Charms for the easy life....

After a weekend of being snowed in

with somewhere in the neighborhood of a foot of snow, it doesn't matter

when it gets that deep exactly how much is really out there,

we were ready for a good movie.

I, of course love chick flicks hehe, and everyone else has to watch whatever I chose to have delivered from Netflix.

It is always a surprise to Danny as to what sort of flick I have in the new batch of movies because he has no say so in picking them out.

If he in fact likes the movie all is well

around our house but if he doesn't

like it he whines and cries and threatens to pick out the next movies...

.....like that will ever happen!!

Well I made everyone happy with my latest pick of flicks

"Charms for The Easy Life"

I could not find the trailer for this movie but if you are into

chick flicks you will love this movie.

I have not laughed this hard at a movie in forever!!!!

The funniest part is that it is centered around three generations of women

and the Grandmother is exactly like me with her wit and personality or should I say attitude!!

The daughter and granddaughter are just like Robin and Morgan!!!

We all loved it and have sore sides from laughing so hard and a swollen face from crying so hard!!

We especially loved the part where the grandmother was upset with the daughter for putting that special Christmas ornament on the wrong side of the Christmas tree...........the family said she sounded just like me!!!! Guilty!!!

If you have Netflix you really should rent it! I give it 5 stars!!

Anyone who knows me......

will be sure to tell you that I can change my mind at the drop of a hat. I am a Gemini and I have been told that I am supposed to be like that, right?

Just this morning Robin and I were talking about our favorite quilt patterns and fabrics. I told her that I was OK with some of the modern fabrics out there but my heart always steered me right back to the old fashioned patterns and designs such as a great calico log cabin or Grandmother's Flower Garden or a nice Pinwheel pattern.

So what did I do but go straight to Joann Fabrics, walk in and buy 2 of these very very modern jelly rolls and come home.......march right up to my newly semi-organized sewing studio and make 7 log cabin blocks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well at least I did stick to my favorite pattern!!

I should have a lot of "me" time in that sewing studio over the next couple days as it is already snowing outside and we are supposed to be getting as much as 18"......ugh!

My house is sooooooo noisy right now.....all the girls, excluding me are in the kitchen playing Rummy or Romey as Emma calls it! I have never heard such laughing in all my days! They won't let me play with them......they said for me to just go sew something!

Move over Martha!!

Becky is on the warpath now!

In her new semi-organized sewing studio.

Oh boy oh boy have I been at it today. I was so tired of having a sewing machine here and an ironing board there. Here a cutting board and there a cutting board.....and everywhere in my house a sewing mess.

How was a girl to get anything done?

So I went to town on this room upstairs which was my original sewing room.

I have had a dilema with my quilting frames......I did not have room to put them up and extend them to fit a king sized quilt. Or hardly room to even use them for a lap quilt either. Danny has been begging me to make one for our bed. He made me a bed when we first got married....full size though. He says if he could build a bed at least I could make a quilt for it!! Does he really know what's involved with that one? LOL!!!
In the picture above there are 2 big Rubbermaid tables sitting end to end which can be used for the frames as big as I need them to be!!! woooowooooo!!!!! Finally figured that one out!

Until I get that said king size quilt made and ready for the frames one of the tables will be used as a cutting table. It is up on blocks to save my back!

My Christmas present last year was a whole bunch of new receptacles in my sewing room and peg board!!
This sewing cabinet was a consignment store treat at $44 last year!!!!!!! I love it!!

You see what kept me going today....Dr Pepper and my MP3!!!

I may be sewing all night!!

I am still a little bit crowded but it seems to be pretty functional at the same time.

One of the best things I have ever done was to buy that big display of Gutermann thread. I got it 1/2 price at Joann Fabrics (I think it was $89) a couple years ago and it has really come in handy. I don't remember ever being out of thread unless it was quilting thread since I bought this.

I can sit in the one rolling chair and scoot around to the 3 different machines as I need to.




Semi-organized shelves for storage. I have lots of containers that have been repurposed for storage of sewing notions. My bolts of fabric fit on the bottom shelf nicely. The tan cabinet is chock full of fabric. No it's not sorted by colors and perfectly folded so
I did not take pictures of that ;-)
I wish!!

