Yummy!

These are the first items I've ever purchased on etsy. Believe me I've been tempted by many things in the past. There is one necklace made by p.quinn that I'm just drooling over and praying that I somehow scrap together the money for it before someone else beats me to it. Her etsy shop is mentioned in her blog with links in her postings (for now). Here is the blog of Malka at a stitch in dye. She dyed this beautiful fabric! I love it and plan to get more of her stuff as soon as I can. You can get to her etsy shop from her blog.

My life -- not in pictures

This funny looking little girl is me. I think I must have been about 4, but I'll ask my momma to take a look and see if she remembers for sure. I found this on my bulletin board with the picture of the hot air balloon ride and had to share it. It's a shame I can't find the ones I really wanted to share right now. I'll have to keep looking for them. Easter pictures of my sister and I when we were little (so funny with our little pointed purses and odd hats!), my high school graduation picture and one of my wedding pictures.

I was talking to my friend Catherine about photographs and how I have avoided cameras for years, literally years. I don't think there is a photographic record that I lived in the same time as my son growing up! I can think of only one picture of the two of us together and he was a baby. The last pictures I remember having made, that I actually liked, were the graduation picture and wedding picture that I mentioned that I can't find. She and I are making plans for ourselves as we get healthier and loose weight. (My biopsy was normal, by the way!) I told her when I get to my goal weight, I may just have a nude photo made. She almost choked!

Two Questions

What is the wildest or most fun thing you've ever done? For me, I think it would have to be taking a ride in a hot air balloon in my 20's. My momma gave me the ride as a Christmas gift and I went up with my dear Aunt Joan. I had a hard time getting up in the gondola. I'm pretty short. After we were airborne, it felt like I was the star of a parade! I can remember all the dogs barking crazily as we flew over and people coming out to see what was going on. They'd wave to us and we'd wave back. It was lots of fun! (I'm the one in the front on the right in red with a big grin on my face. Can't believe my hair! You can't see Aunt Joan.)

I'm working on a new list of things I'd like to do and accomplish. One of them will have to do with photography. I'm thinking a weekly photo project. What would you challenge me to photograph on a weekly basis? I'm not guaranteeing that I'll pick your choice, but I'll surely give it some thought.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of my two questions.

Sometimes you just need to see pretty

I've been trying not to purchase new fabric lately. The economy, you know. I still visit quilt shops though. Usually just to see my friends and say hello. It's hard to keep from looking and when I saw these new fabrics at one local shop, I had to grab some while it was there. I'm sure they'll end up in a pineapple quilt at some point.

I usually enjoy quilt retreats

The one I went to (for the day) yesterday, started normally and I was having a great time. The ladies were pretty much all from my small group, Going to Pieces. I don't know Shelley and Gail well and I was really enjoying visiting with them and getting to know them a little better. Jo was there too. I just adore her! Jo is not a member of our small group, but comes to the retreats with Cleola, who is. I only get to see Jo at these retreats and sometimes the Dallas quilt show.




I love seeing everything that the ladies are working on. They didn't disappoint, although I didn't get pictures of everything. I told them I was going to put their projects on my blog. Gail was hand piecing a pink doll quilt. You can see her little blocks in the first picture. The second picture is of blocks in Christmas colors that Nina was working on. Really beautiful fabrics. The nine patch stars with purple points are Carol's. I can't wait to see how she plans to set the blocks. I've seen these blocks set in a way that give the impression of curves in a quilt. I wonder if she's planning to do that also?







The picture of the completed quilt is one that Nancy had on the wall. Nancy and her husband, Neil own the retreat center in Emory. Nancy said she made it from 3 and a half inch squares that she had asked everyone who stayed at the center to leave her during the year of 2007. The pattern was originally a mystery quilt, I believe. I know I retreated there a time or two during 2007, but I couldn't remember what fabric I left. I saw several that I own in the quilt. It's a fun quilt. I took lots of pictures of it. Maybe I'll make one myself someday.







I worked on "Three Rivers" while I was there. I didn't have to take my machine that way and everything fit into one little bag. A great way to go to retreat! I finished one river. Started another one and I also cut some of the length of the fabric off. I want it to be obviously wider than longer. I'm extremely happy with the silk I'm using for the blue. It shimmers like water in sunshine.




