September 30, 2009

A Different Kind of Auction

So, I have decided that I need to do a better job at posting! Or to rephrase... just a bit more often then I usually do. I know, this week so far, I've done more than I usually do in say.... a month! But, this is a new Season and so I need to try to improve myself... (yes, this will probably last ohhhh.... say well I don't know how long... we shall see how it all goes!)
O.K. how many of you think about what your talents are? Think now!!! What do you know how to do that maybe say your next door neighbor or your buddy at work or your best friend doesn't know how to do?! Think about it.... delve into your mind.... maybe it's sewing, scrap booking, organizing, quilting etc... now put whatever your talent is and a whole bunch of gals with fake money (points in our case.... points that you get for answering questions... i.e. 10 points for if you brushed your teeth today.... and if you did it more than once... 10 points each time! Plus about 20 questions worth of answers....) For every question that you answered yes too, you got at least 10 more points! I got 10 for each of my kids.... =40.... can you say ca-chingggggg! LoL..... who knew I would still be getting to count my kids for something fun! O.k. I got 10 more for being married over 25 years! And so on and so on.... you get the idea! I ended up with 190 points total! So now comes the fun part... besides being on the honor system.... as far as points go.... we counted our own! We have a lot of talented ladies in our ward at Church... so you can envision the talents we had.... plus oh, I forgot to say.... also people were donating services that they wanted to render also! Me.... I donated two dish towels that I machine embroidered HARVEST BLESSINGS across the front and then appliqued several cloth leaves of various browns/oranges onto. Plus then I also donated a service of some sewing lessons.... Hey, the more of us that know how to sew the better.... besides Halloween is coming!!! At least that was my thought anyway!
O.K. so all these gals are kind of slow going at first.... I mean scheeech you would have thought it was real money we were using! LoL.... One gal was going to take someone shopping (of course the person had to provide her own money...! Let's be realistic!!!) Let's just say it was at a discounted place and you don't have to pay tax! So there was a lot of back and forth going on that one! Too funny!!! We have a gal who does these beautiful pictures.... and she did a couple so it was quite fun to see some of the gals bidding up into the 100's to get them! Someone was going to make a Mexican dinner for an entire family! Someone else made a little girls tu-tu.... I was eyeing that and one of the gals who has a little girl looked at me and said.... you don't have a little girl any more!!! I laughed and told her.... yes! but I do have a little granddaughter! She got a bit nervous after that! Anyway, I ended up with a basket.... yes... I do love baskets!!! And mind you! It was full! It had 6 small jars of freezer jam in it!!! Yummmm! 3 blackberry and 3 strawberry!
Oh, yes.... this is gonna be good! Someone else donated some home made bread/jam.... but I do know how to make home made bread.... so I figured I take myself out of the competition... yeah, I know.... it was the nice thing to do! Although, you should have seen me... I was having a good time waving my paddle! I also won a day of someone else driving around for me to do errands! Actually.... (my DGS's favorite word!!!) I bid on that one for a friend who just had hand surgery... and couldn't come! Her DH is hmmmmm 91 this year and he can't drive any more... so between the both of them.... yep... no driving going on! A good time was had by all.... and we found out who had what talents... skills etc... there was babysitting offered too... I did ask if they would babysit our sweet dog.... that was a NO! Oh well, I tried!

O.K. can I say.... that it's only the 30Th of September.... and Winter has arrived!!! Aurgh!!!! Not ready for this yet! Weather man said... look out here it comes! Snow in the mountains.... We went from 90's this weekend.... to at the moment it's.....down to 47 degree's! And when I got up... (at 4:15 this morning) it was 57! So yes.... its not quite what I had in mind for the end of September! But then again, no one asked me! That seems to happen a lot... no one asks me whether I think we ought to pay more for gas, food, utilities.... etc... no one asks me if I think that we should have a war... I guess my opinion just isn't all that important! LoL..... oh well.... such is life!
Well.... it's now 5:37 a.m. and I think I will take the dog and go upstairs and see what I can do... who knows what sewing is lurking waiting for me to come and do..... (well I do... but no one asked me either!!!!)
Have a great day.... ANY DAY SEWING, IS .......... A GREAT DAY!!!!

