Another Bag Request

Carol here ~

It seems like grand Evan has confiscated his mother's Chubby Charmer bag that I made her (many years ago) as I got a request from Erin for another.  I think I've actually made her several in the past including this well loved one that is still being used.

A Birthday

Carol here ~ 

Thanks to all of you that sent me birthday wishes for my birthday yesterday.  I don't pay any attention to the number but I am grateful I am still here and able to be fairly active most of the time.

Erin, Vanessa, Kailey and Jakob came over, Evan was already here as he had worked the previous night.  I didn't know they were coming over until just a few hours before they showed up.  

Vanessa, Me, Erin

July!

Carol here ~ 

Happy July 1st!

I was able to get in a couple afternoons of binding out front on the patio.  

I finished up both 2024-34 and 36 quilts. 35 was finished previously.

2024-34

2024-36

That is the last of 2024 quilts.  Phew.  Now onto making and attaching the binding on the four 2025 ones that I have quilted.  Maybe I'll get started on those today, at least one anyway so I have it ready for patio binding.

Sunshine!

Carol here ~

Finally we have sunshine and warmth!

Sister Terri had grands Annie and Alex and neighbor Jeff had a gang in on Sunday.  The kids had a ball playing on the beach and swimming.  Too cold for me but they didn't seem to mind.

Dan and I have gotten a couple kayak rides in.  The black flies are relentless ~ pesky wee buggars.

Quilts and Turtles

Carol here ~

What the heck is with all the rainy weekends?  I think it's been like six in a row.  So far I have managed to get my walks in, mostly between showers.  I haven't missed a day since March 31st.

Yay me!

This and That

Carol here ~ 

Erin and Parker went to the Portland Symphony on Sunday afternoon so we met up with them in Auburn for supper as they were headed home.  We decided this was only the second time we've seen each other since Christmas ~ really?  They are so busy.

Lena and I quilted up both the graduation quilts, will get the bindings on in the next few days. I'm happy with how they came out, hope the kids will like them.  I used a neutral-ish fabric for the backing so they will be able to turn the quilt over if they want.

I also got the quilting done on 2024-31.

2024-31

Knick Knacks

Carol here ~

My grandmother and mother had lots of knick knacks ~ here, there and everywhere around the camp/house.  My mother had them over the kitchen cupboards

and also on shelves that were above the three picture windows that looked out over the pond.

I am not a knick knack person, however, she had several cut glass pieces that I really liked so when we remodeled I had the carpenter put one shelf back over one of the picture windows so I would be able to display them.  

This and That

Carol here ~

Dan got the beach raked up the other day. We have a pretty good sized beach for this time of year.  We'll see what happens when we get the spring rains.

Almost..

Carol here ~ 

Happy Almost Spring! The warmer weather we have had lately has definitely felt like spring.  The snow is melting and I can see beach when I look out the front windows.

Mud Pond has some open water around the edges.

This and That

Carol here ~ 

What a change in the weather temperature!  I have definitely had too many clothes on the last two days on my walks.  It was also nice to not have the wind howling in my face.  I have been pretty consistent with my walking this winter, have missed a day here and there when it was storming or the wind was crazy.  The fresh air always feels good.

The Bluebirds have been back at our feeders the last couple of weeks.  We think there are eight of them.  They do not like to have their picture taken, in fact, if they sense any movement at all by us in the house then they take off.  I did manage to get this one picture of a pair of them.

Ta-Da!

Carol here ~

Annie, Lena Longarm and I finished up Annie's quilt over the weekend.

She finished up the stitching her blocks together, picked out a backing and we loaded it on Lena.

Lotsa Bindings

Carol here ~ 

I spent most of last week at my sewing machine making and stitching on bindings.

Here is the pile of quilts waiting for the binding to be hand sewn to the back. I guess those will keep me busy for a while.

Snowblowing

Carol here ~

I had my first tractor/snowblower lesson yesterday. I didn't go in the ditch and I didn't hit anybody so guess I did pretty good! I will need a couple more storms before I feel comfortable, there are quite a few levers and knobs to keep track of. I think I need a cheat sheet!

Great niece Annie was over for more sewing yesterday. She sewed squares together into rows then sewed the rows together.  Next time she is here we are going to load her project on Lena Longarm and quilt it. 

Busy!

Carol here ~

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day at Lucas and Vanessa's, enjoying an early delicious dinner as Evan had to work and Parker was headed to New York City with his father.  

Erin, Kailey, Vanessa and I played a game of Yahtzee and a couple of games of Rummikub before we headed home.  At that point it was not yet snowing in Readfield but we quickly drove into snow.  Erin headed home to Rangeley the same time as we headed to Oxford, we received a text from her saying she had hoped to get to Farmington before she hit blizzard conditions but she drove into them shortly after leaving Vanessa's. We all arrived home safe and sound.

Since downsizing and moving here to the pond we have no space for a Christmas tree so we brought our box of ornaments, lights etc. to Thanksgiving for Vanessa and Erin to go through and take what they wanted. (thank you to my friend Martha for this idea)

All four of the grands asked if the doorknob Santa was in the box.  Yes, yes he was.

What I've Been Doing

Carol here ~ 

I got the binding finished on quilt #15 the other day and got it washed yesterday.  Love the blue border on this one!

2024-15

And I discovered I must of skipped #14 so still have that one to do before I move on to #16.

The Featherweights

Carol here ~

We have two Singer 221 Featherweight sewing machines.

The black one is a limited edition anniversary model made in 1951 to celebrate Singer's hundredth year.  The emblem is inscribed "A Century of Sewing Service 1851-1951.  Of the 1, 950,000 221's made only 12% were this model.

Foliage

Carol here ~

We went to a soccer game in Rangeley yesterday.  Heard the foliage was just about at peak so we left early enough for a few stops on the way.

It was a pretty ride up and yes, I would say it's peak leaf peeping time.  We took a few photos but you just don't get the color using your iphone camera.

Here are a few we took for you to enjoy.

Height of Land

Carol here ~

Well, I made it to another birthday, it was Sunday.  Thanks to those of you who sent me birthday wishes.  My usual birthday treat is a Sam's Whoopie Pie but I changed it up this year.  We went out to the Log Yard Dairy Bar in Poland and had frozen custards.  Yum ~ just right.

This and That

Carol here ~

I finished the binding on quilt #7 for 2024.

On Sunday while I was working on #8, Dan was out in the pond pulling weeds.

Visitors

Carol here ~

I got some patio binding done yesterday. There was a lovely breeze and temp was in the low 80's.

The only issue I had was Dan's lilies ~

their sweet fragrant smell was giving me a headache!