Another thing that is loved about quilt retreats is the food. All of these ladies can really cook! Jo makes a pound cake that has added more than a few pounds to us over the years! I wasn't there long enough to eat much this time, but I did try Sue's blueberry scones. They were amazing! And Shelley and I made a great oriental chicken salad (her recipe) that I'm hoping to make again some day.




Sometime after lunch, I was hit with a huge wave of crushing sadness. I don't know if it was because it was the first time I had been there since Marianne had passed away or if it was that I had had to have a uterine biopsy on Friday. Maybe it was a combination of both. I just know that I couldn't shake it and I decided to leave a little after 3 PM instead of staying until about 10 PM, like I had originally planned. When it stops being fun, it's time to go.





It was good to get home and I feel great today. All sadness is gone. All worry is at bay. I'll find out next week about the biopsy. I'll still miss Mo, but the next retreat there will be easier. Life goes on.

Things I LOVE!

This is something I had wanted to do as part of the 101 list in 1001 days. Well, I started it and never finished the things I love list. Here it is. After reading it, you will know quite a lot about me.

As for the list of 101 things: I've revisited it several times recently and it doesn't really reflect me as much as I had hoped. It feels like a "to do" list instead of a list of goals that I'd like to accomplish. So, I'm reworking it and will put up a new list soon. I think I'm going to borrow the idea from Andrea to make a list that is my age in length and try to finish it by my next birthday. I'll only have nine months at this point, so I better hurry up with my list.

Things I LOVE!

1. music that you just have to get up to dance to!
2. laughter (especially my hubby's and son's; I never hear enough of their laughter!)
3. the smell of freshly mowed grass
4. cherry popsicles (I sure miss the boxes of just one flavor)
5. Bluebonnets
6. a book that draws you in and makes you feel as though it is so real you hate for it to end and if it's the first in a series, I do a little happy dance!
7. photographs
8. hugs, really good hugs (my cousin Mike gives GREAT hugs, I love his hugs!)
9. the peaks and valleys quilting makes on a quilt
10. COLOR
11. trees
12. seeing pictures in things like clouds and hand dyed fabric
13. Dove milk chocolate
14. nuts
15. spending time with friends
16. quilt retreats
17. quilt shows
18. batik fabrics and hand dyed fabrics
19. smiles
20. my prayer beads, making prayer beads
21. bookstores
22. getting packages in the mail
23. hearing a cat purr
24. hearing chickens cluck
25. watching leaves fall
26. puppy breath
27. babies
28. words
29. reading
30. the relationship I have with my momma
31. words on fabric or in quilts
32. old reruns of I Love Lucy and M.A.S.H.
33. birds and birdsong!
34. the new TV season starting each year
35. wearing blue jeans and t-shirts (dressing up - for me - is a t-shirt with no words on it)
36. sudoku puzzles
37. beads, especially semi-precious stones
38. road trips
39. talking to (seeing and being with) my grandchildren - in person, on the phone on via skype
40. seeing the "kids" I went to Nathaniel Hawthorne with!
41. spring
42. going to a movie
43. seeing stars fill the sky out here in the country
44. seeing a falling star
45. being with any and all of my extended family
46. when my daughter-in-law, M is healthy and feels good
47. getting on a plane and going
48. Italy
49. staying in a haunted hotel
50. getting a real, hand written letter
51. Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream
52. fresh, home grown tomatoes
53. really good melons - the taste and the smell
54. three year old children
55. my dogs
56. lavender and rosemary
57. blogs
58. learning something new and actually remembering it
59. the happiness of people I love
60. memories of people who have gone before me
61. sunsets and sunrises
62. dimples
63. little kids and the funny things they say
64. the Texas Rangers baseball games
65.banana fudge-sicles
66. autumn
67. a good frozen Margarita with salt
68. going to a Keith Urban concert
69. fantasies
70. dreams
71. magazines
72. walking
73. lists
74. old movies
75. Singer Feather Weight 221 sewing machines!
76. QUOTES!
77. writing on my blog
78. Opening day of baseball season
79. singing (I tend to make up my own words and I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I love to sing!)
80. aquariums - large and small
81. going to the zoo
82. volunteering for the SPCA of Texas
83. people watching
84. hand quilting
85. fields full of wildflowers
86. the songs Amazing Grace, Georgia and Somewhere over the Rainbow (I have several versions of each of these)
87. polar bears
88. stained glass
89. water color painting
90. pottery
91. the thought of having my own studio again some day!
92. art
93. Thanksgiving
94. Christmas ornaments
95. not having to worry about what I say to a friend
96. a clean house (I don't like to clean it, mind you, but I love for it to be clean)
97. happening upon wildlife out here on our place
98. old angel statuary in cemeteries
99. the little bit of history I know of our land
100. that my dad built my home (wish it had more room, closets, the washer and dryer in the house and a window over the kitchen sink though; if I'd realized I'd one day live here, I would have helped design the place)
101. this land I live on

In Exchange.....

