Someone new

Only a couple of you will know who this young lady is. I met her on the 4th of July at Rick and Cathy's. She was sweet and personable and allowed me to take pictures of her so that I could draw her cute face. I hope I did it justice.
B....... if you see this,
I hope you like it.

God Bless America

I do love this land called America. I often wonder what I did so right in the pre-existance that made we worthy to come to earth and be a citizen of this great country. Yes...we do have our flaws and problems. But, we do have a freedom that can't be compared.

Below I have posted some pictures of places we went on our trip. It was an eye-opener and made me appreciate our founding fathers and what they went through to bring to us such a wonderful place to live. Enjoy!!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY !!!

George Washington
Mt. Vernon (George Washington's favorite place)

Old Glory...long may she wave!

James and Dolly Madison

Montpelier

Home of James Madison

See the three little windows over the door?

That's the room where the Constitution was first drafted.

Monticello

Home of Thomas Jefferson

The Declaration of Independence was drafted in this home.

Location of boyhood home of George Washington

The Stars and Strips flying at the graveside of

President Herbert Hoover

"A Great Humanitarian!"


Again... HAPPY 4th OF JULY !!!

Who is it?

Ok...so you probably won't guess who it is...so I'll give you the scoop. If you're a Treky fan you will see (or perhaps you've already seen) this guy in the new movie. His name is Eric Bana and he plays the really bad guy named Nero. I thought his face was so perfect to practice on so below is my rendition of him.

Who is it?

I'll give you a hint... he should be in pain.

First commissioned piece

Recently I was talking to mom and she said that she had always wanted a picture of the view they had from the window of their house in Mountain View. She talked about Old Chief in the distance with Pole Heaven off to the right. She told me there was a building in the middle and a "coolie" in the foreground. She had asked her sister to paint such a scene, but got a painting with a pond in the front and old chief in the back. She'd left out many of the elements that mom wanted in the picture. So, while I was at her house we went in search of the photo that she'd given her sister to use as inspiration for the painting.

Below you will see my attempt to draw what mom wanted her sister to paint.

Out where they keep the scenery!

Just got back from a nice trip up the coast of Northern California. We got really lucky with the weather... not a drop of rain! It was cool (sometimes cold) and breezy, but all in all, a lovely couple of days where the weather is normally very unpredictable. Below are a few of my pictures I thought you might like. We had various excursions, so I've indicated where each of the pictures was taken.
We also enjoyed a visit with Adam and Delia while Carol and Craig were visiting with them.

End of the jetty coming into the Eureka harbor.

This is a treacherous place.

Lucky us, we were out there on a nice day.

Driftwood everywhere.

These were some of the best examples.
We loved the town of Trinidad!

Harbor in Trinidad

Just one of many, many barns along the way to Gold Beach, Oregon

Harbor views at Crescent City

This ship had just come in the night before.

Gotta love the Pacific Ocean!!!

One of my favorite places is the harbor in Eureka.

It looks stormy, but it wasn't.

I loved the lighting, with the sun behind me and the cloudy eastern sky.

And no trip to Eureka would be complete without a trip out to see my boyfriend,

The Fisherman!!!

Ain't he cute?

Be nice...he's had a hard life!

Hope you enjoyed these.

Oh, yes, we did some shopping and eating out in Ferndale. Also one of our favorite places!

Latest who is it?

The hairstyle should be a dead giveaway.

Who is it?

I think it might be best for me to not give out the names of those I'm drawing. That way, if you guess correctly, I'll know if I've captured the likeness.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Need your opinion

I have been having kitchen storage issues for quite some time now. I think it has something to do with the success of my two week menu planning. I'm enjoying cooking alot more and so I think I've been getting more kitchen gadgets to help with this endeavor. Anyway, I decided recently to get a kitchen island. Now, with the shape of my kitchen I knew I couldn't get a large one. If I did there wouldn't be room to open the fridge (that would be a shame, huh?) and also get the cabinet door open on the opposite side. So I went in search of something narrow, with draws and a couple of doors that would fit the area. I tried to imagine an island in this space, but could never quite see it in my head.

