Here It Is, Jill

Recently I started quilting again after seeing some fabric sheets that go in my printer and come out with mixed results in my case.  After printing several of them out I’ve learned a few new tricks to make them look better, but anyway, I’m hooked on making pillows and bags, and have even started a memory quilt for my kids.   So, when I told Jill Dennison of Filosofas World about the bag I just finished she wanted to see a photo of it.  Well, after many attempts at getting a good photo, here are some of the shots, not my best work with the camera, but I just couldn’t convince that doggone bag that it should sit up and pose for me.  Hope you like the photos.  This bag is the first of many more to come!  The pictures were found on Pinterest.

 Kinda neat looking, huh?  Don’t mean to toot my own horn on it, but after dropping my needle several times and finding it when it was stepped on, seated on, or just bit me when I stuck my hand in a pocket for some reason.  That kinda smarts, ya know?  But the quilting part if fun again after several years hiatus from holding that little needle.  I am finding the process to be very calming again.  Can’t exactly take a nap under the bag — well, I have a few times, but it’s not as comforting as the full sized blankets when it comes to keeping warm!  Since I don’t have a lot of space here I’m using the quilt as you go method where each block is quilted and when they are stitched together after being quilted.  It’s actually so much easier than the old traditional method of putting them in a frame and calling the neighbors to come in for a quilting party.  Not as much fun, but easier~  Y’all have a great week now.

Advertisement

A Sky Full Of Angels

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Ghost Presenter on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 Photos from Pexels.

Blue Angels, that is.  Courtesy of the United States Navy Department.  They began flying in yesterday for an air show they will be giving in town Sunday, an event that always pleases around here.  Hopefully the sky will still be clear on Sunday so we can see as well as hear the show.  Always a stirring — or maybe I should admit, heart stopping, event.  I’ll also admit it scares me silly! 😀 My building is so close to the airport it feels and sounds as if they are coming into my living room in a very real sense.  I’ll even admit that I’m scared stiff at even the thought of flying, just absolutely certain that if God meant for me to fly He would have made my wings visible enough to give me more confidence about the whole thing.

With that said, I’ll try to talk about my first time in an airplane.  We left Owensboro in a very small one that reminded me more of riding behind my son on one of the three wheelers on the farm — ya know, hitting every bump (and in the case of my son, every mud puddle he could find, just for the fun of it), engines laboring to get a large piece of metal off the ground. 🛫🛩  Uh-uh, not my favorite thing to do.  Much better to walk or take a bus 🚌, but we were going to Germany and they haven’t built the bridge across the oceans yet, so I swallowed a couple of Dramamine and pretended all was well.  Not so bad then, but we had to switch from the little plane to a big one to get across the ocean, and my Mom booked our tickets, so we flew into O’Hare and changed to Iceland Air for the flight over the water.  It was larger than the commuter flight we took to Chicago, but not by much.  For the first time in my life I felt like a human sardine, packed tightly into that WWII surplus airplane, in the middle of a 3-seat row with Mom by the window, where she actually looked out at the ground below on several occasions, and a very large man in the aisle seat.  I took the remainder 10 Dramamine tabs and tried to sleep.  Impossible to sleep while cramped between two people, but I tried.  Almost made it at one time, but my very excited Mom shook me wide awake again and told me to look out the window at some icebergs after we were over the northern seas on the way to a layover in Iceland.  Gee, thanks Mom!

So, almost an hour in the very nice and modern terminal in Reykjavik, spelling aided by Spellcheck, while they refueled and cleaned the plane, then the long walk in the icy air back to reboard for the last leg of the trip to visit my sister.  With only one more bottle of Dramamine in my bag I had to suffer thru this part all on my own.  And I do mean suffer.   Motion sickness high in the sky is not much fun, but then it’s not much fun on the ground either.  At least I saw the icebergs when we landed in Iceland, so Mom was appeased.  And we found some nice souvenirs and even waited until our return flight to buy them, since 3 weeks sightseeing in Germany and surrounding countries would be bad enough without having to pack extras with us.  Plus, we really needed the space in our bags for all the goodies we found in Germany! 👕👚👜👠👢🎄🎀🎁  My brother-in-love packed it all up in boxes when we got back to their place and shipped it all home for us.  Well. after all, they were still using the mark and our exchange rate was 5 to 1, so we even had money left over when we had to come home.  Sis was happy to accept the marks that were left as a hostess gift, since the exchange rate had changed by that time.

 Found this on Pinterest and it fits my present condition!

 

Pitchforks And Puppy dogs

Ever heard the expression “It’s raining pitchforks and puppy dogs”? We have had some weather like that recently, and just look at the puppy dog that showed up at my door! I’ll be taking care of Tessa for a couple of weeks and I’m sending photos to her person each morning. We got a phone call from Rose last night and I put it on the speaker phone so Tessa could hear it too. I think we might have confused the poor baby though. She ran to the door when she heard mom’s voice and it was a few moments before she was persuaded that she was still stuck with

I’m learning a few new things while taking care of Tessa. The biggie is to be far from the electronic devices as possible while they are charging and transferring files. I’m not sure what happened but the poor baby was in severe pain when I inadvertently picked her up. I’ll never forget that, and never, ever do it again! I can’t imagine what it was like for her. She is kinda keeping her distance from me now so I have to win her confidence again, one baby step at a time.