I wanted to share the quilt with you that I got in exchange for Turtle in a Blender. I just love this colorful, happy Storm at Sea! And it's all mine now! Isn't it just beautiful? I love this pattern, although I've never taken the time to make it myself. One of the things I love about it is that if you look closely, you can see hearts in the blocks. They aren't as obvious in this quilt, but you can choose your fabrics to highlight the hearts. I still remember a mini in the auction one year that had one red heart pieced into the blue and white Storm at Sea. So, cool! Do you see the heart in the second picture?

I've also started a new hand project. This is actually inspired by one of my fiber postcards I made a while back. There will be three "rivers" of blue on the orange background when I finish. I'm planning to quilt it in oranges in the kantha style that I used for Black Cat. This close up shows the Dupioni Silk I'm using for the rivers. I wanted the sheen you'd get from the silk. It looks more like water to me. I'm using cutaway applique to sew it all down. Only half of this river has been appliqued so far, so it will be a wider river than it is now. Applique is a dirty word to some quilters and I must admit that my applique is not all that great, but that is what this quilt needed.

When I was younger, I never thought I'd be a quilter. Two things led to it, I think. I mean I had always admired quilts and my Aunt Irene was a quilter. My mom even quilted for a while after she and my dad divorced. It was a way to bring in more money to our small, struggling household. The two things that led me to quilt are a memory of playing under a quilt that my mother had on the clothes line to dry. It had a muslin backing and from underneath it, the quilt reminded me of stained glass windows! It just filled me with joy, even at the age of 5 or so. Then sometime, many years later, a saw a wonderful appliqued quilt. It was so realistic. I can't even remember now what was on it, but I do remember that it reminded me of a painting. I was standing there thinking "I want to do that!". Painting with fabric, so to speak. I've never realized that long ago dream, which is fine, dreams change over time.

Strut Your Mutt

Saturday started early for me. I didn't want to be late for Strut Your Mutt at Dallas Fair Park. It's a 3K fun run/walk that benefits the SPCA of Texas. I ended up misjudging the time it would take to get there and ended up there almost an hour before I was scheduled to be. Not a problem since there was a lot to look at. It was my first time to volunteer for the event, so I was surprised to even see vendors there. Sure was nice. I found 3 great pet photographers, including blue mutt photography and Margaret Bryant Photography. My very favorite vendor there though was artist K.D. Hafley. I plan to get her to paint a portrait of my two dogs, Elly and Barkley from when Barkely first came to us. Looks like Elly is giving Barkley a kiss. So sweet. It's a shame the background is so cluttered, but I know that K.D. can take care of that in the painting. I'll let you know when I have it commissioned and it's done.

Another vendor that made an impression on me was the Mars Rescue. They had a picture board up of Annie when she first came in. I couldn't look at the pictures and walk away. I had to donate a little money to their cause. I said something about the pictures on the board. I think I asked if she survived. I didn't read the board and couldn't get past how bad Annie looked when she first came in, so I hadn't seen the pictures of her all healed. They told me that she was doing great and I could see for myself! Yes, she was there! Healthy and happy. A beautiful dog that would have been destroyed if not for Mars Rescue. Doesn't she look great?

I really enjoyed participating in Strut Your Mutt. I plan to do it again, the first chance I get. I saw all sizes and types of dogs. Including a couple I'd never seen in person before. An Irish Wolfhound and a Scottie! I loved seeing the Great Dane's too! I remember when my grand daughters thought a Boxer was a horse! I can only imagine what they would have thought of a Great Dane!

I'm putting one picture on here from when the dogs and people were all walking. We were manning a the first water station. We had water bowls and pools for the dogs and bottles of water for the people. I got really tickled at this one dog, who like to get up close and personal with his water. Look at the way he's drinking! Needless to say, fun was had by all!

