Sunday, January 23, 2011

Woolies and trusses

Since I mentioned our Woolie Mammoth group, I thought I’d show you some of the projects that people are working on. I need to remember to have my camera ready for pictures. We are usually having so much fun I forget to take any.

First up, 2 cute blocks for a BOM that Mari is working on. Sorry, can’t remember the name of the BOM.

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Some of Sandy’s projects:

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A close up…

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And this project of hers isn’t wool, but it’s spectacular so I thought I’d throw it in. She finished up Farmer’s Daughter.

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A cute scissors case. (sorry, I don’t remember who was working on it).

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A darling little mat.

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And this cute Christmas bell pull.

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Now on to the trusses. They DID arrive on Wednesday after the delays. We have been there every day to see progress but I won’t bore you with a million photos. These were taken yesterday.

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That’s my sewing nest, right in the middle on the second floor. Smile

Oh, I do have to share a couple of pics of the crane lifting the trusses.

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I was even lucky enough to catch a picture of a truss being delivered to the roof.

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It’s only been 5 weeks since we broke ground. It’s really begun to take shape.

Hugs, Anne

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

A new blog

My friend, Anna, has started a new blog called Woolie Mammoth.  We are in a wool group together which she also named Woolie Mammoth.  (Don’t quite know why she’s obsessed with that name.  It doesn’t conjure up the prettiest of pictures, does it?).   I simply call our group “Woolies”.   The mental picture of a woolie mammoth is more than I can handle!   LOL

Anyway, head on over and say “hi”.   She plans to concentrate her blog on showing pictures of all our local quilt shops, her own projects, and, once a month,  she’ll be featuring the sewing room of some of our local quilters. 

First up is Marilyn.  Wait till you see her stash!  You won’t believe it.  So, head on over to the Woolie Mammoth blog and enjoy her pictures and funny sense of humor.

 

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On the home front, we’re waiting on the trusses to be delivered.   They were supposed to be here on Monday, then Tuesday.  Now, we hear they will be here today.  

The stairs are in and I was able to go in my sewing nest but it was pouring rain and really cold, so we didn’t stay too long and didn’t get any pictures.  Hopefully we’ll see the trusses today.  

Hugs, Anne

Monday, January 17, 2011

A couple of projects

I haven’t been doing a lot of sewing lately but recently I managed to get these 2 little ones finished. 

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I might have to hang this in the entryway of the new house.  Now I have to be on the lookout for a hanger for it. 

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Unfortunately I didn’t get this one finished in time for Christmas this year.   Now, where to put it so I don’t forget about it next Christmas. LOL

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Both are Primitive Gatherings patterns.  I just can’t get enough of Lisa’s designs.  

Hugs, Anne

Friday, January 14, 2011

Updates

I had a couple of people ask me for the names of patterns that I showed in my Christmas party post.

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Marsha said this is an old quilt pattern by Moda University called “English Rose”.

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There was no pattern for this pillow. I was inspired by a readymade one on the internet. When I tried to order it, they were out of stock so I changed it up a bit and came up with my own version.

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We went by the house this afternoon and I was thrilled to see my sewing nest being constructed. The stairs aren’t built yet, so I couldn’t go up and actually stand it. Maybe by this weekend I’ll be able to plant my feet there!

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And, last but certainly not least, the refrigerator is fixed! (actual photo of our fridge) They were able to rebuild the part and it’s now humming along like it should. Yippee!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

House progress

They are moving right along with our new home construction. 

Here’s the progress just a week ago.

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We went over there yesterday and this is what we were thrilled to see.

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Nice change in a week, huh?   Try clicking on the pictures to enlarge.  Hope they will enlarge for you.

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A bit of the inside view.

But the best view of all…

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This is the view I’ll have from my sewing nest.   I took it from the breakfast nook which will be directly under my room.  Will I get any sewing done?  Maybe at night. Smile 

My room will be on the second story which the framer said they will start construction on tomorrow.   Trusses are scheduled to be delivered next Monday, so I should be able to get a good feeling for it this weekend.   Can’t wait!  I’m so anxious to see what it’s going to look like.

And the journey continues!

Hugs, Anne

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Christmas fiasco

Okay, stay with me on this post. Trust me.

A few days after I got back from California, daughter, Jenni, arrived for Christmas with Emma and Mason. (Son-in-law, Joe wasn’t due to arrive until the 24th)

The day after arriving, Emma woke up with a deep croupy cough. But, it didn’t seem to keep her down. We had about 6 – 8 inches of snow overnight and she got to help Papa (Mr. CnW) shovel the deck. He had even gotten her a little shovel of her own.

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Of course, they had to take a break from all the work to build Papa’s version of a “snowman”.

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Ahhh, exhausting work!

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THEN….the following day, Mason woke up with the same croupy cough. It didn’t seem to bother him either during the day.

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But, by that night, he couldn’t sleep and was really laboring to breathe. Poor little guy was just miserable. Neither one of the kiddos had ever needed a doctor in Bend, so after a sleepless night for us all, we just opened the phone book and called one. They were able to see him early that morning. He got a “breathing” treatment at the Dr’s office that was supposed to work for 2 – 4 hours, and a steroid shot that was supposed to kick in not long after. He sounded so much better and we headed to the pharmacy for a prescription.

