Cruising into 2010

I am celebrating the new year by staying home with my kids. We will stay up and watch the ball drop in Times Square, then go straight to bed like the party animals we are. This is a picture of me driving home from work. I think I look happy here, and I certainly am happy now. I am in charge of my own destiny and no longer depend on a husband to deal with problems. I am finding this an empowering experience. I am dealing with problems and not letting them stress me out. I am saving money for my kids' cars so that I will be ready when they turn 16. I am paying off bills and improving my credit. I am refinancing my house and getting a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments. Things are great, and I am planning on 2010 being even better. I hope it will be a great one for you too!
Julie

Fairy Rings

I saw in Elaine's blog, Elaine Adair Pieces, that she just completed a quilt called "Fairy Rings." It has, of course, a circular pattern and she used fairy fabrics. It reminded me of some of the fantastic fairy rings we had here in Alabama this past summer. I stopped to take photos of these particularly large mushrooms in front of a lawyer's office building.
Look at the size of these things. I have always really been fascinated by fairy rings, and think they are very cool. When I look them up on the Internet, there are always explanations of ways to prevent them and keep them from spreading. Why would you want to? I would much rather have some dead grass patches here and there and experience the magic of the fairy ring!
As you can see, they are literally dinner plate sized. This one was 10 inches across! So beautiful. I imagine that if there really were fairies, they would have a ball with these giant mushrooms.
I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my imagination, LOL. I guess I am still a kid at heart, well at least I hope I am.
Julie

New Blog is Ready

Leave me a comment and I will reply to you with my new blog's address! I can't wait to see you there.
Julie

Christmas Eve, 2009

Well, sorry about the red eyes, I haven't figured out how to manipulate these photos yet. At least I finally figured out how to put pictures from my new camera onto the computer. It wasn't hard at all, I just dreaded sitting down and doing it.
Anyway, this is a picture of my daughter and son, we are at my mother's house for the Christmas Eve gift exchange. The doggie is our part time dog. He is actually my sister's dog, but stays with us when she is working out of town. I hope you are enjoying the end of this fabulous year. We certainly are. Thanks for visiting!
Julie

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a glorious Christmas. Here in Alabama it was rainy and cold. I enjoyed time with my family and did lots of cooking. It is so nice to spend time with everyone.
On a lighter note, my ex-husband came by to pick up the kids after breakfast this morning. He actually had the nerve to ask me if I had anything he could eat for breakfast. He wanted me to fix him breakfast. Can you believe it? Well, anyway, I said no, of course. LOL.
Julie

Welcome Friends

This is an old photo of a punchneedle project I did last year. It was before I had mounted it into the frame and so looks rather lumpy. I wanted something to welcome you to my new blog. I am so excited. Now I have to get my new camera and figure out how to download pics from it to my computer. I am dreading that part, hence the old photo above.
Today I bought major groceries, hopefully enough to get me through the holidays. I try to avoid the stores from this point on. I bought myself some earrings yesterday from a local jewelry store that is going out of business. Diamond studs for half-price! I also bought some nice gold hoops while there. So, I will be broke for the rest of the holiday season, but who needs money? All my gifts are bought, bills are paid, and I have laid-in a good supply of groceries. All that is left is to have fun and enjoy being with family. I hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas season as well.
Julie

Here it is, my new blog.

I have missed blogging so much. I have lots of tweaking to do to this new blog, and plan to work on that as a fun project over Christmas break. Right now I only have two more work days - filled with semester exams and lots of snacking.
Zumba tomorrow night. I started last week. This is an exercise/dancing class that is so much fun. It is exactly what I need to get me moving and back into shape. I will keep you posted,
Julie

New Blog

I am working on the new blog. When it is up and running, I will let you know!

Here I Am!

I am still here! I do miss blogging. I think one of the main things that took the wind out of my sails for my blog, other than the divorce, was the finding that certain local members of the community were closely following my blog (and these were people that I didn't want reading my daily thoughts). It felt like an invasion of privacy. I realized that I had made a huge mistake by inviting certain people to check out my blog, who then passed the information on to others. I am going to start a brand new blog over Christmas break. Maybe I will try some new things. I will keep you, my bloggy friends, posted!

