Applique Dazzling Dogs Quilt

Since I am side-tracked with my injury I've set aside my Rattlesnake quilt for awhile. I've gone back to working on the applique Dazzling Dogs quilt. I started this some time ago and have all the pieces drawn on fusible web. Now I'm ready to look through my stash to find all the various fabrics that make up the images. That's going to be my goal over the weekend.

Here's a quick peek at the fabrics I chose for the backgrounds of my dog blocks. I wanted to go with something that would coordinate with the living room so I could throw this across the back of the couch. The brights shown on the pattern photos would have been nice, but we don't have much in the way of brights in the house. Here's hoping for more of a cabin/country look to my dog quilt. I've got lots of fabrics that should fit this kind of a relaxed, cabin category. Maybe one day when I am able to get a vintage trailer I can use it there to take it out on campouts. I'm looking forward to getting this one going.

The plan is to decide on all the fabric pieces for all the blocks. Then heat up the iron and fuse them all down in place as the pattern pieces direct. And last will be the stitching on all the blocks. I think doing all the sewing of the blocks together will save time in the long run and keep from having to make so many thread changes.

Here's the best advice I can give to anyone in blogland who is a quilter. Be sure to adhere these safety guards to your rulers. They will go a long way toward helping you stay safe. They will definitely help to avoid the type of accident I just had last week. We had them on the rulers at the sewing/quilting store where I used to work so I can't use the excuse of not knowing about them. I just always thought I wouldn't be so careless as to ever really need them. I assumed because I had gone for years (lots of years!) without them and without any accidents, that it wouldn't happen to me. But the whole definition of accident leaves the possibility that something like this could happen to anyone. Accidents aren't planned, they just happen. Okay, enough of the safety speech. Just wanted to pass on some good precautionary info. Plus, they're easy and quick to apply. Do it once and they're always there keeping you safe from accidents without you even having to think about it. And they make a good handle grip to grab your ruler just a bit faster. Can't beat that!

Nice Warm Day

Here's a quick snapshot out the front window that was taken the other day. My husband took some time to rake the leaves out of this part of the front yard. How amazing that after just a few days of warm weather to melt the snow that we have so much green foliage showing up now. This ground cover is what was hidden under all those leaves.

My friend said she and her husband stopped at one of the local garden centers to check on availability of new garden plants. Apparently there's not a whole lot in stock just yet. As soon as I get some plants and flowers I'm going to make up this big clay pot in the front. I'll be checking out my garden books and magazines for ideas over the next several days.

Here the yard looks so good after it was raked. It didn't take long with all the wind we've been getting to have more leaves blow in. Looks like my hubby will wait a while before he gets out there again. It's been pretty breezy lately and we're forecast to get rain over the next few days.

It was such a beautiful sun-shiny day outside today! I was out a few times. Took the dogs out for a good walk. I was out a couple times just to enjoy the day. I went to visit a friend for a short time, walked the dog, then went for a Mocha Frappuccino. When I got home I took another walk with all three dogs. Thus I had a fun visit with a friend, got some exercise to stretch my legs and a yummy, frothy drink to top it off. I'd say it was a perfect day!

Later in the afternoon I had an opportunity to gather together some of my machine embroidery designs and do a little sorting and organizing. I have some projects in mind, and wanted to locate the designs I want to work on. The other day I picked up some pleather (that's faux leather - if you didn't know - the artificial plastic leather) and also some real leather. I will be doing some pillows as a sample test-run of a few machine embroidery designs. I want to eventually put the designs on a jeans jacket. The pillows are my practice run to make sure I have the machine applique technique down and catch on to any 'surprises' in the way the designs are digitized before I commit to the actual jacket. I looked around a little bit at the mall for a jeans jacket and didn't find one I wanted to spend money on. I may go check out our local farm and ranch store tomorrow to find out their price on a jacket.

