Birthday dinner

Monday night we met Eva and Jessica in Big Rapids for dinner.  Our favorite restaurant wasn't open so we settled for a little 'bar food'.  It was just nice to see them.  We invited Leo but he was just getting off a VERY difficult and busy week of work.  He worked 44 hours of overtime last week which means that he worked a total of 84 hours.  He had worked a 12 hour shift on Sunday night so he was just going to sleep and hope for 8 hour shifts this week.  I am going down tomorrow to see him and have dinner with him. 

 The bar food was good.

 Jessica bought and made me this TERRIFIC magnetic board filled with pictures from Paris.  It is really very cute.  I LOVE it. 

 Of course we are getting better at having the waiter take our picture.  The whole gang. 

Eva bought me a sharp new jacket.  I LOVE it too.  I was glad to see everyone.  We have discovered that Big Rapids is a great halfway point to meet.  I don't know what took us so long to think of meeting for dinner more often. After all these years of Eva living in G.R.  we finally figured this out. 

I loved having the chance to have dinner with them and share my birthday. 

Busy and full weekend

Saturday was a busy day for us here.  We had two important commitments for that afternoon so we had to 'juggle' our time.  We started out by going to Jack's Open House.  It was a great day at the beach.  We went early and then took off to a wedding.   We left the wedding reception early and then came back to the Open House.  Dividing our time was a great way to see everyone.

 Jack and Charlotte are ready for the crowd.

 Bud and Sue look great. 

 Brittany and Charlotte look fantastic, as usual.

 The Aunt and Uncle with the proud graduate.  He will join Brittany and David at the University of Michigan this fall.

 Jack is the third one to go off to college.  The house will be quiet this fall with only Charlotte to keep them busy. 

 The 'Valet" parking crew.  The driveway only holds a few cars so David and his friends parked cars for the visitors. 

 Then we took off to Kingsley to a wedding.  The bride and groom are/were Kingsley teachers.  Josh was one of my students LONG ago in third grade.  Then he came on staff as a third grade teacher and we worked together several years.  Last year he took a job as a principal in a different school district. 

 The bride is a local Kingsley girl and a 4th grade teacher.  I think they are a great match.

 Groom and former teacher.  It was a HOT day under the tent.

FINALLY,  I did get on Bud's bike for a ride on Sunday.  We went with some friends up to Leland for brunch.  It was a hot day and it was good that we were on the road early.  It was a fun ride.  I am not going to get my own bike but I will ride now and then with Bud.  Many of you were encouraging me to ride with him so I did.  It still feels a little 'dangerous' but I will go now and then.  However, I'm not going to be his regular "bitch'  (That is what they call the woman on the back)

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and the hot weather. 

Great Eva Pictures

Eva sent me these pictures this past week.  I don't think that all of you received them so I thought maybe you would like to see them.  She was working on a new 'character' Vacation Bible School.  I am not sure if these characters were meant to entertain the children or not but they sure entertained me. 

 SO....  Where did she get these clothes and the hair???

 It looks like she is having as much fun as the kids. 

 If you are going to San Fransisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. 

 Now I'm not too sure abut this dress.  It is a little strange.

Sorry, I tried to make this picture go the other way but I included it anyway.  I actually kind of like this dress. 

Hope you were entertained by 'Groovy Gram' as she calls herself. 

Brittany is back home

Last night we went over to the cottage for dinner and a chance to see Brittany.  She came home from her Uganda adventure this past weekend.  It was fun to catch up with her and have time together with the family.  She had an interesting time on her medical trip to Uganda.  She was full of lots of stories and fun pictures.  She did manage to see some wildlife and enjoy the countryside a little too.  She is VERY glad to be back in the United States  with her family and John.

 Mom and Dad are glad to have her back home too.  It was a nice dinner together. 

David??? We aren't so sure that he was glad to see her (Just kidding)  Brittany and John cooked tacos for us and I took along homemade ice cream.  It was a nice evening. 

messy painting and messy words

Painting is the task for the two of us here.  I am painting the bedroom furniture.  I made a new quilt and the furniture needs to match the quilt.  SO, Eva and Jessica both said that I needed to paint it black.  I started the project on Sunday.  It is Tuesday and I only have one more piece to paint the first coat.  So far I have painted one large dresser, one small dresser, a chest, 2 bedside tables.  All of the pieces except the chest have drawers so that is a lot of work too.  Of course the chest has a lid that needs to be painted.  I don't know how many swear words I have shouted as I work on this project.  I still have the headboard to do.  Bud is disconnecting it from the bed tonight so I can do that tomorrow.  I ran out of room on the porch to put everything so some of the drawers had to be moved to the basement.  I sent out a cussing text to Eva and Jessica today.  I am TOTALLY blaming them for this project.  I hope that the results will be worth it. 

