Finally!!

 The crazy quilt above was claimed by BB.  It is at this very moment on his bed.  He loved it the minute he saw it before it was even finished.  It may have taken me 3-4 months to finish it.  I was so tired of working on this on that I couldn't wait for it to be on his bed.  

I have discovered something anew about myself.  I TOTALLY HATE, HATE, HATE repetition.  I hate it when a song doesn't know when the song should be over and keeps repeating  near the end.  I want to ask whoever is leading the song if they don't know how to end it or if they don't know that it is supposed to be finished.  Relating that, I am now working on yet another quilt.  All the quilt blocks were finished and hand sewn in the recommended way with 1/4 " seams.  Of course I had to recut those blocks because they were very tattered on the edges.  It will not be a very large quilt.  I think the person ran out of matching yardage because there are some odd ball blocks  and she got discouraged and quit.  I don't know how long it will take me to finish this one.  Same thing over and over.  BORING!  I think Crazy Quilts are my forte.  It is constantly changing.  Being bored with the repetition of the quilt I am working on now, I left it in the middle of the L.R. floor and started working on a Victorian Crazy Patch.  IDEA STRUCK!  It became the front of a top for a new dress for me.  Almost finished!  Picture forth coming.

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Above is the quilt I finished for my AZ granddaughter
She really likes bright colors so this one just fit the bill. 
Remember that I am almost always working with
things other people throw away.  These oblong pieces
came to me precut.  Smelly.  Must have been in some-
ones basement in the midwest.  I had to wash them and
of course I had to iron and recut each piece.  What you
see running from top to bottom is cording (from a
yard sale) covered with various fabric.  It took me just
a week to make this one.  It also took every bit of
batting I had on hand including small pieces here and
there.  It is almost a comforter.

ME

Not many of you will be interested in reading this but it is all I could think of to post until I get another project completed.

I LOVE GETTING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING.
   Making quilts out of scraps others have thrown away.
   BB building a chicken house for me from out of date election signs.
   I made a blouse not too long ago from scraps.  Enough to get the body as recommended but had to make  
       the sleeves going in two complete different directions from each other and the blouse.  I like it.
   Getting dinner w/out running to the store when I don't have all ingredients called for and substituting some-
       on hand.  I have come up with new and very good recipes.

I SELDOM EVER SIT WITH MY HANDS FOLDED.
   I continually move to different task depending on my energy level.  I save knitting and crocheting for when
         I don't have enough energy to move the body.

I HAVE COME TO DESPISE TV
   Too many commercials, not anything much I am interested in but...I am watching an old TV series that I 
      didn't know existed when it was on TV.  It is called 'Boston Legal'.  Totally delightful.  I do sit with my
      hands folded while watching that.  At night in my desert, when the lights are on many bugs, especially
      tiny ones seem to be able to find their way into the house.  I hate watching TV in the dark.

MY HOUSE IS SELDOM COMPANY READY SO...
    every time I go from one room to another I pick up something on the way that needs to go my direction.

I ENJOY DOING LAUNDRY
   I have had a clothes line ever since I was married in 1959 and use it.

I ENJOY GROCERY SHOPPING

I...L-O-V-E..TO COOK.
   Sometimes when doing other things I get in the mood to cook something and have to decide what it will be

I HATE TO CLEAN MY KITCHEN
   And many times it looks like it
   On our honeymoon (in Yosemite) my husband bought me a plaque which still hangs in my kitchen.  I am
    no good at memorizing anything but I know this little verse.
            THANK GOD FOR DIRTY DISHES, THEY HAVE A TALE TO TELL
            WHILE OTHERS MY GO HUNGRY, WE'RE EATING VERY WELL.
             WITH HEALTH AND HOME AND HAPPINESS, I SHOULDN'T WANT TO FUSS,
             BY THE STACK OF EVIDENCE, GOD'S BEEN VERY GOOD TO US.

I TURN OFF THE AC/HEATER AT NIGHT ALL YEAR AROUND
   I figure if I have to pull up the covers (in the Summer) I am wasting energy and I can pull on enough
   covers in the Winter that I don't need the heat.

I LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL MY MIND, HEART AND SOUL
    I hope.                         I have never been put to the test.

I WOULD RATHER STAY HOME THAN GO OUT.

I NEVER USE THE WORD BORED
   I have way too much to do here at home that I enjoy.  If I get TIRED of one thing I just move on to
   something else.

NOW. ENOUGH ABOUT ME RIGHT NOW, TELL ME ABOUT YOU.



















  

This is why we love kids.

1) NUDITYI was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'
2) OPINIONSOn the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'
3) KETCHUPA woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'
4) MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'
5) POLICE # 1While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'
6) POLICE # 2It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'
7) ELDERLYWhile working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs... One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
8) DRESS-UPA little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'
'And why not, darling?'
'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'
9) DEATHWhile walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)  
10) SCHOOLA little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'
11) BIBLEA little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it.. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out...
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'

Detail pix

A few close up pictures of the Crazy Quilt that BB liked enough to take a close up of it. 

My latest completed creation

For the first time in my life that I remember I am fretting about change.  'They' have changed this blog site so much I am going to have to learn to use it all over again!  I am not happy with the way this is turning out.  At any rate, here are some pictures of the Crazy Quilt I just finished makeing for BB.  There are several other pictures of smaller detail but I can't get them on here.  I don't like the underlining of the scrip but don't want to take the time to figure it out right now.  I have other projects I want to get to.

