July 17, 2018
Since I have close to a 1,000 square foot garden, my attention hasn’t exactly been on the block of the month. Perhaps it’s by design that the summer blocks have been simpler. Quilter Foot had me test next month’s block prior to her cutting the kits to give out at tonight’s meeting, so I know block #7 is another less intricate one. Hopefully, I will make another block #7 before next month, but if I don’t get to it, I’m covered.
At this point I’m confident I will complete my 12 blocks timely. In fact, since Quilter Foot has had me help test instructions, I will most likely have my 15 blocks needed for the final quilt. I already have 8 blocks completed. It’s the finishing pieces I’m a bit concerned about at the moment. Tonight they went over how to use the tool to help cut some unusual pieces needed. Unfortunately I didn’t grasp what she was doing at all. I took pictures of the instructions and hopefully Quilter Foot will be able to help me if I struggle.
Regardless of what’s to come with the finishing kit, I’m halfway through the monthly blocks! Completing those is what I set out to do.
July Block of the Month Meeting
July 15, 2018
Today is a very special day in our house. Six years ago, a little gray puffball entered the world and would eventually change mine completely. That’s right, today is Sid’s 6th birthday! I hope he’s had a good day. He got his morning coffee and chicken soup. Eventually, he was able to go outside but not long enough for his liking. It was just too hot and humid this afternoon. I was miserable and coaxed Sid back into the house as soon as my harvesting was completed. He doesn’t seem to like his present. Since he’s become quite the mouse hunter this last year, I thought a giant camo pillow/bed was perfect for him. Perhaps I was wrong…
Albeit not on his new big pillow, Sid has been taking a lot of naps today. While he was snoozing, I was able to get June’s block of the month done which is a good thing since Tuesday is our meeting! Fortunately the block wasn’t too complicated. I am getting faster at the cutting for sure. The assembly of the 9 patch is what I’m struggling with the most at this point. Getting everything to line up is a challenge for me. This month, I opted not to fret too much. I ripped out a couple of times, but once I was pretty close I accepted my handiwork. For the first time, I ended up with a couple of little “pleats” I’m not exactly thrilled with, but I am counting on the actual quilting to disguise them. Quilter Foot is always good about reminding me that I am a beginner. She said she’d be my personal coach, and she has definitely been a great support and help.
Quilter Foot was kind enough to come out to the farm house and look at my sewing machine yesterday. Would you believe when she sat to sew, the feed dog ended in the up position, and when I sat to sew, it ended in the down position?! Talk about a hybrid of frustration and hilarity! Eventually we put together that I used the knee kick thingy, and Quilter Foot did not. So now the question is whether or not the knee kick thingy should be doing that as well as inhibiting the side button that lowers it. Progress at last!
And now as the weekend draws to a close, I have to say I am relieved to have June’s quilt block done, pleased to have reaped my first decent harvest, and thrilled to have celebrated the joy Sid brings into my life every single day.
July 6, 2018
Here’s hoping everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! I know several SwG team members participated in the Stewartville Summerfest Fun Run on a brutally hot and humid holiday morning. Everyone survived, and Meemaw got 2nd place in her age category. Way to go team!
My dad came up a couple days before the festivities and helped me in the garden. One of our projects was to attempt to transplant some potato plants from a pot. My Cascade seed potatoes had gotten moldy so I did not want to plant them in the garden, but I hated to throw all of them in the garbage. Consequently, I picked out the best of the worst and threw them into a large pot to see what would happen. They did surprisingly well, hence the need to transplant.
Dad helped remove a countless number of weeds from the garden while he was here. One area had really gotten out of control because I was waiting for my seeds to sprout so I could determine the plants from the weeds. Dad and I ultimately made the decision he was just going to take the tiller to the area. The newly tilled area became the home for the Cascade potatoes. The intense heat on the 4th stressed the transplants, but hopefully they will recover and thrive.
