A reversible apron!

I made this reversible work apron last week when I had a little free time. The red side is a toile and has a matching pocket. The blue side has contrasting pockets with pictures of chickens (surprise!!) on them. This apron will be for hanging laundry and doing chores around the house since it is long (past my knees) and has BIG pockets for holding stuff. The blue one's pocket is separated into 3 sections.

The apron is being displayed on a bush outside the side door (didn't want you all to think I had eaten too many cupcakes from my neighbor) and on my clothesline.

Uncle George was a little better yesterday. His tubes are out of his throat and he can talk a little. He swears he will try to make it to his 80th birthday in June, so we plan to hold him to it.

Thanks for your concern and prayers. It is so appreciated.

My churn dash quilt is cut and ready to piece

This square (above) will be the center of each churn dash block. The colors below will be the pieces around it. I will use different ones on each block to make it a little more colorful. The white fabric will be in each block too, though.


I am so excited to be making this quilt since it is a traditional design and I have always loved how it looks.

Well, we are either getting lots of snow or only a little tonight. Anywhere from 1 to 8 inches is expected depending on how the wind blows over the ocean. In a way, I do not want to miss school since we have the state tests on Tuesday and Wednesday and I hate to lose a day to get ready. These tests are a big deal around here and give me a ton of stress every year. My kids are trying harder than ever, but many of them have trouble with reading comprehension, so I am not sure what will happen on test day.

We got to see Uncle George on Friday night. They took him out of the coma they put him in and while he was plugged into so many machines, he was breathing on his own for the most part. He looked so sad and feeble the other night. It's hard to see that when you are used to someone who is very independent and lively otherwise. We're going to see him tomorrow after work, so hopefully he will be better.

Pheasant for dinner tonight

Here is the sky right at dusk as we were finishing up our pheasant hunt today. It was a great day with temps in the 40s and a clear sky.

My son Rob, with two of his pheasants in the game pouch of his vest. This was our first time hunting together as a family this year. We have hunted together since he was a very little kid. He still likes it and it's always a day of memories and fun.

Tonight we are having the pheasant (breaded) with oven fried potatoes and string beans. We had the best time today between the weather and the good hunting conditions. Our one dog, Penny, was a little wired, but Millie did a great job as always. She is sleeping, and snoring, soundly on the couch next to me as I write this.

Hope your day included some outdoor time and a little fun with your family.

Do your kids do homework?

What a funny day it was today. I have this one kid who has parents who are definitely not strapped for cash, yet he comes to my class every day without a pen/pencil, sometimes no paper and most days no homework! Well, we were doing our journals and he was writing in CRAYON!! In 8th grade!! I almost lost it! Then he tried to claim that someone stole his homework. Wow. Anyway, his mom and I had quite a talk about this and how to break these habits. Yet, they take him out of school for trips and he has every video game, cell phone, ipod etc known to man. Then they make excuses for him and ask what I can do! I said, "Nothing! He can learn by failing at this point. Aside from doing his work for him and carrying his stuff for him, there is nothing I can do." When did parents stop being the boss of the kids? My parents would have killed us over this behavior and never made excuses for us. How about you?

I have two other teachers in the room with me during this kid's class and they almost died when he was feeding me this line of baloney about his homework. Since it has become a routine for him to not have work with him, when I got to his desk today and asked about his homework and he said he didn't have it because someone stole it, the entire class said, "Uh-oh!" at the same time when they saw my face. It was hard not to laugh in a way.

My rows are ready!!

I made five rows of four blocks for this winter quilt. The blocks were part of a great swap we did over at MJF and I love them all. Of course, you can't see them all yet, this is just the preview. I am also working on that churn dash quilt using Kaffe Fassett (and some Amy Butler) fabrics. I did the cutting yesterday and will sew a little this weekend.

Our dear old Uncle George is in the hospital fighting for his life tonight. He is the perfect uncle to have. He's old enough to talk about his time in the war (WWII) and he has a zillion stories about his days on this earth. Our kids love him and look forward to holidays and dinners when we have to pick him up and bring him over. He always tells his son that he prefers to come to our house rather than anyone else's and that has been important to us all of these years. I'd like to have a few more years of his company, so I'll be saying my prayers tonight and tomorrow because if he lasts that long, his doctors said he has a good chance of recovery.

Speaking of prayer, I am on day 9 of my BIBLE reading. It is a nice way to end each day and I truly look forward to it. A few of the girls I work with have done it this way and say that it was a joy to spend that year reading the stories of the BIBLE and seeing how they connect to life today. It is not as confusing as I thought it would be, so I am sure I'll see it through.

Spaghetti squash is cool...

Excuse the terrible pictures! I am not a food stylist yet. I will try any and all squash and have a great thrill over the spaghetti squash. It looks like this when you cook it. Then you take a fork and shred it and it looks like the bottom picture. I use it instead of pasta many nights.
It sort of looks like a vomitous mass here, but it resembles spaghetti and tastes good with sauce and meatballs or cheese or butter.

It's sorta like Girl Scouts..for big kids!

For the past year and a half, I have been posting on the forums at MaryJanes Farm and have met the most amazing women who are actually trying to make the world a better place on a daily basis. So this year, it has become possible for us to have our own chapter (or group) as a computer group instead of having to have meetings in person. Our group is called Bees Without Borders because most of us are seamstresses who get our thrills with sewing and crafting. The without borders part is because most of us do not live near one another, yet we still "meet" regularly online to discuss projects, ideas and issues. Great for a person like me who works all of the time and has little time for a formal group.

The coolest part, in my immature opinion!, is that we get to earn badges for different activities and projects that we complete. Now, for me, this is the best thing of all because I never got to be in the Girl Scouts when I was a kid, even though I was desperate to join! Long, sad, really sappy story about that...but I am over it finally! (Ha, not really!)

So, the one badge is for my group and the other one is for the larger group at MaryJanes Farm. We get to embellish them any way we want and then put them on our denim jackets. How cool is that? I know people will look sideways at me and say, "Ok, whatever," but this is just another time that we get to feel young, involved and vital again. Not bad.

I did not do anything to my badges, yet, but when I do, I'll post them.