Happy Halloween

Best Halloween ever, didn’t see a single costumed person and not one trick or treater.  Can you tell it's not my favorite holiday?

Still here!

All is well at Amish View Inn. We only lost power for a second or two, I didn’t even notice it until I saw the microwave needed the time reset. Anne and I catching up on our sewing and having a good time!

Storm report

Holding on at the Amish View Inn and watching hurricane Sandy blow the rain. Dinner in tonight thank goodness

Retreat photos

October Retreat photos, enjoy, I sure did!
 

Hurricane Sandy

Prayers that all of our family and friends stay safe through the storm!

October Retreaters

This retreat is like a reunion of dear old friends. We all know each other so well we ask about children/grandchildren by names. We remember what each other was working on last year, and who was having what issue at work or home. Everyone quilts but we have lots more in common. We have two newcomers and they fit right in like long lost relatives. I LOVE these ladies so much and I am so thankful they let me be a part of their lives!

Sorry!

I am alive and well, just retreating and not finding enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do with all the wonderful ladies who are keeping me company… and blogging… sorry.

BUT I will try to catch up, weather permitting, at the beginning of the week.

wedding & retreat

Retreat is over and niece is married. Sorry I missed the wedding and will miss the ladies when they leave in the morning. But more come in Monday and I’ll start all over again. All the nieces are married but three more guys to tie the knot yet!

Having a wonderful time

Having fun, getting lots of sewing done and enjoying myself. I hope the retreaters are too, LOL!

Home sweet

Home Sweet Home away from home! Let the retreats begin.

A book to read!

 
I just finished a book… yea I know, I’m supposed to be getting ready for the retreats, but I really needed a break, and once I started reading I couldn’t stop.  I’d started reading about a week ago, and just now finished. 

If you love real love stories, you have to read Spinning by Michael Baron.  I loved loved loved it. 

Now back to packing.

Monday, Tuesday, Retreatday

Am I ready, nope, not yet.  Laundry is done but suitcase is still in the closet empty.  Tomorrow I am getting my hair cut, well more like trimmed, I don’t have a lot.  But if I don’t take care of it before I go I’ll be a shaggy mess before I get home. And I am one of those ladies who likes her own personal hair dresser and I’ve been using the same lady for the last 16 years.  She knows my head and I trust her. 

Now, having said that, I do have a back up, and this special lady will be at one of the retreats too.  But she has a huge disadvantage over my regular lady, she doesn’t have clippers.  Maybe I should buy her some clippers, and then I can get my hair cut while retreating, LOL! 

One day my hair won’t matter, November 2nd when I plan to wear my bald cap all day. 

On a roll

I may have mentioned in a previous post how I was concerned that I hadn’t done anything about 2013 BOMs.  I still haven’t however at least I have a start in my head, and a few in EQ.  I hope to work on some of my new ideas at the retreats and maybe when I get home I’ll be ready for next year to begin.  Maybe… 

13th!

So we went out to lunch with the in-laws, an overdue birthday lunch.  It was very nice, great meal, enjoyable conversation, nothing to complain about.  After lunch Pop wanted to go for a ride.  For some reason he looked at his watch and said it’s the 19th of October and I knew instantly he was wrong.  Now I’m not a clock watcher, nor am I a calendar watcher, but this week I know what the date is… and I knew it wasn’t the 19th and I told him so.  He said you’re right, it’s only the 13th… 

How do I know..... well ‘cause in five days, on the 18th to be exact, the fall retreats start.  I’m counting the days, if you didn’t already know that, LOL!

More about Find My Fabric

More about Find My Fabric which I posted about yesterday.  I got an email about it, so I checked it out.  I found I liked it, so I shared it with you all.  I actually went back and checked it out again later in the day.  I know I will use it often. 

Now today I find out that I can get compensated for my blog post.  I didn’t post about it for the money, but if you all know me you KNOW I won’t turn down money.  I will take any money I get and put it right on my Relay For Life fundraising page. 

