A new project.

Tine, I wish you lived next door. Then I would run over with these safety pins for you!

I think my very first post was of a similar cat in black for my friend Liz's birthday. That one is of our cat Hallie since Liz likes to see him looking out the window when she comes to our house. This one is our Sidney, who lived with us from 1986 - 2005. I was looking through my stash for some pretty borders to attach, and came up with these three. Do you think I need a narrow strip of something brighter?

In Honor of Those Who Served

Happy Memorial Day, and many thanks to all who have served. We went to the parade this morning, and though we awoke to a thunderstorm, the sky cleared in time for the parade.

Chagrin Falls High School marching band did a fine job.

Last night we went back to the balloon festival, and this time we got to see some activity. Don't they look like floating quilts?

Watching them fill was interesting. They start with a fan and use cool air until just before lift off, when you hear a "whoompf" sound as they turn on the propane and up they go.

Nice!

Each balloon has about 1750 yards of fabric, and 3 miles of thread! Wouldn't it be neat to see one being made?

A story retold.

Have your ever read "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst? It's a great book! One day last summer our son, Daniel, had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. In an effort to cheer him up while he was in the hospital, I retold Alexander's story to fit the circumstances. With respect to Alexander and Judith Viorst, I will share it with you.

I went to sleep with my radio on and now the batteries are dead. When I woke up I heard the garbage truck coming and I knew if I didn't get outside before our crazy neighbor stole our garbage cans it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

No time for shoes. I stuck my feet in the flip-flops by the door - I think they are my dad's. I flung open the door and ran across the yard. The flip-flop on my foot got twisted or something and I felt myself falling on the hard, dry ground. Oh no! The crazy neighbor came out to steal the garbage cans and I couldn't get up. I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

He asked if he could help me up, but I knew if he tried to do that we'd both be on the ground. I sat there wondering what to do next. I could yell for help, but you-know-who would just come out again. Not good. Maybe if I just waited a little while I would be able to get up. All right, that settled it. I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I couldn't stand up, I couldn't crawl, I couldn't scoot. I was stuck on the hard, dry ground.

Finally the other neighbor came out. The one who just had hip replacement surgery. Was this an omen? "Who can I call?" she asked. My brain was frozen - who could she call? "I'll call 911," she said, and the next thing I knew, a policeman was standing over me.

"What happened here?" he asked. It was all too stupid to explain, but he could tell I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. An ambulance came shrieking up the street, and pretty soon I was being lifted - OUCH! - onto a gurney and I found myself racing down our quiet street inside an ambulance, with lights flashing and siren blaring.

Just your average terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

When we got to the emergency room, the paramedics rolled me out of the ambulance and my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day got much worse. I had to explain at least a thousand times what happened. No, I wasn't bungee jumping or parachuting. I didn't fall out of a tree or off a roof. I fell off a flip-flop.

I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and I am never wearing flip-flops again. Other people can fall down and get right back up again. If they break something it is something small. Like a toenail. You want to know what I broke? Something big. My hip. In two places, and dislocated it. I told you I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Somebody said something about surgery. They put me in an ugly gown with a really ugly hat on my head and wheeled me away. When I came back I hurt even more and I knew a trip to the bathroom was out of the question. Could this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day get worse?

It could. When they gave me something to eat I hurled it right back up again and I was confined to a liquid diet for three days. I used to like cranberry juice. I NEVER liked jello, and I hope I never see another can of ginger ale.

Now that I am healing I have more bad days. Torture in the morning. They call it therapy. Torture in the evening when they change my bandage and poke a needle right in my stomach so I won't get a blood clot. Can a blood clot be worse than a needle in the stomach?

I have to learn to walk all over again, and do all those other things, like going to the bathroom. It looks like it's going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. When I get better I think I'm going to Australia.

(Thankfully he did get better, although he now has a large metal plate and six enormous screws in his leg. He didn't go to Australia either, that was just for Alexander's benefit because in the story he was quite convinced that people in Australia don't have those days)

Weekend fun!

Have you ever seen a hot air balloon shaped like a rubber duckie? Cute! The hot air balloon festival is in Chagrin Falls this weekend. Somehow we missed most of it, but we did get to see this darling duck.

I went to Chagrin Falls High School, class of 1974. Can you tell what our school colors were?? We're having our 35th reunion next year, and I thought I would make this for the gal who always organizes these events.

