SHQ stuff, princess pillowcases, charity quilt

Michael left at 8 for golf on Thursday (5/30), coming home eventually with a much more acceptable 83, and Jan picked me up just after 9 for quilting.  Here’s the pile of stuff I was taking:

 

(less than the last picture of quilting….but that one was a food day!  And of course….someone had to be checking it out!)

Jan and I got 8 pillow cases done for the Children’s Attention Home (that I think some little girls will really enjoy the beautiful princess fabric): 

 

I got home around 2:30 and Michael and I read in the afternoon and finally around 4:30 I got to the studio to continue working on the charity quilt.  By 9 PM I was finally done….the quilting is horrible and the binding certainly won’t win any prizes (I cut it too skinny and turning the corners was a nightmare), but I think some child will really like it…I put polar fleece on the back, and I am psyched to continue through my other tops and do each one a bit better:

 

 After that it was a little bit of knitting and then off to bed.

I got my bike ride done on Wednesday (5/31) before Michael left for golf at 8 (he was TOTALLY not happy with his score of 92 when he got home  L).  Then it was breakfast and reading the paper and a talk with Janice in CT before Jan picked me up around 10:30.  We headed to WALMART for a few things, then hit the chiro and LOWE’s on the way home.  I didn’t find the garden planter that I wanted for my basil L, so will have to go with plan “B”.  I had a quick lunch, then Nancy A stopped by for a tiny bit of help on her entrelac scarf.  Jan came over after that and we spent the rest of the afternoon working on her tote bag.  She decided she wanted some embroidery, so I got one flower done while she ripped out a bit of quilting for me.  By then it was dinnertime and Michael and I had leftovers from the restaurant last night.  I spent the evening on the binding of the charity quilt.  I got all of the different colored pieces sewn together, and almost all of it sewn on one side of the quilt before bedtime.

coffee cake

Happy Anniversary to Michael and me!!!  Yep, Tuesday (5/28) was our anniversary (8 fabulous, wonderful, terrific years).  I baked Michael his favorite coffee cake:

 

 

 

 

he calls it a ‘Drake’s Cake on Steroids’ and I also took a large piece over to our neighbor Jim.  He is home from the hospital after a quadruple bypass and valve replacement and the doctor told him to eat whatever he wants for a month to get his strength back.  I told him I would pamper him with baked goods this month  J.  I spent the rest of the morning doing paperwork (mostly the minutes for our volunteer club) and got back to working on my charity quilt around NOON.  I worked on finding binding strips in my scraps for the outside of the quilt, and also spent some time with Jan in the afternoon.  We left just before 5 to pick up Larry and Evelyn and head to a local Italian restaurant for dinner…then on to the theatre to see STAR TREK _ INTO DARKNESS…it was TERRIFIC.  I enjoyed it very much and would definitely be up for seeing it again.

Cinnamon Biscuit Cake, Oatmeal Pecan Bread

I was up early Sunday morning (5/26) to make Cinnamon Biscuit Roll for our breakfast:

 

and to make Oatmeal Pecan Bread.

At 12:30 I picked up Jan and we headed over to Margie’s house.  Margie is one of the ladies in Thursday quilting, and she has a long arm quilting machine that she allows other people to use.  I have 5 charity quilt tops that are at least 2 years old.  I am determined to get them done this year, since they are not doing anyone any good where they are.  It doesn’t do me any good to keep completing charity tops, and never quilt them….so I am going to make a bigger effort (once these old ones are done) to not do additional tops until the previous top is quilted.  Anyway, I took over a loaf of the Oatmeal Pecan Bread and a jar of my peach preserves as a small thank you to Margie.  Margie has a beautiful garden/landscaping in the front of her house.  It is obvious that she has spent a great many years getting it to where it is now.  And she has a beautiful rose garden in the back.  We practiced for a bit before heading home.  I spent the rest of the day and evening working on my entrelac sweater.

Memorial Day!  This was such a nice relaxing day.  Michael left for golf and I got one of my charity quilts spray basted and worked on quilting it the rest of the day.  I had it all quilted by the time we set up for our driveway party at 4:30.  I just need to get the binding on, and then I’ll have pics!

