Monday Goals

Yes, late again on my goals. I will blame it on summer and the driving back and forth I do. I am home for two days, and them back at the VC on Thursday. I would have stayed those two days, but I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, so I'm back home.

My washer is still waiting for parts, my "fix it" guy was hoping we just needed the belt and pulley, but need the whole pump. About $39. Oh well, still much cheaper than a new washer. And I have another one, I just have to go up and down the steps to do laundry. (UGH)

Here are my laundry baskets, my portable sewing basket is in the top one. She was trapped in the trunk of my car until Ken was able to reach her with the back seat folded down. She's been very lonely~! Oh, did I tell you insurance totalled my little blue car? She's been such a good car, Ken bought her back and found another trunk lid for her, and we will continue to use her for a second car! In the next couple of weeks the body shop will have time to work on her.

Since this week is a holiday, I'm not having goals! Yup, no goals for me! Ken has the weekend off and will be camping with me. We are going to enjoy the fireworks, and spend it peacefully grilling and not much else!

I'd like to run some errands this afternoon. I need another key for my car (one of those remote kind--they will have to make it) and I plan to have *SEX* since I need some fabric for setting triangles. I started to make Alycia's new pattern, and think some dark blue for the setting triangles would be perfect.


Here are the blocks so far, the red will be cornerstones for the cream sashings. I think a dark blue will set the blocks off, a red would over power the pattern. What do you think?? This is a "guy" quilt, so too much cream would be too "bleah" I think. I really don't have much more of those cream fabrics anyway. Not enough for setting triangles.

I heard the dryer timer go off--so I better get back to work!

Sunday Stash Report

Well, I did buy fabric this week, I felt much better after that! I bought 10 yards, but I used 9.5 yds. What--well, you will find out later! teehee! So that puts me in the hole at -7.5yds for the year.

It has rained BUCKETS at home this week. Monday-Thursday we had 2 inches, and last night it rained 3 inches! I don't think Ken will need to water my garden or flowers while I am gone. Everything is very lush and green.

No sewing, I did fondle my stash while I was home, but no finishes. My time was taken up by car shopping, insurance paperwork, and laundry.

I should be sending out my mailing on Monday, so those of you who sent me your address, be watching your mailbox! It's fun to stop at my mailbox, I even get JUNK mail. Mostly I check the grocery coupons and read all the ads. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, I am hoping life slows down and I can start enjoying it too!

New Wheels

Car shopping is done, we bought a Kia Spectra. The price was right, the warranty was good, and it had the options I wanted. Our car is very similar, the color is "spicy red".
Remember when I bought a washer on the city wide rummage sale for $50? Lucky I did, as my upstairs washer had a pulley and a belt go out! So I'm waiting for parts, but at least I can still wash clothes. We've had over 2" of rain this week so far, and more thunderstorms forecast.

No sewing this week, I'm having bad withdrawal pains. I did sort through a bit more stash. I also worked on the mailings for my Nebraska mailbox, expect them out either this weekend or next Monday.

MAIL CALL!!!

I came home on Monday night, and I've gotten a lot of mail from MightyMom! She said I would find something to laugh at. Hmmm--was it this??


A brochure describing the midwest?? It WAS funny, because this publication is somewhat "vintage"!!

Something that I will enjoy---okay, I'm enjoying All of it! I received another Singer buttonholer (yes, they make the best buttonholes!) and some more "keys" for it. WOW! And a little sewing box--I love these vintage items, I am going to put a shelf around the room my long arm is in, and it's going to hold all these little items that I collect. Like this--

Handmade templates made from a cereal?? box with hand written directions for an "8 pointed star". Mighty Mom--did your grandmother ever make a LeMoyne star quilt??

Something she couldn't bear to throw out but I should--maybe the pink Sateen fabric?? Not sure, I am touching and stroking all of it!

Something I will look at and say "what the heck is that??" Oh no you don't--I KNOW what's in this box!

I just helped the rangers prepare a presentation on "animal scat"!! So some boxed bear "poo" is just funny! Actually, I think it's too SMALL for bear poo! Need a bigger box MightyMom!

