Garden Path Blocks

 After planting the garden Sunday and then adding air to the car tire (we will see how long before the needs air light come on again.... sigh, I just got 4 new tires about 4 months ago!). A trip through the car wash and a vacuum of the car. Getting groceries and putting things away, it was close to 2PM. I did process some things - seal-a-mealed the boneless, skinless thighs, made a homemade mix for the Italian seasonings salad dressing, cut up the watermelon and planned the meals for the week. Then, I got to sew!

I dug through the scraps (not many in green since I tossed a whole bucket of them last year when the cat got mad at me - it was easier to toss than launder all of that!). I wanted brights to finish of the last 2 blocks needed for this quilt since I have a dark green and a sage green already.

I tried laying them out to see how they would look. I'll be playing with them a bit still I think. You always see things in the photos that you don't see in real life. I think this would end up around 40x50 right now. I 'might' add sashing and cornerstones to make it a little bigger. We will see. I had hoped to have this finished by the end of the month.... but I am thinking that will not be happening.  On the positive - it is that much closer to becoming a finished top now that the last 2 blocks are done!

Sorry I have not visited links. The internet this weekend has been horrible. I am very sick of the circling wait symbol when trying to surf the web or watch tv (we don't have cable). Hopefully the second call to the internet company will get a tech out here to figure out what happened. In the past, every time a new house goes in, our reliability drops. It has been stable for a couple of years, but we noticed someone was playing with the lines up the street recently and I've been having issues ever since at work.  It got really bad this weekend, where tv was not working. so hopefully a tech can figure it out and 'fix' it. When you work from home and need a reliable internet connection, things like this are not very helpful. *** Edited - of course, right after I told work I had internet issues and was off for the afternoon, it amazingly popped from 3.4 Mbps or less to 20 MBPS! Arrgghh. I'm guessing it was on their end and someone finally figured it out! I checked and HBO Max actually came up - which it has not since Friday night. So frustrating but fingers crossed it is fixed.

Slow Sunday stitching

 Kathy reminds us each week to slow down and rest. It sounds like I am not the only one who does not tend to heed that! I am getting better at it and will take a 'me' day once in a while and play. Today should be one of those days, which means I will be slowly playing with fabrics, my accuquilt and the triangle die and the sewing machine. Some slow stitching will happen as well on quilting of the bear paw quilt.This is the second feather in the middle of the quilt. I am quilting with a blue hand quilting YLI thread.

I will also prep some fabrics for Brimfield Awakening today so I have car line things to work on.

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

The kids should be heading to Grandma's today on a day when we will be hitting record high temperatures in Florida. The disadvantage of living inland a bit is we don't get the coastal breezes to cool things off. In Ocala they are predicting 90 degrees F.... that does not include the 'feels like' temps. Sigh. 

Emily and I both rode yesterday at horses. I had my lesson at 9 and Greg took Emily for 11. I had not ridden in over a month, but it all came back! I did have a new ride - Princess. It sounds like Prism was a little overworked this week and the trainer said I have soft hands so would work well with Princess. She is a lot different from the first 2 horses I've ridden. She is very 'sensitive'. Slight movements and she follows where I had to really kick to get Elwood or Prism to trot. It was really foggy yesterday morning, so I was riding in a mist with low 70's for temps. It was perfect! (I don't mind mist when it is comfortable temps!) It got hot quickly after the clouds lifted but I was done riding by then!

We had yet to start the garden. Never got around to it the last month or two so Emily and I were working on that yesterday with lots of breaks and water. Greg ordered a sun net to put over part of the garden. Emily had planted some pumpkins and they would get burned with the direct sun down here. Greg and I put it up a couple of weeks ago and it has really helped the plants. The garden got weeded and tilled. The add in's are raked in a bit. We just finished planting and now we just need to finish getting the fence up, since the dog really likes that area under the sun shade! Yes, water does go through it and it lets some sun through it. Time to get moving and showered before Grandma arrives to get the kids.

He is not spoiled at all!

RSC Saturday

 I only got a little sewing in on Thursday, but I was able to make this set of 4 bright green split nine patches. I should have time later today to make 4 dark green ones. Linking up with the RSC on Saturday.

