Technology abandoned me

WELL, the last two weeks have brought some challenges to my free time activities.  I took my sewing machine in for a 'ONE DAY' cleaning and then was told that it needed a new computer board.  I sadly told them to go ahead and order the part which was suppose to be there in a couple of days.  However the repair person (I think she was new to the job because the old repairman wasn't there) didn't get it done AND didn't get it done and  kept putting me off with little things until I finally went in this past Monday and they said that someone would work on it that day if they had time.  I told them that I would be back that afternoon and I wanted to take it home then,.  SO, they complied and got to work on it.  I was very happy to pick it up after it had been gone for over a week.  I am thankful that it is back at home 

To make things even more difficult here at our house, the computer was in the shop for a couple of days too.  It had been slowing down more and more and we decided to get it checked over.  It is old for a computer, about 6 years old, but we are in limbo about what to do in the way of a new home computer. We wanted to put off buying a new one while we were researching what to buy.  I am thankful that this old one is back in working order.  

 While my machines were being repaired I needed to find new ways to entertain myself.  I had lunch with a friend and we went to our local museum.  The quilt landscape artist that won Art Prize in Grand Rapids had an exhibit and we spent some time enjoying this art.  The picture above is one of three panels  depicting the Pictured Rocks in the U.P.  It is a beautiful piece.  I have taken a couple of classes from this artist and she is very inspirational for the quilting world.  It was a great way to spend the day if you can;t quilt yourself and lunch with a friend is always nice.

Bud has been very busy with his outside chores before winter arrives.  The trim on the house is all painted and he started working on the front deck.  Today he is doing the last step, staining/preserving the deck boards.  It looks great.  He has been taking half days off this month to complete his projects. He has been very busy, maybe he will be like this in retirement?????  It makes me look a little lazy but I have had more practice at this retirement thing and he continues to work as much as possible at the office.

I wish that I knew how to rotate a picture once it is on the blog but I don't know the secret so tip your head to the left to view this unusual piece. (or maybe not if you like it hanging this way) It has a funny story.
A couple of years ago I went for an overnight quilting retreat with my great friend Mary Anne.  We were told to bring along several different types of fabric and I really can't remember what all of them were except I know that one was suppose to be black and white and one was suppose to be something we considered 'ugly'.  When we arrived we were to make these blocks with the fabric using a fusible to put them on the background.  I think the directions were to use every one of the fabrics in each block and there were some other directions too but I can't remember.  ANYWAY, I bought these blocks home and I was to 'stitch' around each of these pieces that I fused  on the background.  I am not fond of that process so it went into a box to be finished later or thrown away. Just before my machine abandoned me I found these blocks and decided I should do something with them  When I got my machine back I went right to work and did all that tedious stitching and put the blocks together.  It is now hanging in my sewing room.  One more UFO (unfinished object) completed)
The class was suppose to be followed up with a 'therapy' session with the person running the class.  I can only imagine that she would have us talk about our fabric selections and why we put them is this order and arrangement.  I didn't go to the session.

So, there you have it our accomplishments and challenges.  Aren't we lucky that we have such small challenges?

Too much for one post

Sorry, I really haven't been keeping up with my blog.  My computer has been slow and temperamental.  My sewing machine is in the shop waiting for a new computer part and I seem to be equally sluggish.
I will try to update you on my life but it may be a long post.

 For Charlotte's last weekend in T.C. before heading off to college, she requested an afternoon of sailing.  It was nice to be able to take her out on a nice Saturday afternoon.  Ringo wanted to come along too.  He is such a sailing lover.

 Of course the captain took us right past Red 8, a popular mark on our way out the bay.

 Charlotte and her friend David were enjoying their weekend together.  David has already started school at Western but came home for Charlotte's last weekend home.  This was his first time out on the boat this summer because he was always working when we went out.

 The sky was blue and the winds were favorable.

 Saturday was also Sue's birthday so we went over to their house for dinner.  Walt fixed a wonder steak and salmon dinner and the family and friends brought along the 'sides'.  Sue has some great friends and we enjoyed coming along as family.

 The birthday cake was cut up before we put the candles on it.  Maybe that was on purpose because they didn't seem to have any candles.  We sang anyway.

 Tuesday (Sept 9) I drove down to Coleman to spend the night with Leo.  He met me in Clare for dinner and we were up fairly early for two people that don't work, and headed to Midland to buy him some new clothes for Josh's upcoming wedding.  He found a nice pair of black pants.

 I joked abut him buying this shirt as it is a lavender check but he wouldn't go for it.

 Instead he got two new shirts, one white and one kind of a gray.  I think he is ready for the wedding.

 We did go to lunch afterward.  I love Panara Bread and they have on in Midland.

 Leo has been working on the landscaping around his house.  It has been a bit of a challenge since they really didn't put the house on the crawl space correctly.  We are still fighting with the company about that issue.

 However, it is looking pretty good anyway. He has been doing a lot of work with his back hoe and digging trenches to help drain the water around his house.  You can see that he has a Kohl's bag there with his clothes.

