Red Clay weekend

I'm exhausted!  Almost too exhausted to write this post, but I figured I needed to touch base on my blog to explain the weekend of silence.

The Red Clay Classic car race kept me and my family away from our house this weekend.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have talked about The Farm in the past, which is my Father-in-Law's 'retirement land,' which also happens to be directly adjacent to a racetrack "up north."  The Red Clay Classic is a HUGE end-of-season race that happens every year during the last weekend of September.

Racers and fans come from all over.  Our favorite annual visitors come from 5 hours north of us -- Canada.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE listening to them talk.  Yah, eh.  They have a fun accent, eh.  Even though they think it's US that have the accent, eh.  

;)

Our 'job' during the weekend is to park campers and cars that don't care to stay over in the racetrack's land.  I don't blame them----the track land has them stacked and parked like sardines in a can.  Quite a few fans and racers have made their way over to our spacious setup;  besides, Dad-in-Law provides free coffee and donuts to all campers Saturday morning.  He knows how to treat people :)

We usually don't watch the races; instead we converse by the fire, all the while parking cars as they arrive to the race.  However, a bunch of us headed over to the pits to watch the final race of the evening.  Sadly, a thick fog bank moved in shortly before the start and thickened to a good pea-soup consistency mid-race.  With 17 laps left to go, the track called the race off due to safety concerns of the racers.

So, yeah.  The girls and I arrived back mid afternoon today, unpacked, took care of animals, started laundry.....all that fun stuff.  Paul will be coming home tomorrow;  he wanted to stay and do some fishing up in the bays of Lake Superior.

Clearly no sewing or embroidery this weekend;  but I'm sure you all did enough to make up for what I didn't do.

Happy Sunday.

Like my sis-in-law...

There are times when my sister-in-law will call me (or Paul)... for no apparent reason other than to simply say "Hi. What's up?"

So...tonight... I don't really have much of anything to say or show from my past few days.  They have been very typical;  school from 7AM - 4PM. "Mom" duty for the rest of the night.  WANTING to play with EM, but simply a bit too pooped to trek my way downstairs to get anything going.

Mind you, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday recuperating from the EXTREMELY late Monday Night Football game, which simply had to get extended to include SportsCenter to TRY to calm down after the fiasco that ensued.  By 12:15AM, despite still being WIRED with energy, I forced myself to head to bed.

The "blown call" has been beat to death; no more is needed.

But......

COME ON!

WHAT were they thinking???


:D
Happy Thursday.

Tiny Tuesday: EM#1

Not appliqued

Not paper-pieced

Not patchwork pieced

Today......

My midget was EMBROIDERED!

Don't be too hard on me!  It's sooooo purdy!

SURPRISE!

Okay---the short version.

Last Tuesday, we were outside in the evening doing some garden picking because we were expecting frost overnight.  While outside, Paul asked Cassie to look around and count all of our chickens because it appeared we were missing some (AGAIN!)

She went off looking......and I kinda peered around too.  I came up to a patch of weeds around the potato plants.......and I saw a still puff-ball of feathers :(  As I walked closer.....yup.....it was a chicken. A very DEAD looking chicken.

As I drew even closer, her head twitched up, and I thought "poor ol' gal!  Left for dead."

But......when I got right on top of her....... she PUFFED up all big and started shallowly clucking.  For those of you who have ever had a brooder....I KNEW what her actions meant.  She's SITTING on eggs!  

And sure shootin!  We lifted her and counted about 16 eggs under her!!!!!!  What a SNEAK!!!!  We had no idea how long she had been sitting on them, so we left her be.  And it got COOOOLD for a few nights this past week.

Fast forward to yesterday evening.  Candace came bolting in...and Paul came bolting in from the other way (they were racing)....and they BOTH were trying to be the first to tell me......

THE BABIES HATCHED!

How on EARTH have we not noticed that Big Mama has been missing in action for the past 21 days????  And now.....good golly!  Another (minimum) of 13 babies.

She was out-n-about when I arrived home today from school.  Paul and girls gathered them up and moved them into an empty, heated chicken coop for the time-being.  

Big Mama----you are a trooper!!!!!

And after dinner tonight, Candace and I worked on making some dessert.  What would Autumn in Wisconsin be without some caramel apples???

