Refreshed, revitalized and re-inspired

Classes are over and exams are done - and I've been sewing!  *squeal*

Last week was a busy but oh, so awesome week.  I turned in my final paper and stats exam - and was able to host Quilt Dad at the Triad MQG meeting.  And what amazing timing it turned out to be!




I was so excited to meet John - I've stalked his blog for well over a year - and he did not disappoint.  He talked to our group for about an hour, detailing his way through his first quilt to recent finishes.  Inspiration extravaganza.  It was comforting and encouraging to hear that he started out, basically, just like most of us.  Loving fabric and enjoying putting them together. 

He walked us through his quilting "story" peppered with humorous anecdotes and stories - like how he named his blog on a whim at work one day - and how amazed and humbled he felt when designers would ask him to do things.  (I'm thinking...the same way I'm humbled and amazed that he came to visit us!).  I love it when quilting giants - um, quite literally in this case, he's so dang tall! - turn out to be real people.

I pushed people down  had the opportunity to help him display his quilts during the talk.  I can't even tell you how beautiful these quilts are in person.  I may or may not have tried to steal this one... 




You know, John, I do have a big birthday coming up in July.  Just sayin'.... ;o)

Another of my favorites...




Does it look familiar?




Couldn't help but think that was cool.  I mean, I have a quilt just like one of his... eek!

And yet another...I really loved this Christmas one, even though the prints weren't necessarily Christmas-y.  In fact, that's probably what I liked most about it.  Outside the box thinking and oh, so beautiful.




John capped off the evening by revealing his two Nightshade quilts... Double, Double, Toil & Trouble ...that he made for his girls. 

By the way - you can see here that despite my 3-inch wedges, John still towers over me!

Afterwards, Karen Gray and I had a late dinner with John, where I pretty much just sat like a fly on the wall.  I'm so humbled to have been included in conversations with such wonderful people.  I quite literally sat there soaking in all I could of their advice, thoughts, and ideas.  On the way home, all I could think about is this - it's about doing what you love.

Throughout his talk, and in the ensuing conversations, it was obvious that John has a passion for this hobby.  I think that's why it's so easy to connect with him.  Shared passion creates an instantaneous common ground from which inspiration and encouragement flow.  It's so easy to learn from people who are truly excited about what they do. 

The next day, I was fired up and ready to hit my machine and dive back into this hobby that I have grown to love so dearly.  In fact, within 20 minutes of turning in my stats exam, I was on the floor in our office mail room working on a paper-pieced layout of my next quilt.  More than one person walking through commented on how they could tell classes were over....LOL!

Refreshed, revitalized and re-inspired....and ready to go!


**Special thanks to my friends Kelly and Abby for their photos - so glad you took them while I played Vanna!**

my break - an instagram review

Spring break has come and gone.  Classes start up tomorrow, but it's been a wonderful week.

I started off by spending a couple of days at my best friend's lake house.  She joined me on Monday evening, but otherwise it was just me.  No kids, no hubby, no to-do list. This is the sunset that greeted me last Sunday night.

My only plan for the two days - relax.  I got out of bed at 9:30 both mornings.  I had my coffee with the windows open (it was a touch cold to be outside), listening to the birds, and I spent the majority of the day talking socks with my twitter friends Sharon, Heide, and Selina.  I managed to cast on - a few different times - and got a little progress done on Hermione's Socks, per Sharon's suggestion.  Let's just say learning to use double-pointed needles has been... um... interesting.

First socks - The yarn is Malabrigo Sock in 853 Abril.

I'm still not convinced that these will fit me, but everyone keeps telling me to trust my gauge swatch (which I did twice!), so I'm continuing on...

On Wednesday, it was back to work, but things were especially slow this week.  Not really planned, but oh, so appreciated.  My boys went to work with me on Friday and we took a long lunch, visiting a local shop for some gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches before we headed over to Karen Gray's.  Yes, I took my boys fabric shopping.  :)  Karen knows the deal, though, and has a bucket of toys, including lots of cars, ready and waiting for little tykes.

While I was there, I confirmed a much talked about rumor regarding a certain designer named Tula Pink (you may have heard of her...) coming to visit soon.  So, naturally I had to break into my much-loved and much-petted Prince Charming stack that night. 





