Long Island Axman

This is our friend's driveway, covered completely by a very tall tree that fell during the freak storm we had tonight.
Kenny getting his chaps on. He is wearing shorts underneath because it was 95 degrees here today.


His cousin had to come with his tractor to move the logs and big branches out of the way after Kenny cut the tree all up. At least there will be a bit of winter wood from it. With less building going on here because of the economy, getting firewood is not going to be as easy as past years. We get it wherever we can. We did go out for ice cream after we were done.

Tonight is the season finale of Axmen on the History Channel. We love that show, and my poor husband was having serious chainsaw envy every time we watched it. So, tonight he got to have a little fun with his Stihl saw, which he says is better than Husqvarna! :)

Some quilt tops from the most recent mystery quilt tours at the quilt shop.

This was our Italian night quilt. It is called Spaghetti and Meatballs, of course. I have a light brown inner border to attach and a dark brown and red one for the outside. Maybe this week. Not one of my favorites to make (boring for the most part, but it matches my couches and is small, so I might quilt it this summer).
This one was Holland. I liked making this one a lot. Loved the tulips and the colors. This one can go into the box with the other finished tops from this year. Next time we are doing Switzerland (in August) and then POLAND!!! in September. Cannot wait.
Well, this is not a new quilt. I made it for Evelyn when she turned 16. I had also just gotten my embroidery machine and was having fun playing with it for her quilt. Each block focuses on a family member or memory and has a picture in it and some decorative pieces to go with that. For example, on Aunt Pat and Uncle Bill's block, there is a picture of her daughter's wedding and some buttons that are log cabins like their house. On the one with my parents, there is their picture and some boat buttons because they always took the kids to the beach. I embroidered messages to her all over it and all of her friends' names in various places. It is pretty used up already (the pictures won't last because I had to use the iron-on types since the good inkjet fabric was not available yet. She loves it anyway.
Close up of a block. This was a Flamenco dancer in Spain. She loved that part of the trip, naturally. The guy was really cute.

I have dinner in the oven (ribs cooking slowly--a recipe from my mother) and coleslaw and macaroni salad. Then we are taking a ride over to the beach to look at shorebirds and then go out for ice cream. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Hope you all have the best week ever!! SUMMER is here and things are growing. Only 3 weeks of school left now.

Penny and Millie

I never introduced you guys to Penny (aka Penelope). She is our black lab and a real spitfire. What a funny dog she is, too. When she wants to lay with you, she slithers from the ground onto your lap, just like an eel. Then she will just lay there and not move, so you won't kick her off. Millie is the yellow, and she is more classy than that. Millie is 9 1/2 now. Penny is 4. Of course, they went swimming in the river today (it was 95 here this afternoon). I'll put pictures of them in the river next time.

Embroidered blocks for my pastor. Love em!!

I finally started going to a new church, after many years of looking for that right one that was not too stuffy or controlled only by a handful of people who don't listen to the younger members.
And I found a church that is very active and friendly, with a young pastor who is completely full of energy who "gets it" that some people don't really know how they feel about religion or what they believe in exactly, yet they know they believe in God and Jesus. He does not try to tell us that only one way is the right way. So, I like this place a lot. Even my son liked going there on Mother's Day.
So, I thought I would make a quilt for his young family (he has a nice wife and two little girls) to celebrate all that they bring to our community. They do so much outside of the church and that means a lot to many of us here where I live.
I generally make one block every other night and will have a total of twelve when I am done. Then I will make pieced blocks to mix in with the embroidered ones. Aren't they gorgeous? I love them so much that I may make some extras to put into frames for people who want them.
I'll post some more tomorrow. The blocks are a lot of fun to make, and I feel happy as they stitch out. They will love them, I am sure.

Ta Dah!! Soap time...

My friend Deb, mixing the oils. We had the lye mixture cooling off outside.
When the oils and the lye mixture got down to 95 degrees, we mixed them together.
Look how creamy it got right away! Success!! It was like a nice light pudding mixture, just like it was supposed to be. We made this batch with lemon essential oils. Next time, we will make it with peppermint. Tomorrow afternoon I have to go down to the basement and cut it into bars, and let it rest for about 6 weeks. What a fun day we had.