I sometimes put dowel rods in the top and bottom of the wall hangings, and our cat, Hallie, loves to play with the long sticks. Once I cut them to size they are no longer quite such an attraction, and he turns his attention to other things.

Come for a walk with me.

This is the doctors' office where I work. It is tucked into a beautiful residential neighborhood. Every day at lunchtime I take a walk. Today was a picture perfect day, so I took some pictures to share with you.

I like my job most of the time, but even on the days when I don't, I love my lunchtime walk!

I see so many lovely things, and look how the wind picked up the flag just in time for my photo shoot.

These people have really worked hard on their landscaping. Last year this front garden wasn't even there.

You can see why I like my walks so much. Usually I catch sight of some animals; squirrels, chipmonks, sometimes even a deer or two. I did see two deer on my way to work this morning, but I was in the car and couldn't stop to take their picture.

A Buckeye tree in pink, and now it's time to go back to work for a busy afternoon.

Magnificent Brandywine Falls

The sun came out from behind the clouds long enough for us to visit Brandywine Falls this morning. The recent heavy rains made the water come thundering over the falls in a torrential cascade which was a sight to behold! This photograph doesn't nearly do it justice, but it does give you an idea of another of Mother Nature's awesome works of art.

After I had stared at the water for a minute I had the weird sensation that the water was climbing up instead of tumbling down. It gave it a whole new perspective. Very cool!

Finished projects and shopping.

This is Cally's graduation gift. Best wishes, Cally!

This one is for Katie. This is the star fabric mentioned below.

Sadly, Wal-Mart is phasing out its fabric department. As much as I love going to the quilt shop, (http://www.cottoncandyquilts.com/) Wal-Mart is more in line with my budget. I stopped in today to stock up before their fabric is all gone. :>{ Four of these I was buying for the second, third, or fourth time. The blue sparkly star fabric is one I've used in several projects and bought the last yard and a half in the store today.

Ohio Buckeye

On our walk this evening we passed a glorious Buckeye tree. Each flower looks like a small tree, and they are gorgeous. I think they turn darker pink later, or perhaps that is a different variety of Buckeye.

I have had trouble posting lately - I made a few unsuccessful attempts this week. I finished the girls' graduation wall hangings and may post a picture if blogger is on its game.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom and I had our Mother's Day outing a day early, and paid a visit to SlateTop Alpacas (http://www.slatetopalpacas.com/) The two gals shown above are having their Mother's Day outing, too. The little one is just three weeks old. She and her mom look good, don't they? The mom was sheared about two weeks ago - she used to look much fluffier! They are expecting several more babies at SlateTop this spring. Last year we visited when there were six babies all just a week or two old. Cute! Gestation is from 11-12 months, and the newborns weigh around 18 pounds. Birthing is a fairly easy process. The man at the farm told us that he came out one morning to check on the expectant mama, went in for coffee, and ten minutes later when he came back out the newest arrival was standing there beside her mom, just as though she'd always been there. A little different from the way we do it, eh?

Such fun!

This is my favorite kind of sewing. Usually after a ten hour workday I cannot get too excited about sewing, but this was something fun to do after a busy day. My sweet Larry kindly made dinner AND washed the dishes so I could sew. What a guy! This is for the second of the four graduates at work.

The gifting season!

Four of the young girls at work are graduating this spring. Above is Sarah's gift, finished first because she is receiving her Master's Degree this weekend. I have a couple of weeks to finish the other three. The stitching is finished, so the now the real fun begins! I love using the "quilt as you go" method to put these together. I've made many of them in the last couple of years, with all different sayings. The next one will be orange, yellow, and green.

After a few hours of sewing. . .

These exercise balls are wonderful! We've been using them for years. When your back is tired of leaning over the sewing machine it feels so good to do a backbend on the ball.

Mystery

Something mysterious happens to panty hose.
They can sit quietly in the drawer for fourteen years doing nothing, and when you go to put them on, you find that the elastic has disintegrated. Do you think that shoulder pads
may have gone out of style sometime during those fourteen years? Ah, but this ensemble contains something new - my cute new navy Skechers which I bought just for Valerie's wedding, which was yesterday. Lovely bride, handsome groom, and very nice service, all except for the poor groomsman who passed out with a loud thump just as the minister was describing how God made woman from Adam's rib. I'm not sure if the minister was being a bit too graphic, or if the guy's necktie was too tight, or what, but he was able to get up after a short pause in the ceremony. He didn't stay for the rest, but at least he seemed to be okay.