The Prize Arrived!

Remember when I won the drawing the other day? I won one of the fabric bundles that Debby was giving away at ...Pieces, too.... Lucky Me!

Here are the fabrics. And see the lovely tassel? The tassel -an extra, unexpected gift- is lagniappe, something that in Louisiana, we value highly!~ Lagniappe derives from New World Spanish la ñapa, "the gift," and ultimately from Quechua yapay, "to give more." The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans and there acquired a French spelling. It is still used in the Gulf states, especially southern Louisiana, to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean "an extra or unexpected gift or benefit."

Debby sent these tassels to her PIF recipients, but I lucked out and got one, too!

It has been so grey and rainy here. Yesterday, areas of east Texas and a little south of us in LA received 8-12 inches of rain and had to deal with flash flooding. Ours was a steady rain, but nothing like that. Nevertheless, when I edited the pictures I took outside this morning, I had to lighten them up.
See the little charms and beads that Debby hid in the tassel?
It is hanging on my inspiration board right over the computer. Thanks, Debby!

A detail shot of one of the snowballs on my snowball bush.

Procrastinating Today

We had a lovely Easter here, a little cool, but bright and sunny. Talked to Erin and the kids in Baton Rouge as they were getting ready for church, a bit of difficulty there as the Easter baskets distracted from getting ready!

We had brunch at Jayne Marie's on Cross Lake with Chris, Amelia, and Bryce. Bryce was perfectly quiet during church according to her parents, but then she usually is. She smiled and laughed all through the meal at Jayne Marie's, but was tired by the time I took the pictures. After we left, Fee and I drove around for a while looking at all the beauties of spring around the lake. It was a lovely, relaxed way to spend the day.

Yesterday was terribly hectic, and today I'm having difficulty getting anything done. Lazy. I finally did get dressed, but still can't get motivated to get out and about with errands or to get busy with household chores.

Allergies are taking their toll around here. Everyone seems to have some symptoms: sneezing, scratchy eyes, stopped up noses, coughs. The allergy aisle at Walmart was packed yesterday.

Not much sewing going on here, although on Saturday, I did do this little t-shirt for Max.
I used some of the foil, ACey sent me a couple of years ago for the grill and bumper.

I Won!

I won a give-away over at ...Pieces, too...! Isn't that just the coolest way to begin Spring?

What a marvelous idea - tree cosies or cheerful knitted sweaters for trees! I'd love to walk down town and see these trees dressed in brightly knitted, form-fitting yarn. Via Extreme Craft.

Robin suggested slicing up bananas and freezing them. Sounded like a great idea to me, so I sliced and covered with plastic wrap... And yum, yum - - I will always freeze my bananas from now on: Frozen banana slice are the best!

Or...almost the best. At least equally as good is to take those frozen banana slices, add some milk, and some cinnamon and put them in the blender for a Banana Smoothie. Then, if you happen to have a little left over pineapple and some pineapple juice, dump that in, too. Dee-licious and filling, too!

Good Morning!

Some more Dorset buttons. I forgot that I was going to bead these, but maybe tonight, I will get around to beading.

Marie, you didn't know what you were starting, did you? You thought it was just your obsession, but they are the perfect little project for when there is nothing specific going on.

Early morning view of verbena and peach tree descendant of the huge one we lost several years ago.

On Pineapples and Bobbins

Mmmm, pineapple.



We've had some big storms moving through our area yesterday, and we lost electricity for hours. I went to the gym and to the grocery store during the morning and early afternoon, before it went out, but then, on my way to see Laddie, I noticed the police directing traffic and realized that the traffic lights were down. Lights were out at Garden Court, too.

I got home about 2:30 and had to leave the car in the driveway because the garage door wouldn't open. No electricity at home, either.

The lights didn't come back on until around 6:00, but after reading a while in the dining room where there was some light, I finally gave up and took a nap. Fortunately, we missed the worst of the bad weather, but the wind was really something.

Yesterday morning, before leaving on all of my errands, I hemmed a pair of pants and used the Sidewinder to wind the bobbin. The automatic shut-off for when the bobbin was full didn't work. This morning, I tried again. When the bobbins were about full, I stopped and didn't wait for the automatic shut off.

Jude is right, it doesn't wind as evenly. Maybe if I slow down a bit, it will do a little better. Overall, at this point, I agree with Jude. It is disappointing. I will use it some, I'm sure; especially if the winder on the machine frustrates me, but it isn't what I expected.

Sidewinder

I forgot to post a picture of my newest toy! I've seen it on the QA blog newsletters and admired it for some time, then finally broke down and ordered it. I love my Bernina, but the bobbin winding mechanism sometimes annoys me.
The Sidewinder arrived in Saturday's mail, and I haven't even had a chance to use it yet. Today, I think I'll wind some thread on several empty bobbins to see how it works.

Has anyone else tried one of these? If so, what do you think?

The Salad Days

I've been trying to eat better (not less, never that), adding fruits and vegetables more frequently. Fruit with breakfast - and as snacks during the day. I've just finished all of the cantalope and must buy some more. A fresh pineapple sits on the counter; the scent is beyond delicious. And bananas...after an email Robin sent me about the benefits of bananas, I bought a bunch, determined to eat them and not just save them for banana bread.

Bananas are beneficial for depression, heartburn, hangovers, SAD, stress, prevention of strokes--among other things. Wow! I had no idea. My medical knowledge of bananas was limited to the fact that bananas (high in potassium) are useful for people who have leg cramps. I found a version of the email here (and who knew that bananas beat apples in protein, vitamins, & iron).

