I have lots of little tidbits to catch up on – I literally have to jot them down so I remember to post. I want to talk about something in a magazine and have spent too much time searching for said magazine so I have to move on and write it in the future.
Connie and Roy left this morning for Seattle and her Tula Pink cruise to Alaska. Our good friend, Susan Henderson and her husband are also going on this cruise so Susan can sew along with Tula Pink, Stacey Day and Jenny Pedigo. This is a Stitchin Heaven cruise so we know it is well planned and this time Connie can be a sewer instead of a teacher. I’m hoping to post some pictures from her in the coming week.
While on the subject of Connie, I have to admit to an old age brain cramp – Ben just celebrated his 6th birthday, not his 5th. Connie wrote the story, I retyped it and added the age — haha! That”ll teach me to elaborate.
I have a gardening question for anyone. I have never grown such beautiful white onions BUT they are tough! Why? They are fine ground up in the relish but to slice one raw is not good. Anybody got an idea why?
While out in the garden I looked hard for pumpkins but I’m going to have to agree with Rick that there aren’t many. 58 hills of pumpkins! If we don’t get very many, Reed and I are going to be very disappointed.
Last week we celebrated Becky’s Medicare birthday. Yup – she turned 65! Since 2003 we have been passing the same birthday card back and forth. I even had to add pages!
. This is the card. It says “Just when you think it’s safe, out comes the photo album”.
“At least we’re in it together, like always.”
The picture is of two little girls in bathing suits but one doesn’t have a top on. That would have been Becky as a little kid! She was probably wearing her cowboy boots with her one piece bathing suit! Our perfect birthday card. I’m sure she and I think it’s a whole lot funnier than anybody else. Smile.
Rick is doing well – he’s outside working from morning to night and right now he’s splitting wood for our stove next winter.
The woodshed is filling up! He’s feeling good – no pain in his ankle which was the main reason for surgery. He doesn’t walk fast or well but at least he’s up and out of the house keeping busy.
One of my purchases last week with Reed was this cross-stitch picture of a bouquet of flowers. It’s framed very casually so I know it’s original.
This was not a thrifty buy necessarily at $25 but I love it. Here it is hanging with several other stitcheries.
Don’t forget Sugar Maple pattern is available for $3.00. Send a mailing label with your $3 to Country Threads, 2345 Palm Ave. Garner, IA 50438.
September 1 we will post our couch quilts.
September 27-29 we will be going to the Des Moines Quilt Quild Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, 4-H building. I’m starting my shopping list now.
We are also considering a junk consignment store for stuff we want to get rid of. We have too much stuff!
Guess I’m sorta caught up with Blabber. I leave you with some contented cat pictures.
I so enjoy your “blabber” 🙂
So good to see Rick up and working again! Thrilled that he has no pain! Happy husband=happy wife, my mother used to say! Can hardly wait to see how much fabric I need to get for that new Hobby Lobby fabric project!
OMG. I almost had the opportunity to meet your friend Connie. My husband and I were supposed thevleave yesterday to head to Seattle for the same cruise with Stitchin Heaven. Unfortunately, mt sister is in ICU and had to cancel our cruise. I am sure you will be sharing pictures of connie’s Adventures. I also love all of your babbles. I look forward to seeing new posts.
Diane – I’m so sorry you had to cancel your cruise – best of luck to your sister!
Yeah for Rick, he looks great. I’m sure he is happy to be pain free. I’m sure the dogs are happy to be following him around again outside. Can’t wait to hear about Connie’s cruise from a student perspective. I have some friends that just got home from an Alaskan cruise and they had great weather-actually warmer than they had planned. Fingers crossed for Connie and Roy!
All your “bits and pieces” are very fun to read….sort of like sitting down and having a cup of coffee with you. (grin)
Squeak covers her eyes just like Millie. We never had a cat do that before! Happy Birthday to Becky. I laughed out loud at that picture on the birthday card!! It is a hoot. We have a friend who puts a post it note inside the birthday cards so people can use them again:) I am sending $9.00 for all three patterns; hope that is ok. It is good to see Rick up and about. “New knees hubby” is doing well, too. The Alaska trip sounds great:)
SO good to see Rick up and about! That was a long haul! Pain FREE is even better!
