Sunday night sailing

It was really hot here on Sunday. We decided that an evening sail would be best so after dinner we took Red Sky out for a nice evening sail. Captain Bud enjoyed the nice breeze.

First Mate Della just relaxed and enjoyed the view and the company.
The sunset was beautiful as we were coming into port. It was a bit cooler and we were thankful for the the beautiful weather.

We topped the evening off with a 'Blizzard" that we shared. LIFE IS GOOD.

Motorcycle guys

Leo came up to visit yesterday. The weather was nice and he decided to take a ride on his motorcycle. It was nice to see him. We went out to dinner and then went to an "ACTION" movie that started Silvester Stallone but with a title like "The Expendables" you have to expect lots of action. It was a good movie for the guys.
This morning Bud rode back as far as Cadillac with Leo going the back roads. It was a good chance for him to go on a ride early in the day. I will stay home and read the morning paper. We hope to go sailing this afternoon. The weather is beautiful but the wind may be a little light.

Enjoy the beauty of the day and the last days of summer.

Molly's new baby

Yesterday I went down to the school to help Molly with some 'start up' projects. It probably was just an excuse to see that new baby and deliver some gifts but I really did get some work done.

I was able to hold little Seth for quite a while so that Molly was able to do some other things in the classroom. Yesterday was the first 'teacher work day' which Molly will come in for even though she is taking the first marking period off on maternity leave. She didn't want to use her valuable sick days for these work days. Seth did come in for his afternoon feeding so I was able to babysit for a while.

YES, I know that when 3 week old babies smile it is just gas but this sure was a good smile. Maybe it is just the lucky lady that is holding him.

Cora came in later in the afternoon and checked out her new brother's teddy bear.

Molly is a terrific mother. I do enjoy spending time with her.

I gave Cora a little gift too. This is her 'castle' for the little finger puppets I bought for her. She is drawing a picture on her Mommy's desk.

It is hard to catch a smile on the digital camera but this was as close as I could get.

And of course the 'silly face' is always fun.

It was a fun day for me. I am glad that I am not doing the 'long-term- sub' for Molly. I was asked several times but I really am NOT interested in that kind of commitment. I will go in and help the sub because she is one of my friends and that will be enough for me.

Lumberjack Bud

Yesterday Bud had an interesting day of work. He was able to borrow a wood splitter from someone and split up some of the wood that was left from the tree that we had cut down. A wood splitter is an interesting machine. I thought it would make more noise and be a bit more messy but not so. It just takes a wedge and forces it into the block of wood. Of course it is much easier than doing it with an ax but it still was a lot of lifting and hauling wood.

This is the pile of wood that he worked on. He still had some wood to split when he had to give the splitter back but it is a much more manageable pile. We probably have enough wood for several years of fireplace wood. We really don't burn it that much.

Construction continues

I thought you might like a little update on the construction. Kevin (Molly's husband and Cora's Dad) is our builder. He is building the footings to pour the cement.

I will try to take a closer picture of him some day. Anyway, here he is working in the pit. The neighborhood has taken quite an interest in the construction. I have jokingly said that we are building a neighborhood pool.

It is beginning to take shape or at least I can tell where the foundation will be.

Use your imagination

I decided I would make a few more baskets. I wanted to make a 'house/castle' for some little finger puppets I bought for Molly's daughter, Cora. I hadn't ever made a lid or 'roof' so here is my newest creation.

The top comes off and you can store your treasures inside this little basket. I thought it would be kind of castle shaped with some little white beads and a cute little flower button on the top. I hope it inspires a little imagination with Cora. It is fun to make little things like this because I really use my imagination and just leftover material.

SOOO, use your imagination today and create something.

28 years and still in love

Tomorrow we celebrate 28 wonderful years of marriage. I am thankful for ever one of them. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Thank you all of you that have shared those 28 years with us. We look forward to many more with each other an you.

Molly had her baby

Molly had her baby a little over a week ago. She had a little boy whose name is Seth. I already had the quilt made but had to get busy with the teddy bear. When I was in Grand Rapids I picked up some blue corduroy fabric for the bear but when I got home I decided that I would go with the green that I found here. I like how the teddy bear turned out. I used green like the backing of the quilt and the orange/yellow that I used for the border. I think it turned out really cute.

Here the quilt and bear are together. I will try to take it out to Molly soon. She is a busy lady, out and about already. Her husband is building our garage and says that she is doing very well. I love making these little bears for special people. I really don't know how many I have made. I remember the first ones I made were for Matt, Sara, Jess and Erik MANY years ago when they were little. Anyway, the tradition goes on.

Land moving and stump removal

Yesterday the excavators came and really moved the dirt around. We had a huge stump that had to go first.

You can see how big the stump was from these pictures. It was interesting to watch them dig around the stump and try to get under it to remove it. Some of these pictures were taken from the bedroom window, above the area.

Finally, it broke free and came out. They did have to cut the top off a little before they could lift it out of the hole. We gave 6 big long logs to a friend who is going to cut them up into boards. The rest of the longer and bigger pieces of logs were taken away by the excavator to an area that they store them and then cut them up for a charity organization when someone wants firewood.

