my first quilt

I've made a dolly blanket for my daughter before but this is my first full sized quilt. I cut all the fabric on the first day and organized it into it's blocks.

The next day I sewed all the blocks. I ironed everything as I went to keep it all even. (I hate ironing)

Then I sewed the blocks together and added the fabric that holds those strips together.

I added a plain red band of fabric to this and that is as far as I've gotten. My daughters bed is a double so I'll have to add more fabric to this. it's only 52 inches wide.

a gray day..

*sighs...* I don't even want to be awake.. it's very gray outside this morning..  I was woken up early by one of the neighbors. I heard a shout, a door slam and a truck roaring to life and leaving. I don't know if they were just being noisy or fighting.

Bubba sleeping on the couch

what are you waiting for..

I quit my job. I didn't like it. I was tired of being tired. I lasted over a year... I have the feeling my loves grumpiness is partly that he's having trouble and stress at his job and he can't do the same thing. I don't have a car payment. A loan to repay.. ( we don't live in the same town, let alone the same house) I went back to school. I had started something I didn't finish. I'm there to finish it. I'm looking into options.. a real job. one that could take me places if I wanted to go.

I saw this and thought.. yes.. change something. now.  nownownow...

I love seeing the laundry on the line. Those black pansies.. the dogs relaxing in the shade on the porch.. summer is nearly over and fall has begun and that makes me kinda sad.. it wasn't a long enough summer. I felt like we just got a taste of it this year. I pray winter in not a long drawn out affair. Let this kind of nice weather last till at least November..

This is how my all white planter turned out. I was really happy with it until the real heat at the end of August kicked it's ass.. it started struggling after that. I was working more and watering less. my hanging baskets in the front yard never really did anything. They were doing fine until it got hot then I couldn't keep them wet enough and frankly didn't have the energy. I did learn though so next year, as I will do better next year.. :)

I do like how this planter turned out at the beginning but even it struggled with my neglect. I had bought those yellow mini bells with the red inside and one had a surprise planted in it that I didn't realize until it started to bloom.. the shape all went to hell after that...  that fuchsia petunia went wherever it wanted.

fairy garden

current fairy garden picture I took this afternoon :)

garden update

 the cats keep walking through hence the knocked down mushroom.. just asking for trouble from the fairies.. :)

 this isn't current but grown a lot since the first picture.

 I love succulents, they come in so many shapes, forms, colors..

 Vesper and Bubba love spending most of their day outside now that it's warmer

 I love this planter at our local strip mall!!

 this is my all white flowers planting. It has papyrus as it's "thriller" tall planting. I need to get a better picture of it.

my mothers day planter is growing. I have red lettuce and some short carrots, mixed lettuce on the other side..

getting some gardening done

I've never been one for hanging baskets but this year, in the new yard, there are hangers already in place. I bought 2 of these black wire baskets and bought enough plants so they have the same thing inside them. They have started to grow!

I've been building the fairy garden in my mind since before the snow was gone. The little house is a little wooden box I picked up at the dollar store that I painted and varnished. I have glued some little found objects to it. Deciding on a roof was a little harder. In the end I used a small rectangular plate I had that was broken. It has cute scalloped edges. The top was unglazed so I super glued brown glass pebbles to it that I had laying around. I planted a few plants I knew would stay little but I also had seeds for tiny low growing flowers so the bare dirt spots will fill in.

I was a lucky mommy on mothers day thanks to my love and children. I received this raised planter that I've been eye-ing since last summer from a local greenhouse. I was going to build myself one, making mental notes of the wood used but before I knew it, my love had one purchased and my oldest son was called to take it home in the van. All I had to do was decide what I was going to plant in it. So far, along the top is lemon thyme, sage, parsley, onion chives, oregano and that dark maroon pansy. I did plant some lettuce seeds in the left side as I hope to use it mostly for salad fixings. This yard has no veggie garden plot. I'll likely have to decide where I'm going to put the "herb garden" come fall.

Spring Fever

silver mound

Our snow is nearly all gone and something bulbish (tulips I think) is coming up in one of the flower beds. I'm curious about what is growing in all these flower beds around the new house. We are settling in nicely. Spreading out.. I will be going to the old house to retrieve a few of my plants next weekend. I don't have room for the whole herb garden so I had to prioritize. The rose bushes, the silver mound.. 
It was a really great day yesterday and I missed most of it, having to sleep. I worked the last 3 nights.  I'm hoping today will be nice as well and I will have a nap and sleep tonight and not miss being outside.
I won't be starting too many seeds this spring but I do have some blue pansies and some summer blooming bulbs I can put in pots. I don't have a veggie garden space here. I may plant at my friends garden. It's so nice to eat veggies you've grown yourself. :)
I've had no time to take a lot of pictures here but I'm hoping to do that soon.

sweetness

we went and looked at a house today that is perfect and the lady that owns it loves animals and is totally fine with us having pets! I've signed a 2 year lease and already have the keys. we can move stuff over as the week goes by. 3 weeks it took. that is so fabulous. we've had it take 4 months to find a place before...

Jan 13th.

it snowed and snowed and snowed yesterday then we had to shovel and shovel. we didn't shovel the last time it snowed so there was a lot of ice under the new snow.
Today, it rained. Now it's really slippery. seriously watch your step out there!
I'm not the happiest camper in the bunch these days. we have to move. the landlords daughter wants to live in the house so we have until June 1st to move. the pets make it harder to find a place. sighs...