We had lots of visitors for the party and lots of good food.  Next time I think we need to start at 5:30 so that there is a bit more shade in the driveway, but I think everything worked out.  We were out there talking and eating for several hours, and Michael and I relaxed in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.

I took off for a bike ride Saturday morning (5/25) just before Michael left for golf.  I delivered shawl kits to Nancy H and more flyers for our volunteer drive up at the Lake House before getting home at 8.  I had a relaxing breakfast while reading the paper before doing a bit of housework.  I was just finishing up when Anne stopped by for a nice chat over tea and cookies…it was lovely!  I made it to the studio in the afternoon and spent a good bit of time trying to tame a bunch of scraps that have been building up on my sewing table.  Michael got home from golf (with an 88) in the afternoon and we took a short trip to the library (returning books) and to ‘red box’ where Michael picked up GANSTA SQUAD.  We had egg rolls for dinner and while Michael watched the movie upstairs, I knit and watched a STAR TREK movie downstairs.

cookies & garden

I hopped up really early Friday (5/24) morning and got 100 sugar cookies baked, bagged and labeled for the fund raiser:

 

 

By then Michael was up and we took a long bike ride, and finally came home to eat breakfast.  It was a beautiful day….not too hot, so we had breakfast on the deck, then finally got our garden in:

does anyone know what this is?  we don't.  We found the 'tubers' when we were
cleaning out the garden and decided to let it grow to see what we get!

daisies & zinnias

we put in 2 tomato plants
 

and one yellow sqash & one aucchini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, it was quick showers and we headed out to do a variety of errands: dropped off the cookies, hit tennis shoe store, the chiro, ALDI’s, Publix, the liquor store and finally got home again around 3 PM.  I worked in my studio for a couple of hours, trying to clean up a lot of scraps I had lying about and when Michael took the dog for a walk at 5, I headed over to Donna’s.  A group of us ordered from KNITPICKS and the order had come in…there’s nothing like opening a box from KNITPICKS, unless it’s opening a box from KING ARTHU FLOUR  J.  Anyway, we talked and talked and talked and my honey finally called me at 7 PM to ask if I was coming home for dinner!  We had salads and scallop stuffing in scallop shells and some corn (which we foolishly bought at the grocery store….not to mention it’s WAY too early for corn…Michael gave it a D-minus), and leftover cupcakes for dessert.  Then we watched an orgy of MARY TYLER MOORE before heading to bed.

 

Anne's blocks

Michael packed a lunch for Jan and me on Thursday (5/23) and we took off for quilting.  Jan and I both had our knitting and spent a very relaxing and enjoyable time there, knitting and talking.  I got home around 2 PM, and by dinnertime the last 5 blocks on the signature quilt were done (3 have been mailed out for signatures so far): 

 

 My honey made dinner again, tortellinis for me and pierogies for himself.  Everything was yummy…and while we watched TV in the evening, I got the bottom ribbing put back on my sweater for the THIRD time.

Michael left early for golf on Wednesday (5/22).  They were golfing off site today due to an outside tournament on our golf course.  I got 2 runs of sugar cookie dough made and headed downstairs to make labels for ingredients.  I always bake cookies for the fund raiser for Fort Mill Community Playhouse.  I will bake them either Thursday night or Friday morning, then bag them up (3 to a snack bag) with a label on ingredients and Michael will deliver to the organizer’s house by Friday NOON.  Once I did a bit of kitchen clean up, I headed to the studio to work on the blocks for Anne’s quilt.  By the time I quit (just after dinner) I only had 5 blocks left to go!  I left around lunchtime and picked up Jan and headed to my chiro appointment.  After that, Jan and I enjoyed pizza at Donato’s, made a quick trip to her bank and then headed home.  Michael came home with an 88 and we both read our books a bit in the afternoon.  He made tortellinis, salad and garlic bread for dinner, and we got to watch a bit of TV before bedtime.

