Wednesday, September 23, 2015



                               Another retreat around the corner-

   Here it is, another 6 months has gone by in the blink of an eye. And that means that I better get packing for quilt retreat on Thursday! Just call me Last Minute Nellie!

 
   I have about a billion projects I want to work on, but I guess I better whittle that down a bit. I am hitching a ride and Terry won’t have room for her booze if I bring everything!
  One thing I am going to work on is the Farm Girl Vintage Quilt by Bee in My Bonnet.



This is not in my usual realm on something I would do as I am not a country gal, but for some reason I freakin love this quilt. I grabbed a fat quarter stack of similar fabrics a few weeks ago, then found a great background at Hobby Lobby for 30% off. Such a deal!
  Then, Lori Holt also publishes this pattern-
My daughter loves pigs, so of course I had to add this sweet boy to my massive pattern library. I also started to collect pink fabrics as I do not have many in my stash. Then, I see this pattern that she made out of the pigs-

OMG! I love how she broke up the pigs with the flowers. And, of course the flowers are yet another pattern. Is this designer smart, or what? Guess what else came into my pattern library?? Good god I need to call Pattern-a-holics Anonymous- STAT!

 


  Another project I am taking is a little quilt from Berties BOM by Bonnie Sullivan. I bought the kit a few years ago, as it was all flannel and I do not have many of those in my stash, either. When I decided to get stuff cut and ready for retreat, I found out the dumbasses that kitted it didn’t give me enough of the applique fabrics. Oh well- after a bunch of swearing and a call out to my homie Terry I went through the 20 pound bag of flannels she brought me I was able to get all of my pieces.


I am only doing the month with the squirrel- one of my very favorite critters.  I hope to finish this if not anything else.

 
  I also have my fabric cut for my snowball quilt. I have loved this Kaffe Fassett fabric and bit the bullet several months ago and bought yardage at a favorite shop of mine in Lyons, Colorado. Here are my parts all ready to go-

    I have also cut a half dozen more blocks out of scraps so I can test my seam allowance first. For once I am going to do something right.  But we shall see what happens as once I get up to retreat and start drinking all bets are off- right girls???

 


   I am also taking a few hand projects- including my Crabapple Hill Gardeners Alphabet embroidery. NO-I AM NOT DONE WITH THIS DAMN THING YET SO QUIT ASKING ME!!!

 
        I will be sharing retreat pics with you all when I get back. And please do not laugh when I tell you I didn’t get anything done.  Or at least don’t tell me you did!

   See you next week!

 

Thursday, September 3, 2015


                             THE GROW-A -FROG ESCAPADE

 

   So, I promised you a grow- a – frog story and here it is.
   As some of you know, when you have  young ones at home, all sorts of critters come and get to reside at your home for a while.  And some are not very cute- sorry, iguana lovers. I need fur on my pets.
   We had 2 guinea pigs for a while, which when we bought them  we were assured that we had 2 females. While on vacation, my friend that was babysitting the house called to ask how many guinea pigs we had. My gut reaction was “Crap, one got out”. Instead, it became “How in the Hell did one guinea pig turn into a male?” We now had 3- LOL.

 
  After the guinea pigs left us,  I then  got the phone call- “Dad wants to buy us lizards- can we keep them at your house?”.  So, how could I say no to 2 little lizards. We had the glass cage from the guinea pigs. What I did not know is that they were actually freakin iguana’s- WTH?  So, of course after the first week the kids didn’t touch them, they got mean and they kept growing and growing and got meaner and meaner. Back to the reptile store they went. I was not sorry to see them go. Again, sorry all of you amphibian lovers. I am just not a lizard type of gal.
 
   Then, we had to get a turtle. He was a great turtle, for the week while he lasted. Poor guy- I am not sure what happened there.
   And, finally, we get our son a grow- a –frog. For those of you that are not familiar with these creatures, you purchase a tiny, tiny tadpole  via the mail. It gets shipped to you in a Styrofoam container. Then, you put it in a habitat and watch him grow.
 
   Well, the frog in the store was approximately a 3 inch diameter little guy- not too big. We figured this would be a great, small pet for Sean. We bought a small terrarium that was tall and round. He loved that frog and fed him well. He changed the water as directed, and the damn thing would NOT STOP GROWING. That thing was HUGE! His legs alone could have fed a family of 4! At night we would sometimes hear the frog jumping up to hit the lid in an attempt to escape from his habitat. Sean finally put a large rock on top of the kid so he could not escape. EXCEPT, one night he forgot to put the rock on it.
 