While I was at the mall I stopped at the RCC Western store. When we were there last weekent I fell in love with a pair of cowboy boots I saw. They've been on my mind ever since I saw them. I hesitate to pay the price that's marked, but I do really like them. I just might consider it a good investment if we spend much time on my husband's motorcycle this summer. They would protect my feet and ankles a lot better than the tennis shoes I've been wearing lately. I'll be giving it some thought.

Meanwhile, after much requesting from my dear hubby, I took a ride on the bike with him today. He kept insisting it would be less bumpy (from the potholes this spring) on a motorcycle than in the car. After our ride and a few serious bumps, I'd say it just isn't so. It was still pretty bumpy. Perhaps it's just too soon after the surgery to give a good objective opinion on this. My vote right now says it is just as bumpy, if not more so. Although it was a fun ride (we saw two wild deer along River Road coming back into town) I think I'll wait a few more weeks before I take another ride. A few serious bumps made me feel really tired out from that ride. I came home, took some Motrin and then settled into my easy chair for the rest of the evening.

71 Degrees Warm Today!

I purchased these two chicken planters at a local garden shop a couple years ago. They usually house some annuals like petunias or other simple kind of flower. I'll clean them out for replanting over the next few weeks when we're experiencing consistently warm days and nights.

Oops! Unfortunately this winter was a bit harsh on my smaller chicken. She lost a portion of her head. I'll have to rearrange their position so she faces the other direction this summer. She looks a lot better from the other side. Next winter they'll both have to move into the shed for better protection from the elements.

We've got a small rock garden along the west side of our patio. There are a variety of perennials planted among the rocks. I'm pleased to see them starting to shine. I will have to look closer at this tag to remember what type of plant this is.

Another of the perennials in the rock garden. It's so exciting to see new green growth again.
We've got lots of trees in our area. Now with most of the snow out of the picture all the underbrush, leaves and dried plant material needs to be cleared. I'm hoping to be able to get outside to do that kind of clean up soon. I'm trying to pace myself; allowing enough recovery time post-surgery before I can be more active with all the bending, kneeling, raking and pullng up dried material.

These iris plants were relocated from the backyard to the side of the house when we put in the patio. I may relocate a few of them again this year. I think they may do better in a sunnier spot.

We put in a few strawberry plants along the border of the patio. We've managed to pick a few berries just as they are starting to ripen. The birds are usually the beneficiaries of the fruit. They seem to keep a close eye on the ripening process. We have not bothered to put nets across the strawberries yet, but probably should. It seems they're all picked clean the morning we plan to go out to harvest them. Smart birds!

The dogs enjoyed going outside with me for awhile today. In fact they were in and out numerous times throughout the day! They got in some sunbathing while I took lots of digital photos.

The temperature reached 71 degrees today. It was such a wonderfully warm and sunny day I stepped outside a few times to take it in. Most of the snow has melted around here; with just a bit more to melt from both the front and the back yard. Here Sugar and Sparky are waiting for me to open the door so they can run back inside. They truly are "house dogs". One would think they'd want to stay outside longer with today's warm temps.

44 Below!! Lot's of snow!

This is the coldest day I have ever experienced! It is 44 degrees below zero today in the city where I live. Wow!

My car did not start this morning so I took my husband's truck to work. When I went to go for my lunch break the locks were frozen and I ended up walking to get a bite to eat rather than driving. Okay, it was a short walk; I changed my plans and just walked across the street rather that going further. My dh came and picked the truck up later in the afternoon. By the time I was scheduled to get off work my hubby came to pick me up. Yeah! a nice warm vehicle to get into rather than having to let it warm up. Apparently we are 2 degrees away from breaking the all time record since they started tracking this sort of info.

Brrrrrrr! It's cold outside!

Our poor little chihuahuas have been very good about going outdoors and getting back indoors REALLY FAST! I had to go out to help our older female, Sugar, to get up the back stairs. She was having difficulty moving with her little feet getting so cold and frozen from the snow packed sidewalk. Poor little girl!

We've got some good news in the forecast for the next few days. It's supposed to get to 20 to 26 degrees over the next several days. It's going to feel like a heat wave out there. I'm looking forward to being above zero for awhile!