OH!  And as far as the school work goes.  :S

I didn't do ANY last night like I anticipated.  Instead, I arrived at school about 15 minutes earlier than usual and prepped my day up quickly.  Then worked on grades....and by the time the first bell was ringing, I was sipping on my coffee, ALLLLL ready for my day.  And then.....used my prep today to plan for most of the rest of the week. 

Just goes to show you-----I CAN do it all at school!

Rainbow Orange; and some towel embroidery

NO AGENDA TODAY!  Gotta love days like that, huh?  I grabbed the orange string bag to make up the September Rainbow Scrap string block.  I have so few orange scraps (yay!), therefore there will be no September Jack-in-the-Box blocks.  

And of COURSE I found time to play with EM.  After watching some YouTube videos over the past week, I was confident I could tackle embroidering a towel.  I grabbed one of our hand wash towels and tested it out.  Easy Peasy baby!

So then......BRING on a real project!  Cassie chose the lettering on her LAKERS school-spirit monogramed towel.

The name was just a tad bit too high for my liking, but other than that....it turned out just fine.

About 30 minutes ago, I came upstairs to prep the final stage of some BBQ Ribs (back and country-style).  T-minus 45 minutes and counting until we can dig into these delicious babies.

Alrighty...I have yet to spend some time with my school work.  I think I will do the bare minimum (5 minutes per class?) to at least have something ready to go for tomorrow.  :D  Then I'll worry about the rest of the week tomorrow.

The 29.6 degree morning temperature didn't deter me from capturing the sunrise in a photo.  This quote is on the wall of our lady's staff bathroom;  it seemed perfect to add it to the photo.

I hope your Sunday was glorious! 

Harvest time - nearing an end

I know I said that I was DONE with tomatoes, BUT.... 

we broke into one of the preserved Spaghetti sauce jars last week for an evening meal....and IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!!  Therefore....Cassie and I were outside shortly after 8:00 AM picking about 50 more pounds of tomatoes to make one more batch of Spaghetti Sauce.  

Once the tomato sauce was simmering, we all headed over to a coworker's house to pick some apples.  Cassie has a friend over for the evening, so she also tagged along and helped out. 

 I would show you a picture of my coworker, Darin, but I swore not to.  LOL....

Therefore, I'll show a CROPPED picture of Darin (holding the apple) and his son, Talon and dog, Toby.  (BOTH great names, don't you think??)

Poor Candace couldn't reach any apples from the get-go, so she had the apple-picker for much of the beginning.

Tall Paul used his trusty ol' ladder...

But even HE needed the apple-picker to reach the highest apples on the tree.  

I was hoping the angle of this picture would show how high those apples were, but it doesn't.  Paul is standing on the 2nd-highest rung of his ladder...and the apple-picker is probably 7-8 feet long.

A BOUNTIFUL harvest of yummmmmmies!

We barely made a dent in the apple pickings, but did make up 3 batches of applesauce (for now).  

After a full-day of harvest....it really can be discouraging looking at such a "small" pile of finished product, but.... small is better than nothing.

With temps forecasted to hit frostiness again, we spent the last couple of hours of daylight out in the garden picking most everything we want to still preserve:  mostly peppers, muskmelons and watermelons.  And it was COOOOOLD already! (Thermometer is reading: 47.0 F.)  I headed in a bit before everyone else, so I prepared some mugs of hot chocolate for everyone.  Mmmmm....... 

Potatoes are still in the ground, as are most of the carrots.  The tomatoes will decide whether or not they want to live, because we kept them all on the vines.  If they survive, I have a person interested in more.  If they don't survive.....they gave us (and MANY friends) a great harvest!!!

So tomorrow.....?  I'd love to spend some hours in the sewing room, but I fear that more harvesting will take a higher priority.    I'll see what I can do about finding a balance :)  

{{Besides, I HAVE to find at least one hour of school-mode time to make sure I know what I'll be teaching on Monday.}}

Thank goodness the Packers don't play!  I don't know how I'd fit everything in.

A whole lotta school spirit!

Hey!  We (staff) may have lost the Dodgeball title on Wednesday to the Juniors, BUT....

we remain Tug o' War CHAMPIONS!!!!!  The Junior class reigned victorious over all other classes, but didn't have enough to beat us 'ol folk.  I was NOT on the tug o' war line today;  I was the one with the camera-----but still:  what a hoot n' nanny!