Loved all the newsy blabber-Hee Hee-have not heard that word in a long time! Mom used to yell at us to stop blabbering. 🤣 Guess her ears could have been tired!
But not tired of hearing all your farm news!
I adore the birthday card “exchange”…. creating fabulous memories with that card…. you are too clever!
My sister and I have been exchanging one birthday card for many years. My birthday this year in july there was no card. She can’t find it. We need to add another sheet when found, its totally full. I so look forward to your blogs. Feels like I know you.
Oh and the cruises to alaska are so popular. I’m in Wa state but the other side of the state from seattle.
Love the “blabber”! Just like visiting and catching up with an old friend. Maybe the onions are tough from lack of rain at the right time. My onions are tough and also extremely hot. We have had lots of rain but also long hot spells too. Most of my friends had beautiful squash plants but never had any squash. Good to see Rick up and about. A gorgeous cross-stitch. I too buy them when I see them and my favorite says “Home Sweet Apartment”-even though I have never had an apartment.
Absolutely love the birthday card idea and picture! I have always been envious of sisters since I never had one.
We have had quite a string of 90 degree days here, unusual for MN. We are sorely lacking in the rain gauge.
Fresh from their ribbons for dough art at the county fair, my Grands are encouraging me to enter yeast rolls next year! They have the county fair “bug”,
That birthday card reminded me of me and my best friend at about 12, arms wrapped around each other in our almost matching seersucker button down blouses and she posted it on her Facebook page and we laughed our heads off
at how we looked. We all need to laugh at ourselves. So glad Rick is up to getting prepared for winter with splitting wood. I had abdominal surgery two weeks ago and I sure wished I could bounce back and be what I was but I have to accept I am not a spring chicken anymore and need time to heal. It’s frustrating when your mind wants to do things but body isn’t moving as fast.
Loved all your tidbits today and now off to get my envelope sent to you for the pattern.
Love your birthday card! My sisters and I rolled our hair on orange juice cans. Anyone ever do that?
Sometimes when it is too hot, the plants don’t pollinate. I read that about tomatoes, and would guess it holds true for other plants.
Loved your birthday card. My sisters and I rolled our hair on orange juice cans. Anyone ever do that?
Donna- I used OJ cans for hair rollers – slept on them, too!
Mary, It’s good to see another husband fun gaming the winter wood! Good Rick is out n about more now.
We used to exchange a funny picture in a Christmas card for quite a few years with another college couple, but one year she didn’t include the picture…seems their children opened their mail!
Looking forward to Connie’s quilting cruise pictures. Ah, loved our small ship cruise (90 people) from Alaska to Seattle on the Spirit Of 98. My grandmother’s grandfather had taken gold seekers on his stern wheeler north for the gold rush from Seattle.
Launa – loved the grandparent story!
Are you still publishing a quilt book? As I remember not too long ago you & Connie were working on quilts to get ready for publishing. Can’t wait to see quilts from fair. Please take lots of pics.
Linda – our next Civil War quilt book will come out next winter.
Love the blabber and all your adventures with Reed.
I noticed that the skin on my tomatoes is tough this year also, must be something to do with the drought or hot weather. I didn’t get many pumpkins to set on this year either and they are orange already will be mush by Halloween, will just have to be fall décor instead.
Congratulations to Rick for being able to be up and going! His walking will only continue to improve.
The”perfect” Birthday Card is Wonderful to be in use for 15 years!!! I hope the pumpkins continue to grow and produce. Pumpkins make Falll decor so pretty!
Maybe it isn’t too late to artificially pollinate the pumpkins? Pick some flowers and pretend to be a bee. Love all your stories and pictures. Was wondering about Rick’s progress. Am glad to hear that he is up and about and PAIN FREE! Yes, I too , think his walking will improve before you all get housebound for the winter. Am glad Reed is a “Jack of all trades”, learning how to do crafts, and hobbies and working with the goats and chickens. He’s a well rounded lad and helpful too! Splendid young man!! (Can you tell that I like him?!)
