bunny hill giveaway

Mama Spark is having a giveaway for Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill ... if you win you will receive a $50 gift certificate to spend on the Bunny Hill website, courtesy of Anne herself ...... but don't count your bunnies till they've hopped because i am the one who is gonna win - the good spirits know that Mama Spark has megged me and megged me and megged me again ... and it just wouldn't be fair if you win and i don't!

what i did on my summer weekend

this is what we bought with our tickets they call it winning - and i guess it is if you don't count all the gazillion dollars that we spent on various stuff that yielded "bonus" tickets at the TQS auction on saturday ... it is a lunch tote, complete with a cloth napkin and nice little pockets for silverware and my best guess is that it is now worth about $200 and a lot of aggravation from a fellow quilter who was just a wee bit mean-spirited ... i have the pattern somewhere upstairs but this one is already put together and i really like the colors ... i worked on the bat blocks and i actually finished the BOM block that is due this coming saturday...
...this is the first summer squash - it was deee-licious ... it has been followed by three more about the same size - not enough to make bread (yet) but Mr. Husker gave me a big honkin' zucchini from his garden when we visited on saturday - so i have a date with the Cuisinart...
...two weeks ago Gumdrop was stung when she walked in the door - there was a wasp on her foot and it decided to take a chomp of her ... and then i was stung one morning last week and found (GASP) a nest under a plant stand about a foot away from the front door ... that thing was HUGE - the size of a mixing bowl! it's amazing that all of us weren't stung by warrior wasps ... they were really, really mad at me when i started moving things away from the area so i could destroy their nest ... by then it was the middle of the morning and ALL of them were awake and ANGRY ... so i did what i do when i wuss out - i called an exterminator to send a guy out with a big old pole and a can of high-velocity poison ... he was not a small man - and he could move very, very fast ... he didn't get stung ... but he used up an entire super-sized can of spray killing those little buggers ... the nest was gross and i did NOT take any pictures of it...
...i did, however, take a picture of the broken handle from the downstairs toilet - a home repair i actually know how to do and was prepared for ... plastic handles don't last very long and i already had a nice metal one ready for when it broke...
...and so ... not much on the quilting front, but the wasps are gone and the toilet flushes and the grass is neat and trim and the house is clean enough and the block that had to be done is

all the way from sunny sacramento

Gran had a blog giveaway a few days ago and her son (i don't remember - was it Frick or was it Frack?) picked MY number ... woo hoo!!! and so a package arrived and it had all of these goodies in it...

...those little halloween pins are cute - someday i'm gonna make witch hat pincushions (using Kim's directions) for our sewing table and i'm gonna share those little jewels with Auntia ... the bunny pattern will look sweet for easter - have to do Hocuspocusville first - or maybe not ... and i am in love with the Australian quilting magazine (i was gonna read one at Barnes & Noble but people kept walking by and getting in my light - sheesh!) ... thank you so much, Gran - i'm lovin' all of it!

bubble & brew, wishy-washy hands, half & half, and frog eyes

i finished embroidering the Hocuspocusville coffee shop two days ago......it was a lot less stitching than the quilt shop ... i tore the rest of the fabric (now's a fine time to make sure that i have enough, eh? the shop where i bought it went out of business in march) and maybe i will be able to trace out the restaurant - the black cauldron with authentic witch cuisine - this weekend ... but HPV (not the virus) is gonna have to take a backseat to the stocking that i started for LuLu (formerly known as Littlelle) ... it is counted cross stitch, so i actually have to count when i work on it and it doesn't make that great pahwhoosh sound that embroidery does ... sigh ... i have made Shepherds Bush stockings for all (four) of my kids, my mother, my sister, and three of my grandbabies - it only took 386 days to find myself two stockings behind ... sigh ... Santa is an understanding guy and will probably leave goodies for little girls with no stockings...

Gumdrop, NoJo, Mrs. Moth, Little Nonnie and LuLu
...we did manage to get all of the m&m's up to see Little Nonnie ... she was in quite the mood when we arrived - i asked her to wash her hands so she could hold the baby and she went into the bathroom ... water turns on - swish - water turns off - okay, i'm ready ... did you use soap? no, i didn't use soap - why would i use soap? you're kidding me, right? no, i'm not kidding you - i haven't touched anything except my clothes and the toilet paper ... mom, go wash your hands with soap ... why? i've lived 84 years and i think i know a little bit more about babies that you do ... mom, if you don't wash your hands with soap, then you are NOT gonna hold my granddaughter ... fine! whatever!
what is it with people who refuse to wash their hands? she's not allergic to soap. she taught me that washing my hands was the best way to not get sick. she also taught me that i should never, never, never touch a baby unless i had washed my hands with soap and water...

