"Out, I Say!"

You'll enjoy this tale of my abject frustration over this latest incident. On Saturday afternoon I walked around the longarm and saw this horrible, offensive spot on the area rug in the sewing room (circled in white). Immediately thinking that Hannes had either an "accident" or had been sick to his stomach, I ran to the cupboard for rags and the Resolve carpet cleaner. I scrubbed and scrubbed to no avail. The stain was dry, odorless and just as bright (and offensive looking) on the pad underneath when I pulled the rug back. I was stymied. I searched in the cabinet under the kitchen sink for something stronger, all I could manage to find was an old, half-full, can of Woolite foaming carpet cleaner.  I re-attacked the stain with the same vigor and had absolutely no luck at all. Losing at the stain-removal game is not something that I take lightly; completely at a loss, I stood up and walked around the rug. When I passed between the end of the rug and the sun streaming in through the window, the stain disappeared! Looking up, I spied the fluorescent green straight-edge quilting tool behind me shooting a reflection onto the rug from the sun's rays (circled in red). Sigh. I'd been defeated by an illusion!

Two days later the rug is still damp from all of my aggressive cleaning! I've apologized to poor Hannes who was quietly napping in his little bed in the family room by the fireplace while all of this was occurring; he's always a very good boy. 

You can believe that I was quoting Shakespeare as I scrubbed away on Saturday, 

Lady McBeth's line ran over and over through my mind: "Out ------ spot; out, I say!"

Things aren't always what they seem; and, this time, that was a good thing!

Life is Good!

Too Quiet?

Have you missed me? I know that I entitled my last post "Keeping It Quiet", but you might have noticed that I have been very quiet over the last few weeks-- too quiet! The truth is that we have been gone, cruising the Pacific and enjoying the sunshine of the Hawaiian islands. Our flight back to the east coast was anything but quiet; flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta on Saturday was one rowdy airplane ride full of Rams fans on their way to the Super Bowl! 😲 This was one scenario that we never, ever would have even considered when booking our flight late last summer. Timing is everything. We did have a wonderfully relaxing time away, catching up on some reading and taking in some movies that we had wanted to see. I spent the afternoons on board the ship working on some hand embroidery which I will show here soon. As always, Dorothy knew best: it is great to be home again, there's no place like it!

I will certainly miss English teatime in the afternoons, though. 

My latest mission includes searching for the ultimate scone recipe!

😉

Life is Good!

Sunshine and Shade...

...and the wisdom to recognize the difference.

I'm mixing it up this year. Admittedly, I am a creature of habit. Every year I buy the same plants, put them in the same locations... and expect the same wonderfully blooming results that I acheived a few years ago. This hasn't been happening lately, but up until this year I had been too stubborn to understand why. So, before I went plant shopping last month, I made note of the sunshine and shade patterns. There is a LOT more shade around our house than there used to be. I suppose that 14 years' worth of growth on the trees that we planted when we moved here, in 2001, can do just that! The potted Geranium on the once sunny step and the Iris in the bed under the spreading dogwood just weren't happy anymore; apparently, they don't believe in the "bloom where you're planted" adage. I now have a Dragon Wing Begonia potted up on that same step now; it's so pretty, even this creature of habit can learn to like something new. My Dad helped me to transplant what had become a foliage-only Iris to a new, brighter, location in the yard; hopefully the fruits of our labor will be evident in blossoms next spring. Hosta have replaced the flowerless Daylilies alongside the driveway where the sun never reaches anymore. Because the deer aren't choosy and like to eat both the Hosta and the Daylilies equally as much, the work required in maintaining the deer preventative is the same. Last week, armed with what I thought was the deer spray, my husband caught me spraying all around... and on... the Hosta with Round Up! I almost croaked when he pointed out my error. Quickly he came to the rescue with lots and lots of water, soaking the plant and surrounding soil. I'm blaming this mistake on a head full of congestion, a person can't be held responsible for operating under the influence of pollen. So far, so good; I haven't lost any plants yet, fingers crossed. So, back to my original subject:
sometimes changes can be a good thing, even for this creature of habit. I'm appreciating showy and colorful new flowers in old locations; I'm glad that I paid attention and chose to mix it up this year, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I had imagined. Watch out, status quo, you're not as safe here as you used to be! What glories might you be missing out on by staying mired in the same old rut? I've pulled myself up and out of mine and the view up here is simply spectacular!