I took a bike ride Tuesday morning (5/21) while Michael headed to his doctor’s appointment.  Nancy arrived around 10 and we had a good time talking and knitting.  She agreed with me about plan “B” on the entrelac sweater…so I have ripped out the shawl collar (and will also be ripping out the ribbing on the bottom) and am proceeding with plan “C”, which will be single seed stitch.  I did a sample of singe seed…and of double seed turned every other row…and we both liked the single seed.  I’m hoping to rip out the bottom on Wednesday, then let the yarn relax for a couple of days before putting it back in.  Joanne picked me up at 1 for Stitch and Chat.  I really didn’t want to go because I was afraid of what I would see in the lobby….but the bins were in place…whew!  I only stayed at knitting for about an hour, before Michael picked me up and we headed to the mall.  I needed some new sport bras…I found those relatively quickly and we had a chiro appointment on the way home.  We cleaned up a bit and headed over to Jan and Walt’s for pizza…and then SILVER LINING PLAYBOOK at the movies.  It was a good movie, and we were home early enough to sit and read for an hour before bed.

Michael left for golf on Monday (5/20) coming home later with an 87 that he wasn’t very happy about.  I spent a couple of hours on the internet before heading to my volunteer meeting at 10:30.   It was a contentious meeting….not with the participants, but in discussing what is happening with our management company.  As volunteers, this is something we have been fighting for 6 years and we are tired of it.  We run 5 major drives per year.  For each of these drives, we collect….something!  Either food or school supplies or Angel Tree…whatever.  In the beginning we had big cardboard boxes for people to put their donations in….the HOA staff didn’t like that….didn’t look good enough….so we decorated the boxes….still not good enough….so we bought 2 nice plastic bins.  Well this year….without even consulting us to see what we needed, or even mentioning it to us, they commissioned a wooden collection thing for us…and decided it would live outside of the Lake House.  We got wind of it and talked to them and said ‘NO!  Our stuff is not going to live outside.  We collect food, we collect paper (which would get damp and soggy), not to mention it would be easy for Angel Tree gifts to just walk off!’  So, we go up yesterday and there is a truly ugly piece of wood cabinet sitting outside.  We ignore it and put out our bins.  Within 1/2 an hour, our bins are gone and ugly piece of wood sitting hidden in lobby.  Rose (president of club) and I go up STEAMING MAD to talk to them.  Rose mentions that the home owners OWN the Lake House and that the HOA is managing it for us….WE are the customers.  Rose is generally so soft spoken and mild mannered…but she was MAD!  Anyway, for the moment, we have our bins back…but we are TIRED of this fight! 

Anyway, the rest of the afternoon and evening is spent knitting and sewing.  I think I have about 15 more squares to complete and then the squares for Anne’s quilt will be done.

entrelac mittens, Cookie & Elsie

We had a wonderful breakfast out on the deck on Sunday (5/19), then Michael left to get gas and a few grocery items, while I got my mittens corrected:

 

I went over to Jan’s for a bit to peruse her stack of blue fabric for my neighbor’s signature quilt, then Michael and I spent the afternoon downstairs…he was painting while I was sewing.  As usual, the ‘kids’ were getting ready to take a nap:

We had leftovers for dinner and watched THE HOBBIT in the evening.  Michael rented it for a buck fifty at RED BOX.  I am very sad to say that after totally LOVING the LORD OF THE RINGS….THE HOBBIT was only worth what he rented it for.  LOTR closely followed all 3 books…that’s part of what made the story great.  in THE HOBBIT, Peter Jackson threw in loads of stuff not in the book…in my opinion, it didn’t enhance the movie a bit.

