IRENE................

The lights went out at 6:00 AM Saturday morning............. They have just come back on..........

It has been in the high nineties with no air conditioning............. We have not raked the yard of debris or dragged the fallen limbs to the front for removal.........

We have been having one great time after another........ Rain started at 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon soon to be followed by punishing wind...........

We got a call from the couple renting Lem's childhood home saying that they were living somewhere else because the house was damaged.............

The wind and rain was still pounding us but we tried to drive over there to ascertain the damage............ Too many trees and power lines down........ We gave up and came on home. Jason went all around the county to get there................. He called to say that the house was a total loss.

Sunday morning we were able to try once more...... and we finally got there........... and this is what we found.................

Lem and Wade will give you some idea of the size of the tree that fell on the house................









This would have been the front door and front bedroom..............





It cut the house in half from front to back................ and is now resting on the floor..........


Even the car was covered.............





The Sherman's had just gone to bed when the tree fell........... The blessing is that they were able to get out............

Now we are waiting for the realtor to call us about the fellow with a crane to move the tree.....

It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings............

Catching Up

This past weekend was Lem's 50th class reunion..............

Friday night there was a cookout and Saturday was a prime rib dinner at a local restaurant.. He got to see lots of old friends.............











And then we indulged in an Eastern North Carolina tradition.......... A pig pickin'.......... There is the pig with some chicken added to the grill........... At least the head was removed this time. I don't like to have the head looking at me while I am trying to get a sliver of tenderloin..............


Saturday we went to Simpson to pick out counter tops.......... That is all done but to date I have no pictures of the sample................... We paused in Greenville long enough to pick up some interfacing............ I needed it to make a template for my center block on the upcoming Round Robin.......... I also got all of the pieces traced on freezer paper ready to cut out, the template made, and the bias made for the vines................ Now to cut out all of those pieces and get them ironed onto fabric............... In the mean time, if you don't know where to put something, just put it on the table in the studio................ Once again I will have to clean up before I can sew again.

Sunday morning Rebekah called to say that she had been admitted to the hosptal......... We put everything on hold to go to Dunn................. That is also what we did on Monday and yesterday. She might come home this today so I am going to stay at home to catch up on a few things..........

I haven't even been out to the house to see the progress.......... Maybe later today we can get out there............. Right now I have to get some bread baked.......We are totally out............. I am looking forward to having a freezer to keep an extra loaf in........................

Off to get the day started......... It promises to be a busy one.......... I might even get caught up on my blog reading one day...........

Show and Tell at Neuse Quilters Guild.........

If you are ever going to be in Eastern North Carolina on any Wednesday let me know.......... You can join me at the Neuse Quilters Guild..................

Always great fun..................

The quilt pictured below is completely hand done................ Of course the ribbon is made of UNC material..................


This is also an opportunity to layer a quilt........... She started out alone but in a few minutes was joined by several others that helped get the quilt basted in no time at all...............


This quilt is being sent off to our local long arm quilter......... the blocks are 8 inches square and all done with crumbs............


A cute little quilt made to give to Ronald McDonald house..........


One member is becoming a grandmother and has already started the layette.

This will be the raffle quilt for the First Baptist Church (tickets $2.00). Lilly just finished quilting it and now it has to be bound and labeled.................



Click on this to see the outer border.......... She did a fabulous job of mitering the corners.


And a total of 16 pillow cases were finished for the Children's Oncology unit in Greenville.


A postage stamp quilt....... The tree skirt is only attached at the top giving the quilt a third dimension.....



Another quilt for the first grand child........


A quilted vest finished and ready to wear..................





A UFO back from the quilters............ As soon as the binding and label is on there will be some happy dancing going on at this household.



Another Care quilt ready to give...........


It seems that the world is a much warmer and brighter place with all of the things quilters do for others.....................

DISCLAIMER: This may contain content that is boring to most people. However, I do have family and friends that live far away and this is my method of staying in touch and showing them exactly is going on in our life.



Friday we met Jason and Kim at the house.......... The bonus was that Amanda and Andrew came along too............ We didn't stay to long.... He learning to get around and there is too much to get into there that is not good for him..............



As we were leaving I noticed the sunset......



By Monday morning there were lots of boxes in the family room........ Hurray, the cabinets are here............


Some showed up Tuesday to start the assembly....................... And started opening the boxes...


This cabinet faces into the hallway.............. That hole in the wall has had a lot of people wondering just what we were going to do........... I do not like blind cabinets. You know the ones that you have to get down on the floor and just about climb inside to get something in the corner. The place you store things you rarely use and then use them even less often because you do not want to take them out or put them away.............. Some folks put a turntable in that corner and I had one in Orleans but I wasn't wild about that either........... The new kitchen has two corners to turn so that would net me two of those cabinets.......... I decided to have this one open into the hall way. It is near the dining room and the perfect place to keep napkins, placemats, napkin holders and individual salt shaker........ (I used to have some of those, I wonder if the made it here to NC. I will know when unpacking time comes)......

The second one is where the bar turns the corner and it will open into the breakfast nook......
I am getting too old to get down and get back up from the floor.........VBG.......

He started the assembly in the master bathroom...... Lots of storage space in this house. Now for the challenge of not using it................




Yesterday was a glorious gift from the Lord................ The weather is a bit cooler (in the 80's).

The lab test was better............ I had a grand time in fellowship with the prayer shawl ladies.....

After lunch we met with the contractor to look at steps on another house he had built.........(with the owners permission.) I really liked them so we will be doing something like that.......

Then we went out to the house to make the bannister selection....... I will have about 3 feet of banister showing going up to the STORE..........

