the End to the Finish

I’ve wrote about this process here and here….

…a week ago I finally did the last thing, I had to do with it. I took this quilt to Ohio to show the, 91 year old, woman (Bernice B, who gave me the pattern and inspiration) the finished product. We spent a delightful Sunday afternoon with her and her daughter Bea.

Among many the other things, this woman is known for is her cooking. My family still makes the egg noodles that she gave us the recipe for, years ago. So while mom and Bernice talked…Bea, Ally and I were busy looking through all her recipes. All written down, over the years, in her beautiful handwriting.

And this was her reaction to my quilt…lol need I say more???? After looking over it she looked up with a smile on her face and said, …”well I give you an A+…”

Mom, coming along, made Bernice’s day it’s been years since they’ve seen each other.A quilt that she made…mine is pathetic in comparison…

This was my parents house when they lived in Ohio. Behind Bernice S. house at the end of a long lane. I guess it used to be white, back when, but since then the siding has been striped off.Ally and mom we’re remembering back and kept telling me…”get a picture of that”…lol

And on the way home I saw my “dream house” and managed to get this picture of it=) Minus the bushes around it, it is perfect! I totally want to look through those little windows, up in the attic. There must be ton’s of rooms in this house…I’ve always wanted to live in Ohio=) haha

So that goal is checked off! It’s a good feeling. Thanks Ally for all your help to make this possible. But I will never quilt again, it’s just not my thing.

What are your week plans?

 

Finishing up what you start….

Something I’ve strove all my life, so far, to do as a general rule is. Finish what I start…I can still remember every last thing I didn’t finish. The drawn pictures I threw away instead of leaving them incomplete, latch-hook-quilt I gave to goodwill instead of finishing, every book I’ve began and didn’t finished,  the blanket I began to crochet, or my Bahamas cruise scrapbook - which I haven’t even started!

My mom read me this story as a child. And it went something along this line. A young women was rummaging through a deceased elderly woman’s sewing box. Nothing in the old box was finished. She pulled out item after item that wasn’t completed. The moral to this tale is to finish what you start. And it has stuck with me my entire life and continues to make me strive to finish everything I start, every single day.

So I finally got this quilt done! I began it years ago (more about it here) and have been trying seriously to finish it for the past year. But one thing after another came up…and it would be put off till another time. But, I repeat, It’s DONE!!!

My sister, Alexandria, told asked me to come over and that she’d help me finish it (she is the manager for an alteration shop, in Indy. So yeah she CAN really sew, and very well at that.) One of the main reasons this has taken me so long to quilt this, was that I didn’t know how to quilt a quilt together. I had the blocks all together, but I just lacked that extra knowledge to finish it=)

I got a head ache..that just got worse as the day went on. Remind me to never EVER quilt again! This is my first and only quilt.

Laughing and talking with this girl all afternoon was so fun=) she’s an amazing sister! We’re so totally sisters…can’t deny it…haha! Not that I would or anything=)

So now Ally and I are going to travel together to Ohio sometime soon, to visit this elderly lady (90+ years old) and show her the finished quilt she gave me the pattern and instructions for years ago.

Happy Monday!

~Photo-a-day~ Oct 15–Oct 21

Someone please tell me how to stay motivated about life when you’re just so dang tired, both mentally and physically. Seriously I feel asleep, the other night, while reading a book. Sitting on the floor, with just my head on my bed while waiting for my younger brother to get out of the shower. I woke up at three, in the morning, this way. Talk about a seriously stiff neck. After my usual 4:30 work-out and morning shower=) I was quite my normal self.

Another bracket popped off my tooth the other day. It’s thankfully in the back of my mouth, so I don’t notice it unless I eat. which of course I do three times a day and it succeeds in making it as difficult as possible. The hassle of trying to fit a dentist appointment into my already FULL schedule…resulted in this conclusion. “I’m positively tired of braces!” -sigh- it felt sooooo good to get that out… Again I ask myself: What convinced me to get them again?!?!?!? So 7:15 on Friday it is=)

Jogging horses after work is a lot of fun…but cleaning the stalls is a different story…eight of them total at the moment, but more horses are expected as the yearling sales continue. My poor hands! All blistered up from the shovels, scratched from harnessing up these crazy animals and dry from the wind. I NEED gloves! but when can I find the time to go get them. I guess I’ll have to start buying my living necessities online.

On Saturday I worked on cleaning up our families old computer and installing all the programs etc. onto the new. The desk looks so different with just a laptop. Unlike the old computer box with a billion plugins, this laptop only has one=) I sorted through all the stuff in the drawers…filled several trash bags…throwing stuff away is always enjoyable=) While doing this I got to…you guessed it…COOK! I made two pumpkin pies (the dessert Victoria wanted for her birthday), peanut butter smoothie (which we used like ice cream on the pie, sounds weird/gross but you’d understand if you were raised with it=), spaghetti pie and all the sides that go with that. So fun! So I went back and fourth from working to baking…I could totally get used to this ratio=)

Day 288

~my afternoon~

my afternoon was spend figuring my budget for the next week…one of my all time favorite weekly chores.

Day 289

~accessory~

Day 290

~late~

yeah it was LATE…after square dancing all evening, this kid still had a lot of energy.

Day 291

~on the wall~

Victoria’s party=) we decorated with stars. She’s really into astronomy at the moment=) it added a fun retro feeling to the night…haha. We watched the entire North and South movie with everyone…four hours total. My parent’s rock…staying up with the best of us and finishing it out=)

Day 292

~layer~

Salmon meat layers…btw this was an AMAZING lunch!

Day 293

~a pattern~

yep I finished it…well should I say my sister Alexandria finished it, haha  (check out about this quilt here)

Day 294

~unique~

a very unique evening. I took my camera to work and just before started on my dad’s businesses’ books, I thought about taking my photo of the day. But no camera, I left it at work. Which is only 15 minutes away and Christina was so kind as to ride along, but STILL…

So that was my week=) Thanks for stopping by!

Which photo/s was your favorite?!?!?!?

 

Nature!

Here we went to look at the property a friend just purchased. A lovely place to relax. No car sounds very peaceful and quiet. Forty acres of pure heaven=)

Over looking the property….lovely!

I can just step into this one=)

The coolest thing of all! Along on side of the property runs this historic stone fence…very neat=)

This tree frog was on the side of the abandoned chicken house. I love frogs and toads…but I’d have to say tree frogs are my favorite=) They are just so amazing!

Which photo is your favorite?

 

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Jimmy Nash Park Hill, Martinsville Indiana

It’s so interesting going back to your parents childhood stomping grounds. The Jimmy Nash Park Hill (just called Park Hill by my parents) is one of those places. Over looking the city of Martinsville. I wonder if my parents ever thought that their kids would someday be standing in the same place looking over the same view. A view to them so familiar, one filled with many childhood memories.

As the cool breeze brushed my face…I stood in silence just taking in the view…from the field below, to the tree line meeting the sky. So far away, yet seeming so close. The valley below all in a hustle and bustle, everyone going about their individual days. Faintly I hear the sound of the city traffic and children’s laughter in the city pool below. But up here all is peaceful.

View from the top…

Walking up the hill…

There’s a picnic table at the top

A perfect spot to take pictures…

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