 You may not be able to tell it from this picture but I am a VERY messy painter.  The people at the paint store said that even though this is an oil base paint, it is suppose to be 'soap and water clean up' so I didn't wear gloves when I started on Sunday.  I ended up with black paint almost everywhere but definitely on my hands.  WELL,  I finally got most of it off after using an industrial brush and mineral spirits.  I wore gloves the next day.  I have concluded that I won't be painting the inside of the furniture. It is already painted white and no one will see it.  I told myself that I don't need to paint the insides of the drawers black either since no one will see it and I have convinced myself that it would be hard to see things inside black drawers.  Doesn't that sound like a rational idea to you too.  AND Eva told me that I still have to paint another coat.  Whose idea was it to paint the furniture anyway.  At least I am saving some money. 

Bud has been painting the garage.  He painted another wall this past week.  Notice that he is painting in a WHITE shirt and there isn't any paint on him, his clothes, his hands, his hair, his shoes or anything.  I swear that he could paint in his suit and come in clean.  We don't ever paint together. 

I started this project because my sewing machine was in the shop for what was going to be a week.  Well, they called on Monday and told me that it was ready so I got it back home sooner than planned.  It is a good thing that I started the painting project or I would just go back to sewing.  I enjoy that activity. 

I hope you have found a fun project that you can work on or maybe even a project that NEEDS to be done.  I prefer the fun projects.

LOST

I am feeling lost this weekend.  Yesterday I had to take my sewing machine into have it repaired/tuned up.  I always miss having it in the house even if I don't use it.  I often sew about 2 hours a day at least and that is a big hole in my life when it isn't around.  I should have taken it in when I was out of town but just didn't do it so now I will pay the price.  It isn't as if I can't find something else to do, but it is my 'fall back' activity.  I did go out yesterday and buy some paint.  I am going to paint my bedroom furniture to go with my quilt. I have been putting off this activity because it really isn't that fun for me.  I will start it on Monday, when I have a whole day to work.  I have 2 dressers, 2 bedside tables, a large chest with a lid, and a headboard to paint.  I am painting them black per Eva's suggestion.  Both she and Jessica thought that would be the best color.  I will then look for some good knobs to make it look nice. 

My computer has also been on the fritz lately.  It will go into the shop on Monday.  We are having difficulty with our Internet connection and think it is the modem but want to give it a 'tune up' also before contacting the cable company again.  I spent about an hour on the phone with someone from India the other day, trying to diagnose the problem.  That is kind of like trying to perform your own surgery with a doctor from India and doing it over the phone.  "Now just a minute, let me put down the phone while I make that incision.  Where exactly would you like me to make that incision in my stomach"  I am not much help to the tech person in India. 

I hope your problems are more simple than mine.  Wish me good luck painting.  I will post a picture when I get it done.  Enjoy the heat or try to stay cool.

Quilting to stay cool.

OK,OK, I did say in my last post that we should be glad for the nice warm weather.  However, it has been a bit warm here lately.  The AC has been running all the time and I have been inside enjoying it. 

This is often a warm week in Michigan, I know this because it is the week of the Ann Arbor Art Fair and I am usually fighting the crowds and the heat in Ann Arbor.  My art fair partner and friend, Kathy just recently retired and is on her own adventure with her husband.  You can check her blog as I have listed it as blogs I follow.  I decided not to go this year even though I briefly thought of finding someone else to go with me.  I am working on not buying 'things' and I surely have enough rings and 'things' to last a lifetime.  I had Paris and that was my expenditure for the year.  A memory that I will hold dear for the rest of my life. 

 I just finished this quilt for a wedding gift.  I REALLY like this pattern and the color combinations.  It was a very easy quilt pattern and a great way to use a lot of different colors.  Most of the fabrics I just picked up as I was out to different stores, without this pattern in mind.  When I saw this pattern I knew that it would look great with these fabrics.  I like how the black in the middle of each piece really sets off the blocks.  I have toyed with the idea of trying it again with white in the middle or maybe a different color but I am very happy with this gift.  I continue to work on the scrappy one that I showed a few posts back.  It is looking quite good and it keeps me from the fabric stores and spending money on fabrics that I don't need since I don't have a project in mind just yet. 

I have also been reading quite a bit lately.  I just started a good book and just finished a pretty average  book.  When I started the good book, I remembered why I like to read good literature.  The book I like so far is 'Remarkable Creatures' by Tracy Chevalier.  She also wrote 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' which I really liked. 

So good reading to all of you, I hope you have a project that allows you to keep cool or inside and enjoy the summer.