Black Friday

Ever wonder why they call it Black Friday? The thought occurred to me that it might be because the stores make money that day. In other words, their books are in the black that day rather than the red. Just a thought from an accounting view.

Meantime, I'm spending my day working on projects that I need to finish before December 1st. I have to blocks that are due at quilt guild that night. One I got done yesterday and the other one is about half done. I also want to make a skirt to wear tomorrow night for an Eastern Star installation. I know where the fabric is, I know where the cutting table is. My only concern is where the devil did I put the pattern? Well, I shall find it I'm sure. It can't be too buried as I used it less than a month ago.

I usually don't shop on this Friday after Thanksgiving. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to be out shopping with people who are in such a hurry to get a good deal for something they probably don't really want or need. My shopping for Christmas is more thought out and less rushed. Really, how many of you do your shopping on this Friday?  Is it the only time to shop? NOPE!  I admit I haven't started my shopping, but I do know what I would like to get people. I have some things already tucked away and will get others as time allows. After all, I've still got 4 weeks to shop. And usually, I finish up my shopping in the last week, in the last moment. After all, I'm a top notch procrastinator!

On that note, I leave you with good wishes and hope you didn't overeat yesterday on Thanksgiving. I know I didn't!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day for remembering all our blessings. Those that our forefathers gave us, those we have been blessed with since. We are a nation based on freedom of speech and religion. We can say, for the most part, whatever we wish, what our opinions are. We are able to chose our religion based on our own personal beliefs. We have all been blessed in some way. At my house, we are blessed to have each other and our families. We are blessed to both be in good health and have a steady job. We are blessed to have friends who are there for us no matter what the day may bring. I feel even more blessed that I can share my thoughts with my friends.

My wish for all is to have a very blessed life and a safe Thanksgiving with family and friends. May you know the peace and serenity of living free. This freedom that we enjoy is kept safe for us by the men and women of our Armed Services. May they all be safe as well and enjoy a peaceful day to count their blessings.

God Bless All!

Another quilt day

Okay, as promised here's another quilt day. I just love these little quilts. They were easy to do and quick to finish. They came with the fabric and they went together quickly. I got to learn new things and realized that I don't have to do them exactly like the pattern. I can make things a little bit different and they still look like the pattern. They just have my artistic touch to them.

Garden Glories are June

May is the birdhouses and

The one for May reminded me of a bed and breakfast I have visited. The house had birdhouses all around the porches and not a one matched.









Suffice to say, you have now seen half of the banner series. You can see that they are small. Some of them had their pictures taken while on my dining room carpet, a couple while on the bed. I had a hard time deciding where to lay them for a picture.

I shall get the others up in between and betwixt the other sagas in my life. Thanksgiving is later this week and I'm sure there will be some tale to tell there.

Eastern Star Installations

Okay, we are now better than halfway through the installation season. I have been to 4 so far and will attend 2 more before the end of the month. It popped up in conversation that 30 years ago some of us thought nothing of going somewhere for either a meeting or an installation every day during the month of November. Thank heavens as we get older we tend to slow down and not try to do them all. In the State Association I belong to, there is no way I could attend all of them since there are sometime 2 at the same time due to a lack of weekend days and the length of time it takes to go the distance between chapters.

I myself have chosen to do only those in my district plus one outside. The one outside was in the mountains and was on a day when my district had nothing planned. So, that means I have 5 in my district. I have 3 of those done as of tonight and the other two are next weekend. The themes for each have been a little different. Some had carrying pieces, some did not. Some had a full corp of officers, some did not. Of the remaining two, I have yet to hear what the theme will be.

I wish I could attend more, but my time is limited and travel between some of the chapters is too great a distance. Makes me really wish for time travel and instant getting there similar to the way Scotty beamed them up in Star Trek. Maybe some day?

2nd batch of Banner of the month

As promised I bring you the next installment of Banner of the Month. Of course, I called it block of the month in the last post. So you're excused for thinking I'm a mite bit confused.

These were a blast to do and I'm so glad that I did them. They make for fun little wall hangings that can be changed every month. A style of decorating if you will.

This is a March Hare - a slightly wild one if you will

This of course is April Showers, complete with a short rain shower.

 

 Now of course you have to wonder what will be coming next? Well, you get to wait until the next post to find out.

 

 

 

 

 

Creating quilts

Wow!  I've actually been working on quilts for over 5 years now. You'd think I would have a sense of what it takes to get them done. Right now I have more unfinished than I have finished. I only have a couple that were block of the month done. One of those is already shown on my blog, one of my first posts. The other is a series of small banners that I did.

