Things I like Thursday Jan 25

Greetings!

So, we had a freeze Sunday night and already we are  in the 70's this week!  The weather over the weekend cleaned the air and we have beautiful blue skies. Yay!  Here are other things I like from this past week:

1. Cafe Zupas in Glendale, Az.  My daughter and I went to a Zupas in northeast Phoenix after our Christmas movie and we loved it. So-- for her birthday, we went for a winter pedicure (which is new for us) at a new shop AND Cafe Zupas was next door- SCORE. This time we had the Cuban sandwich (pork, ham, muenster cheese, bread and butter pickles on Chiabatta bread with Dijon mustard. Oh my goodness. My daughter said it was like a party in your mouth!  We split the sandwich so we could have the Peppermint Chocolate Brulee.  Serious.  ... If you have a Cafe Zuppas in your area I highly recommend them. Their grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup is to die for . Just sayin.   I also loved a house recipe drink they had:

So  much so that I walked back up and took a photo of the ingredients (which is a first for me) and I sorta made it at home.
I drink water all day long which is boring and the flavored waters in the stores are not for me. This was so light and good. This orange berry drink contained orange slices, strawberries, honey and water. Natural and tasty. Duh

2. A Thomas Moore quote from Jenny Elefantz' blog:

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

3. A Winter Pedicure!

For my daughter's birthday on Saturday , we got pedicures. It was such a treat. We normally don't do that in the winter so this was fun.

4. Making a WIP/UFO list.  I've never made an actual list before and I've been feeling like I had some things hanging over my head that I needed to get done in the sewing area. As I mentioned before, until last year, I was a one project quilter. In January I try to reorganize my rooms and thought this would be a good time to corral those projects unfinished in containers around the sew room.  Well, guess what? I only have 3! The other 3 containers just have specialty fabric in them for stash: Christmas, Flannel and Garments. Here are my 3 WIPS/UFOs which need to be completed:

The Charm Scrap XMAS Mini.  I designed this  mini with leftover Christmas charms and I love it but got discouraged with the math as I originally thought I was making a quilt. Finally, I just added the gray border and put it away. All I need to do is find a backing and quilt it as a mini.

This is "Sweet Serengeti" a 50" x 60" quilt with a "piano keys" border.  This line of fabric is so beautiful but I will probably donate the quilt. I have the backing and maybe enough batting, so this should be done in February.  I'll post more details on it after it's done.

These are "Notting Hill Tea Cake" blocks I'm doing occasionally with the Cake Mix Recipe papers.
Many times, I like to sit and do  mindless sewing and these are such fun.

4. Start of an RSC quilt for the year.  I've been seeing these challenges all over the "interwebs" and thought I would try it from the scraps bin.  Here are the blue ones for January:

They are a little dark for my taste but that's all the blue scraps I had that were big enough (2.5 x 4.5) and then I used contrasting mini charms for the centers.

Well, that's my "likes" for this week.  Thanks for coming by and please join us for more at LeeAnna's post: Not Afraid of Color.

Have a blessed week!
mary

A sad day in our lives

Hello

Sometimes I need to just post about our everyday life. I try to have a positive approach here blogging and appreciate our weekly "likes" posts for that purpose but we had a death in our family a few days ago and it's like our lives came to an abrupt halt and we are still dealing with the changes.

My children's father ( my ex husband from 40 years ago) died on Thursday after a long illness. I have been helping my son and daughter wander through this difficult process of hospice, funeral homes, cleaning out property to be prepared for sale, realizing our immortality and of course, their loss.

I wish there was an easier way of dealing with all these processes but am so proud of how they have handled everything. This will be going on for months but they are strong adults, thank God.

As for myself, I feel bad he is gone and not here to enjoy their company.

There, I feel better getting my thoughts out in writing.

Hug your family tightly.
mary

I Like Thursdays Jan 18

Greetings!

Well, I can finally say I'm feeling much better. Went to Chiro and got my back fixed and went to lung doctor and got an antibiotic for the bronchitis.  Now just have the primary doctor to see Friday.  Hopefully I'll get my haircut today and a pedicure Saturday and I'll be a new woman. Whew.

