What Did I Do This Week?

Keepin' busy...listening to cat fights outside...hangin' out at the house and trying to catch up on a bunch of stuff.  Newsletters to write, documentation to compose, research to do...if only I actually *could* clone myself.  But then I'd have my selves to so many things that they'd be begging for more clones, so they'd start cloning themselves, and you know what happens when you make a copy of a copy...you get the funniest line in the movie, "Multiplicity".

I got a call on Monday about getting a quilt done for a baby shower on Saturday.  She dropped it off on Tuesday and I had it back to her on Thursday.  Heckava deal!  It was a tiny thing (45" square) and she wanted spirals on it, so it went together quickly.  Also on Monday, I met with a lady who handed me another quilt!  It's a football season lap quilt made up of t-shirts and sweatshirts from the University of Washington.  My in-laws would be "horrified", of course, since they're born-and-bred WSU'ers.  Kidding.  Really, they're fans of their team, but I don't think anyone in Washington is really serious about the rivalry.  We all go out for beers afterwards, no matter who wins or loses.

Yesterday was such a nice day, Ben and I walked down to the park to play for an hour.  When we arrived, six or seven kids were just leaving...which left the park vacant.  I pushed Ben on the swings, which he was able to maintain for quite a long time afterwards, then he played on the tire swing and the merry go round, climbed around on the toy in the middle, and it was time to head back.  Not a single kid came to play until we were leaving, at which time one of his school classmates and her little sister came with a young lady (could have been her Mom, but I'm thinking older sister, cousin, or babysitter--she just looked TOO young).

When we returned, I said, "Hey, Emma!  Are you ready to go to Karate?" and she said, "I crashed on my bike."  Sure enough, she used every band aid in the house to cover her wounds.  Luckily she was wearing her helmet and really only scraped up her knees, her right palm, and bruised her left side.  She was a bit too stiff and sore to go to class, but we drove down to the dojo anyway to talk to the teacher about rescheduling the lesson and ask about continuing lessons.  Unfortunately, the prices were quite high, even after they gave us the rock-bottom price.  Emma would like to continue, but we'll have to see about that.  Strangely enough--and a little scary--one of the other instructors also has CF.  Due to bacterial infections that are transmittable between them, they shouldn't be within 6 feet of each other.  They are both the picture of health--how could we know?  However, he's having knee-replacement surgery next week (from an injury from long ago that hasn't been fixed in previous unsuccessful surgeries), so he's leaving the dojo.  Sorry to see him go--he's a great guy and a terrific teacher--but better for Emma so she can continue at this dojo to not have that potential medical issue looming.

Oh, here's the back of her leg. She really "got in gear" on this accident...poor kid.

I forgot to write about soccer camp from a couple weeks ago!  The two little ones were signed up for camp again this year and really enjoyed it!  I was concerned that we were going to have a reproduction of last year's drama with Ben not wanting to participate, but he did!  He was excited to get into his gear every morning and play with the other kids...at least until 11:00 when the little kids went home.  The bigger kids (including him) stayed until noon, but three times I had to go over and peel him off the playground to go back with his class.  The instructors thought he was one of the Kindergarten kids, not an almost-second-grader.  They also didn't order a small enough t-shirt for him, so he's swimming in the size 10-12 that he was given.  But Craig Tomlinson and the other instructors were great and taught them a lot, and both kids are looking forward to next season!

Emma, of course, is retired from soccer.

Quilt show tomorrow!

K

Garage Purge

A few days ago, I finally finished the seams and hems for Tyrssen's red tunic and started working on the yellow one.  I meant to spend some time this weekend working on the seams--I finished half of them over the last few days and had hopes that I could get it in the mail tomorrow.  However, those plans of working on the tunic were delayed when we got busy with another major project.  The mailing might actually happen on Tuesday, not Monday, so he'll have a couple extra tunics for his trip to Pennsic, a large SCA event in Pennsylvania.

