Life

• Life is strange, to say the least.  Friday we were on our way back home from our friends house when we saw the most vivid of a double rainbow.  The first one was the most vivid rainbow that I have ever seen in my life.  The colors were so bright and I could see where it started and where it ended.  The second one was a shadow of the first one.  I stopped the car to take pictures of them and I had the most awesome feeling come over me.  It filled me with the feeling that now my life has really changed for the good.  My husband and I have been going through health problems on his side.  He has not really been doing good.   A-fib and poor circulation problems.
• I also believe that I finally was at peace with myself and content of who I am now.  I do believe the Lord had spoken to me that day.
• Yesterday I went to the District 5, Woman’s Club Spring Workshop in Ocala, FL.  It was a great meeting, and I had a great time.  The food and company was great.  I walked away with a Wine basket and a picture frame.   It was a great day indeed.
• 

High Springs, Florida Smithsonian Water Ways and a Quilting Contest called Quilting Moments

I’ve have entered a contest on Quiltingsupport.com called Quilting Moments.  Please go to the website and rate my quilt.  I also have it on Pinterest and Facebook.  I would love to have everyone’s rating on my king size quilt.  Thank you all for my support.

In other news, I have been volunteering for the Smithsonian Water Ways at the High Springs, Florida Museum.  We also have our local springs, Blue Springs, Ginny Springs and Poe Springs exhibit in the museum.

Down the hall is the room that shows High Springs, Florida a railroad town over a hundred years ago.  It is an awesome exhibit.  I have some pictures of the exhibit.

href=”https://meme5461.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_20160807_134817.jpg”>
href=”https://meme5461.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_20160807_133722.jpg”>

This quilt is from the High Springs Quilting Guild.

The picture is one that one of the local artists painted and on the right is a Tower Garden.  It is awesome.  In three weeks or less you will have makings for a salad.  You can grow herbs, broccoli, tomatoes, watermelon (small) zucchini, and most of your bush plants.  That is what I’m going to get.

I have the pictures in one spot. The Water Ways, the railroad, and a pictures of the kindergarten through twelfth grade projects.

<a href="https://meme5461.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_20160807_134423.jpg</a

 

I just wanted to show what some of the things in the exhibit are.

New Orleans

We spent six days in New Oleans, La.  Actually, six days at River Ridge KOA campground.  Went to Oceana’s Friday with family and close friends.  Then spent two days visiting friends in Metairie, La., and two days visiting my sister in Lacombe, La.

My two sisters,  Jackie, Mary, and I posed for a picture.

As always, the time flew by.  It has been four years since I have been home and I was homesick.  I made a baby quilt for my niece and my sister and my niece loved the quilt.  Of course I have to show you the quilt…

My stepson holding up the quilt for me.  Now we have to wind down from the trip.  It took us 13 hours to get back home Wednesday and the older you get the harder it is to recuperate.  But I’m going to start going once a year now.  It is normally a seven hour trip.  It saved us to take the camper, but the long haul didn’t help the truck…we have to fix the truck of a leak, which will cost some money.  But such is life.

Today I decided to do one of The Splendid Sampler 6″ square, but as you can see in the picture it is bigger than 6″. I think i did the cutting backwards.

I’ll figure it out. It’s block twelve and I’m still trying to get the blocks done…number 12 is the fourth block I’m trying to get done amid all the washing and cleaning after vacation. By the way, what time is WordPress on? It’s only 1010pm.here on July 2nd.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mothers out there.  Hoping your day is blessed with your family around you, cooking for you or taking you out to eat.  My hubby bought a Teddy Bear for me and I received a mini Petunias plant from my son.

I would like to honor several Mothers that were in my  life through the years.  The first and foremost is my Mom.  I love her always.   When I was growing up, she heard and saw everything.   She sure knew everything I did.  I accused her of having a private detective following me.   She always told me, “When you get older  and have kids, you will understand.”  I had gotten good at mimicking her,  I would say never mind, I know, “I will understand when I get older.”  Her hearing was very keen…I would go in the kitchen to take a peek at what she was cooking.   I would hear her say, “Joan, get out of the pot.  I would barely lift the lid.  How I miss her.  She passed in ’98.

The second woman is my first mother -in -law, Mom B,  she was so down to earth, had that coon ass accent’ and I loved to hear her talk.  She took my side on several occasions when my first husband would get verbal to me.  He was a fanatic when it came to LSU and the N.O. Saints.  After he and I split, I continued to call her every few years.  She passed in 2014.

The third was my second Mother-in-law, Mom L.  She and I shared several cig breaks. She loved me as I did her, and was happy that her son met his match…more than his match, ha, ha, ha.  She would sit there and smile when I told her that I would take good care of her son…she knew.  She has since passed also.

 My sisters, Jackie and Mary, whom I love with all my heart, also great Mothers.  My two sister-in-laws, Gail and Wanda, whom are wonderful mothers and great friends.   My three besties in Metairie, La, Alisa, Ellen and Tari.  All great Moms and their daughters/daughter-in-laws.   My friends in FL., there are five, Winona,  Deb,  Cindy,  Debbie and Kim also have and had a great influence on me.

