And the winner is ... Jean Louisiana

Jean - please email me your mailing address and the card will be on it's way to you.

We had Miss P this weekend because the Hatfield Science Center was having their "SeaFest" and it was so much fun. Granted, she's a little too young for this, but she loved it. They have a Pacific Octopus that is probably bigger than she is! And he was awake so she - okay, we - were fascinated by it. The octopus at the aquarium is smaller and usually hiding in a corner asleep. So that makes it all worth it.

Most of the pictures we took were 1)a blur; 2)the back of her head or 3)just a weird expression on her face. Honestly, momma, she was having fun!!!

Summertime and the living is crazy!

Woke up monday morning - okay, DH woke me up to see a giant full rainbow over the ocean. 6:15 but it was totally worth it! For a few minutes there was even a double rainbow - it lasted long enough to take pictures. Did you know that you can't focus on a rainbow - it's a reflection! [Duh!] So you have to focus on the land or the horizon and then move to where the rainbow is. I couldn't think of one person here that I knew well enough to call and tell them to look out the window! I took a nice nap Monday afternoon!

I finally got my summer postcards done. Machine problems plagued me throughout. I used the coast shop hop cars and set up. I called them "Are we there yet?" I, of course, had to make one for Miss P - but put the bear in her car - it seemed like he was that big too! The map portion is a map of France - it was the only map I could find but figure that there's always "wine-ing" on vacations!


I'm going to give away one of the postcards. [the bear has been spoken for, however!] Leave a comment on my blog this week and I'll pick one person to send my extra postcard to. Drawing will be Sunday.

One last bear picture - for now!

Big Bear's a Big Hit!

Miss P enjoying her new bear!

I hate deadlines!

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. quote by Douglas Adams [Is he nuts?]

Caution: I'm cranky tonight!

I think I'm through with any big project that has a deadline attached to it. I do have a few summer postcards due at the end of the month ... but I'll worry about that tomorrow! aka Scarlet!

I also need an UFO done before the next guild meeting - but looking forward to putting into practice what I learned in a machine quilting class last week.

Last month's deadline was the "Sesquicentennial-ish" hand pieced and hand quilted project. I finally got the 'story' to go with it done this week. Coming up with a story was surprisingly hard! These quilts are going to be displayed in businesses around the county to advertise our show. There will be a map and it will kind of be like a scavenger hunt to see them all.


Last week I finally finished my 'paint chip challenge' for guild. What a bugger! It was a feathered star with feathered lightning-streak borders. only 3 fabrics allowed - and you know how I hate non-scrap quilts! muslin and very light blue + one ofther of my choice. 24" x 24" and there was 397 pieces. I'm glad I didn't count those up until AFTER I was done. It was still smoking when I handed it over to the challenge mom. There's some awesome quilts in the challenge - TOUGH competition. Ribbons will be awarded at the August quilt show. On my birthday - do you think it will give me an edge??? LOL!

This weekend I repaired my son's denim quilt. Never again! It would be easier to make a new one than repair a denim quit. I feel like I was wrestling alligators all weekend! If Miss P would ask me "Is Nana happy?" Nana would say "NO!" However, the dryer just turned off - so that's officially DONE! A & J2 visit this week - so I'm actually not going to be working on it at the very last second. I will, however, not sign this work - in fact I may deny any involvement! The repairs did not go well!

Tomorrow we go to babysit and we'll have a surprise in the car. Last week our neighbor pulled up behind me when I was getting out of the car. R is a stern-looking man that kind-of makes me nervous. My first thought was, "oh,oh - what did I do wrong?" Then he asked if I'd like a teddy bear for Miss P. Well, it's the biggest bear I've ever seen - R shows rebuilt old cars and this bear rode around in Americruises and sat in the truck when it was being shown. It's too big to sit in the backseat of the Pacifica - it barely fits in the cargo area!! Miss P and Mr M are going to love it! I'll take pictures tomorrow. We leave at o'dark thirty in the am to babysit for 2 days.

I'll be in a better mood next time - I promise.

One year down!

A year ago today we moved to Newport Oregon - boy did that year go fast!!!

Miss P is now 2 1/2 years old - has been here to stay with us many times - and we love watching her develop! You can almost see the wheels spinning as she thinks something out!

Mr M only arrived in November - 6 months old now - we've been able to be with him so much more than we were with Miss P at the baby stage.

I love lists - so you will have to put up with me.

I joined the Quilt guild at the June meeting - one week after moving! and a small group in August of last year ... I also joined water aerobics and a small stitchery group here at the complex within two weeks of living here. These 4 activities have kept me too busy to be too homesick for Nebraska.

I've finished 17 quilt projects! That number surprises me - I thought I wasn't doing so much! Of course, most of them are small wall quilts but there were 3 lap size, 2 single size, 2 almost double, and a Christmas stocking! Plus 29 fabric postcards! Not bad - glad I looked back at that!

I've read 69 books! You gotta love a town with a good library! Although it's not as big as the libraries in Lincoln, it's connected with every library on the coast and you can request books from anywhere. As you can tell - I jump from genre to genre!!!Favorite books last year included:

Run by Ann Patchett
Third Degree by Greg Iles
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Riven by Jerry Jenkins
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Winter Study by Nevada Barr
Leeway Cottage by Beth Gutcheon
On Agate Hill by Lee Smith

Okay - enough living in the past! I've got 2 projects that I would like to finish by the end of the month. And repairing a denim quilt for my son- they are coming to visit in 2 weeks - it needs to be done by then.

I've gained 5 lbs here - thought that was going to be a bigger number - but time to reverse that trend. I'm trying to convince myself I live in a 'dry' state or rather a 'warm' state - because liquor is not the problem - ice cream is the downfall!!!

We signed another year's lease - so time to get to work!!! I'll let you know how it goes!