entrelac mittens

I was up at 6:15 on Friday (5/17) to make Michael breakfast before he left to participate in a golf tournament.  Since I was awake anyway, I decided to tackle a mound of paperwork that always seems to be on my desk!  I got the write-up done and sent out for the Volunteer drive which will start on Monday.  I have a very good committee to work with and they accomplished a lot and I think we are good to go now.  I also got the volunteer minutes sent out a second time, along with a reminder of our meeting on Monday.  Quilting minutes were completed and sent out, and I got 2 blog entries made with all of the associated pictures.  By then it was 8:30 and I headed upstairs to pick up the house and have breakfast and collect my supplies before Jan picked me up at 10 for a quick trip to Joann’s and lunch out J.  Well….as we get close to Joann’s, we notice that all of the traffic light are out!  Then we pull up to the store and they say ‘we will be closed until the power is back on’.  We drive around the HUGE parking lot and all stores are closed.  It’s too early to go to lunch, so we decide to hit the yarn shop (which is hopefully far enough away to not be affected, but close enough to be on the way to the restaurant).  It is open and we both find a few things we have to have J.  They mention that there was a bad accident on South Blvd (where Joann’s is). Someone hit a transformer pole and that’s why the power is out.  Then it’s on to lunch.  We each get a serving of seafood bisque and split a crab cake sandwich.  Home again in the afternoon I do a bit of knitting and a bit of cutting before Michael gets home around 5…his team won FIRST PLACE in the tournament!!!!!  He is beat, so he takes a quick nap, then we get cleaned up in time for Gale and Phil to pick us up at 6:15 to head off to Ralph’s house.  Jerry & Deanna are already there and we have drinks and snacks before heading into Waxhaw for dinner.  Our dinner was divine and we sit and talk for 2 hours, finally getting home at 10:30 and collapsing into bed.

Saturday (5/18) Michael again left very early for golf…this time I was deep asleep in bed, so he didn’t wake me.  I headed on up to Joann’s again (Jan and I need zippers for our class this week and my coupons were expiring!) and this time they were open.  I got zippers and a bit of fabric, stopped at ALDI’s on the way home, and made it to the Lake House shortly after 10.  There was a craft fair going on and I wanted to see Jan and Walt and all of Walt’s pottery.  I stopped by all of the tables to say hi to people, then headed home to knit, sew and make cupcakes and rolls.  Michael came home with an 85 and we got cleaned up and headed over to Mary Lu’s for our neighbor’s dinner.  We had a wonderful chicken dish, rice, spinach & strawberry salad, bean salad and rolls.  It was another great night of eating, laughing and talking before we headed home.  We watched a couple of NORTHERN EXPOSURES before bed and I knit on my mitten.  I thought I was finished with the thumb gusset….counted my stitches and was totally off.  I finally figured out what I did wrong and ripped back my mitten….the pile of yarn in the picture is what I have to put back….correctly this time  J:

 

pictures of the tea & a new charity hat

Michael left super early for golf on Wednesday (5/15) coming home later with an 83….even with a 10 on one hole!  I spent most of the morning getting ready for my tea!  I had about 22 women and I think they all had a great time…there was a lot of talking and laughing and eating (and drinking J), and on the dot of 2 PM, everyone said thank you and good bye!  What a well behaved crowd:

some of the fabulous food

Mary, Carolyn, Jackie (special surprise guest!) and Gale

Anne & Susan

Loree & Paula

Connie & Jody (Paula's sister)

Susan & Deanna

Carolyn, Beth, Jeannie & Sue



Jackie, Ginny & Anne (in back), Carolyn, Beth

Paula, Karen, Gale, Beth (pink hat), Connie, Lois

Anne, Susan & Dee

I tried to take a bunch of pictures in the beginning, because then I got busy talking and visiting.  I wish I had taken a picture of the dessert bar…I think you could have gone into insulin shock just from breathing in as you passed it!  Anyway, it was great fun, and when Michael came home just after 2, he helped with all of the clean up.  Then Michael and I and Cookie and Elsie all took naps in the living room…each on our own chairs.  We had a light dinner and watched TV in the evening.  I started knitting on a pair of entrelac mittens.

 

Thursday morning (5/16) I left for quilting and got home around 2.  I felt really tired and tried to take a nap….but nothing was happening so I finally got up and headed downstairs to putz around in my studio.  I think I’m going to rip out the entrelac shawl collar and bottom once again…I finally have a plan “C” and after Donna gives me her opinion on Friday…I think it will be a go!  I did manage to finish another hat:

I don't think Michael was really as disguested as he looks in this picture, but I think I need to find a new model just in case!