This was really a big tree and we hated to cut it down but it sure opened up our yard quite a bit. The canopy of the tree stretched over that part of the yard quite a bit. It will be interesting to see how this effects the yard and the ability to grow things other than moss. We cut down a tree right next to the driveway too. I am hoping that I will be able to plant a few flowers in that area when all the work has finished.

This is the view from the road. The garage will be the same width of the lower level of the house with the roof line not going any higher than the bottom of the upper level windows. We will repaint the house the same color and the garage will be the same color as the house. The construction site is now ready for the forms to be built for the foundation.

I will keep you posted. It is moving along quite well.

Eating off the land

Yesterday was vegetable day so I thought I would eat what I brought home. I roasted up a great mixture of vegetables including some beats that I would never have added except for a suggestion by my friend. SO here is the colorful selection of beats, summer squash, new potatoes, carrots along with some fresh tomatoes. It made a great dinner for me. Tonight I may try the recipe for potato and leek soup using some more of my great fresh vegetables.

Quilts in the garden

Monday I went to a garden luncheon that was given by the group that sponsored my class with the big swirls that I took earlier this summer. They were announcing their upcoming classes and inviting people to bring along projects that they had completed. I took my quilt from my bed and the baby quilt that I made for Molly. I was excited about some of the quilts that I saw displayed. I thought this quilt looked BEAUTIFUL. I liked the pinwheel look, the use of many different leftover scraps, the bright red border and the very tiny triangle extra border. I took quite a few pictures of this quilt because I think I will try it out this winter, using scraps from my 'stash'.

Those very small pinwheels in the border were fascinating. I was amazed at the skill of this quilter and how well her points match up.

This is the square. I was able to go online and find the pattern so I know that I can make this. It will be a good winter project and a fun way to use up scraps. Quilters never get rid of their small pieces of fabric because they know that they will find a use for them somewhere.

Many other quilts were hanging from the porch. It was quite a sight.

This is the finished project that one of the class members made from that class. I still haven't put mine on the black background but will get to it soon I hope.

I hope you enjoyed the look at the quilts. I will try to post something other than quilts soon so that you won't think that my whole life centers around quilting.

New quilt and decorating issues

Well, I finally finished the quilt that I was making for our bedroom. I saw a quilt like this a couple of years ago when we stopped in a craft gallery on our way home from N. Carolina. I liked it a lot but they didn't sell the pattern. SO, I thought it looked pretty easy to make and I took a lot of pictures. I recreated the quilt from those pictures. It uses a lot of Batik fabrics which I like. It took me a while to do this one because I kept getting interrupted with other projects so some of you have seen it in its unfinished form. It is now on our bed.

However, I do now have some decorating issues to solve. Nothing in this quilt really goes with what we have in our bedroom except maybe the light blue wall behind the bed. Our headboard and bedside tables are painted an off white color. Eva and Jessica have suggested that I paint them black and maybe 'distress' them a little.

The pictures over the bed really don't go either. I don't have any ideas for that area except the beautiful pictures that Sara and Leo brought home from Sri Lanka. Maybe I will need to take a trip there and pick something out.

This is one of the bedside tables that will be painted black if you think that is appropriate.

I also have a dresser that could be painted black to match everything else. What do you think??

Finally, there is a chest that is at the end of the bed. Should this be black too or should I paint it a different color and put the fabric from the back of the quilt on this top?? I can leave the top just painted too.

I am very open for ideas so have your say and enjoy. You know that this isn't one of my favorite things to do, decorate.

TIMBER

Well, we are proceeding on our garage project. Thursday they took down several trees. Several smaller trees came down, one beside the driveway and a couple others near this BIG oak tree. This professional crew is pretty fast.

Here is a picture of this 'twin' oak tree. That means that it is one tree at the base with 2 trees growing from that one spot.

A friend, Gordon (Maryanne's husband) came over to watch. He is taking the straight pieces of the tree to a sawmill to make into boards. I thought this was a great picture of 2 men with their heads tipped back watching the guys work, admiration of the talent that it takes to do this work.

They cut off all the branches and then cut down the tree. It was quite a sight to watch.

This one tree is left standing without any branches. It is ready to come down in pieces.

The trees are gone now. It really opened up that section where the garage will go. The tree was really big. The pieces on the right will go to Gordon to cut into lumber. There is a pile on the right that we really don't know what will happen to them. They are long but they have branches that were cut off and don't make as good of lumber.

You can see in this picture how big the trees really were.
The garage will go right there just beyond the tree trunk that is in the yard. You will enter from this direction. It will have 2 doors and hole Bud's toys.

This is the pile that is up for grabs. It is too big for us to use as firewood because we can't cut it up into smaller pieces and split it.

Here is the trunk. It really looks much bigger in person. Someone is coming next week and pulling out the trunk.

This is the pile that was cut up into small enough pieces for Bud to split. Anyone want a weekend job of splitting wood????