There are all sorts of wonderful fabrics in those boxes, I laughed because in there are TWO pajama tops--Mighty Mom--did you know they fit me? I tried them on! And some wonderful knits, I may try to make a rug out of them, they make the best crumb catchers and NEVER wear out!


Some homespuns, and lots of other fabrics, I can hardly wait to have time to sort them and plan a project.

Thank you so much MightyMom!!

Monday Goals

The week has been busy! But not sewing busy. :-( I hope to get the insurance resolved on my car and get back to a normal (or somewhat normal) life.
Goals for this week---

1. SEW ON SOMETHING, ANYTHING!!
2. Ready my "mailbox" mailings

I think that is all I might get done this week. I was hoping for some *SEX* (yes Mary Kay--it involves buying fabric!) but instead the money will end up going into some different wheels. I don't have to be back to volunteer until Saturday, so I am going home tonight and maybe work on the car situation tomorrow.

And remember the cake I made for the picnic? There wasn't much left---

Happy Father's Day!

Hey Dad--Happy Father's Day!! I saw lots of fathers with kids in tow, or kids with fathers in tow today! It rained early in the morning and was overcast, but then cleared off to a beautiful sunshiny day. It was overcast early this morning, but they had all the gates on the dam open but #14, so I snapped a quick picture on my walk to work--


Where I volunteer has several college students as summer hires--Dustin is a new one this year. He was working on looking professional, so I took his picture. He is a history major, I think he has a brain that sucks up facts and dates like a sponge! He is VERY good with the public!

And Sheree is having a give-away on her blog for a box of scraps, none of you enter as I would LOVE to win it! (I'm kidding, be sure to stop and see her blog!)

Oh, and stash report, nothing in, nothing out--no sewing done ALL WEEK!! Arrrrgghhh! I'm having withdrawal! Maybe some *SEX* would help!

Motivation Friday a Day Late!

Thursday night was beautiful weather for the picnic. Good food, and Ken was happy--there was chicken!

He was a happy man!

Besides all the regular food, the employees brought appetizers and desserts--we were well fed!

Motivation has flown out the window! No sewing done, Ken finally was able to get my sewing kit out of the trunk this morning. All my extra time has been spent dealing with insurance adjusters, volunteering, and looking for a different car. I think I HATE car shopping!

Slow Down Thursday

The weather has been stormy here. Tuesday night I was awakened by my volunteer neighbors, I had gone to bed early and there were tornado warnings. It looked nasty too, so we went to the shelters and watched the storm, it passed to the east of us, we didn't get anything. But my boss did, she lives 20 miles or so north east of me, and she had high winds and pounding rain.

I really like this particular shot, the dark sky with the sun coming in low making the wheat glow golden. And don't the clouds look angry?? Great picture Karla!

Last night it was stormy again, but only thunderstorms. The wind blew and it poured sheets of rain, but nothing dangerous. Maybe more thunderstorms tonight. Well, this is the season for it!

I usually don't bake much in my camper, but today I made a cake for the picnic tonight. Since my camper is not level--on purpose--it made for lots of turning of the pan while baking! I have my camper sloped a bit to make sure the water doesn't pool on the roof. My air conditioner is up there and needs a bit of a slope for the water to run off. I baked a version of "Sunshine Cake"--it's a orange flavored cake with mandarin oranges in it, and whipped topping, instant vanilla pudding and crushed pineapple on the top. YUM! I will try to remember to take pictures tonight at the picnic. It's always a fun event!


PS--I want to try my new mailbox, if you're interested in receiving a postcard--please email me your name and mailing address!

I Have a Hitch in My Get-A-Long!

This week has started out not very well! But, everyone is fine, no blood was involved, so it really isn't that bad! On Sunday the transmission went out on our truck. Inconvenient, expensive, but just one of those facts of life. This afternoon when I was heading to Penney's to return an item, this happened.
Now, I love my little car, she is faithful and cheap to run. And now she has an something that needs a big bandaid! Ouch! I was in traffic, and traffic had come to a halt, and I could see the other car was coming and hadn't noticed traffic had stopped and was going to hit me. I had nowhere to go, so it happened. No one was hurt except the vehicles, but the other driver was rather shaken. Luckily I don't think I have anything in my trunk that I need, and my backseat folds down from the inside so I can get stuff out of there if I need to. But my new bike rack is toast, and my little car is going to need some bodywork.

