Life is so Daily

 

uh oh the coffee maker leaked again but that's okay, who of a certain age hasn't leaked something from their body?

It's old and has a broken toggle so if you don't put the caraff back in just so, the coffee dribbles down and leaves a mess on the counter. Then I spilled the cup a bit picking it up, so who's to judge?

Life is quirky if you notice. Little things that make you wonder if you've gone crazy or if everyone has these kinds of things happen. That's if you're lucky because those quirks and weird things are what keeps things interesting.

They may be odd but they are YOUR oddities.

habits and weirdness doesn't grow on trees, one must form them over time. The surprise weirdness shows up like a new TV show, and can be as entertaining if you let them. 

No More Wine!

Suddenly my poodle does not like the opening of a wine bottle, an all too frequent happening these days. He is content watching out the back slider to see if a neighbor is threatening our safety, by maybe going to their mailbox. One of us asks the evening question, "do you want wine?"

He pops up like the guardian of the gates of hades, barking and running to the daddy. It makes us laugh still, happens all the time now, and yet we laugh. He is so sincere in his new weirdness about wine, we take turns supplying a running imaginary  commentary for him.

"No !!! No more pops! No more noises... haven't we had enough noise? You two should stop drinking wine! Think of the Poooooooooooodles!"

I watched a video the other day ( find it here ) that explained to me I am a highly sensitive person. I suspected it... I think all the time and cannot stand noise or violence, am overwhelmed by too many frightening daily circumstances, I pick up on unspoken clues others miss, I am highly empathetic.

I feel shell-shocked.

When it all gets to be too much I hear myself say, "I need to go to the studio and make something" I found out I am not odd, nor neurotic (well that's not proven) and 20% of humans are born like this too.  In fact 20% of over a hundred species of animals have it as well!

We just need some methods to enable us to cope with this crazy world we live in, and to stop judging our selves. We need to inform the 80% of people who are not like us that we are not just weird, we are people too and if they persist in judging us harshly and dismissing us, we will not believe their assessment of us. So there.

We are sensitive to noise at our house, the popping of corks, loud cars, jets flying over on training missions, sudden barking of poodles who are startled. 

If you want me, I'll be in studio making stuff. 

Linking to  T stands for Tuesday... like a "drink' post 

what I realized this weekend

selfie, merely old in an antique store

I read a blog (happy-homemaker-monday)  today, that has a link party with questions to answer. I find it very interesting to peak into someone's life. It feels good to share goals and not be alone... I started to answer some of them for myself, and although I linked up,  my post is not like the others, I wanted to share my thoughts today.



 The weather here right now

It was on it's way to being perfect but looks like it's back into the 90's this week and dry. I thought it would be dry enough here to stop mosquito growth but we've had enough to torment us in the back porch this summer. I do not like heat although I love being outside on the porch. There is something putting out pollen too, and we're all congested. Still it's been very pleasant to be out, and sunny skies are cheerful.

Things that make me happy: 

having a free day ahead of me. I love Mondays actually, getting back into being in the house alone, still sorting and putting things away from the move. I realized I quite like doing laundry now that the washer is upstairs. Dirty things go in, clean soft things come out. Folding and sorting make me feel like I have some control over the things in the house.

Book I'm reading:
I am quite a slow reader and read my novel in bed at night. I only read a couple chapters before falling asleep. I'm trying to finish Whispers of Warning by
because it's overdue at the library!


During the day, I'm looking through/reading/enjoying my saved old magazines. I ordered a lot of subscriptions when they were on special price and couldn't keep up with them. Then we moved, so I packed them up to bring with and enjoy here. I love magazines with all the glossy pictures and suggestions as to how to live a great life! It feels good to look through them on the back porch while Milo plays, and then put them in recycling to lighten the load of things to do.
What's on my TV today: 
I might watch the dvd of a comedy, checked out from the library. I watch a couple episodes during lunch but find I don't watch as much TV here in CO.

