My friend spent 3 hours standing as she tended my quilt while her machine made row after row of roses across the fabric. That’s a nice person.
I realize that quilt posts are probably boring, but lately I’ve got nothing to give to this blog. Life is like that sometimes.
…Church magazines for August arrive before you even open the July magazines.
…last Monday feels like 6 months ago.
…the carpet begins to get dirty from all of the barefoot adventures in the backyard.
Happy day to you!
I have learned a lot from the ladies in my neighborhood quilting group. I have very little quilting experience and I am surrounded by women who can whip out a quilt in an afternoon. There are even some purists in the group who make their quilts entirely by hand. I slink in the door and dine on the scraps of their skill and inspiration.
I read that the “Disappearing Nine-patch” (the pattern of my quilt) is a Novice pattern, which is even easier than a Beginner pattern. With that information to quell my pride in the project, I finished sewing my quilt and I’m having it quilted on a friend’s machine on Thursday. Hooray for me!
I think the kids will remember the night we brought home our new tent trailer and let them sleep in it in the backyard. I think they might also remember that I read aloud from The Hobbit that night, and it just happened to be the chapter with Gollum and Bilbo doing riddles in the dark. I did my best to do a worthy Gollum voice. Good times.
We spent a day up in the mountains this week with some of Richard’s siblings and his dad. We sat by the creek and rode motorcycles. When we reached the meadow, I sang the entire Sound of Music song because I felt like it. We found flowers, insects, and colored glass. It rained on us and it smelled heavenly.
We have been on a small family vacation and returned last night to some sad news. Mark’s first grade teacher, Mrs Alice Crankshaw, passed away early in July.
Mark is not upset, but has wondered aloud, “Where do you think she put the present we made for her?”
I am very sad that she is gone; we had hoped that she would be Mark’s second grade teacher. I respect her so much for the way she worked to meet Mark’s needs at school. She called us four or five times throughout the year to talk to me about things she had observed about Mark. This meant a lot to me. She welcomed me to her classroom to teach art and read with her students. I observed that she loved her students; I observed that she was very dedicated and generous.
I will remember her as a blessing in our lives because she made the transition to a new state and public school much easier to bear.
We stopped by my sister Susan’s house on the way home from the big family party at Spring Lake. We didn’t get any photos of that big family party, but it was a great July 4th celebration on the mountain. Susan and Richard’s kids were doing fireworks in their front yard and they were gracious enough to let us join them.
Tank wars with Richard J. are always fun.
The cousins had fun with sparklers. They played soccer and “bird, bird, PIG!” (Duck, duck, goose, with Angry Birds labels)
When we got home around 10:00, we discovered that our neighbors REALLY like fireworks. We were entertained by aerial fireworks for a good half hour. We pulled out a blanket and sat on our front lawn to watch. Mark went inside and got into an army costume and was immersed in his play, dodging “missiles” until bedtime.
My paint project: I’m whitening up the the basement doors and trim with semi-gloss enamel paint. It’s a bigger project than I expected, but I am loving the results so far.
My quilt project: the squares are complete. I *just* need to assemble them, do a border, select a backing, sew the backing, quilt and bind it. Quilters, do you really find this enjoyable? My mom says that it helps to have a good machine, which I don’t have, and I’m not asking for one. I am not sure I want to be a seamstress. Maybe I will change my mind when I fall in love with my completed Strawberry Shortcake quilt.
Someone said that it’s a good exercise to find out the activities that you can “get lost” doing. You lose track of the time and other thoughts when you are busy doing your special thing. For me, it’s writing and reading, but I also love to develop new skills. I want to be capable and well-read. This is how I will accomplish this today: I get up from the computer, walk downstairs and keep painting. Later, when my arm is tired, I will wash up and maybe sew a row of squares. If I do these things, I will reward myself with a little theology reading. Wish me luck.
Paige and I went to youth conference with our Stake in June. We spent a day doing yard work and painting in an older neighborhood in SLC. The next two days we spent at Heber Valley Camp doing ropes courses, canoeing, going to classes, and hiking. The first four rows of kids in this photo belong to our ward.
I love being a youth leader.
A year ago we made an offer on this house. What a wonderful house it is.
The kitchen is bright in the mornings and I love the shelves in the kitchen.
I love it when sweet neighbors stop by.
The basement is the perfect place to find a quiet corner or to build a fort that your mom won’t make you take down right away.
The boys got some new bed coverings from Grandma. Such happy, patriotic colors.
We continue with our home improvement projects:
A water softener,
…paint, electrical work…
… and a paint re-think. I don’t like this parchment color as much as I thought I would.
The flowers out front are taking off. I love my snapdragons. The petunias thrive in their sunny spot.
Our garden is coming along nicely. Richard’s irrigation project and sprinkler repairs have made the yard just beautiful.
Timothy takes special care of our garden and brings us ripe raspberries each day.
I’m thankful that we found this neighborhood and this house. I knew that this was the house I wanted the minute I walked inside.
In June we had a neighborhood party and the previous owners came by. The children who lived here asked if they could come back inside. We had the mother join us. It wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. I wanted them to know that their old place is still loved and cared for. I think they saw that.
They shared some of the home’s secrets and the children’s delightful name for the grove of trees with the stone pathway through the periwinkle in our front yard.
The boys hang hammocks from the trees in the backyard and the little boys have found their climbing tree. I look outside and see feet dangling from limbs all of the time.
Trees, grass, flowers, sweet neighbors, a mountain view, four seasons, proximity to extended family and temples are a blessing. The silent air of winter, the mountains clothed in all of their variety, and the familiar honeysuckle summer evenings of my childhood seem to call out to me, “You’re home.”
Happy Independence Day weekend to you!