Countdown to the big day……

 

Saturday is Frank's birthday.  And he has been wanting a new BBQ Grill.  So that is what he wanted for the auspicious occasion.  In his own inimitable way, he searched 37 stores, in 3 states, over 8 weeks and found JUST the one he wanted!  It is a Craftsman from Sears.  That way he knows he can get parts for it. 

The last one was pretty old, I think it was only the 3rd we have had in all our married years (not counting the original hibachi we had when he was at LSU).  We really don't BBQ that often but you really do need one when you want that outdoorsy feel to your meal.

The interesting thing about this particular grill, and it was on no other grill I have seen, is that it has this on the front.  It is a bottle ca opener and a bottle cap catcher.  We put it on for kicks!

I have invited some friends for ribs and sausage.  I have a fabulous spare rib sauce that will be perfect.  I made some tamales for appetizers and we will celebrate 59 in style.  I got him a card that says Happy 60th Birthday!

So busy, so busy....but that is good!

It seems I just don't have time to do anything.  I took tamales and chicken to Carrie this morning, she is getting ready to sit for her license exam in Interior Design Engineering (she actually designs the interiors of buildings and workspaces rather than does sofas and curtains) on Friday and Saturday.  It is a 16 hours test.  She will probably be the first one of her class to get her license if she passes this one.  To sit for the exam you need to have worked under a licensed architect or a licensed IDE  for 3 years.  And that is difficult because of the licensing requirements.  So I brought her dinner and walked a mile with the granddog Hugeaux and DiNozzo the Over-Effusive. 

Frank is in Alabama along the Gulf Coast today.  Too bad he is not on vacation!  The only reason I know where he is today is because he called me to say how bad the weather was.  Last night we had 3.75 inches of rain in my rain gauge.  Lots of really violent lightening and thunder.  There was hail as well.  Carrie said they were hailed upon on the drive to New Orleans yesterday. 

They are getting a new car from the Acura Dealership in New Orleans because they guy would deal with them.  The only dealership here thinks people HAVE to buy from them.  Andrew put Carrie's Honda Accord on some website, sold it in 3 days at twice the blue book value.  He didn't expect to sell it that quickly and they have been scurrying trying to make a deal on a new car quickly. They will pick up the new one either today or tomorrow.

I have several things to quilt for deadlines.  The Inspiration Roses is due on or before Saturday and the Remember Me Block Quilt Challenge is due soon as well.  That one is the green rick rack one, and is in the same state as I last left you with it.

And of course I need to clean up the quilt room. 

I guess I will be in there today.  Cleaning up and quilting the Roses.  I am nearly finished and then a decision on the binding will need to be made.

glen:  I guess the big question is, if I have a daughter who designs workspaces, why is mine always so messed up and cluttered and mostly unusable?

Rolling your own…….tamales that is!

Friday we rode about 14 Saturday we did maybe 12 miles and Sunday another 16..  I needed a good ride and friends were more than happy to oblige!  I need a ticker to keep track of distance overall. 

Then to dinner with other friends at the local fabulous Lebanese place called Albasha.  Yum!

After the Little Theater’s production of Guys and Dolls (yes it was the first musical I actually liked, does that mean I am being brainwashed….Aughhhh!) we found that a number of restaurants are now closed on Sundays.  I guess they are feeling the economic crunch.  We ended up with soup and salad at Olive Garden.

Saturday was busy, DiNozzo needs to be walked a mile each morning before he calms down enough to live with us.  Bouncing Basset Boy he is!  Even with this exercise he is beginning to fill in the holes and bumps in his body from being malnourished.  See his new sleeping preference, the sofa……..

And the Tamale making class was incredible.  She taught us how to make what she called Cajun Tamales from a recipe passed down from her New Iberia Maw Maw.  Oh, how I do hate that name!  Gives me the shivers when I hear it or worse, see it.

Anyway.  This is Ann and I at the class rolling our own!  Aren’t they beautiful? These were made with tamale rolling papers rather than corn husks.  Now I have to find the papers.  And she made some sort of puff pastry chocolate and creme concoction that was incredibly versatile.  And a really great salsa that can be used as a veggie! 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean plate!  They were delicious!

 

 

 

 

Then on Saturday night Valerie and I did a CAWS fundraiser at Painting and Pinot.  You drink wine while you make a painting.  I was hoping it would give me great talent to be drunk.  I think that is how many of the Great Masters did it.  In fact, I am sure Leonardo was snockered most of the time.  Paint and Pinot is doing some fundraisers for CAAWS where the cost of the class is $35 and they donate $25 of that back to CAAWS.  We made nearly $1500 in two sessions.

Here is the Saturday night class and the kitty painting.  My girl Kitty has a fat butt.  Go figure.  You can see it in the bottom row.  Valerie’s is the green kitty in the top row.

(Note:  I put this in as a photo album link to get the line grouping, but I don’t think you can actually click and get to the album)

I was right, I had to add them as individual pics.

This is my purple big butt kitty.            and this is my favorite from the night right next to mine.

 

It is late now, and I probably need to at least settle on the sofa and hope to fall asleep.

glen

Design Wall Monday March 28, 2011



Busy weekend.  Learned tamale rolling.  Rode 40 miles on bikes, walked 8 miles, painted a picture for a CAAWS benefit, saw the play Guys and Dolls and didn't quilt a lick!  But here is what I am working on tonight.  A new project that will use up some scraps and finish quickly and may be a present for a friend.  We shall see.



As you can tell, I need more practice in precision!





I will finish the quilting on Inspiration Roses this week since it is due before April 1st.  I am quilting in different patterns across the top.  It is a lot of great practice.  Again, a definite learning curve on some of these patterns.  Like I said, lots of practice.  All on my domestic.

These are stacks of blocks for a Quilt As You Go project.  I cut leftover batting from the Inspiration Roses quilt into 6 1/2 squares.  Then I cut a piece of stash yardage into 7 inch squares and put them together.  In the next couple of days I will begin to ass strips in some form or fashion to them.  They will go together fairly quickly and I have 120 of them set up.  If I need more I have leftover batting from other projects to cut up and of course I have more than enough fabric to use. 

There are several different ways I have thought about to add strips.  One is just regular strips.  Another is to add the dog show ribbons and make blocks for a quilt to raffle at the Swissy Fun Day in April.  Another is to add strips in just the corners of the blocks to make a diamond pattern on the quilt.  Really pretty.  I will think about that tomorrow.

Check out Judy's blog for more Design Walls - http://www.patchworktimes.com/

HUGE flying geese go wild!

I guess you could think wildlife when you see that headline.  But this is the more sedate flying geese that go into a quilt.  they are so totally useful.  They can be on the four sides of a solid (or not) block and form a star.  Or they can be a border around a quilt center.  Or they can be the center of the quilt themselves.

The April Girl in our Virtual Quilting Bee chose the versatile Flying Geese Block for her month.  But with a wild twist!  She wants it to be a lime green background with the triangle made from 15 Minute Fabric (scraps sewn together in totally random abandon) and she wants them 15 inches wide!

Now that is going to be some quilt!   Here are my blocks.  And let me tell you, there was a definite learning curve here.  What is fine in a 2 1/2 by 5 block is totally different in a 15 inch block!

I will leave you with pictures from my yard of beautiful flowers.and the stupid neighbor cat who keeps coming in to eat the birds and getting run up the tree by the dogs.  The azaleas are in full bloom here in Louisiana.  And the winter pansies are still churning out flowers like crazy in the strong sunshine. 

I heard there was going to be 2 feet of snow in New England…….