things and tries so hard to talk to us.  Honestly, sometimes her whines sound like words to me.  She is a real sweet dog and I love her to bits.  She is a true friend and a wonderful addition to our family.

       This is Belle our chocolate lab.  Her registered name is Bellelattedah and she is a real sweety.  She is named after Belle Watling from  "Gone With the Wind," a woman of ill repute.  Belle is a real lady, she's been fixed, you know.  No messing around with her!   She is easy going and loves to take walks.  We walk for miles some days and she never gets tired.  She is three years old now and quite the grown up lady.  No chewing everything in sight any longer.  Well, maybe once in a while.  You can see she loves to pose as she knows she is the cutest pup around. 

  See these well-behaved pups.  They are sitting smack dab in the middle of one of my flower beds. Oh well, I always say the backyard is the dogs' yard and I don't get too verklempt about them digging something up or sitting on a flower. They are actually pretty good about not destroying plants.  Maybe one in a while Belle would pick a tomato out of the garden, but, hey, she likes her vegetables too.  I know, I know, tomatoes are fruits, but I still think of them as vegetables.

   Now on to other things.  We have been redecorating our bedroom for what seems like months now.  David and I don't like to hire anything done we can do ourselves so things take a little longer to get done around here than usual.  We painted the room a greyish-blue that seems to change with the light and I love it.  David is putting in all the woodwork that I painted when the weather was warmer.  He discovered today he had not gotten enough for around the closets so he had to go to Lowes and buy some more and he gave it the first coat of paint today.  The woodwork is a cream color.  If you have ever been in our house you know all the woodwork downstairs in a dark oak.  I wanted things to be lighter upstairs and thus we have put in cream colored woodwork in all the bedrooms.  We installed, or rather David installed, new light filtering shade in a brown color. 

    This is the first and the last time you will see inside my closets.   Linens and clothes are actually folded and stacked neatly right now, but that will not last long so I wanted to take a picture of a miracle.   The closet doors are getting a new finish and will be back up when I get them done.  Maybe I will have to keep things neat for a while!

      This is my closet with clothes arranged in order right now.  Skirts together, blouses together, and I even have it somewhat color co-ordinated.  About a week from now this will not look nearly as neat so you won't be seeing this closet anymore either.  I don't know when was the last time I cleaned out my closets, but I do know why I don't do it more often.  It's work!

    

      The bedroom is so neat, I had to take some pictures of it.   I wish we had done this a long time ago.  We have been talking abour redecorating the bedroom for years.  That's how we do things.  We mention it, think about it for a few years, then do it ourselves.  The only thing we didn't do was lay the new carpet.  It is a soft plush medium brown that is wonderful to walk on.  I told David no eating up here and so, guess what?  I ate crackers in bed last night.  The last carpet we had I dumped a whole plate of spaghetti with sauce on it.  Don't ask me why I had spaghetti in our bedroom bacause I don't remember.  Maybe I wanted to eat alone.  Maybe David wouldn't take me to Fazolis so I made my own pasta.  Maybe I had just watched "Lady and the Tramp."  I don't know.  Anyway, the end of this project can be seen.  By Thanksgiving everything should be done and then David and I will talk all winter about what we will redecorate in a few years.

Moving a chest

        I have a small chest in our bedroom piled high with vintage tablecloths I have collected over the years.  We need to get everything out of our bedroom in order to have the carpet replaced.  David and I were discussing this one day.  Needless to say our conversations get totally off subject sometimes.  Here is how one conversation went a few days ago.

        Me to David, "Where can we put this chest and all the tablecloths?"

       "Well," says David, "If I were a good husband I would build you some new shelves in one of our closets" 

        "You are a good husband," I replied,  but that would be a good idea."

          Looking at the pile of tablecloths I said in exasperation, "We need another room."

         "Here's what we could do," says David. "We could build a huge storage room off our bedroom(which is upstairs)  and you could have a sewing area on one end and downstairs we could put in a new laundry room."

         "That sounds nice," I answered envisioning the new addition, "but if we are going to do any remodeling, I still want that room up in the attic I've always wanted."  Our attic is big, but the only access to it is through a door in the ceiling of our upstairs bathroom.  "How would we get into the attic?"  I asked.

         " We could put in a landing here and build the stairs from it," says David as he shows me his plan.

           I stop to think for a few seconds.  "You know," I said.  "We are the only people I know who can go from moving a chest and some tablecloths out of  a room to building an entire addition and remodeling the attic in a few sentences.  I think our house is big enough for us and I would rather spend what money we have on vacations.

           "Me too," says David.  End of conversation.

Another project

  Anyone who knows me knows that I am always working on a project.  While I'm working on one my mind is already wandering to the next one.  While I have several projects to complete before Christmas, I found this pattern in one of my quilt magazines and decided I just had to make it for our bedroom.

           We have been remodeling our bedroom for the last few months, tearing out old woodwork, painting new woodwork, tearing out part of the carpet to refinish some wood flooring underneath, painting walls, etc.  Right now we are about halfway done and will soon need to go pick out carpet.  The old carpet that is in there now is over twenty years old and is really gross, I don't mind telling you.

              When we built the addition onto our house everyone was telling me what color I should paint our new bedroom and what color of carpet to get.  I was doing a Bible study at the time with three other women and one of them said she thought white walls with gray carpet would be pretty.  I evidently didn't have a brain back then because I went home and told David that is what I wanted.

              Sure, white walls and gray carpet was pretty at first, but after a few years it was boring so I had to paint so I painted.  That color didn't last long 'til I saw a picture of a bedroom in a magazine with dusty pink paint on the walls.  I talked David into pink for our bedroom,really, but I am not real good at picking out colors at times and we ended up with a Pepto-Bismal room.  Think of sleeping in such a ghastly room!  Well, we did for two or three years until one day I was in an antique store and I absolutely loved the color of their walls, a grayish green.  I asked if they could give me a sample and they found a chip of paint for me and off to Lowes we went and got the paint..

              We finally got the color right this time and lived with it for several years, but this year I got the redecorating bug again and we are redoing the whole room

                Thus the new quilt I hope to get made.  It looks like a Granny afghan, but is made with fabric.  Lots of little tiny pieces and about 80 blocks to make for a king-sized bed.  I made a practice block today and it took me one and a half hours.  I hope they all don't take that long.







               This is my first block.  The colors don't show up very well in this picture.  They are much brighter.  Anyway, our room will be a grayish blue, almost slate, but lighter and I love that color with browns so the quilt will have a dark brown background as shown with brighter colored squares. 

                I took some before photos and will try to post them some day along with some after photos.  This blogging takes alot of time so I am not an every day poster.  I still haven't posted our Alaskan trip and written about it.  David reminded me today that in Valdez we saw alot of little black bunnies everywhere.  The lady at a store we were in told us a man had let his rabbits loose several years ago thinking they wouldn't last long in the wild with all the carnivorous animals around, but they have multiplied!   That made me happy to know the little bunnies survived and are flourishing.  They were so cute and all of them black.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Bye for now.