Very funny!  Tonight however, I'm watching the finale of Bachelor in Paradise... a secret vice. I can't help myself, it's fun to watch and I talk back to them. I'm like that show, "people's couch" where groups watch shows and talk through them making snarky comments. It used to be on Bravo.

On the menu for dinner:
who knows. If they made people chow, I'd have it.

What's on my To-Do list
It's so long, and would bore you. Mundane things, big things that won't get done, everyday things like unload the dishwasher (so I can check something off)

I need to face calling the moving company repair guy to fix two broken items that are very special. I need to do laundry, and call the consignment shop back in MD, and vacuum. I really need to try to clean hardwater minerals off the shower door, but since I'm allergic to chemicals and the cleaner is a commercial one I'm nervous.

I need to finish unpacking the studio which is a massive job because every item must be examined and placed somewhere new and possibly be let go as no longer needed.

I would love to clear off the dining room table but that's where the magazines are living. If they get put away we'll never go through them!

I need to do something about my fingernails as they are all breaking, and the polish is half off.

Small and big, some keep me up at night, some are do-able.

What's in your craft basket
Since crafts are a big part of life for me, the house is my craft basket!
I'd love to stop everything this week and paint or sketch something. Maybe I'll squeeze that in.

I created a design wall (pictures on this post moveable-design-wall.) so hopefully will sew soon

What are you looking forward to this week?
Finally getting control over my life. 

Bwaaahahahahahaha!
No biggie, just keeping my head above water, remembering to water the plants, writing the great American novel, curing diseases. (I watched Miss America Pageant last night)

Actually, to be honest, I'd love to just stop hurting. My back is a source of nearly constant pain. I haven't had a good pain management person since I had to leave my wonderful PT in MD and was made worse by the person I saw here.  Chronic pain is depressing.

Tips and tricks
are you kidding me?
Well, in those old magazines I saw a lot of crazy decorating suggestions. I also kept a recipe for piccadillo meatballs I can make with turkey. I grew up in Tampa Fl. eating Cuban food, and piccadillo is so good, but I'm allergic to beef so seeing this recipe made me almost want to cook again.

I am always inventing something around here, and came up with a brilliant hack for sewing items, but that's for later.

Lesson learned the past few days
Not a new lesson, but I was reminded this weekend to talk to people. And listen to people.

It would be so easy to walk past with no interaction, or to answer "can I help you with anything" by saying, " just looking" but then you miss the connections between people. I am able to do small talk with the best of them. I can interview people easily as I am interested in people. But lately I am just more... real... with strangers.

While visiting another town recently, I had three fabulous interactions with strangers. On each interaction we talked about real life issues, laughed together, shared concerns together, and got a glimpse of who that person is. One can even learn more about themselves while talking to others.

The first person had a beautiful chubby black lab with her as they had just finished a four mile hike. We initially spoke because our dogs mingled, but I have learned if you say one little thing about your real life, or ask one real question, people often want to share. The ones who don't, just move on. 

Their loss.

We chatted outside the visitor's center in a mountain town for about 15 min. She was funny and open, and pissed off about all the changes she's seen to her town during her lifetime. She appeared to be in her late 40's or possibly older, but a bit younger than I am. She liked her town the way it was as she grew up. Quiet, few newcomers, odd old hippie types, unspoiled.

Poor woman wanting to stop time. I can imagine the generation before hers wanted her generation to stop messing up "their" town too. But I get it.
She doesn't like the influx of people in the last 10 years. She waved her arm toward what looked like nothing unique or special to me, and said look at all that! It wasn't here! I looked and didn't see anything unusual. A road, a safeway grocery store, a mountainside with rocks.
She wanted the snows to pile up this winter to chase off all the people who moved to her area. Snow like they used to have before the climate warmed up so much.

She was a bit peeved to find out we moved here. DH said, it's zero sum... the owners of our house moved out of state, we moved in.
She shrugged but ... would not be appeased. She didn't like the changes she saw.