Yesterday we spent several hours emptying the garage and cleaning out the nooks and crannies.  It was starting to get really cluttered and cramped in there, and getting around the car or working on the yurt were both getting difficult.  We started by pulling out all the camping gear, making a pile of stuff to give away, a pile of boxes of stuff to go through, and putting excess garbage into the car for a dump run (including two twin size box springs, broken toys, and more).  It looked like a yard sale was going on in our driveway, and several neighbors slowed down to look carefully at our stuff...unfortunately, they didn't stop to ask if we were selling any of it...we probably would have given them a good price.

One dump run later, we started to load all the donations into the car, which went there today.  I brought so much stuff, the guy offered to give me two donation slips.  I also set aside some big things to give to a friend for her kids--five car seats, a wagon, and a bike child seat.  If she can't use it, she has friends at church that might have need of it.

Then there are four boxes of things to go to either the SCA (books) or the quilt guild for their annual show.  Once the donations were taken away, I loaded up the boxes of books that I will be taking to a meeting on Tuesday, along with two camp chairs, some miscellaneous dishes and a couple hats.  Hopefully all that will find new homes...we still have a bunch of stuff in the garage, but I keep hoping that we'll be able to fit two cars in there...probably not.  At least I will be able to get in and out of the car much easier.

The nice thing is that during the purge and sort, I found a few things, like this linen satchel that I made for Costumer's Guild and have been looking for.  All the fabric was from a scrap bag of linen from a hat making shop.

BBQ chicken sliders for dinner tonight.  Crock pot style!

Anniversary Vacation

DH and I were having our 17th anniversary, so we spent the weekend on Vancouver Island while the kids spent the weekend with their paternal grandparents.  We first drove the kids to their house with the intention of staying overnight on the peninsula and crossing at Port Angeles to Victoria, but we had to turn around and go home to get our passports.  Whoops.

So the next morning, we headed out to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Sidney, BC, which is a small town just north of Victoria. I was able to get a little sewing done on the red tunic that I'm making for Tyrssen, but the 90-minute trip has a great view of the islands, oceanic life (no whales, but I saw a sea otter!), and general people watching on the boat.  Upon arriving safely on land, we went through customs, then we headed south to Victoria, and north on the Number 1 highway around the bay, through a series of small towns.  We stopped for lunch at a rather bad little cafe--the clientele seemed to be of the over-the-hill variety who like food of the less-than-seasoned variety.  The crab sandwich I ordered was bland; it tasted like bread, not even like crab.

We arrived at the resort a little after 3:00 pm and checked into our cabin (it wasn't this one, but one that was very similar--this was named "Amelia").  We had a mini kitchen, a big bedroom suite and a HUGE two-person jetted tub.  We met up with Mom, Tara, Laura and Val for dinner--they all went to the spa, too, and it was a great weekend of getting massages, facials, mani/pedi, and renting some scooters to goof around in town.

I took a lot of pictures of the foliage around town, particularly these Madrona trees, also known as Arbutus Menziesii, named for Archibald Menzies, who sailed with George Vancouver in the 1790s, exploring the Pacific Northwest.  I love the way the dark outer bark peels away to expose this rusty red bark, then peels further to show a bright yellow-green core.  It's only found on the coast of the Pacific Canada and US, mostly in BC and the Puget Sound, and are just a fascinating looking species that always seems to have a 30 degree list to one direction.  I want to find a small one and plant it in my yard.

On Sunday, we rented eco-scooters, these little electric scooters, and drove into town a little ways.  We found this amazing miniature golf place that, had we stayed a couple more days on the island, we would have checked out a little more closely.  We also found a little local museum that was closed on Sundays.  We passed several other motorcyclists, and I decided to try out the respectful "motorcycle wave" on one of them.  He nodded at me, then waved and laughed as Kelly passed.  Unfortunately, we had to cut our scoot short because mine was running low on battery power.  They offered to swap out the battery so we could go out a bit longer, but it was getting close to dinner time, so we headed in for a dip in the pool, then an amazing tapas dinner.

We sailed back to the States on Monday, sitting front row on the large BC ferry.  We made a quick stop for some duty-free alcohol, then crossed back into the States in time for dinner and attend my quilt guild meetings in Bellingham, while DH went around visiting friends in town.  The speaker that night was from the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum who showed some beautiful pieces from an upcoming display as well as one of the most valuable pieces in their collection--the red and white quilt hanging in the background.  It dates from the 1860s and is in pristine condition!  Afterwards, DH and I met up in front of the meeting location, then headed home.  It was a wonderful weekend away to celebrate our 17 years of marriage.

