Three Crafty Ladies

In my last post, I left out a stop.

Three Crafty Ladies in Sanibel.

It's a quilt shop, of course.

Here's what I bought.

I have to say, it was a good thing Murray was there.

It kept me from spending a fortune. 

I don't think there was one thing in there that I didn't want.

Lots of delicious batiks.

Many, many beach themed prints.

Awesome mod fabrics. 

And some great, ORIGINAL, patterns.

I will definitely be returning...

And, here's the progress on the pool.

The inside finish is done and it's full of water again.

I'm loving the color...it's cloudy today & it's still so blue.

Very inviting. 

Today, they've been working on prepping for the pavers and screen enclosure.

Things are happening!

And I couldn't be happier with the results so far.

Sanibel...Captiva

It was hot today.

What else could we do but head to the beach?

We chose Sanibel.

Good choice. 

After Sanibel, it was on to Captiva and dinner at the Mucky Duck.

This is sweet Suzi...a dear friend of my niece, J9.

She works here...Jackpot!

Such beauty while we waited for our table.

I mean...seriously?

A Leinenkugels Summer Shandy...yum.

And an acoustic guitar player with a good voice and awesome taste in music.

Perry English from Nashville.

This big smile came when he sang some Zach Brown Band,

After a couple of beers, they called our name.

Wait..what?

THE BEST TABLE IN THE HOUSE!

This is what we looked at from our chairs...

Phil had swordfish, I had flounder, we shared oysters and finished it up with Key Lime Pie.

OH. MY. GOHD.

If I'd been thinking, I could have taken some serious food porn.

But, that's just not my thing.

Thanks to Suzi...sheesh...we stepped in it today.

After all that, God treated us to a spectacular sunset.

Hard to believe how gorgeous.

Another Bento Box Flimsy

I finished this one up today while Oogah was golfing.

Green, B&W ... Good grief, I've made lotsa Bento Box flimsies.

Only 2 more to go.

I don't think I'll be making Bento Box quilts for a while after this marathon.

Sick of it

Fun in the Sun

Murray is here.

In this picture, he is organizing his golf game.

He records EVERY SWING of EVERY ROUND on index cards.

And, no, I'm NOT kidding.

He thinks this is fun.

I find this behavior peculiar.

A selfie...just to see if he would look away from his index cards.

While Bruce & Phil were golfing.

Patty & I hit Anthony's and them FMB.

Two selfies in one day.

A personal record.

Sisters are the best...how lucky I am to have THREE!

After golf, the boys joined us for a sunset dinner.

P&B head north next week.

The end of the season.

:-( BOOHOO :-(

More progress

I'm so relieved.

I've been worried about the choices I made for the renovation.

I can see the tile & coping with the grout and I love it.

When the blue finish inside the pool goes in, I may faint!

I can't wait til the pavers go down and it gets acid washed and sealed.

And, the fence is down.

You know what that means?

Soon I'll have a cage.

Ugly water feature...GONE.

Ugly waterline tile...GONE.

Falling down fence...GONE.

This feels like real progress.

Yay!

My pool guy, George, is a gem!

Not only is fixing my eyesore, he also dealt with Mr Nasty Nextdoor.

Actually, Mr Nasty didn't show up, 2 days in a row.

(I thought it was such a big deal?)

He left it to the Mrs.

George said she isn't that bad...he liked her.

And, after they talked, she asked him to quote her a patio!

Molehill to Mountain & back to Molehill.

I knew I got a good vibe from George!

No sewing today...I was stocking up for Murray' arrival.

But there's always tonight.

Never say never.

An even better day today!

Progress

Another bento box flimsy was born today...progress.

Most of the waterline tile is up....

They are waiting on a few decorative pieces to come in.

The new coping is cut and placed.

The pool is still empty.

I'm loving the lighter paver color already.

More progress.

The neighborhood drama is still ongoing, but I'm pretty much out of it, now.

Lucky for me, the contractor I hired is a stand up guy & is handling things, allowing me to remain uninvolved.

I do suspect more unpleasant encounters with these fools in the future.

For some reason, I always wind up with a challenging neighbor.

Why must people be so sour?

Mountains from molehills.

Whatever....