We've also got record breaking snowfall this year. Yeah! I love snow! But I'm hearing everyone talk about having enough already. I'm just grateful that the lakes and rivers will be full this summer. That will be such an improvement over the dry summers and low water levels we've had now for so many years. I guess I can agree we've probably had enough for while, but I do like snow. It's so bright and clean and pretty coming down.

Thankfully we decided to purchase a snow blower last year. We've certainly been making good use of it this winter. News forecasts inform us we only need another 41 inches to break the all-time snowfall record. That's likely to happen because we still have the rest of January, February and March to go before spring comes. I'll see if I can get some photos of the snow depth to post over the weekend. We're running out of room to pile it with the snow being so deep. I think this last week was another five inches. We've got about 4 to 4.5 feet of snow piled up along the sidewalk next to the house. I can still see over the top of it, but it is starting to feel like tunnels we're walking through. It's not that deep all over, but the drifts are pretty high!

My sweet hubby got up on the roof last week and pushed most of the snow off so the weight wouldn't be so overwhelming for structural soundness of the house. This past week they closed the Wal-mart store in Minot because of safety concerns with the amount of snow on their roof. So far it's been closed at three days they've been closed while safety engineers determine how safe and sound the roof is. Wow! That's lots of snow!

The streets are seeming so narrow now since there's only so far to push it to the side. Many places around town it seems we're down to one lane of traffic with the piles of snow on either side and cars parked out on the street making the roads even narrower. Aah, the fun and excitement of living along the northern prairies!

No Day Like a Snow Day

We were getting snow and wind all day. I was outdoors for awhile earlier today to help shovel and make sure the dogs could get through to do their business. At first they objected to going out. I guess I would too if I was a little dog and the drifts were taller than I was.

My hubby got to get out the snow blower once again. He and a neighbor across the street took turns with it clearing the walks and some of the driveways up and down the street. The forecast holds the possibility of more wind and snow for the duration of this blizzard through tomorrow.

I made fresh homemade bread today. It sure was tasty and it kept the kitchen a little warmer with the oven on for awhile. To top it off, we've got leftovers for tomorrow, too. Yum!

It's basically been a quiet, restful day off.

Plushy New Bed

Ginger seems to really enjoy her plushy new bed. My dh just finished repainting this kitchen wall. We were talking about getting a new bed or building something to keep the dog from leaning up against the wall when she sleeps so it stays fresher looking and not quite so grungy after time of rubbing up against it. I found this bed at Pet Smart today. It was pretty pricey, but decided to get it anyway. Now Ginger relaxes in style and isn't rubbing up against the wall like she used to.

She was in and out of her bed several times today and seems to have accepted it as no big deal. We had moved her other big pillow bed to the living room to allow her to lay in front of the entertainment unit. Since she seems to do well with sleeping in the kitchen better at night (must be warmer in there) we put the new bed there.

As evidenced by all the white dust on the leg of the kitchen pedestal table, there's still alot to get done, and clean up. It's a work in progress. I REALLY want to pull the old carpeting up out of there. It's so dingy from years of use. But we're not quite ready to replace the cupboards yet and replacing the flooring needs to wait till then. There is currently sheet rock dust on most every surface from the recent mudding/taping/sanding of the walls prepping to paint. But it looks 100 times better with the new paint on this wall. I can't wait till it is all completely done. One day at a time though since it's an after work, on the weekend type project.

Doing the "Happy Roll"

Ginger was beside herself tonight when one of my sons came home for a visit this weekend. She was so overjoyed and excited she couldn't sit still for very long. Here she is wagging her tail, rolling over and making herself the object of attention while we were visiting in the living room. My son and husband will be taking her out for a long walk in the country on a hunting trip tomorrow. That's bound to wear off some of that excitement. All the walking they do usually wears her out.

A quick log onto his dad's computer had our son finding a free downloadable game to play for a short while. Notice the concentration required to master this computer game.

