April showers today ...

Today we're having showers.  Just finished mowing for the first time Monday and finally finished cleaning the flower beds today! Whew!  Just in the nick.  I cleaned and Preened this a.m. and now this nice gentle rain is releasing the magic crystals of Preen! LOL!  Actually, I don't think Preen is as powerful as it used to be.  Probably thanks to big brother who is always taking care of us so we won't hurt ourselves ... Right.  Anyway, hopefully the weeds will be kept at bay for a month or so at least until I recover my strength to do the weeding thing all over again!


We've had a tough week or so.  Really, things sort of turned sour for Wendell with the new year.  Long story short after a wearing a heart monitor and having a stress test, they decided he needed a heart cath.  Did that last week.  They found one small blockage but inserted no stent at the time.  He's having an MRI this week to determine if a stent would help.  So more stressful waiting to see what they find and decide they want to do.  Well, really, it's me getting stressed out; he just goes about his days really relaxed.  Wish I could do that.  Today for instance, while I was doing the flower bed thing he was repairing one of the mowers and tried out his new chain saw.  I try to keep very busy -- hooking, sewing, cleaning, reading.  Some days I do better than others.  If I stay calm I can force myself to live for the day and not for tomorrow.  Wow ... way too much about this, right?


I said previously I went to the Bloomington Quilt Show in early March and promised pictures.  So many great quilts were displayed there!  I had a tough time deciding which quilt to vote for as my "viewer's favorite".  I'm in the middle of working on two quilts at the same time, rotating from one to the other.  I sort of like it that way; you don't get tired of either of them!  Just me ... So going to this show really has kept me inspired.  Hope you enjoy seeing just a little piece of what I saw that day ...

This was judged "Best of Show".  Very nice.  Tons of detail.  Better in person than in this picture.  It's wall hanging size.  Just gorgeous!

This was my favorite.  I loved all of the borders!  Just look at each layer as you work your eye from the edge into the center medallion!  And those baskets have such tiny pieces.  It's just an awesome quilt in person.  And it's bed-sized, too!  Check out the close-up below of the 3-D corner flowers!  Wow!

I really was taken with this wall hanging, too.  If you'll look at the close-up photo below, you'll see why ...

Close-up of wall hanging above ...  Wow!

I wasn't taken with the colors used in this quilt, but I love this geometric design ...  Future project?

These three little gems were my favorites of a special display of 8"x10" mini-quilts they hung along a hallway.  Just little works of art.  I think there were about 25 of them in all!  I was impressed!

One of my favorite parts of the quilt show is the vendor hall.  They had lots of quilting booths of course, but there was other fiber related vendors as well.  Sort of made me miss working with the vendors at our rug hooking guild's fiber fair (we used to have).  Speaking of which, don't forget, if you're a 'yarn person', the Fiber Event will be happening in Greencastle April 15 & 16!  It's always an interesting place to go if you're looking for yarn or roving or associated products.  So if you knit or crochet or do needlepunch or weaving, check it out.  And have lunch at Almost Home!


Wish us luck at the hospital this Friday.  God is so good to us.  Why do I keep worrying?  (It's my job!)

Spring is in the air ...

I can see daffodils just starting to open down by the shed this a.m.!  Yeah!
 

So, what have I been up to?  Sewin' & hookin'!!!  Seems like I've been sewing quilt pieces together one day and hooking on my latest rug the next.  And then the next day running around.  Just the things I like to do.  That's what I like about retirement.  We've thrown in there a few trips to the dr. for Wendell though, so it's always 'exciting' (read stressful).  But I'm enjoying each day as it comes.  Today I'm going to try to check out my work room and see if I have any more of this brown wool I need for the background of this rug ... hmmmm.  I think I need to worry!  LOL!  But Margo will come to the rescue (I hope)!



Looking through my saved pictures, here's what I've been seeing lately ...

I know this is a strange looking picture to be sharing, but I saw this at Nancy's Antique Mall in Terre Haute. Have you ever seen a stove with what my Mom called a 'deep well'?  Well, here's one!  We had a kitchen range with a deep well when I was a child.  It was sort of like a crock pot built into your stove.  It's at the back left corner in this picture.  Just wanted to share with you ... Mom used hers a lot and this really took me back.

Oscar thinks he lives here.  Here he is sunning himself outside our bedroom door.  Nice surprise to wake up to!  (I used to call him Stinky, but he's growing on me.)

We took a drive through Parke County couple Sundays ago, and came across this interesting place.  He had all sorts of old farm equipment and Wendell was especially interested in that.  I liked this "weather station".  (It was windy the day we were there! LOL!)

Of course, we saw bridges and more bridges.  Here's the exterior and interior (double arch) of the West Union covered bridge.  Wendell's checking out the creek below for fish ...

Made some more of these pretzel-Rolo-pecan candies again and will be sharing with the hookers next week -- not these (they're gone) but more of the same! YUM! (They're addictive!)

I went to the quilt show in Bloomington last week and before I went, met Teresa B. for lunch at Trojan Horse.  It was such a good time but flew by too quickly.  We talked and talked and also managed to enjoy dessert, going away feeling stuffed.  Teresa probably had trouble staying awake back at work, but the walk back to the convention center in the drizzle woke me up and got me ready to be amazed at the beautiful quilts.  I'll share pictures of them soon.  So many ideas.  Bought some fabric (which I definitely needed [not]) and happened to run into two friends and talked some more.  It was just a very good day.  I hope you've been enjoying some good ones lately, too.  God is good.