     Now- picture this- it was the middle of the night, I heard Cramer, our one cat, playing with something out in the hall. I had absolutely no clothes  on at all as the kids were at their dads. I went out into the hall- and lo and behold Cramer had the grow-a -frog trapped behind the little table that was by our bedroom door. I start screaming to Bob- “THE FROGS’ OUT-THE FROGS’ OUT” and I start chasing the fucking thing down the hall, along with Cramer. As I was jumping up and down and grabbing him, the damn thing was oozing some kind of liquid from his whole body (a defense mechanism I am sure) and he kept slipping out of my hands. Good god- I could have made millions if a certain someone was video-taping this instead of laughing his ass off!  Damn you Bob- I could be driving that new Mustang if you had just grabbed the video camera! After what seemed like hours, I finally managed to trap the little bastard and put him back in his tank. I then de-contaminated myself and took a  good, long, hot shower. ALONE.
   When Sean got home that Sunday we told him about the adventure (leaving out details that would horrify his little mind of course) and so he decided to put him in the giant old guinea pig aquarium. I must say that tank got a lot of use!  It took him hours to get the aquarium ready- he scrubbed it, cleaned it, got rocks to put in it, and then filled it all up with new water for his little buddy.  He put his frog in his new environment, and said good night.
   Sean then got up the next morning- and the damn frog was DEAD! After all that! We think he was just so happy with his new large space he just died from happiness! Ungrateful bastard!
  After that, we were done with exotic petsJ. We stuck to dogs and cats- and so far I have not had to chase any of them down the hall in nothing but my birthday suit. Whew! And for that, I am grateful as I am sure Bob is as well. But there goes my millions-
   Happy Thursday, my friends!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015



                                                              A long break-

   I bet you all thought I got lost!  I am so sorry for the lack of blog posts. Life the last few months has most certainly gotten in the way.
   It started in June when we got notified by our rental company that our rent would increase by almost $300/month. What a crock. The housing market here has been out of this world a/k/a bullshit and the apartment companies have jumped on board. We looked around and our complex is still hundreds less than others so we had to suck it up, and I went out and found a part time job. In addition to my real 45 hour a week job and my dog collar sewing I now work part time at World Market- a fun little place. I have worked many, many years in the retail industry so this was an easy transition. My co-workers are very sweet and so far I have enjoyed it. Of course, the holidays are coming up and we all know what that means but I am ready!
Chip gets a hot compress on his incision
   Then as some of you know, our dachshund, Chip has had neck issues. It started on the 4th of July. He would cry out in pain at various times- you just never knew what would cause him to cry. After a few weeks of laser treatments and bunches of meds he seemed to be improving, but then seemed to re-injure himself. It was heartbreaking. And stressful- did I say thank god marijuana is legal here now? HAHA. Anyway, after a few acupuncture treatments that we were hoping would help but did not, we decided to go bankrupt and get Chip the surgery he needed. We ended up taking him to Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital in Fort Collins. He went in on a Thursday and came home the following Monday. He is over a week into post-op and is doing well. He ended up having emergency surgery on a major herniated disc and several other ruptured discs in his neck- and they went in through his neck instead of his back as they cut through less muscle going in that way. After the surgery he had a bad limp on his front foot, which was not there before the surgery. They said this was to be expected. Bob did let me know this morning that the limping was much better today. Chip is totally confined to the kennel, and the past 2 days we are thinking he has been feeling better as the whining to get out has started. It is going to be a long month LOL. Thank god I work 3 jobs- poor BOB! We also have a friend that is loaning us another kennel so we can put Chip in the bedroom with us at night as the large one he is in during the day is too big to move back and forth. Why in the hell we ever got a crate that big to begin with is beyond me- it’s not like we have a mastiff.  It will be nice to sleep with the hubby again- not a lot of that has been happening since the 4th of July. Bob is usually the one on couch duty.  I hope I remember how to share the covers- I have gotten awful greedy with the quilts J. And the pillows- good luck honey!
Chip in his Hospital Crate. Note the IV line.
 
    Our friend, Lexie has set up a Go Fund Me account to help pay Chip’s vet bills- I really don’t want to get a 4th job hooking on East Colfax so God love her. If you know of anyone that may be able to donate even $5 it would go a long way to help us out. We are truly humbled by the generosity we have already been shown. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Our Little Buddy
     
  This past month I have also sewn almost 1,000 dog collars for my other job, so unfortunately I don’t have a darn thing quilty to show you. I am headed out at the end of this month for my twice a year quilt retreat and am looking very forward to sewing my fingers to the bone on projects I want to get done- for me. No dog collars, no presents, etc. I CAN’T WAIT! Just playing, sewing, eating, and of course, DRINKING!
A solemn moment at the last quilt retreat
    I did manage to get all of my fall quilts hanging up and draped over the couches, chairs, tables, etc. It now looks like fall threw up in the apartment, but I love it. And if you are ever visiting, know that you will never be cold! And if you are it is your own damn fault.
     Hugs to you all! I will try to get some fun blog stories up soon- there is one that needs to be told regarding a grow-a-frog and the night it escaped. Stay tuned- you won’t want to miss this one!
 
CHECK THE BELOW POST FOR INFORMATION ON CHIP'S GOFUNDME PAGE. THANK YOU!!!