My son and I have had an opportunity for a short visit, but I'll be putting some time in to work tomorrow. I think I'll probably miss the send-off since my son has to get back on the road and head home while I'll still be at work. It's always fun to see one of the boys, even if it is a short visit.

A friend at work mentioned she was thinking of taking an oil painting class. I commented that it has been so long since I did any oil painting. That got us onto a conversation about painting. It's fun to find out she and I have so much in common when it comes to favorite activities. We're discussing the possibility of taking a painting class together. That would be a lot of fun and give me a great reason to get my oil paints out of the closet. How fun that would be!

Pillow pattern

I designed and wrote instructions for a pillow class we are currently offering at the store. This is an image of that pillow. I plan to offer the pattern on my website one day in the future. In the meantime this first one was used in class today.
The dogs went on a walk with me a few days ago. We ventured out on the walkways at the capital grounds. It looks as though the new sidewalks are finished over there, but there are still signs up saying they are closed. We just kept to the older sidewalks. I am looking forward to taking a different route on our walks once the sidewalks are opened.

Working on Website

Lately I have been working on creating my new website. I'll post a link once I get it uploaded, but it might be awhile. I have in mind several more pages of info and photos that still need to be worked out. But you'll definitely get first notice, and a link, here at my blog. I want to make sure I have all the testing done and the bugs out before uploading. I have yet to find a hosting site to work with, so need to scout out a few of those as well.

I finally named my favorite cloth elf doll. She goes by the name, Elsie. This also happens to be the name of one of my aunts. I like the name, and I like it for this doll. She is the mascot for my website and is the "voice" to show my web visitors around.

I've been getting in a lot of walking with the dogs lately. Mr. B says he can really see the difference in our little chihuahua, Sugar. She seems to have slimmed down quite a bit. This is a good thing. The vet said she needed to drop a pound. Our other little guy, Sparky, is still the skinny one. But now Sugar can make it up and down the steps a bit easier than before. Mr. B is happy about Ginger looking a little thinner as well. I overheard a 'conversation' he had with her the other day about how she looks like she's getting ready for hunting this fall. In previous years it took her a few trips out into the field to be in shape and energetic for walking all those tree rows while pheasant hunting. This year I think she'll be the one waiting for the humans to catch up as they get used to all the walking.

A few days ago I took Ginger to the Tom O'Leary golf course here in Bismarck for an extended period of walking. Earlier that day all three of the dogs came with me for a shorter walk around the neighborhood, but it was just Ginger and I for this longer, extended walk. We both got pretty tired out. It was a long walk. I have to say my feet and ankles were pretty sore the next day, and Ginger seemed to move a bit slower, too. I am not sure of the distance walking the sidewalks and paved perimeter of the course, but there are lots of ups and down with the rolling hills of the terrain. I ran out of breath for parts of the walk and had to slow down. We probably won't make that one of our usually outings, but it's a fun challenge from time-to-time.

We've been heading outdoors most everyday after the heat of the day starts to cool down. All I have to do is mention the word 'walk' and the dogs get excited. They're like having kids around, listening to everything we say. If I mention the work 'walk' they know what we're talking about. Ginger has even been known to go over to the hook where I hang the leashes and jiggle them around at the mention of the word 'walk'. We've taken to spelling it out at times like we had to spell C-A-N-D-Y for the kids when they were little. Sometimes they seem so much like kids, those dogs make me laugh!

Gone Fishing

We spent some time out on the lake on Sunday afternoon. It was a productive day of fishing. We snagged four small mouth bass using night crawlers while trolling slowly near the weeds. The water was clear enough today with a very light breeze to allow us visibility far enough to watch the fish take the bait. That was pretty cool being able to see them come up to the worm.

Mr. B thought the largest one he caught might have qualified for the Whopper Club. Before filleting it he took it to be officially weighed to see how it measured up. This one came in at 2.97 pounds just missing the mark of 3 pounds to make it into the Whopper Club for the small mouth bass category. Oh well, slightly underweight for that, but excellent eating. We had fish, rice and vegetables for supper tonight. Very tasty!