I had (oh look at that, the script changed on me) my AZ family over for huge hamburgers last night.  I had not had a hamburger in a very long time an enjoyed it so very much.  You are happy to know that aren't you  ?  :-)

When I get another something done I will post it. 

 For

A two post day

Below is something my son sent me via e-mail. The pictures didn't copy but the story is fun to read, thus a second post on one day. Enjoy

BANANAS & MILK-DUDS
Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated...
He details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in a
F-14 Tomcat.. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get
To 'Milk Duds' , your sense of humor is seriously broken.




This message is for America 's most famous athletes:
Someday you may be invited to fly in the back-seat of one of your country's
Most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have. John Elway,
John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this opportunity,
Let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity.... Move to Guam .

Change your name.

Fake your own death!

Whatever you do.
Do Not Go!!!

I know.

The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was pumped.
I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot would
Be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station
Oceana in Virginia Beach ..

Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks
Like, triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair,
Finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles
Dyspeptic alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the
Other way. Fast.

Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the
Voice of NASA missions. ('T-minus 15 seconds and counting'. Remember?)
Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad.
Jack would wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting
For him to say, 'We have liftoff'.

Biff was to fly me in an F- 14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million
Weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin Montgomerie.
I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I asked
Biff if there was something I should eat the next morning.

'Bananas,' he said.

'For the potassium?' I asked.

'No,' Biff said, 'because they taste about the same coming up
As they do going down.'

The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name
Sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or Leadfoot.
But, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my arm, as Biff had
Instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail Nicole Kidman, this was it.

A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened
Me into my ejection seat, which, when employed, would 'egress' me out
Of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked
Unconscious.

Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over me,
And Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up In minutes we were firing nose
Up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another F-14.

Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted 80.
It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over Hell. Only without rails.
We did barrel rolls, snap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We dived, rose and
Dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000 feet per minute.
We chased another F-14, and it chased us.



We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at
200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5,
Which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing
Against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs.. Colin Montgomerie.

And I egressed the bananas.

And I egressed the pizza from the night before.

And the lunch before that.

I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth grade.

I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing
Stuff that never thought would be egressed.

I went through not one airsick bag, but two.

Biff said I passed out. Twice.. I was coated in sweat. At one point,
As we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock
Bombing target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I
Was in and out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person
In history to throw down.

I used to know 'cool'. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass,
Or Norman making a five-iron bite.. But now I really know 'cool'.
Cool is guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves.
I wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm
glad Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever
makes in a home stand.

A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said
he and the fighters had the perfect call sign for me. Said he'd
send it on a patch for my flight suit.

What is it? I asked.

'Two Bags.'



God Bless America

Mondays

I have decided I like Mondays...as long as I don't have to go anywhere. Mondays are a new start to a brand spankin' new week. Plans, good intentions, all in front of me. I started this week out well. I walked! That is a good thing. I am not faithful to my walking. I told my Dr. a couple of weeks ago (yearly checkup) that I don't mind walking, I just begrudge the 45 minutes it takes me away from my yarn and yardage.

Good intentions, new plans. I find that when I am away from home on vacation I always say: When I get home I am going to...you fill in the blanks. I wonder if you do that also. Most of the time I don't carry through on those plans but that is 'simply the way I roll' (as a niece of mine expressed).

Well, there you have it. Not much on my mind this a.m., just must carry through with some of those thoughts, first, dusting the furniture. BIG, BIG, winds here in the Spring and early Summer. I value the winds, it keeps us a little cooler a little longer here in my desert.

Home again, home again jiggidy jig

I know, I know, I have entitled my blogs with that same title in the past but I always think it and also always thank God for a safe trip.

This trip was to Palm Springs, CA. My oldest daughter went with me. Some day I hope it will be a trip with both daughters but the youngest daughter still has small children to take care of. Some day...

We were going to be away a week, Fri. to Fri. but came home a day early. We did and saw everything that we were interested in and it was time to come home. I think my sweet son-in-law wanted me to give his wife back to him. :-) When we left he was in bed with the flu and still didn't whine. He recovered enough to go to church on Sun. and to work on Mon. but I know he was happy to have us home early.

NO ONE would enjoy taking the vacations Becky and I take. We did garage sales and thrift store all Sat. and F-I-L-L-E-D the car with treasures. We hit one yard sale just as the people were packing it in and they almost gave away the things we were interested in. Becky bought two huge boxes of clothing. Just as soon as she got home she started sorting and washing. Some for her family and some for people at church. The trunk of my car was full of clothing. We took it out of the boxes so we could get it in the trunk. All for $2 !!!!! I bought a large box of books for making quilts and another box of material scraps for quilts. Half of the pattern books were for cross stitch. I will give those to a lady at my church. I DO N-O-T DO CROSS STITCH. I tried it once and it bores me sillier.

We drove to Redlands to see a cousin and an aunt of mine. My aunt will soon turn 90 years old. She and I used to be near the same size I believe. Now I can see that there may be a chance I will be frail. I saved clothing for years because I thought I might someday be old and frail, well, I became old but the frail didn't come with it. Frail I am not. My aunt is now frail but still a Blanton (my maiden name). Being a Blanton is an attitude: I can do it...I can handle it...I don't need any help! Blanton thru and thru. My youngest daughter once told me, "Let people help you mom, it blesses THEM" I told my aunt that and she immediately gave me the handle of her oxygen tank to pull for her. We Blantons are not totally unreasonable :-)

We had a great time. I am blessed to have children who love me and enjoy spending time with me............home again, home again.........until the next trip