OFF

WELL DEAR READERS, THE FEW OF YOU THAT THERE ARE, YOU WILL BE GLAD TO KNOW THAT TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I LEAVE TO SEE MY MOTHER. WOOHOO! YOU WILL BE GLAD TO KNOW THAT I WILL ALSO HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT WHEN I GET BACK, HOPEFULLY, COMPLETE WITH PICTURES. YA'LL BE GOOD WHILE I AM GONE.

MOTHER AND QUILTS, THE VIEW FROM BELOW~!

In honor of the season here in Paducah I will be talking about quilts in this post. My niece, Samantha, has evidently become quite the seamstress and has been making a lot of quilts lately. I also have a friend here in Paducah, Aynex, that is a quilt artist. She does commissions, has an Etsy store and shows her work at several galleries here in the arts district. Some of you that read this blog probably don't know about the quilt show here in Paducah. For almost one week, our population almost doubles! People from all over the world attend this quilt show and we also have a museum here dedicated to the quilter! I have been there a couple of times and it's pretty cool. I don't attend the quilt show though. I have never been to the quilt show! I have been to some of the smaller ones, but never the really big one to see the quilts that are entered each year. The prize money for the winning quilt is above 10 grand. The winner has a choice as to whether or not to take the quilt or the money. So, on with my story about Mother and quilts.

When I was growing up, it seemed, always in the winter time, Mother would put a quilt on. She would piece them all with her sewing machine, get out the big old quilting frames and it was a pretty big deal. It was pretty cool to me, because, once the quilting frames were set up in the living room, the TV was never in view from the couch or any of the furniture that we had to sit on to watch TV. I would always lay under the quilt to watch TV. It was almost like I was in a cave or something because depending on the color of the quilt it would get really dark under there. Then one day while Mother was quilting I realized how cool it was to watch her as she was stitching away with what ever design she was making. I would trace, from below, every line that she had made. If she was tying a quilt, some people here call it "tacking", I would just stick my finger up to the indentation and it entertained me for quite a few minutes. Dad would get aggravated because he couldn't see TV after a hard days work, and sometimes he would crawl under the quilt with me and my little brother. I still have a lot of quilts that Mother has made for me and they are my treasures. I will now share some pictures with you.

This is a baby quilt that my Mother made for me to give to one of my grandsons, but I just don't have the heart to give it away. The top is a crib sheet that she had saved for YEARS, one of mine matter of fact, so that tells you how old it is. Then she put the blue backing on it and then tied the quilt.
This one is a collaboration between my Mother and my sister. My sister did all of the cross-stitch work on 12 blocks, then she sent it to my mother to piece it together and quilt it. It's one of my favorites and the one that I use most often.
This is one of my favorites! I don't use it that often because it is so precious to me. Each block is done with what is called "candlewicking". Little tiny french knots every where. There is a different design on each block. It's absolutely unbelievable. Mother put MANY painstaking hours in on this one, and I am so lucky to have it.

This one is probably one of my favorite treasures. It's from my Grandmother. I will never forget the day when she asked me if I wanted this quilt whey she died. Mother and I went to visit my grandmother. We started going through her cedar chest for some reason, just looking at things that she had in there I guess, and I saw this quilt and made the comment as to how neat it was. I can't remember the story exactly, but I am thinking that HER mother had helped her make it and it had been in her cedar chest all these years. She looked at me and asked me right then if I wanted the quilt and I told her yes. It has been in MY cedar chest since it's been in my possession.

I know that my quilts aren't fancy or anything, but they really mean a lot to me. Seems like everything is so rushed these days, but every stitch made on these quilts were done by hand. Quilting has evolved into a special art and there are so many different designs and ways to do things, but these are something special!

5 MORE DAYS!

Only 8 more days and a way cool ART SHOW

Yeah, only 8 more days. I had to mention that first because I am getting nervous as all get out. No, I haven't started packing yet, my trip to the airport is still up in the air, as I don't know if I am driving myself, or if my neighbor is really going to call in sick and take me. There are just way too many considerations to make and it's not good for the body, soul and mind to be in such disarray! Like, should I take both my digital camera and my film camera? Am I going to be charged extra for a second piece of luggage now that Northwest and Delta have merged? Will there be flight delays? (Delta has had a lot of problems with this lately.) Will I make my connection from one end of the MSP airport all the way to the other end on my flight there? I haven't started packing, but I do have my suitcase open and waiting to be filled up. The weather there is going to suck! Looked it up on the National Weather Service and Accuweather this morning, so I have decided that I will be doing a lot of layering, rather that carrying a coat around with me, just more to deal with and I don't need that! How many books should I take to read? How long is my mp3 player going to last? Should I even bother taking it? AAAARRRGGHH!!!! Help me out here folks!