And in my inbox tonight when I got home????  My digital copy of our school's 'Lakers' mascot for use on EM!  Sooooooo uber excited!!!  So many possibilities now :)  The school-store advisor and I have already been chit-chatting about what we may be able to work out.  

And to close my "School Spirit" post tonight:  LOOOOOOOK at the face of the boy as Cassie moves past him.  PRICELESS! :D

I'm so super happy.  I did lose TWO of my "prep" periods this week due to all the Homecoming festivities....and therefore have school books and binders at home for some "homework."  I will attempt to limit myself to NINETY minutes total (equivalent to 2 prep hours) so that I can still enjoy much of my weekend.

Tomorrow:  Apples and Tomatoes  {and laundry}

Never too old...

I love homecoming week, despite the crazy blips and blurps that happen to the normal daily schedule routine.

Today's blip and blurp:  DODGEBALL SHOWDOWN!

And every year, once the classes battle for Top Dog, the mighty mean Staff team gives them a run for their money.

Sadly, this year...... we weren't so victorious :|  BUT, still dang-tootin' fun :)

This year's big winners:  Our Junior class!  Yes...QUITE intimidating.

Okay...it's Wednesday, right?  Holy moly.... these days are flying by.  And I'm exhausted.  But still smiling and Whoo-hooping it up :)

Brrrr Baby!

Say hellllllo to those frosty Fall temperatures!

Twenty-nine degrees were flashing at us when we checked the kitchen window this morning.   Brrrrrrrr!

BUT, our tomatoes survived!  Which is a good thing, because yet another friend wants a big load for preserving this weekend.  Besides, we tried out our first batch of Spaghetti sauce from a couple of weeks ago.....YUMMMMMM!!!!!!  We want to make up one more batch to hold us 'til next year.

And with the Fall colors and activities, our school is in the middle of Homecoming week festivities!  Can you tell what today's "dress-up" day was???   What a hoot :)

Gosh, these evening hours fly by!  I really want to do some sewing or embroidering tonight.... but I'm simply too pooped to walk downstairs to start anything right now.

Happy Tuesday.

Tiny Tuesday: #30 Square Blossoms

Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!  Gosh.....this picture doesn't even come close to portraying the absolute cuteness factor of this block!

I mean---LOOK at the size of these 9-patches!!!  True, true...I wish I would have chosen two fabrics a bit more contrasting, but.....**shrug**... oh well.  Live, quilt, and learn.

Still cute though!  They FINISH at 1.5"!

And for all the tiny piecing involved, I'm VERY impressed at how (just about) perfect this block came out!  5" all around :)

Hawaii Sunset progress

YES!

All 600 flying geese units:  DONE.  Ahead of schedule :)

All 25 9-patches: DONE.

All 80 4-patches: DONE.

3" green strips: CUT and ready.

Now, to touch base with Andee and Andra about units we had talked about swapping.

Those flying geese were being pieced and pressed while my second attempt at Shannon's (coworker) name-mat was being stitched on EM (spelled CORRECTLY this time!) :S 

This whole lil' project took about an hour: start-to-finish: picking fabrics/cutting fabrics/stitching/binding.  Size: 7.5" x 11"

Orca Bay and another boo-boo'd project

Orca Bay was getting loaded on the quilting frame yesterday, but not much quilting was accomplished.  

I played some more with EM.  And this project WOULD be perfect, except I spelled the name wrong.  *hitting forehead*  And I have worked with this lady for 13 years!!!!  Oh well; I'll simply be keeping this as an example to keep in my portfolio.

I'm working on some more flying geese between steps of embroidery.  But first....some lunch!

Play time :D

Weeeeeeeeee!

Definitely enjoying enjoying enjoying my Brother PE770 right now!

I have another package of goodies coming with anticipated delivery on Tuesday.  What's in there?  In addition to some stabilizer, more bobbins, more bobbin thread and a smaller 4x4 hoop-----my Embroidery thread is in that order!!!  **sigh**

BUT, just cuz I don't have any "embroidery" thread, I wasn't going to be stopped from trying out other threads.