On Tuesday, I drove down to pick up the kids at the ferry where I found the tide was WAY out!  I don't think I've ever seen the tide this low, and, being a curious sort of person, I ventured out to look at the life tucked in the rocks at the end of the jetty, finding all kinds of star fish and soft corals that were starting to get a little dry.  

Tuesday also began a two-day Yurt-building Marathon.  We discovered that the tono we had built for the 18 foot yurt is TOO SMALL for the structure.  Either that or the rafters are too short...but we figured it would be cheaper to build a new tono from four 2 x 4s than to buy a whole stack of 10' poles.  We'll have to re-do the math at some point to figure out where things went terribly wrong.

Today we spent a bunch of time sewing the roof for the yurt from the roll of canvas, and cut the length of fabric for the walls.  Avelyn will be spending the day putting grommets into the walls to hang on the khana.  Hopefully we will be able to finish the tono for them tomorrow--we have the tools, Kelly has the expertise, and I have no idea when my yurt will get finished.  Soon, I hope, but not for this weekend.

I have a quilt to finish tomorrow...it shouldn't take too long to do the stitching, but the set up will take some time.  Wish me luck.

K

Heckava day

Today marked the first of Emma's karate lessons.  We bought a gift certificate from the school auction leftovers for a fraction of its value so she gets four private lessons, unlimited (about 8) group lessons, a uniform & belt, a t-shirt, a patch and a sticker.  Pretty cool deal!  However, I know we won't be able to afford it at full price, especially now that the other two kids want to take some lessons, too, so I'm going to look into lessons at the Y.  Looks like they started last week for the beginner class.  Maybe we can sneak them in anyway...if there's room.  I know a lady from Girl Scouts who works there.  Maybe she'll take cookies as a bribe.

Emma's bike is in for repairs.  The kick stand fell off it ages ago--was fixed, got broken, fixed again, broken again...and in the meantime, other things have broken and bent as it fell over.  The gear shifter, the brakes, the chain, etc.  Kelly took it to a repair shop where we discovered this will cost more than $100.  Getting a new bike would cost more than $400, so this is the way to go.  She's taken a new interest in biking this year and has just learned to bike with no hands.  I have no fear about this--I used to bike all over town with no hands--around corners, too--but I never had the good sense to wear a helmet.  She does.  See?  The next generation is smarter already!  They even wear SEAT BELTS!  Whew...I don't fear the future now!

Jen and I worked on our yurts for a bit today.  We got the tono glued and screwed together into a circle, then drilled holes into the ends of the poles so we can insert the pencil rod into it.  Note our very creative drilling platform, and shimmed the drill to level.  We still have to drill holes in the *other* end of the rafters that tie onto the khana (baby gate walls), and into the tono (roof ring) that the rafters will fit into.  The only part of the hardware on Jen's yurt after that is the door to put into the frame!  Then there's the software part--the roof and wall canvas.

For me, I have to make sure I have enough rafter pieces, then drill those on both ends.  I also have to buy the pencil rod, the cable to go around the outside, drill the holes in the tono, and figure out a door.  I might just use a cloth flap instead of a door if I run out of time.  Next Tuesday we're going to have a Yurt-a-thon to try to get it done before July Coronation.  I'd like to make a fabric door with my coat of arms on it.

In further Emma news (apparently, it's all about Emma today!), her Kindle is broken.  It's not even a year old and the screen pooped out on it.  Or shattered.  Or something.  This guy's eyes and forehead never go away, eerily staring at you while you try to read, but the bottom of the screen works normally.  It's really hard to read a book when half the page is always missing.  I don't know what we can do about it--I would bet fixing it would cost as much as replacing it, so we might have to do that.  The cover that it's sitting on was made by her Grandma and has been living in that protective cover for several months.  I don't know if it got dropped or stepped on (more than once), but I'm disappointed that it's not working anymore.  She's gotten a lot of use out of it.