June 22, 2018
SwG Year 3 Running Total: 1,463.97 Miles
A Big Brown Bird, Beloved Gray Cat, Goat on a Leash, and a Free Roaming Dog…Just Another Day on the Farm
Since the rain finally ceased, Sid and I went out into the garden this evening to get a little weeding done. I ventured toward the south side of the garden, and Sid went for the north end. As Sid was milling around doing whatever it is a Sid does, the birds were squawking up a storm in the trees above him. A large brown bird flew between the two closest trees. I’m guessing there was a nest in one of the trees and the bird was trying to lure Sid away from the area. Sid was completely oblivious that the obnoxious chirping was for his benefit, until the bird on a mission got close enough for Sid to go after him. Much to my distress, that darn bird flew into the corn field beside the garden, and Sid followed in pursuit. I had been dreading the day Sid would wander into the field as I knew I’d never be able to find him if he didn’t want to be found. Nevermind the coyotes we hear at night…
Trying not to panic, I continued to cull weed after weed. Pretty soon I see one of the neighbor girls walking down the gravel road with her goat on a leash and her dog running free. If I wasn’t uneasy enough before, I was rapidly getting there. I mean, what could possibly go wrong??? I saw the dog run ahead of her and go toward the front side of my house by the garage, but thankfully I never saw him run into the field.
Once the little girl and her farm animals got far enough away not to hear me, I began calling Sid and looking through the rows of corn as best as I could. He was nowhere to be found. I went back to weeding hoping he’d wander out when he felt secure. Still no Sid. One thing I’ve learned about Sid over the years is that he sees me as his security. He always keeps me in his sight whether or not I can see him. Hoping he holds true to form and considering I broke my weeding tool, I decided to gather my things and head to the house–out of sight of the field. As I approached the back door, there was Sid desperately waiting for me to let him inside the house! I have no idea when he exited the field or how long he was waiting. I just know I was so relieved and happy to see him there safe and sound.
June 20, 2018
A Day Late and a Sewing Machine Short…until Lunch that is…
June’s Block of the Month meeting was last night at the Calico Hutch Quilt Shop. My block was completed with less urgency, but that’s not to say this month didn’t present new challenges of its own.
Since I left my new sewing machine in the shop last week, I had to use my mom’s fancy schmancy machine to finish my block while I was in MO for Father’s Day weekend. Yeah, I got her to help pin some of the last pieces I had yet to sew. I’m sure they’re lined up much more precisely than I would have been able to accomplish. For the most part I had the block done prior to that, but the glitch with my machine prevented me from getting it completed.
I wish Quilter Foot could have been at the BOM meeting last night. She witnessed my issue with the machine. Everyone else thinks I’m nuts–my mom, shop owner, technician… So I was on my own today to pick up the machine during my lunch hour without Quilter Foot’s moral support. Don’t get me wrong, I hope the feed dog issue doesn’t happen again, but I know something wasn’t working right! For the record, I did learn the feed dog on my machine does work differently than the one on my mom’s machine. The technician and shop owner both verified that. Regardless, I’ve been overruled at this point, and it’s essentially been deemed user error…
May 27, 2018
Without fail, my furry alarm clock works hard every morning to make sure I get out of bed nice and early. This morning, that persistent effort was actually appreciated. As I’m sure most of you will agree, it’s hot outside this holiday weekend, and since I’m still trying to get my garden planted, I need to be out early or late to avoid the heat. After this morning’s farm session, the garden contains marigolds, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, green peppers, jalapenos, cabbage, potatoes (even found some Schmidt seed potatoes so added them to what I’d already planted), onions, shallots, rhubarb, sweet corn, butternut squash, green beans, radishes, carrots, and lettuce. Tonight or tomorrow I hope to plant spinach, beets, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Since I’m hoping for a bountiful harvest, it’s time to start making more room in the freezer. So this morning I took out some frozen apples and made a pan of apple brownies. The bars really tasted good to me today. I like that they’re a different way to enjoy apples, and the fact that they’re easy to make, doesn’t hurt either. The recipe comes from the Katie Brown Workshop. While I haven’t seen an episode lately, she hosts a clever and creative show on public television. I’ve posted the recipe for Katie Brown’s Apple Brownies on my main Recipes page. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it!