 

Michael left VERY early on Tuesday morning (5/14) to get the car fixed, to visit the chiro and to pick up his new glasses from BJ’s.  I had breakfast and got the roll dough formed and into a pan before hopping on my bike and riding up to Nancy’s.  We knit, we talked, we laughed, we pondered…..all in all a typical Tuesday morning J.  I came home, changed clothes, gave my honey a kiss and hopped into Joanne’s cart for a ride to knitting.  We only stayed at knitting for an hour, which was good because I had a lot to do when I got home.  I got the roll dough out of the fridge to come to room temp and rise, and also made more calzone dough.  I had so much filling left over, I wanted to make a few more to freeze.  I got 6 more calzones made and into the freezer, then made 2 casseroles out of the leftover filling.  One went to my neighbor for dinner and one went into the freezer for the future.

Michael left at 4:30 with Larry to see THE GREAT GATSBY, and I ate dinner and knit while he was gone.  We went for FROSTY”S when he got home, and then watched TV while I started on a pair of entrelac mittens.

sandwich bread & Nancy A, calzones

Michael left for golf on Monday morning (5/13) and I hopped on my bike (which he had kindly gotten ready for me by blowing up the tires) and ran my morning errands.  The library (to donate books and to pick up one they were holding for me), CVS (for a prescription) and the grocery store for several items before heading on home.  It only took about an hour and I felt good about being ‘green’ J.  I spent the rest of the morning laying out and cutting out a skirt, and then a good part of the afternoon making calzone, golden pull apart butter buns and sandwich bread dough.  I also dumped 2 pounds of ground beef into the crockpot to get it cooked.  Michael came home around 2 (with an 86) and said he had a good time, but his groups of golfers got separated and no one waited to have lunch L.  I decided it was time to get started on my prep for dinner, so I headed to the kitchen.  The ground beef was all cooked (what an EASY and superior way to do it….no mess on the stove and I didn’t have to even watch it!  I drained and rinsed the ground beef and dumped it into a big bowl.  I grated some cheddar cheese I was trying to use up and dumped that in….grated in some manchego cheese, dumped in a large can of tomatoes, and threw in a bunch of Italian seasoning.  I found a 1/2 onion in the fridge and that went in as well.  I wanted more cheese in the mix, and remembered I had some cottage cheese lurking in the fridge, so I threw that in.  Then I made a bunch of calzones:

 

 

 

This was my first attempt and I definitely learned a few things…I still have LOTS of filling left, so I may make more tomorrow.  Anyway, I got the 2 loaves of bread dough baked and Nancy A swung by for a warm 1/2 loaf:

 

 Then I turned up the oven to bake the calzones.  I was disappointed that they leaked, mostly out of the slits that the recipe told me to cut in the top:

 

But I knew I had achieved success when Michael said “I certainly hope TWO is a serving, because I want another one!”  By the time I was done, my legs were really aching, so my honey cleaned up the kitchen and it was spotless by the time I got back to look at it….heaven!  We spent the evening watching BRAIN GAMES on TV….this is a series on NATGEO TV and it is really cool!

roses

I don’t know where the weekend went!  Saturday and Sunday (5/11 & 12) were filled with golfing (Michael had an 83!) and cleaning and knitting and TV watching.  We finally broke out one of our Bogey & Bacall movies last night (Michael got me a set for Christmas) and watched TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT.  What a great on and off screen romance!

Our rose bush has totally burst into bloom:

 

I know it’s hard to see the blooms against the house, but they are such a beautiful pink, I decided to get some close-ups of different roses:

 

 

Rachel and Dana (Jan’s granddaughters) came over for a bit in the afternoon to show off the purse that Rachel had completed for her mom…it was beautiful.

 Hope your Mother’s Day weekend was great!

rosemary, roses

I had a nice long chat Friday morning (5/10) with Janice before leaving with Michael for a chiro (chiropractic) appointment.  We hit WALMART afterwards and picked up interfacing for Jan/Rachel, then dropped it off before heading home.  We got some of our plants planted (mint, sage, parsley) and also started another rosemary plant.  You remember, our rosemary grew to 6 feet across and 3 feet wide?  Well, this is how it started out: 

We are going to try again and try to keep it a bit smaller!  Our roses are coming in quite nicely too…we lost one bush over the winter, but the other 2 seem to be doing fine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent the afternoon continuing to cut out squares for the new signature quilt.  At 6 PM we met Jan and Walt and Rachel (their granddaughter) up at the gold club for dinner, and we relaxed and knit and watched TV in the evening.