Saturday was scheduled to be a crazy, nutso day with two ball practices, a church meeting, a guild open sew, and a birthday party - all before 5 pm.  Hubby saved the day, though and took all of them but the sewing time, so I got to sew at our LQS for about five straight hours!!

That's my spot on the right... with the chips.  LOL!  :)

I almost...almost... finished my Pave the Way top.  Sarah had some extra batting that we tossed up as a temporary design wall and they helped me with the layout.  Then I rolled it up and took 'er home.  Hoping to finish tonight.  :)





After church on Sunday, I hit the local Quilt Show that the Forsyth Piecers and Quilters Guild hosted over the weekend.  It was so fun to not only see familiar faces, but also familiar quilts!  So many wonderful quilts!  We were asked to vote in a viewer's choice, but I couldn't chose just one...and time ran out before I could cast a vote.  And of course, I couldn't leave without a little shopping...a fat eighth of Flea Market Fancy and some local alpaca yarn that will soon be socks for the Hubs.  :)




All in all, I'm leaving spring break rested, restored, and rejuvenated.   I hate that it's over, but I truly feel like I used my time to get done exactly what I needed... Rest. 

I'm ready to jump back into my classes and finish this semester now, whereas before break, all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers and hide.  And sleep. 

Amazing what a little break can do.

spring break!

Two midterms down and a week off.  I swear I felt the stress physically falling off my shoulders yesterday as my classmates gathered for drinks after stats class.  I've been counting the days for this one as classes seem to be at a much faster pace with a heavier workload this semester.  I feel like I've always got my nose in a book, journal article, or other miscellaneous work.




So tired of constantly having a to-do list.  But for the next 10 days, I don't.  Not a school-related one, at least.

Given the increase in class intensity, and the corresponding decrease in time with my family, my hobby projects have shifted more towards yarn work because it's something I can do while watching TV, etc., with the boys instead of being holed up in a sewing room....despite the fact that I'd *rather* be holed up in my sewing room.

I've had several finishes this month, though none of them are sewing or quilting projects.  I started and completed two cowls, two sets of fingerless gloves, a scarf and a doggie sweater.  It feels so productive to say that!  The scarf and one of the gloves sets were knit...a new hobby that I'm quickly falling in love with.  Here are a couple of photos of the crocheted projects. 










The cowl at the bottom is my favorite and I get tons of compliments each time I wear it.  It's a simple half-double crochet stitch done in the round.  I used two strands of Malabrigo worsted as the pattern called for a chunky yarn.  Two skeins and two evenings later, I was done (and that included pulling it out once halfway through because I didn't make it long enough!)  So.  Very.  Easy.   In fact, the pattern is called "Effortless Cowl" and the name certainly fits.

With my break finally here, and having Monday and Tuesday off from work, I have all sorts of pie-in-the-sky ideas about the many things I'd like to work on.  Truthfully, though, I'm seriously considering spending all day Monday in bed.  Yes, all day.  An alternative may be to spend the day at my best friend's lake house...but even then I may not get out of bed, unless it's to go sit on the boat dock for a while.  Doing nothing sounds so heavenly.

Other than that, though, I hope to cut several more Oh My Stars sets so I can organize them for some quick sewing once classes start up again.  I'm also starting to receive some TwitterB blocks (last month was my month) and I want to play with them a bit.  So fun to receive happy little packages.  I need to get some things painted for my sewing room, too.

Regardless of what projects I end up working on, I'm going to relish this time off, catch up with my online (and real life!) friends, and just sit and enjoy life a bit.  Spring break looks a lot different at 39 than it did at 21.

Enjoy your weekend!!

date night

One of the hardest adjustments to full-time work and full-time school is the lack of family time.  While I miss it, it is easy for an adult to justify.  "Just one year," I keep repeating, and I know in my heart it's a good thing.

But my kids miss their mama.

To counter act the time, and to be sure my kids still will still know my name when I finish school, we implemented date night.  Every other week, I take one of my boys out for dinner.  Just me and him.