I had planned to sew, but know my sewing kit is in the trunk, and I will wait to get it out when I absolutely have to!

And, remember when I said it's been raining a lot? Ken said with the rain we got last night, we have had 4.5" since we planted the last of our crops. Now we hope for clear skies and sunshine for a while, but it looks overcast and feels like more rain. But I will be optomistic, you can't grow anything without the rain, and everything is green and lush. I am looking forward to the picnic later this week, I have all the ingredients for my dessert, I am making "Sunshine Cake" or something close! Ken is looking forward to the chicken!

Monday Goals

Life is cutting into my sewing time. While Ken was staying with me, the transmission went out on our pickup! Grrr! But although an inconvenience, it could be worse. We didn't have an accident, we weren't stuck along the side of the road in 100+ temps, we didn't have a load of horses in a trailer, or the camper hooked to the truck. He had gone on an errand, noticed the pickup wasn't shifting right, and came back. So we checked out all the transmission places in Yankton, and didn't know anything about them. Sigh Then checked my AARP Motor plan--yes, we could have it towed to the place in Mitchell SD where we've had transmission work done before (that's all they do) so called the tow truck and away went our truck, with us following. This place gives you a free loaner car, so I had to drive Ken there to get it. Now this is all on a Sunday, so that was great service to me! Ken is now driving a Ford minivan--somehow he just doesn't look like a minivan man to me!

So while I was driving this way, I stopped at home to do laundry. I planned on staying in Yankton and just stopping at the laundromat there, but since I had to drive by my house anyway, I threw in a couple of loads.

But goals--what can I make for this week?

1. Work on the D9P blocks
2. Work on Bricks and Stepping Stones blocks

I also have the Corps of Engineers picnic this week. They have a wonderful picnic, they supply the food (this year it's chicken and other goodies) and we supply the appetizers and desserts. Ken will be coming down, it's on his days off, and he ADORES chicken!!

I am looking longingly at Alycia's Not So Top Secret #2 blocks, I would love to have time to sew on them, but can't at the moment. Soon! Alycia--I have all the 16 patches made, and my cream strips cut!

I am driving back to Yankton yet tonight (Sunday) as I am expecting UPS to deliver some medical supplies to me, and they have never been where I am before. I wanted them mailed TO MY NEW MAILBOX, but alas, the company was sending them UPS! Hey, I wanted to try it out. If any of you receive post cards from me, you'll know why! I hope you're all having a great summer, MightyMom--stay out of the water!!

Sunday Stash Report

Stash report! Nothing in, nothing out, I'm still at -7 yds for the year. Too busy enjoying the summer!

Last night I rode my bike and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It couldn't have gotten any nicer unless I had been riding a bicycle built for two with a gorgeous male model!

Yesterday Ken and I put up my mailbox. I am on a mail route here, once in a while I need mail sent to me and I don't want it sent general delivery--you have to go into town (7 milies) during certain hours, stand in line and wait to get your mail. Now my mailbox is at the bottom of the hill, about 1/2 a mile from me. I am the south mailbox in a line of mailboxes!

Yes, it's just a mailbox in a bucket of concrete and rocks! When I leave at the end of summer I'll just stick it in the garage. You can see that is a common way to put up a mailbox! In the winter here when snowblowers clear the roads, often mailboxes are casualties and having them movable, well you just stand them back up, most of the time they just get slid out of the way--you hope!!

I'm hoping for another beautiful day with time to read and maybe sew! I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Motivation Friday a Day Late!

I'm not sure if posting your "motivation post" a day late is a good way to talk about motivation!

This week flew by, it rained ALL WEEK until today! This is South Dakota---it usually NEVER rains for such long stretches in JUNE! And so cold I had the heat on! But the weather is beautiful today, I took my laptop outside under my awning.