Hello Friends

Well, I am still here. I just have been so busy lately, with no motivation for blogging. Since my camera is on the blink it just doesn't seem as interesting. :-)
I am sitting here enjoying air conditioning. It is something I normally take for granted, but my HVAC unit went out earlier this summer. I have been enduring the summer without it, but finally was able to get the money to have a new one installed. My van has developed a leak in the oil pan, which will be fixed tomorrow. (I hope.) I got a new washing machine put in yesterday to replace the other new one which leaked water everywhere. As I mentioned, my camera is on the blink. My vacuum cleaner stopped working - but it was an easy fix - they pulled a Lego out of it! I have also had lots of financial and legal untangling to work on. I have also had people in to give me quotes on repairing all the water/moisture damage from downstairs. In short, I have just been too busy and distracted to blog.
Thanks for hanging in there and continuing to watch for my posts through my "bad spell." Next week I start back to work :-( But I am grateful for my job, which I really do enjoy. It is just that I enjoy staying home and doing what I want when I want more. TTYL,
Julie

In the Crown

Here is a photo of, from left to right, me, my niece Joy, and bff Anna. It was about 1988, and we were in New York City. We decided to make the climb to the crown, and had a nice man behind us take our picture. I love this picture. It was such a fun trip!They reopened the crown July 4th of this year. It had been closed since the terrorists did their cowardly deeds on 9 - 11. I have heard that it will only be open for a short period of time, so if you are in the NYC area anytime soon, schedule a trip to the crown. I don't think you can just show up and get in line anymore.
TTYL,
Julie

Checking In

Hi blog friends. I just wanted to explain myself. I have never abandoned my blog for this long. I have also been negligent visiting your blogs. I dropped my camera in the sand on the beach trip and I am afraid to get my pictures off it until I take it to a camera doc. So, no beach pics. But we did have a wonderful time. Just take my word for it, it was beautiful, and we can't wait to go back.
The next thing that has kept me away is that I am going through a divorce. I am dealing with a lot, not the least of which is that my ex-husband won't get his stuff out of my house. So I have not really felt like blogging. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy. I have had to put up with a lot over the years - I did it for the kids - but things happened that I could not put up with. Enough said.
I will be back to blogging soon enough. Stay tuned!
Julie

Gone to the Beach

We are going to Mexico Beach for a week. When this post shows up I should already be there. It is not crowded, and is family-friendly. We have a house right on the beach, by a turtle sanctuary - which we think is pretty cool. When I come back I will have pictures from our actual trip. Hope you enjoy your week!
Julie

Giveaway!!

Marion at Villa Kunterbunt is having a giveaway. You don't want to miss it so hop on over.

Pincushion Attempt

I decided to try making May Britt's pincushion. When done right it is so cute. Of course, I did it wrong! Her tutorial is here. As you can see, mine looks like a mini-hassock. It is still cute, and my kids like to toss it around the room like a ball.
I have been meaning to do it again. Now that I have made one, I know what my error was, and I can make one the right way.
I have been working in my yard most mornings since school is out. I have done a lot, but have so much still to do. I spend the rest of the day recovering from the heat, but at least I have a feeling of accomplishment. Inside, I have been working on replacing my heavy, dusty drapes with light, easy-to-clean curtains. It feels so much better to have all these dusty drapes out of the house. I will never, ever have drapes again. Ugh...
Julie

Giveaway from Deb at Works in Progress

Look at these fantastic vintage buttons.


Deb is having a giveaway. She found many treasures in her Aunty Jean's sewing box, and is giving away these beautiful buttons! So pop on over to her blog today and enter her giveaway!
Julie

Monastery of the Holy Spirit

On my way home from the retreat, I stopped at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. It is a peaceful place. The Trappist Monks are very welcoming, and have a shop where they sell bread, fudge, rosaries, and other things that they make here. They also have a bonsai greenhouse. I have been there with my brother a few times to visit with Brother Paul, who is a bonsai expert. I don't know if he is still there. It was Sunday, and the commercial enterprises were closed. I would like to return one day when I can wander around again.
Julie

Happy Memorial Day

I want to remember those who have served and are currently serving in our military. Be thankful for them, they have made great sacrifices so that we can live as we do.