Today I will relax, I don’t have to cook ’cause I cooked Fajitas yesterday, well actually Fajitas stir fry because we didn’t us the tortillas.  Came out real good and I didn’t take a picture of the Fajitas, sorry…..next time I will.

I don’t know what I’m going to do today, but more than likely I will be sewing on my last panel of my quilt.  I cut the last four panel squares out first then sewed all of the blocks and then I will sew the panels of the last four.  I have decided on the black/gray sashing and two borders.  First one will be the sashing and the second one will be with two inch squares of the colors I used in the quilt.  Sooo….the fifth writing on the quilt will be when the top is done, totally.

My hubby and I have decided that we will send the top out to be quilted and finish.  I do not have the free motion quilting experience yet, actually I tried once, but didn’t like the feel of the feed dogs being down.  I know, I know….I need to practice, and I will when I have time.  But after I finish my top, I go straight into sewing my niece’s baby quilt.  After that,  I will be doing Chili Cook-Off hot pads for the “2017” Cook-Off.  I have the design drawn for the pads and I’m really excited about it.  I also have “The Splendid Sampler,” with Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, and 85 other designers and “The Secret Garden,” by Pat Sloan.  Check them out, you might just get caught up in it…:-).

I guess I can say I’ve designed all the things I’ve quilted, not the squares themselves, but the way I ended up sewing it.  But no matter how you design it, you will find another one like it…the  design, itself.   I guess that is to be expected with so many squares, quilts, and designs out there.

My goodness, I did ramble on today, but I wanted to acknowledge all the great women in my life.  Sit back and think about all the great women in your life that influenced you and thank them.

I decided to take a bubble bath and relax…..

 

Happy Mother’s Day, all…Later.

Boom Boom Shrimp

Two weeks ago I got the craving for Boom Boom Shrimp, also known as Bang, Bang Shrimp.  So I went looking for a recipe on Pinterest and found several that looked good to me.  I decided to go by one of the two, the one that says it is a copycat of Bonefish Grill.  I read the ingredients then embarked on my own ingredients as follows:

Boom Boom Shrimp

1 lb. of shrimp

1 stick of Land of Lakes butter

1/4 c. Louisiana Hot Sauce or to your taste

1/4 c. Teriyaki sauce, low salt

Baya Seasoning

Garlic powder

Ground pepper

Greek seasoning

1 c. cornstarch

1/2 c. flour

Mix all dry ingredients together, then but in a plastic container with a lid.  Peel shrimp, wash then shake in mixture.  Fry shrimp, drain.   Pour the sauce over the shrimp, or put on the side as a dip.  Sooo good.

It was Sooo delicious that I made it again last week.  It will be a favorite in this house.  Just thinking about it has me thinking of doing steak like that and putting it on a cabbage mix salad….now that sounds good…hmmmm Fajitas tonite here I come.

Now on a most serious note, women and divorce.   Several times in my life I have met women that have been unjustly treated in divorce.  The women work to put the husband through school or is a housewife and husband gets great job as a lawyer, doctor, etc…then all of a sudden, a few years or maybe more, up and gets a divorce and the women are thrown on the wayside.  The husband abandons the wife with no money or skills and she is left to do what???

Do you think there is something wrong with this picture?  Well I do. There should be a law that the husband should leave the wife enough funds and a place so she can seek work or schooling so she can take care of herself.  This is another form of abuse, the heartache and mental anguish she goes through leaves her wondering what did she do wrong.  It is a sin and a crying shame that she is left this way.

Yes, on the flip side is the man that is taken through the cleaners by the woman.  Why are there not any laws on this form of abuse?  Why, you ask?  Because the system doesn’t see it that way.  Our system is so screwed up that it is for the system and how much they can get out of it.

We should be protected from any form of abuse, not just certain ones.  Age discrimination, sexual, verbal, mental, and physical abuse are all devastating to us and only some are covered by law and then again it is “What can the System get out of this?”

In today’s world, it is everyone for themselves, and no one cares what their neighbour is going through.  On the other hand, the neighbourhood is close, but gossip is the norm, and that my friend is another form of abuse….till the next time.

O’Leno State Park, Chili Cook-Off

Well I did my sixth year of helping O’leno with their Chili Cook-Off.  It was raining when I woke up yesterday, but by the time I got to the park it had stop.  It rained several times then quit.

I helped with keeping the judges with water and beer while they were tasting and voting for the Chili.  There were 12 Casi judges and 9 open judges.  After the judges made their choice, we then added the  peoples’ choices.  At 3 pm. the rewards were given out.

After that all of the volunteers cleaned up the area and went merrily on their way.  I was too busy to take pictures yesterday, but you can find the park on Facebook.  The Friends of O’leno sponsors the 5K race and the Chili Cook-Off and the proceeds go to help the park fix things or add things.

Another year done. Now to get ready for next year…30 pot warmers for next year and I believe a banner…until then I will
Let you guess. I will be back soon with my quilting and stories.