I hear you, sister, I don't like most regulations that choose making profits at the expense of clean air and water. I would rather there be an emphasis on human rights and acceptance.  So, I related to her discontent. I listened to her, and heard her. We left the exchange knowing each other better. I was intrigued by the fact that she seemed reluctant to say goodbye.

The next meaningful exchange took place outside an antique store. A woman sat at an outside table, and my husband and dog joined her while I looked inside. When Milo called me out (so I didn't get lost in the store), the woman and I had a wonderful exchange. She was open, and real, I asked leading questions that gave me a snapshot of her life. She and her husband were of retirement age, and lived in a state south and west of us.

She was holding a wooden saddle of sorts. I asked about it, and she said she and her husband collect old mining items. We had a lively discussion about that and her home that has become a repository of those items. I asked if she had to charge people to come see, just to cover costs and she snorted, we don't show anyone! We don't even want people to know what we have!

I asked what started her interest in collecting those items. I think people's collections tell you so much about them, don't you? That led to her telling me about her husband's life, and work, etc. I told her of my collections, flamingos (from Florida upbringing), cows, poodle things from the 50's, and quilts.

We discussed quilting, and blogging, and laughed together, our husbands joined us and we all had fun for the 20 minutes we stood sharing our worlds. I felt I knew her by then, and she took info on my blog to follow up. I loved one of her final comments, basically.
"what's the deal with people who have nothing in their homes? Not a magazine, no knitting, no teacup display, nothing" she asked, then added "how empty not to collect anything! How boring! I love my stuff!!!"

Me too sister! We were united in our collecting, and interest in life!

The third meaningful encounter was suggested by her as it turns out. She said, have you been to the history museum up the street? Not yet but we went in because she said it was lovely. 

It looked like the other wonderful buildings on the main street, most built around 1880, deep doorways probably needed back when there was snow all winter, and all those architectural details to love from late 1800's to 1901.

We were met at the door by a woman I had seen earlier in the day walking through town. She caught my eye, as she was wearing a cool bedazzled black cowboy hat, and wonderful boots, and well, she caught my eye probably because of her spirit. Some people do that... they quietly exude an aura that catches your eye.

She was open, and welcomed us in with historical info as if she'd known us all her life. She wasn't from here,  but she loves history. I love history.
During the next half hour, I grew to know her on a deep level as we shared real life discussions. We talked of history, we talked of antiques, and houses and old ice boxes, and after my husband left to walk Milo, she made a comment about a real life issue she survived.

Instantly I decided I could trust her, and we virtually took a look into each other's eyes and made a mutual decision to go deeper.

It takes two, both people willing to be real, and open a door, risk being misunderstood or judged but suspecting they'll find understanding. The older I get the more I risk in that way. I've learned how to handle things like rejection better. I have a strong desire to cut through bullshit and see people.

We had much in common on one level, and differences on another. We are about the same age, shared many of the same trials and tribulations growing up. We were both survivors of life and both strong because of it. She grew up in NM, and is from a different cultural background than I, she rides motorcycles and worked in the mines, she is a comedian on the weekends, and has a different sexual orientation than I do.

 We are different but the same. 

Yes, the same. I risked being open about my life, and she went there with me instantly, and we knew each other. She is my sister in spirit. I am richer today because we talked. I saw her. I heard her. She saw me, and heard me. I was not alone.

Likely we'll never see each other again, but this was an important meeting. It taught me that risk is not about jumping out of a plane, it's about saying who you really are and dealing with the possibility that the other person won't accept that. It's about a connection that has nothing to do with a handshake or even the words shared. It's something deeper, more spiritual, something unseen but vital.

  DH and I left the town with mixed feelings. Our first encounter was someone pulling out of a parking spot and almost hitting us. DH tapped the horn, and the person called us assholes for that. I started laughing through my open window at the absurdity, an old woman with no teeth, nearly hitting us because she owned the world, then verbally attacking us for trying to protect our property? really? No "sorry" with an embarrassed shrug? 

