Zelda!! Our Rescue Kitty

Here is a somewhat comical shot of our rescue kitty, Zelda, with her rescuer, John Owen. She doesn't look happy but she is. She is very sweet and purrs a lot.

Here is the story. We went to a party out in the country today and this cat was there. She had been abandoned by someone and had just been hanging around the yard. She was being terrorized by the family dogs and, apparently, was not being fed. She is very bony and was really hungry. We took her and stopped on the way home to buy kitten food, a kitty bed, and some other goodies. She is in kitty heaven now, but doesn't like Cabalito very much. John Owen found her and is in love with her. He is such a sweet boy.

Joy loves her too. She and John Owen will take good care of Zelda; I am sure. They are both animal lovers. Well, I have to go now. Until later,

Julie

Enjoying Summer Vacation

I need to take a photo of my Orange Crush progress. I have really been working on getting caught up. I finished step 3, and have done all the half-square triangles for step 4. Seven step 4 blocks are completed. I have also done all the cutting for step 5. I hope to be caught up by the end of this weekend. The only problem is I also need to get caught up on the housework that has fallen behind in these last few frantic weeks of school and wedding frenzy. Sewing is so much more fun than housework!!!

The above photo is a Little Quilts house quilt that I hand pieced and hand quilted while I was doing my internship for teaching. I gave it to my mother and it hangs in her house. It is very cute - in my opinion. LOL I decided to put it here to add some interest to my post, since I don't have any new photos. I am ready to enjoy my summer vacation and, as usual, have lots of plans. Of course, I will be lucky if I do even half of the things I plan to do. Wish me luck!

Julie

Hallelujah!! Last Day of School

Today was the student's last day!!!!!! I only have two more days to do my "post-planning" and I will be FREE for the summer. The kids were wild today and, although I will miss them, I was glad to see them go. :0)

Tomorrow I have an interview for a position teaching middle school gifted students. I hope it goes well, as I am worried about the gifted students not getting what they need in the regular classroom thanks to "No Child Gets Ahead." I am including a copy below of an email that went around for a while that is a very good description of the way "No Child Left Behind" actually works:

No Child Left Behind:The Football Version
Author Unknown*

l. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL

3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don't like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games.

5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.

If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.

My New Sister-in-Law, Kindergarten

Here she is, Jonasse! She is the sweetest thing and we all love her. We are so happy that she is in our family now. My dsil loved her bargello quilt which was a relief for me. I certainly wish the newlyweds all the best of everything.
Here is a shot of the couple getting some of their photographs taken immediately after the wedding. I am standing on the back deck of the house where the wedding took place. It is Jonasse's sister's house; only about 15 minutes away from my house. I thought the dog looking on was the cutest thing. He was wondering what all the excitement was about.
My sister and I were in charge of FOOD! All the food was a big hit. Here is the fruit section. Aren't those little bananas cute? They are only about 4 inches long. My sister did the watermelon basket. Pretty cool!
Here is a shot of some of the meat, cheese, crackers, and one floral arrangement. My friend Gret did all the flowers and she really made the place look beautiful.
I bought this three-tiered stand on my recent trip to America's Mart in Atlanta (posted about in an earlier blog entry.) It was only $48!! I recently saw a two-tiered one in a catalog that looked very similar for $75, so I know I got a great deal. I can't wait to use it for all my future parties. It adds a bit of drama. Here it is used to display the cupcakes - some of them have been eaten here, but isn't it great?

The building that this reception was held in was the Kindergarten that I attended in 1970-71. It was a wonderful place then, with Miss Peggy and Miss Julia as my teachers. They were so sweet and we had FUN! Not like Kindergarten now where kids are pressured to read and write and do math. In my day Kindergarten meant "learning" to catch and bounce balls, march to a song, sing our alphabet, play games, paint, color, glue, play, play, play.... Those were the days. Education has taken a sad turn. The kids may start out earlier but, thanks to "No Child Left Behind" (I call it "No Child Gets Ahead") they are not as advanced as we were. I wish politicians would stay out of education. Oh well,

Julie

Cottonboll Quilt Guild Retreat

Here is the quilted version of my Scrappy Bargello for my brother's wedding. His bride loved it. In the photo I have not tacked down the binding yet but it is on there. We had a fabulous retreat and I got so much done. I put on this binding, machine-quilted and bound two other quilts (small), and did some piecing. There was lots of fun and eating. Especially eating. It seemed that every time you turned around it was time to go and eat. We also had a ton of snacks that everyone brought. I am sure I gained a few pounds.

