This and that, life in general

Yesterday I sent a cake with Del to his office to share in honor of his first pay check. :) He brought me back a pretty "Thank You" card with messages and signatures from everybody who enjoyed the cake. It was one of my grandmother's recipes, very easy to make and very good.
I don't seem to be able to do anything creative recently except for cooking and baking. I am getting lazy.
I gave the kitchen a good scrubbing last Friday. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, which I always enjoy. We were a bit early and there were hardly any people there yet. Then we did our regular grocery shopping and after lunch we decided to take a road trip. I don't get out of the house during the week (courtesy of whoever messed up my green card) and I really needed to see some landscape. We drove up north, into Rockingham County, because I wanted to see something new. The countryside is very pretty up there, lots of hills and woods with some agricultural areas in between, we saw some tobacco and corn fields. We drove through Mayodan, a very pretty little town. On the way back we stopped at the bookstore (mainly for coffe) and did some more shopping at another store as well.
I am holding my weight but I have gotten really lazy and did not do my exercise for a couple of days. I really need to get my butt moving again.
It has been very hot recently and now we are waiting for the rain that "Ernesto" is supposed to bring.
The ongoing case of my green card has now been handed over to the office of one of our senators. I hope she will be able to get something going. I have been here for almost a year and still can't drive or find work, it is very frustrating.
The long wait has given me plenty of time to think about what kind of job I actually want. I don't want to spend all day in an office again like I did the past 14 years. I would like to find a job that benefits others, maybe at the hospital or one of the retirement homes. It has also given me time to reflect on the past and the life I left behind and to overcome old hurts and disappointments. I feel like a cocooned caterpillar getting ready to hatch as a brand new butterfly. :) I do not regret coming here at all and other than a few friends I don't miss anything I left behind in Vienna.

Christmas Cards

I decided to make at least some of my Christmas cards this year myself rather than buying them. I kept it simple, just glueing pretty ribbon and fabrics to cardstock and stamping the greeting on with a rubber stamp I bought last year. I am quite happy with the results, except for two, all of them turned out nicely. On the other two the ribbon just did not want to stick and the glue left a stain, now I have to think about something I could stick over that stain.
I also finished two cards that I had made a while ago by just sewing the fabric part to the cards. They are less than perfect because I am still experimenting with the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. All things considered I had a very creative week. :)

Christmas cards

WOBQ

I allowed too many things to get in the way of keeping up with both the study and the quilt blocks. I have joined a new group now and we will start over in September. This time I will make an effort to not let anything get into the way of the study and making the blocks.
I already had the fabrics for block #22 - Bathsheba picked out so I made the block yesterday. The fabrics don't contrast as much as I was hoping for but I like the way it looks.

More Halloween Blocks

Yesterday I made two more blocks for the Halloween swap. I think I will use the simpler pattern for all of them. I am quite pleased with them, especially the one with the candy corn. ;)

This and that

With Del at work I have plenty of "me-time" now. After he leaves around 7 am I spend some time on the computer, reading emails, checking my quilting lists and the websites I usually visit, chat with my friend Faith and write some emails, then I do my exercise while watching an episode of "Highlander". I use the rest of the morning to work on my various quilt projects, they seem to multiply, every time I turn around I find something else I would like to make. :) After lunch I spend some time on the computer again, then I either sew some more or watch a movie and work on more afghans for VJGC. Oh, and sometime during the day Miss Kitty usually shows up for some schmoozing time. :-)
I have joined a new Women of the Bible Quilt group. I got so behind on both the study and my blocks that I decided to start over. It will officially start in September and I plan to stick with it and be more active in it.
On Saturday we go to the Farmer's Market, do our other grocery shopping and on Sunday we either go to church or for a long walk and then fall asleep while watching a race. :) Since fuel prices are still high and rising we do not go to church every Sunday, it is a long drive.
I know it does not sound all too exciting but it feels good after all the stress of the past year and certainly after the kind of life we had in Vienna. I am glad we made the move, the pace of life here suits us much more than the rat race in the big city. Del really enjoys his new job and likes his co-workers and I am happy about that.
Miss Kitty is her usual purry sweet self again and since we got a hummingbird feeder on the balcony she has even more critters to watch. I love watching them too, those little birdies are precious.

Boo!

I am doing a Halloween quilt block swap on my favorite quilting newsgroup and yesterday I made two blocks using different patterns to see how they would turn out. They are 6" and paper pieced. I really had fun making them and I think they turned out pretty good.

Life is good

I can feel the stress draining from me - finally.
The cat is well again, Del has a job and enjoys it, I have plenty of "me-time" and my creative juices are flowing again. I can't be creative when I am all stressed out. I am working on a secret quilt project, can't say what it is, you never know who might be reading this. ;) But it will be a gift and it is blue. :) And today I made my first fabric postcard (I was told they can become addictive).
I was not sure if the result was worth the time and effort but everybody who has seen it so far liked it. Okay, must be worth it then. Actually I spent most of the morning searching desperately for the instruction book for my sewing machine so I could use the fancy stitches. I hate it when I "know" that something is in a certain place, only to find out that it is NOT. I found it in a basket, under a big pile of fabrics. :) I have also signed up for a Christmas ornament swap on one of my mailing lists and for a quilt block swap with a Halloween theme on another. I have plenty of things to keep myself busy until my green card will finally arrive. Maybe as a birthday present?
My new stepper is out to kill me, I feel like I have to start all over again. Today I managed 15 minutes and afterwards I thought my legs are falling off. But I won't give up, I just keep trying until I get back to my 30 minutes. I am doing the cardio exercise daily now so I can get at least part of the time done that I am supposed to do according to my plan.
I also found that I eat less when I am alone and keep myself busy. I am back on track with my lifestyle change and I am feeling good.
We will go back to church on Sunday, we have not been for a long time, the high gas prices and frequent trips to Raleigh for job interviews kept us from the long drive to church. I really miss the people and look forward to going back.
It is extremely hot here today, I am glad I can keep the house cool and stay inside, so is Miss Kitty. :)

RCTQ-BOM

This is the block for July, it is a lot less complicated than it looks. ;)

Quiltstuff

This is the picture of the wall hanging I made for a friend's birthday. I finally finished the roll of film.

Kyle Petty Charity Ride

On Sunday we went to Winston-Salem to see the Kyle Petty Charity ride come in. It was a verrrry hot day and I got a good sunburn on my face, my arms and on my scalp - courtesy of my thin hair. And thanks to my sandals I now have striped feet (Del calls them zebra feet) . ;)
Here are my photos from the event.