Getting everything set up was actually quite easy.  Attaching the hoop to the machine took a few attempts (just like everyone said it would), but now.... got it down!

First project:  A simple label.  I had this shiny purple thread that fits the theme nicely.  All the labels have been removed from the thread, so I'm not sure the details of it.  I'm GUESSING it's a Coats-n-Clark thread.  The machine handled it perfectly fine.  {{Hmm....I'm not a person who names her machines, but.... EM is easier to type than "the embroidery machine."  So, EM she is!}}

And then...a former classmate commented on my FB post about a monogram.  So....I played some more with my monogram.  Trial-n-error will fill my walls :)  The inner frame was sized too small, but the other was great.  And...I could see changing the 'E' to the lighter purple thread.   Threads used here: Connecting Thread's "Essential threads."  It is heavier than embroidery thread....and turned out great as well!

SO!!!!..... notice what is under my Bernie needle right now???  I figured I might as well get it going since the label has been made :)

And EM has moved in to the other side of my work area.  

I love today :)  And you?

School routine

Holy moly!  It's the 2nd Friday of the school year already!!!!!!!!

So what are your morning routines like?

Here...Cassie is putting her contacts in; Candace just washed up her face and hands from breakfast;  Caitlyn is getting her shoes on....backpacks are waiting patiently on the floor.  This picture was taken two minutes before they need to be heading out the door to make sure they make the bus on time.  Aghhhhhh.  

We're ALMOST at a "well-oiled-machine" status;  a couple more mornings, and this should be a natural morning transition.  

AND OF COURSE!!!! After a fun rivalry win over the Chicago Bears, Caitlyn and I were sporting our Green Bay Packer jerseys today :)

So---weekend is here!  Whahoooo!  What are YOUR plans???  {{Y'all should know what MINE are}} :)

AND---anyone want to take a guess at how much schoolwork I brought home for the weekend???  :D

A crazy 24

OH BOY!  Yup...it arrived a bit after 5:00 last night

BUT, I was bound and determined to be disciplined!

First....I needed to pick up Cass from Cross Country

Then...needed to make dinner.

Then.... I supervised Homework.....

Then.... I washed up dishes AND folded a load of laundry....

AND THEN!  THEN, I was ready to play.....

But... HALT those plans!!!!

Cassie came in from feeding Shadow.....SOBBBBBING!  I'm talking hyperventilating-sobbing!!!!!!!

My first thought.....'she got stung by a bee.'  

Me:  "Cass???  What is wrong?"

Cass:......Sob...Sob....Sob......"Shadow is gone!!!!!"

Oh....man!  Talking about that heart-sinking feeling!  

I worked on calming her down......made some phone calls around to neighbors.....jumped on Facebook to get the word out..... the whole routine.

By the time I finished all of that....

I simply was too pooped!  The wind was out of my sails :(

Therefore, I simply read the manual last night.

Fast forward to this morning, 8:25AM.  My 1st period class gets interrupted by a phone call, and we did what we normally do when the phone rings during class:  We try to figure out who the phone call was for and for what reason :)

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!  The wife of a coworker works with a lady who is the mom of a friend of a neighbor who lives a couple of miles from me.  {{Did you follow that one?}}  Anyway......she was calling to say that Shadow had been found!    I was so happy to tell Cassie in passing her to lunch that he had been found :)

So afterschool, I had a meeting...followed by running to pick up the girls....followed by tracking Shadow down from one neighbor's house to another (because he 'ran' off again from the one neighbor).  And THEN....once I got everyone home, it was time for me to chow-down a quick meal before heading BACK to school to work the volleyball game.

Therefore......Nope.   No embroidery tonight either.  

And really.....it's okay!  Afterall.....

"Out for Delivery"

Here is the UPS Tracking Package update:

I am SO glad I had to work today..... I would have been SO IMPATIENT waiting all day long for that lil' Brown Guy to deliver this package.

Just arrived home from school;  thinking of dinner plans....will have to head back in to school to pick up Cassie.... and then back home.... to wait, wait, wait for the Brown UPS truck!

{{Our delivery guy usually hits our area between 5:00-7:00 PM}}
I'm glad I have things to do to keep myself busy for the next couple of hours.....

waiting...
waiting...
waiting....

Stay tuned!