Last Day of May!

It's 62 degrees outside and the wind is quite breezy.  There is a bit of blue sky, but thunder storms are forecast for later.  Here at the resort we feel as if we are stuck in a perpetual early April.  It's as if we were at the coast but here's no ocean down the lane.  Oh well, some years are like this. 

I'm finishing up my latest project in the sewing room and hopefully I'll get the quilting done today.  Here's a sneak peak:

It's a table runner called Seminole by Atkinson Designs. It's been fun to put together, and I have no end of admiration for those who come up with such easy ways to put designs together. I've had the pattern for years and finally took the plunge. Yes! Another buffalo overcome. :-)

Meanwhile, it was a lovely Memorial Day weekend here at the resort. Dan got lots of little projects done while I was stitching away. We watched Cam, Keat and Daniel Friday night and Daniel and Keat Saturday afternoon (Cam had a soccer game out of town). Daniel was very busy chewing on anything he could get in his mouth and drooling. Hmmm...

You guessed it! Ann called yesterday to say he had gotten his first tooth and that number two is not far behind.

A Finish

I finished the binding of the quilt I showed a post or two back and I'm so happy with it! This is a happy quilt and it makes me smile every time I look at it. With all the dark, story weather we've been having, I think I'll toss it over the bedspread on our bed and at least something will look springy!

As I mentioned in the other post, I didn't have any fabric to use for borders so I took the pieced top to the shop and auditioned different fabrics by laying the quilt out on the back tables and slipping possibilities under it. The green check was perfect as a small inner border and binding, and then the bigger print, part of Moda's Martinique line, seemed to tie in well to the pieced fabrics. I was very fortunate to find what turned out to be perfect fabrics.

I'm heading down to finish some laundry, and then I'm going to my sewing room to decide on a new project. Endless possibilities! :-)

Smile

Guess who showed up at Grammy's house today?

I can't resist kissing his head!

And They're Gone!

My sweetie was my hero today.  Remember the apple tree and the shrub I mentioned in a previous post?  They are no more!  I happened to wander into the dining room this afternoon and looked out the window to see this:

The tree was very old, scraggly, and produced five wormy apples a year. It was a pain to mow around, and had no redeeming qualities.

He hauled most of the debris to the recycling center (we gave the big pieces to our neighbor who has a smoker), and later when I went to admire my new view, I saw this just below me:

Oh boy!! He was going to take out the world's ugliest shrub, too!! (Note the area to the left of the front bumper--that's where the apple tree had been--didn't he do a great job?)

And here's the final result of the shrub removal:

The stump and roots are gone and you'd never know that shrub had been there just an hour before. Our yard looks so neat and tidy now--I love it!! And Dan? He's having a nice warm soak in the tub as I type. :-)

Love that man!

A Quick Check-in

I should be dusting, but I'm taking a quick break.  (Everyone in my family knows how much I hate to dust so it's not surprising I'm taking a break!)  After I dust, I need to vacuum, and I readily admit, I'm not that fond of vacuuming, either.  But hey, I'm a great straightener!!  My house always looks neat, it's just not necessarily, um, spotless.

Yesterday Dan did a lot of work on the yard, and I was even lured out to do a little.  What a beautiful day!  The pruners were out, and pruning is one thing I really enjoy doing, so I whacked away at some of the trees and had a great time.  I'd probably be ruthless with a chain saw, but somehow I don't think I'm going to try one.  I did mention to Dan that an old apple tree and a shrub were good candidates for his skills, however.

Meanwhile, in the sewing room I just finished quilting another Yellow Brick Road lap quilt and I'm reading to start binding it.  I so enjoyed the one I made for baby Grant that I decided to make another, just for fun.  I've had the fat quarters for ages, and I actually found some fabric at the shop that would work for the borders.  (Note to self:  when picking up fat quarters for a quilt, think about the borders!  It's not easy to find something to match six years down the road!!)

I should be able to finish it this week and I'll post a picture of the whole quilt when I'm done.

And now, back to work. Niece Kirsten booked a room for tonight here at the resort as she has a wedding to attend this evening. I'd better get busy so she doesn't think her aunt is a complete slacker.

Did I Say Spring?

I slept in this morning.  Until 8:30, and it's a good thing I did, because I didn't see it snow which would have been quite disheartening.  Oh, it was wet when I got up, but it was pouring by then.  The rain has stopped now, and even a little sun is out, so I was able to capture this picture of the mountain sporting its new coating.

I'm reminded of 2008 when the last time it snowed was the Monday after school got out--June 10th. We got up to discover over an inch of snow that day, and all we could do was laugh. Imagine: the first day of summer vacation and it snowed!! Global warming doesn't seem to be much of a reality around here.

Meanwhile, as Kathy pointed out in her comment, my original post on spring did indeed return. How strange! The way things are looking, it'll be a while before I barbecue again, so I'm going to need to look at that picture every now and then.

Missing Post!

I was just reading about a Blogger crash and thought I'd check my blog.  Sure enough, the post I did night before last is gone! 

While it was not a brilliant piece of writing, it did have a great picture of my barbecued chicken, first of the season, and a picture of a quilt I quilted for a group of kindergartners.  I'll wait awhile and see if it shows back up before I try to recreate it. 

Could It Be Spring?!?

Today an amazing thing happened:  it was sunny and it was warm.  We finally had a spring-like day and it was truly wonderful!  We've had no snow for over a week, I had some windows open a few inches, and I barbecued!!

The chicken tasted so good, and I made a pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing and a tossed green salad. I love barbecue season. When you clear the table, that's all there is--the stove is clean and so are the counters if you made the salads earlier.

On the sewing front, all I've done recently is to quilt a top a local group of kindergartners made. A friend of mine goes into the classroom and helps the little ones make their blocks, then she joins them into a top. I quilted one for them last year and was happy to do it again this year. The class will now decide upon a worthy recipient and give it away.

It's an alphabet quilt--pretty cute, huh?

I've been working quite a bit at the quilt shop due to one regular's broken leg and the knee replacement surgery of another's husband. I've enjoyed it, but I think my run is over for now and I'm looking forward to getting back into my sewing room.

UPDATE:  After I wrote the above, I was enjoying hearing the sounds of the neighbor's lawnmower and thinking of balmy summer evenings with the smell of new mown grass in the cooling air.  Ahhh, spring and summer.  Now (10:45) it's blowing and beginning to rain, and according to Weather.com, it will remain like this for awhile.    Goodbye spring--you were certainly short!