Tools of the Trade

Tuesday was my first quilt class and there were two other women and a man in the class. I was so relieved to find that the instructor was relaxed and open to the creativity students. Although she used precise directions and demonstrations, she encouraged experimentation with fabrics and I found that she made the class a fun experience. The tools, a cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler and how to use each was clearly demonstrated. Sooooo....from those previous fabrics I showed, I cut 3 1/4" strips from both the light and dark fabrics. Then they were stitched with exactly 1/4 inch seams in strips of 3 lights, then 3 darks.
Here is the 1/4 inch seam. This has always
been a puzzle to me...but with "teachers" help, we measured on the ruler so that the needle touched the 1/4 in line, and drew a mark along the edge of the ruler on a piece of masking tape which had previously been laid down on the machine. Simple! That is as long as the fabric is fed so that the line is on the edge of the fabric. Then we stitched 3 pieces of fabric together, pressed the seams and were ready for the next step. More to follow!!

Today, the Mr. and I worked at painting the outside of the abode. We battled the wind, but the temperature was moderate so at least the
paint didn't freeze. I will try to get a picture tomorrow. We got really brave I think in choosing the colors for the exterior. We chose a light olive for the main color, a mossy green for the trim and a reddish brown for the accent.

The trees are turning and this year we have so many trees with leaves on still as late as it is. Usually we have had a couple of major snow storms and quite often the trees don't get a chance to turn colors. The heavy cold snow simply causes them to fall.

This post may be a little dull reading, but I really want to document this quilt project and will post something a little different next time. Thanks for hangin' in there.

~"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."....
Anonymous (That's me!)

Quilting

Look at this stash! I signed up for a real quilt class and these are the fabrics I have chosen, with of course, the experts pointing me in the right direction. The quilt pattern is "Venetian Tiles" and I had to choose 15 darks and at least 6 lights. I needed a break between paint jobs. I will continue to document this project and have my first class this week. Wish me luck!

I did a little "googling" and found a lot of information on Pawnee Buttes (Colorado) and used those 3 key words for my search. Rather than put a link here, check it out if you like. It has become a real spot of interest apparently and we thought it was just a secret place our Dad used to take us!!!

Today is Twyla's birthday...Happy Birthday Girl!! We got snow finally today and as I compose this little bit of twitter it must really be nasty on the summit between Laramie and Cheyenne as the scanner is on and the WHP is really busy with accidents.

I spoke with a couple of dear friends this week. Moving has put a little distance between old friends, but we will remain dear friends and will cry and laugh together. There are others I need to call and will eventually get that done. If you have a friend to call...do it...cry and laugh together.

~ "Laughter is the shortest distane between two people."...Victor Borge

Pinto

Being from a very western community, we have lots of livestock, lots of horses etc. Some areas of town (I think we are about 53,000 pop.) are apparently grandfathered in or like us, not in the city limits. Yep, we are in the county! So you can see pastures with horses near the mall. I don't know the difference between a paint or a pinto. Surely there is one, but all of my life, the words have been used to describe a spotted horse. This shouldn't be confused with an Appaloosa which can also be spotted. That is what the ol' homestead looks like. It has been scraped, caulked and primed in spots. If the weather holds, the Mr. may get the rest of the primer on tomorrow. We took the day off to take care of some business. We will probably regret that when the snow arrives this weekend. Here you can vote early, we registered last week, but weren't prepared to vote that day, so we arranged for ballots to be mailed today. We also got flu shots, bought 10 gallons of paint, got birthday cards, (had lunch), found the Mr's location for pool league tonight and hit the grocery store. That took the better part of the day. I will start painting on the livingroom and hallway tomorrow. In yesterday's local paper was an article about Pawnee Buttes. It is really in Colorado and I should have taken the time to put a link here. Maybe I will do that another time. It brought back so many fond memories of our father. He used to take us on trips to the prairie in northeastern Colorado as that was where he spent a lot of his younger days. He was quite an educator, if you were interested in the plains and the history of the early pioneers. I only wish I could remember more of his stories. I know that as a teenager and during the great depression, he spent time with his sister's family there on the drylands. There was no work for most and he would tell us about the jackrabbits and cottontails that he hunted so that they would have food. Another time he told of the same sister's child who died as a result of a rattlesnake bite. They had so far to go to a Dr. that by horse and buggy, they couldn't get her to town in time. Times were difficult, and as we face our current economic situation, I can't help but reflect on some of those tales and draw from the strength of our parents and grandparents. The will to survive tough times runs in my blood and I know that what we need and what we think we need are two very different things.

~"What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible."....Theodore Roethke

Decisions

I don't think I posted the finished vintage chair and glider that I finally finished just before the move so here it is and if I did....sorry. What can I say-I'm getting old and forgetful. I am finding it a great excuse, the getting old part. My new neighbor, Ingrid, is 79 and really struggling with health problems. She has such a sense of humor though and when I ask her how she is, she just replies "I can't breath and my bones are falling apart, but other than that, I can't complain." I can still breath and my bones are not too bad, but the memory thing ....I am not sure about. We are needing to get new carpeting in the entire house, but for now are doing the living room, guest and master bedroom and hallway. These rooms are big and that is a lot of carpet and making the decision on type and color are almost overwhelming. In addition, we are starting to get the primer on the exterior. The Mr. has used about 9 tubes of caulking and we bought more today. It has been so time consuming to scrape and caulk for the Mr. and the house is so tall on half of it that this is a major project. Will post pictures later. I have to make decisions now on paint for the interior, based on the carpet I choose and wallpaper for the wall that I am stripping...still. This about day 6 I think and I am hoping to be finished tomorrow with that project. Yuk!! Who puts wallpaper on an unpainted, un-primed wall. We have however made a decision on the exterior paint colors, if we ever get to that point and really, I shouldn't say "we" as the Mr. has been doing that. This post is just to let all know that we are still alive, haven't had the time to call anyone this week, but please be sure that we think of you.

