Trees and Such

I know I am not posting as much as I wish.  Life just gets in the way.  Not complaining...just apologizing I guess.  The weather here has been beautiful.  The daffodils are blooming and I am finding crocus and other green things peeking up and blooming.  I have a great deal to learn about the flora and fauna here.  I was in contact with one of my friends who sent me a picture of a black and white "block of the month" quilt finished by another friend and she guilted me into working on some of the blocks I had not sewn.  I did two of two patterns and have more to finish yet.  The quilt was completed by "Rose" and was beautiful...she always does wonderful quilts.  Don't know when I will get more squares finished but I will eventually.  I am currently working on getting the Farmer's Wife quilted.  I started it and didn't like the quilting so ripped it all out and started again.  I also spoke to my friend in Brighton CO and after complaining to her about the fir boughs and cones which fall on the parked cars which I was raking up, she asked why I didn't trim them.  These boughs fall from     50' to 70' in the air and who knows which tree from which they come.  I explained that we live in a heavily forested area and from the picture of the truck, the botton branches are 20-30 ft above the ground.

We have been working on a good deal of other small projects around here also.  The Mr. demolished the workbench in the garage and has built another larger one and I embarked on the kitchen project.  The white paint on the previously dark wood was applied improperly and they really needed to be sanded and primed and painted with a paint specifically for kitchen cupboards.  Having done this in a previous home, I did not really want to start that project.  The kitchen is small and I do like the mostly white cupboards.  I decided to distress the already distressed (paint which was chipping) cabinets and get a French decor style, otherwise known as "shabby chic".  People pay good money for this treatment and even buy new with this look.  I am happy with the few I have begun and will put a clear sealant over them when I am finished and will post more pictures.

After distressing, and this was the worst area around the knob.  

 This is in really good shape below, but it will continue to become chipped.  It will be in the next pictures with more of what I intend to do.  Just wait!

I spent Friday a.m. at a shop where I am beginning my next venture.  I found a neat spot to work on a "junk journal" and a gal who has helped me begin something I have wanted to try.  The shop is full of craft items and there are classes being held on various crafting and sewing and needleworks. The owner has a myriad of craft items which have been donated and sold at a large discount.  More to come on that.  My Quilt of Valor is getting the label this week and I will take it to the recipient soon as I am anxious to see his reaction.  He has teased me about getting a quilt as he knew I had given another neighbor  baby quilt.  

"If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, doesn't it just lie there and rot? " ~

Chuck Palahniuk