Damien was here last night!

Here are pictures of Damien and Richard playing Rockem-Sockem Robots last night. They had a real good time playing with these and lego blocks and a lot of other toys. Damien and I played Mario on the Wii for hours. He is getting really good playing Mario, although I still have to carry him along sometimes. He gets to places he thinks he can't do it and makes me do it instead. When I am not there he is able to get thru these areas. It's the first time he was here for quite a while and we were shocked at how big he is! I bought him two new shirts and pants at JC Penney the other day and thought I got them too big but I didn't. I sent one outfit home with him and kept one here. Tiffany said he can still wear the boots I got him last winter, in fact had just grown into them. I knew I got them too big, but he could wear two pairs of socks with them. We love having him stop by.

Decorated for Christmas

This is what the house looks like this year. Richard and I started putting up the decorations last weekend but waited until Thanksgiving night to light them up. We put up everything except the five little spiral trees (we forgot about them, found them last night and Richard put them up today). I'd like to do it differently next year. We need to put something on the garage door because it is really dark over there. Maybe a lighted wreath or something.

Audrey and Jason have put up some really pretty decorations at their house too. Their spiral trees are new this year. I love it all lit up. After Christmas it seems so dark everywhere. I wish houses would have lights up year-round. It wouldn't have to be Christmas colors, just anything to light up the night.

Connect the Dots Finished!

I finished my Connect the Dots quilt today. This is a mystery quilt offered by Judy Laquidara on her blog the past month or so. I picked fabrics out of my stash for this quilt. They are the same fabrics Judy L. used for her quilt, except I used the maroon rather than the green. I just didn't have enough yardage in a green to do it. I like my colors, though, I think it made a rather masculine quilt. I think the design would be masculine unless you used very feminine colors. I got it done just in time! Bonnie K. Hunter is starting a new mystery quilt tomorrow morning and I will be ready, willing and able to get started with her! I have already pulled my fabrics and I can't wait.

RATS!

Since the twin house around back burned last April it has been sitting there with the windows covered (mostly). Some man bought it and has worked in it two days in the last month or so. We started seeing rats about two months ago tunnelling in the yard between the houses (the houses are only ten feet apart). Richard said they were under our house. We have killed a total of six rats so far. We bought two rat traps at Lowe's and caught a rat the first day we had them out there. After that, the rats ate the bait but the traps did not spring. We then bought a heavy duty rat trap and caught several with it. But -- a couple of nights ago I was awoken at 4am and I thought one of my cats was rolling a ball around my room, so I got up with my flashlight shining around. I couldn't find any cats in there so I figured it was a rat under the house. The trap was set just inside the opening under the house and that is right under my bed. Anyway, I told Richard about it first thing in the morning and he went to get it. He said it wasn't there, so he went further under the house looking for it. He found it about 15 feet from where it should be with the rat still alive. He didn't want to get it with bare hands so he went back later. He couldn't find it! He hasn't found it yet! Tom lent him a trap that he tied down with a rope. Hopefully, no more rats will get away now. I talked to the city a couple of weeks ago but I am going to call them again.

Note to Self quilt top finished

This quilt pattern is by Judy Laquidara. She called it Note to Self because it looked like Post-it Notes. She offered a quilt-along for her blog readers. It was fun and easy to make and really looks great and I enjoyed doing it. It has seven borders! I never before put seven borders on a quilt! Excuse my picture but I had to hang it on my clothes dryer outside and the wind was blowing. I think I will have it quilted on a long-arm machine.

Judy is now giving her blog readers a mystery quilt to do. I like making mystery quilts precisely because of the mystery. I put the blocks together exactly by the instructions and when I get done - voila - a beautiful quilt I might not have chosen to do but I love when it's done and I'm always glad I made it. I always learn something new. The second picture shows some of the blocks I have made so far for the mystery quilt.

Accuquilt Go! Giveaway!

