The road of life finally opened up before me this past week, and I took full advantage, putting pedal to the metal. I was able to knock out ALL my UFOs, every single one! And not only that, I renovated my sewing studio, courtesy of IKEA, who sponsored the project. In an evil twist of fate, however, I dropped my camera and it's no longer working, so I have no proof of anything to show you. I guess you're just going to have to take my word for it!
And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you...APRIL FOOL'S!!!!
Oh, how I wish it were all true (except for the non-functioning camera part). It would certainly be more entertaining and exciting than the reality of doctor appointments, traffic jams, and the ordinary day-to-day dealings. Some productive things did happen this week, though, including:
- Daughter M. bought a car, which I was able to facilitate. Ever since then, I've had the Mercury Blues floating through my head. "I'm gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road."
- I made some truly decent meals, including last night's pan-fried fish fillets with homegrown parsnip fries. Around here, you can leave your parsnips, a root vegetable, in the ground over the winter. Dad dug his out of the garden recently. Slice, toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and bake in a hot oven until they start to brown. Mm, what a delicious spring treat!
- Finished the Iron Work QAL blocks. Ready for the next step!
- Cut out my Hands2Help charity quilt and started sewing strips together. I am making a nine-patch lattice quilt.
I made a quick run to Goodwill today and found a couple Pyrex treasures hiding out on a low shelf. The blue color reminded me of Easter eggs, which then led to the idea of posing them outdoors a la an Easter egg hunt. Now, wouldn't that be fun, Pyrex lovers?
Gotta get ready to take supper over to Dad's. Tonight it's sloppy joes, or whatever you call them in your neighborhood. Spanish hamburgers? Loose meat sandwiches?
I love this new song from The Shins, but I find myself wishing it were three times as long as it is. Sorry about the ad first. It's worth the wait!
I went car shopping with my daughter M. on Monday. I don't mind car shopping, actually. I've negotiated for and bought every car we've ever owned. Norm doesn't like haggling about cars, but it doesn't bother me in the least.
I also like hanging out with my daughter, so any day we get to do that is a very good day.
She has a great, wry sense of humor. Take, for example, this exchange.
We're heading out of town where a new building is being constructed, and we both muse over what it might be:
M: It looks like a vet clinic. [Daughter is a veterinary technician]
Me: [On seeing the sign out front] Oh, it's a funeral home.
M: Same thing.
Now, see? That might make some people groan or gasp, but it cracked me up. Dark humor? Yes, please.
The day ended without a car purchase, but a possibility on one of the lots we visited. And I got to drive a sporty black Saab, which was fun.
But the icing on the cake came when we were in the drive-through at Wendy's at the end of the long day. We were behind a car with the Coolest. Bumper. Sticker. Ever (if you are a Twilight fan). I made M. take a photo with her iPhone. "Augh, you're such a fan girl, Mom!"
And here is Edward Cullen himself (or his stunt driver). This is the best clip I could find; it's dubbed in Spanish, but the words aren't important. What I really want to know is how to make that 180 turn at 30 seconds in. Put your seat belt on.
It's been a pretty good week, all things considered. Spring continues with its early show. The daffodils, among other things, are in full bloom already, a full month ahead of schedule.
Dad has set up his lawn furniture.
If you're thinking, What the hillbilly is that? you are not alone, my friend. That was my reaction exactly. All except for one word, that is.
"If you've re-purposed your dining room chair for the outdoors by screwing the seat to a stump...you might be a redneck." Jeff Foxworthy would be more eloquent than that, but good lord.
Anyway, Dad seems happy with his creation. "Glad you got to see me!" as he likes to say.
Iron Work
Come Friday night, I needed some therapy...sewing therapy, that is. I headed on down to the basement sewing room and got started on blocks for the Iron Work Quilt Along.
I have one more "bar" of the asterisk to finish on these smaller blocks, but the big ones are done.
I did swap out two of the solids for their deeper colored counterparts. I'm using what I believe is called Pumpkin instead of Apricot, and another deeper turquoise for Ocean. The other ones were just a tad too light, it seemed. I had just barely enough of the orange and turquoise from a previous project to cut these pieces out, but I'm glad it worked out. I really like how this is going together.
Mad Crazy!
I'm pretty stoked for the season premier of Mad Men tonight. Will you be watching? I believe it's a two-hour special. It's been on hiatus for so long, I can hardly remember where things left off, though I'm sure it'll all come back to me once it starts.
