Best Laid Plans

Remember all of that sewing time that I was planning on while our floors were being refinished?  What was I thinking?   The first few days were okay, in spite of all the noise from the sanding machines, etc.  After that they suggested we leave the house because of the fumes and inability to walk on the floors.  I am glad to say that they finished up this morning and now it is cleaning and putting everything back where it belongs.  UGH!

So....what did we do when we had to leave?  We took a spur of the moment road trip.  We headed out to Las Vegas to visit some dear friends who moved there several years ago.  We stayed in Vegas for two days and enjoyed some rather cool and tropical weather.  It was a joy to see thunderstorms and enjoy a bit of rain in the desert.

I would love to know more geology so I could tell you about the different colored layers in the mountains and just how long ago it happened.  It would be so interesting.

From there we drove to Death Valley, stopping in at Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge along the way.  Ash Meadows is located just a short distance from Death Valley and is an oasis in the middle of the hottest, driest desert in North America.  They had a lovely visitor center about 8 miles down a gravel road.  We were the only visitors at the beautiful facility.  What a shame!  I was amazed to see so much water in the desert.  The colors in the pools of water were gorgeous and they were homes to tiny little puff fish, an endangered species.

Death Valley was toasty warm at 114* when we pulled into the Inn for the evening.   We enjoyed a pretty sunset overlooking the desert.

It was still warm when we left a little after 6 a.m. the next morning.

What sewing did I get done during the mess?  I finished a fall table runner for Sara who is in our Sewing With Friends swap.

I also got all the blocks sewn together for my Sea and Sand quilt.

Lastly, I did some mindless sewing, adding 20 more blocks to my selvage block project.

I also caught up on my Temperature Quilt.  The reds were making an appearance for a few days, but we are back in the low 80s again - back to the rusty reds.

The last of my Gridster Bee blocks arrived from Afton.  She actually made me EIGHT blocks for my month!  I am excited about getting this quilt made with all of the gorgeous hearts that I received in the month of June.

My computer was stored away in a room with no access during the refinishing so it is nice to have it out again.  I have missed following blogs.

This is what my house has looked like.

No cooking!!!!

Even Toby is glad to have things back to a more normal living situation again.

Life is Good

First of all, thank you for all the kind comments you left. I had to chuckle at Dawn's comment because it is exactly what I had said to my husband. It was a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." We used to read that book to our children and have always used those words in describing difficult days. The days since have been delightful.


I received a package in the mail from my aunt who is cleaning out cupboards in anticipation of moving. She found four china mugs that belonged to my grandmother. Since my grandmother had given me her china, she sent the mugs along to me. I remember my grandmother using these mugs as we enjoyed our wonderful visits. I can still see her rubbing the top of the handle with her thumb as we chatted. My grandmother LOVED her coffee from before sun up to well past sun down. She also ONLY drank her coffee out of a "real china" cup. A chunky mug would not do. Needless to say, I am thrilled to have them.


Notice the gold rubbed off the top of the handle?

Treasured!

DH and I drove to Las Vegas to see the desert in bloom and to catch "The Jersey Boys" again. The music is so fabulous. We happened to end up with tickets to their third year anniversary in Las Vegas so they had a special cake presentation after the show. That was exciting.


The birthday candles kept relighting.

The desert in bloom is always such a pretty sight. I really wanted to see some of the hot pink blooms from last years trip, but they were sadly not in bloom at this time. There were some bright pink ones, but the thorns on those were amazing.




The small town of Kelso is along the way and we stopped to eat our picnic lunch there. I can imagine the town in it's prime, but the train station, post office and jail are about all that is left. I am not sure that I would like to be locked up in this jail during the summer heat.




The train depot.

They did cover the bars as you can read here.

Still not too inviting.

I doubt that it is still in use.

Life has been busy with family fun things, but I have had a chance to get a little sewing in. My mom has a gal who helps her in the mornings and she loves an old apron that my mom has. The apron is really old and ratty looking after all of these years so I brought it home and made a pattern from it. Susie will now have a new one.



Nice and clean for the moment.

I finished another one of my PhD projects. I really like the way this one turned out and I am glad it is finally finished. Three down and only one more to go before the end of June.


Modern Siggy Swap blocks.

This panel quilt was made for the youngest grandson. It is suppose to have another two borders, but it was getting way too big for its purpose so I stopped after the road border was applied. I figured he could play with little cars on it too.

It is still pretty big.

Lastly, I haven't yet shown the latest of my Civil War blocks. The latest ones seem to be going together a bit easier. The measurements are a bit more accurate. I still need to do this weeks before the new one comes out tomorrow.



Blocks 16-19.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ahead.   I'll be busy with a little canning as the first peaches are ready.  There is nothing that says summer more than a bite of a fresh peach.  YUM.



S-U-M-M-E-R

I apologize for no links and lack of spellcheck, but Blogger is not allowing me to use any part of the toolbar.  Is anyone else having the same problem?  Maybe it is just me.

Schnibbles and More

Since tomorrow is the big Schnibble Parade, I best post pictures of my April Schnibbles, Tagalong.  I know it is not exactly "to the pattern" because I added a little sashing between the blocks.  It makes it just a tad larger which will make a nice table cover.  Be sure to check out the rest of the quilts as it is really fun to see how different each one looks when different fabrics are used.  My fabrics were Chez Moi Boutique from Moda.

Tagalong

I have really been trying to play catch up on my sewing after being away.  Here is my own little parade of work from this week.

Barn Quilt block for April

Yellow and blue block swap with Emily

Finished my pinwheels

Completed my block for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along

Found and added the final border to my Pineapple Quilt

We had nine of the grandchildren with us over the weekend and the girls were having a blast working with my scraps and creating blocks.  They were most pleased with their results and are excited about coming back soon and making more.

May is always a busy month around here for birthdays and anniversaries, but we celebrated Master J's birthday this past week.  I have to tell you that this gift was the hit of the evening - a bug watch.  It is a little band with an air dome.  You can "catch and watch" your very own bug!!!!!  What a thrill it is for a three year old.

Who wouldn't love a tractor pinata??

Last weekend we drove to Las Vegas to catch a FABULOUS show - Jersey Boys.  If it is anywhere near you, you must make a point of seeing it.  It is the story and songs of Fra*nkie Valli and the Four Sea*sons.  I cannot begin to tell you how much fun it was.  I could have stayed for hours and was sad to see it end.  Let me know what you think if you've seen it.

My DH and I really love to get out on the road and drive - anywhere!!!!  We hate to drive the Interstates because of all that you miss seeing along the way.  We found a very roundabout way to get to Vegas and although it only added about 45 miles to the trip, it was beautiful.  The desert is still in bloom due to all the delightful rains we have had this year.  The stark colors of the cactus against the dull background are breathtaking.  It was so nice to be able to pull over and take photos - another thing you cannot do on the interstate.

Our kind of road - see it going up the hill on the other side and not a car in sight.

Joshua Tree forest.

Yuccas about to bloom

Radiant color.

So pretty.

Seriously......as cold as I am all the time, do you think they could give me a warmer room??????