So I’m saying, as required by the FTC “I will be compensated for my review”  And if the FTC ever checks my blog, I sure hope they leave a comment, LOL!

 

FindMyFabric.com

Here's a new on-line tool for quilters, a new service called FindMyFabric.com. Find My Fabric is a fabric, quilting and sewing supply search engine. You are able to search for products offered by hundreds of online stores to find exactly what you are looking for. Simply type your search term into search feature on the home page. We also offer unique features that create a superior search experience for quilters:
•Upload a picture of any fabric and search for that fabric and other similar fabrics using image recognition technology
•Filter search results by price
•View online store information and access store reviews
•Hundreds of thousands of fabric and quilting-related products
Check it out at http://www.findmyfabric.com/

Today's chore

Today I am working on all the web pages for the 2013 Retreats.  Normally I do them when I get home from each retreat, but this year I’m doing them ahead of time.  All I will have to do when I post them is add a photo (or not) and make note of openings (if there are any). 

Doing the web pages aren’t hard, they are all pretty much alike, just change the dates.  The retreats themselves are hardly alike, all the different people make each one different and unique.  We might do the exact same thing at every retreat but they are each so special in their own way. 

And that is why I keep on doing them.  Forty retreats and counting, sixteen years worth…  wow!

Another dreary day

 

Rain and cold, just like fall.  Just like winter when we lived in England too.  But no I am not curled up next to my new fireplace, not quite cold enough for that yet.  I’m washing winter coats today, getting ready for when it is really cold. 

Last year at the Angels retreat we had some surprise weather.  I’d gone up there with only a sweatshirt and it wasn’t quite enough for that mess.  This year I am going prepared, layers.  I have my sweatshirt, a fleece and a good all-season coat from LL Bean!  I’ll be ready regardless of what Mother Nature throws at me. 

And you better believe I’m taking my ice scraper this year too!

Fall is here

Today was a pleasantly relaxing day.  Oh I did some laundry, and I did some housecleaning, but that’s about it.  Today was a day to relax and catch up with me.  

And the weather was perfect for it, dreary and cold.  Yes cold.. not chilly, but darn right cold.  When I got up this morning it was only 44 outside, and after waking up to 78 a few days ago, it was a shock to my system.  But it felt so good!  The air was crisp and clean and it smelled like fall outside. 


So, what could be better on a cold damp day like today than a nice fire… only I had to wait for the gas man to come hook up the new fireplace.  He arrived, did his job and left… and by then it had warmed up enough I could hardly justify turning it on.  But I did, just to take this picture.

Now I can’t wait for another day like today to turn on the fire and sit and read a good book, or do hand work on a quilt… 

More Goodies

So I’m going through my stash looking for things to use while on retreat and I find a zip lock bag of these wild metallic fabrics.  I have no idea at all when I bought them, but I’m pretty sure I did.... and I think it may have been when a friend, her DH and I were visiting Lancaster a long time ago… you know… her evil influence forced me to buy them… maybe?  Since I’ve never used them, and since I really don’t know how to use them, I am taking them to the retreat with me. 

First I washed them… I wish the metallic in them was real, most of the gold washed off and the water looked like something from a gold miners sifting gold pan. 

And I also found some fat quarters that I think will go with that bold fabric I got from Peggy.   It’s in the washer now. 

I’m getting more and more ready and it’s a good thing, only 10 days now. 

New retreat project

I was offered a quilt trade recently that really tempted me, and I would have accepted it except someone else wanted the quilt I had.  The person who did the offering for the trade did send me a nice photo of the quilt she was offering me, and it really did appeal to me.  It’s far from a traditional design, and I’m not real sure where it came from. 

But if you know me, you know that won’t stop me from making one.  I’m so excited about it that I pulled fabric from my stash for it, planning on trying it at the retreat.  All I need is a few more fabrics and a backing and border… I was thinking a bold print that has all the other colors in it and then….