I did finally find one where I liked the size, style, color, and best of all, price. It came yesterday (thank you JC Penney for a 48 hour delivery) and Stan put it together last night.

Only one problem...I can't decide which way to place it in the kitchen. I have taken four pictures...two of it crosswise and two of it lengthwise in the area. What I need is your opinion on which direction you like best. I JUST CAN DECIDE!!!

Thanks for your thoughts.

CROSSWISE?

-or-

LENGTHWISE?

This is so me!!!

I laughed right out loud when I read this Pickles last Sunday.

Yes... indeed, this is truly me!!!

I will go down kicking and screaming into old age. I hate being referred to as old. I don't feel old, I don't act old, I don't smell old, I don't dress old, I don't walk old, I don't sleep old, I don't move old, I don't talk old, I don't behave old, I don't... well you get the picture. HOWEVER, I'm with Earl on this senior discount thing. Hey...if I do indeed have to be over 55, well then I'm darned entitled to that discount.
After all, there have to some perks, right?

Just look at us!

Or is it?

It's so much fun to poke fun at ourselves. I couldn't resist altering this cartoon to fit our names. I don't know how many of you follow Pickles, but we love these two darling characters.

The reason why I posted this altered cartoon is because Stan and I have been making an effort to be more romantic. We've talked about going out to dinner many times. However, we always seem to do this with friends or family, instead of going alone. What does that say? I just really don't know. We do have dinners together alone every night that we eat at home, so you would think that would mean we shouldn't really need alone time when we go out to eat. BUT... there is something romantic about dining in a nice restaurant alone together. Perhaps we might enjoy someone else making the dinner and cleaning up. Our MO when we're at home is...I make it, he cleans up after it. I'm not doing it all, so I ask you, what's the motivation for going out and spending money at a fancy place just to be alone? Now that Stan's been retired for almost 8 years and our children have been gone from our house for longer than that, you'd think that we have had plenty of alone time.
So...I'm still searching for a reason why going to Costco and having a great hot dog together shouldn't constitute dinner out. Basically, it works for me. Maybe it's not a real date, maybe we're not really that alone, but we're together. We do lots of things together and as the poet said, "That's makes all the difference."

Free at last!

Before wire was removed
Before pin was removed.

After all removed and finger cleaned and iced for a bit.

Free at last, thank goodess...I'm free at last.

In fact, I'm typing this with the use of all ten of my fingers. Yipee!!! It's a bit stiff, but the Dr. says I need to start flexing the finger in order to get movement back.

The removal of the wire and pin was about as painful as I thought it would be. However, as my witness (Carol) can attest, I did very well. Only a pained look on my part, but no noise, crying, or screaming. Really...it wasn't all that bad. The wire was the worst, but she did it quickly and with one swift movement. The pin was almost nothing. It mostly hurt for a few minutes afterwards and then calmed right down.

But... now the real work starts. At first my thought was that I would never flex the end of my finger again. But after some work over the last couple of hours, I've been able to get about a 5% bend in it. My goal is to be quite flexible by the time I go back to the Dr. on the 16th. She said if I didn't get enough movement back into it that they had ways of making me move it. That was threat enough for me. I'll be good...I promise. So with the aid of a little ice, no pain killers and pretending to be grasping a small ball in the tips of all my fingers, I've been able to loosen it already. Unfortuately, they didn't give me any exercises and ideas on how to get the movement back, so I'm flying blind on this one. Hopefully, I'll be doing it right and will get back as much use of my finger as is possible.

Thank you to all of those that have wished me well. Many, many people have asked me regularly how I was doing. I appreciate all the well wishes more than you can know.

Help...I'm quilting and I can't stop...again!!!

UPDATE

ARG!!! They didn't have anymore of the fabric that I messed up cutting for the border. I got something else (don't know yet if I like it better) and it's 108" wide so I can use it without having to piece the border and also as backing without being pieced. That's a plus.

We'll see how it turns out.

I have the blue and pink top together. It sorta didn't end up looking how I thought it would. We'll see when I get the borders on how I finally feel about it.

