Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Where Oh Where....

Where oh Where has the time gone?  My intentions of blogging were great, but the time was lacking somehow.  We really have been a tad busy.  With the days being longer one would think I could get more done.  Ha!

Taking advantage of the longer days.


The garden has been calling my name and I love seeing what is in bloom. 



Passion vine growing in with the Bougainvillea



Clivia that are offspring from my father's.



I love this Iris' color.  This is the first time I have seen it bloom.


Although this bank belongs to my neighbor, I had to share a picture with you.  It is ice plant and it blooms once a year.  During that time it is positively breathtaking.  The rest of the year it looks like dried up foliage.





We also have a new visitor to the bird feeder.  This guy can climb right up that skinny pole to get to the food.  Don't ask me how.



We've had birthdays to celebrate.




We've also enjoyed houseguests over the Easter weekend. 



A rather gloomy day on Easter did not stop us from celebrating the special day.



22 of the 23 grandchildren.  One is away at college in FL.


Even the big kids had fun with the inflatables.


Gotta love duckings with Mohawk headgear!!!

The mailman brought me a couple more "squishy packages" last week.  Those are always such fun to receive. 

Talin sent me a delightful little jewelry pouch "just because."  She does such beautiful work and I always enjoy her posts.  Thank you, Talin.


Joanne sent me a package that I won on her giveaway.  The gravel was just delicious and the fabrics are so great.  I know that I will put them to good use.  I love the Aurafil threads!!!



In between all of the fun, I did manage to sneak a little sewing in too.  Kate had sent me some pieced tops that she had done and wanted them to be donated.  I finished them up and will take them to our guild meeting for them to be put to good homes.  Thanks, Kate.  They turned out beautifully.  Check out her blog for some wonderful art quilts and postcards.


Aren't the blues fun in this one?


I added the blue border to make this one a bit larger before quilting it.


My Spiderweb continues to grow.


Finished the top of the Modern Siggy quilt

Some of my hours have been wasted waiting for car repairs.  In those hours I lowered my winning percentage on Spider Solitaire.  ;(   Does anyone else love that game as much as I do?

The grandchildren have this week off of school for Easter break so we will have several of them each night through Sunday.  It's always fun to enjoy some one on one/two time with them.

Here's hoping the next post won't be so long in coming.

34 comments:

  1. I have greased the pole to the bird feeders and that only deters the squirrels by a few hours and they have it off and up they go!

    Your spiderweb is really growing and your cheddar was a great choice for it.

    I love spider solitaire too. I have to put a limit on the number of games a day! No more than 30, LOL!!

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  2. Looks like you had lots of great reasons for not blogging. How's that saying go? Time flies when you are having fun? It must have soared by for you.

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  3. You have been one busy woman! The flowers are beautiful, especially loved the little one she was the most precious flower of them all, she is adorable! When do you have time to quilt with all of the rest of life going on? I'm impressed, lol!!

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  4. Enjoy all those lovely grandchildren. There will be winter evenings to blog and stitch. However, I know how hard it is to resist spider solitaire, so I made a resolution to not play it. Not broken yet, tho I do play majong........sometimes :o)

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  5. Busy with lots of fun things!:) Your grandkids are so precious and beautiful!!!

    Those flowers are soooo gorgeous! wow!!!

    Beautiful quilts!!! WOWEEEEE!!!

    I never played spider solitaire:)

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  6. I love all the color! The bright orange clivia, the spiderweb quilt with the yellow and the color gradient signature quilt blocks!

    How nice to have almost all of grandkids together. Enjoy your time with them.

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  7. Your flowers are gorgeous! I especially love bearded iris. At one time I had 50 different one is my yard (at my previous house). It's amazing that you have had any time to sew with all of the activity at your home. How fun to have so many grandchildren!
    I used to play spider solitaire all of the time - lol.
    Your quilts are all beautiful!!

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  8. Just love the photo of your grandchildren. I should have scrolled down before I did the head count. At least I was right 22. LOL
    I must make another spiderweb quilt. They awys look great and it is such a great way ro use up some scraps.

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  9. Your grandkids are just beautiful.
    I don't know how you do it and still find time to play spider solitare.
    I love that game and when I start I can't quit.LOL
    Love the flowers and your yard looks so lush.
    Have a wonderful day.

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  10. love the grandchildren pic!
    that spiderweb quilt is coming along nicely~i've yet to tackle one of those. happy day!
    niki

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  11. Pretty determined squirrel. The Easter celebrations look fun. Beautiful picture of the grandkids. Must have been nice to have all but one with you.
    The spiderweb is looking great. I finished my last the last block for mine this week. Looking forward to putting it together.

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  12. A wonderful, wonderful post, I thoroughly enjoyed it all!! Hugs, K

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  13. Well, you definitely made up for lost time. Your flowers are gorgeous - wish I could come and see them!

    Our squirrels are just as inventive as yours - they can get anywhere!

    Our Easter was cold and yucky - with the sun out long enough for a couple rounds of egg hunting. We didn't do a big dinner this year, but went out to eat, and nowhere fancy. The cooks were all tired from I getting ready for the musical, guess.

    I really want to figure out a way to have the girls one at a time one of these days!

    I can't wait until my iris bloom!

