Broken...

First of all, let me say the lecture was WONDERFUL! If you ever get a chance to see Cynthia England lecture on landscape quilts GO. She's lots of fun and full of talent. Her workshop was full, but one of the gals from our guild got to go and is going to show me what I missed. Cynthia's technique is definately different and it's always fun to learn something new.

But.....before the lecture, just as I got to Okcity my cell phone rang. My DH called to tell me that there was a slight problem with the concrete.

The supports holding up the concrete over this part of the basement collapsed. Yes, it's fixable and yes, it's a minor setback. Just scarey. Two guys were standing in the area but nobody was hurt. About 10 yards of concrete and several days of labor wasted.

I was so proud of DH, because he ran out and took pictures when it collapsed. I asked him if he wanted me to come home and he gave me a fast NO. He said there were 10 people on the crew working and they didn't need me there worrying. So....I went shopping! Hancock's and JoAnn's. Fabric soothes the soul.

The cleanup has already happened and the edges are smooth for the patch-work to begin. If the rain holds out for a few days, we'll have a patched-concrete floor. And, we'll be on our way again.

Thursday Lecture

I was invited to attend another Guild's Meeting and since it's quilt-related, I see no reason why I can't take the day off to go!

Cynthia England is going to be the guest speaker and if I would've know (or paid attention) sooner, I would've gone to her workshop on Friday.

...and besides...the concrete truck is going to be here bright and early tomorow morning and the contractor told me to go find something to do so I wouldn't be out trying to help. Listening to an artist talk about landscape quilts is a good place to be out of the way!

Prom 2007

I got interrupted this morning before I got some more pictures posted! Work sure gets in the way of blogging.

Troy and his date double-dated with another couple. It was a fun night for all of them.

This is my favorite picture --of Troy. Dressed up farm-boy.

An Anniversary to Remember

I'm not good at remembering dates of tragedy in our past, but for some reason I remembered this date this morning.

I remember where I was on April 19, 1995, remember the empty feeling I had and remembering that it was too close to home. Our family knew several who were affected by this tragedy, so maybe that's why this date lingers.

There are a lot of things that happen in our lives that we never know the answer to. The how-comes and the why-did-that-have-to-happens that we'll never understand.

I've never understand how somebody can hate another person-whether it's their outward appearance, their religion, or their stand on gov't issues to the point of doing something so distructive.

If you have time and have a fast internet connection, go visit this site.

On a happy note....If you remember the embroidered baby quilt I recently made...the niece who is expecting my FIRST Great-Nephew is being induced this morning. April 19th would be a wonderful day for a baby, don't ya think?! New beginnings start every day and life must go on.

9-Patch Blocks

This is what I finished over the weekend. The pattern is called 9-patch variation and is an easy pattern to make.

Thirty two of these blocks were blocks that I won at our quilt-guild's BOM-lottery--I made 8 of them. At our house you make quilts big enough to use...not just big enough to cover your legs...so I made 48 more to add to make the scrap quilt very usable for a bed covering. The 9-patch blocks are 9" finished--so you have an idea how big it really is--you can also see partial pieces of my two quilt-holder-uppers.

It will probably get borders of some kind, but it's to a stopping point where I can show it at guild next week so the next winner can see what can be done with blocks won.

It turned out to be sunny and bright saturday and then warmer on Sunday so it turned into a decent weekend after the Friday flood.

I forgot to post where I got this pattern. Definitely want to give Marge the credit!
Delaware Quilts is listed on my sidebar and her list of BOM's have many great opportunities. This is the second time I've made this quilt. Just turning the blocks a different way give it a totally different look.

Rain...

See today's forecast of 100% rain? At 9am, we've already received 2" of the wet stuff and it hasn't stopped since.

My basement now has about 8" of water in it. I think whoever said something about May-showers is about a month-off.

I'm growing fins and gills here.....somebody close the north door and turn the faucet off!

I think it would be a good idea to take off early and go home to sew. What's funny is that I've got to go to the County Commissioners office at the County Courthouse and get a copy of a flood-plain map....gotta satisfy the mortgage company.

Everybody have a good weekend. Looks like I'll be setting by the fire most of the weekend with the temps and damp weather.

