Memorial Day

Prayers for all our soldiers who have died for us and those serving today. Also many prayers for the families left behind - their sacrifice is so great.

Yesterday was a good day spent with family. Today will be quieter and more reflective. I have been very fortunate to not lose anyone I know in war; but have several family members who have and still do serve.

Mother Nature

About 3 miles from us there is a swampy area next to and behind a local business. The last couple weeks I have noticed a swan there that is sitting on a nest. Everytime I saw her, her head was down and there wasn't any movement. Finally got over there and found her with her head up and got a picture of her. It is the first time I have seen a nesting swan. Looking forward to seeing her babies.

I've pieced about 100 hexes so far in the quilt that I am making. I have a long way to go. LOL

A Great Cause

Last night we went to The Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund annual dinner. It was a impressive evening. The dinner was excellent and there were many items for silent and live auction. Despite the problems with the economy, they had a bigger turnout than last year. They had one dinner table set up with empty seats to represent those that had not come home from each of the branches of military. On the table at each seat was a cap from every branch, a slice of lemon to represent the bitterness of war and salt for the tears of those who have suffered a loss.

The keynote speaker was Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL. He and 3 team mates who went into the mountainess border of Afghanistan and Pakistan on an operation. He was the only one to survive the battle. He gave a wonderful inside view of Navy SEAL training and what happened on that mountain. He has a book about it called Lone Survivor. I haven't read it yet, but people that have say it is a very good book.

We didn't come away with anything from the auctions, but is was a very impressive evening for an excellent cause. Their website is www.fwsf.org

Keep our soldiers in your prayers

Marge

Busy Bee

For the last 2 weeks I have been busy unpacking boxes. I have already unpacked 83 boxes with many more to be done once the carpet on the enclosed porch is cleaned. Will need the rain to stop for awhile before that can be done. You can see from the picture about half of the boxes that I had to take care of. We didn't lose anything of importance in last September's fire here at the lake, but there sure is a lot to be done before things are completely back to normal.

The last few days I have been busy designing a quilt made of 1/2" hex squares. I'm doing a landscape design for this one. It should be a bit of a challenge, but I do enjoy handpiecing. This will take a while to do, but I am looking forward to it. This is a start of the design.

Pics finally taken

I finished the afghan except for weaving in the yarn ends. Need to find my tapestry needle. It is probably in one of the boxes at the lake.

I also finally took pictures of the quilt for a wedding this summer. The back of the quilt is done in a disappearing 9-patch pattern. The front is a variation of a pattern I saw in a magazine. I changed the arrangement, and added friendship stars to it. Since I did it in pastel shades with a black background, I think I will call it "Blooming Spring".

Unfortunately I don't think I will get to do much sewing for the next month. Need to pack up things I am taking back to the lake, and then need to unpack everything that is there + what I bring out. Also, need to get the carpet on the enclosed porch cleaned before I can unpack that stuff. Such fun. We were just fortunate that we didn't lose anything of importance in the fire we had.

April in Michigan

Pictures above are our 3 dogs. The first picture is Brandy. She is a Welsh Corgi/Australian Cattle Dog mix. The dachshunds are Wilson and Patch.

A snow day here. Only about 2 inches and it will go fast. Welcome to spring in Michigan.

I've been really busy working with insurance companies as we had a fire at our lake property and a tree fall on our house. Fortunately nothing of importance was lost either time.

I've been making a quilt for a wedding gift and will have pictures of it soon. Also almost done making an afghan. Mostly right now I am busy cleaning clutter and getting ready to move back to the lake for the summer. Hooray.

I am into a lot of needlework crafts, especially quilting. Now that Christmas is over, I am finding myself in a slump of sorts. I am having trouble getting back into the swing of things. Kind of taking a mini vacation and not doing any needlework, which is very unusual for me. For some reason I can't get into working on those I was working on before I got into Christmas gift rush and not really getting into doing new ones either.

New

This is new territory for me. Thought I'd give it a try.

I live in Michigan and enjoy all the seasons here with the exception of summer when it is 80 or above. I currently have 2 mini dachshunds who are so much fun. The newest one, Wilson, is a bit frustrating at the moment as we are having trouble getting him to stop barking at every sound real or imagined.