...and she is not alone - everybody wants to hold LuLu, but the vast majority don't even think to wash their hands first ... one actually insisted that she washed her hands before she came over so she didn't need to wash them again - never mind the fact that she pet the dog and handled the steering wheel and the door handles for the car and the house and her purse strap and her car keys ... she has some kind of eye thing that makes her eyes watery - so she is always wiping at her eyes and then sticks her finger in LuLu's mouth ... well, not on my watch ... LuLu has a binky - use it - not your nasty knuckle ... what has happened to common sense?!?
NoJo is blowing out the used candle on his half-birthday piece of cake ... doesn't he look excited?
NoJo's half birthday was last saturday ...... three of my four kids were born within a month of christmas ... it is a loooong dry spell between christmas/birthday and the next christmas/birthday so i used to bake each of them half a cake and give them silly presents six months after their birthdays ... it's a family tradition ... my family tradition ... and i'm not gonna stop giving my grandson a little piece of cake with an already-been-used candle on it unless somebody can give me a good reason not to...
frog eye salad is another tasty treat that looks like it's already been eaten once
...and Auntia finally convinced me to make some frog eye salad ... we are gonna take some to Nicci when we go to see her tomorrow ...... and then we have some auction tickets to use at The Quilters Studio - they're gonna have some shop samples on the auction block - maybe we will have a winning bid or two ... and they are having their christmas in july sale (i am so gonna stay away from the winter graphix fabrics - just say no, dianne) this weekend, too ...... i am so far behind on BOM blocks that i may never catch up - Auntia even cut the pieces for me for the required block (actually, it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart - she lost a bet and that was the payment - ha ha ha! when will she learn that i don't bet unless it's a sure thing?!?) and i still haven't looked at it ... not to mention the six pink and orange blocks ... and the new saturday sampler that meets on the second saturday of each month ... and i haven't worked on Mr. Husker's Homestead since, well, forever ... and the applique blocks from class ... and the bat blocks ... sigh

girls go to mars

to get more candy bars ...... have you heard about the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act? ... on fridays from now until september you can go to the Mars website and get free chocolate if you are among the first 250,000 people to sign in ...... it takes 6-8 weeks to receive the coupon in the mail ...... by the time mine arrived, i had forgotten all about it ... the next time i went grocery shopping i took the coupon with me and received a free Milky Way ... it was on sale for 50 cents and i think that by the time Mars paid for the full-color, flashy, card-stock coupon and postage it probably cost them less than a dollar to give me my free chocolate ... i'm not complaining - the Milky Way was yummy ... as a matter of fact, i ate Auntia's free candy bar, too because she left it in the refrigerator for more than 24 hours and that made it mine ... she made up for it the next time we went shopping by loading the cart with candy packages that had Transformers logos on them... ...she even bought some that were strawberry and peanut butter flavored which should be good - who doesn't love a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich - but these were spit-out-of-your-mouth nasty tasting things that should never have been developed let alone marketed to small children and their aunties who are obsessed with Transformers packaging ... it took another trip to the store to find a package with Bumblebee ... and i don't even want to talk about the journey to three different 7-elevens to find Slurpee cups with Bumblebee on them because i was incredibly ill after slurping a banana-flavored one so that she could have the cup and came very, very close to going to the ER on the fourth of july and i will never, never, never buy another Slurpee ... i dunno what she's gonna do with empty candy wrappers and Slurpee cups ... maybe she'll blog about it someday and let us all know

boys go to jupiter

to get more stupider ...... one of my buddies (who just happens to be a man) sent me the following message in an email ... it is a real eye-opener...

Because I'm a man, when I lock my keys in the car,
I will fiddle with a coat hanger long after hypothermia has set in.
Calling AAA is not an option ... I WILL win.

Because I'm a man, when the car isn't running very well,
I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at.
If another man shows up, one of us will say
to the other, 'I used to be able to fix these things, but now
with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know
where to start.' We will then drink a couple of beers and
break wind, as a form of holy communion.

Because I'm a man, when I catch a cold, I need someone
to bring me soup and take care of me tenderly while I lie in bed
and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do. So,
for you, this is no problem.

Because I'm a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic
groceries at the store, like beer, milk or bread.I cannot be expected to find things like exotic cheese or tofu. For all I know, they are the same thing.

Because I'm a man, when one of our appliances stops
working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that
this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person
gets here and has to put it back together.

Because I'm a man, I must hold the television remote
control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been
misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it.... though
one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator.

Because I'm a man, there is no need to ask me what I'm
thinking about. The true answer is always either sex, cars,
sex, sports, or sex. I have to make up something else when
you ask, so don't ask.

Because I'm a man, I do not want to visit your mother, or
have your mother come visit us, or talk to her when she
calls, or think about her any more than I have to. Whatever
you got her for Mother's Day is okay; I don't need to see it.
And don't forget to pick up something for my mother, too.

Because I'm a man, you don't have to ask me if I liked the

movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't.
And, if you're feeling amorous afterwards, then I will certainly
remember the name and recommend it to others.

Because I'm a man, I think what you're wearing is fine.
I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine,
too... either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it.
Everything looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine.
Can we just go now?

Because I'm a man, and this is, after all, the year 2009, I
will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry,
the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes,
and I'll do the rest.... like wandering around in the garden
with a beer in my hand, wondering what to do.

(This has been a public service message for women
to better understand men.)

spooky

we found ourselves in need of some halloween fabric (gasp - how could that be???) and went shoppin' ... these are mine...halloween hunks - you want them - you know that you do
Auntia let me use her 40% off coupon for the hunky halloween guys - halloween fabric isn't on sale yet at JoAnns - so they were $6.00/yard instead of $9.99/yard - woo hoo! i like the devil and she likes the pirate ... i suppose Twilight fans would like the vampire ... but the skeleton guy is a bit too - uhmm, i was about to write "bony" but i guess i'll say - thin for me ...... i dunno what i will make with the fabric - maybe aprons ... my halloween stash needed some good-lookin' dudes ...... the blue, yellow and black are gonna be bat blocks if i ever figure out how to make them NOT look like the Bat Signal and the lime green bats on black and the orange are gonna be nine patches ... halloween doesn't get mad at me when my blocks shout boo!