 One other thing I decided to do is follow the advice of Penny and rearrange his living room.  I moved the sofa and loveseat around. He will try it this way.  I think it looks good and probably better.  I have a rug to take down that I forgot so next time.

 Before I left Coleman I decided to visit Aunt Mary.  She lives right up the road from the farmhouse and is now a widow so I thought it would be a good idea to stop and see her.  She is looking as good as usual, still getting out to do her own grocery shopping.

I didn't mention the other stop we made in Midland.  Denise told me that there was a nice quilt shop in Midland that I hadn't visited.  Leo so kindly went along and watched me pick out some fabrics to add to my stash.  They are all batiks which I love.  I am sure that I will find some way to work them in to some future project. Anyway, they are pretty,.  

Leo and I joked about helping each other spend their money.  I won because Leo spent a little more than me by about $10.  

So there you have it, my too long post.  I will try to post more often but maybe if I received more encouragement by the way of comments, I would try to post more often.  Just saying......

A quiet Labor Day Weekend

We didn't do much this weekend.  For me, a weekend is just like any other day but that is what retirement life is all about.  

 Bud continued to work on painting the trim on the house.  We did have some rainy weather but he has managed to find some time to paint.  It is quite a big project.  Bill wasn't available to help paint this weekend and I am a very messy painter so it isn't a good job for me.

 I have been working on a quilt for Sara and Leo.  She picked out the pattern when I was out visiting this past spring.  It is a very colorful quilt.  I LOVE it a lot.  I love how it turned out.  I used all batik fabric to make this quilt.  I love batik fabrics so I used this as an opportunity to indulge myself and buy some more colors.

This pattern was a little different from anything I have made before.  This pattern requires two rectangles of a similar color in the middle and then the outer rectangles must 'blend' around the center.  Each block is just a 6" square so it did require having a lot of different fabrics.  I haven't ever done this 'blending' thing and it was a bit of a challenge at the beginning. If any two blocks are alike, it is just by chance not design. I think it required about 240 blocks to make this quilt.  I had a lot of fun making it and became much more relaxed about the blending process as I worked.

When I finished I had quite a few rectangles left over so I decided to make this back.  I just stacked the rectangles totally at random, so different from the front.  I decided to put a nice gray between the stripes.  I like how it turned out too.  In fact, I'm not sure which side I like best. It will be interesting to see what my quilter does with the quilting.  The pattern is so colorful that I don't think the quilting will hardly show up.

SO, that is what we are doing here in the Northland.  Maybe your week and weekend were more exciting.

Working and Wedding

Wedding first.  We went to a wedding of a wonderful woman this past Saturday.  I have known her since she was a little girl, maybe even before she was born that is how long and I can't remember anyway.  

 When I heard she was getting married and then saw her this past winter I mentioned that I was making quilts now.  She remembered a stuffed rabbit that I made for her when she was a little girl.  I had forgotten the rabbit but she sure hadn't.  She put in a request for a quilt so I started this one for her.  It was a bit of a challenge, I was using a new ruler to make these hexagons.  You can't really see too well but the background is a light gray.  I did manage to get it finished without too much swearing.

 This is a close up of the block.  I had some difficulty liking this quilt so I hope she does like it.
My next project is for Sara and Leo.  It is about half done and I like it a LOT more.  I will share when it is finished.

 The wedding was in the afternoon with a reception following at the Yacht Club.  We didn't stay too late but it was a nice wedding and reception.  

 Sunday our friend Bill came over to help Bud with his summer project of painting the trim on the house and the garage doors.  Bill was my neighbor at my house when I lived south of town.  We have remained friends.  He is a retired teacher and was looking for some summer work so we hired him to help Bud with this project.
They are having lunch here in this picture.

 The spent the day cleaning the trim and getting rid of the spider webs.

They worked pretty hard.  Bud was a little sore at the end of the day.  Bill is back today power washing the deck.

So that is all for us this past week.  Maybe you had a more exciting week than me.

Thank You Charlotte

If it wasn't for Charlotte, I wouldn't have anything to write about this week as it has been a pretty quiet week here.  

 Sunday afternoon we had the pleasure of attending the Senior Recital.  It was a beautiful event.  She sang to everyone for an hour.  We a;; remember when she started down this path. Her voice coach told us something like when Charlotte first came she had a voice with a lot of 'breath' and not too strong but she loved the family and took on this wonderful girl.  She has developed into a talented singer.  I too remember going with her to a voice lesson and wondering if it was the right choice to make singing her chosen career. At family events we often kidded that she might look for a rich husband while in college.
WELL, she proved all of us wrong by working hard and following her dream.  This fall she is attending Lawrence College in Wisconsin and they are 'thrilled' to have her as a student.
She has every right to be proud of herself and her accomplishments.  We are thankful to be a part of her life an to have watched her talent develope.

 David, her boyfriend is attending Western Michigan this fall.  They sang one song together.

 Of course Sue and Walt are very proud of their lovely daughter.
It was a great way to spend the Sunday afternoon.
We wish you well, Charlotte and hope you remember us when you are famous.