Thursday (5/9) was another early morning…Pat walked down to my house at 7:45 and we took off to pick up Nancy (at home) and Mary B (at the church) and to attend the Spring’s Spring Sale.  WOW – I can NOT believe the prices.  They had kits with 2 pieces of polar fleece…coordinated to make those no sew blankets.  So the pieces were each 72 inches by 60 inches….so basically 4 yards of polar fleece for a grand total of $2.50!!!!!!!  That’s 62 and a half cents a YARD!!!   Other cotton fabric was a buck fifty a yard!  I got several of the polar fleece kits and a bit of Christmas fabric.  I have never been to this sale and neither had Nancy or Pat, so we finally decided to go this year…..I’m glad I went, but I’m sure it will be a couple of years before I go again.  It is just too easy to buy stuff there  J.  We stopped in at quilting on the way home and I got scraps from several people.  A very dear neighbor of mine has been diagnosed with breast cancer and I have decided to make her a ‘signature’ quilt, as I did for Jimmy.  She seems to like fall colors and I don’t use many of those.  I asked my quilt group if they had any scraps I could use, to please bring them.  When I got home, I started to work on ironing, washing and cutting them out.  Jan stopped by with Rachel for a consult.  Rachel wants to make 2 purses and they stopped by to talk about interfacing.  I worked on cutting until after dinner, then Michael and I just sat and watched TV…I was just too tired to do anything else.

new hat

I must have done all of my running around before I left at 8 on Wednesday (5/8) because I sure didn’t do anything when I got home!  My honey was kind enough to make me a good breakfast while I showered and took care of my computer stuff in the morning, before running out to pick up Joanne, Sue and Jan and headingoff to the Viking store in Pineville.  They had a Viking educator in for a seminar which was very interesting.  At least Joanne and Sue thought it was very interesting….it was almost exactly the same presentation as last year, so Jan and I were less than enthralled, but still interested!  We got home close to 1 and my honey made me a smurfy sandwich for lunch.  I knit for a bit while he was out running errands, but then was really tired and tried to take a nap (although what I had to be tired about after sitting on my butt for 3 hours I couldn’t tell you J.)  Anyway, I got a bit more knitting done before Michael took me down to the ballfield for a hot dog for dinner.  We watched a bit of the game, then headed home for TV and knitting.  I finished another hat: 

 

I think my box is only 1/4 full…I think I have to speed up production!

furry kids

Michael left for golf on Monday (5/6) morning, even though the course was liable to be a mud pit based on all of the rain we got over the weekend!  I headed to the Lake House at 9 AM for a meeting on the next drive for the Volunteer Club.  We are collecting for 2 children’s homes in our area and I met with my team to make sure we are ready on May 20 to start the drive.  When I got home, I spent about 2 more hours on the internet, getting caught up on everything I had to do, and finally got back to knitting on my sweater.  I took a break in the afternoon and visited with a new neighbor who is also a quilter.   Their home is lovely and she had lots of nice quilts to share.  Her serger had stopped sewing for her, and I got it re-threaded and working again.  She also doesn’t know her PFAFF embroidery machine, but I can’t help her with that.  Michael was home when I got home, with a SMOKIN’ 77 from his day of play.  He had 3 birdies…and also had a great time.  He took a quick shower, and there was some snuggling going on while he was in there:
 

 

We enjoyed our back deck in the afternoon, and after dinner I read for a couple of hours while he watched a movie, then we watched a bit of TV together before heading to bed.

