Needles and Pens

Returned last week from our trip to sunny Arizona. Sunny, hot Arizona. Sunny, hot, humid Arizona. They say, "Sure it's hot, but it's a dry heat." Only it rained three of the five days we were there, so we didn't really notice the dry part. Still, the rain kindly waited for the evenings to fall, and we had lots of sunshine for our adventuresome days in the desert. This was my first time traveling any further south than Oklahoma, and I'm a northwoods native of over 25 years now, so as we were flying into Phoenix, I thought I had never seen a place so very... brown . No offense to native Arizonians (I did learn the error of my ways), but from so high up, I just couldn't see any beauty there. It looked... desolate. But before we left, I found the beauty. I just had to get up close and personal. Here are a few of my favorite shots from beautiful Arizona. Amazing landscapes and beautiful skies... Towering palm trees in Scottsdale... A small -- and very q...

Finished my niece's wedding gift today, a cheerful blue and yellow sampler quilt made from a 2007 block-of-the-month project: Lacey and Benjamin, may your life together be richly blessed...

...where I regain my sanity...

The Book Awards Reading Challenge has come to an end, and I thought I should fess up and post my results: I didn't make it -- but I didn't totally blow it either. :-D Of my original twelve challenge books, I read and reviewed the following: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - Newbery Award 1978 Holes by Louis Sachar - Newbery Award 1999 Mariner's Compass by Earlene Fowler - Agatha Award 1999 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - Pulitzer Prize 1940 The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo - Newbery Award 2004 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - Newbery Award 1995 I also read the following, but never got around to reviewing (and since I likely never will, I loved them both and want to see the movies now): The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Pulitzer Prize 1983 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Pulitzer Prize 1961 So that leaves four challenge books unread, for now at least. It was a lot of fun attempting the challenge. I read some fantastic books that I ot...

Well, maybe not quilter's block, exactly, more like ambition-block. This week I have to finish this quilt for my niece's wedding. Next week, we go on vacation, and the wedding is right after that, so this is the last minute. But I just couldn't get excited about holing up in my sewing room with the gorgeous weather we're having, so I brought the whole works outside yesterday, and it did wonders. The quilting is done, the binding is on, all it needs now is a label -- and a nice gift bag. ;o) Another plus to outdoor sewing; keeping an eye on my 10-year-old tree climber. If you look really hard, you'll see him over halfway up this 40-50-foot pine. It's enough to give a mom anxiety attacks...

As in, never updating my blog... Never checking my email... Some days, never even turning on the computer (can you imagine???) For the past three weeks, graduation has taken over my life. And it's all over now -- sweet relief! My daughter has graduated and her grad party is a pleasant memory. It's amazing what we've accomplished around here in just three weeks; cleaning, gardening, painting and staining decks, sheetrocking and painting the garage. Much more than I had originally planned on, for sure. Grad parties are great for that. It's a little like selling your house, when you finally fix all of those broken things that you hardly ever noticed before. You look at your home through a newcomer's eyes, suddenly all of the flaws become glaringly obvious, and the mad dash is on. Thankfully, our mad dash is done. Graduation day was a blessing, the party, a success. I couldn't be more relieved, but of course, I'm not the only one: Apparently the posting issu...

Okay, I know I've been neglecting my blog and all, but... I was just about to post an update and came to find a whole new blogger setup for creating posts. And it seems kinda goofy. I don't see a way to upload photos. There's no more "preview" option. I'm lost and clueless. Waaaah... Guess I may be MIA for a little while longer. :oP