THEN….no more than 10 minutes after we left the office, he started wheezing and laboring to breathe again. Back to the Dr’s office. She took one look at him and decided he needed to be admitted to the hospital where he could be monitored. So, off we went to admitting.

He got all settled into his room with his Mommy. (I have to say that the little gown he had on was adorable).

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He was one sick little boy but I finally got him to smile a little in between wheezes.

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He ended up staying 2 nights (with Mommy right by his side) until his breathing was under control. We found out that the little ones can’t handle Croup very well because of their tiny trachea. (I think that’s right). The virus causes inflammation which leaves very little room for air to be inhaled and exhaled.

He was back to his old self after a couple days back at home. Whew! His Daddy ended up coming a day earlier than planned as he had been really worried about his little guy.

THEN………. while all this was happening, our refrigerator decided to quit working.

(all the following pictures are from Google images because no actual pictures were taken!)

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We called a repairman who came out the next day and decided it was the “evaporator fan motor” and he would have a new one the next day. In the meantime, we had to move our food to the refrigerator in the garage. Mind you…it’s now the 22nd of Dec.

So, he comes back the next day, replaces the motor and goes on his merry way. But….guess what? By late afternoon it wasn’t any cooler than it was the day before. Another call to the repairman and he said he’d be back in the morning (the 24th!)

THEN……. In the meantime, I had baked a couple of pies that had spilled over onto the bottom of the oven, so Mr. CnW said we needed to use the self cleaner on the oven before baking the turkey. 3-1/2 hours later, the oven was sparkling clean.

Are you still with me? Trust me…it gets better.

I had fixed a lasagna for dinner and went to put it in the oven and……guess what? Yep, you’re right, it wouldn’t heat up.

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All the great minds in the house said it just needed to cool down from the self cleaning mode. “Sure” I said. “Yeah, right”. After 1/2 hour of everyone staring at the oven, I called Anne, who has a vacation home in Bend that wasn’t being used. I asked her if I could cook the lasagna at her house. She said “of course”, so off I went, taking my brother with me to help.

It smelled just wonderful cooking and even better when it was done.

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THEN…….as my brother was taking it out of the oven to put on the counter, guess what? Yep, you’re right…..IT FELL ON THE FLOOR!

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This Google image picture isn’t even remotely like what it actually looked like on the floor. The WHOLE casserole dish UPSIDE DOWN on the floor.

Now, you have to understand that my brother is a bachelor and has been his whole 67 years! To this day he doesn’t understand “how” it happened. All I know is that I never touched the dish. My theory is that the dish grew legs while it was cooking and decided to jump off the counter onto the floor doing a triple somersault on the way down! Just a theory!

After cleaning it all up, we headed to the local pizza parlor for take-out.

THEN…the morning of the 24th, the day before Christmas, Chrismas eve, (are you getting the picture?) we had 2, that’s TWO repairmen here at the same time in the kitchen. Of course they knew each other, and I'm sure we paid for their “chat” in our hourly labor charge. (Yikes, I’m feeling my blood pressure rise as I re-tell the story)

Long story short (HA)….the oven was fixed by replacing the thermostat and I was able to get the turkey in to cook at a reasonable hour.

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But….the refrigerator…now that’s another story. Repairman had to call Kitchen Aid/Whirlpool for advice and was told which part was needed. We were told it would take SEVEN days for the part to arrive.

Are you still with me?

Monday, January 3rd, Mr Repairman called to tell us that the part has been discontinued and is no longer being manufactured, BUT there’s a place in the midwest, or east coast or timbuktu, that will TRY to repair the part. Another 7 – 10 days. Now, friends, this refrigerator is only NINE years old! And…….since we sold the house and are now renting back, we are feeling very guilty, but don’t want to buy the new owners a brand new fridge. Ummm, dilemma!

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This is how I feel about appliances!

So, that’s a part of why I wasn’t blogging over the holidays. Whew!

Will keep you posted.

Hugs, Anne

Monday, January 10, 2011

GO DUCKS!

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Ooooooooooooooo!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Party… part 2

My blog post titles sure are creative, aren’t they?    I think that’s the hardest part of blogging for me.    Oh well….on to part 2.

We have a tradition of giving everyone the same gift.   In the “olden” days, it was supposed to be something handmade, but over the years, we’ve done away with the rules and anything goes.  

Remember these that I showed awhile back?

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Well, this is what I gave the girls.  (and I made sure all the frames were black).

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Done in wool with osnaberg for the background.

Patty gave us these which she made.

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All wool with a primitive distressed frame.  So cute.

Janet made these.

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Wool on silk matka background.  

Do you sense a theme going here?   I’m so glad I introduced these gals to wool.   It’s fun getting gifts like these. 

Marsha’s turn.

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These are fleece blankets with cupcakes on them.   You can’t believe how warm they are.  Perfect for our incredibly snowy winter here so far. 

Last up….Cathi.

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Another theme going here.   Snowmen, lots of snowmen.   We all love these
“Sam Snowman” calendars and have to have a new one every year.   

Thanks girls.   You’re the best!  I miss you everyday.