**********************************

We were up early Tuesday (5/7) to head to LOWE’s for a lot of our plants.  We bought several packs of flower seeds, along with 3 tomato plants,  zucchini and yellow squash plants as well as mint, rosemary, oregano, parsley and sage.  We had a quick appointment at the chiropractor’s, then hit Aldi’s for lots of fruit and veggies on the way home.  Nancy arrived shortly after we got home and we had our usual fun Tuesday morning.  Joanne picked me up at 1 for Stitch & Chat, but before I went to the meeting, Rose and I met with Trevor…our lifestyle director.  Rose is president of the Volunteer Club and I am the secretary.  Apparently our management people are deciding things and changing things about the Volunteer Club without even the courtesy of letting us know, which is actually par for the course almost since the club started….so, we ‘bearded the lion in his den’ to find out what was going on and why.  I think we got our points across and told them that some of the things that had been decided would definitely NOT work for us.  We have been fighting some of the same things for the entire SIX years that the Volunteer Club has been in existence, and I guess we’ll just have to go on fighting!  Rose told me I had to be the ‘bad cop’….she could never do that!  Anyway, after that it was a very nice visit in Stitch & Chat, then Joanne treated me to a frosty on the way home  J.  I read my book on the deck in the afternoon, and after a quick dinner, Michael headed off to the movies, while I stayed home knitting.

breakfast, furry kids

Sunday morning (5/5) we got up and made pancakes and potatoes and we had 3 slices of leftover bacon too…a SCRUMP-TEE-US breakfast indeed  J:

 

We both spent a lot of time on our computers after that, while this was going on, on the sofa:

 

Then Michael headed upstairs for the golf, and I stayed down to work on my sweater.  I ripped out the collar and the bottom ribbing, and by the time I went to bed, the bottom ribbing had been put back on.

entrelac sweater :-(

Friday (5/3) was a wonderfully long and relaxing day.  Even though I spent the morning with Jan at Joann’s (and by some miracle actually found 2 pieces of fabric that were NOT on sale, so I got to use my 50% off coupons), I had time in the afternoon to do paperwork, nap, organize my next knitting/sewing projects and read a bit.  We picked up Jan and Walt at 6:15 and headed to Lancaster for dinner at PIZZA HUT and DEATH TRAP at a local theatre.  It was a nice production and we got home at 11.

Saturday morning (5/4) Michael left around 8 for golf (coming home at 2 with an 85), even though it was only 51 degrees here L.  I don’t know what it is with the weather this spring but it has been TOTALLY weird.  I can’t believe how cold it is today on May 4.  I headed downstairs to continue working on the collar for my entrelac sweater, and finally at 12:30 PM it was ready to be bound off.  It doesn’t work L.  It pulls up the front of my sweater…I definitely have to rip it out and pick up more stitches:

 And now that I’m really looking at it….I knew I wasn’t crazy about doing the ribbing in garter stitch, and now that it is done, I absolutely hate it:  

 

So…..back to the drawing board…I don’t know what plan “B” is yet…I have to think about it, but I'm definitely ripping out the collar as well as the 'ribbing' at the bottom.

quiche, quilting 'stuff', Cookie & Elsie

I was up early Thursday (5/2) to get 2 quiches started to take to quilting. 

 Yes, I used a giant burrito shell for my crust…less calories, and less fat and easier to work with!  I mixed up the egg/milk/spices mix and put it in a separate container to take with me. 

 

Michael thought it would be cute to take a picture of all of the stuff I drag to quilting on any given Thursday…and this picture does not even include my machine…and whatever I was working on!  Egg cartons are for our members who have their own chickens and are always looking for cartons and the plastic bags are any extras I have that go to the local food bank, while the yellow folder is what I carry all of my secretary stuff in:

 

 Anyway, what a productive morning and early afternoon…I got the remaining blocks for a new charity quilt sewn.  I started the blocks at the Fiber Floozie retreat, so was glad to get them finished.  Now they just need a quick trim and I will give them to Michael to lay out in whatever pattern he chooses.  I got home around 2 PM and was so tired (I haven’t been sleeping well at night) that I took a nap while Michael and Cookie went for a walk.  We had a chiro appointment when they got back and after that it was a bit of paperwork (this was going on behind me while I was on the computer): 

 

before leaving to have dinner with Joanne & Larry at a new Italian restaurant nearby.  Our dinners were great, and Michael left directly from the restaurant to go to a showing of “WAIT, WAIT, DON”T TELL ME” at a local theatre, while Joanne and Larry gave me a ride home.  Joanne came down for a bit of knitting and socializing after dinner, and when she left I continued to work on the collar of my entrelac sweater.  Michael got home around 10:30 and we talked for a bit before heading to bed.