We went to see one of our sons this weekend for the 4th of July holiday. We grilled steaks on his deck. This bone was left over from that very tasty meal. Knowing the dogs would love to have the leftovers, we brought them a doggie bag. Sparky managed to get the bone in the end while the others scrambled after the smaller chunks of meat. He seems to be enjoying it immensely.

Here's a close up of the previous photo. It shows Sugar licking her lips as she looks on longingly for Sparky to give up that bone. He never did; not until we finally got him to come inside. I think Ginger beat him to it when they were let back out the next time.

I am usually not an advocate for weeds, but this milkweed plant came up last year and the year before. I allow it to take up space in the garden for the monarch butterflies to feed on when they come through our area. That's the only reason it's still there. I did not remember it flowering last year, but here it is with it's unusual flower head and the buds popping open.

Here is a close up of the flower to see it better. These seem quite different to me from anything else I have seen before.

I don't know what kind of bug this is. At first glance I thought it might be some type of bee, but looking at the photo makes me think it could be something else. Bugs kind of creep me out, but they're still kind of interesting to see up close. I set the camera on the close-up setting and it takes wonderful clear photos very close. It sat on this lilac leaf while I watered the garden. Later by the time I was finished it was gone. As long as it doesn't try to land on me I can handle it. The wings and the shape of it make me think it might be some kind of deer fly - those bite - hard!


These are some of the flowers I like the best in the garden right now. I planted two new rose bushes this year. This small pink rose is alongside the fence. It is a climbing rose that should spread out along the fenceline eventually. I purposely planted it there hoping the scent of roses will help to mask the odor coming from the neighbor's yard as they do not bother to clean up after their dogs. Unfortunately on very warm summer evenings we cannot make use of our patio because of the overwhelming odor from their dogs. We're currently working to train the grapevines, honeysuckle and roses to cover the fence. In time it should block the view and hopefully mask the odor some.

This large blossom rose bush seemed so pretty at the time I got the other rose bush I decided to get it also. I love these colors of pink and coral tints mixed together with a touch of yellow. I'm not that great a gardener so I hope this one survives. I really love to see pretty flowers, but don't know much about gardening. My method is basically just select a hardy variety, plant it, water it, pull weeds once in a while and hope it grows.

The zinnias were some of the last ones to be set into their pots. I was such a slowpoke getting them into the dirt I thought I might have killed them. They looked so dry and peaked for a bit. But they seem to have survived so far and more buds are popping open so I think they'll do okay. I think they are a pretty flower, it's almost like seeing mini little yellow flowers within the larger pink flowers the way the yellow comes out of the center of these. They make me smile - flowers within flowers!

These lilies have been in this part of the garden since we moved to this house. They seem to be exceptionally tall this year. I didn't remember the wavy edges of the petals, but maybe I haven't been paying attention well enough. At first I thought they might be deformed from lack of water or lack of care, but perhaps they're supposed to be that way. In any case, they are just starting to bud out and look very tall and regal to me.

A quick look through all these photos shows alot of pink, yellow and green. Those must be my new current favorites. I am seeing them everywhere lately. They make such a good combination of colors. I should probably incorporate them together into a quilt or a wallhanging. I love the pink/yellow/green combo and also the blue/green/teal and red combo as well as the blue/green/teal/dark brown combo.

Celebrating

While I was finishing up with my on-line classes, the Mr. finished the back deck and steps. He did an excellent job. They are much nicer than that cement slab and old rusted cast iron hand rail.

My last assignments were due on Friday; we hit the lake on Saturday. What a great day it turned out to be! Sun, cool breeze, quiet day on the lake. We got a few bites, but no fish. That was okay, we had a wonderful time.

It was a wonderful, warm relaxing day on the lake. This short stop at the dock gave us an opportunity to get jackets out of the truck. It was about this time of day, as the sun started to set, that it started to get a bit cooler.

I love this shot taken from the rear of the boat in the warm glow of the setting sun. The water absolutely glowed with light from the sun. It seemed like sparkles on every ripple.

