Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Guess I need to catch up!  Haven't been on here in a while.  Life has been busy.  Not sure where to start so will just do random writing.

Bought Ken and myself new toys.  We don't have IPads but I saw on shopnbc a neat little Android tablet by Proscan on sale for $97 each.  I ordered one for each of us and surprised Ken.  Our anniversary is this month - on May 25 - so it was early gifts.  These are just the greatest little play things.  They come in a case with a little keyboard that plugs in.  We'll take those with us on our trip because it is easier to see the screen on them vs the I-Phones.

I'll also take my Kindle...I've been catching up on books by Diana Palmer.  I started reading her books way back in the 80's ... stupid romance novels and all written just about the same.  I'm about ready to move on to something a bit more intelligent!  But not quite as heavy as the reference book I read last month - The Free State of Jones:  Mississippi's Longest Civil War by Victoria Bynum Alexander.  I read it because I have family roots in Jones.  My family migrated to Mississippi in the early 1800's from Darlington, South Carolina.

Arrived home Sunday afternoon from 2.5 day cranky retreat in Lone Oak, Texas.  A cranky event is a retreat of vintage sewing machine collectors and users - this time women only - who get together and have a ball all weekend sewing, laughing, playing, snacking, eating, and using those wonderful old people powered machines.  I took my 1918 Singer 99K handcrank.  I made a bag for my great great niece Charlie on it, and I also stitched together strips from a jelly roll to make 5-strip fence rail blocks.  If I find another jelly roll like this one I may add to this one to make a quilt for our bed.  It fits the blue in our bedroom/bathroom.

While at the retreat I also managed to get my little string quilt sandwiched together so it is ready for me to do straight line quilting.  I will do that when we get back from Colorado Springs.  We are leaving on Thursday of this week (May 23) because my granddaughter Courtney graduates from high school on the 25th.  On the way back we are returning via Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  I've never been and it is on my bucket list!  SO, we'll be able to check that off!

Speaking of blue - we had the bathrooms painted as well as the main back hallway...all in a pretty denim blue.  I've been working ever sense on getting things like curtains completed.  I got the ones made for the master bathroom.  I bought some plain white towels and added the same fabric of the curtains onto them to match.  I currently also have a denim bathmat in progress.  It's woven strips of denim with three strips of the matching fabric of the curtains.

We took down the "heavy" drapes/curtains in the den and had a 2" faux wood blind installed instead.  The lady who does our house cleaning has family that does all of the kind of work we've been having done.  They will be coming back again soon to pain the entry hall, our master bedroom, the lower part of the dining area, and installing another 2" blind in the dining area.  The plan is to get this place put together!

My youngest daughter came over on Mother's Day.  It was so good to see her.  She brought me a dozen roses of the most beautiful color of pink.  This is the first and only dozen roses I've received in my life - with the exception of one previous time.  My first husband sent me a dozen yellow roses in 1974 when he told me he was leaving...at that time the color of roses meant certain things. Yellow was for goodbye.  I've never liked roses since then - until recent years - always preferring to receive carnations.  Until recent years roses had a negative connotation for me.  BUT i'm over that now so BRING 'EM ON!!!

I've been to all the docs - I'm losing sight in the left eye...but everything else checks out.  I have to go to have bone density test and kidney sonogram done when we get back from vacation - I have it in my phone for alert so hope I remember.

OH, I bought myself a 1930 Singer 66 treadle machine in a parlor cabinet from a fellow cranky!  I've spent the last couple of days cleaning and oiling it and now it is about ready to go back into the cabinet.  I've got to clean the cabinet and irons first and figure out some kind of wood refinisher like Formsby to do a little rejuvenation of the cabinet but this is going to be awesome.

I haven't told Ken yet, but I also have another treadle coming...another Singer 66 but a "red eye" (also known as a red head).  Another cranky is selling it - she lives in Plano so I will need to drive there to get it - I'll have to take the head out of it and I dread doing that but it will be worth it.

Also, the retreat I went on is the first time in my life I've been on anything like a camp experience or retreat.  I was never permitted to go to church camp, etc.  I was extremely sheltered.  And I went to only one slumber party in my entire life and that was in elementary school.  But I had a blast.  The rooms have 3 sets of bunk beds crowded in them.  One set is up against the outside wall and then two sets are set up against one another such that the beds are touching.  One of the ladies who roomed with me snored like a freight train - and we were in the lower bunks of the two sets that were against each other!  I learned a lot!  Next time I'll get the lower bunk against the wall.

What else?  Oh, the United Daughters of the Confederacy had a end-of-season luncheon/tea which was hat day.  I bought the most beautiful big picture hat...purple variations.  I wore my purple suit. I also bought a little black fascinator.  I'll have to post pictures of both of them one day.  In looking at the pictures that were taken I realized that I wear the same purple suit for everything!  It was the suit I bought for our wedding in 2001, I have pictures of wearing it for a red hat event with my red hat, and now pictures of me heading off to UDC tea!

Red Hat Version

UDC Tea Version

I guess that's about it -- I gotta get the laundry finished, chicken in the oven, start packing, need to get to the store to buy "stuff" to go in Charley's bag (great great niece), and pick up a gift card for her dad who shares her birthday.

SO, guess I'll check out.  I miss my children every moment of every day.  Love to all.

Note:  Horrible tornado in Moore, Oklahoma yesterday (or was it Sunday?); and devastating tornado in Granbury last week.  The children and I used to live in Moore.  It has been destroyed by tornado twice since we moved back to Texas - and that includes where we used to live.