Last week, I took out my oldest.  He's the quiet one, so I'm actually more concerned about losing touch with him.  He's 11 now, and I know the teen years will be here much too soon.  Gotta start focusing on that relationship now.  Like, yesterday now.

Tonight, my youngest and I are going out.  He's the spunky one.




Those of us in the south are familiar with the term "talk your ears off".  As in, "that boy will talk your ears off".  That's him.  Never met a stranger, never been shy.  Pretty much says anything and everything that's on his mind - whether you want to hear it or not.

Wonder where he get's that from?   ;o)

Enjoy your night!!!

 

something new

It's so nice to be finished with *almost* all of my quilts - I finished FOUR over my holiday break.  FOUR!!  Ok, ok, one is still in binding mode, but it will be done in the next day or so, well before classes start.  However, in reviewing them as well as those I made last year, I noticed something.





Do you see it????   They're all SQUARES!!

Except for the pinwheel in the black-and-white quilt, all of the quilt blocks are squares or some variation on a square.  Oy!  Same is true for the three quilts I've just finished but haven't shown you yet.  Yup.  Squares.

As you can imagine, I'm ready for something different, so I've decided to join the Oh My Stars! Quilt Along over at Thought and Found.  I've been eying it for a while, trying to decide what to do and I've finally decided to jump in.  I can't stop thinking about it so, if I can't beat 'em, I should join 'em, right?

I'll be using my Terrain (gasp!) fat-eighth bundle with a few coordinating solids peppered throughout.





I purchased this chunk of gorgeousness way back in October and have spent quite a bit of time admiring it.  I did break down and use an inch or two of one of the purple fabrics for a zipper pouch, but otherwise it still sits, all bundled up in a beautiful little stack.

Now, I will say up front that I won't be going at the same clip as the others in the QAL.  Second semester classes start up next week, so I'm not committing to any big projects.  I've turned down swaps, bees, and even my church group on new projects.  I just can't do it. 

My goal is one star set a week (a star set is one 12", two 8" and four 4" stars) and if I miss a week then I miss a week.  Not beating myself up over this one.  No deadline.  No rush.  No worries.  It gets done when it gets done.  This project is intended to be a stress reliever and a (hopeful) reward to finishing surviving the Spring semester.   The quilt is for me, the time to build it will be for me and, likewise, I'll be going at my own little pace.  :) 

The only other thing I'm trying to do is dedicate Sundays to my Bethlehem Star quilt.  My father-in-law came over last night with a train table for my boys, handmade to our specifications.  Now they have an awesome place to build their tracks and a little scenery without messing up their toy area.  If you remember, he also made my cutting table (which I adore!) and the quilt is a thank you to him.  I must finish this.  Goal is October for this one.  The quilt is more tedious than I ever imagined, so I need a deadline to keep me on it.  Prayers welcome.  ;o)

I'll try to keep y'all posted as I go with some WIP updates on both quilts.  Please don't worry too much if I get quiet.  I was really stressed out last semester, so I'm trying to learn from my mistakes.  Shortening my to-do list will help immensely. 

Oh - and I still have three finished quilts to show you.  Eep!

Happy 2012!

As I sit here this afternoon catching up on blogs, I can't help but think back and, at the same time, wonder about the future.  One of my favorite things about this time of year has always been watching the recaps and year-in-review programs.  In fact, it's one of the few times I actually turn on news channels.  It's nice to be reminded about what happened...taking account.

To go along with that, I've always liked the notion of New Year's Resolutions.  Not that there is anything magical about January 1, but it just seems like a good, fresh time to make new goals.  I'm doing a bit of that this year, too. 

First, I must say that 2011 was quite a year for me in quilting.  One of my struggles with being active online is seeing how much everyone else is doing.  The productivity out there is amazing...and sometimes overwhelming.  I'm constantly feeling inferior in that realm, but with a full-time job, grad school, and family, I can only do so much, right?