The other day I was browsing a friend’s web site and saw a bold print she had.  I asked her a few questions about it and before I knew it what she had left was in the mail to me.  Yesterday it arrived and WOW.. talk about a BOLD print.  However, it doesn’t fit the other colors I pulled for that project.  But… I am headed to fabric world in 11 days and I just know I’ll be able to find exactly what I need up there. 

Thanks Lindsay and Peggy for giving me another project to be excited about!

Lottery

A few weeks ago I bought tickets to the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries.  Why?  I don’t know, I never win, but you know what they say…

I bought tickets that were for the next ten drawings in both lotteries.  So far I have had one winning number in every single drawing, one number. 

I have one more chance to win something, one more.

What do you think my chances are? 

This is a test... I want to post to my blog from my phone, wish me luck..


Wow, it came through, I am impressed.   I’ve had my cell phone for almost two years now, and don’t use it to the fullest.  But I’m working on improving my mobile skills…  Now if I can figure out how to send a picture to the blog I’ll be set!

Security questions

I was updating one of my many web sites and it asked me to pick a security question to answer if I forgot my user name or password. 

What was your mother’s first grade teacher’s name?
What are the last five characters in your driver’s license number? 
What street did you live on when you were 8 years old? 
What was the name of your first stuffed animal?
What was your dream job as a child?
What is the name of your grandmother's dog?

What happens if you can’t answer any of the security questions? 

Getting readier

So I’m getting ready for the upcoming retreats… yea I know …. you’ve been hearing that for months…. Well now I only have two weeks left and I am still getting ready.  I have all the patterns printed, the Bali Pops ready for those who ordered them and extras for who will want them once they see them… I have quilts for Bob’s, quilts for samples, scraps for who knows what… and it occurred to me… what am I going to sew while there? 

SO… I have a sample that needs binding, I have to do that for sure. 

I’ve pulled a UFO, simple table runner that needs quilting, I will do that.

And I have another strings quilt that needs finishing, I will do that.

And I have three new designs I want to test, I will try those. 

And I have about two dozen other ideas I want to try, and I still have 39 UFOs I could work on too… but… 

Autumn?

I don’t know about where you are but here today it does not feel much like autumn.  Feels more like summer here, too warm and too humid.  So since Mother Nature doesn’t want autumn to start, I’ll make my own. 

And if you’d like to make some Autumn Leaves too, here’s the pattern! 
 

The Doctor says...

First let’s get one thing very clear, I do not watch daytime TV.  I certainly don’t watch any Dr shows.  Many many years ago I did, I was addicted to General Hospital as a young adult.  I gave it up when my son was born and became addicted to motherhood instead.  That child turned 30 this year, so it’s been that long since I watched any DR shows on TV.  

Now I keep seeing these ads in different places on the internet.  On the sidebar of my email it screams to me “Raspberry Pill Melts Fat  - "Celebrity Doctor Exposes One Weird Fruit That Melts Fat Fast...” Well if a Doctor on TV says that, it has to be true, you know that.  However, I’ve been eating raspberries for years, and no fat has melted from my body. 

But this one really got to me, another recommendation of a celebrity Doctor, maybe even the same one for all I know…   “Green Coffee Melts Fat - Participants Using Green Coffee Bean Lost An Avg Of 17Lbs” 

Seventeen pounds.. wow… I only want to lose a few, not that much.  And if the average loss was 17 pounds surely I can lose the 5 I want to lose, right?  And if I happen to lose more, well that’s OK.  Maybe I’ll try this green coffee. 

At first I didn’t find any green coffee in the coffee section at the super market.  Green tea yes, but no green coffee.  Then when I finally found it, in the pill isle, it didn’t come in decaf.  I have enough trouble sleeping as is, I don’t need any more caffeine. 

But I bought a bottle anyway, the pharmacist said there wasn’t anything in it that would react adversely with my medicines.  And she suggested I take it only in the morning, that way the caffeine would wear off by night. 

I took the green coffee every morning.  When the bottle was empty, I got on the scale.  I’m not impressed… I may have lost 17 pounds… 

But I found 16 of them again.