My favorite salad is spinach with whatever else is available. In yesterday's version: mushrooms, broccoli, avocado, tomato, green onion, hard-boiled egg, olives, and lots of pepper. The dressing is just an olive oil and vinegar dressing. And two pieces of toasted French bread. Now, I have no idea how many calories are involved (and don't want to know) because this meal has lots of greens, is quite filling, and counting calories depresses me. My current goal is to simply increase the fruits and vegetables. That is enough of a challenge.

Micellaneous Musings...Again

Since I first wrote about my terrific bamboo socks, I've noticed an increase in the availability of bamboo yarn/fabric/products. Dharma now stocks bamboo fabric and bamboo socks (and less expensive, too); I found bamboo sheets at Target; I ADORE the bamboo batting; then, while at Target looking for some socks for Laddie, I found bamboo dress socks (the only other bamboo socks I've seen have been sports socks) and of course, they went right into the basket.

I'm a fan of bamboo products for environmental reasons, but must admit that other practical reasons have also influenced me...and I've loved the socks, the sheets, the batting for so many reasons.

Yesterday I joined the Tai Chi in the Park group for a great review and gab fest. Beth and I have not been to the park or to class in 6 months or more so we had a lot to catch up on. Thomas and Nina have been much better about attendance. It was a beautiful day for practicing the forms.

My SIL Robin and I have been going to the steam room after yoga for 20 minute sessions on Mondays & Wednesdays. Amazing how much conversation can be had under such sweaty conditions. We have had some really good talks about health and fitness, and the talks themselves have provided good motivation. Oh, I'm still not eating 3 helpings of fruits and vegetables each day, but I'm making an effort.

We've also talked a good bit about attitude. This sends me back to re-newing my efforts at the Complaint-Free Challenge. In the fall, when I made this effort for 2-3 months, I was surprised at the way the efforts improved my overall attitude.

I sent her a link to the What About Me video and watched it again myself. Things like this, no matter how useful and inspiring, have to be refreshed and reinforced occasionally in my mind...or they are no longer a part of my daily thought patterns.

Slow, Slow Cloth and Tortured Cloth

Some progress on the slow cloth, and boy, it is it slow. I only work on it when I'm watching television, and I'm pretty slow anyway. I watched two episodes of the last season of Slings & Arrows on Wed. night and last night, I watched Lost--and made a little more progress.Gradually filling in the larger open spaces.

In a bit of straightening, I discovered some stained pieces of fabric and started ripping and folding, unraveling, free motion quilting over the folds, taking the raveled threads and punching them back in with the embellisher, adding bits and pieces of failed tatting and wool roving. Tortured cloth -- and it was kind of fun.

I've been a bad blogger lately...which usually means longer posts. Amelia sent me an email titled Through a Child's Eyes and here are some of my favorites.
I would love to see Mickey's shoes, wouldn't you? These are so funny and so touching to me; can't help but smile when I think about these kids.
Oops, almost time to leave. And I'm not finished! May have to have a second post today.

Lovely Weather

A beautiful day! Sunshine and temperatures in th 70's make it almost perfect. I went to the gym this morning, and Amanda walked me through most of the equipment. After going through all the weights and cardio stuff (just learning about the machines and doing a couple of reps on each), I did the treadmill for about 20 minutes then went to the aerobic room where we have the yoga class. It was empty as I had hoped, and I was able to practice tai chi for about 20 minutes. When I got home I sat outside for a while, enjoying the sun and reading.

I forgot to show you the completed yoga bag. It has velcro down the length to keep it closed. Blogger isn't cooperating with uploading pictures, but I can get it to work if I do one picture at a time.There is a little extra room so I can tuck a few extra things in like my swimsuit if I want to get in the whirlpool or for the steam room, which feels darn good after the yoga class. I like that it leaves my hands free. I don't like it as well as the weapons bag I made this summer for my tai chi weapons, but the yoga bag was a lot quicker with less quilting.

Still practicing tatting, but although I can remember the basics (with a little help from online), I'm having trouble with keeping consistent tension and my picots are in assorted sizes. I'm not sure about a number of other things as well, but since my fingers are just beginning to get re-acquainted with the process, those details can wait.

I've got 3 more books to review on the book blog, and three more in the works, two of which are non-fiction.

Marching On

Busy weekend!

It did snow on Friday, but didn't last long. Here are some pictures that I took before going to visit Laddie. It snowed beautifully for a while and had begun to accumulate, but then changed to a rainy, snowy mix and all melted.Snow days have never been a frequent occurrence in our part of the South, but in the last few years, we have become even more appreciative of the beauty of a snow fall, and also of the fact that we don't have to endure the blizzards the rest of the country have experienced. We'd love a little more snow, but just a little.

Erin and the kids arrived Friday afternoon (Mila much disappointed to discover no trace of snow) and Amelia, Chris, and Bryce joined us for dinner. After dinner, Uncle Chris had to entertain Max and Mila. He really had no choice as they were always all over him.


He had to fend off attacks from this little monster who adores her "silly uncle."

And this little fellow- who feels the same way.
This peaceful little picture of Chris and Bryce was only a brief interlude.

I've been occupied since getting up this morning with various chores, but keep running across strange animals and orphaned toys and what Mila calls the "treasure chest," an old doll trunk full of Erin and Amelia's old Barbies.