After I finished up my work there, I dropped by the Museum of Nature and Science. I didn't have time for all of the exhibits, but I wanted to see my friend Carol Morrissey's exhibit of quilts that were there as a part of Quilt Mania 2. They were wonderful! There were several that I'd never seen before. I loved the iguana. He may actually take over as my favorite of her quilts. Up until now, it's been her quilt, The Toad (formally known as Prince). After I left Fair Park (promising myself that I'd come back to the museum when I had time to look it over properly), I went on to quilting with friends. I'll have to show you what I started there next time.

Keith Urban at the House of Blues, Dallas

Yesterday was a really good day. I got to see two friends. One of whom I hadn't seen in at least 22 years. I haven't actually stopped to count how many, for fear that it may shock me to realize how old I am. Dan and I visited and caught up on each other's lives and ate some amazing tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar at Romano's Macaroni Grill. OH MY is that stuff good! I'm already planning to go to the Farmer's Market in Dallas to get tomatoes to try my best to duplicate it at home. I think it would be just as good without the mozzarella.










Next I met up with my friend Mary to go see Keith Urban at the House of Blues in Dallas. She had found out that if we had dinner there, we could get into the concert quicker. So, by golly, that's what we did. I was amazed at how good the food is! Neither of us had ever been to the HOB before, you see. Now, I can't wait to go back. (Maybe for the Gospel Sunday Brunch!) We had trout with asparagus and brown rice with pecans. It was literally the best dinner I've had in years! I also had a melon margarita and I do believe it was the best margarita I've ever had -- period, end of story.



The HOB is a really cool place. They have all of this wonderful folk art all over the place. I didn't even think to ask if I could photograph any of it to show you what I'm talking about, but trust me it is great. I'd love to go back when they aren't busy (wonder when that would be?) and really look at all of it while I wait for my food.









The concert was lots of fun! You can't go wrong with a Keith Urban concert. Mary and I decided to sit in the bar area instead of standing in front of the stage. The thought of being in the middle of all those people made both of us feel a little nervous. I never realized I was at all claustrophobic, but I must be a little, because I was very happy to sit. Even after we realized that the acoustics where we were sitting were not that good. You could hear the music wonderfully, which is great because KU is a guitar wizard, but when he spoke to us, we could seldom understand what he was saying. And we missed half of the lyrics to the songs, which was OK too, because I knew them and just sang along when I wanted to. There was a balcony directly above us. We think that is why we had the bad acoustics for singing. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to go back there. Just as a little note ladies, you could hear him singing perfectly in the rest room. I thought that was odd.




The first picture was taken from the bar stool I was sitting on with no zooming in of my camera. I wanted to be able to show how close we were even though were were probably some of those farthest away. Be sure to notice the way the ceiling is painted too. It would make a great quilt design!



The next two shots are just ones I took while he was singing that I hope are clear when they are enlarged here. Click on them and see.



The last one isn't really that great. He moved just as the shutter clicked, but look at the curtains! Crazy Quilt pieced! I didn't even notice them until he stood in front of them to sing.



All in all, a very good day!

Pictures and Updates

I haven't written much since the show started. I've been tired or otherwise occupied. I had to put a lot of things aside for the show, so when it was over, I started playing catch up. Plus it's just been a busy week.

Wanted to share the pictures that I could. I took the picture of the bluebonnets on Sunday 3/15 -- they had just started to bloom. Now, they're filling out, so I hope to have more later for you.

The lovely lady in the attractive rain head gear is my friend Mollie. It was taken on either Friday or Saturday. It rained both days and they've kind of run together for me. I told her I was going to put it on my blog and she just gave me a look. Since she didn't tell me not to, I took that as permission. She made the jacket she's wearing from a sweat shirt. She teaches a class on how to make them at Quilters Connection in Dallas, TX. Someday, I'm going to take that class and make one myself. I think they're great.

The quilt close up is of the wonderful antique that I was allowed to photograph. It's for sale. Don't know the price. If you're interested, email me and I'll look up the contact information for you. Look at it closely. Some of the tiny squares have been pieced to get enough fabric to make the square! That's one of the things I love about antique quilts and the people who made them. The squares really didn't look to be a full inch in size, I think they were closer to 3/4 inch. The quilt was at least a twin size in our modern sizing. Just wonderful!