Lots of good work surface until it gets junky!!

I love having a big cutting table!

When I need to extend the frames I can move some of this over or out for a while.

My next project!

Another quick charm quilt by Moda!

I love me some Moda fabrics!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my sewing studio!

"Newspaper" quilt

This is what I have been working on today...well yesterday too. Oh yeah and last month briefly.....and they said the pattern was so easy that I would be amazed at how quickly it would come together!! hahaha

I have named it "Newspaper"! Ever since I first laid eyes on this fabric when it was but a mere dessert roll, I have thought about this joke......

"What is black and white and read/red all over? A Newspaper"

So of course I had to name it Newspaper.

The dessert roll did not have a selvage edge on the strips.

I had to go back and purchase some more of the fabric off of the bolt today and when I was cutting out the borders I happened to notice the name of the fabric written in the selvage.

I have had a terrible cold for a couple days now and have been feeling like I am in a fog and things are not really clear mentally, well that is not very different from the norm!!

Guess what this fabric collection is called??????

Black & White & Red Allover by Henry Glass!!!

Not kidding!!

I was just sorta stunned for a moment or two.

Kinda surreal, things sorta went gray for me for a moment!

I couldn't believe my eyes!

I am a psychic!

Anyone want their palms read?

I am keeping this quilt for myself and I am practicing with the new machine again.

I am doing the same meandering maze quilting pattern that I used on my pinwheel quilt. I am using that pattern because it comes so easily to me. Maybe from a lot of practice on the pinwheel quilt? I had greater than 20 hours in it. I sure hope it doesn't take as long on this one. The new machine is a lot smoother so I am thinking it won't take as long.


Don't look too closely!
I still have to get used to the speed of the machine so right now
my stitches are a little uneven in length ;-)

The lighting in my office/sewing room is not the greatest at night and I am having a hard time seeing well enough to quilt this tonight. This is a very busy pattern and it all runs together!
I will be ready come daylight though!
I think I will go finish handstitching the binding on the last quilt that I showed you so I can show some real pictures of it tomorrow! I think it turned out really cute!

Goodnight all!!

I think I like photoshop!

Robin has photoshop and I need it too!!

Saphira cracks me up in this picture!!
I have always wanted to be able to do this...

and this!!!
I see a lot of new headers in my future!

Playing with my Baby Lock

or is she just playing with me?

Funny how sewing machines can be so different.

I still have a lot of studying of that manual to do!!

It's starting to make sense though!

No better way to learn than hands on!

So I had to start another quilt.

These are some Moda charms that I have had for a while

and I had decided that I didn't really like them so I thought what the hay,

if they get messed up I wouldn't be out of much.

tehhee.... I am even sewing the blocks together with black thread!

There are black blocks in here though.

I love the extension table on this machine.

I have never had one and I didn't know what I was missing!

It sure saves a lot of stress on your arms.

I am quilting this quilt with a variagated thread from Robins Madera thread collection.

She has the entire Madera set for her embroidery machine and

she just happened to have them with her ;-) when she arrived today,

could have been that I asked her to bring her machine!!!

Like I don't have enough sewing machines in here.

I had to laugh earlier cause I just realized that it looks like a home ec class in here!
Time to scale down?

Nah!

This is not a long arm machine but it has almost 2 more inches of space

than any of my other machines.

I am surprised how much easier it is to move a quilt around in there!

wooowoooo

I have now decided that I like these charms!

I also like my new Baby!

I love the automatic threader.

The larger throat.

The extension table.

The thread Cutter!!!!!! woooowoooo awesome just like an industrial machine!

The knee lifter.

etc etc etc

The 1/4 inch foot works so much better than the one on my Bernina or the Kenmore machines.

The stitches are just beautiful! (unlike my Bernina)

The little blue light is actually a clip on book light but it sure helps to illuminate your work surface and it just clips on the top of the machine!

Pretty smart huh?
When you are blind like me you need all the help you can get!

All in all I love my new machine.

Thanks honey!!

I love Craigslist!!

I love the fact that I saved $478 off the price of a new machine just like it!!

I sure hope it does good in my quilting frames!