We paid for the patterns and the fabric to make the tops. Then had to some up with backing and the batting to put between. I did all 13 of them and will now share them one or two at a time with you.

This one is from January and is a really nice snowman.

This is February and is lovely hearts.

The two of these are part of a series of 13 small banners from Pearl Louise Designs. You will get a taste of more of them once I can figure out how to get the spacing to work out the way I want it to. Somehow I goofed on the one and don't know how to fix it. Guess I'll learn!

A trip to the Dentist

A week ago, I thought I broke a tooth, so I called the next morning to make an appointment with my dentist. This morning was that appointment. Surprise! The dentist agreed with me. I am now sporting what they refer to as an onlay, similar to a crown, but not over the full tooth. Actually, more precisely, I have on the temporary one and get the permanent one in 2 weeks.

I just wish I had been wrong!  That's an expense that I could definitely do without. But at least I get to pay it in 2 payments instead of one. So we'll have a story for 2 weeks out after we've been back to get the permanent fixture in my mouth. Until then, I'm not supposed to floss between the 2 teeth that touch the temporary onlay. Wish the dentist would make up his mind. First I hear "floss daily between every tooth". Now I'm hearing, "leave off on flossing those for 2 weeks". This could be a real thinking two weeks.  I also have to chew on what I consider to be the "wrong" side of my mouth for two weeks.

I'm sure I'll survive. Meantime, what's going on in your world?

Blogs can be contagious

Okay, it's fine to admit that blogs can be contagious!  I started mine because I had seen others and liked the idea. Now I have friends following me into the world of blogging. What fun that will be!

I started by reading one that a Sister from Eastern Star was doing. Then I found one that a quilt store was doing. Then another, and another, and another. So on it goes. What fun awaits when reading. There's the magic of the words, the beauty of the pictures. There's the not knowing what will be next. I love the thinking of what should be put on my blog next. What kind of magic can I weave for the person reading it? What will their reaction be?

You can have fun too. Start a blog and keep the rest of us imagining with you.

Customer ideas

This past week we had a customer who came in to our business. He was rather philosophical while at our counter. He apologized for being a bit crusty & harsh. He then went on to inform us that if money can solve your problems, then you don't have problems.

We looked at him like he was crazy!  He shook his head and asked us if we had enough money would it solve our problems? We answered yes and he repeated "then you have no problems". Again we looked at him and his answer to that was "Can money fix cancer?". We all answered "NO!". He said "then you got no problems." and walked out the door leaving us somewhat stunned by his comments.

We thought about it after he left our building. We discussed our thoughts and decided, darned if he wasn't right. Money COULD solve what we had considered problems and we decided that what we had were actually just bumps in the road.

The First Frost

It's now officially fall!  We've had the first frost of the season. Not heavy, but enough I had to use the defroster in the car to melt the ice. The patterns in the shade versus those already in the sunlight were rather intriguing. Long stretches of white frost in shaded spots surrounded by wider stretches of sun kissed ground. An amazing display from Mother Nature.

The fields that had warmed up just a tad bit from the sunlight had small tendrils of what looked like steam coming off them. The birds were just starting out and looked like they were flying through fog. Again, Mother Nature has graced us with a wonderful drive into work today. What will she show us tomorrow?

Installations

Well, I went to my first Installation of officers for Eastern Star this afternoon. It was in the low mountain country and since the weather was looking gray and wet, we took a raincoat with a hood to go over the clothes. As we went over the summit of the one pass, there was snow mixed in with the rain. It was early in the day and we figured we'd be okay. Weather people had said snow down as low as 3500 feet, but when are they ever right on target?

The installation was beautiful and afterwards we went into the dining hall for a High Tea. We had just finished when I looked out the window and saw snow falling. I nudged the one member of my car pool and said look outside. She looked and nudged the driver and said "We're outta here!". As we headed home it continued to snow. It was not sticking to the road but it was starting to stick to the dirt and trees along side the road. We got down out of the mountains safely and were back into rain. We all agreed that it was a very nice thing to have that installation in the middle of the day rather than at night.

So the season starts. I only have 3 more weekends of crazy this month.

November is hectic

November is a very hectic month for those of us in California who belong to Eastern Star. We have installations of officers all month long. One can pick almost any day of the week and find one. And if not an installation, you can attend a Farewell night. Farewell nights are for the outgoing Worthy Matron and Worthy Patron. Sometimes a fun skit after the meeting, sometimes not. I wasn't able to go to the Farewell meeting in my district tonight. Had to work late and couldn't get there in time. Maybe next year?

Oh, well. My calendar looks like a black out game of bingo. If I'm lucky, I'll get a chance to relax in December. Or maybe not.