NOW on another beautiful note (except for the wrinkled hand part) I received in the mail today the other ring I bought at the Ann Arbor Art Fair.  I wanted it made bigger so I had to wait for it to come.  You may know that I am very fond of the emerald cut in my gemstones.  This one caught my eye because it is so big.  I photographed it on my wrinkled hand so you could see that it stretches the whole length of my knuckle.  It is about an inch long.  The stone is smoky quartz which is a pretty common stone but not one that I have in my inventory.  I really love the way it looks despite my wrinkled hand.  If you wear large enough rings, maybe it distracts from my hands.  At least that is my opinion.

Today we are celebrating our 32nd anniversary.  We will have dinner out and just relax.  No presents for us, we have it all just the fact that we have so many wonderful years together.

The birthday week in review

The day before my birthday we meet Brittany, John and Charlotte for breakfast.  Brittany and John were leaving that day to go back to Chicago so we had one more opportunity to spend time with them.  It was a great breakfast.  I always enjoy the time we have together.  We only have a few more weeks with Charlotte before she heads off to Lawrence University.  Sue and Walt were taking David to University of Virginia that weekend.  He starts medical school there soon. We will miss him here but it is a great adventure for him in a whole new environment.  We are looking forward to adding a stop to see him when we take our spring trip.  It was nice of him to pick a place along our route.  

 In the afternoon we went on a 'convertible car' tour of the western side of Michigan with two other couples.  It was a beautiful day with just the right temps. and no rain.  It was nice to ride through the back roads and visit places I haven't been.  This is an overlook of Lake Michigan.

 We sure live in a beautiful part of the state.  The shoreline along Lake Michigan is beautiful even on a hazy day.

 Monday, my actual birthday, I received MANY text messages and calls from family.  Thank you all for your birthday wishes.  I went out to run some errands and when I returned these beautiful flowers were waiting for me by the door.  Thank You Brittany and John.  A week later they are still beautiful.  I fell blessed.  We did't go out to dinner on my birthday since our trip the day before included a beautiful dinner in a great little place on the west side of Michigan.

My week has been fairly quiet with my usual reading a quilting activities.  I am making this beautiful and VERY colorful quilt for Sara and Leo.  It is all batik fabrics and the blocks are only 6 inches square so that means I am making a lot of blocks to complete this queen size quilt.  I am loving the look so far and am about half way through making the blocks.  I will include a picture when I have more done.

 Bud continues to try and take Fridays off this summer.  He went in for about an hour this week but has been avoiding the office on Saturdays and Sundays totally.  I am impressed.  We used this Friday to take some friends out on the boat.  This is the 5th time the boat has been away from the dock this year.  That is pretty good for us.  Bill was my neighbor when I lived out by Spider Lake so we have known each other for a long time.  He and Joan spend the winters in Florida and are very busy when they are here in Michigan so it was nice to spend some time with them.  Bill also had the boat slip next to us many years ago so he is a avid boater, although a power boater.  This was the first time they had been out on the bay this summer so they were glad to be out too.

 The weather was perfect.  A nice wind, the temps in the 70's and the sun was shining.  We were all happy. We had great sandwiches and a few grapes but most of all just a good time.

Wow, two pictures of me in one post.  That is a little unusual.

Saturday we decided it was time to check out the movie selection.  We decided to go up to Sutton's Bay and see the movie 'A Journey of 100 Steps"  We invited some friends to go with us, had dinner on the way and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I STRONGLY recommend this movie to everyone that loves to watch a good movie. We walked out smiling and loving the whole evening.

So there you have it, the summary of our week.  We are now heading over to the Yacht Club for dinner.  Today was Coast Guard Day at the club.  They invited the Coast Guard to come over and enjoy the beach and water and have dinner.  It is always a nice event.

I love you and hope you all had a great week.  Thanks again for all the love you sent my way for this birthday.  64 seems pretty old to me but I guess I can't do anything about getting older.

One year older

I was able to have a little early birthday celebration last week.  It was important that this precious little one was able to attend with her parents so we celebrated early.  MY,MY isn't she cute.  

Such a wonderful little baby.  She was the center of attention for most of the dinner.  She is getting so big and loves sitting up and watching everyone.

This photo is a little off with the color,  Bud took it with his iPhone and didn't have the flash on but anyway, Leo just had to 'photo bomb' this picture.  I love it.

Eva bought me a beautiful red jacket.  I wear jackets so much in this N. Michigan weather so it will be a beautiful addition to my closet.

Of course, Mom and Dad.  They are such good parents and are very happy in the role.

And Gram loves every minute of her time with this new grand daughter.

She even let Uncle Bud hold her.  She passes around the table very well and doesn't seem to mind all the attention.

I just checked the blog entry and realized that the picture that I uploaded (below) didn't have me in the shot.  I guess I took this one while we were waiting for the waiter to help us out.  I kind of liked it because it was a closer look at the people but since it was MY birthday, I thought I should edit this entry and add a picture of myself because I was there.

Our traditional photo on the bench outside Applebee's in Big Rapids.  It is a nice tradition, meeting for birthdays and having dinner.  I LOVE it.
Even though I am a year older, I am always thankful for every year with family and friends.