September 28, 2009

Doing The Cogdill Shuffle

I know, I know.... I just did a post! But I was visiting over at Charlotte's blog http://housewrenstudio.typepad.com/charlotte/ and she was talking about when her girls were younger and how they had to clean for company etc... and it got me to thinking!
When we had unexpected company we did what we sometimes referred to as "The Cogdill Shuffle"! I will explain in a minute! At our house, well, it's lived in... not huge either! T.V. is in the living room... no family room here! And so when dinner is done, and homework was done... we converged on the living room to watch some T.V. Every once in a while the room would be .... well, let's just say it was lived in and leave it at that! Clean.... under neath.... just lived in! And then when unexpected company came.... we did the Cogdill Shuffle! This is where the entire family would grab something.... (something that didn't normally live in the Living Room) and put it away... some place other then where it belonged! Things found themselves under the couch, in closets, etc.... you get the idea! It's been a bit of a joke for a long time! With 4 kids and 2 adults... it's not too hard to "live" in a room. I mean there will always be things that don't get put away.... right away! If you live in a house that has a place for everything and everything in it's place! Well, what can I say..... you need to get out more!
Of course after the "Shuffle" happened, the family was responsible to put away the thing that they tidied! I do recall one time a day after unexpected company... finding something in the oven that didn't belong even in the kitchen. LoL... I understand that once in a while my DD has done the "Shuffle" at her house too! So! What do you do? Anything different when you are expecting company? I would love to hear about it!

Catching Up On Fun Sewing

So this post will be short and sweet! Well, only as short as I personally can get... if you have been reading for a while... you know I don't do, too much short! LoL....
I finished a little dress for my granddaughter that I started in June... go figure... Summer is pretty well over... on the calendar that is... it was 90 degree's yesterday! Someone forgot to tell the weather man! Although, it be a changing this week. As we are supposed to have a cold front come in and possible snow.... yes... that's what I said.... snow at around 5500 feet! Gulp! I'm just not ready for Winter yet! Where is Fall.... I mean it's just started.... and the leaves are still on the tree's! O.K. enough with the weather forecast.... (I told you I don't do short posts!) My camera is acting up.... I took pic's of the dress, and granddaughter in the dress, and well.... it keeps spouting off at me saying.... lens malfunction.... restart camera! What's happening is that when you turn it on, the lens usually will open out. Not So Now!!! My DD and I tried several things... taking batteries out, rebooting etc.... nope, nothing! Any idea's???? So, until I managed to do something else with it.... no pic's! Such is life!

The dress is an idea I saw... and changed around a bit! The one I saw is called a petal dress. Imagine if you will a jumper, (which to me, is a sleeveless dress that girls wear a blouse, or shirt of some sort under.) with a button up the
front bodice.
And then the skirt, is formed by sewing sections, ( I made 8) petal shaped and fully lined and attached to the bodice. I over lapped the petal sections about 1/2 way. But except for the overlapping petals the petals are only attached at the top allowing it to flow freely... if a little girl would just so happen to want to twirl around! With either bloomers, rumba pants (you know the ones, the cute little panties with the ruffles on them!) or even leggings they look really cute! Tights would work too.... Of course, since our weather is starting to change, probably the warmer idea's would be better! Also, a long sleeve top! Since I've gone down this road, I did the top a bit different too. I used an old Daisy Kingdom pattern as my design for the top of the jumper. Once again, a picture is worth a thousand words! Instead of a straight forward bodice, this one is an over lapping angled bodice.... cute really but different and hard to describe. I got to add some rather good sized Ric Rac to the outer edges of the bodice and so that helped it right out! That is my "fun sewing" that I finally finished!