I didn't get a top ready to quilt, I was too busy with laundry and cooking while I was home. But I did start on Alycia's "Not so top secret #2"--it sorta went with cleaning up my stash.

I'm not scheduled to volunteer until Tuesday, so am enjoying the time off. Ken came down last night, he is snoozing on the couch~! This morning he drug me to Norfolk NE to look at farm equipment. I KNEW he had an ulterior motive. We also went to eat at a "new to Yankton" restaurant---a Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. It was very good!

Last week I bought myself a new bike. Now, I have a bunch of bikes at my house, but none are comfortable for me to ride. So I "bit the bullet" and bought this bike---
It is a Giant brand bike, you can find it on their website under "lifestyle" bikes. It has 7 speeds and is made to be easier to pedal for "old ladies" like me! This is a man's model, they had the new women's model in a ghastly neon blue, and it was $100 more! I would rather have the silver anyway! And then I asked the salesman what they had to put "stuff" in when I'm riding. Oh, he showed me fancy packs for behind the seat etc, and I said "no--I want a BASKET!" How funny, wish you could have seen his face! "Something I can put my PURSE in!" So he grimaced (cheerfully!) and said he had one wicker basket! He showed it to me, yup, that's what I wanted. He gracefully mounted it on the bike for me (I am sure he was thinking all the time she bought this nice bike and put a BASKET on it!) and put in on my bike rack on my car. Now since it had stopped raining, I can actually ride it! The plan had been to ride it to the visitor center, I tried it out the night I bought it, it takes me four minutes to ride over there. My only worry is I have to travel a little ways on a busy highway with a slight hill. Most everyone has already gone to work when I would be traveling it, so I think if I am careful (and wear BRIGHT clothing!) that I will try it. My lunch and my purse will fit in the basket! Yes, I decorated the basket with a patriotic banner!

A Whine

If some of you wonder if I'm reading your blog, yes, I probably am. But my internet is SO SLOW while I'm at the camper I'm lucky to read blogs, and leaving comments takes forever! I try to catch up when I'm at home with the superfast internet, but there is only so much time! I'm reading, getting new ideas--thanks Alycia and Elaine--but if you don't hear from me, I'm still out there, just working on my patience (thanks Sarah--but I don't have much patience yet!)

Mail Call!!

I came home to two packages. How exciting, what a change from what we usually get! The first one came from Henrietta. Green flip flops!! She saw these and knew I would love them.

These are indoor slippers from Thailand! They come in many colors-you can find them here-- Chiang Mai
Thank you Henrietta, you know I adore green flip flops!

And then another package. Hmmm? I didn't order anything, I didn't enter any giveaways or contests that I could think of.

It was from a fellow SD blogger Natalie! And in it was---


A kids farm animal panel with coordinating fabric. "Why" I asked Natalie??(Still thinking I had entered something and forgotten.) "Because you will make a beautiful quilt with it. Maybe one for your grandson Mason". Oh Natalie, how GOOD that made me feel! Natalie has the nicest blog, and an Etsy shop with all sorts of crafty things in it!

And something silly. When I was at the Visitor Center the other day, Joe was wearing Wes's sweater and Dugan's hat! Neither of them were there, so I took a picture to show how sneaky Joe is! Not really, neither Wes nor Dugan will care, but we laughed because Dugan's hat fits on top of Joe's ears!

Today I was in the cooking mood. I love Foccacia bread with cheese toasted in the toaster oven. The last bread I bought was terribly salty. So Henrietta suggested I make my own and freeze it in little balls to be thawed and used one at a time. What a great idea! So that is mixing in my bread machine, and I will roll them into small balls and freeze on a cookie sheet. Then I can use them one at a time. So much easier than one person trying to eat a whole bag of them. There's not a lot of extra room in my freezer in the camper. I also stuck smoked ham hocks with black eyed peas and some "Slap Ya Mama" seasoning I won from Judy in my crock pot. A little of this and little of that and it should be ready later today. YUM!

And if you're wondering if I'm ever going to sew, I am working on Alycia's newest "Not so top secret" quilt. Yup, started another project, and I'm almost caught up with Alycia! I do have a recipient in mind for it!