Went to a WAY TOO COOL art show on Saturday night. The guy was pretty young and what was really cool was that it was in one of the condos down the street that hasn't been rehabbed yet. He had many different types of media to choose from, and I even bought Pete a piece of art. Will take a picture of it when dude gets a hold of me to come and pick it up. You can see pictures and more on the art show here! There may be someone you know in a picture! Anyway, that's all that I have for now. Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to work I go. Later!

OH, Any suggestions for my pending flight would be greatly appreciated!

FUN and FAMILY and REAL GOOD FRIENDS!

Well, our weekend with the grandchildren went pretty well! It was so much fun to have them in the house for a couple of days, even though the arguing, running, screaming and all of those kid things had me on my last nerve! Thank God for the little magic pill that I am allowed to take when moments that seem too stressful seem to overwhelm me! They weren't that bad though. I did get my camera out and actually took some pictures of them WITH FILM! It's so easy today to just whip out the digital camera and snap snap snap and it's done, then if you don't like it, hit the delete button. I am very critical of myself when taking pictures and can't wait to see the finished product. I then go through and tell myself everything that is wrong with each picture, and once again assure myself that it will get better next time. Here's a few examples! I know you are all probably tired of looking at grandkids, but you will survive!

This is my Wesley! We tried to pull the other loose tooth, but it wasn't ready to budge!
William Max looks just like his Opa! He can sure eat those waffles at Waffle Hut! Miss Bailey is 6 going on 16! She loves to be primped on! She sure tells the boys what is what!

THE MOST BAD ASS BIKER GANG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

This is Miss Grace! She like buttershlies and shlowers! She's moving to Texas soon!

This is Grace's brother Gavon! He kept the soccer balls going for afternoon play sessions with the grandkids!

Good fun was had by all. On Saturday, it was a so called Mexican Fiesta for all of us, which included dinner at Casa Mexicana with Ashley and Michael, Pete, and Phil, home made sangria (which was to die for), helicopter rides and haunted houses!

On another note, only 2 weeks until Idaho and all I know is that I better get busy!

No words for today, and there are plenty of pictures.

THE YOGA STRAP!

Who would have thought that something so simple would make me feel better! I went to physical therapy again last Tuesday and man was it awesome! I got an unbelievable massage, and Emily worked on some pressure points and I am trying to throw my shoulders back where they should be. While I am working this contraption really works. It's like a long cotton strap with 2 D rings on the end and I have to throw each end of the strap over my shoulders, cross it around my back then around to the front and tighten it up. I know that it sounds weird, but on Wednesday when I came home from work I was almost completely pain free for a change, and I didn't even have to take any muscle relaxers. I did wait a little too long to rig myself up yesterday though, but made it through the day just fine.

When I got home I had 2 beautiful grandchildren waiting on me. The weather was nice and they were all out in the front yard with the neighbor kids riding tricycles! It was awesome seeing them play together like they used to all of the time. Then the third one arrived later. It feels so good right now to have them in the house, doing all of the stuff that they used to do, like running in the house, (a definite NO NO), begging for juices before they have finished the one that they are drinking, asking for treats (which they usually get and they will be full of chocolate before they leave for their journey home), being hungry 100% of the time, (and I thought that Pete was

bad!), but it's still nice to have them around! Bailey, Wesley and Will will leave tomorrow morning a little after 6 a.m. instead of 2:30 this afternoon. I washed all of their hair with my lovely grapefruit shampoo! They smelled so good! I even scrambled them some eggs! So our goal for this afternoon is to entertain 3 small children! It's kind of overwhelming, as they have never stayed with us for this long. I am too old for this stuff!! haha!

In regards to OTHER STUFF only 19 more days until my trip to Idaho! I have yet to get my luggage down from the attic like I said that I was going to or make my lists complete of everything that I want to do while I am there, although the list is started.

Also, got some news that has me rather distraught, sad, and upset, and every other emotion that one could feel in that respect. My neighbors are moving to Texas:-( They have been such good friends and we have shared so many good times with them. I will hate to see them go. It's been an awesome experience watching their children grow. They are like our second grandkids! I know that they will be back for visits, as they still have family here, but I will miss them so much.