Life, Food, and Crafts

As you can see food and crafts above are my favorite things to do.  I decided to have a frozen waffle this morning with cool whip, chocolate, and strawberries, one of my favorite breakfast meals and fast and simple to make. Now I was being lazy this morning, and I have been fancy in the morning with making an omelette, but that entails alot of work, because like soup, I put a lot of stuff in the omelette.

Next are the pictures of quilting I have done so far.  The hearts are the first block of 100 blocks that are for “The Splendid Sampler,” quilt that Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, started on February 14, 2016.  Then every Thursday and Sunday we get new blocks to make, learning different methods to use, embroidery, quilting, free motion, paper piecing, even crochet.  There are 80 different designers involved with this quilt along and at the end of the year a book will be published.  There are people around the world that have joined this fantastic quilt along.  Pat Sloan, has “Quilt Along with Pat Sloan,” and she has a year long Quilt Along also.  She has 55,000 quilters and it is growing.

The picture of the bed with the quilt top is mine.  I’ve been working on the quilt since November 2015, but life has interfered off and on since I started the quilt. My hubby was in the hospital for 15 days during Christmas and the beginning of this month, outpatient surgery. So every time he goes, it disrupts my quilting and sometimes it’s hard to go right back to it. I’ve only made two squares of my fifth panel…which has nine squares. But it will get done. In fact, he has more surgery coming up soon, it’s to reverse the surgery from Christmas and he’ll be in the hospital for two days only (I hope.) Anyway, enough of this.

I cut out another block from “The Splendid Sampler,” yesterday and I am amazed at how tiny the blocks are…one inch to two and a half inches…the biggest being 2-1/2 x 4-1/2. The finish size being six inches. But it is such fun learning from the best of the best. I’m so lucky to be part of both groups. The groups are so lucky to have great teachers. The picture of the cut up blocks for the six inch square. Later I will have a picture of the finished block. For now, I am making this published.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Well I started Valentine’s Day making my first block for the Splendid Sampler this morning.  I made two just to see what they would look like.  I still have to applique the hearts on, but it will get done.

Also I had family from both sides here yesterday for hamburgers on the grill and fries.  Had a nice time and the pictures are below.

So it’s been a busy weekend and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.  So I will be back to working on my king size quilt either some time today or tomorrow.  I will have two more panels to show before long.

My King Size Quilt IV

I have finally made the second nine patch panel.  I have also came up with a great idea….well I have to say that I had help on picking out the ideal sashing between the panels.  Well….. I’m still learning how to do this.  I have been busy taking care of my husband and haven’t had time to do much of anything.  The pictures are of the two panels, I just put to many pictures there.

 

Now the sashing will bring out the colors more I think.  The sashing is a gray/black color as you see below…

Well, it does not look like black in there, but it is.  I now have six blocks out of nine blocks done and hoping to get my third panel done.  Now I’m getting excited….this is where the peak is going up and then it will go down the closer I get to finishing it.

I already have another quilt to start from a kit and another in my head I’ve been thinking about,  plus a mystery quilt with Quilt along with Pat Sloan and another quilt along called Splendid Sampler with Pat Slone and Jane Davidson.  So I will be super busy.

I really have to put a stop to my thinking right now or I will be overwhelmed with to many things.  Oh, I forgot I still have a table topper to finish for my daughter-in-law.

I have been so busy with taking care of hubby, animals and house that I hardly have time to think.  My hubby is healing nicely after his surgery before Christmas and he will be having another procedure in about three weeks.  Hopefully he will not be in hospital for two weeks this time….(smile).  It’s kind of hard when everything is piled on you and you don’t have any energy and you just want to run away screaming at the top of your lungs,  “Calgone take me away.”

So this is where I will close so I can get this panel done. Will be back later with picture of the third panel.

 

Merry Christmas

You know, most of us (Baby Boomers), were raised to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Now a days all you see is people trashing Christians, political correct stuff and blah, blah, blah.

Well I for one do not like people telling me what I should or shouldn’t do this or that. In my book, I do what I want to do and say what’s on my mind. A lot of people do not like what I have to say because I speak the truth. It’s amazing how many people would love to hear lies, not truth.

Well here’s the truth, Christ dies on the cross for us, washing our sins away with his blood. What happened to our society??? It was built on “In God We Trust,” Is everyone so stuck on their life that they forgot about God and truth and love thay neighbor? Sadly, YES. Love, consideration, and respect flew out the windows a long time ago, and it’s a crying shame.

I raised my son to respect others, help others if they needed help and always have consideration for others. He also was taught to cook, clean, and wash his own clothes….
😍🐈

I am surprise now when I run across people whom are nice and that is a crying shame. Now I’m not saying it’s all gone, but I am saying this country…USA was built on trust and God. Why are the people who come to live in our country trying to change it?

I say this, “If you do not like it, leave and go back to where you came from.” You have no right coming here to change our country. I believe you came here to be free…then act like it.

WE DO NOT WANT COMMUNISM, that is why we founded this Country, to be free, not suppressed.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God Bless.