Florida...Part 2

This was our view of the gorgeous sunsets we saw...a few times anyways. When it wasn't raining.
We got a chance to meet up with Vicki and Dan....they came out to the beach to see us on an ugly day....
Vicki brought several of her projects along, as requested, so that I could share them with you. Somehow I neglected to take any pnotos of her knitting, which was beautiful, but I did get pics of some of her quilts and wip's.
The first pic is from a class she took with ...well, now ,,,,I just cant remember who. Here is an up close shot:
She's working on hand quilting that one!
The front and back of one of her gorgeous Moda quilts...

Some lotto blocks that V won.....they have so much personality...I can't wait to see what she does with them!
And this is her basket quilt that she recently got back from Karen the Quilter. It was so nicely done. The quilt was pretty, but Karen adds so much to it with her quilting.
V also brought along some of her bom / wip's.......but I've posted enough for now.
Talk to you chicks again soon!

Florida Trip, Part 1

Hey girls!
I guess I'll ease back into the blogging slowly (as if I've ever been all that on-top of it!)
Here's a few pics of the Florida trip. The citizens of The Sunshine State owe Tim and I a huge Thank You for ending the drought. Every time we go there we bring rain with us. This time, it was more than just rain. It was a deluge. Noah was getting ready to build another ark. A pirate ship drove down Gulf Drive (I kid you not! )
So anyway....here's a little photo tour of our some of the trip:

This is a beach side pic of the house we stayed at in the Holmes Beach/Anna Maria Island area. It was pretty nice. Crappy towels.......but it had a great location...just steps from the beach and the Gulf of Mexico. What could be better?

We splurged on our transportation..........got a little yellow Corvette convertible. Too bad we never were able to put the top down!

Saw a pirate on the beach. I believe she might have, at one point, been on the pirate ship that drove down the road.

Is this starting to feel like one of those times where your old aunt corners you and shows you pics of people and places you dont know / dont care about, but you just cant walk away? If that's the case, I'm sorry. I'll speed it up.


Here is an example of the terrible weather that we enjoyed just about every day that we were there. Thunder, lightning, sideways lightning, un-real winds, and incredible down pours that went on for hours. I'm terrified of storms. They make me nuts. I made myself feel better by drinking margaritas and whipping up batches of guacamole. Delish.


Despite the inclement weather, the sea turtles were coming out of the gulf at night and making their nests. Volunteers are assigned portions of the beach to patrol....and when they find a nest they stake it, and mark the stakes with the date and the name of the volunteers (among other things). It was really pretty neat to walk the beach in the mornings and see if there were any new nests.

Saw lots of birds...
And saw this pretty little garden on a drive along the water one afternoon. Part of this womand garden is lined with these pretty little plates. I wish I had taken more time and more pics while I was there!
And I found this groovy tree. Isn't it spooky looking?



Well girls, I think that's about enough for now. It's already after 10 pm, and Medium is on. Time to go.
Talk to ya later!

I really liked this pic

And I wanted to share it with you.

I haven't been crafty in awhile....

But I did get a new camera for Mother's Day and I've been playing around with it, trying to figure it out. I'm terrible at reading directions and making sense of them, but I'm trying very hard to figure this thing out.
So anyway, I'm going to try to post a couple pics........let's see if this works.

Here is Jasmine. She was a very unwilling model. She hissed and spit at me and ran off.

This is the picnic basket I got from my SIL......it was her grandmothers. Very cool...from the 50's, made by Red Man of Indiana. I love it. Its gorgeous and I think it would make a great project basket.

This is the one crafty thing I have been working on...this is going to be a felted bag for my daughter...and this was my first attempt at forming and felting one of the flower-like rolls. I have a front-loader washer, and I also have a top loader, but I have no hot water working in the top loader so I had to tote hot water to it....it was a pain and it didn't totally felt, but I got the basic idea and I know that I'm on the right track with the construction of the roll.

Here is Nik, my cosmetology student. She came home for a few hours on Mother's Day and was more than happy to test out the new camera.
This is a pic of Nancy's quilt for Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn started coloring them about two years ago, and now they are done and beautiful. I love your bold use of color and pattern, Nancy.
I think I've shown enough pics for now.....I have more but now I can't find the file.....so the confidence I gained is now gone. Crap. Technology is not my friend!

Another view of spring....

Winter here in Michigan is long and dreary, and spring is usually very short and wet. Our reward for not packing up and moving south is Lilacs. I have 6 bushes here at home, and I have 10 or 11 out at the farm. The aroma is incredible......
I thought I'd share these with you.


Today was not a crafty day for me. Had a few plants to pot up at the farm, (I did get a little knitting time in) did my laundry early so I could dry it on the line and made a stop Krogers on the ride back home since I had to do a little more yard work there. I also put a roast in the oven with onions, potatos, and carrots. It smells wonderful here in my kitchen (although the lilacs and the beef are competing with each other!)
Talk to ya later chicks!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Or Happy Cinco de Moustache, whichever you prefer to celebrate.

This very large rock is in a park in the small town where our farm is located. People paint it up for every imaginable occasion. Graduations, new babies, marriage prorosals, and declerations of love or team spirit. It's always fun to drive by and see what it says.

I've been busy at the farm, planting peas, spinach and swiss chard. Also potting up 10 lilacs and a couple of red maple seedlings. The heat is waking all the bugs up, and there are alot of very creepy country bugs, so I spent alot of time wacking things with a flip flop and screaming when I missed. I'm going to have to do some spraying around the house very soon.
I also got some work done on the pink and brown quilt, but not as much as I would like to. I am determined to get that top finished, and I do see a finish coming soon...at least a finished top. The quilting can wait till later.

That's all I have for now, chicks. We'll talk again soon!

I believe it might just be spring!

My daff's are all a'bloom & happy, as are the tulips:


This time of year I get a little nuts and jump from one project to the next, rarely finishing anything.
Here are 2 (almost) finishes:
First....my chair. Liberated from the trash at least 10, maybe 12 years ago. Had a green faux finish on it that I didn't hate, so I left it alone. Eventually recovered the ratty seat with a scrap of fabric that the cat decided to shred. Covered that with the leopard scrap I found somewhere about a year ago.
Here it is, awaiting a little distressing and a coat or 2 of wax:


I also bought a can of aqua spray paint and put a couple coats on this plastic dress form...I think it came from Hudsons/Marshall Fields when they turned it into Macys.... It is currently dressed in a Jose Castro Original.........sent to The New Emily as a Thank You after her internship in Spain and her assistance at Paris Fashion Week..........you cant see much of the dress form....but you can see that it is a slightly shocking color combo.


One last thing........this story just texted to me by The New Emily. She is out and about in NYC, picking up a sweater from Maison Martin Margiela, a store so expensive (Emily's words) that they don't even have price tags on their clothing.
She was walking to catch a cab and she saw......Meg Ryan! Anyway, she politely asked (because she was so well-raised) if she was, in fact, Meg Ryan and of course Meg Ryan said yes.....So Em proceeds to tell her that she and her roommate, who have viewed and enjoyed You've Got Mail, go to Cafe Lalo all the time (I believe that is where Meg sat waiting for Tom Hanks, with Pride and Prejudice and a rose). The conversation, however short, ended with a Thank You (because apparently Meg was also well-raised) and a hand shake. At which point Emily went back to work.
And that ends your vicarious brush with fame.
Have a great day!