Good Thursday, #2

IT IS RAINING IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA!!!

We've been experiencing some seriously dry weeks here in the valley where I live and in most of Eastern PA.  So to have a few days of rain occur, is truly wonderful.  It might just save my garden.

I just finished reading a great book!  Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence is an easy read but compelling because of the three brave Aboriginal girls who escaped from a Native Settlement.  I highly recommend it!

My sewing machine is in the shop right now (yes I have others but I want to use my Pfaff) so I don't have much sewing to report.  

My beautiful boy a few months ago.

Seamus has been a little different this week.  He played Dogccer this week (the poodle version of soccer) and opened the door to the bathroom to spy on me.  He hasn't done these things since May.  Perhaps the prednisone is finally working?  I'm afraid to hope.  

This week I will be attending the paper show at Allentown Agricultural Hall.  It's one of my favorite things--old books and magazines and ephemera.  The show will be on Saturday and Sunday if you are interested.

That's it for this week!  Have a great day!!

I "Like" Thursday, #1

Lee Anna over at Not Afraid of Color has started a new kind of posting entitled  "I Like Thursdays". So I thought I would join in.  

Why do I like Thursdays?  Well first off I get to put out yard waste on a Thursday.  This is a big thing to a gardener.  Very few municipalities collect yard waste and I figure if I have to pay really high taxes, I should get something out of it.  So I put out at least 4 cans of yard waste a week (there is no limit!!!).

Thursday is also the day the Farmer's Market opens.  Only a few blocks from my house, it's where I get all my meats and vegies each week.  It's indoors so the climate there is always comfortable.  We are lucky with this market.  It's open from Thursday through Saturday so if the kids suddenly come home or I forgot something, I can still run out and get it.

This past week, I finished a great book.  It's called The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts and I highly recommend it.  I don't know anything about horses and still found it gripping and enjoyable.  

I hope your Thursday is going wonderfully.  I'm off to do some hand sewing now.  Have a wonderful day!

Hello September!

September means back to school--although many of the schools here are closing early because of the current heat wave.  It also means lecturing on a more regular basis and preparing for winter.  Today I will replace the batteries in all our smoke/carbon monoxide sensors as part of the winter prep.

Seamus is holding his own.  There are now doctors from three different veterinarian practices working on his diagnosis (still unknown) but it appears he doesn't have cancer anywhere. Here is a happy picture of Seamus from this morning, he gets a massage from our neighbor every morning and he loves it!

A while ago, I had fallen in love with a  free quilt pattern called "Trellis" designed by Lauren and Jessi Jung ;  instructions are here.  I had a layer cake from Moda called Farmhouse and decided to tackle this pattern the past two weeks.  As I worked on it, I decided to make it into a queen sized quilt and put it on the other side of Peter and Jessica's quilt (remember this---here).  They will have a two sided quilt then.  Here is the finished top:

Jessica loves aqua so I chose this border for this quilt.  The blocks are hard to see (it's cloudy here today) but they have a lot of patterns she loves, like polka dots:

and something that resembles houndstooth plaid.

Plus it has various other motifs (like cherries) and a few printed blocks that have the kind of things she likes on it (like mason jars, cooking and gardening things, etc.).  I hope she likes it!  

So that is all the news here.  Seamus had a slew of tests this week and we should begin to get results next week.  Keep him in your prayers if you could!  Hugs, Mickie

Another UFO Top Completed

A few years ago I made a bunch of Ami Simm's dog blocks.   These are the last 12 and I found them yesterday in the bottom of one of my UFO boxes.   I framed and sashed them.  I forgot how cute this pattern is!  Ami called it "Dog Yeared".  I don't see it on her website anymore so the pattern may be retired now.  Did I mention I made this years ago?  Anyway, it is a cute top and I'll have Terri quilt it.

Have a safe and happy day!