American Flag & Patriot Riders

Talking politics makes me feel stressful, but I

could not let this go without a short post on my blog. A young soldier from the town I grew up in, lost his life in Iraq.

This is just a little of what his family and friends saw

when they were arriving for his service yesterday.

The Patriot Guard Riders and friends absolutely surrounded the

funeral home and streets close by.

The people of this area turned out flying

their flags to honor this young man.

To also remember many other fallen soldiers,

past and present.

To honor God, our country and our military. This picture reminds me of the children's song, "Let The Flags Fly High In The Castle of Your Heart".....for our king is a resident there.

Happy Halloween

Our very own Black Halloween Cat!!!!

Gladys...

Remember that picture of the scrawny rescued kitten

with the pumpkins a few posts back?Here she is now!!! She is a short little cat.

When we are outside she is always meowing at us....begging for some cat treats. She also likes to beg at the kitchen window from her perch at the porch railing!

HAPPY HALLLOWEEN! ENJOY YOUR TRICK OR TREATERS

Quilted Table Runner

Here is my fall table runner.

This is the first table runner I have ever made and

I also quilted it myself!

It really was easier than I thought it would be. I believe some refer to this as a type of Seminole Piecing. I want to make a runner for each season using this pattern, but I have more ideas than I have energy most of the time. I was fortunate to be able to rock my favorite youngest granddaughter to sleep tonight, she is 3 and usually too busy to be rocked. She wanted me to read to her and while being read to, sleep got the best of her. I know there are going to be fewer times like that with my grand kids. They are all growing up so fast. Oh, and by the way...the older ones know that she is my favorite youngest because she is my only youngest...she just hasn't caught on to that yet, and I hope she doesn't for a while. I still tell my oldest granddaughter (she's 12) that she is my favorite oldest gdaughter and she just grins and tells me she knows she really is my favorite!!!!...LOL

Mixed Mums In An Old Rusty Barrel

We planted these mums in August of 2006 after I learned my

cousin had lost her battle with breast cancer.

I could not just sit and cry after I got the call from

my son that day....so my husband took me to

get mums and we spent the evening planting.

I am glad we did.

I I'm so happy they are surviving and blooming each year.

They remind me of her.....miss you my dear cousin, Debbie. She loved working out in her yard and before she became ill she had a wonderful little rock and fountain gold fish pond. I wish I had drove to her home and spent more time sitting in the swing by the pond visiting......but I thought we would have years to grow old together and talk about our grand kids. Her first one is a girl and will be here in Feb. 2011.

Mums and Milk Can

The yellow mums are my favorite!

A Barrel Full of Blooms

We didn't have a clue what color these mums were when we bought them.We know now and and I think these orange colored mums look just right in the barrel. Rusty old barrel and rusty orange mums!!!

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support in a Book

This is a book I often turn to for support.

It is full of short stories from others walking

the same path, or one similiar, to the path

I am walking. I guess I should say, path I am

climbing, as it sure feels all uphill most of the time.

This was published in the late 90's and I recieved it as

a gift from the Workman Family in 2003.

I am "forever grateful" that they ran across this

and bought it for me.

Lynn Vanderzalm writes............. Like a sunny day in the middle of a gray, dreary winter.

God can recharge our souls in the midst

of a time of sickness and exhaustion.

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

That is the name on the seed package and that they are!!

I have these planted along a short stretch of chain link fence out

the back door. This year the blue ones are huge.

They will be gone before long.

If I remember I can collect seeds off of these to plant

next year.

Quilted and Fragrant

The lady from the quilting shop called and told me

my Churn Dash Quilt

was finished and ready to be picked up!!! I was

so anxious to see it, but did not have the energy to

drive the 45 minutes to her shop. Luckily my red head

Daughter-in-Law had a little free time before an appointment

and she drove me to pick it up.

When I got home I spread it out over the love seat, went to

get the camera and look who found it!!

The Cat!!

The lady that quilted it for me said she believed the top was pieced

around the late 1920's.

Years ago, when I bought it at a sale, I had no idea

how old it was or anything about what I was getting.

I am sure glad I hung onto it.

The feed sack prints are really unique. I had heard people talk about the feed sack material

of old days, but at that time I did not know how

precious those materials really were.

She did a great job quilting it, quilting brings a "quilt to life". Now I need to get the binding made and sewn on. That is my least favorite part of making quilts. As soon as I took it out of the plastic bag I detected some air freshener and knew I'd better get it out on the porch to air out. I hate being so sensitive to smells....it makes life hard at times. I will not be able to work on it until it is "smell free" and can't wash it till it is bound. Hope the sun shines tomorrow so I can put it out again.

I get sick very easily from bleach, paint, perfume and other chemical smells. I guess that is part of the CFS as I have read this and heard others with CFS mention it.

Flower Garden Quilt

Today is a beautiful fall day in Missouri. It is cool and the leaves are turning.

I think I have some energy today to do a few things I want.

Hope to get in some sewing and a trip to Wal Mart.

This flower garden quilt was a birthday gift from a few years back. It is all hand pieced and

quilted. I can't begin to imagine all the hours the lady put in making this. She did

a wonderful job. My husband and the grand kids surprised me with it.I didn't notice the light from the ceiling fan until I posted!! In the old jar

is a bunch of antique buttons. My youngest grand daughter loves to

dump them out on the bed and count and play games with them.

