The ABC's of Me

CJ and Cindy have this going, so I decided to join, too.

The ABC’s of Me…

A. Age: 60 and okay with it.

B. Bed size: Queen, long enough, and just right for snuggling...or not.

C. Chore you hate: Dusting. I used to pay Matt to do it long ago when he was in high school. Then he grew up, got married and moved away. So sad.

D. Dogs’ Names: None now, but we had a wonderful beagle named Copper when the kids were growing up. Yes, his name was from the Fox and the Hound. :-)

E. Essential food item: Does coffee count?!? Must have.

F. Favorite color: Red. Always has been. Especially for shoes.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver. Used to be gold, but then I grew up. :-)

H. Height: 5'6" and the shortest in my family.

I. I am: Happy :-)

J. Job: Keeper of the home. Retired from teaching 5th grade last June.

K. Kids: Matt, married to Amy; Ann, married to Eric. Three grandsons. So blessed.

L. Living Arrangements: Live at the Resort with my wonderful husband, Dan.

M. Mom's name: Mary Lou

N. Nickname: Don't have one unless you know something I don't.

O. Overnight hospital stay(s): Mono in college, kids, miscarriage, IUD removal, kidney stone(s)

P. Pet peeve: Seeing people talking on their cell phones while driving. Ack!!!

Q. Quote from a movie: "Fester, fester, fester, rot, rot, rot." Meg Ryan to Kevin Kline in French Kiss. That and "There's something amuck with this cheesecake." Hugh Grant to Sandra Bullock in Two Weeks Notice.

R. Right or Left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Younger brother, John, whom I call my Bruder Bear.

T. Time you wake up: "Whenever I please," she said with a smile.

U. Unique thing about your car: Hmmm. Oh, maybe this: it's a Ford Explorer and has a third seat so my grandsons can ride, along with their parents. They call it the Grammymobile. :-)

V. Vegetable you hate: Parsnips. My parents always put them in stews and I'd think they were potatoes, which I love. Blech!!

W. Ways you run late: Just one more thing, just one more thing...

X. X-rays you’ve had: Those kidney stones... Oh, and wrist and ankle after a bad fall. I thought the wrist was broken and the ankle just sprained. The ankle was broken and the wrist was sprained. That was when I learned that "black boots" are awkward fashion accessories and wrist braces make it hard to grade papers.

Y. Yummy food you make: Cookies. I'm a cookie baker, for which my husband is thankful. :-)

Z. Zoo animal favorite: Polar bears. They are HUGE!! And can they swim.

And now YOU can share your ABC’s.

Speen Queen 0, Kenmore 2

Okay, apparently you can't believe everything you read on my blog because when we last chatted, I said I was crystal clear on a Speed Queen washer. Evidently not.

Dan wanted to buy a matching set so my laundry room would make me smile when I went down there. I know. What a man! The Speed Queen dryer just didn't cut it. I didn't want to give up my sensor cycles and the "fluff" tumble when the dryer stopped and I didn't get right in there. So...

Monday morning I told Dan I was done for. Completely unable to make a decision. The $$$ involved had me buffaloed. (Yeah, I used that term again.) Bless his heart, he set out without a complaint and returned telling me he'd purchased a Kenmore Oasis set. They were delivered this morning and I've already done a load of towels. Yes, the ones used to mop up the floor.

I must say, they are beautiful!! I love how they are taller and the inside of the dryer is much higher than my old one. Here's how they look.


They do make me smile. And, as Dan says, "Indecision is the key to flexibility!"

How I Lost My Mind at the Appliance Store

Our washing machine has died. Or probably more accurately, we are in the process of putting it out of its (actually our) misery. While I was teaching embroidery club at the Bernina shop yesterday, my Sweetie decided to wash a load of dirty jeans. For the fourth time in less than a year, with no rhyme or reason to its scheduling, our washer decided not to stop filling on the rinse cycle. While I enjoy having a clean floor, this has gotten to the point of ridiculousness; the carpet in the hall and adjoining bedroom are not faring well under these watery assaults. Enough.

So, today Dan and I went washer shopping. Oh. My. My brain is spinning and I told Dan maybe I'd just buy a washboard and call it good. Energy efficient. New soap. Old soap. High suds, low suds. Front loading, top loading. Agitator, no agitator. Do we want to buy a dryer too, so they match? Maytag, Kenmore, Whirlpool, GE, LG, Bosch. Arrggghh!

We actually left Sears saying we'd buy a top loading, no agitator Maytag Brava set. Looked good, good price. Then I came home, went on line and started reading reviews. Many bad, some good. I became uneasy. We decided to go to two local appliance dealers this afternoon and after leaving the last one, I'm thinking I'm going to just buy a basic Speed Queen top loader with a smaller agitator. They are made in America (!!) and are totally warranted for three years. The reviews are excellent and the model is similar to the washers I've been using all my life. The Maytag has some very interesting features, but it's all computerized and probably won't last much longer than five years. The sales people at all the stores admitted as much about these new models. Mercy me!!

So. I just called up my darlin' daughter and hashed this all out with her. As we talked, it became crystal clear to me that the Speed Queen is the way for me to go. As Ann said, I'm goin' retro.

