The World According to Maiden Fair

1. What is your occupation? Retired
2. What color are your socks right now? Barefootin’, lol!
3. What was the last thing that you ate? fillet mignon and salad
4. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes
5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My Daughter last night
7. Favorite drink? Herb Tea - or green tea with Chocolate Mnt
8. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yep
9. What was the last movie you watched? Stargate Continuum
10. Favorite holiday of the year? I’m not much for holidays - I get stressed out and get migraines. The last holiday I really enjoyed was this past 4th of July. Had a cookout and everyone was here, invited the neighbors and we had a great time.
11. What do you do to vent anger? Take a walk.
12. Hugs or kisses? Both.
13. Living arrangements? Hubby and Me
14. When was the last time you cried? When my leg got so bad I couldn’t stand the pain.
15. What is on the floor of your closet? Believe me - you don’t want to know
16. Favorite smells? Fresh baked bread, autumn leaves, fresh mint
17. What did you do last night? Talked to hubby.
18. What inspires you? God and my family and friends
19. What are you afraid of? Spiders, snakes, mice!
20. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheeseburgers
21. Favorite dog breed? Muts
22. How many years at your current job? ????????
23. Favorite place you’ve ever been? Smokey Mountains
24. How many states have you lived in? Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina, Illinois, New Hampshire
25. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? NO - did drive a school bus for a while.
26. Who’s your favorite NFL team? Pittsburgh Steelers
27. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? Don’t have a house phone

We are finally getting back to normal around here. My kitchen is still cleaned up, the Refrigerator looks wonderful and I’m so pleased to have power - you really don’t realize how much that power is a part of your life. You walk into a room and automatically flip the switch and when the light doesn’t come on you feel like such a dunce.

Anyway, I’m back to working on my quilts. I have one pieced that I’m calling a 5 generation quilt - more on this one later. I’ve finished one I’m calling Anasazi Dream - a SouthWestern themed one, and I pieced a table topper for Fall. Now I’m working on a new quilted purse - my other one is getting tattered looking so I want a new one.

I have finished my wall hanging for in my bedroom - I’m so pleased with the way it came out.

I’ve named it Trellis of Flowers - hubby and Jesse built the hanging box and hubby and I covered it.

The other quilt I have completed was started by my Great Aunt Mary before she died in 1983. She had nearly completed the embroidery. Her family didn’t quilt, so they sent me the squares to do whatever I wanted. I finished the embroidery and it took a long time to find a matching red fabric. After many false starts and many times throwing it in the corner, it is finally done!!

Storm Pictures

Well the clean up continues - our power was restored on Friday Morning - 4 days with no power - but at least we had somewhere to go where we could cook, take a shower, watch TV, check our email and stay cool. Thank you Lord for Children - I always knew there was a good reason to have a few. I’ve added a few more pictures since the last entry. As I drive around town I see things I missed before - or I just am in a new place and see more damage - It is amazing to me.

Last night we had another horrendous storm. It wasn’t quite as bad as last week’s. The winds were not as intense, but there was more rain and more lightening strikes. AND our power went out AGAIN! Years we go and don’t lose the power and now twice in a week. It was out for about 3 hours - thankfully I had dinner already cooked in the crock pot when it went out so we didn’t have to worry on that score. They had the power back up again in about 3 hours.

When we were downtown this afternoon it was amazing to me how many power trucks and tree trimming trucks there still are in the area - there were quite a few parked in Lowe’s parking lot - sort of like a mini staging area - the main staging area is down by the old armory building in Rock Island.

It is extremely hot and humid again today. It’s not quite as humid as yesterday - but the temperature is higher - I’m hoping there isn’t another storm. I’m not real sure I can handle more power failures!!