I did a little green crochet this week, but decided to stop at this point on the dish cloth and use it as is. This one is the griddle stitch or the lemon peel stitch.  I'll try the Moss stitch next, I think. This one is a little long for me, so I'll start with less chains on the hook for the next one. I guess I prefer my cloths to be more of a 6-7 inch square. This one was almost twice that.

I'll start off my morning with a ride on a horse. It has been over a month since I have ridden so hopefully it all comes back to me! I asked for an early ride time since the heat just does not agree with me (I know, I live in the wrong state!). Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the weekend. Might I get  a little sewing time in? Fingers crossed. I hope to make a couple of bright green garden path blocks to finish off that collection of blocks. Who knows, it might even become a top and get quilted! 

Thursday Blahs...

 I seem to have picked up a head cold that is draining my energy. (I got a negative covid test - figured I'd better check) I had great plans today, alas, I am just doing a little and then resting. I think I will go play with some fabrics soon. I did get things dusted and a couple of floors swept. Air into the car ties which were triggering a low tire, a drive through the car wash and picked up a script from the pharmacy after dropping Aidan to school. Emily had an early drop to school for a little extra studying before taking an Agriculture certification test. She texted us that she passed with a 92! I have no clue what the certificate 'means' but it is something to add to her schooling credits.

I have been following along a crochet along this week of 5 stitches and making a dishcloth with each, each day. Maria's Blue Crayon is doing the crochet along on Facebook. I am still on Mondays! 

Day 1 of 5 Days of Crochet Dishcloths

Griddle Stitch (also know as lemon peel stitch)

(I used a 5mm hook, beginning chain of 36, dishcloth came out to ~7.5”)

Beginning chain multiple: 2

Row 1: Ch multiple of 2, dc in 3rd ch from hook, sc in next ch, *dc in next ch, sc in next ch, repeat from * across, turn

Row 2: Ch 2, dc in first st, sc in next st, *dc in next st, sc in next st, repeat from * across, turn

Repeat Row 2

I took it with me yesterday for the kids pick up and messed up row 2 a few rows ago and swapped the stitches by doing the SC then the DC. I'm not going to 'fix' it since it is looking the same and will just be a dish cloth for me!

This one got driving time in this weekend just around the neighborhood. He will need to get pushed to try driving on the road this weekend I think. He did an hour with me last weekend and I think Greg did some time with him on Monday while I was working and the kids were off school. He did get a haircut and looks much more respectable now! It was comical watching him get into the car without pushing my seat back! He is 6 feet tall to my 5 feet 1 or 2! 

I did trace a feather design onto the other open spot on the bear paw quilt and started stitching on that during the F1 race on Sunday. I have not picked it up since.

I think I'll go pull some bright greens and creams and cut out a slew of triangles using the Accuquilt so I can get started on the last 2 garden path blocks I need to finish off that collection. While they are out, I'll cut what I need for 4 split nine patches in bright green. Time to warm up some soup for lunch, and then I'll wander into the sewing area to play. 

Slow Sunday

 I'm happy to report that the 12th and final Frosty is completed! Now I need to trim them down and decide how I will set them into a quilt. Time to pull out the Bear Paw quilt for hand quilting again. Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Saturday morning I took Emily to horses. She is the last one riding back to the barn after her lesson. Marshmallow was being a pest, but she handled him well.

I watched the F1 qualifying with Aidan in the afternoon, and he is a happy boy with his Alonzo doing well. Dinner was white chicken chili and cornbread.

Bear was being a spoiled boy last night taking over the sofa. Since we were away on Friday, I'll make our corned beef and cabbage, potato, carrot and onion Sunday evening after watching the F1 race in the afternoon.

Saw this shirt in a store on Friday. Oh so true!