May 22, 2018
While I was working on the garden Saturday, I encountered a baby squirrel. Every time I’d head into the garage, he’d run in there ahead of me. Fortunately, I managed not to shut him in the garage when I went back inside the house to clean up and hang out with Sid.
Since there was no tiller involved in my gardening tasks Sunday afternoon, Sid opted to come outside with me. It was cool, overcast and a chance meeting for Sid and his new squirrel friend. Curious, Sid approached the petite rodent initially. The squirrel did get a little sassy in response to Sid’s inquisitive advances. Sid kind of wanted to play but really wasn’t very aggressive toward the baby rat with a tail (as my brother would call it). Not interested in playing cat and “mouse” the squirrel ran into the brush by the creek and left Sid to find something else to entertain himself.
May 20, 2018
So after the BOM meeting and filling up my growling belly, it was time to finally conquer my garden. Perhaps I should say take on round 1 with untamed soil and struggling plants. As a novice hobby farmer, I’ve already learned some valuable lessons: 1. Don’t buy your crops until the soil is ready for them and 2. This isn’t Texas. It rains here.
Out of the blue two weeks ago, I got a call from my neighbor who was planning to come over and till up my garden. Mind you, he’s volunteering to take on this task out of the goodness of his heart. So I (being the overeager farmer wannabe that I am) jumped into action and spent the weekend in my glory going from store to store picking out flowers and veggie plants. I got my pots filled with flowers, but unfortunately my neighbor had something come up and couldn’t make it. Then the skies opened up with rain. Days of it.
In the dark one night last week, my neighbor tilled the area I had staked out. Yes, I have wonderful neighbors! But perhaps I need to get a guard dog since I never even heard him out there, and I was home the entire time! My big dream for this year’s garden meant significant expansion, so one till job doesn’t cut it. I know he is planning to come back when he can, but my dad did leave me a tiller so I felt I should try to take on some of the labor myself before the next set of showers.
Ummmm, have I ever even started a tiller before? Well, not until yesterday. I did get it going, and it pulled me along rather quickly and wasn’t even digging in the dirt! Uh, time to call Dad for help. After some fatherly advice I made some adjustments and tried again. Ultimately I ended up focusing on the south side of the garden. If my Grandpa Schmidt would have seen me…uff dah… Yeah, I was all over the place. Even Sid couldn’t stand it and went back inside the house. After numerous passes in countless directions, the soil did become workable and I was able to start planting.
Apparently my level of care for the plants in their little 4-pack black containers was lacking. They needed more water than I was providing until I noticed their less than subtle protest to their current living conditions. Now, I had spent a great deal of time planning out the exact order of how I wanted to plant my garden–good companion plants, don’t plant this by that… However as with every great plan, reality steps in and rules the day. During the 7 hours out in the garden I realized where my best sun is, and that there was more shade than I originally thought covering the bulk of the expansion area which included the part where I’d hope to plant some sun-needy crops.
Since I only got the south side tilled enough to plant, it’s where the sun is, and I have specific plants dying, I basically started reversing my crop order. I won’t be able to continue that, but it seemed like the best idea at the time. So at the end of the day, my feet ached, I have a farmer’s sun burn, and planted marigolds, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, jalapenos, and green peppers. I already managed to get a row of Kennebec potatoes in midweek last week.
Looking forward, I still have to get the north end of the garden tilled up better and have a lot of crops yet to plant. I don’t even have half of the garden planted yet! Today is looking like rain, so I’m off to run some errands. I’m thinking I need another Oriole feeder. Those little piggies have really been chowing down on that grape jelly! Sid and I are both thrilled to have so many of them this year!
May 19, 2018
Block of the Month Club: Month #5
I made it to the 8:30 am club meeting and was asked to help with the Block Party after the 9 am session. My role in the festivities was to climb up a big yellow ladder and hold half of each quilt during the show-and-tell portion so everyone could see how the quilts have been finished. Perhaps I didn’t have the best view of their beautiful creations, but it was fun to be a part of it.
