Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Keepin' Warm

GREETINGS!

We have had some trouble with our old furnace, and seem to have had to call the repair man pretty often any more. So.............we splurged and bought a new Trane heat pump!

This is the old furnace run on propane. It was costing about $200+ a month when it was cold outside.

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The gas eater is totally out now, sitting in the back yard !


This is the new Trane heat pump outside unit. Our old A/C unit was about ready for the graveyard too, so this solved both problems!


This is the inside unit. Takes up half the space as the old gas furnace and because of that, I gained a new storage space! Ronnie built a shelf on the upper unused portion of the space.


We are now all electric except for the propane cook stove, which I totally hate! But I'm informed that we cannot switch over to electric because we are not wired for those amps required for an electric stove, or some such nonsense. I really think its a case of not wanting to do it! Anyway, so far I'm happy with the heat pump, but it does take some getting used to. Will be interesting to see how it changes our electric bill!

This seems to have been the month for getting new things, and not just for the fun of it! They were things we needed; like a new washing machine and new front brakes on my van. At least my new washer won't eat up my clothes (I hope) and will spin the water out of them so I don't have to wring them out by hand. That alone should save some electricity from less dryer time. And that's the first time I've done brakes on my van (its a 2002) which sounds good to me, and so I'm safe again.

Went into Gore today and got my hair cut. I just couldn't stand all that bulk of hair on the nape of my neck! It's short on the sides and back and long enough to curl the top. Probably a typical old lady hair style! But I like it. February is over and done! Ornamental pear trees are in full bloom as are daffodils; Ronnie spaded up the garden box for radishes, and before you know it the Red Bud trees will be peeking out.

That's all I know for now. Enjoy the last day of this month! Take care and thank God for your blessings.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Who Would Have Thought?!

GREETNGS!

This part of my blog is mainly for my daughter Sonja. I know she will enjoy seeing my new magazine subscription cover! :)


I must be getting really old and senile, subscribing to Martha Stewart!!!!

And here are a couple more pictures of my table runner. I decided to sew some buttons on it to dress it up a bit, so got out my jar of old buttons. I think it looks good!



Had a great day yesterday. Had to go to Checotah to buy groceries and to the Farm Supply store to buy some Skunk Odor Remover for Salli, so stopped by my friend Kathy's on the way. Had coffee and caught up on their remodeling job and her trip to Wisconsin in January when her father passed on. Also stopped at the Mission Store (thrift) and looked around. Didn't find any good deals though. Before I knew it I'd been gone 5 hours! And when I got home I was extremely worn out. My old hips and legs can't take all that movement anymore! Such is life.......

That's all I know for now. Until next time, take care and God bless.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Finally Finished!

GREETINGS!

Well, after a few weeks of trial and error and sore fingers from making small stitches, my table runner is finally finished! I love it. I tried to take some pictures to show it off, but none of them turned out very good. They just don't show the true colors or details of my quilting. Must be the red material and my camera and the lighting don't mix. In any event, here is what I've got to show:

This picture the runner is folded in half, and I still should have made it about 8 inches longer for when my table is extended.l


This one shows the gingham backing I used, and you can see some of the detailed quilting. Today I've been toying with the idea of sewing some white buttons in the diamond of each color section and one in the center on the ends. I think I will!!


Since finishing this I've made a couple of oversized place mats for us to use at supper time. I made them wider and deeper so you can get your glass and plate and silverware all on them and not be crowded. Love it. I didn't quilt them, just sewed on the machine. Don't know what my next project will be, but I'm thinkin' on it!

That's all I know, so until next time take care and God Bless you.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Apples & Pies - Oh My!

GREETINGS!


I bought these beautiful apples yesterday to make a pie. They were $1.67 a pound; there are 6 apples and it cost me over $6.00 for them. And the refrigerated pie crust was another $2 something, so that makes my pie cost at least $8.00!! (Even if I made my own pie crust it would be costly.)Whatever happened to going out and picking some apples and making a pie?!
I have been in Oklahoma for 3 years now and have not seen 1 apple tree!

Can you tell I'm a Washington State girl, where apples are abundant???????

That's all I know for now, other than I'm still quilting on my table runner!
Until next time, take care and may God bless you with some apples!! :)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Busy As A Bee

GREETINGS!