Micki at Irish Muses is giving away an Accuquilt Go! All you have to do is post a comment saying you want to win. I want to win! The Accuquilt Go cuts your quilt fabrics very precisely so all your pieces fit together perfectly. It uses dies to cut the fabric and will cut strips or applique pieces or anything. I have seen it demoed but could only dream of owning one myself! Here is the blog you can enter to win: http://thedote.blogspot.com/ Good luck!

My mother-in-law was laid to rest today

Mrs. Harmon died on Monday and her funeral was today. She was the best mother-in-law, never interfered, I never had a problem with her. I knew her for over 31 years. I never knew anyone who could remember names and dates even many, MANY, years ago better than she did. She had nine children and could tell you in detail how each was born, what illnesses they had, everything about each one. Her obituary follows. Trouble is, they made a few mistakes. The newspaper left out one of her sons, David, and gave his wife to MY husband. We're talking about switching now. I think they are going to correct it in the paper, but I am not sure. Future genealogists will truly be confused about that one. It was great seeing Richard's family again, we don't see each other often enough.

Audrey Virginia Harmon
Audrey Virginia Harmon, 87, of Charleston went to be with the Lord October 18, 2010, at home, surrounded by her family.
She was a member of Calvary Church of the Nazarene.
Audrey was preceded in death by her husband, Daniel W. Harmon; son, Denver L. Harmon, and daughter-in-law, Judy Carol Harmon.
She is survived by her daughter, Lola Landers and her husband Robert of Sissonville; sons, James G. Harmon of Campbells Creek, Kenneth W. Harmon of Charleston, Danny K. Harmon of Sissonville, Richard Harmon and his wife Darlena of Sissonville, Larry Harmon and his wife Vonda of Sissonville, and Paul Harmon of Charleston; 11 grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sisters, Lynnie Fox of South Carolina, and Clara Haynes of Sissonville.
Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 21, 2010, at Calvary Church of the Nazarene, Charleston with the Rev. Edison W. Hager officiating. Burial will follow in Floral Hills Garden of Memories, Sissonville.
Visitation with the family was from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Calvary Church of the Nazarene, 1113 Lakewood Drive, Charleston, WV 25312.
Condolences may be sent by visiting www.longfisherfuneralhome.com.

Weinermobile!

Here is something interesting we saw on Friday on the Shophop. Oscar Mayer's Weinermobile! When we first noticed it we kept saying What is That? and Debbie said it looked like a weiner. We sped up and sure enough - it was a weiner! As we passed it the driver smiled and waved at us. I think it would be difficult to drive.

Memorial Bridge

When we were in Parkersburg for the Shophop we needed to go across the Memorial Bridge to the Ohio side. There is a fifty cent toll for crossing. Anyway, I approached the toll booth with my 2 quarters in my hand. The toll keeper said it was free, that the car ahead of us had paid our toll. I told him Pay it forward and gave him my fifty cents anyway. I said the car behind us would now be free. You know, I felt really good about this and I wish the driver who paid our toll could know how he affected me. There just are not enough incidents like this happening today. I had never thought of paying the toll for the next car in line but I am going to remember this in the future.

Eleanor Burns!

See who we met today on the Shophop? Eleanor Burns, that's who! How exciting! Actually we were at a quilt shop in Parkersburg when we spied a life-sized cardboard image of Eleanor. We immediately cozied up with her and had our pictures taken! We visited 12 quilt shops in the last two days, went over 500 miles. We still have 4 shops to visit tomorrow. Good news is: one of our girls, Tammy, won the daily prize from a quilt shop in Logan, Ohio! Good going, Tammy! She will receive a basket full of quilty things, fabric and patterns and sewing tools. We are so happy for Tammy!

The photo of my friends having lunch was taken today at the Wild Horse Cafe in Pomeroy, Ohio. Great restaurant, gotta eat there again! We had a table outside by the Ohio River, where the weather was terrific. I took the other two pictures of the river, one looking towards Gallipolis and the other one looking the other way. If I have any control over how the pictures show up in this blog I don't know how, so I just have to describe them. By the way, these photos were all taken with my iphone.