I ended up finishing nine quilts this year.  That's *almost* one a month!  I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tickled with that.  Maybe double-digits next year?  I'm already ahead of the game with two ready to quilt tomorrow.  :)







I haven't blogged about my two most recent finishes, though one of them is pictured in block-form in the top mosaic.  I finished a quilt for my best friend and one for my dad in December.  The former for a birthday, latter for Christmas.  I still don't have pictures loaded yet, but they're coming.  :)

Of course, top that off with three online Bees, multiple swaps, including the post-Summit pouch swap, several Christmas gifts including pouches and iPad cases, and dozens of mug rugs and other small items.  I think I've been quite productive, all things considered.  :)

Of course, the best part about looking back is to see how much I grew in my quilting skills this year.  I've gone from being very nervous and unsure about color, fabrics, and patterns to being very confident and even being able to help others.  I've gone from strictly using fabric collections to branching out on my own color combinations.  I'm even working on two quilt patterns right now.  Both are still in the paper stage, but I hope to share them soon.

So what about 2012???

1) Blogging versus sewing...more sewing, less blogging and less worrying. I've spent days and nights fretting about how many followers I have, how to drive in more traffic and how to please everyone and, well... I'm done with that.  It's amazing how easy it is to fall into what I call the popularity trap and constantly compare myself with other bloggers.  My plan?  Focus on sewing and sharing my projects.  I've met so many new people thanks to this blog and that is what I want to continue.  So, I guess this first goal is really an attitude shift.  More about people, less about numbers.  I'm good with that.

2) Host a quilt-along.  Despite how #1 may have sounded, I have no intention of neglecting this blog.  One specific thing I want to do here is host a quilt-along.  I've participated in two of these and am getting ready to start my third.  I just love them and would like to host one of my own.  Still not sure of all the details, but those will work out eventually.  (BTW - if you have an suggestion, be sure to share it!)

3) Projects for my home.  Ever since I dusted off my sewing machine, I've wanted to make some placemats.  Yes, placemats.  I know it sounds silly, but I think they dress up a table beautifully.  I still haven't done any.  Not one.  2012 will see at least one set of placemats.   Of course, I'd also like some other things, like fabric baskets and organizers, and maybe even some curtains.  I love making things for other people, but my house needs a bit of attention. 

4) Family Quilts.  Each of my boys (hubby included) now has a quilt to call his own.  I want to add a couple - or maybe even three - quilts that are just family quilts.  They will hang out in the living room or on the couch in the basement, ready for any impromptu snuggling that may come about.  Oh yeah, and one more for me.  :)

5) A raincoat.  I want to make my own raincoat out of laminated fabrics.  A class will be needed, for sure, as I've never sewn a garment.  I just think having a raincoat that I made myself would be the coolest thing ever.  (Wow - how old did that sound?)

6) Knitting.  I learned to crochet in elementary school and sort-of taught myself how to knit a couple years ago.  But I couldn't tell you how to cast on to save my life right now and I never got beyond a simple knit stitch.  Time to move forward.

7) Cross-stitching.  My first crafty love.  My mom taught me in fourth grade and it's time to go back.  I have Amanda to thank for my rekindled interest.  She's made what I thought was an outdated craft  fun again.  I've thoroughly enjoyed digging through my old DMC floss and I can't wait to keep going.  Plus this (with the knitting) will get my butt back out of the sewing room and into the living room with my family. 

8) Crochet.  My second crafty-love.  My grandma taught me this one and I've let it slip.  I recently stumbled across amigurumi and I am intrigued.  I'd like to make a couple of cute little animals to have on my desk at work.  And at least one for grandma.  I think she'd like that.

OK - so, wow.  That's a big list.  Not sure how many I will hit, but it will be fun trying.  I hope you'll stick around and see how I do.  :)

Happy 2012!!

merry everything, happy always

This is the greeting on my best friend's Christmas card this year...and I love it.  It perfectly sums up the overarching sentiment of the season, without using the generic, boring, and overly innocuous "Happy Holidays".

So, this is my wish for you, too.

Merry Everything - whatever holiday you are celebrating, I hope it's festive, fun and merry.

Happy Always - I hope you find happiness and joy in everything you do, not only in the new year but always.

I'll be taking some much-needed family time after the long, hard fall semester.  They deserve everything I can give them for being so patient with me.  My family rocks.

See you in 2012!

catching up

Sweet mercy! October has been one crazy month so far.  I feel like my head is spinning.