We stopped to take a bit of a break at the dock, grabbed some jackets out of the truck and what do I see? The breeze quieted and left the lake nearly smooth like a mirror. Beautiful!

The landscape is typical of North Dakota with very few trees to dot the view. The prairies stretch for miles in every direction. Typical wide-open spaces.

Cool summer breezes blew across the lake, you see me here with an old long sleeve shirt. This was just enough to take the nip out of the breeze so we stayed and fished a little longer than planned.


Fishing in the channel was quiet and peaceful. This time of day the sky picks up those dusky pink hues. It was absolutely beautiful reflected back against the water. Since the breeze calmed to barely any movement on the water the reflection of sky was like looking at a mirror.



Another way to celebrate -- and save gas! The Mr. got a new toy. Woo-hoo!

He said he has been wanting one of these for some time. He used to have a motorcycle in our younger days and kept his old helmet with the hopes of getting another one 'sometime after the kids left home'. Now was the time.

Here's a look at the Mr. just before he sets off. He chose a nice bike, now to get out for a spin.

And boys, no, I don't think he's going to want to share for awhile! :) You might have to wait till the newness wears off before he'll let you on it! Sorry ;)

Ginger peers out between the cast iron rails on the front steps. She accompanies me on my outings, but looks ready to go indoors with this shot. It's as if she thinks getting photos of the new bike is no big deal. Like she's thinking, "Come on guys. Put the camera away and let me inside, already!"

My peonies have bloomed this week. I have white ones, these pink ones and one bush is white with just a bit of deep pink streaks. They're absolutely beautiful with a light fresh scent.

This variety is somewhat different from the others because it opens up more wide and flat. The others are the usual big balls of fluffy petals. They smell luscious.

My clay chicken pots are waiting to be planted yet. I think they'll be happy housing these pink and white flowers. I have just a few other plants to set into the garden, then lots more weeding to take care of. This year is mostly flowers, some tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and carrots, watermelon and cantaloupe.

Decks and Roses

My husband's work on the deck and back steps is coming along nicely. I think he's done such a great job on this project. He's staining the boards as he goes. The rails were going up today along with the floor boards. The dogs were out enjoying the sun, notice Ginger relaxing nearby. She didn't seem to care that sawdust was flying. And the sound of the saw and assembly work were no big deal.


The little dogs were enjoying their time out in the sun today. Earlier this morning it was bright and sunny and quite warm. They just love to soak up the sun. I call this one "Squinty Sparky".


And here's "Squinty Sugar" to match. She seems the least thrilled with the noise and commotion of deck building. Sugar constantly indicated her desire to go back indoors.


I looked out the window this morning to find lots of blossoms on my Prairie Rose bush. They look just gorgeous with a delicate pink shade and a light floral scent. I love seeing them all blooming right now.


And so do the bees. This big bumblebee was a delight to watch. I mean that in a funny way, I had to start laughing at it. Poor thing, the wind was blowing the rose branches around and with its poor coordination it had a lot a trouble aiming and landing on its little rose petal 'heliopads'. Numerous times it seemed to almost fall right off. Here I was able to get a shot of it hanging on for dear life while trying to gather pollen. There were two bumblebees working their way through these blossoms.


A bit later another type of bee came swooping in on the roses. It was very accurate about landing and more methodical about pollen gathering. But it didn't stay long on each flower. I think the bumblebees managed to gather much of the pollen beforehand.


Another look at the roses, here's three in a grouping. Such a pretty flower.

I have a few machine embroidery designs of prairie roses digitized by Sue Box. Check out her website, SueBox.com for some very nice designs. Seeing these blossoms makes me want to get out those designs and stitch up a few things. Sue Box calls them Briar Roses in her Golden Classic Collection, but they're the same flower.


I am very pleased with the growth of my honeysuckle vine this year. I was afraid I might have killed it last year with the lack of rain and my neglect to routinely water it. Apparently it was working more under the soil putting down roots because it came out in full force this year. One little trumpet flower has opened so far. I just love the smell of honeysuckle!