These purses were made in my class today at Viking. Patty made the brown and blue bag, Rebekah made the pink one with the polka dots, Lynn made the green bag with the red flowers, Wanda made the beige with brown bag, Cathy made the flowered bag, and Mary made the burgundy and brown Margo. They all did a terrific job and I am very proud! They came in last night and did all the cutting and preparing because I was afraid we couldn't get them done in one day. Actually, we had plenty of time and when we do the class again in November we are only going to work on Saturday. We had a very pleasant day.

Old picture

This is an old picture in my collection of my Popaw and Momaw Pfost with Dad's brother Rob and and I am sure his daughter Greta. Since Greta is Jeff's age then this picture is more than fifty years old. I believe that is the living room at their house on Kanawha Two-Mile, long ago taken by Interstate 77. Dad called Rob at his home in Panama City, Florida about a year before he died and Paula, Rob's wife, told Dad that Rob had died the year before from COPD. I don't know why Paula never called to tell Dad about it. I remember that Dad spent some time grieving. The last I had heard was that Greta had about six kids and still lived in Florida. I haven't seen her in probably 40 or more years.

My house is totaled!

Not really, just extremely messed up. I have been peeling wallpaper from the walls in the living room for weeks, a little at a time. We got the wallpaper off the dining room all at once but the kitchen was still waiting for its turn. Richard decided to take this week off work and get the job done. It took us two days but the wallpaper is now history! We chose blue paint, darker for the living room (because it gets lots of sunlight) and lighter for the kitchen, dining room and hall (because they don't get sunlight). I would also love to put new linoleum down in the kitchen and dining room if we can. I like Audrey's kitchen floor because it never looks dirty (and we still have some of that left) but Lowe's has changed the tile slightly and it won't work together. I hoped we could save some money but it looks like that's not going to happen. We still have a lot of work to do but it will be real nice when everything is back in place and is all clean!!!!

I have been feeling poorly for the last several days. My head would spin and my legs were weak, so I finally checked my blood pressure and it was low. It is better today. I can't check my blood pressure now because our machine bit the dust and I have to buy a new one. I was going to see the doctor but I know I would see the Physicians Assistant instead and then they would cancel my upcoming appointment with the doctor and I want to see him this time. I will call him if I keep on feeling bad, but I hope it is over for the time being.

Another quilt top done!

This quilt top is Judy Laquidara's June Mystery Quilt. Every week I anxiously awaited the clue to be posted and feverishly worked on it as soon as I found it. I love the quilt and I really enjoyed making it. Tomorrow I will be taking it to my favorite long-arm quilter along with my cat quilt (made with all cat fabrics). Thank you, Judy, for an excellent quilt pattern. Your clues were easily followed and made a fabulous quilt.

Damien was here today!

Damien's other grandmother called last night and asked me to keep him today while Mike (Damien's other grandfather) and Tiffany (Damien's mother) saw doctors. He got here about 9:30 this morning and stayed until 3pm. We had a real good time playing with his toys. We played Mario on the Wii and played with his cars and played Mario and did I mention that we played Mario? We wore the Mario game out today. And he can't play by himself - he needs Mamaw to get him thru the hard parts. Unfortunately, Mamaw needs help too. It didn't make any difference; we had fun anyway. He really makes me feel my age.

I took him across the street to Jeff's yard and let him play on the swings but he really wanted to get in the pool. It looked nice and clean so I let him go in. He loved playing with all the pool toys and had no fear of the water.

I really enjoyed having him with me for the day but he wore me out! When he left I stretched out on the sofa and actually fell asleep! I awoke a few minutes later to the sounds of one of the cats upchucking. After cleaning up the mess I decided to put dinner off until later. When Richard came in he said just order pizza but I didn't feel like pizza. We ordered sandwiches from Domino's (because they deliver) and they were really good. I think we will get them again.