This happens about every three quilts. For some reason they just don't develop the way you think they will. I guess this is true with any form of art. Do you think Van Gogh had these same issues?

(These are pattern pictures...not my quilt color choices)

Top almost put together.

Ready to be layered and quilted

Pieces freshly cut and ready to be assembled

Well... apparently having a broken finger has not slowed down the quilting process. I don't really know how I came to this point. I'm currently in different stages on three very different quilts. The first one pictured has been our Quilting Group project. We've been working on this one since the first Wed. in January. Yesterday, however, I made a huge mistake in measuring and today must return to Brentwood to, hopefully, get more material to finish the larger border. I orginally had enough material, but decided to make the border a little larger, quilt it and then proof it down to the correct size before cutting the scollops. WRONG... in reality I had purchased just enough to cut it as directed. We'll see how costly this mistake will be, both in time and money. OUCH!!! I told you I needed help.

The beehive quilt is another Wed. quilt group project. This one was abandoned by the other two ladies in our group. I loved it, so I perservered in making it. I did, however, cut down on some of the work. Mine does not have all the little teardrop shapes in all the corners. These are actually supposed to be bees. I thought it was too busy. I also used my own "bee" design for the ones placed in the border. My colors are a bit different also (mostly yellows and golds). This one I should be able to get done pretty soon. I will post a picture of my finished quilt as soon as it's done.

The third quilt pictured will not in any way be these colors. I'm in the process of setting up a "Quilt in a Night" for the ladies at church. I've always wanted to do a pink and blue quilt. So I'm making one to show as an example. I have stashes and stashes of fabric, so I just went to the closet and started rummaging and sorting. I cut it out last night and will start assembling the blocks after getting back from Brentwood. That's if I'm not crying and ripping off the current side borders and replacing them with a new color choice. Again, I will post a pictire of this one when I get it finished.

In the meantime...keep happy thoughts for me.

I need to put down the rotary cutter and step away from the cutting table.

I need to get my backside out of the chair and stay away from the sewing machine.

I need to stop staring at quilt pieces, thinking there must be a better placement option.

I need to come out from my quilt room and look for some sunlight and fresh air.

I need to stop dreaming up more quilt projects.

I need to say "no" when the next person suggests starting a new quilt.

I need to ignore that new quilt book I just bought.

I need to stay away from the magazine counter at Wal-Mart (they have quite a few quilt magazines).

I need to re-connect with my husband. I need to, basically, just give it a rest!

Alas...I just can't do this. So, here I remain unable to stop (at least for now). I know I'll see the great outdoors again soon. Until then...I'm quilting and I really can't stop!!!

Is this sweet...or what?

I have to say, my husband is the best. Just when I think he can't get any sweeter...he surprises me. I know Stan was not standing in the "romance line" when that gene was handed out and he wasn't trained by a father (or mother for that matter) to be romantic, but he really does know how to take a suggestion and run with it. After a not so romantic Valentine's Day, I suggested that he might want to try to up his game a bit. We had a nice chat about my expectations probably being a little high and his knowledge on the romance front being a little low. He obviously took my suggestions to heart.

This evening I had a choir practice from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. After I got talked into joining the choir again, I informed Stan that spaghetti was on our menu and that it was going to have to be his job to make dinner tonight. Well...I got home promptly at 6:05PM to find that this darling man had set up a candlelight dinner for two. The spaghetti, garlic bread and green beans were ready shortly after my arrival and we enjoyed a lovely (and well prepared) meal together.

So ladies of this family...take heart. There is always hope for our men.

Look at mine... ain't he sweet?

Doesn't he look right at home?

Yum, yum!!! And he did the dishes too!

I'm now a lefty...almost

It's just amazing what the body can do when it's pressed into it. On my journey to recovery I've discovered that it's true... when one thing is taken away, the body will make up for it. I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of things I can do left handed (technically I'm right handed). I thought it might be fun to post a list of those things I've discovered I can do left handed or those things I can do one handed. I've also included those things I just can't seem to master left handed. Here you go...