My goodness! I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted. I guess I have been busy! My last post was about the disappointing quilting class; this one is about the fun of teaching myself!


On my weekly trip to WalMart I went to the sewing section and looked at their "notions". Well, to my delight and surprise, I found the items of tools the teacher said we should have, i.e. rotary cutter, rotary mat and a big ruler. And the best surprise of all was that they were about 1/2 price of what they were in the fabric shop! So of course, I bought one of each! I'm here to tell you, there is nothing like a rotary cutter; it's the best thing since sliced bread! I would strongly suggest you get one if you do a lot of cutting out of material. They are amazing!

So once I had my "tools" I figured it was time to get busy and create! It took me awhile and a few piece of paper to decide how I wanted to lay out my table runner, and which colors of fabric I wanted to use. I decided on 3 of the red pieces from what my daughter gave me for Christmas, and a very simple layout, or pattern. See below. The hat in the one picture is all you can see of Ronnie holding up the runner after it was sewn together.



After I had that part done, I made another trip to a different WalMart to buy some material for the backing and something for the middle to give it some substance. I had some batting that I had bought to use, but found that it wasn't apparently made for what I was making as it was too fluffy and unruly! What I did end up getting was some material like the stuff older blankets are made of; I don't know what its called, some kind of fleece maybe? Anyway, it works perfect! And I got some red and white gingham check for the backing. I think it will look great! I got those two things all measured and cut and pinned on the runner pieces and today was the red letter day...............I started quilting my table runner!!

I've done one whole row the length of the runner, and I think it looks great! I'm so excited to be at this stage. I tell you, when I get this thing done it will be on my table for a long time! It seems the first time you make something it is priceless because of all the money you had to spend buying the needed supplies and tools, some ending up worthless! ha And not to mention all the time you have invested.

When I am all done you can bet I'll have a picture of it on my blog!

In between my sewing I've been doing laundry, cooking, boxing up some stuff to send to my grand-daughter and going to the post office! We don't even want to discuss the cost of shipping a good sized box. My friend Judy and I went back to our old church last Sunday. It was nice to be welcomed by old friends, but sad to see how attendance was down to about 40. I imagine we will be going back there. The only down side is that it is 16 miles one way and it would be nicer to be closer to home. I'm sure Jesus would have a few things to say about that! :)

That all I know for now. Take care and God bless all of your days.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Some Things Good - Some Not So Much

GREETINGS!


Well, yesterday was supposed to be my big first day of quilting class. As it turns out, it was my first and last day! I paid my $5 and met some nice ladies and then it began. The class was to make a quilt, and the teacher would not alter her plan any for me - which I can understand - and therefore, the class was not what I wanted. I did not want to make a "blanket"; rather, I wanted to learn the art of actually stitching or "quilting". I think the word quilting is applied mainly to a blanket, and therefore deceiving! Anyway, we were given handouts telling what tools we would need, how much material we would need, etc. It would have been easily $100 to get started, and I could not spend that kind of money then even if I had wanted to make a blanket!! I did learn some things about measuring and cutting and sewing pieces, which will be helpful. But otherwise, I guess I'll go it alone and make do using the Internet and trial and error as a teacher! Oh, also at the beginning of the class the teacher asked what kind of sewing machines we all had, and said it really didn't matter as long as it wasn't one of those cheap things from WalMart. Well, guess what kind of sewing machine I have???!! When she got to me I told her what I had and she did some fancy back-paddling! :) Too funny. Another OH! After you had spent a sizeable amount on tools and materials to make this "quilt", you had to hire someone to machine quilt it! Or search for someone who hand quilted, which I'm beginning to think is few and far between.

So, I am kind of disappointed, but I will continue on doing my own thing, and as long as I enjoy doing what I can, what difference does it make?!


Here is my new head board for my bed! I finally got the red rose decals sanded off the black paint earlier this week, and Ronnie got it spray painted for me yesterday. He spent a couple hours getting it to this point, having to adjust and make brackets to fasten it to. Also had to find different size threaded bolts and still need a couple. So it is away from the wall a little because it wobble some until we get to the hardware store and get more bolts. It sure make the bed look different. I love it.

That's all I know for today. The weekend is coming so hope you all have a good one. Thoughts and prayers to my cousin Joe in Alabama, waiting in pain for kidney stone removal procedure. Until next time, take care and God bless.