I took a picture of this cat quilt made by my friend Cindy. She used a pattern but made the cats have colorations like some of her own cats, past and present. I thought it was so beautiful and I knew you would want to see it.


Well, I wanted to post since I have not done so in a while. School is out in just a few days and I should be a more regular blogger then. Later,

Julie

Pay it Forward - OC Step 2

I FINALLY finished Step #2 of Orange Crush! I think they look great. Since I have a quilt guild retreat coming up this next weekend I will be able to get steps 3 and 4 done and be ready for step 5 before it comes out. I won't be behind anymore!!!

Pay It Forward:

I signed up for Pay it Forward with Beth at The Ramblings of a Texas Quilter. Here is how it works: (With apologies to Beth, I just copied and pasted this part from her blog.)To the first 3 people who leave a message on my blog about the game that have a blog and that decide to play the game too, I will send a gift. I'll contact you for your mailing address so that I can mail it,, you don't have to leave your address on my blog so don't worry about that.But the thing is to PAY IT FORWARD... you have to commit to putting the game on your blog and then sending something to 3 people who leave YOU messages,,, sounds like fun I think!The challenge is there.... who are the first 3 that will leave me a message?I think this will be fun. The gift will be something sewn and it will be homemade by ME!! I can't wait to play. Who wants to play with me?

And in more news:

As promised in an earlier post, here is a picture of Cabalito with his new bandanna. I bought it at America's Mart. It is very cute on him and he doesn't want to wear a t-shirt or any other clothes right now because it is just too hot. Not to mention the fact that our central air conditioning is not working. The repairman should be here one day next week. Hopefully it won't get hot again before he comes. Yesterday it got up to almost 90 degrees F and I decided to turn it on, but it never started blowing cool air. :0( Well, at least we are saving money on our power bill. Last night (actually at 3:20 A.M. ) we had a very windy thunderstorm with 3/4 inch hail. It woke me up because it was making so much noise pounding on the metal porch roof outside my bedroom window. I went out to check on the cars (no damage) and ate some hail - very nice - like crushed ice but a little more firm. The storm system did make things a little cooler today.

Here is a crumb quilt that I made from the tiny strips left from trimming up my bargello sections in the wedding quilt. I put the Tabasco bottle nearby so you can see how small it is. I know it seems like a waste of time but I do it because it is FUN! I think it looks really cute. I plan to quilt it and make it into a little table pad for hot dishes.

I know this is looking kind of "womp-sided" but I just didn't get a good angle on this photo. It is a top for my friend Dumpy who is retiring at the end of this school year. She is so sweet and has been so good to me as a fellow teacher and friend. I made it from some leftover strips from a beachy landscape quilt that I made for my dsil who lives in Naples, Florida. I wondered what to do with all those strips and I just started sewing them together and then decided to do strips. I think it will be appropriate for her beach house in Mexico Beach, Florida. I hope it will help her to get over the pain of retirement (LOL - she is counting the days until she can retire.)

Well, it is really late and school is not out yet, I have 11 more school days to go before I can become a true night owl again. Better hit the sack.

JULIE

Happy Mother's Day - PAY IT FORWARD!!

Happy Mother's Day! I saw this really cute image on Google today and had to copy it for my blog. I thought the mother duck and her ducklings were precious. I hope all the mothers out there have been having a wonderful day. My son vacuumed the house and stairs for me today!

I signed up for Pay it Forward with Beth at TheRamblings of a Texas Quilter. Here is how it works: (With apologies to Beth, I just copied and pasted this part from her blog.)