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  14. Again, all your pictures are gorgeous. I love the passion vine. I promised myself that I would not plant anything any more, but this vine is tempting. Hmmm...

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  15. Oh, Mary, your flowers are absolutely exquisite! Would you believe my tulips and daffodils still haven't bloomed? lol I'm telling you, they're afraid to come out! It's been pouring rain the last 3 days with temps in the 40's...hey at least it's not snowing:-) That bank of flowers along your neighbour's yard is just gorgeous and look at that sweet little flower sitting in the middle of them!! hehe

    I love that picture of your grandkids, it boggles my mind that you have so many:-) Your get-togethers always look like so much fun and I can well imagine how much talking and laughing goes on!! I really miss big family gatherings like that but unfortunately my family is so spread out, we're lucky to even get together once a year.

    More goodies in the mail...I just love that jewelery pouch Talin made for you, it's gorgeous! Your giveaway wins are also wonderful. When you first mentioned how delicious the gravel was, I thought why is she eating gravel, then I saw it was candy! lol

    Your quilts are beautiful and what a satisfying feeling it must be when you finish one:-)

    Do you play Spider Solitaire on the Pogo site? Steve and I have been a Pogo Club member for over 10 years...that's how we met:-) Spider Solitaire has often been one of the weekly challenges and I do enjoy playing it!!

    Hope your week is going well and that you're having fun with the grands:-) xoxox

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  16. 23 grandchildren! You are so blessed! Of course you have had no time to blog! I just love your modern siggy quilt, especially the way you placed the colors.
    OH spider solitaire, I play all the time but no matter what I do or try I cannot get a score higher than 1290. Most of the time it is around 1188. I am starting to think that breaking 1200 is impossible, unless I am missing an important part of the game! YIKES!!

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  17. Lovely pictures and quilts! I'm waiting for my clivia to bloom. I divided it last year and I'm wondering how long it will take to bloom again. Yours looks lovely!

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  18. love the spider web! I have wanted to do one and have lots of string saved up for one.....just need to get moving on it some day. Have fun with the all the grandkids!

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  19. I love seeing your lovely grandchildren together. You have such lovely family Mary, thanks for sharing them with us. I can see that everything you do makes you a very happy person. It shows on your lovely face - Hugs Nat

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  20. I am not surprised you are not getting to post, especially when you post on so many things at a time.

    Neighbours ice plants do look stunning right now.

    Love the photo of the grandchildren and amazed how they all seem to like having their photo taken together.

    I have not been on the 'Eye'. I am not bothered enough to stand in the queues probably. Also I am a little claustrophobic and would prefer not to have to share a pod with a couple of dozen others!

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  21. Twenty-three grandchildren, and every one of them so handsome! What a wonderful family. PS, I love that quilt with the blue border

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  22. What fun.....love love the flowers and quilts and truly enjoyed your family!

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  23. Love all the pictures! Glad you're having a great time with family!

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  24. Thanks for sharing such wonderful pictures. It's amazing just how busy life can get but at least you are enjoying yours with your wonderful family. Easter must have been pretty special with most of your grandchildren present.

    Nice work on the quilts, I love your colour choices. I hope you find some time over the weekend to do some quilting.

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  25. Love all the pictures!!!
    Yes life gets in the way of blogging!!

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  26. Busy life you lead. I love the picture of all the grand kids. Isn't Easter grand when they can all get together.

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  27. Are the flowers in the bank ice plant? I remember banks of them while living in CA. I miss being able to have a passion vine. Much too cold in Ohio. What a wonderful group of grandkids!

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  28. You have had lots going on. Looks like such a nice time with your family. I want to do a spiderweb. I need to make a list. Your's look great.

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  29. That iris is unreal. I love that color. 23 grands??? Wow. Aren't you blessed. Time does fly when you are having fun.

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  30. Your flowers are just gorgeous! I am so anxious for things to bloom around here. That wall of flowers is just spectacular!!!

    What a great shot of all of your grands except the one in college! That is a wonderful picture to be treasured!

    More beautiful quilting, no wonder time flies for you, that's a lot of work but I know how much you love it!

    Yes, it does look like the adults are enjoying the inflatables too! Such good fun for the kids and adults! Glad you had fun despite the less then stellar weather!!!

    I have never played spider solitaire but I'd better not learn as I don't need another distraction from my sewing! ha!

    It's gloomy here today with rain and clouds. Dad and I did get our walk in this morning before it all started. There are birds everywhere especially woodpeckers and it was fun to listen to them pecking away. We are watching one tree where they are carving out a hole to make a nest. I hope I can get some pictures of that!

    Love to you and E! xoxoxo

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  31. I enjoyed all the pictures!!!! Beautiful projects too.

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  32. Those flowers are absolutely gorgeous! I must plant some flowers. Besides Azaleas, we have mostly just shrubs and bushes. Boring!!!

    Love seeing all your grandchildren. Where in Fl is the one that wasn't there in college?

    And as always, quilts are beautiful!!

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  33. Lovely photos, and what beautiful grandchildren! We have alpacas in a field near our house that we like to walk the grandchildren up to visit. They are cute!

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  34. You are blessed to have so many grandchildren and the flowers are so pretty, lovely photos. Love all the quilts, beautiful!

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