Jason was in the area and stopped to say hello.......... Chad from Fergusons Supply came by to discuss faucets and such..................

Kim stopped in so we sat on the porch and had a good visit with her...............

We had take away for supper............. Went to bed at 9:00.......... I sure was ready.

Road Trip

You can't take pictures when you leave your camera at home.........Silly Me.......

We went for a long ride on Saturday....... All the way to Oriental, Arrapaho, Dawson Creek, Chocowinity, and then toward home...........

Saw lots of things........ Trees..........Crops.............Water...............Church and Boy Scout Camps....

Lem went on a tour of the places of his youth.................

We had a grand and time.......... Did I do any stitching you ask......... Very little... Wade Hamilton and I had some one on one time and he got petted a LOT............

I did some stitching on my redwork quilt but not as much as I would have liked. We stopped at Bojangles in Ayden on the way home for a dinner and took it to the new house to eat. We have some chairs there so we sat on the back porch for lunch........ It will be nice when it is screened in and I don't have to fight the wee midges for my food...............

Then home for a rest....... Still no energy but that is what happens when you have Anemia. Yes, people that are overweight can be anemic........Who knew..............

Sunday was church.......... Wade was sick and his bedding needed to be washed. Alas, still no washing machine so that meant a trip to the laundramat.......... Then home to dry them (Rebekah got a new dryer and gave us her old one).

Today is going to be busy................ I have to give blood at the Doctor's office first thing and then is my prayer shawl group at church................. Bills to pay and Lem and I are going shopping for some new clothes........Lots of sales going on right now..............

Maybe I can get a stitch or two tomorrow............

And Did I Sew Today?

NO...................

I thought I would get the kitchen chores out of the way and then head to the studio. Lem wants to go out of town tomorrow so that will mean no sewing for me........ I really need to get a few things accomplished with a needle..............

I thought I would make some pudding for Lem......... But I bought the kind that has to be cooked... Silly me.......


All done and I even sprinkled a few nuts on top.

I made salad dressing, cooked chicken breast for the freezer for meals later, repackaged the rest of the meats I purchased yesterday and put them in the freezer................ Fixed lunch...... By now I am out of steam. I had a wee toes up and then decided I needed to walk because I had a cone of Soft Serve yesterday so Lem and I headed to the mall to walk.............. I even spotted a few things I liked on sale as I went through a couple of stores. We will go back for them later.

Home again and I made a tossed salad for dinner..... diced nectarine, dried cranberries and sliced almonds......... I will use a raspberry vinaigrette dressing on it..........



Got the spaghetti sauce bubbling...............



Of course it is now 4:30 and I need to be back in the kitchen by 5:30 so that we can eat at 6:00...

Oh well, maybe I can sew next week..............

This picture is for my sister Jean. She shared some cuttings that she was rooting with me... I added a slip of coleus to it.......... What a lovely picture it makes in my kitchen window.

Now I am going to tackle the tea towels again. I do want to have at least 6 for the church bazaar. Then I can move on to Lucinda's gift................

And How Did the Day End

Well, we did go grocery shopping............ And then stopped to look at appliances. After all I will have to purchase some soon.......... I found a freezer that had a good sale price so we bought it. They will keep it for us till the house is ready..............

Then it was lunch (late) and I was ready for a rest after that.........

We wanted to check the mail in Grifton so we rode out to the house.......

Yes, more boring pictures of the inside of an unfinished house...........

The studio is the first one in these pictures.........


And Jean, and Pat and Rebekah and Lu ................. (and any other guest we might have). Here is your room.........


View from front door into family room....



View from family room into breakfast nook.............



Kitchen and breakfast nook..........


Dining room from the family room....................



Now time to cook............ BBQ pork chops, mashed potatoes, tossed salad with fresh fruit........

Quick and easy......... Maybe I will stitch a bit tonight................

What To Do?

Grocery shopping is in my future today.......... Lem hasn't said yet when he wants to go so I can play in the studio till then...........

But What To Do First?????? That is the question.............

I like tea towels............. LuAnn at Loose Threads (HERE) had a picture once on her blog of things at a Quilt Show and one of the booths in the picture was Bird Brain Designs. (HERE) and the rest as they say is history........... I figured out a way to make my own tea towels..... Some with a scalloped edge and some with rick rack trim........ I think they are lovely gifts.........

I cut up all of my white muslin into the correct size and I am going to try to make two tea towels each day to be ready for the design.......... There are a couple of products on the market now that you can use to transfer your design by printing the pattern onto a special sheet using your computer and then just stick it to your fabric.......... When the embroidery is done just wash away. How cool is that?

So this morning I need to do my two tea towels.......... Finish two dish cloths.......... And according to the list on my sidebar I should be working on Lucinda's gift.........

Now that I have made that decision I will listen to a book while I stitch. Maybe pictures later.

We Are Home Once More......

And you probably did not even know that we were gone............ My niece was visiting my sister in Richmond, VA so Lem and I went to join in the fun......................

I made bread and cookies to take with me as a hostess gift and we left Thursday afternoon. It took just over 3 hours to get there............

Tonight I am tired and ready for a long rest..........

My sister sets such a lovely table......... And she is a good cook too. I came home with several great recipes...........


Bill (brother in law) and Lem........

Jean (sister) and Mary Katherine (niece)................



After we got back to Lenoir County we stopped at Jason and Kim's to see Andrew.....

He is learning to crawl. Instead of using both knees he uses one knee and one foot to scoot along.... He sure lights up with a big smile when he sees his granddaddy........

But then Grand daddy lights up too................