I've been knitting away on this Turkish sock and have now come to the brutal conclusion that it's too narrow for my Duck Feet.  I can hear Jean saying, "But I've got Quad-A feet!  It'll fit ME!"  Well, sorry, darlin--I really had my heart set on having this alpaca on my own feet.  However, that said, I *can* be bribed/commissioned to make you a pair of long, skinny Turkish socks. :)  I have a book of patterns and you can choose your favorite!  And pick your colors, too!  Or I can give you a copy of whatever pattern you want, and you could knit your own!  We could start at the Pitt Camping Adventure!  Next month!  Woot!

Ben taking a break in the back yard, eating a Skittle Rice Krispie square.  I had made RK squares with M&Ms before, but the two littler kids don't like chocolate that much (weird), so they asked if I could make it with Skittles instead.  "SURE!"  I said.  Right after you mix in the rice cereal, you put in about a cup of the candies and fluff them through before dumping it into the 9 x 13 pan.  I usually lightly butter my hands and press the squares into the pan a bit so it's a little more smooth on top.  Yes, I handle worms and toads just before handling the butter, so it's all good and natural.  Mmmm!  Note that they also discovered the age-old tradition of wrapping the swing once around the cross-bar so you have a higher swing.  This whole swing set may have to go, unfortunately--Kelly discovered earwigs all over the grass around it, which are attracted to rotting wood.  We already replaced the slide which was cracking and the supports under it were completely rotten.  I don't know what we'll do to replace it--these things are expensive! Maybe we should just get a trampoline.

Some flowers I took a picture of in the back yard.  I don't know what these are, but they sure are pretty!  I love that the stems are all fuzzy and the flowers themselves are screamin' pink!  These grow back every year along the rock wall.  Behind the wall is a line of trees which work great for a visual barrier, but the dog next door (some variety of Australian shepherd, I think) discovered that he can just burst through it, run across our yard, and dig under our fence to make a great escape.  I joked with Bob that those Australians...bunch of criminals...always looking for a way to escape!  Or maybe he just wants to go on walkabout?  In any case, we have to fix the hole under the fence again, though I'd much rather have Bob build a real fence between our properties.  

Finished a quilt block for next Monday's meeting.  It's...ta-da!  A frog!  It still needs eyes, but I don't know what I'm going to use for eyes yet.  The directions suggested just using polka dot fabric on a white background, cut around two of the dots and using those as eyes.  You can even cut them out kind of crooked to make them into googley-eyes.

K

Heckava day

Today marked the first of Emma's karate lessons.  We bought a gift certificate from the school auction leftovers for a fraction of its value so she gets four private lessons, unlimited (about 8) group lessons, a uniform & belt, a t-shirt, a patch and a sticker.  Pretty cool deal!  However, I know we won't be able to afford it at full price, especially now that the other two kids want to take some lessons, too, so I'm going to look into lessons at the Y.  Looks like they started last week for the beginner class.  Maybe we can sneak them in anyway...if there's room.  I know a lady who works there.  Maybe she'll take cookies as a bribe.

Emma's bike is in for repairs.  The kick stand fell off it ages ago--was fixed, got broken, fixed again, broken again...and in the meantime, other things have broken and bent as it fell over.  The gear shifter, the breaks, the chain, etc.  Kelly took it to a repair shop where we discovered this will cost more than $100.  Getting a new bike would cost more than $400, so this is the way to go.  She's taken a new interest in biking this year and has just learned to bike with no hands.  I have no fear about this--I used to bike all over town with no hands--around corners, too--but I never had the good sense to wear a helmet.  She does.  See?  The next generation is smarter already!  They even wear SEAT BELTS!  Whew...I don't fear the future now!

Jen and I worked on our yurts for a bit today.  We got the tono glued and screwed together into a circle, then drilled holes into the ends of the poles so we can insert the pencil rod into it.  Note our very creative drilling platform, and shimmed the drill to level.  We still have to drill holes in the *other* end of the rafters that tie onto the khana (baby gate walls), and into the tono (roof ring) that the rafters will fit into.  The only part of the hardware on Jen's yurt after that is the door to put into the frame!  Then there's the software part--the roof and wall canvas.