I can type using all fingers on my left hand (as they should be used) and only my index finger on the right hand.
I can comb my hair, but cannot use the hairbrush.
I cannot master the curling iron with my left hand. Guess it has something to do with looking at it in the mirror... confusing to say the least!
I can eat left handed pretty darn good. I cannot, however, cut up something like steak.
I cannot use a knife to slice things. Drat...that would have been nice to do.
I cannot make the stupid (sorry Heidi) scissors work left handed.
I can drive with only my left hand. You probably don't want to ride along, however, until I get back the other hand.
I can use the computer mouse left handed with a great deal of dexterity.
I can open bottles, cans, packages, only exception is the cereal bags. That requires two hands or a good pair of scissors.
I can cook left handed (involves mixing, stirring, folding, whipping, etc).
I can quilt left handed. This only means I can use the sewing machine to sew. But, surprisingly, I can pin pieces together using only my left hand.
I can write left handed. It's still a little shaky, but pretty readable. My printing , on the other hand, is not as good.
I can iron left handed.
I can (and this one is important) work the TV remote with my left hand.
I can sweep and vacuum with my left hand.
I can wash the dishes (most of them) with only my left hand.
I can load the washer and the dryer with only one hand includes adding the soap and bleach.
I can fold and put away all the clothes with only my left hand.
I cannot tie my shoes with only my left hand. But with the aid of only two fingers on my right hand the shoes get tied.
I can brush my teeth left handed if I use the electric toothbrush. Is that cheating?
I can put on all my makeup (including eyeliner and mascara) left handed.
I can wash my hair, shave my legs, and wash the bod with only my left hand.

Well, I think that's quite enough... you get the picture. You might ask why I'm only using my left hand to do many of these tasks. The reason is that all the tendons in the hand work in a sort of interconnected way. When I tax my right thumb, index finger and middle finger it tugs on the tendon of my ring finger. And that simply HURTS.

So until that day that I have full use of all the tendons and bones in my right hand, I will continue on this (not of my choosing) journey to becoming ambidextrous.

I'M FREE... kinda

Just an update:
Tuesday I went to the ortho dr. and they removed the half cast/splint. What a gruesome sight! I won't go into details, but can say that I'm very close to being bionic. Just hook my wires up to an antenna and I'd probably receive radio signals. Gladly (and a little painfully) the stitches were removed. For those of you who play "chicken foot" dominoes, you might be interested to know that my scar will look a little like a chicken foot tattoo. Could be worse...I guess! I was given an appointment on March 2nd to have all the hardware removed. Now you might think I would be excited to really be "free", but frankly after knowing of Adam's experiences, I'm scared spit less. You know how time drags when you're looking forward to something? Well, I know the next 16 days are going to fly by at warp speed. Fortunately there are a few fun things to do in this next couple of weeks that will distract me, but I still know the fateful day is coming when "pullout" (as they call it in ortho) will happen. I think I could handle the pin OR the wire, but the prospect of both is daunting. I don't consider myself to be a ninny, but this is by far the creepiest thing I've had to face.
So...with all that said, I have some advise for everyone... BE CAREFUL!!! Life can be such a fragile thing. You need to protect those parts of you that can be broken. This means you need to eat right, exercise and take that calcium. It's so important to the strength of your bones. Don't end up like me with three broken bones in your lifetime. It's just such an unnecessary and cruddy thing to have happen.
For those of you who have small children...make sure that they get what they need when they're little. It will serve them well in their latter life.
OK...I'll get off my soap box now. I just wanted to let you all know that I love you and don't want any of you to go through what has happened to me.
Who would have thought that a little finger bone could be such a big pain!!!

Just a little giggle!

Stan actually gave me this cartoon this morning. You've got to love a husband that can poke fun at himself. Now, I have to tell it straight. Since my surgery last Thursday, Stan has been doing everything he can to make my recovery go smoothly and make my life easier. If I don't ask him to do something every few minutes or so, he's asking me if there's anything I need. This man is multi-talented. Here is a list of the talents that have been displayed in recent weeks:

1. cook

2. beautician (this includes washing and styling)

3. laundry washer and folder

4. dishwasher

5. stove deep cleaner

6. fetch and carry

7. bathroom cleaner

8. bed maker

9. typist

10. master of the vacuum

11. chauffeur

12. secretary

13. general doctoring

14. vitamin police

15. pharmacist

16. psychologist

Well, I think you get the general idea. You know... a girl could get used to this!