I have completed several quilt projects and will post the pictures tomorrow. Started several new ones and I’m making a new quilted purse and my current purse is starting to look pretty bedraggled. Merrie and Sandy and I went on the Bobbin Along I-80 Quilt shop hop last Thursday - Sandy was the only one with power but Merrie and I really needed to get away - so off we went. We really had fun and I found a couple of things to make - two of them are fall items - don’t know if I’ll get either one of them done for this year - but since fall is the season I love most with Spring coming in a close second I know I will have them done over the winter and hopefully a couple of Spring items done too.

Have a great day - stay warm and dry and please feel Blessed.

WOW I Can’t believe we had a storm like this one - I got awakened on Monday morning - 6:04 AM to be exact - to some rumbles of Thunder. Got up and shut down the computers as we don’t like to leave them running in storms. Went to check the weather radio which I hadn’t heard go off - nothing there - and headed to the bathroom and flipped on the light switch and the bulb flashed on and then immediately flashed off again. I thought “Darn it - burned out bulb!” So I flipped the switch for the hall light and there was nothing - which gave me pause! Okay - what’s going on here! I checked the fan in the bathroom - no fan. Then I realized there was no fan in the living room either. The power had gone out - just like someone had pulled the plug. As this is all going on, the storm is getting worse and the rain starts. It is raining so hard it is like trying to see through dense fog, and the wind is blowing so hard I truly thought the rain was going to come crashing through the roof. I just knew that our trees were going to come down!! They didn’t for which I am eternally grateful. The weather radio went off warning of the horrid storm, just as the entire thing was dying out and going away! So much for doppler radar and warning systems!! Our power has still not been restored as of this writing and there is no clear indication of when it will be restored. We just have to wait. If you are interested in some storm pictures they are posted HERE. We later learned that the winds were blowing at 90 - 100 MPH - that’s about a force 1 to force 2 Hurricane!! I guess we were fortunate that there wasn’t more damage.

We came over to stay with our son and our daughter took the items from the freezer to keep for us as she has a deep freezer, but for the duration we are stuck here sort of at loose ends. I am grateful that we had a place to go to stay cool and be able to have a cup of coffee and access to a computer and the TV. Hopefully it will all be over soon and everything will be back to normal - whatever normal is!

Today is our anniversary. If you would like to read about our romance you can check it out at Our Love Story. It’s still a love story after all these years!

Had to go to the doctor’s this morning for a treatment on my knee. It’s a rather dreary day out, but we stopped for breakfast and to pick up the youngest granddaughter. I do believe there was a law enforcement convention out there today. It isn’t that far from our house to the Doctor’s, like maybe 20 miles - but in the trip there and back, we saw no less that 19 cops. Most of them had people pulled over - it was nuts. I’ve never seen anything like it before! Thankfully we were being a good little boy and girl and didn’t attract their attention.

I finished a couple more quilts - I can’t believe how much faster they are going since I bought the little lap stretcher for the quilts and learned to pin the layers rather then basting them together. Anyway - I finished the table topper - I’ve called it hearts and flowers.

This is the first quilt that I actually designed the design for quilting - and then did all the stitching by hand. Here’s a close up of the quilting detail

The other quilt I finished recently was a Mystery quilt by the Inspectors’s club. She called it John Deere, although I used butterflys on mine.

I’m off to work on a couple of projects and probably bake something good for our family dinner on Sunday. My son is grilling steaks and I’m bringing Mashed Potato Casserole - a family favorite. Thought I’d bring a dessert - Pie or cake or something along those lines!! Hope you have a great day!

I was sitting quietly enjoying my tea and my book the other morning. It was a rather dismal day and I had nothing special planned to do so I was simply lingering - probably longer that I should. The house was silent - no TV or radio - hubby was still asleep. Then I noticed the candle holders on the entertainment center were rattling - curious - it wasn’t storming out - then I felt it, the chair shivered and dipped, like the floor was falling from underneath it. Suddenly I realized what it was - I couldn’t believe what it was, but it had to be an earthquake. Now for those of you on the West Coast this is an almost every day occurance - Actually I lived for 12 years in the San Francisco Bay area and never felt an earthquake. But I no longer live in the San Francsico Bay Area - I live in the upper mid-West - 150 miles due west of Chicago - we don’t have earthquakes here - well at least I didn’t think we did. Actually the quake was centered about 300 miles south east near the border of Illinois and Indiana - a long way, but still we felt the quake here. Rather unsettling actually - they said what I felt was a 4.2 aftershock. The actual 5.2 earthquake occured about 4:30 AM while I was still asleep.