Home

Home......"Home at last". Part of a quote from Thomas Wood. The Mr. and I are working at making this abode our home. Some call us 'flippers', and it may seem to those who know us well that we have done that in the past. It keeps us busy. We buy at a good price and have been fortunate to make a profit on our sales, but really I think it is time to stop. The Mr. has spent the better part of the week scraping, caulking and priming the exterior of the house on a tall, tall ladder when necessary. We still have to pick our colors for the final coat, but that is still a week or so away, providing the weather holds. I began stripping this ONE wall of paper and have discovered that this is original to the home, no sizing or paint behind this wall and the paper is so old and brittle that what you see is the result of 3 hours work. It will take me an eternity to finish this and I have removed LOTS of wallpaper in the past. Nothing compares to this!!! UGLY
We also need carpet and that will be on this week's agenda....to price carpet. There are always those incidentals...in stripping wallpaper from the guest bedroom (balloons), I moved the ladder, and a plastic water bottle for spraying fell off hitting my glasses which couldn't be repaired. So I had to fork out over $400.00 for an eye exam and new glasses. Gorilla tape held them together until I could find an old pair to wear for now. I have finished staining the woodwork and the interior doors. They are beautiful now!!! They were scratched and are all 2 over 4 paneled (maple I think). Paint on the walls will complete this makeover for the fall. Next spring the yard will be a priority. Pictures of the doors will be posted soon as well as this dining room remake. We have had the most glorious weather as the first day of fall has come and gone. It still is in the 70's and the trees are beginning to turn and the nights and mornings are a little cooler. I spoke with an older lady tonight about the beautiful evening and sunset, as I was waiting for a friend and she said "yes, why would you live anywhere else". She had been here for 50 years. We are living to turn this house into our home and....
~It takes a heap o' living to make a house a home!~ Edgar A Guest

Winter around the corner

No picture today...will try to get busy and add one soon. We went over the Snowy Range to Saratoga to get our camp trailer today. It was beautiful and the aspen are beginning to turn. Also the chokecherries are ripe and still some left after a heavy picking season. I am not in a position to be making any jelly so we are not picking chokecherries. Coming back home this afternoon it got a little chilly on top and the temp dropped to 39 degrees with a little rain turning into sleet. No moose or wildlife was seen today. This is the hunting season here in Wyoming and the fashion of the day now is camouflage in every shade and pattern available from the big hunting supply store. In addition, all of the fancy "must have " equipment to aid in the capture of the game of choice is dusted off and pulled out for all to see. Trucks with big tires and engines pulling fancy trailers, some with camping trailers you could live in all year, some loaded with four wheeler ATVs and some with horses, all parading to favorite campsites. This is a big deal here!!! I remember when my dad went after the annual deer to fill our freezer, he packed a sack lunch with a thermos of coffee, headed out in an old pickup with mom in tow and was back in the afternoon with the "meat". When the Mr. and I first started to hunt for elk, we went with a week's worth of food, gas, fuel for the camp stove and camped with a party of several other friends and it became a real social occasion, hunting during the day and sitting around the campfire at night. As our son grew, he too joined the sport with all the experience of the Mr. as a teacher and that first kill is always a bit traumatic. Then came the camp trailers and a much softer and warmer place to stay. Still it was a fun experience and as father time creeps up on us, it has become for us merely a spectator sport. We "watch" the hunters parade down the road. We are amazed at all of the fancy equipment hunters have gathered up and know they must be having a ball, and the youngsters are excited, taking off a day or two from school for that right of passage the first hunt. This will continue here for several weeks and then the bows, arrows, guns, gear and fashionable clothing will be put away until next hunting season. We will be watching for next year's parade.

Pot O' Gold

It has been one week since we moved into "our new digs" and it has rained a good deal this past few days.  But with the rain, comes the rainbow.  Spectacular was this one this afternoon as it made a complete double rainbow from horizon to horizon.  The colors were so brilliant and the picture doesn't do it justice.  If I had not been so tired, I would have looked for the pot of gold.  (I am sure it was just over the hill...He! He!) As we continue to unload boxes and boxes and more boxes, we wonder where we will put everything.  This is our 7th home purchase and it seems that we accumulate more as time goes on.  Everyone our age is downsizing and we do just the opposite I believe.  The Mr. has been able to make arrangements to get on a pool team already and his table is up and getting a work-out when he has time.  We have made numerous trips to the big box hardware store for things like drapery hardware, screws, brackets of all sorts etc.  The critters are settled in and it was about four days before the skinny bitch Hildy decided we were staying.  She kept going outside and would sit by the pickup waiting to get in and go "home".  Poor thing.  The beagle made a great adjustment and the cat, who was my worst worry, adapted best I believe.  He has even been outside to explore and found lots of new places to hide. He did make a lot of noise during the ride over the mountain...not a happy traveler. Both dogs had been kenneled for about a week while we were moving and closing etc.  When we picked them up and headed over here, you can see how glad to be in their truck they were. They just conked out cold. 
I am so behind on my communication with everyone and have lots of contacts to make yet...but all in good time. Tomorrow  we will trek to the Farmer's market here at the old depot and I am anxious to see what is available. We have already found such an abundance of fresh fruit and produce available.  We will miss the small-town atmosphere of Saratoga, but have lots to look forward to here.  We have met a few of our neighbors already and they have welcomed us into the neighborhood and that is a good thing.  So until I find that pot of gold, I will just keep plugging away.