Y’all have a good day now!

More Movies

But definitely never another attempt to review one!  I have searched for some time for a movie I saw when I was 19, and that was a few years back down the road, believe me!  I guess it was never very popular, “Marjorie Morningstar”, with Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly, but the theme song has stuck in the corner of my memory all these years.

“A very special love is what you are to me, A stairway to a star a night in Shangri-la of ecstasy” — those were words guaranteed to move the heart and mind of a 19 year old back in 1960.  Come to think of it, I guess they could move me even today.  After all, I just bought the movie, didn’t I?  If memory serves correctly Marjorie Morningstar was the very first adult movie I ever say.  I would imagine it this world today it would be considered a “G” rating, but as I remember it, in those days it was slightly naughty.  Later tonight some friends are coming by and I’ll play that one rather than check out the latest on the Fire Stick.

This has been a week!  My kids last remaining great-aunt on their dad’s side passed away on Saturday, just a few days after my own last visit with her.  The lady was a sweetheart, a master quilter with a boat load of awards in her corner.  Having learned that art many years ago from watching the ladies around me I can say she was legendary in my mind.  I could watch her for hours, although these last few years Alzheimer’s disease had robbed her of some parts of her memory.  With her lovely smile and cheerful face each time I dropped by though, you would never know how much she missed being able to remember the past.  It was only when she sat for a few minutes and reflected on how bad her memory was that the pain peeped thru.  Aunt Betty, forever my love and forever my hat’s off to you.  You have left a rich legacy in your quilts and a lot of memories of the better days, beginning to fade from my memory now as well.

So here we are again.  A lot of things have changed in the WP format — at least on my computer, so I’ll have to spend some time now trying to figure it all out and learn the ropes again.  Have a great week!

 

My First Movie Review

And probably my last one, since this is not really one of my strong points.  However, yesterday morning I was scrolling thru the hundreds of movie choices I get from my FireStick TV, a recent purchase from Amazon.com, and I found one called “Lifted”.  Now you will understand why this is both a first and last review, because I neglected to note the studio, producer, even the actors involved in this movie, remembering only that it is available with the Amazon FireStick on one of the apps that accompany this device.

I don’t usually do commercials or endorse any particular product over another but I’,m here to tell you that device was one of the best things I ever ordered.  And just think about this, if a 75 year old disabled woman can install it on her plain Jane TV without any help, just think what an able bodied person an do!  I’m also not getting paid for this, so don’t buy it because you think it might help me in any way..  I just love to share good things with other people so consider this my shared gift for the day.

So, back to the movie—it is filled with music, based on a true story about a young boy who wins the Alabama State Singers contest/award, and I would have to watch it again to be sure that is even the name of the contest.  It takes place during the Afghanistan/Iraq war, a period  I would rather forget, the music is a genre I personally don’t care that much for, and take my word for this — you will need a couple boxes of tissue by the end.  And this lack of information is the reason I can’t write reviews.  About all I can do is tell everyone to give it a try.  I’m not even sure if it has ever been in the theaters yet, but since I am a person of discriminating taste not a theater goer, (problems with the sound being too loud there) I just don’t keep up with things like that.  So, this is the way I make a short story something that requires a commitment from my readers to finish, and why I will NEVER be any good as a movie reviewer.  Fortunately, I have never even considered movie reviewing as a career choice.

The above photos are some of my favorites, Panther Creek Park –one of my favorite places near Highway 81, where I almost grew up one day when I forgot to look, a quilt made from my Mom’s shirts and tops after she passed away three years ago, my very first ever grandchild, Alan, now a dad himself, my son Mike, daughter-in-love Janette, and sons Logan and Noah, a repeat of that one, grandson Noah, and yep, the last one is me!  Taken a long time ago, and while I still had my guitar.  Made the mistake of letting my older son take it at a time when he was taking lessons, and now can’t get it back.  Oh well, I have my memories — at least occasionally.

Ya’ll have a great rest of this Labor Day weekend.  I’m gonna get some needlework done!

Lord, it is time… — Sacred Touches

And this from Natalie, My sweet friend,

**Photos taken by Natalie; collage created by Natalie

via Lord, it is time… — Sacred Touches

Smorgasbord Short Stories – What’s in a Name? – Elaine – A Shining Light by Sally Cronin — Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

A beautiful story by Sally Cronin.

This weekend I am sharing two more stories from the first volume of What’s in a Name – both begin with the letter ‘E’ and the first is a story about a woman who is saving up a secret to share with her husband on his birthday. Elaine – A Shining Light Elaine lay under […]

via Smorgasbord Short Stories – What’s in a Name? – Elaine – A Shining Light by Sally Cronin — Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life