May 7, 2018
It finally feels like spring has officially arrived! Saturday morning I put out grape jelly in preparation for the return of Sid’s oriole friend. By Sunday we had our first brightly dressed dinner guest. I don’t think it was Sid’s bold buddy, as this guy was pretty skinny and skiddish.
Tonight, we had another fine feathered friend appear in an unexpected place.
April 29, 2018
Taking it all in stride, Racing Meemaw and Gigi Twinkle Toes continued their racing success at last weekend’s ALS SuperHero Dash in St. Paul, MN. Their inspiring performances even prompted Queen Bee’s Knees to throw down the gauntlet for next year!
The Queen’s Decree
Racing MeeMaw Wins the Women’s 60+ 10K
Gigi Twinkle Toes Takes 1st in the Women’s 60+ 5K
April 23, 2018
The Soles with Goals Team is off and running yet again! This past weekend marked the start of fun run season for most of us. Congratulations to everyone who put their best foot forward at the McHenry County Human Race and the ALS SuperHero Dash.
Here’s a glimpse at one of my favorite moments from the 2018 ALS SuperHero Dash:
Some Guy Takes On Philometer in a Photo Finish
April 18, 2018
Minnesnowta Musings:
At this point, I don’t feel the least bit guilty that I haven’t taken down my Christmas lights yet.
April 17, 2018
Block of the Month #4 Meeting
Yay! I won my first fat quarter during the door prize drawings!
April 14, 2018
A season defiant mid-April snowstorm thwarted my grand plans of going to Rochester this weekend. But an unexpected phone call on Thursday provided me with a new weekend adventure.
Guinea Pig
Anyone who has a cat and sews, knows…
Sew how did it go?
April 8, 2018
Coronation
Three down and nine blocks to go. I’m already 1/4 of the way to fulfilling my new year’s resolution! The block of the month journey has been a lot of fun and very educational.
Month #1 for me was all about practice, practice, practice. Quilter foot provided me with a solid foundation to begin the endeavor. After that, I needed to figure things out in my own head and learn by doing. Utilizing scrap fabric to create additional blocks proved to be extremely helpful. I was very eager and couldn’t wait until the next meeting which seemed to take forever to arrive.
Month #2 was about building my quilting tool collection. During Month #1, Quilter Foot introduced me to iron-away gel pens, Best Press, and a couple of specialized rulers. I have since acquired a variety of quilt rulers of my own. My favorite is the 1/4 inch marking ruler which is very useful when making half square triangles. You simply line up the center of the ruler from point to point and draw a line on each side of the ruler. Voila, you have your 1/4″ sewing guides done just like that. I’m too much of a perfectionist to simply draw a line down the center and then sew a “scant” quarter inch on each side. Joann’s provided an economical way to build my collection. For the more specialized rulers, I went to the Quilt Shop. Overall, I think I’ve acquired a pretty solid base of helpful tools. This month, I got distracted with my potholder projects, and time went much faster between meetings.
Month #3 built on skills starting to develop during month #2. During Month #1 I was pleased just to get the block together. Month #2, I began thinking more about making my pieces of the block line up better as well as making the back of the block neater. For the first time, I ripped pieces apart and resewed during month #3. The block is by no means lined up perfectly, but I’m trying to improve. This block was more intricate than the previous ones and took more time. Consequently, it is a more beautiful block and by far my favorite one. I’m continuing to learn how to use all of the rulers in which I’ve invested. This month I began Zumba so my time and attention have been diverted somewhat. I haven’t made any additional blocks and will once again try to skip out of work a little early so I can attend both the BOM meeting and Zumba. The ALS SuperHero Dash is the same day as the Saturday BOM meetings, so I’m hoping I can juggle activities on the Tuesday which will be here before I know it.
