Dog or Cat

I have spent the last couple of afternoons in my sewing room working on a quilt. Today Max joined me, he usually stays in the great room and takes on the job of the great protector. He let's me know if the city workers are checking the pumping station, or if the neighbor's kids are out playing. Today was different, the sun was shining and the window in my sewing room faces south. Of course I had to get his bed so he would be comfy. He curled up and slept for two hours. If I didn't know better, I sometimes think that I own a cat. He has been sitting on top of the arm of Tom's chair when Tom is in it. He plays with toys batting them back and forth and throwing them in the air, sitting in high places, and curling up in the sun. So sometimes we wonder if we own a dog because when he isn't acting like a cat he thinks he is human.

I need your vote

Photo A

Photo B

I am working on a red and white quilt. In quilting you can turn blocks to create different patterns, I am not sure which combination I like best, your input would be appreciatied!

Ecotherapy

I came across this article on reducing stress. No wonder we get winter blahs! I know just one week of this cold and cloudy weather just makes me feel blah! So I will tend to my houseplants and hopefully by this afternoon it will warm up enough, and the sun that the weatherman promised will appear, and Max and I will try to get a walk in. We haven't been out but once or twice in two weeks. I guess I have cabin fever. I sure hope that weatherman was right about the sun and just not teasing us!


What is Ecotherapy?
Ecotherapy, is about getting out of doors and becoming active in a natural environment as a way of boosting mental health.
There are 4 reasons researchers believe our moods change when we are in nature.1. We make nature and social connections with animals, trees, clouds and our surroundings.2. We experience Sensory Stimulation; colors, sounds, fresh air, wind, all stimulate our senses.3. We get active. And by walking and being in motion, we produce endorphins and serotonin - a great natural calm to reduce stress and lower blood pressure.4. We can escape from our busy lives. By reflecting, thinking and coming home to our self, it de-stresses and nourishes us.
How to incorporate "Ecotherapy" into your life:+ Take a walk in nature during your lunch.+ Listen to nature sounds on a nature sound disk or machine a couple of times a week at work.+ Keep photos of you in nature around your office to remind you of how you love to connect with nature.+ Keep a plant in your office+ Keep a small aquarium in your office with a few fish.
Whatever it is you decide to do, get outside. And if you can't, bring the outdoors to you!

Bibs

Since Xander is starting to eat more solid foods, I decided to make him some bibs. I remember when Amy and Christopher were in the high chair how messy it could be. Thankfully they grew out of that stage. I happen to stop by the only fabric store in Pine Bluff yesterday. I needed the ribbing to make the bibs and this was my only hope........................or I would have to wait till our next trip to Little Rock. The shop is actually a quilt shop, so I knew my chances were not that good, but fortunately the owner used to work at a chain fabric store that closed and I guess she bought up some of the left overs and now sells them in her quilt shop. She had a little bin of pieces of ribbing. I thought the green would work on all of them so I went with the green. I didn't have a pattern, so of course I went online and found the instructions. I think Grandma Margie had made the ones that my kids wore. They are very simple to do, boy did it bring back the memories of how I used to make the kids t-shirts. I can remember them crawling up my leg wanting me to read to them or play and I just wanted a few minutes to sew. This morning there were no crawling toddlers down there, so I took a momemt to remember and miss them! But then Max put his chin on my knee and reminded me that those days are gone and he needed attention today! I have to say I must thank Grandma Margie for a lot of those memories. Since Amy and Christopher were only eleven months apart, and they kept me very busy she once said to me " Just remember they are only this age today so enjoy each day. It is still the advice I pass on to new mothers, the best advice I think I ever got about parenting. Thank you!
I know Amy that you will run into days when you are at your wits end, but remember Xander will only be that age that day so spend that day wisely! Somehow, I know you will!

Ice Storm

Since we have had some inquires on whether we have been iced upon, the answer is no and we are warm and safe. Although northern Arkansas is covered in ice. I feel for those who are without power and for the linemen that have to face the cold weather to fix the power lines. I hope that winter ends soon and we get some signs of spring. It has been so gloomy here, I need some sunshine! I went out yesterday to throw scraps on my compost pile and wheel the trash can to the curb, I stopped by my little patch of pansies that have been blooming all winter, and I saw my hyancinth bulbs peeking thru. Yeah! A sign of spring!

New Method of Hand Quilting

I hope all of you are not laughing too hard at my incident in the bathroom. I decided since I can not repair the hole in the wall until Tom tests the leak and until they charge the system with freon I will work on my new method of hand quilting. I just got a new hoop, thimble and another notion called an aunt betty (which is basically a bent piece of metal) in order for me to learn this new method. I am very excited about it since it doesn't involve moving your wrists at all and therefore my carpal tunnel will not flair up when I am quilting. I have practiced for about an hour and I can actually do it all ready, but I need to work on perfecting my stitch length and build up my speed. I will try to post some results next week.