WV Shophop

Well, Debbie, Diane and I spent the last two days on the road doing the Mountain Quest Quilt Shophop. We drove over 700 miles. I don't know about Debbie or Diane, but I am exhausted. We started out at 7am yesterday (Tuesday) and got home about 7pm this evening. We visited 12 quilt shops scattered all over West Virginia.

After visiting about 8 shops yesterday, we were having dinner in Buckhannon when I got a phone call that I had won the daily prize from Sew Chic, the quilt shop in Fairmont. We decided to stay in the area and go back to Fairmont to get my prize this morning. Trouble is, there were no rooms to be had. We tried all the motels along I-79 from Morgantown to Bridgeport. We stopped at a convenience store and the clerk there told Diane she would find us a room. She called a Travelodge in Fairmont and what joy! They had a room! Only - and this is a big only - they only had a smoking jacuzzi room. We said we would take it because we had no where else to go. The room was $99 plus tax for the night. It had one (one!) king sized bed and a large jacuzzi tub in the room. There were four very fluffy pillows on the bed and Debbie and I had brought our own pillows. Debbie decided to sleep in the jacuzzi on top of all the pillows! Diane and I left room for her in the bed but Deb stayed in the tub. There was a strong cigarette odor and I fanned the door but couldn't get rid of it. It bothered all of us. I think I will travel with a can of Lysol from now on. We got up early this morning and drove to Sew Chic and I was given my prize. The owner there told us we should have called her when we couldn't find and room and she would have let us stay in the shop. Wouldn't have been very comfortable, but it sure was nice of her. The two pictures I included today are of the great big bag I won and all the contents. There were a bunch of patterns, some quilt books, a plastic storage container, a pair of thread snips I could wear around my neck, and lots of beautiful fabrics. I don't win things often and I was overwhelmed to receive this!

We spent the rest of today driving and visiting the shops. There was fabric made specifically for this shophop that showed 12 scenes of West Virginia, including the State Capital, the New River Bridge, the covered bridge at Phillippi, and more. Each shop had designed a block to include one of the scenes. Each shop had then designed a quilt using all the blocks. I will post more about all this. I bought a panel of all the scenes and the fabrics for making the blocks from each shop. I think I will make my quilt using blue and gold, WV's state colors. The scenes are all black printed on white fabric. Some of the shops tea-dyed the scenes. Diane and Debbie bought all this too. We also bought some other things at the shops. I tried not to spend too much money. I think the prize I won was worth more than I spent.

Mountain Quilt Quest

Tomorrow the Mountain Quilt Quest Shophop begins, and Diane and Debbie and I will be on our way bright and early! We can't wait to get out there and visit all those quilt shops. There are 12 participating shops this year and they are all over West Virginia. We intend to visit them all in two days, quite a trip. Each shop is offering a fabric kit which can be put together to make a unique West Virginia quilt. Also each shop is giving each shopper a charm. We've been saving our pennies for months. Diane is driving and I will be manning the GPS. We are going to head for Parkersburg first and then head across the state toward Elkins. Then we come south toward home but lots of stops in between. It's going to be lots of fun, shopping and enjoying ourselves. I am taking my camera so I hope to get some nice shots.

The pictures I am featuring today are from Audrey's wedding, almost four years ago.

Margo Purse

This is the newest purse pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. It just came out a couple of weeks ago and I knew I wanted to make it immediately. I may teach it in a class at Viking sometime soon. I need to make another one and watch how much time it takes so I can see if we can do it in a one day class. The front of the purse has two pockets large enough to put a cell phone in. There is a zipper about one inch inside the top. A bunch of pockets ring the inside. It also has a hard bottom so it doesn't collapse and holds its shape. It wasn't difficult to make but there are many people who cannot make anything by reading the pattern. I believe the second one will go much faster. These coordinating fabrics are by Debbie Mumm and are sold at JoAnn Fabrics.