Next many stores said, no dogs allowed. No reason, just not allowed. I always wonder about how much they lose to children careening through breaking stuff. Okay, no problem, we won't shop or buy things there, someone else will. We miss Annapolis.

We were on a mission to learn about the area though, and experience our new state, so we continued on looking for friendly faces and experiences to turn the day around.

We were happy to find them in our three encounters...

We didn't buy anything even in the antique store which by the way, was fine with Milo coming in. 

Milo is quiet and just wants to be secure with his pack, after our big life change. Milo acknowledged the shop dog, and stood by my legs the rest of the time.While there,  I asked one of the shop workers about the provenance of a set of salt and pepper shakers, possibly offensive to a section of the public because they painted to look like those old jockey statures. 

The shop keeper answered, "they're old"

I said, well, it is an antique store... but what do you know about them?
They were prominently displayed. It would have been an interesting lesson for me, as well as interesting to know why he chose to sell them and display them that way. But the discussion stopped there with, "they're old"

One can be open, one can ask questions leading to interesting discussions but...
you can't win them all.

Coping with life... prescription:sewing

My calendar: the words say,"I'm officially declaring this Mimosas and kites month"

A friend of mine came to my latest lecture. She commented later that what I talked about resonated with her and she is still thinking about it all! What a compliment, Judy. Truly the kind of connection I seek when I speak to a group.

She shared with me, that she basically  just likes to sew, nothing earth shattering, nothing original or artsy. She defined herself while listening to me. She is also a morning person (I can't relate) She makes donation quilts, which makes her tops in my book. I admire her generosity and loving spirit.
She just wants to sew.

Another friend is going through some hard life changes and dealing with loss. She says she can't seem to  think creatively at the moment, can't deal with the studio and it's "care and feeding" or focus on creating art.

It brought home the fact that so many of us cope with life by sewing. I express myself with my artwork, and these days my artwork involves fabric, but there are times I just want to sew.

 I need to sew. I feel unsettled if I don't sew each day.

I mostly do original work, and find it has become almost hard to follow a pattern . I have so much I want to express, that there are just not enough hours in the day to "make". And I'm a fast sew-er. But I also have times, and am kind of going through one now, where it's hard to go sew. However...

Even if I must drag a machine out to the family room where there is more room  to sew, or do hand sewing with hexies, I need to handle fabric. It soothes me and using color revives me.
The problem is the studio...

After months of careening from one deadline to the next, one project to another, through fabric acquisition (I'm part of  FAT =  Fabric Acquisition Team) etc, the studio is now a heap. It's in a state of disrepair. It's become an archeological dig in the making. It could be dangerous as piles may tumble over, or a person might step on a ruler or worse. My files are all over the place, ideas and hand-drawn patterns to complete. I would have started on my guild challenge today but can't locate the fabric.

A fat quarter can hide easily in a stash like mine.
Let's see... it should be near the surface... wasn't long ago it got washed...

Anyway it can be overwhelming to look at a mess even if it's your mess. And it takes space to drag stuff out in order to sort and put it away, like with like. I know how to organize and  it usually is organized. But...

 Life got in the way.

For months I have coped by pushing a stack to the side, so I could make something, Tomorrow I will do that because the leash caddy I designed and made is worn out and needs replacing. I don't remember where I filed the self-made pattern. I'll have to design it again. The eye drops and alcohol wipes are falling out of the old one so I must enter the studio, push the stacks to the left and make a new caddy. Tomorrow.

"Walks" stop for no man, and no woman with a messy studio.
Can you relate?
At least I'll be sewing.
LeeAnna

For other Creativity Roadblocks see the link over there ==>

Fall lights and colors

window box ready for Fall, just add leaves

Whee! I love orange especially in the fall. The summer flowers have passed on to the great garden in the sky. Replacing them are mums, pansies,  pumpkins and Halloween decorations.
Halloween  decorations are lots of fun!   We were pretty understated this year but then again, it's not over yet either, heh heh.

 This is another porch flower box with mum, pumpkin and Halloween house.