I remember playing with buttons when I was a child, I think

that is probably why I collect buttons. I have

a few tins full of buttons picked up here and there

through the years.

Brown Bag Christmas Quilt 2007

This is my brown bag Christmas quilt. I just started with the 12 1/2 inch Santa and did not add

extra fabric to the sack. I think everyone did a wonderful job on it. I need to

get the backing pieced and have it quilted before Christmas. It is a little wrinkled as they were just removed from the brown bags

and hung on the wall at the quilt shop. We all went to the shop at the

same time and oohed and awed over all the different

quilts. It was fun . Hope to do another sometime

soon.

Rescued Cat

Well, here it is 80 degrees at 1:30 in the afternoon, one day air conditioning and the next day the heat is on, then back to air!!! They say that's Missouri for ya!!

This is Gladys, our outside cat. We rescued her off the street three years ago in October. She was so skinny we didn't know for sure if she would be ok. This picture was taken a few weeks after we had been feeding her. She is not as big as Goldie the house cat and we think it is because she had a rough start in life.

Gladys is our block Halloween cat. She hangs out on the front porch. Gladys likes to hop up on the railing and beg at the kitchen window for treats to be brought out to her. I will post a current picture of her later on. I thought I had one on this desk top but it must be in the files on my laptop.

Where The Cats At #4

This is my sewing corner in the extra bedroom.

I always have supervision when I sew....furry supervision.

The quilt block is called Whirligig.

I am using 1930's reproduction prints.

Pizza box cardboard is very comfortable, napping

comfortable!!

Have I mentioned before that I tell the quilter there may be a little

extra fiber on my quilt tops? We have several lint rollers in the house and one in the car!! I keep a lint roller next to the sewing machine. It is very handy, not only for cat hairs, but to roll over the cutting mat to get the tiny crumbs left behind from rotary cutting fabric.

Decorated Halloween Cookies

When my two boys were small my mother always gave them Halloween

cookies she purchased from a baker in our home town. How I wish I

would have taken some pictures of them. The lady was older and

she did a fabulous job with those cookies.

I need to get my order in with the new baker in my hometown

for some more of these cookies. I think it was Halloween

before last that we got these, they tasted wonderful.

I called too late last year....better make myself

a note to call Monday.

Apples and Squirrels

Did you know that squirrels like to eat apples, too? If not take a look!!!

This was taken about three years ago out in the front yard. We had

a lot of squirrels that year....got the cats that fall and

that may be why we don't have as many squirrels

as we used to. They are fun to watch but can be

irritating when it comes to your bird feeders.

Welcome Fall and Better Days

I welcome fall but more than that I'd like to welcome some good days. I pretty much lost 3 days to CFS and pain this week already. I just hate that. Haven't touched my sewing machine in over a week or so. Messing with fabric and sewing gets my mind off pain and fatigue, that is when I am up to it.....it's a fine line. Joe drove me to McDonald's drive through early this afternoon to get a yogurt parfait. That is the first time I have been out of the house since Monday morning. I was not feeling to woopy Monday am and went in a local store to look at clothing with my Redhead DIL and there were strong scents wafting through the air. We were not there long but it helped push me on over the edge. I was in bed by mid afternoon with a headache and Tues. and Weds. were not much better. Today has been better, thus I am looking forward to welcoming some better days....please Lord. My 88 year old mother is needing me to do some things for her and I had to try to explain why I was not up to it yet today. She is a 45 minute car ride from our house. It really stresses me to not be able to do for her like I wish I could. It just about stresses me out worse when others expect me to and don't understand why I am not there for her more. I really do not know how in the world you parents with CFS do it with younger kids. My boys were in high school when CFS hit me and that was hard enough. Now I need to get a grip on handling an elderly parent while dealing with CFS/FM.

Where The Cats At #3

When the cat was little she played in the water box after I emptied it.

So this last week I threw one down on the floor to see what she

would do. Joe told me she would not be able to fit in one anymore.

Looks to me like she fits into it!!

It is so funny, she will put her face right up against the plastic and stare at us. My goodness, it doesn't take much to entertain us these days.....mmm

Autumn Brown Bag Quilt

Let me tell you what a brown bag quilt is. A group of quilters....anywhere from 6 to 10 is good ...make a 12 1/2 block and put it in a brown grocery bag. If you have left over fabric you want to send along you stick it in the bag, if not , that's ok.

We picked every other Wednesday and traded bags and kept trading till each person had worked on each quilt top. I put fall colored fabric in with my block and ended up with a beautiful quilt. Brown bags are always fun. I believe some people call these Round Robin Quilts.

Autumn Brown Bag Quilt made in Fall of 2009 measures about 52" by 52". Thanks to everyone that worked on it, the quilt won a 3rd place ribbon at a small local quilt show!!! It is now time for me to drag it out of the closet.

Fall is Here

It is the first Saturday of October and these

are my first mums to bloom. The yellow ones are my favorite, but I like

them all.

Joe likes fall too (football)but he

really hates the big piles of leaves

we get from the Sycamore trees.