Since I had gotten the dress done I wanted to see what else I could finish up...I finished a quick covered blanket for the downstairs bed too. It was a rather old sad looking blanket that well, needed to be freshened! It was clean mind you! Just sad, old... just needing a bit of love! So, I added a piece of flannel to both sides of this blanket, encasing it like a quilt, and after doing a little machine quilting.... It's done also! Nice feeling of accomplishment on my part!

I, since starting the dress for DGD... have cut out a dress from an old discontinued McCall's pattern. #1508. A simple A-line dress... just something new for me to wear! Not that I really need anything new... but I don't sew very often for myself... so it's time! I'm using a piece of red Challis print. I've had it in the stash for a long time.... so it's about time I use it... besides every time I show my daughters what I'm making next someone usually says....hey, didn't you buy that for me? LoL.... No! I didn't! You know who you are!!! (If you want sewing done, get to it!!)
Besides it will go great with a jeans jacket... so what's not to like!
I almost forgot... so little (very little) DGD tried on the dress... and yes... once again... too big! So, I put two little pleats in the side seams of the bodice and it looks better... it would have been much better if I could shorten it a tad bit. But a grandma has to do what a grandma has to do. I would have had to take apart the entire skirt.... I guess I could... if I could possibly wrestle it back from DD.... hmmmm that's a thought! We shall see!

I also have to make some new throw pillows for the couch.... it's wayyy past time for that! I have a rem piece of home decor that has some beautiful colors in it.... some greens, purples etc... and also beige or tans. Our couch is tan micro fiber so this should go well... I also have some deep purple baby pin wale corduroy and some somewhat lighter green thick wale corduroy to add. I'm thinking that if I take a piece of the corduroy and cut it at an angle (the pillows will be square) running corner to corner, but then turn it so that the nap is going in opposite directions.... get the picture? That would also add some extra texture to the pillows. Hmmm, now do I want to add some sort of edging or what? Oh, I forgot to say that I will use a piece of the home dec on the other side of the pillow top. Maybe once again, pic's when I get my camera working!
That should keep me busy for a little while. Seems just when I want to get something done, there is always something else that pulls me in another direction! I used to have one day designed for nothing but sewing.... hmmm I may have to start that up again... it's the only way I get much done at one time! Sewing.... yes.... it's just sooo well, comforting! Gotta go! I promised to try to keep this shorter! LoL.... yeah, that's gonna happen! Until next time.... Keep those scissors sharp!

September 24, 2009

So What's On the Agenda Today?

How many times do you wake up and think.... hmmm what do I get to do today? And then the list just gets longer and longer and longer! And then on top of that... well, you only get one or two of the things done? Yeah, my life in a nutshell! I'm all ready to get the week going on Sunday night thinking... I want to get up early and hit the road running! Sure I am.... LoL I guess it's the thought that counts! We have a lovely lady in our ward at church that I visit once a month or so and she is amazing! Really! She is in her mid 80's and still going strong! She is an inspiration to everyone around! She has chickens, fruit tree's galore.... a huge garden.... (although, she says it's smaller now... since so many of her kids/grand kids etc... have their own gardens) smaller means that this year she only did around 40-50 tomato plants instead of 70-100! I'm not exaggerating! She just finished canning peaches, and is picking plums and apples! I asked if that means that she will be done with her canning this year? She said yep.... all done! Then she realized that nope she still needed to do grape juice! So, we went to visit and couldn't find her... she didn't answer the door or her phone when I called from my cell. There are times she forgets we are coming so we started to look around the yard (we worry in case she has fallen.... this has been known to happen a time or two) and there she was pickin apples! We helped out some and then I asked her if she still climbs the ladder? Yep... no big deal... She even fell down while we were there... and pulled herself back up.... I'm o.k. she says.... She is a very independent lady... truly amazing! She still does some quilting, mostly ties them now... her eye sight is getting to the point where she doesn't feel she does a good enough job hand quilting... this gal's hand quilting would put anyone to shame... I've told her that... but you know, I think she just has a standard and well, if it's not up to that... she isn't going to do it! Such a sweetie, and then she makes it seem like she hasn't done anything at all. She wears me out and all I'm doing is sitting there listening to what she says she has been doing! For the past 3 years or so... she has caught pneumonia at the drop of the hat. Finally after a bunch of dr's couldn't figure out what's wrong... she found a guy that could help her out! She says now I feel like I have some energy! Holy Cow!!! I can just imagine now what she will be getting done! Well, I got to get busy! There is no way that I will ever catch up to Dona but, then I'm not trying too. She set the bar way too high for me!
Have a Great Day People.... I've got apples to juice/dry and plums too (dry that is) and well the sewing room is calling me again... and I need to pay a few bills and well you get the picture... the list just goes on and on and on...........