Pictures inside burned house

These are pictures of the house behind mine that burned last month. The first picture shows the bathroom. The other two are the kitchen from the hall at the dining area. You can tell that the fire started in the kitchen. Chris told me that the guy that was in the house at the time of the fire said he saw sparks from one of the outlets as he ran out. He assumes the fire started in the wiring. I took these pictures totally in the dark because the windows are all boarded up. I just hoped the flash would show what was there. I wouldn't step anywhere except in the hall because I couldn't see.

Primary Election

I was a poll worker in yesterday's primary election. The day started early. We had to be there at 5:30 am in order to be ready for the first voters at 6:30. My polling place is located in a Senior Nutrition Site, that means they feed senior citizens lunch for free every day during the week. They were closed yesterday, but the cook came in and fixed us a nice breakfast of egg casserole, sausages, and pancakes. I really enjoyed the casserole. We only had 78 voters so we really were not busy. My job is to take the ballots and verify that the poll ticket numbers and the ballot numbers were all correct and then run the ballots into the ballot machine. The machine counts the votes as it goes and stores everything on a flash card which is picked up by someone from Voter's Registration a few minutes after we close the polls. There are five of us workers; three Democrats and two Republicans. We spent the day talking and enjoying ourselves, and we also each had something we wanted to work on. I had my spring quilt and my Yellow Brick Road to do the hand sewing on. I got the spring quilt done and one side of the Yellow Brick Road sewn. I will get the rest done while watching tv at night. I also had a couple of quilt magazines and a Family Circle. We each also brought food for the day. I had a lot of junk food with me but I didn't eat much of it. I got sleepy and bored a couple of times but not too bad. I was sure glad to close the polls at 7:30 pm and go home. I went to bed early and slept for 9 1/2 hours! Today I still feel lethargic and slow. It is this way every time. It is only worth it because they pay $225 for this day!

We made quilts for Downy!

Saturday was Downy Quilts day at Viking. A bunch of us got together to make quilts for the Children's Miracle Network thru Downy Fabric Softener. We had made some quilttops earlier so the quilters could start on them first thing that day. Others of us made more quilttops to be quilted. I don't know the final number yet but I heard that ten quilts were finished and another ten were waiting to be quilted. Several of us took kits home to make (I made three more on Sunday) so there will be plenty more. You see, Downy will send a kit to any quilter that wants to make one, and then they hope you will make up that one and another one out of your stash. I donated some of my stash to this effort and I have made (so far) a total of eleven quilttops for them. I think this is a wonderful way to give back. All the quilts are made from the same pattern (which is a really simple pattern) and in fabrics that kids will love. Some of the quilts I saw featured cats, dogs, horses, seashells, bugs, frogs, all in bright, beautiful colors. The first photo missed a few people because we didn't think to get everyone together until some had already left. The second shows some of our quilters hard at work. The third is one of the quilts I had made up ahead of time. Linda ordered pizza for everyone and some of the girls had brought cookies for dessert. Besides getting a lot done, a good time was had by all!

Damien's Baby Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of Damien when he was a baby. The picture on the porch in his baby walker is my favorite of all the pictures. He was an adorable baby and is an adorable kid. At 4 and 1/2 he seems really intelligent and so quick to catch on. He plays video games better than I do and learns things instantly. I look forward to watching him grow up. He really gives us a run for our money when he visits us!

The Starkey house fire

These are pictures of the house behind mine burning this morning. Chris and his wife got out all right but they lost a dog and some cats.

CAMC Awards Dinner

Richard and I attended the CAMC Awards Dinner this evening. Richard was honored for being employed by CAMC for thirty years. There were quite a few people who had thirty years in, a pretty good sized list of people with thirty-five years and forty years, and even two people who had worked there for forty-five years! I figure they started working there as very young teenagers! Richard received a very nice certificate, and he was able to choose a $400 gift card from a bunch of items he was offered. We had dinner with 900 people. They served prime rib (not too bloody - but very chewy) and Chicken Marsala (which was delicious). They had steamed squash, green beans and roasted potatoes. I would have enjoyed the veggies had they been hot, but they weren't. They also served a green salad and a pasta salad. I saw several desserts but I only tried Oreo pie. After dinner Richard had to go up on stage to receive his certificate from the CEO of the hospital. We left soon after. Richard needed to visit the restroom so we just slipped out.