Monday Goals

Monday Goals---Gosh my mind is blank!

1. Prepare a top for quilting
2. Keep cutting my stash into workable pieces

Driving back and forth to the Visitor Center, gardening, and all the other summer fun things cuts into my sewing time. But summer never seems to last long enough, so I better enjoy it while I can!

And a few pictures from the Visitor Center---

a robin hatched 3 eggs on the front of my camper, she is NOT happy when I walk past!

my camping spot

View from the Visitor Center. The snow melt is coming from up north and they have been opening the dam gates periodically for the first time since 1998! Yesterday they had 7 open.

And this is me with my cute vest behind the counter at the Visitor Center.

I will drive home for a few days, I don't have to be back until Thursday. The weather has been rainy and chilly, I even have the heat on in my camper! I don't think I have ever had to do that in June, most of the time it is MUCH warmer! I was wondering, what are you doing this summer? Anything special??

Sunday Stash Report

My stash report hasn't changed, still -7 yards for the year. I feel good about it, I haven't bought a lot of fabric, and still done lots of sewing. Things are "in progress"! Did I tell you what I did with the blue/white Irish chain and the Serenity quilt? My sister is the local Librarian, and every two years they have a fundraiser. This year she asked me for a quilt to raffle. I'm never sure what a stranger might like, so I made two quilts, and said the winner can have choice. I will keep the other one. I will try to get to the library in the next week or so to take pictures--she has them displayed in the window.

And last weekend was the city wide rummage sale. Now, I don't "do" rummage sales as I tend to bring home WAY too many "treasures". But I did stop at the local motel--that is where the cleaners drops off the dry cleaning. Remember Ken having problems with "his" washer? I found a nice Maytag washer there for $50. They even had an appliance dolly to move it with. My favorite brother in law PAUL came with his pickup (Ken was planting soybeans) and we loaded it and hauled into the basement. Thank you Paul!! Ken hooked it up last night and it works just fine. The $50 was probably cheaper than trying to fix his old washer. All the proceeds from that rummage sale will go to the fundraiser to build a new pool slide.

User Error!!

So sorry if you tried to leave a comment on the previous post. Somehow I pushed the wrong button and no one could leave a comment! I LOVE hearing from everyone!

Motivation Friday

Although I had no goals this week, I have kept busy. I worked on thinning the stash into workable pieces. Bought some bins to sort my nickles, noodles, and bricks into.
The brick bin is empty because I put those in a tote for the camper! I've only pulled small pieces (9" or less) from my stash, and I'm still cutting what was in the first wire cubicle and on top of my cutting table. Ummm--I think I have at least 16 or 20 more wire cubes to go!

I also worked in the garden, spread the straw around the tomato plants. This morning my neighbor and I pulled some rhubarb. I will make a dessert, and she cooks at the local Senior Center. They love rhubarb pie. Is that a regional thing, or does everyone eat it?? I spread the rhubarb leaves in my garden over the fabric, by fall there will be nothing left. The pumpkins and squash are all to the 3rd and 4th leaves, soon they will be surrounded by straw.


My flowers have started to bloom, forgot to take pictures of the iris, daffodils, and tulips. Next were the columbine, I have several large bushes--

Now my peonies are starting to open, I love peonies--


This bush is huge, it goes as high as my, ahhh--chest!

And while I was on the way to the garden I saw this clematis blooming low to the ground. The plant is very young but it's getting bigger each year. I can't remember the variety, but that blossom is as big as my hand! And that includes my spread fingers.


And here is a plant you usually don't see in South Dakota--a Wisteria!


If anyone knows about caring for them, please tell me if/when I can move them. They need something to climb on, and there is nothing where I planted them. Last fall I drastically trimmed them back, they are climbing a steel fence post, and the vines are waving about searching for a trellis or something. They were on a set of wires going clear to the top of my roof line, but when we painted the house last fall they had to be trimmed back. I would like to move them over beside my pergola above my deck, I would love it if they climbed on that!

Today I will be at the Visitor Center, I will be there all weekend. I love weekends, lots of people, I enjoy that.