Chat – Page 40 – Thimbleanna

Three Things

12 Comments / May 27, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat, Sewing

One: Thanks for all of your roof sympathy. Among the great e-mails, I actually did get some advice for making a 15 year roof last 16 years and for those of you who may also soon be needing a new roof, I thought I’d share:

Just consulted with the TJBMOTH (TheJukeBoxManoftheHouse). I had him take a look at the curling roof picture on your blog. He said that the way to make 15 year shingles last for 16 years is to go to Home Depot and purchase one of those blue tarps. Also buy a tall ladder while you are there. … Have TheManoftheHouse help you place the ladder at the side of the house. Have him hold the ladder so you don’t fall off. Make sure he has the camera with him so he can take a picture of you nailing the blue tarp to the roof so you can place it on your blog. In one year (after tuition hell is over), you can hire a roofing contractor to replace your curled roof and then you can finally remove the blue tarp that your neighbors have complained about all year.

Thanks for the laugh TJBMOTH — you’re awesome and I heart you!

Two: After a wonderful honeymoon, the newlyweds came home late Sunday night. To welcome them home, we had a family get together yesterday and watched them open gifts. I included this pillow I made to go with the wedding quilt that didn’t make it in time for the wedding (it’s hard to tell how big it is — the pillow form is 12″ x 16″):

Three: Erin gave me a no-pressure tag which I thought looked fun.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago today? We were living in Minneapolis and spending most of our time re-doing a 60’s style house. It was lots of fun and a great learning experience. That house was butt-ugly, but boy they sure knew how to build houses then. All the walls had two layers of sheetrock (wonder what they were thinking) and we replaced the roof for the first time — it was 32 years old — which the roofer said was a testament to how solidly the house had been built.

2. What five items are on my “to do” list for the day? Well, the day is over, but here’s what was on my list:

1- Fly to NJ (again!)
2- Work on two socks on one circ while flying (yay!)
3- Call a certain someone and admit I was wrong in a discussion we had a few months ago (sorry!)
4- Catch up on blogs in hotel room (not even close!)
5- Figure out where I’ve misplaced my expense credit card (gulp!)

3. What are my favorite snacks? Holy Cow. Do we want to be here all night? How ’bout Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cracker Jacks, Cupcakes, Cookies, Almonds, Fruit with fruit dip, M & M’s, ….. hey…I have fruit in there!

4. What would I do if I were a billionaire? Probably pretty much what I’m doing now. Well, except that I definitely wouldn’t have a job and I’d travel more. I’d just enjoy staying at home. Homemaking. And “Do Good Works.”

5. What are the places I have lived? Logan, UT; Ogden, UT; Lancaster, CA; Dayton, OH; Manti, UT; Orem, UT; Huntsville, AL; Lawton, OK; Hanau, Germany; Ft. Wayne, IN; Minneapolis, MN

6. Who are some people you would like to know more about? Nanette took the words right out of my mouth. My ancestors.

Ok, Four things: Shame on me for not posting yesterday, on Memorial Day in the US. I managed last year, but I didn’t touch the computer on Sunday or Monday. Thanks to several of you who did post.

XOXO,
Anna

Beautiful Thread, Etc.

25 Comments / April 18, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat, Crocheting

I have a few leftover items from our weekend in Chicago. On our way home, we stopped at a fun yarn shop, Idea Studio in LaGrange, Illinois. They have some very nice yarns and lots of shop samples. I especially thought these little dresses were pretty cute.

They made me think of a certain little Bub in Australia whose mother crochets like a dream! The woman in this shop told us all about a sock war they’d just finished (it’s mentioned on their web site). It reminded me of dish rag tag a little bit, although they were knitting fish socks ( I wish I had a picture — the cuff looked like fish scales and the top was shaped like a fish mouth) and not dish rags. And they weren’t in teams — it was every man for himself. Anyway, if you’re in the Chicago area, we thought this place was definitely worth a visit.
Another weekend leftover is my discovery of this fabulous thread.