Actually, I really don't like being so helpless and needy. I was so excited this morning when Stan asked me to help him get the items together for a first-aid kit he needs for one of his Scout classes. Yipee...I'M HELPING!!!

I promise my dear husband that someday his active and responsible wife will return. Until then... thank goodness he loves me so much!

OUCH...in living color

After seeing Carol's sad little face on her blog post, I decided to just put my "OUCH" out there in "living color".

Just a warning: the following pictures may be disturbing.

CLOSE


CLOSER

CLOSEST

It's really not as bad as it looks. Yes, it does still hurt a bit, but at least I know that this way I am healing properly.

I'm learning that there are all kinds of things I can do left handed. The "one handed" part, however, is much harder! I'd sure like to be able to use the curling iron myself. This is just not possible though. So, Stan is getting some "beauty" training that I'm sure he never expected to get during our marriage. As Rob would say, "That's not listed as a duty on the back of the wedding certificate." Funny how we can get pressed into doing or learning something as part of marriage that we never thought we would. So, I would just say to Stan, "remember how I helped to put a transmission in Nic's car?"

I guess marriage really is a two-way street. And I thank God for that!!!

Thank you for all your well wishes. I'm getting better and looking forward to being whole again in a few weeks.

OUCH!!!

Many of you know I had hand surgery on Thursday. I apparently have a finger wired back together and a pin (sticking out the end) that will hold my finger in place while healing takes place. Since typing with one hand is tedious, will take a break from posting anything for a bit.

Thank you for all the well wishes. I'll be back as soon as I can manage it.

Till then... please keep happy thoughts for a good outcome from this latest treatment.

Whew...glad that's over!

First, I would like to thank Kayla for helping me to update my blog. You will notice that there's a new background, new music and the section including my "followers". I'm so glad that technical help is not too far away. Kayla...I appreciate it!

Second, today Stan and I gave a talk in church. Ugh...is probably your first response to hearing that, especially if you know anything about what it's like to get up there and expound on a subject you did not get to choose and try to sound like you know what the heck your talking about. The Bishop, fortunately, gave us about 10 days notice on our subject. That subject was...(ugh again), Chastity!
I have to admit that my first, and almost lasting, thought was that I only need to write a talk that had three words in it. Those words are JUST DO IT, enough said, now sit down Karen. Sad as it may be, at first that's really all that I could come up with. Again, I have to say that I'm so grateful for the internet. I was sitting at my computer when the call came from the Bishop and I was able to head right for LDS.org and get some material to make a feeble, yet dedicated, start to this talk. Thoughts developed slowly (I was a little scared at how slow), but eventually I was able to pull together some ideas. The part that I struggled with the most was not wanting to say the words "sex" or "sexual" over and over in front of a congregation that had tender little ears listening. I feared there would be little people leaning over to their parents asking, "What's sexual mean, mommy?" So I labored the most over this problem. After talking to many who know much more about talking in church, someone gave me the idea to head down the "virtue" road instead of talking strictly about avoiding sexual relations before marriage...or as it's called, chastity. I was excited to learn the the Young Women's program has added "Virtue" as an additional value. What an inspired idea. If you get a chance, read Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk entitled, Look toward Eternity.
Anyway, I lived through today, I wasn't shaking like I thought I would be, I could hear myself speak cause my heart was pretty darn calm, and there were actually people looking back at me making eye contact as I spoke. Believe it or not...no one was nodding off or leaving the room. Yipee!!! But, mind you, this doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to that next call from the Bishop. Here's hoping that won't happen for another year or so.
One other thing I'm grateful for this day...I've grown from this experience, and that feels GOOD!!!

HELP...I've fallen behind and I can't catch up!!!