Some of you have asked about my friend, Michelle, who lost her son two months ago. She is back to work now, but not feeling too good about it yet. It is good to be working and talking, but she says every day it gets worse than the day before, because it becomes more real that he is gone forever as each day goes by. She was very close to him, so essentially lost a best friend, as well as a son. She is thankful for her friends at work though and says that we make it easier than it would otherwise be.

Tonight, my daughter and her friend saved a dog that had been abandoned on our road. We have an animal shelter near us and someone left the dog about 3 houses away from it. However, they left the dog in the woods in a crate too small for it!!! If she had not been walking on the street, she NEVER would have seen it. I must have driven past it myself at least 5 times today. She came home and told us about it, then her brother and all of us went walking there to wait for the police and the dog warden. Evelyn fed it a bunch of biscuits, but it was snarling and growling, so she had to throw them through the top. Deb was with us and said it was like being on Animal Planet when the cops came. It did seem like it. The idiots who left the dog there left his rabies tag on, so the cops will be able to track them down. Hope they get in a lot of trouble for leaving that dog there to die in a cage.

I'm still sewing every night!!

These are the most recent blocks I finished (some were started a few weeks ago) for the embroidery quilt I am making in class. I have always wanted a mostly red and white quilt and thought this would be a good one for doing that. The flowers are colorful enough to carry the quilt by themselves, so the red and white fabric is not too boring. I do have another one that I did a few years back that I added to last summer, but it was a pieced quilt, not embroidered. maybe I will actually quilt that other one this summer. Speaking of quilting, I might attempt to hand quilt this one. I am afraid to do machine quilting for fear of being too aggressive and getting too close to the designs, which will not be quilted. I'd like to hand quilt one project next year, so maybe this one.

I got the supplies for soapmaking ordered, and I was able to get lye at Lowes!! Can you believe you cannot get lye easily any more because it is used in drug making!! So, I did research all week and found a product that is 100% lye, but not too many people around here know about it. Guess that is a good thing. Deb is coming over this Friday (we are off from school for Memorial Day) and we will make our first batch of soap. We had a lesson when we were in Pennsylvania, so are psyched about it!!

Maybe I am boring, but this was a perfect weekend!!

On Saturday, my husband sent me out to buy this mixer that I have been wanting forever. They are so expensive, but I like the kneading hook and the fact that I can use attachments to make pasta, applesauce, and all of that other good stuff that can be more organic (and easy to do with this machine!) We saw that Macy's was having a one day sale with 30% off on this exact mixer, so off I went to the mall (hate that part, but it was fast since I knew what I wanted and were to find it.) I got home and made my sourdough bread with oats, right away.
Then, I did laundry and hung my sheets outside to dry. I sat there and read for a little while. Millie and Penny pestered me nonstop with the muddy, dirty ball, but that is part of the ritual.

I have this area behind the garage and chicken coop that I have wanted to turn into a garden for years. I planted some pots back there last year to see if they got enough sun, and they do. So now I am clearing out a big patch to grow more than we had last year. It is hidden from everyone so I can hide there and be totally alone and no one would even know I was outside.
Finally, I planted 72 little peat pellets with more seeds to plant outside in the new patch behind the garage. By the time they are ready, it will be tilled and cleared.


My son came to church with me as a present for Mother's Day!! What a nice surprise that was for me because I am usually alone when I go to church. Then we went to McDonalds for diet Coke and sweet tea (Rob liked the tea). After that we went to Agway to get the plants to start in the pots on the side of the garage and out back. He and his girlfriend started a garden across the street by the river as well. When she got here today, I hope she was expecting to be a farm chick! She is actually very cool like that. Her dad is also a hunter and fisherman, so she is used to being in touch with her food :)

Evelyn relaxed all day too. My niece was over for most of the day and they played with the dogs (YOU HAVE TO if you are outside!!) and they planted sunflowers. Hope you all had a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!