Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter




Happy Easter blog readers. I hope you're all having a nice day with family. Our day will be quiet. Just the two of us, the cats and the grand-dog. :) We'll be having Easter and our grandson's birthday next Sunday.

We finally had a nice rain on Friday night. Reports are anywhere from half an inch to an inch. It rained steadily for several hours here so I'm leaning more towards an inch accumulation.  Plus a quick shower yesterday just as I was taking the grand-dog out for a short walk after work. It quit almost as soon as we got back to the house. :)  Funny how that works!

Here's a picture of the two new grand-nieces with the quilts I made for them along with the rose plant from their other great-aunt.

Adalene & Ainsley







Thursday, March 28, 2013

On A Lighter Note



Probably trying to fill out one of those USDA Census forms.  :)

Another Goody You Should Read

THIS is why amendments should not be allowed to be tacked on to legislation that MUST pass.

http://www.naturalnews.com/039668_Monsanto_Protection_Act_Obama_deception_GMOs.html

Does Congress run this country or does Monsanto? It's getting real hard to tell.


Being Political Again....

But really, what business is it of the government as to exactly what is on each farm if they don't have plans to help themselves to it?  Please read this article.....especially if you're a farmer. Pass it on to the farmers you know.

http://www.naturalnews.com/039652_USDA_agriculture_census_government_surveillance.html

Actually, I wish each and every farmer in America would just burn this multi-page form when they get it. They don't need the added burden of filling it out and besides, whatever happened to privacy?? America...land of the free. Yeah, right!!!

I'll step down off my soap box now. Stuff like this just ticks me off. If we don't start rebelling, the next thing we know we'll have to report how many times we use the bathroom in a day or how many glasses of water we drink......And be taxed on it probably.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

What's Cooking?

The ingredient of the week over at JudyL's site was butternut squash.  In 2011 our garden produced an overabundance of squash. I had canned a lot of squash the year before and didn't need more so went looking for butternut squash recipes.  All of mine were for desserts or breads and I wanted more of a side dish or main dish. This is one that I found that I've made many times since.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Potato-Squash-Casserole/Print




After making it for the first time I quit doing the microwaving step (the T. of water can be left out).  I brown and drain the sausage and skip layering. Just mix it all together.  Leave out the 2 T. flour. And I rarely put the shredded cheese on top....don't worry, there are plenty of calories without it :) If I bake it in my small round dark enamel roaster it takes about an hour at 375*.  In a glass pan it takes longer.

This is very good even if it is on the unhealthy side.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

What Am I Reading?



This week I read The Goodbye Quilt by Susan Wiggs.  My cousin had recommended it to me and last week I said I needed to read something lighter, so this was it. It's a fast read about a mother and daughter on their way across country to the daughter's college. Daughter is driving so mom has plenty of time to work on a memory quilt she's making for her daughter and to remember the past and wonder what the future will be like for her and her husband now that they will have an "empty nest." I enjoyed it even though it's not my usual style of book.....mystery, suspense, action.

Find out what others are reading at JudyL's site.

Here's an update on the baby quilts in the last post.  The baby's themselves, born yesterday.

Adorable twins.



Sunday, March 17, 2013

Two Baby Quilts Finished

And just in time too.



My grand-nieces are scheduled to make their appearance tomorrow.

 

Friday, March 15, 2013

Busy Week

It's been a busy week. Got the e-Rate paperwork for the library caught up on Monday.  What could be done on postcards requires filling out five forms through the year.

Tuesday was dentist day. Expensive, but no cavities. Yay!!! That evening was Quilt Club. Both our original hostess & our substitute hostess were out of town, but that was OK, we muddled through. I got fourteen more star blocks done for my Orca Bay.


At this rate it will only take a few more months to finish. :)

Wednesday morning was the Antelope Co. Library Assoc. meeting in Elgin.  I got to drive over the new bridges south of  town that washed out in the flooding going on three years ago.  The first time I was on that road since they washed out.  In the afternoon I got one of two baby quilts loaded on the machine and quilted.

Thursday was another work day and I put out hundreds of books for the used book sale that will start tomorrow (Sat.) and run until the end of the month. Hope we sell lots of them because I hate the thought of boxing them all back up and disposing of them.  My back is still protesting from putting them out.

Today I got yesterday's quilt off the machine and squared up. Then loaded the second one and got it quilted, removed and squared up too.  Binding them is on the agenda for the weekend. Just in time to since I hear my niece is supposed to meet her twin girls face-to-face on Monday.  With a bunch of laundry and dishes also done today, that was the week that was.

To finish up here's a picture of DH at his retirement lunch a week ago.


Just think, we've already survived a week of his retirement. There's hope.


 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

What Are You Reading?







Yeah, I know I said I should swear off this kind of book. But where else are you going to find out about what the industries are trying to sell you and say are good for you when they really aren't?  Testing is lied about or not done at all. Scientists are silenced. Negative effects turn up years later.  What a great system!!!

Maybe next week I'll try to read some mindless fluff. I don't think science has said that is bad......yet.


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Just Say NO! to GMO Food

Thinking about eating healthier?  Avoiding GMO foods might be a good place to start. Here's a website with lots of good reasons why:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog

The more I read about the negative side of GMOs the madder I get. Just what the hell does our FDA and government think they're doing by allowing this?  Other industrialized nations got wise to it at least ten years ago, but here it's still being stuffed down our throats whether we want it or not. Maybe people in those other countries really are smarter than Americans....that's what educational statistics are showing anyway.

On another note, the baby quilt tops are done, the backings and battings are pieced and the bindings are made. Now to dust off the quilting machine and get them done. I have quite a bit of quilting to do and need to get off the procrastination trip.



Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Isn't It The Truth?


 I'm finally getting back to putting the frames on the last batch of blocks for the teal blue/orange quilt.  The "nekkid" 9-patches are there at the top of the piles.


It always seems that if I get away from something for a while it's hard to go back, and needing to cut more pieces is the worst!! Now I can SEW and that always goes better.

Question:  Why do we always wait so long to change the cutter blade?  I was positively sawing the fabric to get it cut and when I finally broke down and put the new blade in it was like a hot knife through butter.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Weekend Buddy



This is Max, my weekend buddy. His family went to the girls State Basketball tournaments this weekend. He's such a sweet, happy little guy. So good. He'll probably be here until sometime tomorrow since the girls play for the championship in their class at 4:30 today.  Granddaughter #2 is a student manager for the team and I can imagine just how excited she is to be a part of this as an eighth grader.

Not much else going on. Just getting paperwork done to have an income since hubby will be retired as of this coming Thursday.  That might be a good thing for him. For me?  The jury will still be out for a while on that.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Friday, March 1, 2013

It's No Secret.......

......that some things just really aggravate me & then I like to share. :)  Today I came across this article about the United States' health care and insurance systems. Is it any wonder this great country of ours is on its way into the dumpster? Forcing people to buy insurance isn't the answer. I really don't know what is, but that isn't it. Maybe going from an overly medicated, disease treating system to a prevention system is the answer.....though of course not as profitable for hospitals, clinics, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical giants.

Read the article for yourself and draw your own conclusions as to why health care is in the situation it's in.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-signs-that-the-u-s-health-care-system-is-a-gigantic-money-making-scam-that-is-about-to-collapse