To the first 3 people who leave a message on my blog about the game that have a blog and that decide to play the game too, I will send a gift. I'll contact you for your mailing address so that I can mail it,, you don't have to leave your address on my blog so don't worry about that.But the thing is to PAY IT FORWARD... you have to commit to putting the game on your blog and then sending something to 3 people who leave YOU messages,,, sounds like fun I think!The challenge is there.... who are the first 3 that will leave me a message?

I think this will be fun. The gift will be something sewn and it will be homemade by ME!! I can't wait to play. Who wants to play with me?

By the way, I finally finished OC step 2 today! I still need to photograph them so that I can show them off. Well, toodles.

Julie

Americas Mart

Today is Jimmy's 49th birthday. I played hooky and we went to Atlanta for a fun day of shopping. He is co-owner of a furniture store and we were on a buying trip. It was so much fun to point at something and say, "I'll take two of those, four of that one, etc...." and not have to pay for it!!! We found some great lamps and framed artwork for the store. I can't wait until it all comes in to see how it dresses the store up. We were shopping at the Americas Mart. Here is a blurb from their website:

AmericasMart® Atlanta is the industry’s #1 order-writing facility for gifts, home furnishings, home decor, gardens and apparel. It is the largest permanent wholesale marketplace of its kind in the world.

Needless to say, I was in heaven. We then shopped at some of the other markets there and I bought some fantastic things. I got an mp3 player finally! We bought some sea glass jewelry for a Mother's Day gift. I purchased a cute t-shirt and bandana for Cabalito. I will post a picture as soon as he comes home and tries it on. He is with his "other mama" (my sister) right now and we won't see him until later.

Unfortunately, no quilty shopping at all! We did have lunch at Ray's in the City. Excellent, of course!! Creme brulee for dessert - enough said. LOL.

Now I am tired and ready to relax at home. I am happy and content.

Julie

Red Hot Pokers and Other Flowers

Here are some photos of my flowers. They are so pretty right now. The amaryllis was a forced bulb that someone gave me for Christmas in 2006. The bloom was very scraggly at Christmas but I planted the bulb. It is more than making up for its poor showing during the holidays. The white snapdragons came back from last year. As you can see, I have quite a bit of weeding to do in this flower bed. I am just about ready to move to container planting only here and give up on this bed. The weeds are so obnoxious and when it gets really hot in the middle of the summer I tend to let them go.
This clematis just doesn't want to move on up the trellis. I am hoping it will twine around the confederate jasmine vine that has climbed all the way to the top and bloom along with it. The confederate jasmine gives the yard a fantastic smell this time of year. You can see some of the jasmine blooms in the background.
I just LOVE my red hot pokers! They are right by the road, as you can see on my blog title. I planted them around the mailbox and they sometimes stop traffic! There are red hot pokers all through my neighborhood because neighbors will stop by and ask for a plant. I always give them one - it only makes the neighborhood prettier! We plan to divide them this fall and plant them on a problem bank in my yard. Someone planted some nasty English ivy there before and I have been battling it since I moved here about six years ago. I hate invasive vines and we have plenty of them here in the South.
I don't plan to do any gardening or quilting today because I got very little sleep last night due to a persistant nosebleed!!! Of course I fired up the laptop to keep me company and Amanda just happened to comment on my blog at that time. It was nice to feel connected to someone when I was so miserable. Thanks, Amanda.
Julie

Tomato Race

Already - a tomato! It is about the size of a golfball. My dad used to have a "race" with his friends for the first ripe tomato. Although I am not racing with anyone, he would be proud. I also have some tiny bell peppers and a full-sized cayenne pepper. I planted a Better Boy tomato (shown), an Amana Orange, and two yellow cherries. I can't wait for that first tomato sandwich! I didn't grow a tomato plant one year and I will never do that again. There is nothing like having your own homegrown tomatoes in the summer. The herbs seem to be doing pretty well - I have a picture of the chives blooming below. I think I will make a salad tonight and put some of those pretty chive blossoms in it!

I am spending the day deep-cleaning my bedroom. I figure if I can deep-clean one room per weekend until school is out, then I won't have such an overwhelming pile of housework to do when summer vacation starts. Well, break time is over. Back to cleaning.

Julie