I'd post a picture of the soon to be gone old washer, but it's surrounded by piles of towels Dan used to mop up the floor along with the stacks of boxes he had to take out of the storage closet to mop up in there. Oh yeah, and the fan is running non stop to help dry the carpet in the closet of the adjoining bedroom...again.

Hittin' the Road

Dan and I took a little trip over the weekend. We've been talking about it for weeks, and when we got down to actually planning, realized it was this last weekend or sometime waaaay off in the future. Amazingly, we came up with a plan and by ten o'clock Friday morning, we were off!

Where did we decide to go? Missoula, Montana. Why there you ask? Well, first off I need to tell you that I am not a city girl. Traffic makes me crazy. Just ask any of my family. And I'm not even the driver! (It's very hard to drive with your eyes closed praying for survival!) And I'm not a shopper. So, where does that leave us? A small "big town" with quilt shops (me) and sporting good stores (Dan), easy traffic, and ... a Target!!! We drove over Lolo Pass on our way over and it was an incredibly beautiful drive. We stopped along the main Clearwater River so my honey could check out some trees (what else?) and I snapped a few pictures.


Beautiful, huh? Here's another one.


And here's one of my sweetie.


We had a great time in Missoula. We found a Bernina shop that had Kansas Troubles Vine Creek fabrics and I did myself proud buying fat quarters and 1/2-yard cuts. I have a tidy little stash now. We also hit the aforementioned Target and got some things for the house--needed, but ever so much more fun to buy out of town as trip reminders. :-)

We came back over I-90 yesterday and then meandered our way through some back country on the final leg home. It was a gloriously beautiful day. Again we stopped so Dan could check out trees, and I got this picture.


Don't we live in some beautiful country?

A Bump on a Log

That would describe me today. It's cold and rainy outside, the weekend was very busy, and I'm not getting much done.

About a month ago my niece, Kirsten, asked if she could reserve a room at the Resort for the weekend. Of course she could! She came to attend the 100th birthday celebration of her college sorority and quite the party it was with 450 women attending including the three surviving members of the pledge class of 1937. Amazing. A friend of Kirsten's also ended up staying with us when her other plans fell through. In addition to our reserved guests, quite a number of other young ladies passed through our front door as they came to visit or change clothes in a friendly atmosphere.

Other happenings over the weekend included attending a baby shower Saturday morning and a bridal shower Sunday afternoon, watching grandsons Cameron and Keaton for several hours Saturday night while Eric took Ann on a surprise date, and general Resort duties along with making one of the dishes for the baby shower.

And now it's Monday. The towels are washed and rehung, the sheets are in the dryer, I finally got my face on and my hair sprayed, our bed is made, and here I sit. A bump on a log. I have no idea what we're having for dinner, but something will inspire me, hopefully before five o'clock. :-)

I did do some sewing last week. I made a pair of boxers for a shop display. I made a potholder and knit a dishcloth as part of the bridal shower gift, and I made bibs. Bibs are my go-to baby shower gift. Years ago when our first grandson, Ryan, was tiny, I began making bibs. I tried several different patterns and ended up creating my favorite using ideas from several other patterns. I have no idea how many I have made, but I'm certain it's in the hundreds. I like to use flannel for both the front and back, although I occasionally use a woven on the front. I embroider a design and then layer the batting (Thermore is my favorite as it's not bulky and doesn't shrink), the plain white flannel backing and the front. I stitch, turn, and topstitch, adding 2-inch velcro for the closure. Many moms have told me they absolutely love these bibs as the flannel stops drips and the velcro makes it easy to put them on with one hand while holding the baby.

Here's a picture of the four I have in my stash right now.


And now I'm going to force myself to get up and do something. Wish me well. :-)

Jammie Grammy

In the summer of 2002, on our way to the Oregon Coast, daughter-in-law Amy and I had a fun day shopping quilt stores in Portland and surrounds. In one of the shops I spied a pattern for boxers for little boys. I bought the pattern and a cute fabric with puppies on it to make a pair for Ryan, who was the ripe old age of three at the time.

When I got home, I stitched up the puppy boxers in size 4 and loved how cute they were. I picked up a pack of Hanes t-shirts and appliqued a square of the puppy fabric on the front and gave them to Ry to use for his summer jammies. He loved them so much he refused to take them off for days. The boxer pattern was designed as a master pattern for sizes 2-12, so I decided to make a pair of size 2's for Cameron. I'm telling you, those little boxers were the cutest things I'd ever seen! I made two more pair for Cam and two more for Ry; Keaton was just a baby so I didn't make him any that year. Thus began a summer tradition that has continued until now.

By my count, I have made more than three dozen boxers over the years. I'm up to size 12 now, and I think they'll do for a while longer as long as I lengthen them.

Here's a picture of the last ones I made. I actually made three of each color so each of the boys got matching sets. When I can find designs that match the fabrics, I embroider a design on the t-shirt as I did here.


I love that my little men sleep in Grammy Jammies each night in warmer weather. They were even known to wear them under their blanket sleepers during cold weather when they were littler. :-)