Am I the only one who’s never heard of this embroidery thread? Ohmygosh, we saw a vendor at the quilt show who had several drawer-fuls of the most beautiful colors. I wanted one of each of them to bring home with me. I restrained myself however, and only purchased a little six-pack of pastel colors, plus a bit of red and blue for red and blue work. I read somewhere that this is the equivalent of using three strands of embroidery floss, so I’m a little worried about using it, as I’m a two-strand embroiderer. I’m thinking maybe the beautiful colors will take my mind off of it though.

And one last weekend leftover, I saw this cupcake fabric in a big pack at the quilt show but didn’t buy it because I didn’t want all the other prints that came with it. I found some at the Fabric Shack. Yipee! I love it! How ’bout a cupcake bunny???

Now, I have some VERY distressing news. You’ll probably want to sit down before I tell you.

Do you see any almonds in this ice cream?

No. You. Do. Not. That’s because we can’t get Chocolate Almond here anymore. According to the Baskin Robbins website, it’s now a regional ice cream and is only available in the southeast. What???? What’s up with that??? Are southern people the only ones who like Chocolate Almond ice cream? Can you southerners verify this — do you like it more than the rest of us???? Are they rationing almonds or something? Or maybe they’re trying to help us fat midwestern Chocolate Almond ice cream lovers lose a few pounds? I’m distraught. My summer just won’t be the same. I might have to send a letter.

Ok, I’m done now. I hope you all have a beautiful spring/fall weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

The Busy Weekend

31 Comments / April 14, 2008 February 12, 2012 / Chat, Peep Days, Travel

Whew! What a fun, happy weekend I’ve had! The whole thing was a big giant whirlwind — it all happened so fast. I had a great time with the quilty peeps. It’s so wonderful to have a girlfriend getaway — we really should do it more often.

We left early Friday morning for the Chicago Quilt Show. As soon as we got there, we made a bee-line for the vendors. I pretty much go to the quilt shows for the vendors these days — the quilts just haven’t seemed to be classic quilt show fare in a long time. I used to love to go to Paducah and I wonder if it’s still the same high quality show that it used to be. Maybe I was just spoiled by attending that show for several years? But, I digress (which isn’t hard to do…I think I’m still tired from my weekend!)

I looked for Sharon and Carol on and off all day but didn’t see them. Once it was time to check in to our hotel room, we left the show for awhile, and when we were re-entering the show, we ran into S & C as they were leaving. What a fun surprise! (We spared Sharon the “mask” greeting this time — but I still have them LOL) We split up again, but then met for dinner in the hotel. After dinner, we got together for some fun in our hotel room.

What a crack-up those two are. Can you spot the bloggers in the crowd???

This is some very serious business! As is our tradition, they’re taking pics of all the booty. It was totally by accident, but can you tell which bed contains the blogger booty and which bed contains the non-blogger booty???

And look again — that picture is too funny. Look how hap-hazzard the bed on the left is and how neat and tidy the bed on the right is — I didn’t even notice that before! What’s up with that??? You’ve probably guessed, the slovenly stuff belongs to the bloggy peeps! What the heck does that say about us bloggers LOL! Sharon claims the territory on the upper left of the blogger bed, Carol has the upper right and my stuff is toward the bottom. What was I thinking? I don’t need all that stuff! I couldn’t help it though — our closest quilt shop is 45 minutes away, so when I see all that fantastic quilty goodness in one place, I go weak in the knees. And, I blame a fair amount of it on Nanette too — seeing all those cute tumbling block quilts that she makes made me buy a tumbling block kit and I RARELY buy kits! Junie gets the prize for the non-blogger bed — look at all those neat rows of fat quarters. Don’t you just want to reach into that picture and rustle that stuff around a little? C’mon Junie — admit it, even YOU want to LOL!!! Jewels bought all the goodies on the left and Gurney claims that little pile up top. Gurney — I admire your strength. I’m blaming it on the fact that you have a brand-spanking new granddaughter and you had your mind elsewhere!

