Patio Palooza!

Rain delays kept causing the concrete guys to push back our patio, but it finally happened in August!  It seemed so awful to be complaining about the rain after the extremely dry summer we had.

After they finally got it poured (during a fine misty morning), they had to wait until just the right time to start stamping the concrete.  

 This was done to make it look like slate.  After they finished, I kept saying, "I thought it would be darker...."

So finally on a sunny - no rain - day, the hubs put the sealer on and that made it darker!  I think it's beautiful!

 My parents came down for a couple of days after Labor Day so that my dad could help build the roof.  In two days, they got it up and over half shingled before it started raining again.

 I think Dad was a little tired the first evening....apparently so was Muffin!

Thanks to some machinery breakdowns, for which we really aren't that thankful, the hubs had plenty of time to work on the finishing while waiting for the combine repairs.....hopefully he will get it back today and get to go to the field.  This gave him time to finish up all the trip on the roof, build some temporary stairs, and add lights and a ceiling fan.  

And we harvested the pumpkins!  

So this is the project currently.........he has even reseeded the yard around it.  The composite boards for the stairs, railing, and posts are ordered, so that's all there is left to do!

Christi

And now September is flying by.........

Linda Kowalski was the guest at our August guild meeting........and here it is, September guild meeting tonight!  I thought I had better get these photos posted before the meeting so that I wouldn't have too many to share!  Linda shared some beautiful and unique quilts that she had made.

I loved this sunflower quilt.  It was a block exchange with a sunflower theme.  Linda commented that she would want there to be a size specification on the blocks the next time, but I think the different sizes of blocks make this quilt very interesting.

This one caught my eye as well.  I found it interesting, but am not sure that I would ever try it.  

And then my favorite from our guild show and tell was Carrie's quilt with all the animals.  I just think this is so much fun!

DD headed back to college mid August as well.  Here she and Jason are saying goodbye to Muffin.  

We were worried that Muffin might miss Jason, but we weren't worried about Cici missing him.

You can see that she has become much more relaxed.  She even waits for Muffin to come inside to play with her every morning.  She has also started sleeping on our bed again, usually on my pillow right next to my head.  Sometimes I don't even notice her, but sometimes my hair is in her way and she has to scratch around on the pillow to get my hair where it's not bothering her.  

The Hubs started working on our covered patio project mid August as well.  I'm pretty sure that's why we started getting all the rain.  Here are the photos of the first part - getting ready to pour the concrete patio.

Of course, anytime there is reason to use his Bobcat, he's happy!  It has progressed much further, but I'll have to post more photos later.

Here is a quilt top I finished in August.  It's called Kitchen Sink!  I have sent it with my sister to take to a lady in Iowa to quilt for me.  Not sure what I'll do with it as it turned out to be smaller than I was thinking.  Probably a gift for something down the road.

And that's all for now............
Christi

Yikes! Where did August go???

I can't believe it's been almost a month since the last post.  I guess time flies when your baby turns 21!  We celebrated DD's birthday the first weekend in August with a trip to Bethany to see my family.  It had been awhile since we had been up there.  My sister's family was also there, so she got to celebrate with cousins.

Don't you like the glowing eyes on Spider Man!  

And Grandma fixed her favorite meal of roast beef with carrots, mashed potatoes, noodles, and I made rolls.  Two teenage boys can decimate big bowls of mashed potatoes and noodles!

Of course, she wanted to try out that new ID, but since her birthday was on a Sunday, there weren't many options.  She and her BF finally decided to just head to Sedalia to see a movie.  When she got home, she informed us that they were carded!  I asked where they went and she said, "The Movie".  I didn't think they served alcohol in the movie theatre, and she said they were seeing an R-rated movie and they were carded to make sure they were 17 and old enough to see the movie without parents!

We celebrated with the Bentley family the next weekend.

We had our second crop of sweet corn.  I bought peppers to go with the sweet corn, tomatoes, and onions from the garden.  The hubs grilled them and then we made a grilled corn salsa that was delicious.

I created a set of placemats from a fall panel.  I will try to quilt them myself.  I have begun doing some quilting research and am contemplating getting some type of machine that will be better to quilt on.

So that catches up the beginning of August.............more news later!
Christi

Cats, kittens, birds, chickens!

Last Monday, we got a call from one of my piano students.  The hubs took the call and brought the phone to me in the basement.............she had found a little kitten and it needed a home.  Well, of course, Christi's house for wayward cats opened it's doors (I figure the Hubs had a chance to say no thanks and not even tell me about the call).  So this little gal arrived at our house that evening.

Summer Fun!

Okay, so there's really not much about summer in this post other than it's been really HOT and DRY!

The Hubs and I traveled northeast to Rutledge, MO last Friday to explore the Flea Market.  It was UNIQUE!  and HOT!  There was a lot of stuff and not many shoppers, so you'd think the deals would be good, but they weren't.

I did find this little beauty nestled in among the guns, dogs, poultry, and many other "interesting" items.  $400 is not really that bad a price for the condition she was in, but I didn't need another featherweight.

We only stayed at the flea market for a couple of hours, made one purchase - a small dog kennel for DD to put Jason in at night when he won't sleep or leave her alone - then headed into Rutledge to the ONE business, a store that had feed and seed, groceries, supplies, a little restaurant, and FABRIC!

Yes, I did a little shopping.  I even helped another lady pick fabric for a quilt and she was quite impressed that I dropped 3 bolts on the cutting table while telling the clerk (in front of THE HUBS) that I wasn't finished, I just couldn't carry it all and needed my hands free to look!  I thought the most impressive thing was that we paid for fabric and gum boots (all great deals, of course) on the same ticket!

We stopped at another flea market (air-conditioned) in Macon on the way home and at Sew Creative in Salisbury, a quilt shop I hadn't been to.  

Some sewing has happened this week.  I finished all the components for On Ringo Lake and laid it out (with the wide backing fabric I have for it) and have started sewing it into rows.  I need to at least get it into rows as I would like to measure out some batting and need the floor space for that.  

The third barn block got finished up this weekend as well.  Only 9 more to go, but I have improved from the rate of 1 per year that I was working at!

We made applesauce from the Lodi apples this weekend and put corn in the freezer last week.  It was definitely a busy week.

DD will be home for the weekend and finish up her summer job and class next week.  Then she (and Jason) will be home for about a month.  I will be working everyday, 8-4 next week as everyone else at work will be on vacation.  
Christi

Quilts of Valor

We presented 5 Quilts of Valor at our meeting Tuesday evening.  This was the quilt my group completed..............remember, that post from May 23rd, when I described working on this???   Well, the Calamity Quilters prevailed and had a beautiful quilt to present.  Here are the other quilts that were presented...........

I think they were all beautiful.  I still can't decide which I like best!

4th of July and Summer Half Gone!

It's hard to believe the summer is half over............

Cici had to inspect the fireworks we picked up after the 4th for DD to shoot off this past weekend.  

Since the roommate who takes care of Jason was coming home with her, Jason came for the weekend too.  I admit that I missed him, but by the end of the weekend, we were all ready for him to go back to college.  He's there for 3 more weeks until summer school is over and will then be back with us for about 3 weeks.  The hubs, Cici, and I aren't sure we can take it.

We did eat our first sweet corn yesterday............I consumed 5 ears in 2 meals.  I'm going to have to start pacing myself!