For me, I have to make sure I have enough rafter pieces, then drill those on both ends.  I also have to buy the pencil rod, the cable to go around the outside, drill the holes in the tono, and figure out a door.  I might just use a cloth flap instead of a door if I run out of time.  Next Tuesday we're going to have a Yurt-a-thon to try to get it done before July Coronation.  I'd like to make a fabric door with my coat of arms on it.

In further Emma news (apparently, it's all about Emma today!), her Kindle is broken.  It's not even a year old and the screen pooped out on it.  Or shattered.  Or something.  This guy's eyes and forehead never go away, eerily staring at you while you try to read, but the bottom of the screen works normally.  It's really hard to read a book when half the page is always missing.  I don't know what we can do about it--I would bet fixing it would cost as much as replacing it, so we might have to do that.  The cover that it's sitting on was made by her Grandma and has been living in that protective cover for several months.  I don't know if it got dropped or stepped on (more than once), but I'm disappointed that it's not working anymore.  She's gotten a lot of use out of it.

I've been knitting away on this Turkish sock and have now come to the brutal conclusion that it's too narrow for my Duck Feet.  I can hear Jean saying, "But I've got Quad-A feet!  It'll fit ME!"  Well, sorry, darlin--I really had my heart set on having this alpaca on my own feet.  However, that said, I *can* be bribed/commissioned to make you a pair of long, skinny Turkish socks. :)  I have a book of patterns and you can choose your favorite!  And pick your colors, too!  Or I can give you a copy of whatever pattern you want, and you could knit your own!  We could start at the Pitt Camping Adventure!  Next month!  Woot!

Ben taking a break in the back yard, eating a Skittle Rice Krispie square.  I had made RK squares with M&Ms before, but the two littler kids don't like chocolate that much (weird), so they asked if I could make it with Skittles instead.  "SURE!"  I said.  Right after you mix in the rice cereal, you put in about a cup of the candies and fluff them through before dumping it into the 9 x 13 pan.  I usually lightly butter my hands and press the squares into the pan a bit so it's a little more smooth on top.  Yes, I handle worms and toads just before handling the butter, so it's all good and natural.  Mmmm!  Note that they also discovered the age-old tradition of wrapping the swing once around the cross-bar so you have a higher swing.  This whole swing set may have to go, unfortunately--Kelly discovered earwigs all over the grass around it, which are attracted to rotting wood.  We already replaced the slide which was cracking and the supports under it were completely rotten.  I don't know what we'll do to replace it--these things are expensive! Maybe we should just get a trampoline.

Some flowers I took a picture of in the back yard.  I don't know what these are, but they sure are pretty!  I love that the stems are all fuzzy and the flowers themselves are screamin' pink!  These grow back every year along the rock wall.  Behind the wall is a line of trees which work great for a visual barrier, but the dog next door (some variety of Australian shepherd, I think) discovered that he can just burst through it, run across our yard, and dig under our fence to make a great escape.  I joked with Bob that those Australians...bunch of criminals...always looking for a way to escape!  Or maybe he just wants to go on walkabout?  In any case, we have to fix the hole under the fence again, though I'd much rather have Bob build a real fence between our properties.  

Finished a quilt block for next Monday's meeting.  It's...ta-da!  A frog!  It still needs eyes, but I don't know what I'm going to use for eyes yet.  The directions suggested just using polka dot fabric on a white background, cut around two of the dots and using those as eyes.  You can even cut them out kind of crooked to make them into googley-eyes.

K

Getting Prepared for Celebration

Happy 4th of July!

Two days ago, I made a big haul to the grocery store (scoring a cool 39% savings at Safeway, although, admittedly, it was for Gatorade, snacks, chips, and candy for the party), then to another store to get meat for the grill, milk, frozen foods and other necessities.  Kelly sent out invites to his group of soccer fiends to join us for a July 4th BBQ and soccer night--the Sounders are playing the Galaxy in LA and it'll be televised.  I thought it would be a great pre-fireworks show!