Atlanta, GA visit with kids

 The kids are finally willing to sit in the car so we can explore a bit! We decided to drive up to Atlanta and visit the World of Coca Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.  On the way up, there was a Buc-ee's. I saw one on the way up to VT last year, but we didn't stop. We decided to this time and see what the hubbub was all about! I have to say, I was impressed! The gas prices were great - 2.99 on Thursday and 2.89 on Friday evening on the way home! The 'store' was huge! The size of a Walmart! The food was pretty good. We all got the brisket on Thursday and Emily went back for more Friday while Aidan tried the chicken salad on a croissant, and I did a Caesar chicken salad. We might have gotten lots of snacks for the hotel stay as well on Thursday! The bathrooms were awesome! Enclosed rooms for everyone, which you do not tend to get here in the USA. Very clean as well. Can you tell, we liked this stop? I hear they may be putting one in on the other side of Ocala at some point.

We checked into the hotel right next to the two attractions and overlooking the Centennial Park. Then we walked over to the World of Coke for our 3PM entry time. We got both sets of tickets online and they had us pick entry times. It was a close to 6 hour drive so we figured 3PM for arrival would allow for traffic. 

We were done around 4:30 and headed back to the hotel. We checked it out and decided not to swim in the pools - there was a small indoor and a chilly outdoor pool. We did find a game room and spent a good hour in there. There was a Foosball and a Mrs. Pac Man game there. I enjoyed the Pac Man game and both kids got to try it out. I am terrible at Foosball.... Em is better than me but Aidan is pretty good at it. Then it was time to think about dinner. There were lots of options within walking distance, but we checked out the one at the hotel on our way back to our room. I didn't have my phone or purse (phone was charging in the room) and the Cajun/Tex Mex place in the hotel looked good and I could charge it to the room! It was really good. Em and I did the Mexican and Aidan went with Cajun side. 

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove over to the parking garage at the Aquarium. We had a 9AM ticket to get into the aquarium. It was a lot easier to see things in the morning before it got really busy. The aquarium was really neat. Tunnels with the fish above you! Walls of window to view all the swimming things and the reefs. We did the Sea Lion show at 11:15 and the Dolphin show at 2, then headed home in the rain. We could have sat and watched for hours!

beluga whales!

albino alligator

It was a nice getaway with the kids. 

Emily has horses in a bit and then I plan to see what trouble I can get into in the sewing room.

Slow Sunday

 I have been making quick work of the Frosty's this week. As it gets closer to the end of this series, I seem to stitch faster! Well, life is a wee bit slower after the crazy busy month of February. That helps a lot! This is Frosty #10 with his o in snow completed, and Frosty #11 just needing his face finished and a few snowflakes stitched above him. The last one is all traced and ready to start. Linking up with the other Slow Stitchers. The kids are off to Grandma's house today for the first time in about 6 weeks. I plan on visiting my sewing machine and relaxing with some fabric. The kids are off school for Spring Break.

I am enjoying a relaxing day (still in my jammies!) today. Despite the time change of losing an hour, I slept in until close to 10! I needed the sleep. It was a long day on Saturday with 4 girls hiking around Camp Wildwood at an encampment for the older girls (grades 6-12 only) and searching for and solving clues to the mystery all day. We met at my house at 7:30AM to head to the camp. I was tapped to help out with the opening ceremonies - to help raise the flag! I just helped unroll it and hold it so it did not touch the ground while it was being hitched to the string and raised up on the pole. My first time doing that! Normally the girls handle it but since it was their encampment, they got to not work and just enjoy their day. 

walking to our first clue at the theater. None of the girls had been out there before!

looking for our troop's clue.

exploring the theater.

we did do a little archery. I even got to shoot and hit the target twice!

After we solved the mystery, we had a couple of hours until closing ceremonies. None of them had been out to the Homestead area - and it was only a 20 minute hike from where we were, so we headed out there for a visit. Relaxing on the porch to enjoy the view of the lake!

The girls decided to stay for the campfire and smores. Ranger Courtney and Toni got the fire started. Since her normal helpers were nowhere to be found (her daughter Cam and sidekick Ally), Ms. Jill and I volunteered to help out at the smores making station. 

A dark walk back to the front of the camp and a car ride home with a full car of girls and my long day was over close to 9PM! 

I did find out this morning that my son finally took the proctored drivers test and passed. We need to schedule his appointment to go get his learners permit this week since they are off school. If I didn't have too much grey hair before, I have a feeling I really will after he has that permit in hand!