This is my Yellow Brick Road quilt. It is lap-sized, perfect to throw over the back of the sofa and use to cover your legs when you are chilly. I got the quilting done yesterday and the binding applied. It still needs the binding sewn down by hand but I will do that on Election day when I am working at the polls. The pattern uses seemingly random squares and rectangles all jumbled together. I decided to machine-quilt 1/4" around the inside of each block. I didn't enjoy making the quilt, it just wasn't much fun. But I really enjoyed quilting it. Of course, I can't take a picture of a quilt without a cat holding it down. They have to sample all the quilts. That's Sam stealing the scene.

Angie called as soon as Cassie's baby was born but she wasn't sure of the name yet. I haven't talked to her since. I hope they liked the baby quilt I made for her and the two little sleepers I got at Elder-Beerman. I wish we had a little girl to spoil. I would love to make frilly little clothes for her. I heard the cutest name for a girl the other day. I told Audrey she needed to have a girl and name her Calliana Rose. Isn't that georgous??? She could be called Callie for short.

Richard saw the doctor on Tuesday and I made sure he told him that he wasn't feeling good. The doctor changed his blood pressure med from Avapro to Norvasc. I hope it helps. You can tell when he doesn't feel well - he sits around all the time doing nothing. He is ordinarily a busy person.

After seeing the doctor we went looking for a sport jacket for Richard to wear to the Awards dinner that will be held on the 20th. We went to all the best places and nothing seemed right or fit well. I got the idea to look for a zip-up jacket to wear with a dress shirt and tie and that would be fancy enough. We ended up a Kelley's Men's Shop where he tried on a burgundy blazer that we both fell in love with. I would never have even tried burgundy but I love it on him. It cost $195 but alterations are free and it did need some work. That is why we didn't like any of the other jackets we looked at, nothing seemed to fit him right. Kelley's has to take in the shoulders and let out the waist, and maybe shorten the sleeves. I told Richard he needs a pink shirt to wear with it. That would match my outfit for the dinner, a flowered pink jacket, a white knit shell and white slacks. I think I will have Audrey take some pictures of us before we go.

Baby Quilt

Made a new quilt for Cassie's new baby. (Has she been born yet? Gotta find out.) Decided to do it last Wednesday when Audrey and I were at WalMart and saw some really cute fabric. We chose the butterfly print for the border and then chose fabrics for the blocks based on the colors in the border. I made the top Wednesday evening and got it sandwiched with batting and backing on Thursday. I let it set on Friday and took it to work with me on Saturday. I did all the quilting and then put the binding on with the Designer Diamond sewing machine (costs $8,000!). Boy it does a great job on quilting! I'd love to have one but that is a lot of money! I embroidered a label on the Diamond also. Then I started in on the hand stitching on the binding. I hate that part, love the rest! Got it done while sitting on the porch on Sunday. Today it went out on UPS. I hope she likes it. I used the same pattern I have been doing for a while now. I have made a total of five quilts from this pattern. I usually just make one of something and move on, but this one is easy and quick and uses up some of my stash (when I'm not buying more fabric). The color looks blue-er (is that a word?) in the first picture. The other two look right. That's Sam in the second picture and Sam and Rosie in the third.

Audrey and I were going to church Easter Sunday but she had IBS problems. I fixed a spiral-sliced ham and some veggies and made some macaroni salad which is still in the fridge (I always forget something). Richard had brought in a half-flat of strawberries so we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. I tried to call Adam to dinner but he wasn't answering his phone.

Richard is off today for the holiday so we went to Lowe's and he bought a new pressure washer. He couldn't get his old one to work yesterday.