As you can imagine I have a few likes for our weekly group. here they are:

1. My lung doctor.  She is a funny intelligent woman and so down to earth. She's been my lung doctor  about 6 months after I was diagnosed with COPD about 5 years ago.  At that time I was on oxygen at home during the night.  Her tests and the right prescriptions have enabled me to stop the oxygen at least 3 years ago and keep my COPD at bay.  What helps so much is her approach to my health. For instance when she sent the antibiotic prescription to my pharmacy online while I was sitting there in her office, she handed me a written prescription for a drug  in case I got a yeast infection from the meds.  Only a female doctor would do that in advance.  Just sayin.

2. A new quilt for my second great granddaughter. We had an addition to our family Jan 8th. She is so sweet.  Here's the quilt I sent to her family:

I made this small quilt ( about 50 inches square) when I found out my granddaughter was having a girl and then just waited till she was born to add a label with her new name-Kynslee. This quilt was made from a scrap bag I purchased at my LQS! I think it's from a line at Me and My Sister.  Love the color combo.


3. My new Valentine quilt. I didn't realize I didn't have one for the living room.  I was at Walmart to purchase an embroidery hoop and saw their FQ bundles for $5.75 for 5!  I don't normally purchase fabric there. I washed the fat quarters, pressed them and got started cutting.  I cut the fat quarters into charm squares and they made 60!  I added some white 1.5 inch sashing I had in my stash.

I just bordered each charm making 8 to a row with 7 rows and the rest of the top to make a top 39 x 46. I did this in 2 days!

 I didn't have a backing I liked in my stash so went to Joanns big sale and got a Valentine backing for $14. Score.  So, here we go again with the back almost prettier than the top. Oh well. I like the choices.

Yesterday, I tried sandwiching on my smaller table (about 2' x 4') next to my bed.  Usually, I put 2 tables together but then I can't get in the closet so I left one of them put away and did this:

It was a little difficult but not impossible plus I didn't have to wreck my back getting out the other table and of course put it away when done!
Hopefully, I will quilt this cutie tomorrow. 😉

Thanks for coming along on this journey today and please join us at LeeAnna's "likes" post Not Afraid of Color  for more fun.
Have a blessed day.
mary

Light at the end of the patio

Greetings!

I am finally starting to feel better! This may have something to do with it:

Don't these make you feel good? Through all the "cold" weather, pollution, etc- petunias made it and are thriving. Guess I did too. (hee hee).  

They are just the most beautiful purple. In my last home I was known as "the petunia lady" because my petunias did so well on my patio. These just make me so happy. Maybe I'll run out and get some more. All of my plants are in pots. The home I live in now has such weird areas of sunshine so I have to move the plants around a lot which is hard on the back but worth it.

I finally went to my lung doctor about my cough that refuses to go away. I did have bronchitis in a mild annoying form so she gave me an antibiotic which worked immediately and I'm just about done.  I also splurged and paid $55 to see my chiropractor (doesn't take medicare) twice last week and I'm back to "normal" with my back. The fog of misery is finally lifted.

So, back to cleaning, cooking, shopping, sewing, gardening as my life is.  I'm so grateful for this life.

My heart goes out to the people in Hawaii!  I received the notice on my phone here in Peoria, Az that the initial post of a missile on it's way there was in error . I was walking into the house and immediately turned on the TV.  I couldn't believe what happened and how gut wrenching that must have felt for a long time afterward. These are our days, now. Awful.
Especially for those people who live there and can't leave!
 I was there in the 90's and really felt like I was in paradise. What a clean, lovely place with very special people I met along the way. It  even inspired me to go para sailing which was so cool!  I sailed while my marine son sat in the boat and watched (hee hee). Just sayin.


Hopefully, we will all have a peaceful week!

Best wishes to all!

Thanks for visiting.
mary

Things I like Thursday Jan 11

Greetings!

We made it through the first week in January and now the new year restarts everything.  Wish I could say things have improved here, but we are working on it. Have 3 doctor visits scheduled ( chiropractor for my back which is a mess from coughing, lung doctor for coughing with COPD  and PC doctor for the rest). Gheeze, getting old with body parts failing is the pits. Oh, and dr appt for my brother's follow- up is scheduled as well. SIL has the part ordered for the clothes washer -guess things are looking better after all.

Regardless, I have some fun "likes" this week:

1.My new daily/weekly/monthly planner.