April 3, 2018
Evening Entertainment
Sid had a fabulous time watching the robins come and go all evening. I’m sure the fluffed up birds were hungry as they endured today’s springtime snowstorm. At this point, we may get the 10 inches. It has snowed all day and boy is it blowing now. Hopefully the plow will come down my country road. It was plenty deep at 5:30 pm and a plow had yet to come. Then there’s the driveway…
I can’t seem to escape winter. It snowed somewhere between 4 and 6 inches on Easter when I was in Missouri! It should have been 50 or 60 degrees! Unfortunately nice weather is not even close to being on the horizon.
This nasty blustery day marks what would have been my Grandpa Schmidt’s 100th birthday. Where has the time gone?
MARCH 26, 2018
Block of the Month #3: Pieces, Pieces Pieces!
Saturday’s snow day was the perfect opportunity to begin working on March’s Block of the Month. Block #3 is all about lots and lots of pieces. Basically, I got the pieces cut (all 28 of them) on Saturday. Sunday I began sewing and completed steps one and two. Now I have 4 steps left to do. In reality, I believe I have the most tedious parts done. Next up are the flying geese! (And, yes, that was Sid once again crashing the “movie.”)
Deal of the Day:
Kwik Trip
The first Freeborn County Shopper of the month typically has a coupon flyer for Kwik Trip. One of my favorite coupons is the 1 FREE pound of onions, potatoes or bananas. Today, I picked up two small to medium onions and used the coupon. They cost me $.02, and then I submitted the $.25 any grocery receipt Ibotta rebate. I made $.23 and got 2 onions!
MARCH 25, 2018
I asked Sid if he wanted to be in the “movie,” but he declined. However, he obviously couldn’t resist making an appearance. Since I’ve been home, he’s been begging to go outside. Hopefully, we’ll go out a little later. We could both use some fresh air. Hard to believe it’s the end of March, and we had a snow storm yesterday. Albert Lea reported 10 inches, and northern Iowa had 16+ inches. It is pretty, but I am ready for spring!
Garden preparations took a nice step forward with this morning’s shopping trip. Most of last year’s actual vegetable plants (vs seeds) came from Runnings per the the recommendation of my Uncle Laverne. Would you believe one of the managers there used to live in Pflugerville, TX?! Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to get my seed potatoes before the sale ends, but if not, I can get them at the Albert Lea Seed House. According to my mom, my Grandpa Schmidt used to grow Kennebec potatoes, so that’s the variety I want to try this year.
MARCH 24, 2018
MARCH 22, 2018
I was thrilled to see robins on my drive home today. I am not thrilled about the 6 to 9 inches of snow in the forecast for tomorrow night into Saturday morning.
MARCH 21, 2018
Block of the Month: March Meeting
MARCH 19, 2018
Happy Birthday, Philometer!
(aka my dad)
MARCH 7, 2018
Non-Sid Proof Ruler
MARCH 6, 2018
Minnesota Farm Girl Tough…
Sorry about the Minnesota hair and fatigue. I was actually having a decent hair day until I unexpectedly ended up out in the elements, and I am just plain tired. Just wanted to share today’s adventure.
MARCH 5, 2018
Lunch with Subie
After Work
Made It Home
It’s hard to hear much of anything over the boisterous wind. The dumpster at the end of the driveway blew over sometime in the night or early this morning. Upon my arrival home, there were branches all over the ground. The roads were terrible the entire way home, and the snow was blowing really hard in spots causing white outs at times. It was with great relief, I arrived home safely to my furry boy Sid.
MARCH 4, 2018
Sid Rules
FEBRUARY 27, 2018
Project Pot Holder
FEBRUARY 26, 2018
Block of the Month #2: Making the Cut
FEBRUARY 25, 2018
Sid has continued to train in his favorite sport of puzzle with Olympic intensity. I, however, lack the coordination and focus needed to successfully set up the puzzle pieces and video him at the same time.
1st Attempt:
Best In Show:
Smack Down:
FEBRUARY 24, 2018
The sunsets and sunrises over the flat farmland have captivated me since the first day I moved to southern Minnesota. They are gorgeous. This morning was rather hazy but the trees were absolutely stunning coated completely in white. I was up early and tried to capture some of the quiet beauty as the sun was rising up from the horizon.