Something very fatening....

Yes, this woman needs to lose some weight, but I happened across this recipe...TWICE so it was saying "make me...make me".

Luckily I had printed it off because we had four extra people for supper last night and they definitely thought it was a keeper too. It took longer for the oven to heat than to mix them up!


Buttery Bread Sticks
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (approximately)

Place the margarine in a 9 by 13-inch rectangular pan. Put this into the oven at 425°. Leave the pan in the oven until the margarine melts. Meanwhile take out your favorite mixing bowl. In it combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a fork to stir, gradually mix in the milk. You may need a little more.(I added about 1/4 C more of milk) Stir up the dough until it is cohesive, and forms a soft ball. (I used my hands--works a lot easier) Coat the ball with flour if it seems sticky. Rip off a sheet of waxed paper and pat or roll the dough out on top of the waxed paper. You should make a roughly rectangular shape which will fit into the hot pan.

Remove the hot pan from the oven when the margarine is melted. Gently place the large sheet of dough into the pan, overtop of the hot margaine. Be very careful not to burn yourself.(can anybody bake and not get burned?--not me) Next use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the dough into thin strips. I cut it once down the middle too, but you don't have to do it that way. The margarine will ooze up between the sticks. This is supposed to happen. If desired, you may sprinkle the bread sticks with parmesean cheese at this time. I seldom do, although it does taste good. Now bake the bread sticks at 425° for about 15 to 20 minutes. They will bake up golden brown, crunchy on the outside and soft in the center. Good with spaghetti. You can sprinkle 1/2-teaspoon of dry garlic powder into the melted margarine before adding the dough to the pan if you like. This makes garlic bread sticks. The best part about this recipe is how quickly it cooks, not to mention the spectacular impact it makes at the table.

Cinnamon Dips: Combine 1/4-cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle this liberally about the bread sticks right before baking.

I made the cinnamon version--will make the garlic ones with either spaghetti or shrimp/alfredo. With 8 of us, they were all gone.

Here is the site I got/stole/copied the original recipe off of. --Hillbilly Housewife
If you need pictures to cook, then look at this one.-- Tammy's Recipes --mine looked just like the pictures of her cinnamon ones.

This is definitely a fast-easy recipe that I'll make again!

Not the official picture....

When you have a DIL who takes pictures for a living, how do you get an engagement picture? You ask the Future-MIL to take them! Yep....about 400 pictures I took.

An afternoon of pictures--four locations, three changes of clothes and several memory cards of digital images. Oh, the thought of how far we've come in capturing memories.

This picture probably isn't going to make the final cut but it is a cute one. Trent was good at keeping his sense of humor when Mom kept telling him to move to a different position.

When they decide on what they're going to use for sure, I'll post it. I may of took the pictures, but it's her decision in what to use. She's going to do pictures on their wedding invitation too. Glad she has an imagination and likes to create...there's going to be a lot of it going on!

Easter Weekend

Since life is just extremely busy right now, thought I'd just show the two banners I made for our sanctury last year. Oldest son is being cheesy besides the first banner. They are about the same size.
























On the new-house frontier: Concrete guy is suppose to be here Monday morning. We've had three days of freezing temps, so I keep being optimistic and say that we couldn't pour anyway.

I got another bid on flooring...there are TOO many choices out there. Tile-ceramic or porcelain...wood look or color. Wood laminate...what size and color. Gives me all a headache. And then...the contractor calls me at 7:30 am on a saturday and wants to know what color shingles I want?! I don't have a floor and he wants shingle color. MEN....

I've got two meals to cook for over the Easter weekend. Nothing fancy, but still lots of food to prepare. I'm planning on simple and easy!

Hope everybody has a good Easter and enjoys some family time.

Great Give-Away!

The gals over at 5 minutes for Mom are giving away a Dyson vacuum. These have got to be the hottest item in suction power that I've seen lately and I WANT ONE!

Go over and put your name in the hat and see if maybe you could be their lucky winner too. IF you win it, you could easily come try it out at MY house first tho! ....IF you wanted to......

I think I'm number 1249 on the list...and that HAS to be my lucky number!