We also put up the front lights seen in
this picture from last year  
"voodoo poodle"  (It's just a click away!)

Fall has brought slightly cooler evenings, which are enjoyable to do a bit of porch sitting, wine drinking and now enjoying the twinkling light show.

See the poodle on his perch, watching the squirrels careening around the yard eating and storing acorns in their frantic attempt to prepare for winter. He watches the bird feeder just to the left of his bed lest chipmunks come to eat seeds. That's just not allowed in his kingdom.
Here are the spider lights hanging out back this year...

 They look especially festive under the solar globes Drew gave me for my birthday. I asked how he knew orange was just the right color for me, and he delayed... thinking... til I asked, was that the only choice?? (yep)

 Fall is a good season for me. I like cool temps. I love that leaves turn rainbow colors, the sky is usually bluer and less grey. It makes me feel like home is a good place to be. I kind of imagine I am living in an L.L.Bean advert. I could be baking lots of breads and soups.
 I'm not but I could be.
 For now, we three will be found on the back porch, chatting, reading, watching the twinkling orange lights, watching the leaves fall and squirrels acting squirrely and enjoying the nature show.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Thanksgiving?  LeeAnna

Remembering

"Remember"     6" X 6"

This wee quilt was made to send to my friend Nancy who lost both her parents this year. Her loss effected me not only because her mother was an inspiration to me, but because her loss connects us.

Her mother taught me by example how to age gracefully, with beauty and humor, with strong beliefs and a world interest, and she always made me feel like she really saw who I was. That was a gift.




Nancy is a long time friend, who lives down South still. We worked and played together until I married and moved North. Distance is only a small problem though as each time we get a card, or see each other it's as if no time has passed. That is another gift.
Her loss reminded me of the precious woman who used to watch me as a child. She always made me feel important, smart, loved and safe. She was generous, and pious, and unassumingly humble in the best way. I miss her every day, but carry the fact that I was loved by her in my heart. She made a lasting contribution to my growth as a person and who I am today is due in large part to her. I called her Tatee, and no one knew where that came from.
I do. She used to say, "ta-ta" for thank you when she handed me anything. She became my thank you person. And that was a gift.

A quilt is so much better than a card, isn't it?
LeeAnna

PAX

Goooooood Morning! What a beautiful reason to stay inside and play with this...

As long as my body and the power company hold out, this is my plan today.
It's time to stop the dithering, the choice making and the auditions and just get to it. This year's valentine quilt must be done!

This is the layout so far.

 Our legs will be appliqued across the top, and somewhere a poodle. There will be trims, and a three-d lace skirt, rhinestones, gold thread and more stenciling under our feet. I don't know why the crows had to get in on the action but sometimes fabric is assertive.

I am allowing myself to use some of my favorite fabrics this time, yea for me! The coral fabric has found it's way into many a quilt. The yellow one with hearts as well. I have been collecting heart fabrics for years and years.

I'm going to just ignore this...

(heehee, I just made the picture smaller, which means the mess is smaller right???")

And I'm going to watch some of these after sewing a while...

(

I love to get movies from the library. I feel like I've shopped and not spent a penny. Oh, uh oh, I hear DH asking, "what about the late fees? Do they count?"

I have been reluctant to turn the posting over to Cole (Porter, he's jazzy) Poodle lately because he's gone weird with the eating.  I'm nervous to let him post lest he eat the mouse.
 The other day he tried to eat a partial roll of  toilet tissue that had fallen out of the vanity. That, a napkin from the coffee table, a half a cigar found on the street, and who knows what in the back yard.

 "Tastes the same" says he.

The poodle says" I'm having a rest here after dealing with 8 inches of snow and ice JUST to pee this morning. All my dog toys  the squirrels and chipmunks are hiding out so no fun and games for me. However, yesterday while mom and I were chillin' I was watching the squirrel channel through the sliding back doors, when up popped a squirrel, bold as all get out, right and I mean right in front of my eyes. The noive!!
Not 2 feet away. Hey! Sat right up on it's stupid little haunches and waved at me. In the screened porch!  This morning I decided to lay on my perch, let my feet thaw, admire all my toys and plastic bottles ( I like to chew the lids off) and wait for one of my many mediocre meals to appear. The people seem preoccupied and not willing to play out front where I just know there is less snow. Listen I'd love to stay and pet all you people but I've just got to take a nap. Laters"
Cole (and LeeAnna)   (put DOWN that mouse!)