I have a couple bigger quilts started that I will try with this machine in the frames.

My new baby is here safe at home....

and she is still sleeping....shhshhh she had a rough trip home with her new mommy.

When she is awake we will show pictures.

Actually mommy is a little overwhelmed at the time with this new baby.

Her new Baby Lock that is!!!

We had quite a time yesterday.....long trip....had to get in lots of shopping too.

Well our kind of shopping that is....

antiqueing!!

Leslie spotted these 2 stores on the way down to Richmond and we had to stop on the way back.

They were all screaming "Please Mama"..."Please Granny" ..."we will be good and not let you buy anything"...........

This looks like Robin with a baby on board!!

I caught Leslie with her hands in the cookie jar!

She was also eyeing the cool primitive cabinet.

I don't know where she gets this from!!

Need I say more......except I already have this sink and no it is not attached to a wall anywhere!

Oh Danny!!

Look at those screen doors!!!!!!

Nothing a little Comet wouldn't scrub out!

We always have to check out the toilets!

Needs to be white and in my house!

Has to be white and in my house!

Oh No they are sooooo young to be acting like this!

I need a potting table like this! I do, I really do!

I have to go back with my truck cause this wouldn't fit on the top of my car......we tried!!

I need a new washing machine!

and a new dryer!

If the electric bills go up any higher I will have to go back and get these!

They are happy that they didn't have to ride on the hood and hold on to the stove!

Don't they think they are smart. Hurrying to beat me to the goods!

Cute greeting!

Three sweet little lambs!

Aaaawwwhhh!!!

The toilet....this one is my style!

Terri I was going to buy this for you because I knew you would love it. I knew you would have this table full of good homecooking and surrounded by happy kids!!
I couldn't get it cause they wouldn't let me!

Do I have room for just one more?

Anywhere?

I need this sign to send to my new grandson's house cause he is going to be called Bubba!!!
(southern boy ya know)

My bags are packed.....

the snacks are packed anyway..lol

and we are heading out for a roadtrip!

A 4+ hour roadtrip to buy a sewing machine!

What kind of crazy woman would do that?

One that's as crazy as me!!

I don't have any problem talking people into

going along for the ride.

Could it be the food?

The snacks?

The conversation?

The listening to me talk about said machine

all the way to Richmond and back?

I think it's because they all love me!!

Leslie, Emma and Morgan are going today

and we are going to have fun!

I didn't sleep a wink last night.

I was almost as excited as when you are getting ready to head to the beach!!!

I have had this excitement a couple times before

with a Craigslist purchase.

My Nubian Buck was about 6 hours away.....crazy??

Then our new boat was about 3 hours away.

Come on locals please sell me some good stuff locally so I don't have to travel so far!!!

Like I said I always have good company willing to go along with me though!!

(I wonder why I had no takers on my 6 hour trip to Ohio to buy 3 angora goats and had to go by myself? Maybe I will have to have someone refresh my memory on that one. About the time I am getting ready to buy them all lunch I'll bring that one up ;-)

I have checked the weather

and all appears to be clear after a little AM fog.

We have had 2 days of ice here so

I thought I better check.

Then we hit the road at 7AM

WOOWOOWOOO!!!!

I am sure that Leslie would have liked a day to sleep in

but I am just too excited!!!

So wish us luck and I will be back tomorrow to tell you all about it

and the next day

and the next day

and the..........are you tired of hearing about it already??? Sorry!!

Pigs are flying now......

or you know what has frozen over or something

because Danny Moran asked for me to pull up something about the new trucking rules online.

He expected me to do it as always

but I told him he had to learn sometime.

I made him take control of the mouse and

in a few minutes he was surfing like no body's business!!!!

Now I know that there are some pigs out there somewhere flying around this morning!!

Don't you just love his rhinestone glasses!

He's so cuuuuute!!

Morgan tells him that daily!

~

Jayme~ I do not want you having a heart attack due to my incredibly messy office! I know mine does not in any way compare to the cleanliness of yours!