More Retreat Photos, Facility

In the post I am showing you some shots of the facilities. We were really impressed with the place. It was beautiful. Hope you enjoy.
Julie

Cotton Boll Quilt Guild Annual Retreat 2009

The Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, Georgia, is fantastic! We thoroughly enjoyed the facilities, food, and environment. The people were very nice, and treated us very well. We have all agreed to go back again next year.
I finally finished the machine quilting on this small Christmas quilt. It is about 40 inches square, and uses a fat quarter pack that I purchased from Tiny Stitches in Atlanta a couple of years ago. I also added some gold fabric that I had on hand to stretch it enough to make it a decent lap size.
Now I only have to add the binding. It will be ready for Christmas 2009!
The pastel quilt above is one that my roommate, Linda, was working on. She bought the kit to make it at a quilt shop in Conyers, Georgia, and got a lot of work done on it. I am not sure if she finished the top or not.
This is another top Linda was working on. It is sort of a random string quilt that she was putting together with scraps. I liked it!!
Pat H. has worked on this stack-n-whack quilt for the last three retreats. She finally finished the top at this retreat. A section is missing because she was sewing it together at the time. She is going to make this one king-sized to fit on her bed! I hope to see the finished product soon. :-)
And here is my Noah's Ark quilt top, finally put together. I worked on these embroidery blocks over Christmas break. I love them. They were a free stitchery BOM from Lynette Anderson. She is very generous to give these away to her blog fans. If you would like to download the patterns while they are still available, they are here. This makes a very tiny quilt. I am going to add a border to it, then it will be ready to quilt. I just love it.
Stay tuned for more retreat photos. Have a great weekend.
Julie

Gift from Down Under

The other day I went out to my mailbox and, to my great surprise, there was a package from Tasmania! Razzy sent me these fantastic Aussie fat quarters and a sweet card. She is just such a fantastic friend. To think that I would never have met her if not for this blog.
Roseanne, thank you so much for the sweet surprise. I hope that you had a wonderful birthday. You certainly did brighten my day!
I have not yet reported on my retreat experience. Let me just say that it was FANTASTIC! The best ever! I have pictures and will post soon. I finally unpacked my camera tonight and downloaded photos to my computer. Be expecting retreat news this weekend!
Julie

Retreat

Friday I am leaving for our annual quilting retreat. This year we are going to the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, in Mansfield, Georgia. We have never had it here before, so I am anxious to see how it compares to the 4H center in Columbiana, Alabama. I will keep you posted.
Julie

Spring Dance - My Daughter

Joy is going to her first formal school dance tonight. She is so excited about it. Thank goodness her ankle is healed now, so that she can wear her Jessica Simpson high heels!
I have to chaperone this dance every year, since I teach at the school, but this is the first year I have looked forward to it. I thought that she would not want me to be there, but she does. After all, now she and her friends have someone to hold all of their "stuff" while they walk around unencumbered.
Julie

Finally, a quilty post. Well, not all quilty.

Here is the result of my toothbrush rug experiment. I only got it about 8 inches in diameter before I stopped. It is a toothbrush trivet, LOL. The rug started cupping into a bowl shape. I now know how to control the tension so that it won't do this. Not bad for a first try.
This is my favorite project right now. English paper piecing is lots of fun, and the perfect portable project. I am going for a tumbling blocks look. It is challenging to find those medium colors! Contrast is the key.
I completed this needlepunch project while on Spring Break. It is called Scaredy Cat, or is it Fraidy Cat? I don't remember. Anyway, I just love the faces on the little pumpkins. Needlepunch is such a cool thing to do, and most people have never heard of it.
This is a miniature quilt top, still waiting for its borders. It seems so boring compared to the other things I am working on.
I am looking forward to my quilt guild's retreat in a couple of weeks. I hope to get a charity quilt made, as well as some baby quilts. I am way behind in these projects. I don't want to try to do too much, because I know from past experience that I get more talking done than quilting.
Only 13 more student days until school is out for summer break. The kids are getting more and more out of control as the time approaches. I just hope we can avoid any major meltdowns or drama. The last couple of weeks we have to really tighten up, because the kids are stir crazy.
Enjoy your week.
Julie

Key West - More Spring Break Pictures

Here are some gift shop display stands in Key West. John Owen and his friend each bought one of these coconut dudes.
This is just a cool, and very colorful sign in town.
Here are John Owen and Joy posing by this very large conch shell.
You can get hours of entertainment from a fun house mirror! Gotta love 'em. This one is in the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum.
John Owen insisted I take a picture of this gigantic strawberry he was eating. It was actually four strawberries fused together. I will continue to post Key West pictures over the next few weeks, maybe. I will try to put quilty stuff in too, for those of you who are looking for that.
By the way, I have figured out how to make a toothbrush rug, and am starting a small one now. Such a cool way to use up undesirable fabric.
Julie