Art in many forms

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD

We visited the Walters Museum in Baltimore to see a special exhibit Egypt's mysterious Book of the Faiyum, an ancient scroll done in hieroglyphics. The artifacts surrounding this work of art were so very interesting. (pics prohibited) I not only saw drawings/manuscripts and art but jewels and mummies of crocs. Don't miss this one.
While here we looked around at the book binding exhibit and although I can't quote names of the makers, they were awesome little gems. Lookie...

Here are two shots of the beautiful books. The one above would make a glorious quilt, no??
The one at the right is bound on six sides! and opens in a zig-zag method, each section a different book!

I love a book, don't love the kindle as much as I do a book, although it has it's good points. I like to hold a book and not scroll from page to page if I missed something. Funny how we have to scroll from page to page now, like the old scribes who wrote in hieroglyphics on papyrus.

The museum provided us with a small piece of papyrus to write our story, but I took mine home instead, to write a story and put it in my journal.

While here we also visited the medieval floor, holding a lot of paintings as well as furniture, dishes, jewelry, suits of armor and swords. I was taken with this particular piece. Now, we all know there are a lot of Mary and Jesus interpretations. This one caught my eye because there is intricate delicate subtle design in the halos and it looks so like quilting pattern. The gold leaf isn't etched, but there is texture, and the design within the halo is so faint but so detailed. Always thinking of quilting, aren't you?

 No visit to a museum is complete without shopping in the giftshop. There are treasures and trinkets specific to each museum. I had been coveting jewelry that looked ancient and some modern, sketchbooks, purses, then This little fellow sang out to me!!  I chortled along with him! He looked like joy to me. This picture just doesn't do him justice but Drew picked him up, and like a puppy, once you pick 'em up it's alllllll over.
He obviously came home with us and lives in our cheerful clutter reminding us to find enjoyment in the mundane and oh so daily life we live. He might have led me to a word to explore for the new year.
Enjoy.     We'll see....
Hope you enjoyed our trip to the gallery, and are doing something different over the holidays. Tell me about your adventures...
(scroll down for studio pictures)
LeeAnna
linked to sew-darn-crafty-

When a good machine grows older...

REALLY!

 

 This is my sewing machine. I use it every day that I'm home. Every day, the two of us sit down together and make stuff. Until we met, I was sewing on a 1948 Singer. That was a good machine but it was never hired to do free motion or work with metallic threads and it resisted having those thrown into it's job description.

After hearing cursing coming from the sewing hole for the meeelionth time, DH said, "maybe it's time for a new machine" Wooosh! The sound of me closing the front door and the tires squealing out of the driveway!

I am a good shopper, and had decided I wanted a Bernina in this line months earlier but the money, oy!
This time, the line was being closed out and I got this machine for nearly half price. SCORE!

It was so fancy I was afraid of it for a month. (I know, the neurosis gets in my way) This was in 1998.
 When I began to see the merits of this fancy machine, I grew to love it. So much so that when I began to hear stories of motherboards going out I went into denial...that will never happen here at Chez Paylor.

A year ago my machine went crazy. It all started with the needle position jumping around by itself. That's an unnerving noise, to be standing at the cutting table, look over and the needle is jumping back and forth.
It quickly escalated into refusal to do any stitch.

I considered buying a new machine, and couldn't decide what to do, but ran across Hinkletown Sewing Center in PA who replaces the boards with reconditioned ones. I got that done, and went home expecting to sew for years with my newly happy machine.