You see here:

Sewing books

My Bible

Grandma Goldies Picture

Tax papers (cringe)

A book on raising dairy goats

Quilt magazines

Camera manuals

Chicken catalogs

my husband

Seed catalogs

an ER nursing manual (comes in handy around this place)

Camera bag

pictures of grandkids

recipes

my laptop

decorating magazines

dust

a dusting cloth (now that's funny)

and many other items too numerous to mention

Can you figure out at least 2 of my hobbies from this list of items that suck my breath out of me when I am in that office? This is all in a 3' X 3' area! Hey it's my junk and if anyone else wants to come and clean it up for me because it's bothering them just let me know and I'll send my address!!

Why don't you guess my hobbies in order of importance to me?

Of course behind the scenes are 2 sewing machines and 2 quilt projects that I have started. This room is serving several purposes at the time mostly sewing/office!

..............and yes my friends the Christmas decorations are upstairs tucked away for another year...well 10ish months!! While he was upstairs putting the boxes away.....he yelled downstairs at me and asked me "Have you ever seen a more organized sewing room? I bet those women would like to see a picture of this on your blog! Hand me the camera and I'll take a picture for them to see!" That's where my real sewing room is but it's not so convienent to use and I have expanded (apparently) and now need 2 rooms!! LOL!!!!! Yeah those sewing/quilting projects are just rolling out of there left and right!! I told you pigs were flying!!

~

The lip is much better today however it is still very sore.

Thanks for all the sweet comments and well wishes!!!!

I got a fwat wip....

and it's all his fault!!!

He didn't carry the boxes of Christmas ornaments

upstairs like I asked him to do last week.

If you guys knew what my stairs were like

you would understand why I don't do it myself.

Very steep and narrow! And I'm a clutz!!

There was a tote full of ornaments sitting in the

pantry floor awaiting him to put away, which was under the cabinet

that I needed to put something in.

Instead of me moving the tote

I stretched as far as I could to put this item in anyway.

While outstretched, the said item

fell out of my hands and in a flat second

I had a crockpot in my upper lip.

I mean my entire upper lip and teeth.

It busted my lip on the inside

and jarred my teeth!

Do you think I said bad words?

Well I didn't exactly call him "Honey"!!

However I was not too terribly upset at him

because

he agreed for me to go get that

Baby Lock Quilters Choice

that I want so badly!!!!!!!!

Now I know what you guys are probably

thinking. That it was as much my fault for

not moving the tote before

I stretched myself over it. That I was just being lazy.

Well my friends you are not the one sitting here with a

busted wip and a wet wash cwoth in your mowth.

So I have to blame it on someone and he's

such an easy target!

I bet the boxes will be taken upstairs as soon as

he gets in tonight!

Don't you?

The waskally wabbitt!!!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

and my toes crossed and my eyes crossed

and anything else crossed that I need to so that I don't jinx anything and my dearest husband will let me buy this

Baby Lock Quilters Choice

this weekend!!!!!

I have been really good!

I promise no more fattening meals.

No more pie!

(he didn't have any problem eating a big slice of Jesse's pecan pie tonight)

He won't have to worry about food being prepared at all cause I will be a quilting!!!

hehehe

I have found this machine barely used for a steal on Craigslist and I think I have him convinced that I need it.

There I go begging, stealing and killing!

What have I become??

A quilter that's what!!

He has plans for another great big hunt for the weekend and I may just be off on a 4-5 hour drive to take this baby for a test drive in the owners studio!!

Hey when the cats away the mice will play!!

Oh Leslie what ya doing Saturday?

Up for a road trip?

(I just got a final confirmation on the owner being home this weekend!!)

{{{{{{giggle, giggle}}}}}}

I am killing my husband...........

one little meal at a time.

That's what he told me last night after I held that gun to his head and made him eat a HUGE plate of slow cooker pork loin and gravy.

I MADE him go back

"3"

more times.

I made him say to me

"this is the best stuff I have ever ate"

and

then I MADE him eat pie!

~

Then while he was laying back on his chaise lounge,

watching TV,

with a big belly bulge...that was putting it nicely my friends......

He had the nerve

to look over at me

and say

that I was killing him by the way I cooked.

I said "Oh yeah, maybe I shouldn't have held that gun to your head."

"Maybe you should start practicing a little portion control?"