Not a good day

Well, I spent a couple of days earlier this week painting. I am so glad that the project is coming along so well. I am liking the color although the first day I was experiencing, the shock of change as you usually do when you paint a room. It is such a large bathroom, the brown really warms it up and I am happy with the results. So yesterday I decided to install the towel bars. As you can see by the picture, the ring towel bars at each end of the vanity look great!

I then decided to install the large bath towel bar. I started by measuring carefully, and deciding where I wanted to install it. This part always drives Tom crazy because I am kind of anal about these things. So after much consideration and measuring I installed the right hand side. Doesn't it look lovely! I then decided I better get the level to make sure that it looks nice and I mark the points for the left side of the towel bar. I get the hammer to start the anchor for the first of three that I need to put in the wall. I hit it and all of a sudden I hear a hissing and gas starts blowing out of the wall. You can pretty much, guess the word I used, thank god that it wasn't a water pipe. For those of you that can't guess it was the pipe that the freon for the air conditioner runs through. Yes the freon is escaping and what is a girl to do. I started freaking a little, because my initial thought was that it was freon, but our gas meter is right next to the air conditioner. I then calmed my self down, and convinced myself it wasn't gas because there was no oder and gas pipes are steel and my little anchor would not have penetrated a steel pipe. So, I call Tom at work, and he says calmly, the gas will stop soon and we will just have to get it repaired. When he came home from work, we ate dinner and they he sweetly said, "Do you want me to take a look at that". We cut a hole so that he can solder the leak and he has someone at work that can recharge the system. I am so lucky to have such a sweet guy!

So I now have to wait for the repair and recharge before I can start patching, mudding, sanding and painting all over again. The circle of life isn't it great!

New Toy

Tom finally convinced me to buy an attachment for our kitchen aid mixer. We tried out the attachment this weekend. I started out by making home made ravioli. It really wasn't very hard and they turned out great. So far all of the noodles we have made, have been made out of general all purpose flour. I can't wait to try some wheat flour. I used ground turkey in the filling of the ravioli. That worked out really well, I didn't want them to be greasy and heavy.
Sunday I made up the pasta dough. I asked Tom to prepare what I say is his best dish, shrimp scampi. He boiled water while he made the dish and I came in the last few minutes to run the dough through the machine and we cooked them up. All I can say is, yummy!
It really isn't a lot of work. I found a noodle recipe that is so easy, you just throw everything into the food processor, and a few seconds later you have noodle dough. You then wrap it in saran wrap and let it rest.
No more waiting for ten to twelve minutes for your pasta to cook, fresh pasta is done in a couple of minutes and you know they are done because they float to the top!

Art remake 2

Well here it is! I haven't finished totally setting it in the frame this is just a mock up.

I looked for textured papers, but didn't find any, but I wanted something with some texture. Then it dawned on me, something that I am familiar with is fabric so I found these two fabrics.

I will post the art in the finished bathroom so you can see it in action. Sure hope it comes together, it is hard to know whether you will like it till it is all put together. I have a second frame that I am doing something similiar to, but different.

Art remake

This is a piece of art that I haven't hung since we moved to Arkansas. I thought I would be green and redo it a bit to use in the bathroom remake.

I got all the priming done today and put a little of the new color up. It is really brown next to the white primer. Quite dark, but I think I am going to like it.

I am going to show you the result in the next post.

remake

Well 2009 is here and you know me I have to have a project. My goal was to get the only wallpaper left in the house off the walls. Last week I spent three days spraying and scraping and spraying and scraping and spraying and scraping, you get the picture. This week I have patched and sanded and patched and sanded, and after all these years I feel like a pro. Today was not fun since I had to clean up the mess from the patching and sanding, but I finished the day painting the crown molding and the base boards. I feel that the worst is over and the fun should soon begin. I still have to prime the walls, but I know that I am going to paint them brown. Yes, brown, Tom said BROWN and I said YES! I guess that is the result of menopause! It is much easier to make decisions and somehow I knew what I wanted. I usually compromise and then I wish I hadn't so BROWN it is!

I am using window curtains made out of a sheer fabric for the shower curtain. They are 86 inches long so they should look better with the nine foot ceilings. The good thing is they arrived today and YEAH! I liked them and the quality of them, half the battle. I still need to get a new white liner and a rod.

Grandson's quilt

This is a photo of a quilt I made for my fourth grandson Xander. It was the first embroidered quilt I made. I hoped that one day he will enjoy crawling around on it and checking out all the embroidered pictures. He just turned five months old so it won't be long until he starts to explore this great big world.