Unfortunately, all the invitees have declined due to other plans, so I don't think anyone's coming over, so we'll be having a quiet night at home watching the game, then lighting off fireworks.  We were invited to visit friends further south, who are wonderful hosts and delightful friends, but having done it the last couple of years, we decided we didn't want to stay out that late with the kids again and fight traffic all the way home.  We'll light off the 'works that we have, eat some good tenderloin, maybe I'll pick up some 'tater salad (I've got a coupon!!  Although I'm the only one who'd eat it, so maybe not...), some lettuce salad, fruit (can't seem to keep it stocked in the house), and s'more fixins.

I got the newsletter finished for the quilt guild...yep, Helium Hands strikes again!  Actually, I was volun-told to do it.  Since I offered the services of the Pirates for the Quilt Show, they decided to return the favor and volunteer me for the newly-opened secretary position.  Not sure why, but the secretary suddenly resigned her office last month, so I was asked by my "friends" to finish out the year.  I figured it would be fine to squeeze it in among the other things I'm doing...I think...  I got the July edition done yesterday and sent it out to the membership yesterday, with the exception of two people who don't have computers.  I find that remarkable in this day and age, but one of them I spoke to about it--she said "I'm 75 years old.  I'm not going to try to learn how to use one now."  Besides a steep learning curve, there's a lot of expense with owning and managing a computer--it's almost like owning a car.  Another reason why I think it's silly to have a bank of computers at elementary schools that need constant upgrades, maintenance, virus protection, and replacing abused/broken parts (mice & keyboards).  High school...yes...but only in the library and teachers.  Elementary...no.  Most of us didn't touch a computer until high school or later and turned out just fine.  Anyway, I have Rose's address, but I don't have Carol's.  Not that I can mail it out today anyway...but tomorrow!

I've been picking away at the pile of scraps, bagging them up, and trying to clear the decks in my creative space.  Unfortunately, it seems that the more I work at it, the less clear it gets.  WTF?  I've emptied two boxes and a grocery sack full of scraps, and the stacks just keep getting higher.  I think I have to just move some stuff out of the way so I stop bruising my shins.  Probably the yarns--I'll have to figure out a storage system for that.

I also have a quilt still on the frame that needs to get finished.  I started it more than a week ago, but the organization project put a damper on the progress...but now it needs to get done.  I have about two weeks to get this one and another one or two done before the next guild meeting so I can hand these American Heroes quilts off to Susan.  I've lost count how many of these things I've done...somewhere in the teens, I think.

In the meantime, I have a couple hours to myself--Kelly took the kids to the theatre.  Emma went with two friends *alone*, but since he didn't want her to be alone in the building, he took the younger two to another movie at the same time.  Sadly, it's a 3D movie, which bugs my eyes to watch (it's an amblyopia thing), so I'm trying to get some stuff done around here.

I mean besides shootin' the schmit with Facebook friends...

K

Cut Up

As part of the sewing room reorganization project, I've been going through bins and boxes trying to consolidate and sort.  First it was folding fat quarters.  Lots of folding.  I got 12 small bins (drawers, really) folded, sorted by color or style (Civil War, 1930s, Juvenile, Christmas, R., O., Y., G., B., I., V., etc.). 

The last few days I've spent cutting all my scraps into squares.  I have something like four bins of scraps leftover from previous projects--some are just 2" strips, some are partially-used fat quarters.  Due to limited space in the Creative Space, it was just time to cut them into squares to ready them for scrap quilts.  

I've been trimming into half-inch increments from 2" to 6" and putting them into gallon ziplocks.  Anything smaller than 2" square is going into the garbage--I don't want to mess with little schnibbles.  I'm debating about squares that are bigger than 14" square--they could be good applique backgrounds, but then again...where am I going to store them?  I'm thinking anything smaller than a fat quarter will be cut into 6" squares.  

I also have a few other quilty projects to do, like some friendship blocks, a couple charity quilts, American Heroes quilts, and a Pirate round robin.  The theme for that one is "Space Pirates".  Yeah...I don't know what I'm going to do with that.  Maybe something to do with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, like applique the spaceship Heart of Gold (stolen by Zaphod Beeblebrox).  

We invited some friends over for Monday to watch the Sounders-Galaxy game and celebrate the 4th.  What are you doing?

K