Love all of your cat pictures. They sure look contented. My sister and I used to pass a Birthday card around every year and add a comment of course. Sadly, she passed away 8 yrs ago. I still miss her very much.
Such a brilliant & fun idea for a birthday card. I am sure it brings laughs each year. Glad your husband is doing so well and to be pain free is a great outcome but hope his movement gets better with time. Your cross stitch looks like an awesome find.
Love all the blabber! Would love to see more FaceBook posts but I know you & Connie can only do so much! You, Mary, already do too much! Ha!
Jan B – I secretly hate Facebook and never find the Messenger posts for weeks so I will pass that wish on to Connie.
I loved all your “Blabber” and loved seeing the kitties at the end. I have had cats all my life but my last one died on Christmas Eve two years ago. I haven’t had one since but will someday have another I’m sure.
So nice to see Rick out doing things and so wonderful that he is having no pain. What a blessing! Loved the cross-stitch picture and all of the ones that you have up on your wall. I need to do some more cross-stitch as I really enjoy doing it. However, I have two quilts going now, I’d better get them done first!! Brownie got a bath yesterday and will go to Charter House tomorrow to visit the residents there. (Charter House is Mayo’s Senior Living place. They have Apartments, Assisted Living and Nursing Home care as well as Rehab for folks that have had surgery.) Brownie is so good when he goes to visit.
Kathy – do you transport Brownie in a trailer? And just how DO you give a llama a bath?
One of my friends and I had a card that had a “hunk ” on the front and it said, “What we’re looking for” and inside it had a picture that looked like the husbands, and it said, “what’s looking for us”. I lost it in the flood of 2008. Haven’t found another one! And I met Connie when she was learning about the long arm at Hen and Chicks, knew her right away! Love the cat pictures also. Goats also.
Dee winter – well why didn’t connie take your picture for this blog????? Loved your card – keep looking for another one!
I love to quilt, but I don’t think I could stay inside a ship and quilt while we pass all that beautiful Alaska scenery. When we took a ferry up there, I was outside most of the time just looking. Hope Connie enjoys her voyage.
I’m so glad Rick is pain free and able to help with farm work again. You have way too many farm tasks for one person to handle. It makes me exhausted to read about your jobs sometimes. I had to laugh about the birthday card. One of my friends and I trade an ugly horse figurine every 10 years or so. The key is that it has to be a surprise which takes some creativity. The horse was supposed to be a souvenir from a tour company but was and is incredibly ugly! I’m envious of Connie’s trip. I went on a Stitchin Heaven trip to Sisters, OR for their famous outdoor quilt show, and as you said, their trips are very well done.
Hurray for Rick! So glad he is doing great.
Out of 30 years of gardening, I had one bumper crop of tomatoes. Not much of anything else. So I support my farmers markets. We do get some strange squash, volunteers from the compost. It all tastes good.
Your blabber is very entertaining, glad you share with us. Happy Birthday to Becky.
I so enjoy reading your blabber….glad to see Rick up and moving around. I bet he’s glad to be doing chores. Love the kitty pictures….what a great life they have! Spoiled rotten I see!!!
Yay Rick! Love the cat pictures! First one looks like kitty is praying. Is that a white flower squash? Love those sliced, breaded, and fried; yum❤
I think the onions are tough because of hot dry weather. Mine are the same. I found if I take another layer off, they aren’t bad. We have gotten some rain this week but still very dry here.
Patty – thanks – I wondered if it was lack of water but the tops are still so green.
Where did you find the stitched flower picture? It looks like one my mother made.
Dianne – I bought it at a second hand store in Kasson, MN. Could it have belonged to your mom?
Thanks for the newsy post, Mary. I am so grateful for both you and Rick that he can be out and about now. I love the cat pictures; wondering if “Reed” kitty returned?
Jeanie – no sign of Reedo Burrito – sad
Had not heard from you for many moons so that is why I added my email again. Thought you had gotten tired of me for not responding
I enjoyed your posts and remember when you shut down your shop, wow four years ago now..