One of the beautiful quilts in Quilt Celebration 2009 is on the cover of the current (Feb./March 2009) issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. "Vertigo" by Kathy York. I love that quilt and was so pleased to see it in our show. It was my very favorite quilt this year! I just love those little three dimensional birds!!! The sunflower is so fun too! The colors made me happy. It was wonderful to be able to look at it on those rainy days.

Since I found out that I can't put the quilts from the show on here like I'd really hoped, I thought I'd just list some of the blogs and websites of the people who had quilts in the show. I know that Tonya Littmann has some of her show quilts on her blog, so be sure to go check them out. She is a wonderful art quilter. I just love her work. I've met her once or twice, but I'm sure she wouldn't remember.

I've never met Deborah Boschert, but came across her blog a while back and loved her work as well. She had several pieces in the show. Don't know if they are on her blog or not, but if they are, my favorite was "Fractal Tree". I love tree quilts! I can't believe I haven't made one myself, actually. Come to think of it, Deborah is also in the Feb/March issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

I know there are many other quilt artists who had quilts in Quilt Celebration, but the only other one I can think of right now if my friend Barbara Oliver Hartman. Check out her website. I've loved her quilts for years and the only thing better than her quilts is the woman herself. She's just lovely.

And another one Bites the Dust

Quilt Celebration 2009 is over! In my humble opinion, it was wonderful! (I've never met a quilt show I didn't like!) I loved every minute of working on it, both before and during. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to post many pictures, if any, because of copy right issues. I'll have to contact friends of mine who had quilts in the show and see if I can get permission to post their photos. We'll see.



I will post the bluebonnets soon along with the picture of the quilt I got in exchange for Turtle in a Blender. Kristy thought she got the better deal and I think I got the better deal. Needless to say, we're both happy! I'll even post a few pictures of things I bought (very few things this year with this economy) and an antique quilt I fell in love with. Oh, shoot. I didn't ask the owners if that was OK. I better double check on that first. They were very kind to let me take the photos. I don't want to take advantage.



The miniature quilt auction was very successful also. I believe my pineapple quilt "Have I Done This Before", went for $80 and 'Black Cat' went for $55. I'll have to double check those amounts because I wasn't able to attend. My pineapple quilts have gone for higher amounts in the past, so I think it's time to change the color scheme. I've done the green and purple for several years now. I had planned to do one more and announce it as the last in the series, but I don't know if that would make much money for the auction or not. We'll just have to see what kind of time I have this year.

I saw Bluebonnets today!

Driving into Dallas this morning for my SPCA volunteer work, errands and then the Quilter's Guild of Dallas Quilt Celebration Preview party, I saw Bluebonnets blooming in Kaufman! For me, this day is always a reason to celebrate! I called two of my friends who have moved out of state and told them about it. The other was already at work. I'll email her when I finish this post. I wanted to stop and take pictures, but I was too rushed for time. I should be able to get some on Sunday though. The show starts later on Sunday and the traffic won't be as heavy. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not pouring down rain!

Just about SHOW TIME!!!

Just a "quick note" to let you know that I may not post much until after Sunday. Tomorrow is Preview night for the Quilter's Guild of Dallas members and their families for Quilt Celebration 2009!!! The actual show starts on lucky Friday March 13 (10 - 6). It continues on Saturday the 14th during the same times and Sunday the 15th from noon to 5 pm. You can get advance tickets at area quilt shops or tickets at the door. With the cold weather and rain that has come into the area, I highly recommend the advance tickets, if you have time to go get them. We try to scoot everyone in as quickly as possible, but the advance ticket holders definitely get in much quicker! There is information about the show, tickets, miniature quilt auction, etc. on the guild website. http://www.quiltersguildofdallas.org/ There is a list of shops that have advance tickets also, but they are on a first come first serve basis, so I'd call first before driving over to get them. I noticed that no phone numbers were listed for the shops on the website. My suggestion is to call Google Information for the phone number. If I remember correctly, it's free and they will connect you to the number you're wanting. I've used it a few times and was very happy with it. Here is the number for Google Information 1- 800 - 466 - 4411. I've got it in my cell phone list of numbers!


I will be at the show location - MARKET HALL - before we open and until we close (or very near it on Friday) each day. I'm part of on-site admissions and part of the show committee. I'm very proud of this quilt show and I'm sure every member of our guild is. It's one of the very largest all volunteer shows in the country! If you are any where near Dallas, TX I do hope you'll come to the show this weekend. It promises to be a great one. Until then.....