My nephew is right in that I do need a better phone with a better camera. The video didn’t come out very clear as usual. And that’s pretty much how my day went–things just didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. My morning began before dawn so I could take my car in to town for an oil change. Arriving shortly after they opened, I’d hoped for a quick service and then get back home to bunker down before the impending snowstorm. After 50 minutes, they told me they couldn’t change the oil because they couldn’t get the drain plug undone. So upon my arrival home, I got online to make an appointment with Subaru in Rochester. I would have preferred to do that initially, but Subie’s way past due and the weather wasn’t conducive for that. As I pressed the button to confirm my appointment for next week, it said I needed to select a different time. So I did. Next thing I know I get two emails confirming I have appointments at both times. I picked up the phone to try to straighten it out–voicemail. Forget it today. They’re only 15 minutes apart. I’ll figure it out later. And that’s pretty much how the rest of my day went.
FEBRUARY 22, 2018
FEBRUARY 21, 2018
FEBRUARY 20, 2018
FEBRUARY 17, 2018
On the Road Again…
70+ Car Pile-Up Huxley, IA
Up at 5:40 am, I thought my day was off to a good start. My hope was to get some chores done around the house and still get on the road early enough to arrive in Missouri in time for lunch. Since I was hauling precious cargo (my mom’s sewing machines which had recently been serviced at the quilt shop up by me), I backed my car out of the garage to let it run so the computerized machines weren’t sitting out in the cold while I finished packing. As I was carrying the last tote around Subie, I ever so gracefully slipped on the freshly fallen snow maliciously covering a thick layer of ice.
To be honest, I was completely taken off guard when it started snowing about 7 am. I knew there was some snow potential this weekend but the fact it was starting this early was completely off my radar. I got going a little before 8 am, and my country roads were covered. It was slow go all the way to the Interstate which didn’t end up being much better. My usual 4 hour drive took about 6.5 hours.
I am very grateful Subie, the sewing machines, and I were unharmed in the 70+ car pile-up just north of Ankeny near Huxley, Iowa. This was about 20 minutes or so after I had stopped at the rest area north of Ames because of limited visibility and other obvious reasons. At that point, I could barely see the off ramp. My next stop was an abrupt one and left me shaking. For the next hour and 40 minutes I would sit in Subie by the “Rest Area Next Right” sign. There were cars in the ditch before the rest area. They ultimately closed northbound I-35 and rerouted those of us on the southbound side onto it heading back north. On the positive side, the sun came out and melted the snow so road conditions improved significantly which was very much a welcomed change especially since I was headed into Des Moines traffic. And because I know you’re ultimately dying to know, yes, I did get lunch. My parents were kind enough to wait for me.
FEBRUARY 14, 2018
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
(aka Insert Name Here’s birthday & Shane O’Mac and Mileage Monster’s anniversary)
Keeping a Promise
I am a big believer in keeping your word. To me, it’s a true tell of character or lack thereof. Perhaps I go a little overboard in that I convey this life principle in my interactions with Sid. For instance, if I promise to let Sid outside to play for awhile, I make every effort to follow through even if I don’t really want to when the time comes. I highly doubt he knows the difference, but the reality is I do.
Today I had one such promise looming. It’s a beautiful sunny day, and Sid’s been cooped up for weeks. So after I took the garbage down to the dumpster and got the mail, I decided I’d let my furry Valentine out back to enjoy some fresh air and check out the snow. A concerto of meows expressed his undeniable excitement…until I opened the door. Apparently, my Texas kitty was expecting a nice, dry 70 degree February day not a wet, 43 degree Minnesota “heat wave”.