It's about 4" x 7" , white and gold. I'm using it for future appointments but on the daily pages, I'm recording events that stand out each day. I have never done this before so we'll see if this helps keep track of our lives.

The top photo is the small daily pages for keeping track of either health issues, gardening chores, famous cooking results, etc.  Whereas, the bottom photo is just to list upcoming events and appointments, birthdays. I'm enjoying it as I keep it next to my tv chair at night and here at my desk in the bedroom during the day.

2. The photo I saw on Facebook of President Obama riding a stallion on the beach representing a real "stable genius". I can't copy the photo for you because it does not belong to me but I thought the photo and caption were priceless.

3. Amaryllis bulbs I received for Christmas.

I haven't grown them before but have always wanted to. They look delicate. Maybe I can get them planted today.

4.  My new Long Sweater for around the house.

I went to Walmart a few weeks ago to purchase sweats for around the house when we had a "cold" spell. But, this sweater caught my eye. It was only $16, fell to the knee, and is very light weight.  My tv chair sits next to a window, and sometimes I need just a light cover over my regular clothes.
I have been living in it.
Besides, it's much prettier than sweats.

5.  I'VE BEEN SEWING!!! I finally found time to finish a top, sandwich it and now I'm trying to hand quilt for the first time.  I call this my "Haywire" quilt.  All the center blocks were leftovers from a quilt I made years ago.  I just sewed them together, willy, nilly to clean up just one of my UFO's.  I added a blue/yellow Joanna Figueroa scrap for the borders and backing. Done in one day. Yup. I even had to scrap together some batting! Now we'll see if I can "handle" hand quilting.

Thanks for visiting my blog and please join us for more "likes" at LeeAnna'sNot Afraid of Color.
Have a great day!
mary

WITHDRAWAL

Greetings!

It's January 6 and I haven't sewn for fun yet! I'm actually feeling withdrawal this morning after not quilt sewing for 6 weeks.  I have some morning errands and chores but hopefully will get to sew this afternoon. I know I've said that a few days ago.   The weather has cleared up (no pollution ) so I hope to also go for a walk today.

These just seem like weird days.  Health issues, organizing for end of year, watching Thomas due to school break ( the best times), a new great grand baby coming in 2 days, all the political/government
nightmare that gets worse every day, and climate issues.

I definitely need sewing therapy!

Here's what's on the design wall:

I still have my Cake Mix Recipe blocks I started months ago. They are so fun for "mindless" sewing which produces adorable blocks! (don't know what happened with the ghost in the corner. weird)


Have a wonderful weekend!!

mary

I like Thursdays Jan 4

Greetings!

Hello to everyone. Happy New Year.

We have had a difficult 2 weeks with  truck repairs, clothes washer not cooperating and health issues for both of us! I do not understand "what's goin on"🎶.  That's a great song by the way. just sayin. We have both been at Urgent Care 2 days apart. I'm supporting Cigna.

I digress. I still have "likes" to share , so lets get goin.

1. My new Steam Inhaler. It works great to clear the sinuses but I don't think it's great for the bronchial tubes. not sure yet. At $30 I expect miracle breathing and I'm glad to have a clear head without taking drugs which I'm sensitive to.

The other reason I liked using this was because I didn't have to use a humidifier for the whole room.
Plus, you get a free facial.

2. Spicy Peppermint Hot Chocolate  that I made from a recipe at thecraftyquilter.com. I used cayenne pepper rather than the pepper. Took 5 minutes but SO worth it vs store packets.

3.My Christmas presents from my brother.  First, you need to know he lives with me, is disabled and does not drive, use a computer, and is totally dependent on others to go places. Twice a week he attends the adult center to play games, cards, have lunch. Then his girl friend also takes him for the weekend.  This year, he ordered a quilt calendar for me online through his girl friend:

There's a new quilt pattern every month at least!


Then he ordered a quilted Christmas candle holder made by one of the adults at the center:

Absolutely beautiful!!
Plus he was able to purchase at the store (with his girl friend) Christmas knee socks:

I was totally blown away by his resourcefulness and thoughfulness!
I loved all my gifts, but this was just so special.

I hope everyone is having a good week.  Please join us at LeeAnna's "likes" group:Not Afraid of Color for more positive vibes.
Have a blessed day. Thanks for stopping by.
mary