We also watched Sense and Sensibility, the 2008 BBC version, this week and it was excellent! Dan Stevens plays the part of Edward Ferrars. He is the one who played Matthew in Downton Abbey. And the "bad boy" character in Sense and Sensibility is also in the movie, My Week with Marilyn, which we watched last night, as is Jim Carter, the actor who plays Mr. Carson, the butler in Downton Abbey. But the shining star in My Week with Marilyn is Michelle Williams. Brilliant!
Something's Fishy
We laugh at this sign on a regular basis. Today, I managed to snap a picture while we waited for our food. Would you like fries your peanut butter chocolate banana WALLEYE?
Stormin' Norman
Norm
had a followup appointment at the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday. The
fracture has not started healing yet but it has not moved either, and that's a
good thing. So he is to remain in the Stormtrooper-like immobilizer at all
times, except when showering, which is what he was doing when I snapped
this pic.
He's got the dance down now for getting in
and out of the shower. Face west, feet together, left foot over the tub
edge, extend left arm to reach the grab bar, shift weight from
crutches to left foot, bend right leg until you say ouch, "point your
right toe like a ballerina," I remind him, so it clears the tub edge,
aaaaaaand in. He's getting pretty good at it. I'd give him a 9 for
choreography and style.
Whether You're High or Low...
Now this woman, Janelle Monae, gets a 10! Go on, dance along like nobody's watching!
I am 483 things to read behind in Google Reader. In a moment, I will "Mark All as Read," and it will ask me if I'm sure about that, and I will say to myself "no," but click "yes." That's how it goes. I cannot keep up with all the awesomeness.
I am keeping up with attendant care, however. Norm is doing okay, under the circumstances. Today he's insistent on wearing his shorts under his immobilizer. Always having to be different, that one. I can't understand how he'll be able to yank them down to use the bathroom without unhitching the RoboCop type getup he's in, but he claims it's doable, and that's not my problem, man. Yet.
So there has been a reordering of priorities and a new routine in the house, which I would describe it in detail, but it's pretty mundane. Suffice it to say the most fun part is the walkie-talkies. And maybe that I get to look at him naked more often. Oops, did I type that? (Sorry if that burned your eyes, daughter. And if you're reading this, call your father.)
We are using the walkie-talkies when I am upstairs and he is down, and vice versa. The first night, we had them on Channel 2, which was not the channel to have them on, as there were other people using that channel and unless you are my husband in a hip immobilizer, do not call me at 2:30 a.m. I get an adrenaline rush and before you know it, the robins are singing and I have dark circles under my eyes. So Channel 7 it is now.
The sewing has dropped down the list, although I do have all my Iron Work quilt-along fabric prewashed and folded on top of the dryer. Ready to cut it out soon. The Rosewood may be swapped with Black for the iron work parts. I'm still thinking about that.
I am struck by how many things there are to be thankful for. Sure, plenty of stuff is a PITA (yesterday it was the long hours on the phone with insurance, employment, etc.), but there are a lot of good things to be mindful of. The fact that his pain level is low, the neighbors have offered to help with yard work, which will start soon because we seem to be having a really early spring (another thing to be thankful for). So many more come to mind. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and well wishes. We will continue to take it a day at a time.
A few weeks ago, while my daughter was visiting and we were chatting, she arranged some yellow and white half-square triangles together on the living room floor and came up with a cool design (see post here). I then sewed them together and dubbed it A Patch of Sun.
This past week, I practiced my free-motion quilting for this month's challenge by deciding to try some loopy daisies on A Patch of Sun. I doodled a bit on paper, then went right to the machine.
First I did a couple daisies on a practice piece. Those had five petals, but for some reason when I started on this, I was making four bigger petals and just stuck with it. Maybe I had four-leaf clovers on the brain?
I used a yellow Sulky thread that was already on the machine and a white Isacord thread in the bobbin.
The back is a D9P (disappearing nine-patch), which in this colorway is also known as an EEB (exploding Easter basket). ;)
You like bright? Ka-boom! There you go!
So there you have it:
A finish for the week for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop...
Practice for the FMQ Challenge 2012 this month... (having trouble inserting the HTML code for that; button on sidebar).
And A Stitch in Time 2012 finish for March. In light of recent events, it may be my only March finish, but we'll see.
At any rate, I now have this hanging in my entryway and will enjoy the happy glow of A Patch of Sun for a while!