Last weekend I heard the needle jump again. Then the screen went out, then it left the stitch I was using and returned to home... oh, no!! It's only been a year!  The resident electrical engineer said they fixed the problems with the motherboard, but the rest of it remained old, and will continue to break down.

I'm old school, I thought this fancy machine would last my sewing career. DH says electronics break down, and I just had to pass through the stages of loss to acceptance.

But but...
I'm now in the market for something comparable. I will be out a lot of money. I hope I like it as much. I don't want a learning curve, I want to sit down and sew.  Especially don't want to open a manual!
I do want to sew, every day.

This is one of my dolls, a hydrangea. Doesn't she have just the same attitude I do??  ( btw, I teach a doll-making class using the pattern Flora Bunda by Barbara Willis  SEE HERE )  I have a garden of dolls because I love flowers, and they have personality.

Happy sewing, LeeAnna

Stampede!

stampede!

Going south for the winter?  A sure sign of Fall.

Psst! sorry for the second post of yesterday's leaf picture. We had a blogging disaster here at chez paylor this morning. While trying to delete today's mess of a post and start over, the computer and I lay ALL the blame on it, deleted yesterday's post too. OMG!  Blogger had not cached the week's posts so we had to go into DH's computer memory and find the post he read this morning.Luckily it was cached. We nabbed it, and I reinstated it. Whew! I need to learn yet another computer skill of how to back up blogs. I am exhausted of learning all the computer skills. People ask why I am not on other social media, and I say, it's all too much! I re-ran it because the blog keeps some memories for me as well as giving me a way to connect with others.
There are many things I have to do, and other things I need to do, just like all of us living in the real world.
In my heart... 

  Really, I just want to sew and paint and play with shiny sparkly things. You know?
LeeAnna

this is how I feel at the computer

from tastefully offensive at http://tumblr.tastefullyoffensive.com/

Well this is just about how i feel using the computer. I am doing this blog by the seat of my pants, and they are falling off. I don't know what blogger means by circles, or how followers works. I fear the kind souls who have shown an interest in following my blog are being ignored. If you do understand this stuff, would you please explain the whole shebang to me?
I love blogging, and am happy you all are taking the trip with me. Stay tuned, lots more fun to come!
Don't forget to send help, either info or a dog carrying brandy. Both appreciated. 
LeeAnna

Mums the word

purple mums

 September is here so the mums have arrived on the scene. Thank goodness for stores selling them all full and rounded and healthy looking. The ones I planted last year are either leggy and sparse or bloomed two months ago. I know it's due to negligence lack of pruning.  Mums are fall. I don't enjoy mums in a flower arrangement but love love love them in a Fall display in a garden. Can't get enough of them. Must have all colors. Bigger the better. I bought a few smaller plants for the window boxes,

September is bursting out in mums

 and large ones, at the same price might I add but from a different store, for the yard. I choose the ones that haven't opened up so they'll last longer. I also found these red coleus on sale. They are next to the washed out, Failure-to-thrive coleus I planted earlier in the summer.

angelic mums

When we went away for vacation I asked a neighbor to water my impatiens but no one loves your garden the way you do, and most of them perished. I need to see color, and with so much shade it's a challenge. Mums like sun, but will tolerate shade for the few weeks it takes to bloom. I might just be tempted to buy a few more. You are not getting a view of the front yard, which would be terrific  decorated with mums, hay bales, and pumpkins if it weren't overgrown, covered in weeds and crab grass. I did put a couple mums on the walkway next to the flowers that survived our time away. In my dreams my yard rivals Longwood.
What are you doing to sing in Fall? LeeAnna

Which way do I go?

show me the way...

This is a sign post from my Lake Placid pictures. I had planned to share a pic of a quilt in the works, maybe even ask for feedback. After rethinking it, and yes, I think too much, I didn't want to post pictures of art in progress this time, I'd rather show you finished work for some reason.

I have made almost 200 quilts and could show you any of a hundred you haven't seen and would probably enjoy viewing, but again that didn't feel right today.

