Waaah!!

Doggone! Beloved Little Sister and her Handsome Hubby are stuck in Deming NM, resting overnight in a Walmart parking lot. I gather it's been a gruelling two days -- keep them in Your hands, Father!

OK so I'm really disappointed but it's better they use their heads and keep safe. At our ages endurance tests are entirely optional!

You should see my house! I could eat off the floor, it's that gorgeous! And I caught myself again, dreading rather than doing! Cleaning the back yard to make ready for a total of five dogs wasn't something I looked forward to, and yet it took almost no time at all and gave me a great deal of satisfaction! Live and learn, eh?

Since everything's ready, including chicken breasts steamed with mesquite flavoring, fresh homemade bread, and homemade blackberry wine, I'll drag the quilt frame in front of the tv and watch a movie while I catch up on the hand-quilting project you see here.

This quilt has been an adventure from the beginning. I'd been dreading (that word again!) tackling curved seams, and feeling especially foolish about it since Beloved Little Sister's very first quilt ever was a king-sized Drunkard's Path. It's stunning and she enjoyed doing it!!! Hand-piecing those curved seams looked like a respectable compromise. NOT! After maybe three blocks I knew hand-piecing curved seams was waaay out of my area! Back to the sewing machine -- where to my surprise it went very well. Not easy, but not the nightmare I'd anticipated.

But there were all these little quarter-circles left over and it seemed a shame to waste them. Using Pepper Cory's book I drafted a suitable template for the companion "L" shapes and made a border around the first blocks. Of course now there's a pile of even more, even smaller quarter circles, currently waiting in the scrap bin for inspiration.

And of course I couldn't leave well enough alone --"what if I made another border of really big drunkard's path blocks? Yeah!" Whence came the second border. Then it was a matter of adding borders until it was big enough for my table, and here you see the result.

I really love the colors -- several shades of deep red-to-cranberry with cream prints for background -- and look forward to seeing it on my table. Quilted tablecloths somehow make an ordinary meal seem sumptuous and extra satisfying.

For a quilter, open time means "Pick up a needle and go for it!" so that's what I'm going to do. More later....

Dreading vs Doing

Today's the day my beloved little sister arrives! I can hardly wait. If my Jeep wasn't disgracefully dirty I'd be sitting on the porch like a little kid instead of heading for the carwash! Last night I put off shampooing the living room carpet until nearly bedtime, finding a seemingly endless supply of distractions disguised as "must-do" tasks. When I finally gave in and hauled out the shampooer, the dreaded job was done and over in less than thirty minutes! I'm talking set up the shampooer, do the work, disassemble and clean the shampooer, and set it all on the porch to drip dry overnight! The dreading was WAY worse than the doing! Idling over coffee this morning I thought "...now why was I such a dingbat about this....?" Turned out my carpet shampooing experiences -- truly ordeals! -- had not kept pace with modern cleaning equipment. Wonder where else in my life the dreading is worse than the doing? And how much energy is being wasted? More later....

getting ready for a visit

Well, today's a really big day! The weather's clear enough between here and Oklahoma that my dear little sis and her hubby could head in my direction early this morning. They'll arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon, back their recreational vehicle next to my house, and out they'll come all smiles, each holding two dogs. I've informed Miss Dog she's about to entertain guests, but so far she's ignored me. She's been lonely since our sweet old border collie succumbed to lymphoma. The Buddster -- what a guy! How much you want to bet she's totally blissed out by suppertime tomorrow night?

Meanwhile it's clean-clean-clean! Not much of a housekeeper, but a champion procrastinator, I've left it all until I knew for sure they'd started their trip. Just how much did I think I could get done in two days?!?! Actually 1.5 -- sigh! So it's back to work for me. More later...

Today is the day.....

Today is the day that the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!

A good "mantra" for any day, but for today, especially appropriate. My elder son was here for dinner last night, slept on my couch, and started coffee this morning. Ahh, the fragrance of good coffee! He took off for a 5-mile walk -- way past my current ablitites! -- and invited me and Miss Dog to meet him at about mile #4 so we could walk the rest of the way together. Miss Dog -- who normally is the last out of bed -- adores him, trotted happily by his side -- readiliy responding to his touch commands! She's quite beautiful and he ain't too shabby either -- they made a lovely pair.

Back home -- with cramps, should have warmed up first! -- I had more coffee while esteemed older son connected with his FaceBook "harem" and then we shared a lovely phone visit with esteemed younger son, currently living in Norway. I thank God for both these wonderful young men, and their sister -- my first born, my only daughter -- as well.

Growing up was hard on all of us, me being newly divorced and all, and there were times I despaired of ever having a "real family" again. Time taught me that "real" is not defined by an ever-changing cultural "norm" but by love, respect, and experience. Measuring by this yardstick, it's more true than ever that "friends are family that you choose." And the inverse is true as well: you can choose to be friends with your family!

So today, I'm thankful for the day itself, for the love of family and friends, for sunshine, for hot fragrant coffee, for Miss Dog's devotion, and for the astonishing priviledge of being alive!

That's how I feel about quilts, especially scrap quilts made from "found" fabrics. What might look like a pile of rags could become a thing of beauty and utility, you just never know until you take a chance. When I see a cactus covered with thorns AND blooms, I'm reminded of God's surprises -- beauty in unexpected places....