I meant to post the books I read in March a lot earlier than the 20th of April, but it has been a nutty month. I’ve had trouble sleeping, been storms, the power company is changing our meters - again!! We installed a high effeciency furnace and air conditioner a while ago. The power company is having problems with that. Three or four years ago they did an estimated read for January - I guess the reader didn’t want to go out in the cold - anyway it seemed a little high to me but I paid the bill. We didn’t have to pay another bill until April - they came that spring and changed out the meters - and our bill went down again. Now they are changing out the meters again - guess they think this meter is bad too - do you think our bill will go down again! That would be nice in these times of high energy costs. Of course we do turn the heat down, keep the excess lights turned off, don’t watch a lot of TV, and only run full loads in the washer and dishwasher. But they still seem to think we aren’t using enough power. I don’t know what to tell them!

Anyway - on to my list of books for March:

The Celtic Riddle by Lyn Hamilton
Hallowed Bones by Carolyn Haines
Safe Harbor by Luanne Rice
Abandon by Carla Neggers
Peppermint Twisted by Sammi Carter
Snobbery with Violence by Marion Chesney
The Second Mrs. Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
One Grave Too Many by Beverly Connor
Crewel World by Monica Ferris
Framed in Lace by Monica Ferris
The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Tongue in Chic by Christina Dodd
Sonnet of the Sphinx by Diana Killian

I saw my first robin of the season yesterday afternoon as I was driving back from town. He was sitting in a little park up at the head of my street!! I am so glad I went out yesterday - that certainly brightened my day. Today I saw another robin when I went out to get the little girls and while I was watching the girls ride their bikes I heard a dove. It is funny I didn’t realize I hadn’t heard a dove in a long time until I heard one today. Maybe spring is really on the way. Of course it is supposed to get cold again - but not as cold and hopefully not as long.

I did manage to get my new quilt wallhanging sandwiched this afternoon and have started the quilting on it. I don’t know how long it will take to quilt, but it shouldn’t take very long actually - haven’t put that intricate of a pattern on it - but I don’t know if I will be able to stick to it like I did in January - It is getting nice out and I want to be outside!!

I was reading online today about a Women in the outdoor’s conference that will have classes on letterboxing including stamp making, one on herbs and Weather in the clouds. All things I’m really interested in. I would love to go!! but it’s in Kansas City MO - which is a long way from here. It’s only about $125 to register and covers 2 nights lodging and food. I would have to get there and home - of course it is only a day’s drive or so from here, I’m debating - I would also like to go to the letterboxing meet up in Iowa in early May and I might be able to talk David into going to that one. I haven’t mentioned it to him yet. Maybe I should - and check out reservations for a motel. It’s only about 6 weeks away.

For today it is spring! It is the third day of spring - sort of like the days of Christmas. I seriously doubt that the days of spring will number twelve - with the winter we have just gone through that is highly unlikely - but at this stage of the game I will take what I can get. With temperatures in the mid 50’s, the sun shining and the ice and snow melting under the “warmth” it does my heart good.

Kitty Kat and I tried to go letterboxing the other day, but there was still so much snow on the ground that we couldn’t get down the hill to follow the clues - so we are waiting until this weekend to go again and hopefully the snow will be gone and we can obtain our goal. It is amazing how even the children this year are feeling the effects of this winter. Usually they love the snow and the cold doesn’t affect them, but this year they have had enough and are beyond ready for spring just like the rest of us.

I have yet to see a robin. Normally the robins are back by the 20th of February - but here it is the 13th of March and I have yet to see one. I’m still looking. Maybe they know something that we don’t and have more sense than to come back here right now.