After we got done making a mess of our room, we cleaned things up a bit, broke out the diet pepsi, cupcakes and lemon bars (’cause we party hard LOL) and got down to some crochet business.

We worked on a little circular birthday tag (sorry, I forgot to take a picture — I think Sharon did though) and everyone did a great job. I was very proud of lil’ early bird Jewels — we were up WAY past her bedtime — it was well after midnight when everyone finished. Here they are in a serious moment of concentration — which was rare, most of the time Sharon or Jewels were cracking us up!

We met again in the morning for a leisurely breakfast. (For some reason we were plagued with sad-sack waiters for both meals — S & C are very unfairly blaming it on us quilty peeps LOL.) Then we went back to the quilt show for a few hours. Here’s Jewels and Junie with PamKittyMorning‘s Celebrity.

They’re having a very serious conversation about how much they miss Simply Quilts. The message was “Get Over It and Move On!” OkeyDoke! The two days were WAY too short and we had a fabulous time. Thanks for our cool new tote bags Sharon — we love them! And Jewels was a sweetheart and brought us some goodies too — Thanks Jewels!!!

So, that was Friday and Saturday. On Sunday morning, SweetiePie, TheFirstChild, MeMum and I got up bright and early to drive to Dayton for SweetiePie’s last bridal shower. SweetiePie had her final dress fitting just before the shower (when you live so far away, you have to squeeze in all these activities where you can.) There’s no dress peeking (wouldn’t want TheFirstChild to catch a glimpse, now would we?) but here’s a shot of her pretty shoes.

We had a fun, fun time all the way there and all the way back. We laughed a ton. Let’s just say that there was a lot of “She Said That”* going on. And “Grandma” was the worst offender!
So, I’m a very lucky girl and I’ve had a wonderful weekend to carry me through this next month of fun work until the big day. Thank you, thank you Quilty Peeps, Sharon, Carol, and my little fambly for all the fun memories that will keep a smile on my face for a long, long time!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well — I have lots of blogs to catch up on and I’ve had lots of e-mail — if I’ve missed replying to you, please excuse me — rest assured that I have read everything though!

XOXO,
Anna

*The Quilty Peeps taught me a new game that we called “She Said That.” I’m pretty dense, so it took me a long time to catch on and it would take me even longer to explain it. But, if you watch The Office, you’ll know the dumb game!

A Good Surprise

22 Comments / April 8, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat

It’s a slow week in the neighborhood. There’s been a little bit of sewing, not much crafting, and a bit of moving. SweetiePie’s parents have sold their home, so she needed to get her stuff out of their place and into an the apartment where she and TheFirstChild will live after they’re married. Can you imagine selling your house a month before your daughter is getting married? Oh, the chaos! I suppose you have to take a home sale when you can get it in this market, but I certainly do feel for them.

Anyway, we moved her stuff into the apartment last night. They’re lucky as they won’t really have to buy much furniture to start their new life. Actually, considering they’ll be moving again when school starts in the fall, they probably have too much stuff. In spite of that, it was a quick move-in job — the advantages to being young and just starting out!

So today, all tuckered out after a late night and boring day at work, I arrived home to find this awesome surprise:

Have you ever seen so many almonds in one package? It’s hard for you to see the depth of them. OhMyGosh! One day, Miss Jean posted about her almond trees and I mentioned how much I LOVE almonds. They’re my favorite nut — and that’s saying a LOT ’cause I’m a nut fanatic. I don’t think there’s much of anything that can’t be made better with nuts LOL. Anyway, that sweet Miss Jean sent me my own almond farm in a box (to include a great booklet all about almonds that I forgot to put in the picture.) Look at all those incredible flavors — who knew? We have regular almonds (there will surely be some baking with these); organic almonds in roasted, garlic (really? that’s going to be interesting!), and cinnamon (ok, I confess, that bag already has a BIG hole in it LOL) flavors; yummy candy coated jordan almonds; and three I-can’t-wait-to-try flavors — Maui Onion and Garlic, Lime ‘n Chili, and Jalapeno Smokehouse.