Happy Anniversary!

My hubby and I have been married for 31 years today. We were only 18 and 19 when we got married. NO ONE thought we'd make it. Both sets of our parents were divorced, so it's not like we had great role models for marriage. There is not a day goes by that I don't thank God for my husband. And every week that goes by, I wonder how in the world he can stand to live with me and I can stand to live with him. I guess we were made for each other.

Turtle in a Blender is Finished!!!!

As I said in the last post, machine quilting and I do not get along. I usually try to machine quilt my miniature pineapple quilts. I even tried to machine quilt this one. It did NOT look good at all! So, I ripped all of the quilting out and started over, by hand.

For large quilts, I use a hoop stand. For the mini, I decided to use a hoop that I normally only use when I teach hand quilting classes. When I got to the borders, there wasn't enough fabric to get a nice grip on the edge of the border, so I sewed spare fabric to the edges of the quilt to give me that little extra that I needed. The fabric I used is actually an old, worn out, torn pillow case. I just machine pieced it to the backing fabric and batting, using the longest stitch on my machine. Then I was able to rip it out in no time when I was finished.

The first two pictures of the quilting in progress show the colors of the quilt more accurately than the photo of the completed quilt. I finished it after dark and the lighting in my bedroom isn't very conducive for good shots. Just a little FYI, I used the green "turtle shell batik" fabric on the back of the quilt also.

One thing that made all the ripping of machine stitches quicker was some wonderful tweezers! They are actually sharper than I realized and I was able to slip them under the long stitches I used to sew the old pillow case to the backing and batting instead of using a seam ripper. Then I could just loosen a few stitches and then rip one so that I could use the tweezers to pull the thread. It was super quick! The tweezers had only been used in the past to pick the paper foundation patterns off of the blocks after I had completed the blocks. It's nice to find another use for them.

Machine Quilting is not my friend

First let me say that I got a sweet compliment on the quilting in the photo of the quilt in my banner. Unfortunately, I didn't quilt the quilt myself. Batik is rather tightly woven and I thought it would be a bit difficult to hand quilt (my preference!) that particular quilt because of the fabric I used in the top and back. The quilter was a lovely lady by the name of Jean Tekano. She went so far as to research Texas trees and that is what she quilted into the quilt.

As for me, machine quilting is not my friend. The only time I even attempt it is when I'm working on a pineapple miniature quilt. Like tonight. I machine quilted on Turtle in a Blender. I thought I was doing a really good job on it -- for once. I got the center done and looked at it and noticed that it was all whamperjawed! That would never do. I'm almost finished ripping it all out. Tomorrow (or rather, later today, I just looked at the clock), I'll start hand quilting that little quilt. I just hope I can get it done in time now!

It's not officially Spring, but....

I've added photos and some commentary on them to this posting. New comments are in red. It sure seems that Spring has sprung around here. I'd noticed the redbud trees (picture #1) were in bloom about a week ago. Then I noticed a few daffodils. A couple of days ago, I saw that some of the wild Cherry trees (picture #2) were blooming too. This morning, I looked out the window to see that the pear and peach (picture #4) trees were both in full bloom, seemingly over night! (I couldn't get pictures of them in full bloom. If you take a look at picture #3 with Barkley and the pear tree, you may guess why. He apparently feels that any limb within his reach is a predator! Most of the blooms are already in the grass.) When I drove to the store a little later, there were a few Indian Paintbrush in bloom along the road side. They were a rather sickly looking pale orange, but they were there. Of course, the temperature has been in the high 70's for a while now. Tonight, my hubby saw a scorpion in the house! Definitely spring in Texas, regardless of what the calendar says. I guess I should be on the out look for snakes now. Of course, just because we have spring weather doesn't mean it won't snow or do something else winter like before summer gets here. After all, this is Texas.

I did it!

I got there early and got free tickets to the Keith Urban concert at the House of Blues in just over a week! I'm so excited, I could dance! Come to think of it, I probably will. I doubt any of the responsible parties will ever read this, but just in case ---- Thank you Keith Urban, Verizon and the Big 96.3 KSCS.

Kitty Cats on Thursday

I think I've mentioned before that I volunteer for the SPCA of Texas. I used to go to the Dallas location to walk the dogs and love on the cats, but the temptation was getting very strong and I was getting very weak. My alpha dog, Elly probably would not accept another pet in the house. She's had a somewhat rough time accepting Barkley. They actually play together very well and no blood has ever been shed, but she can still make him pee in the house when she gets to acting bossy. This usually happens when they are going outside or coming back into the house, but occasionally, it will happen just because she wants to make sure that he knows who the boss is.