September 11, 2009

Tribute To The People Lost in 9-11

I was driving home today from doing a few errands... when I noticed flags flying everywhere! Then it dawned on me... today is September 11Th! So, now I need to go put the flag out and think about all those who were lost. It makes me cry to think about how vulnerable sometimes we can be. This country of ours isn't half bad at all... sure we have problems... but mostly, we have so many blessings! We have sooo many freedoms and rights that people in so many countries can only dream about! Sure taxes are not fun to pay... and there are things that can get us down... but you know, for the most part we have soooo much! We have a lot to be thankful for. Our country doesn't have a "war" in our backyard... we have the right to drive, walk, fly... bike where ever we have opportunity and we don't need a visa to go from state to state like in some countries. As hard as it must be for people who lost loved ones, friends, associates etc... they have NOT been forgotten! We will NOT for get what they have suffered for our freedoms! Also those who have lost their lives serving in the military!
Take a minute today and remember what we have..... it's a lot!

September 2, 2009

UFO Update

Bit by bit I'm still working on some of my UFO's in the sewing room! Too Funny, I just thought of something..... if this were to go out into the "blog world" and someone clicked on UFO's (Unidentified Flying Objects).... this would probably come up.... and they would be soooo disappointed! LoL.....
This is just a wall hanging that I've been planning on finishing for a couple years....















O.K. now the other thing that I've been working on a bit.... is the garden! Lots of tomato's that we let run on the ground... there are around 38 plants this year.... we really trimmed down from the last few years.... we used to do around 70 or more! Also, zucchini, cucumbers, cantalopes, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, to name most of the stuff... our two apple trees didn't get sprayed or trimmed this year... oops! But the grass is nice and green.... ahem, 'cept where the dog visits... and well, now maybe you understand a bit why I've not been doing much blogging!
Later...

Time To Get My Act Together

I've been away from Blogging (at least posting) too long! I'll try to do better! That's all I have to say on that matter!
But I do need to really get back on the band wagon with the ole Monday Diet Challange!
Since a certain someone moved (you know who you are Sharon..) I haven't been very motivated to continue on in the Diet Challange. So yesterday I got onto The Gazelle (my excersise form of choice and went for 30 minutes at an average speed of 4.1 mph! (only 2 miles though)
YES I DID!!!!!! Sorry about the fact that the picture is cockeyed... let's just call it operator error!!! Don't you just love that it's right next to the food storage items.... LoL.... makes for easier snacking options.... if I so choose!
I was feeling it later... I usually go longer (at a slower speed) but I was motivated a bit to do more yesterday. I was going to see the grand kids..... heavy sighhhhh and then that got changed! It's all my neice Jenny's fault! LoL.... I still could have gone... by then I was so wrapped up in folding clothes etc.... I didn't move!
A couple weeks ago DD's living locally (I have one more... but she lives in Portland!) and SIL Tammy and her youngest DD and I went on a bit of a Girls Night Out!!! For 2 nights and 2 days!