Apparently I am floating at the moment. I am floating in a sea of ideas, projects with gathered supplies to make them, projects half finished, projects that need finishing, with a few deadlines thrown in for projects that must be done by a certain date. There are no lack of projects.

But here I am, wandering around, not wanting to work on anything.
Stop the presses!!! Me not want to sew???

I'm going to lay this at the feet of the weather. Too hot. No, that isn't it. Maybe it's ennui after all I returned from a haven to this messy house full of chores. Maybe there are just too many choices and Sophie, I'm having a hard time choosing which project to start with. No, I need to do the STAT Gauguin piece.
Maybe that's it... I need to do the one I don't want to make in the first place and feel uncomfortable working on others if this one is in the way.
 Do any of you ever feel like that?

If you've gotten to the end of all these words, first of all, thank you. Secondly, I'd love you to share your stories of how you get past the wandering around stage and into the just do it stage. 

 LAPaylor 2013

As a parting gift for reading, here's a thumbnail of a hand piecing quilt done except for quilting,  but it's colorful and you deserve some color, right?

Thanks for reading, LeeAnna

friends are like flowers in the garden of life

I had to say goodbye to a good friend, DeAnn,  moving out of the neighborhood today. Those of you who know me, know letting go is hard for me. The good news is you don't have to. She and I can keep in touch. We will still see each other at MGMB (Martini Girls of Manhattan Beach) events and email about books. We will share stories about dogs, as Cole loves her. Even if she still lived here, it takes sitting down with a calendar and an act of congress to set a date for drinks so this is only a little change.
Do you all keep in touch with friends after a move? How do you do it?
LeeAnna

that's me! Free as a bird!

free as a bird!

                                                                     Free, that's me!!
What did I do before "The Challenge"?  It's been so consuming, that I had empty nest syndrome last night after the husband, poodle and I got in the car, drove over to Fed Ex at the airport at 7:30 pm. I had to literally fold the quilt up like a road map, (remember those?)  I had to pay a lot of money to hand it over to a stranger.

It hung on the wall for about a minute, I went ooooh. I went aaahhh. I said, get in the box and go visit Aunt Julie in Colorado. I did get a good picture and will share that Friday.

Today I feel like I did in college when I finished a big term paper. Waiting for the grade, but released to continue my life, already in progress. The world is my oyster! (Think about what a weird phrase THAT is)
I am free as a bird! I could, well, sit and eat lunch!

Hmmm, there is "The List"
 The running list of Things To Do When The Challenge Is Done. From take a breath to world peace, up to and including clear off the dining room table(just about as hard as world peace), figure out how to make a video, answer emails for work, kiss the husband, etc. I'm free to ponder what in the world to get a husband who doesn't have a clue what he wants for his birthday in two weeks.
There's always a challenge around the bend, some of them involve sewing, some of them involve people.
Next,  please step forward.
go make something
LeeAnna

Some days I just sit

some days I sits and thinks, some days I just sits

I heard that  (caption) phrase somewhere and it stuck with me the way useless facts stick but important info fades away. You know what I mean?

Anyway, yesterday I had one of those days where you mostly just veg out. I finished my novel (Death in the Floating City) and I'm sad to say goodbye to it. I did some Gauguin research for the next STAT quilt. I put away the dishes. I sat.

The to-do list is long, and the Hoffman challenge is there looming. I just have to figure out how to do a digital entry so I can enter Bikini Body in PNQE this year. I must move through the studio in the valleys between mountains of fabric/ tools/books/threads. The to-do list is long... and I sat.

The saving grace was working on my niece's quilt started in the workshop this week. It's good to have something to sew on that isn't earmarked to be judged. Just sewing and designing for fun. When you are in the doldrums, where ever they are, it is good to sew. Medicinal sewing. This is a picture of it in progress:

I have to go for a walkwithpoodle, and I have to put away the clothes
but I want to do some medicinal sewing on the seed packet.
It will have words across the top that say sunflower seeds too and
I think I might need to go hunt and gather some brown checked
fabric for the binding.


 make something fun today
LeeAnna