RSC in green

 

I got some time in the sewing room this week! Shocking, I know!  I pulled one of my green 16 patch blocks and turned it into a star to go with the pink and blue. 

I had cut a few extra of the snowflake background triangles last month, so the hard part was pulling some dark greens for the kite part. After that one was together I still had a few more extra parts, so I pulled some bright greens for the kites. I pulled out another offcut of the snowflake fabric and cut out some more triangles. I do love how easily these blocks go together. They finish at 8 inches. I use the Accuquilt 8 inch cube for these.

Saturday, I'm starting off the kids spring break by being in the woods with a handful of the girl scouts from Emily's troop. We are just doing the day but it will be a long one. I'll link up to the RSC sometime on Saturday.

Frosty #10 is Completed

 I had 2 car wait times on the kids today so got a good chunk of stitching time in while I waited. I traced off the last 3 Frosty's this morning and one of them is already completed!

Well shoot -- I missed the bottom of the o in snow on the sign! I'll fix that, I'm just too lazy to take another photo!

Completed Frosty #9

 

You know how as you get closer to the end of a project it is all in, lets get it done? Well, I'm feeling that way with the Frosty's. This one got finished last night and I just printed off the final 3 this morning so I can trace them for stitching. 

Frosty #9

This guy is going along nicely with his stitching. I should be able to get more stitches added at late school pick up today with the kids. 

 

Slow stitching Sunday.

 I'm happy to report I have been making some progress on Frosty McChill! Out of the 12 blocks Melisa was so kind to share with us, I have eight completed. I am starting to think of how these will be finished off and put into a quilt. I still need to trim them to size, but I am thinking a scrappy blue look of squares surrounding each with a fun sashing in between? I have a few other ideas in my head so we will see which one wins in the end!

I finished the 8th one on Saturday watching the F1 qualifying. 

I'll be linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers. It is an early start to the morning with a 8-10 cookie booth across town. I know the boys will be watching the F1 race when we get home. I was thinking of a visit to Grandma's this afternoon, since we have not seen her in a while, but Emily was tapped to feed Noelle the cow who is back at the school. I'll bet she is lonely as all the other animals are gone now that the youth fair is over. I do plan to get a few stitches into Frosty #9 at some point today.

 

Finishing off pink.

I was a little late in finishing playing with my pink this year. I was off yesterday and got a couple of hours in the sewing room to see what needed to get worked on. Turns out - I still needed to make some split 9 patches in pink for February. My supply of pink is very limited, but I was able to make up these blocks to add to the collection.

 I'll link up on Saturday with the RSC where people will be pulling out the green to play with for the month of March. I am excited! I have 2 light green blocks to make for the garden path collection and then I can assemble that into a quilt top. That will be my goal this month - to get that 2021 collection of blocks into a completed quilt.

Peanut the cat thinks the blocks will require moving around once I make the 2 light green ones. I'm sure he will be happy to assist in that process!

I headed off to the middle school midafternoon to be a chaperone for the advanced band heading to the MPA (music performance assessment) at one of the local high schools. There were a few middle school bands playing last night followed by a few high school bands. We got day 1 of the 3-day assessment. The kids did a great job and when the

teacher checked with the judges; they had assessed them at superior across the board! They performed 3 prepared songs on stage for 3 judges, then headed to the sightreading room across campus. They have it very secure and no phones while in that room. They saw 2 pieces of music and were given 3 minutes of review with the director before they performed the first one. The second piece they got 5 minutes to review before they performed it. The hardest part was not clapping after in the sightreading room since they did such a great job! This was a photo of them on the stage. We got home around 10PM and the girl was very sleepy this morning. I admit, I was as well. 

I think this finishes up the crazy month of February for the girl - with FFA (horse evaluation one weekend, cow another weekend), Band - lots of 3:45-5:30 after school practices the last few weeks and then the performance last Tuesday and the main event last night. Add in some girl scout cookie booths and riding of horses, working with Noelle the cow and feeding animals.... and normal schoolwork and it has been a busy time in my house shuttling kids here and there.