(One of the other neices.... Sage was supposed to come, but her DH had some sort of surgery... and she promised not to leave him for 24 hours! Hmmm him down in bed.... with 6 kids.... wonder why she didn't leave him??? We did miss you Sage... it would have been fun with you there too.... Maybe next time! I'm thinking we need to make this an annual event!)
(L-R Heather, Melisa, Cindy. DD's.... local!)
We went up to Park City, Utah and stayed at a condo we rented (thank you Jenny for making all the arrangements!) and then to the outlets stores to shopppppp! It was my SIL's birthday the following Monday... so we thought it would be fun to surprise her with a bit of a cake and a couple pressies! Plus one of my clever daughters brought a birthday banner and made her a tiara out of fancy pipe cleaners and a posie type septer!


We totally surprised her! She thought we had a little dance number of some sort to perform.... LoL... hmmm, maybe next year!



Shopping the outlet stores is well cleansing isn't it? Sometimes..if your the type of shopper that my neice is you save lots of $$$$ On top of all the sales that were going on.... it was the middle of August back to school sales.... plus we had 20% off coupons for most stores... plus most stores were having 30-50% off sales.... some stuff we got for around 70% off! What's not to like! I found some cute black boots (no....not rain boots!!! LoL...) that were around $100. Yep, I got them for $35! Nice!!!! Then Tammy tried them on.... and we got her a pair too! Yep.... we are twinners! Tammy and I wear the same size and she also wanted black. So we asked the kid.... (all of maybe 20.... younger then any of us!!!) if he would check to see if there was another pair the same size and color... back he went, he came back with another pair.... and proceeds to ring them up for me to pay!!!! AAAAAA no!!!! So I tell him, she pointing at my SIL wants the other pair.... still nothing! I say no, she wants the other pair.... and I'm NOT paying for them!!! Still nothing!!!! Finally I said, o.k., one pair is for me and the other pair is for her.... pointing once again at SIL.... and I will not be paying for the 2nd pair.... she will! Could I get any plainer than that???? (no I didn't say that! I felt like it though....) He finally connects..... and says.... you know when you sent me back to find the other pair I thought, why does she want another pair of the same size, same color.... I almost left them back there! I guess he was having a trying day! Busy.... and then we throw him a puzzle like that it was too too much for his young brain! So, he rings me all up and it's $50 some and then SIL asks did you use your coupon? NOPE..... so I ask him can I please use my 20% off coupon too?(by now he's ready to throw us out I'm sure..... I did appoligize profusely !!!!) He said yes.... I could have kissed him! That would have served him right hmmm? What stories he could go home to tell..... LOL.... some ole lady reached over and kissed me!!!! Aurghhhhhh!

Later of course we had to have show and tell! Melisa and Jenny (the neice) let me take this pic of their "twinner shirts".... yes, they will have to wear something underneath!




This is a bit of Heaven..... it's called "Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory"
............heavy sighhhhhh! I was good.... well semi good! LoL.... I got DH a piece of chocolate toffee and me..... two pieces of chocolate covered carmel! Yummmmmm.... I ate part of one in Park City and the other I waited til I got home...


I'm thinking that I'm glad I got outta the way.....Heather new what she wanted.....







So much to choose from and sooo little time!






We talked til around 2 the first night and then went to bed around 1 or so the 2nd. It was lots of fun... we of course took food to make and had lunch out! Great food of course... and lots of talking.... my jaw was a bit tired when we got back home! LoL.... guess I'm outta practice!!! LoL....




This is a quite touristy pose, but what the heck... no one knew that we wern't from too far outta town! LoL...
L-R... Tammy, Jenny, me
(2nd pic) Cindy, Tammy, Heather, Melisa, Jenny


This was one of the locals.... they dress the moose up there... guess that's why there are outlet stores in the area.

Well, that's all for the moment!