Life is Good!

This and That Thursday

This photo was taken last Saturday morning; Lucy Ann's (and Mason's) Mommy and Daddy were our car shopping and the little ones were busy at home with Nana and PawPaw. Lucy Ann spent the longest time sitting on a quilt in the kitchen while I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, she insisted on playing with these "vintage" dollies while sitting directly in the brightest sunbeam. When I spoke to her she would look at me and squint... saying "my eyes hurt". All of a sudden she darted off and came back wearing her sunglasses. She plopped right back down in the same spot and resumed play; problem solved!

Later on that same morning Gregory (and his Daddy) came by to visit before they headed out for a load of mulch and yard work at their home. A trailer was the perfect place for some running and climbing fun.

Oh, yeah... and a quick kiss. They really do love each other.
Life is Good!

Sharing Sunshine

At the risk of having some of my friends and family in the snow-weary north throw something at me I cannot resist the impulse to share some sunshine and flowers from my own front yard. (If it's any consolation our temperatures today are not supposed to rise out of the 40's!) We've had a few, glorious, warm-weather preview days; but March is a fickle month even, and especially, here in North Carolina. Let me share a few rays of sunshine, both literal and figurative:

We kept Gregory and Lynnleigh overnight earlier this week, they kept Nana and Pawpaw hopping! Gregory is sleeping in a big boy bed at home now; so, on Monday, I tucked him into a regular bed here at naptime and told him not to get out of bed but to call me when he woke up. A few hours later I heard him singing and when I went in to get him I found him standing on the bed and singing to his own reflection in the mirror that is mounted on the dresser. I asked him if he was singing to the little boy in the mirror, he laughed. On Tuesday when he repeated the very same wake up/singing routine I entered the room to find him excitedly pointing at the mirror and proudly exclaiming: "look, Nana, little boy in there"! So sweet.

I have spent some serious chunks of time recently piecing the setting units for the church quilts.
I was lucky to find that a few of the Accuquilt dies I already own were the right size
for this project, making small work of cutting and super accurate piecing... a win-win! 

Meet Sophie, my newest sewing room buddy! Can't you tell what a snuggle-bug she is?
Sophie is our daughter's dog, she is staying with us until Saturday;
Hannes doesn't mind the companionship one little bit either, they get along just fine.

And finally, one last sunbeam from my house to yours. I am including right here a link to the tale of two wolves. This Cherokee Indian legend was part of our sermon last Sunday and it has stayed with me all week, it's time to pass it on to you too, in case you haven't heard it before... which one will you feed?

Happy Spring everyone~
Life is Good!

Fun In The Sun

You know me, I LOVE thread; all kinds. My greatest love affair with thread has been with the glow-in-the-dark variety for stitching swirls and squiggles onto quilts for children. Move over NiteLite and make room for SunBurst! I first saw this thread at the Superior Threads booth at MidAtlantic Quilt festival last month. Naturally, I had to purchase a spool; the biggest dilemma was which color to choose. They are all white on the spool indoors, it's when sunlight is added that the magic happens... presto, change-o! I chose blue and you can see the difference between the top photo and the bottom photo after one minute of exposure to the sun. You'll have to believe me on this one... the thread on the spool is completely white. The moment that I placed it down to photograph it yesterday (top) it began to turn blue! I think a picnic quilt or patio placemats would be so much fun quilted up with SunBurst thread. Click on the link to see the other colors available. Shine on!!

Life is Good!