"Huh?....just maybe that would be the issue?"

He said "NO, that's not it."

"You just have to cook only a little bitty bit for both of us, so I can't go back for seconds."

(or thirds or fourths)

~

So there goes my ideas down the drain of cooking enough to last for a couple days. The plan was to have several meals including lunch for me here during the day.

Now I am going to go and burn all my cookbooks and feed him a playing card size piece of grilled chicken breast and a broccoli stick tonight!

He comes in from work so hungry that he will not remember telling me this......I know it was his overly stretched belly doing the talking last night.......but he better think about those words for a while!! Be careful what you ask for!!

I am also going to hide the remote so he will hit the treadmill tonight!!

~

There will be no more

"Becky what you cooking today?"

"Honey what's for supper?"

"Hey I was thinking about an ice cream cone!"

Nope no more of that.....he will get what he wants and that's rabbit food!

This is coming after he had to go up a pants size in his jeans last week....but that's all my fault.

He does have familial hyperlipidemia..high cholesterol and lipids. He was on medication for this and it was working wonders but they wanted it even lower so they doubled it up. Danny immediately couldn't sleep at night because of shoulder and arm pain.

Crying like a child with pain.

He took himself off of it because Dr Danny knows these things.

Said he had to die of something and he couldn't stand the pain.

Now he can't eat anything that he wants.

~

I will try my best to help him with this one.

I just love to cook!

Better yet I love to eat!!!

Please wish us luck on this one!!!

Love is in the air & Chocolate Caramel Pie!

Is this not precious? I mean lovebirds!! Come on!! Get a room, already!!!
Why did ya come in here looking like that?

Yes you guessed it. Breeding season!!

I know everyone else on here is experiencing kidding season but why would I want to be like everyone else? I am always a day late and a dollar short!!! You know kinda off beat!! Off the beat or something like that! The truth is that I got a really late start last year by trying to find a buck and that in turn messed this year up too. I can't say that I didn't like not having to be worrying about kidding in the cold weather though!! July worked quite well!


I can say that I like warm weather! We had a beautiful day and of course I took advantage of some sunshine to get the laundry out! .........and to get the chicken coop cleaned out, some spray painting outside, cleaning porches etc etc etc....... and playing in the mud!
Better than snow and ice!!!!


I just love this picture! Still playing with my camera ;-)



The guineas loved the warm weather too! This picture looks a little tropical with the green bamboo! We'll just pretend that is sand in the background, OK????
Watch your step, sandspurs ya know!!

Now for the celebration I made this pie! I took pictures but I decided that since the pictures don't do it justice that I will save you from having to endure them. The pictures and the pie look pretty rough. However it looks pretty darned good too. It's in the fridge chilling as we speak and in about 30 minutes I plan to be ready for dessert!!

~

I have something to celebrate now. I mentioned a couple posts back about a phone call that I received with a job offer and an interview scheduled for the next day. I got the job offer!!!! Woo wooooooo!!!!

~

That's not what I am celebrating though. I am celebrating the fact that I came to my senses and declined the job offer!!!!! Double woowooowooooowoooowoooo!!!! I know I probably shouldn't feel that way about it but it is like a great big black cloud settled in on my shoulders right about the time I made it to the interview and did not leave for 3 days until I made up my mind not to take it!! Why mess up a good thing? We are certainly not going hungry! Actually far from it!!

~

So come back in about 30 minutes and we'll have coffee and

Chocolate Caramel Pie!!

Of course I could have been a good blogger and typed out this recipe for you but I am not a good blogger and this is how I do things. OK?????? Shut up and go make you some pie if you won't come and have a piece with me. Better hurry cause Danny looks hungry ;-)

Pie update:

Don't go get your shoes and coat on quite yet. No need to hurry over. It was just so so because the crust tasted almost burnt. It was really dry and sorta scorched. Didn't look like it so I think it was probably not good to begin with cause you all know I couldn't up mess up a pie if I tried! Wrong!!!

I baked it on an airbake cookie sheet too. ??????

The filling, however is to die for chocolate. A cross between a chocolate mousse and a chocolate cheesecake! Smooth and heavenly! I will make this one again with a different crust!