I have finished and photographed one of my quilt projects. It is a Valentine Table Runner called Cupid’s Trail. It is totally done on the machine - but I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Today I want to get my new quilt sandwiched and get started on the quilting. I cut the quilting template for it yesterday so once I get the backing together and get the layers pinned together I will be set to go. Then I have to get hubby going on building the lighted hanger for it. By the time I have the quilting all done, he should at least have found his hammer to get started to the hanger!! LOL

That’s about it for today - going to go and get some food and go take a walk before I get to work on the quilt. My phone has been beeping at me for the last hour so I guess I’d better find out who called.

With another winter storm coming in tonight and tomorrow, I feel like I’m totally losing control. There is no making plans ahead of time. My Valentine Party was cancelled on Tuesday due to snow, my Red Hat group is supposed to go to Geneseo tomorrow afternoon to attend the Richmond Theatre group - but with freezing rain and 2-6 inches of snow coming in, that will probably be cancelled - it is a winter for spur of the moment events, not things that are planned days or weeks in advance. I’m hoping right now that I can make it to my sewing group on tuesday - but the way things are looking, that might not happpen.

So how am I coping this year you ask?? I’m Quilting!! I have a table topper that I’m working on, I’ve added far more intricate quilting pattern than I planned. I designed the border pattern myself, my first quilting design - cutting the template and transferring the design. The only problem is that it is taking a long time to hand quilt it - but it is passing the time this winter. I’ve also got a table runner that I’m finishing up - doing that quilting on the sewing maching. I’m also piecing a wall hanging for the bedroom. I’m working on the borders for it, then I’ll put on the quilting pattern and get it ready to quilt. So I guess you could say I’ve buried my head in quilts this winter and refuse to come out until spring!

I have finished a couple of projects - I made Valentines for the party. I’d heard about quilted post cards, but had never tried making them. Thought it might be fun, and once I got the hang of it it was fun. I plan on making some more with a different pattern.

When I joined the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild last fall, I was to create a name tag - a quilted name tag. I finally got it done and was really pleased with the results.

I signed up for my very first Quilting Workshop!! It’s not until the first of June, I may sign up for one in April at the next meeting - didn’t really see one I was interested in, but I’ll have another look. I’m really looking forward to taking the class - I’ve been quilting most of my life but I never took a class - of course there weren’t quilting guilds in the 70’s and there weren’t very many women quilting or sewing or doing any of the fiber arts back then - I’m so pleased that they are beginning to do them again.! My little granddaughter is even interested in fiber arts and I’m really pleased about that.

When tragedy strikes, we think that life can’t possibly go on. The world has to stop, we have to get off. Tragedy struck yesterday in a small Illinois town when for no explicable reason, someone carried 3 guns onto Northern Illinois University’s campus and fired close to 50 rounds into a lecture hall, killing 5 and wounding 17 more, and then killing himself. Why?? So far they have no idea. He was on Medication but he quit taking them. So what drove a highly intelligent, award winning graduate student to terrorize the students on a campus where he no longer attended? So far there are no answers.

But life does go on. Students, parents, grandparents, faculty and staff have to pick up the pieces of the tragedy and move on. They won’t do it today or tomorrow or even next week, it may take months before some of them can move on. They did nothing to bring this on themselves, they are innocent bystanders, the ones who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were there to attend class, to gain the knowledge they needed to gain their degree so they can realize their dreams, and for 5 of them at least, their dreams are shattered into dust, for the 17 or 18 wounded, they may not be able to realize their dreams either, and why? Why should so many lose so much because of one man who went off his meds. Was it the condition that he needed the meds for that caused the problem, or was it the reaction to going off the meds that caused the problem? Will we ever know? He killed himself in the aftermath. Did he realize with horror what he had done? Or was it all a part of his “Grand Plan” from the beginning. We will probably never know as the one who knew is dead. Did he leave a note, I don’t know - The authorities aren’t saying.