ARG!!! I've yet again fallen behind on scrapbooking. I'm so grateful to Kayla for working so hard to help me catch up on 5 of the grandkids books. I, however, never got to Jakob. So...with Kayla being so busy these days, I decided to enlist the aid of another scrapbooker. She lives way out in the boonies northeast of Redding and apparently has some time on her hands. She and her family are living on a "back woods teacher's salary" so they can use a little extra money to help with expenses. Anyway...that's beside the point. My main complaint is that time just goes by way too fast!!! Just when I think I have a handle on things being organized, I realize that I've fallen short. When I started getting Jakob's pictures together for Brooke, I discovered that I had a chunk of time missing. Eleven stinking months to be exact! So, feeling desparate and distressed I started searching through file after file of pictures that Stan had stored on a disc for me. Thank heavens for a husband who knows how to do this, remembers that he's done it and where the discs are located after I've let some grand amount of time pass by. I wish that I could say that I'll never let this happen again. But let's face it...I'm just not that strong. Bad habits are hard to break and then there's that "time thing" again that gets in my way. Well, I did find the pictures that I needed. I've ordered 7 packages from Costco (I told you that I was missing a chunk) and they are getting organized to go to Brooke.
So, I say to Jakob, Sorry sweetheart for being so lame and soon your albums will be all caught up. I'd love to share them with you next time you come to California.

My advise to those of you who need a little kick in the pants regarding scrapbooking...JUST DO IT!!!

I'm off now for a little bit of chocolate to make me feel better before I head back to Costco for the second time today.

Love to all >^..^<

Time Out

Wow, I don't have too many Saturdays like this one very often. After taking Stan to DVC for a Scouting seminar I returned home to face a day by myself. First I decided to catch up on the checkbook and then look at my emails. No too strenuous, right? Next I put in a load of laundry. Granted...this was a little more strenuous. Then I put every effort I had into standing in the dining room window watching the squirrels frolic in the back yard. This required so much effort that I decided I needed some nourishment to sustain my "rodent watch".
So quickly I returned to the kitchen (just a few steps behind me) and grabbed a half eaten bag of popcorn from yesterday's trip to the movies.

So...I ask you, how much better can a 15 minute time out be? I think I need to enjoy the beauty of nature and eat popcorn for breakfast lots more often!

What do you think?

Grandkid ornaments 2008

Jakob with his Wii controller and numchuk
Paige with her "I love Joe Jonas" teddybear

Cami and her sewing machine

Ellie with her "I love Nick Jonas" gingerbread girl


Alec the "baseball player"

Maddy - "Yes, I'm a fish!"

I wish the detail on these pictures was better so that all of you could see what each one of the 2008 ornaments looks like. I so enjoyed making them!!! It's a little troublesome to try and figure out what was the important event, hobby, pastime, etc. for each child during the year. But with help of the "mommies" I usually come up with something in time. Each year I say that I'm going to start really early. Now early may be March or April, but in the real world September or October is really early for me. In 2009 I know what two of the ornaments will already be, so I have not excuse for not starting really, really, really early.

I have to say... the best part of making these every year is the look on their adorable, sweet little faces when they open them up. I look forward to that part the most!!! Most of the time I'm right on the mark for the right ornament, but sometimes I miss just a little. This year Alec was so taken with Jakob's Wii controller that he was a little disappointed when he didn't get one too. Grandmas are supposed to know these things after all. In my defense...I did have Alec's done long before I even thought up the Wii items. Now mind you...I was in no way upset with his disappointed look. Soon his mommy explained that his ornament represented him starting baseball this year and that his ornament had all the details of his uniform on it. Soon there were smiles all around.

I Just want all the little people in my life to know how much I love being a part of their lives. I treasure all the moments we get to share with them and how much they seem to want us to be around. I know it won't always seem like we're welcomed into their personal space (teenage years), but for now I will relish in the love that is so easily and readily expressed.

I love the tradition of making and giving these ornaments every year. I plan to continue making these little tokens of my love for each of them till they have families of their own. Please don't let that time come too quickly...I want to enjoy and will cherish every moment of their childhood.

I love you...Jakob, Paige, Cami, Ellie, Alec and Maddy. You're all the best grandkids in the world!!!