It's kind of weird having a day off! I am finding myself wondering what to do, although these kids are keeping me kind of busy, which is a good thing!

Will post more adventures with the kids and hopefully more pictures tomorrow!

word of the day

PROGENITOR
(prō-jěn'ĭ-tər) Pronunciation Key n.
A direct ancestor. See Synonyms at ancestor.
An originator of a line of descent; a precursor.
An originator; a founder: progenitors of the new music.

PATIENCE PICTURE

SELF EXPLANATORY!

Sharing

Got this in an email and thought that I would share it with everyone! Some of you know that I love words, so, I thought that this was pretty cool and needed to be posted!

Ode to English Language

An Ode to English Plurals
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes. One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice, Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice .
If the plural of man is always called men, Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen? If I speak of my foot and show you my feet, And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,Yet hat in the plural would never be hose. And the plural of cat is cats, not cose. We speak of a brother and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren. Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; and neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing; grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.

We have noses that run and feet that smell.

We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.

And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And in closing: if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

IN PREPARATION

What a stupid title for a blog, but I couldn't think of anything else! Just a few things to bring up and then it's off to work I go.

Went to my first physical therapy session last Thursday. Turns out that my shoulder blades are pulled away from my spine too far. I know that this sounds kind of freaky, but that's what Emily said. She also told me that I need to learn to relax! I thought to myself, yeah, that'll happen, but I really have been trying. I go back again today at 3:00 and she is going to give me something to wear called a yoga belt. Evidently it will make me stand straighter and hopefully pull my shoulder blades back to where they need to be. At least this is the way that I understand it. She did some weird pressure point thing on my head, back and stomach, and since then I have been able to turn my head and look up at the sky, so this is a plus. I am still having problems raising my arms though. That is really a trouble spot for me, since right now, at work, the particular job that I am doing entails raising my arms all day long. I just love being short handed at work! Yesterday was awful and very painful! I even took my muscle relaxers all day and tried to relax, but, by the time that I got home I thought that I was surely going to parish! Edwin found me a huge ice pack, and I spent most of the evening on the couch. It did help a little bit, but, it doesn't feel like it's going to be such a good day.

Next, I need to BRAG on my GRANDSON! I am telling you that everyone thinks that they have beautiful grandchildren, but I have the most beautiful, cute, smartest grandson ever! Wesley spent Saturday night with us. When he arrived he came marching in just like he always does. It was so awesome just to have his presence and know that he was somewhere close. I asked him if he was going to sleep by Oma and he told me yes, but then when I got up in the morning Edwin was laying by my side and Wesley was racked out on the couch! When he woke up I asked him what happened. He said that Opa was laying by me. I told him he should have left Opa on the couch and laid by Oma. He informed me that he couldn't do that to Opa! How cute is that? On Thursday night we will have Bailey and Will come to stay the night with us. I told Wesley's dad that if he wanted to spend one more night with him he could bring Wesley back on Friday morning, but he may end up bringing him Thursday night also. Friday night, we will have all 3 grandbabies all night! Should be quite a circus around here. I hope that we aren't too old to keep them entertained. I know that we won't have a problem with them entertaining us though. I plan on making a video of Will reciting the "Stinky Cheese Man" if he's not too shy to do it. I am going to try and french braid Bailey's hair, or play beauty shop for a while, if she will let me! Actually, all three grandbabies are quite beautiful! Since they have moved to South Carolina I have missed them so much and it will be nice to spend some quality time with all of them, even though the time will be short.

Only 22 more days until I leave for Idaho. Mother has informed me that I will be working for her! Oh, goodness! I wonder what she has planned. Probably changing a light bulb or something like that! I hope it is that simple. I am so nervous and excited!

WORD OF THE DAY

VEXATIOUS
/vɛkˈseɪʃəs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[vek-sey-shuhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.
causing vexation; troublesome; annoying: a vexatious situation.
2.
Law. (of legal actions) instituted without sufficient grounds and serving only to cause annoyance to the defendant.
3.
disorderly; confused; troubled.

PATIENCE PICTURE

Me and Wesley being silly!

WOW

30 days! Time is passing so fast! CANNOT WAIT! ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!!!! Seems there is so much to look forward to these days! Especially physical therapy and the hope that someday there will be menopause! GRRR!