I wish I could be pleased with the progress my foot is making.

It's healing so very slowly.

Still puffy and sore.

It feels ok with Advil, but when it wears off...well, it hurts.

I can only wear 1 pair of shoes, and must take them off and on all day cause of the swelling.

And it's my sewing foot.

I should have some cheese with this whine....

Finally, there is this crazy little brown bird with a orange-red beak that sits on my guest bath windowsill and taps on the glass.

I've been trying to get a picture of him for a few days now. 

I'm too slow...my bloody foot isn't helping, either. 

He's so cute...

..tap..tap..tap...look in the window...repeating this over & over.

I've watched him for minutes at a time, but.....

As soon as I aim my ipad at him, he flees!

I hope I can get him caught on film...or whatever I catch photos on these days.

I'm not sure what he's trying to do, but he is very entertaining!

All in all, not a bad day.

Hope yours was even better!

Another day

Here's what happened today...

Pool completely empty.

Waterline tile & pavers delivered. 

What a mess it made on the side of my house.

And the neighbors.

Neighborhood drama.

The next couple of weeks will be long and very interesting. 

I got a good part of another Bento Box together.

It's boring being stuck here.

But I does give me time to sew.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to finish this up and do a little more paper piecing.

The best laid plans....

Today

Today is an emotional day.

I just returned from putting my baby on a plane headed back north.

I shall miss him so.

**Sniff Sniff**

I am grateful for the week I had with him.

Having not seen him since Christmas, I was overdue for some Jimmy time.

He and his friends wore me out.

How I hate when they leave me...

How proud I am to be their mom...

Kids.

It's also Frannie's 70th birthday!

Pretty darn hot for a senior, I'd say.

I do not know how I would have survived this winter without her.

BEST DOG EVER

and...

My Ugly Pool Project has finally commenced!

Nasty water feature...gone!

I hope I'm right about George & he is 'The Prince of Pools' he claims to be.

I can't wait to see how this looks when it's done.

Let's list my emotions...

Sad

Loved

Tired

Proud

Grateful

Nervous

Relieved

Curious

Excited

Yep...I'm a mess.

Borders on...A FINISH

DONE!

Ready for Lola-fication.

I'm going to be very busy when I get back to NY!

(If I ever do get there)

Day 2 Seasonal Table Runner

I'm pooped!

I got home, iced & elevated my foot and fell asleep instantly.

I slept for ALMOST 2 HOURS.

Only waking due to a leaky ziplock.

Day 2 with Jan & Judy Niemeyer's techniques went very well.

Today's results...

(The color is off...but you get the idea)

If you're planning to take a JN paper piecing class, I recommend 2 days.

At least.

It's very intense...extremely detailed & repetitive.

I felt like I was relearning how to sew.

Today went so much smoother than yesterday.

I only ripped ONE seam all day.

I got 3 times as much done.

And I hardly needed any help.

I'm going to watch for more opportunities to learn more of her techniques.

If I could work with Jan again, that would be ideal. 

That's asking a lot as the guild brought her in from Houston.

On a less positive note...I busted my foot up at the very end of class.

I think (hope) it's just a bad bruise.

Slightly puffy and uncomfortable when I put weight on it.

Frannie was alone for 2 days, getting only one long walk in yesterday.

Now all I can do is dodder along til she gets things done.

She is not amused.

Neither am I...it's my sewing foot!

Not sure if I'll attempty to sew a bit later, or wither on the couch til bedtime.

I'd love to go directly to bed...but it's the season finale of Parenthood!

Thanks for stopping by...

Cactus Flower Judy Niemeyer Day 1

Wow...what a day!

I was fortunate to get into the guilds education classes this month.

It was Judy Niemeyer paper piecing techniques.

Taught by Jan Matthews.

My head is spinning, so much info.

Paper piecing is such a different way to construct a quilt.

I've dabbled in it before...but this is intense.

Jan is an awesome teacher. 

So far, I've got this...

And here are EIGHT PAGES of directions for this little wallhanging.

All I can say is its a good thing Jan is an awesome teacher!

Can't wit o go back tomorrow....

Bargello

I took these...

Narrowed em down...

And made this strata

I hope it will be a cool Bargello wallhanging soon.

Stay tuned.