I’ve never seen such a wide variety of flavors. I’m thinking an almond tasting is in order! Does anyone know the proper protocol? Do you swirl them under your nose, taking in the heavenly aroma? Or put them on your tongue and suck air over them? Oooh, yum….this is going to be FUN! And did you see that other sweet surprise in there?

Oh Miss Jean! {Very Big Sigh} She’s just perfect! How did you know how much I love the August Moon figurines? I have several others, but this one has to be my favorite. Giggle Girl. I just love the sentiment — it fits me perfectly (my favorite shirt says Laughter is the Best Medicine.) I. Am. So. Touched. Miss Jean! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are so kind and thoughtful, I’m just bowled over. What a lucky girl am I! If you haven’t been to visit Miss Jean, you must. She has the sweetest blog AND a brand new adorable puppy!

Methinks this is a great start to my week. I wish all of you something wonderful to make you giggle this week too!

XOXO,
Anna

Good Luck Comes in Threes

34 Comments / March 29, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat

Well, Hello! I’m back from my week’s travel, it’s a beautiful sunny Saturday, and I’ve got goodies to show you. I’ve been a very lucky girl in the last several weeks and I’ve received some adorable gifts that I’m so excited about that I can’t keep them to myself.

First up, that oh-so-sweet Mrs. Farmhouse sent me some awesome eggs made out of old quilts. I LOVE them! They came all wrapped up in a clear plastic bag and I could hardly bear to unwrap them. It was necessary though, in order to get a decent photo without plastic-glare. Aren’t they cool? I had never seen anything like them and I love them (oh sorry, I already said that — I think I’m saying love too much too, but oh well — I mean it!) I love the tag that came with them too. I’m thinking I’ll surely have to leave them out year round.

And what the heck??? Look who jumped into that bowl with those eggs. An Easter-Annie! I’m sure I don’t even need to tell you where she came from — but I will anyway — it was non other than Ms. Sharon! She’s soooo cute — I’m crazy about her! Look at the little easter bunnies on her dress. Both of these gifts were totally unexpected and I’m SO touched to have received them.

(Naturally, TheEmptyNestChild thinks EasterAnnie is for him…you may remember he loves stuffies. Have no fear however, EasterAnnie will be safely placed out of his reach!)

And last, but certainly not least, last summer I signed up for a PIF from the Fabulous Mrs. Locket and it arrived this week!!! She sent me a famous Locket Wallet, an adorable pincushion (with an embroidered depiction of her little Fred selling cakes) and some English tea. (The tea was an incredibly considerate alternative to candy — since we’re both watching the goodie intake. And may I just say that Ms. Locket has been much more successful than me!)

I Lurve my little wallet and pincushion. How cute is that cupcake fabric??? It’s the perfectly sized wallet for outings with my little felted purse — my normal wallet is too big.

And look how cool — I was worried about where to store coins with this little wallet, but it has a zipper on the back with a pocket that will be just perfect. I love the cupcakes, the pink, the polkies — just everything about this little wallet.

So, thank you, thank you to all of you….Karen, Sharon, and Lucy! You’re all wonderful real-imaginary friends and I HEART all of you! I would say your kindness has rendered me speechless, but clearly I’m still talking. It’s had that same effect though, on the heart, and I’m very grateful to all of you!

Now, I’ll leave you with a pic of sweet little EasterAnnie. I thought it was funny how that fickle EmptyNestChild left her (see his tail as he walks away?) She’s still happy though LOL!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh, P.S. If you want to see some more cuteness, check out this little owl. Aaaccckkkk! And, if you’re in the US, don’t forget that this week is cupcake week on Martha. Here’s a link to a cupcake promo — I hope this means some of the recipes for the cupcakes shown will be on the show this week. ;-)