My hubby got tired of my doggie and kitty love stories pretty quickly. Every time I went up there to walk, I fell head over heals in love with at least one dog and one cat. He started making noise about me quitting the volunteer work. So, I decided to try working at a Petsmart location instead. I'm sure I'll go back and walk the dogs on occasion, but I can love on just a few kitties each week without too much risk to my heart. Usually there are new ones the next week to love on too! It's worked relatively well for me so far. I am on the lookout for that perfect cat who can put up with dogs chasing them. Preferably a cat who knows how to use its claws. Barney didn't know he could protect himself. Elly has never learned that a cat can be a bit irritating too, if it chooses to.

Here are the cats I loved on today. Kato is a black and white male. Ms. Kitty is the orange long haired beauty. She once had a home, so she was a little shy today. I'm sure this was a bit frightening to her. Patches is a female and just lovely. Highstep is also a female and quite a sweet heart. Sorry the picture isn't better for Highstep. I just couldn't get her to be still at all while I was there today.

Just in case you want to go meet any of these sweeties, they are at the Mesquite Petsmart location. It's the one on the west side of 635 in the fairly new area close to the Home Depot. There is a Pier One next to it and a Michael's in the same shopping center.

Each Thursday when I arrive to take care of them, some of them, there are usually new cats there and some that I loved on the last week are gone. It's a good location for cats, I'm thinking. I don't ask where they went if they are gone. I just hope they are in their forever home.

Migraines and Mistakes or I truly miss my MIND!

Yesterday, I had one of the worst migraines I've had in ages. I took one zomig and got rid of the throbbing and nausea, but the pain persisted. I took another zomig, but nothing else happened. After a couple of hours of the pain, I was starting to think I'd have to go to the hospital when I got the idea to drink caffeine. I asked my hubby to go buy me a real Coke. I drank it and took three ibuprofen. It worked! I didn't even have the sore head that I normally do the day after today. Not to worry, I won't be starting to drink Cokes again though. It tasted horrible to me. Like a Pepsi. I've hated Pepsi ever since I toured the Pepsi plant when I was a kid, got too hot and upchucked. They never taste as good coming back up.


Today I was thrilled to find an email from the Texas Rangers baseball organization. They have a pre-sale of single game tickets going on starting today for what I can only assume they call good customers (or former customers maybe). Anyway, I jumped on the website as soon as I read the email and went directly to the opening day tickets sales. I snagged two seats! I was so happy!!! Right up until I realized that I would be in CA by then. I'm leaving on the 4th and the game is on the 6th. I don't know if I'll even be able to see the game there! So depressing. I had even talked my hubby into going with me. A first. I hope he'll still go and I hope he has fun. Maybe I can get him to go again next year -- with me.

One of my next planned projects

I'm planning to make one of the pineapple quilts in black batik and different colors (like the one in the photo) soon. Although I hope to make this one with 20 blocks instead of just nine. I think it will be beautiful. I'll use a different batik fabric for each of the other color places. No fabric will be repeated, other than the black. Just like I did in this one.

Of course, I have to stop reading so much in order to actually get anything done. My friend Donna K. gave me her copies of the Twilight series. They were printed for young adults and are quite good. I've started the third one this morning.

Not Giving Up Yet!

Yesterday I tried to win tickets to see Keith Urban in concert in March in Dallas at the House of Blues. It was really simple to win. Show up at the designated Verizon store wearing the correct things on a t-shirt or have a picture of Keith on your cell phone. I was third in line when they ran out of tickets! I'm not giving up though. There are other opportunities to win and I'll be there each time until I do or the contests are over! Have I ever mentioned that I really enjoy Keith Urban?



The very first time I ever saw him was on Austin City Limits while I was in Nashville for the American Quilter's Society quilt show. My friend Beth and I met up in Nashville and made a week of it, sewing and seeing the show. I was working on my mom's log cabin quilt the first time I heard him sing and knew who he was. I'd heard him on the radio many times, of course, but I was never one of those people who knew who sang what song. I'm a bit better now. I can sometimes even tell you the name of the song and who sings it!

I'll let you know when and if I win the tickets.