Safe to say outdoor fun was not a part of our Valentines Day celebration. Sid did get his special chicken broth for breakfast, and we have played his favorite puzzle game. In case you thought he’d be over that puzzle by now, I can assure you he’s obsessed! He runs and climbs up onto the table right away in the morning and as soon as I get home. Think volleyball set and spike. I sit on the floor, toss the puzzle piece up into the air, and he spikes it back down to the floor. Sometimes he catches it and “squirrels up” with the piece tightly clinched between his front paws as he sits up on his giant back rabbit-like feet gnawing on the puzzle piece like a squirrel would a nut. If he wasn’t so shy in public, we’d go to a Japanese steak house for our Valentines Day dinner. During our puzzle playing adventures, I’ve learned he could definitely catch the flying shrimp in his mouth.
FEBRUARY 10, 2018
Olympic Size Problem
JANUARY 26, 2018
Yet Another Lesson Learned For the City Girl Gone Country…
Apparently my logic that the rural country roads would be much easier traveled today with 40+ degree temperatures melting the snow had a slight flaw. Driving in gravel that has had 5+ inches of snow melted into it isn’t fun. In fact, it was a bit unnerving at times especially since I was driving a work vehicle. I stopped out at one homestead to look at a new pole shed. The old farmer looked at the vehicle and said, “You’ve been out on gravel roads,” with a sly grin. Yeah, I checked out a White Equinox today and will be checking out a brown one on Monday.
JANUARY 23, 2018
Note to Self:
My ever-reliable and skilled plow guy showed up promptly yesterday evening. Up until today, his efforts have been all that were necessary. This morning, however, when I attempted to open the garage door so I could go to work, it would not open. So out I went with the shovel to scoop the snow off of the door. Fortunately it didn’t take very long, and I was soon on my way for a long slow drive on icky roads.
JANUARY 22, 2018
Snow Day!
Deal of the Day:
I’m guessing Vikings sweatshirts are pretty darn cheap today!
JANUARY 21, 2018
GO VIKINGS!!!
I actually have a vested interest in tonight’s game. Last week I publicly declared that if the Vikings won the Super Bowl I’d buy a Vikings sweatshirt. I have since lowered the stakes a bit and will buy a Vikings sweatshirt if they just make it to the Super Bowl.
Question: Are all the Cheeseheads rooting for the Eagles?
JANUARY 20, 2018
BLOCK #1: Connecticut
Here’s How:
Not Too Shabby:
JANUARY 16, 2018
And sew it begins…
Upon my arrival, I was rather surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot and people bustling around the quilt shop. Hayward has a population of only 242, but apparently it was the place to be tonight! I was delighted to see my aunt as I entered the store, and she graciously guided me through the process. It was apparent most of the others had done this a time or five before and clearly knew how things worked. I now have my fabric and instructions and a month to complete the first “Connecticut” block. And who knows, maybe next meeting I’ll win a door prize!
JANUARY 10, 2018
Sid was busy today.
I give up!
JANUARY 1, 2018
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
For most of us, 2018 is off to a frigid start. Sid and I woke up to -18 degrees this morning, and I’ve received word that a hard freeze was the big news down in Texas. Despite the bitter cold, I hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start.
This year, I am embarking on a new challenge. I am going to put my basic sewing skills to the test and attempt to make a quilt. Actually, I am resolved to make 12 quilt blocks–one each month of the year. I have officially joined the Block of the Month Club at a local quilt shop. My aunt is in charge of the group and has graciously offered to be my personal coach. How could I resist the opportunity!?
For $20 I show up to the first meeting and get what I need to sew the first block. Then I have to complete the block at home and take it to the following month’s meeting to get my next block’s supplies. If I fail to complete the block and/or miss the meeting, I have to pay $5 to get the next kit.
To be honest, I probably stand a better chance of completing the 12 quilt blocks than my puzzle if Sid has anything to say about it. I had made some progress on the puzzle while Sid was sleeping yesterday, but it has been an utter battle today. While I was attempting to eat breakfast, Sid was demanding my attention. Sid was not going to let a homemade cinnamon roll take precedence over him, so he proceeded to push the bulk of the puzzle off the table to spite me. It has been a vicious cycle all day long. Once I fix what I can, he swats it, lays on it, pushes it off with his giant rabbit feet…