Summit was Ah-maz-ing.  To say the least, I'm still processing it all.  I have a few pictures and need to take a couple more before I post.  Maybe later this week, ok?  In the meantime, you can head over to the Sewing Summit flickr group and check out what others are posting.  So. Much. Fun.  You really need to start saving your pennies now so you can join us next year.  :)

On another note - I was a complete slacker and forgot to tell y'all that my Central Park quilt was featured on Quilt Story last week.  Love that website, and I'm so honored that they chose another of my quilts to share.  :)






And last, but certainly not least, I'm guest blogging today over at my friend Sha's place.



She asked for a couple of people to talk about Kate Spain, and I jumped at the chance.  Take a peek when you get a minute so you can see all of my Kate Spain projects in one place.

Enjoy your week!  I'm hoping to get to sew tonight....yay!!!!

Summit!!!

 

   I leave tomorrow.   

 

In about 24 hours, I'll be there.   I... Can't... Wait. 

 

Are you going??? Let me know - and be sure to stop and say hello if you see me!

 

I'll try to post updates, but the best way to keep up will be on Twitter.  

Eeek!!

39.... and holding?

Today is my 39th birthday.

Truly.  Not a 39-again birthday.  But I can't help but think of how many people really do have 39-again birthdays.  I almost feel like I have to say "for real" or "honest" afterwards because so many people stop at 39 and well... hold.

But I don't think that's for me.

The last 39 years have been amazing.  I can't even put into words how much I've been blessed.  And the last decade has simply been the icing on the cake.  And if you know me, you know that's my favorite part of the cake!  :)

Thirty saw me coming out of newlywed stage with a 2 year-old.  Matt threw me a surprise birthday party and I still remember the shock nearly 10 years later.  We'd been living in this house two months when I turned 30, and we've slowly made it a home, but still aren't done.  We've welcomed another son and said goodbye to some wonderful people, both young and old.  I've cried with friends over babies who died the same day they were born and celebrated 90th birthdays with others.

I finished grad school and now prepare to go down that road again in the fall.  I started my current job and began to move up in my career, including some amazing leadership roles that I still can't believe I hold.  Makes me wonder what is ahead, though I must admit I'm looking forward to a slow-down.

In that same decade, we started homeschooling and changed churches.  We teetered through the awkward months of settling into me working and Matt staying home.  Worth.  Every.  Minute.  We found our niche at the new church and became active without being exhausted.  Such a fine line.

We started our annual Hatteras trips.  Need I say more?

We've made new friends, and stayed close with old - and I cherish them all.  A few will be at my house tonight, my birthday wish.  Really.  It's what I wished for when Matt asked me what I wanted.  I adore my friends.  They're real.  They're honest.  We share our struggles and heartaches and we share our good times, too.  Tonight, I'll just soak it all in.  I just wish they all could be here.

But with all that said, if my thirties are any indication of how my forties will be, I say bring it....I'll be ready to celebrate.  :)

Blowing out 12 candles - 3+9.  No way I was putting 39 on there!

coffee quilt finished!

OK - I don't know whether it was the Sew Shine WIP Challenge or the fact that I was on vacation, but I've finished yet another quilt. Maybe it was the timing of the two. Who knows - but whatever it was, I'm on a roll and I'm loving the momentum I'm feeling.  Sorta like a dieter who has lost her first two pounds - it's inspiring me to keep moving!!

Yesterday, I finished the last stitches on my husband's coffee quilt - a quilt over a year in the making!!



He and I are avid coffee drinkers - though not coffee snobs - and when I saw this collection at a quilt show last spring (2010!) I wanted to make a quilt for him.  The panels have the cutest sayings...my favorite is "Without coffee 'Good Morning' is an oxymoron."  Oh, so true.



This is also the first quilt I designed on my own - sort of.  The outer ring is a block that was featured on Moose on the Porch Quilts as part of a sampler sew-along.  (Just FYI for inquiring minds - it's Block #2.)  I didn't do all the blocks, but of the few I did, this one was my favorite.  It was simple and quick!

The inner four blocks are my own.  I wanted to highlight the panels, so I measured and cut them, then worked with the remaining prints and panel scraps to make the blocks fit. It's basically a wonky nine-patch, with the middle "row" being much thicker.  If I remember right - and forgive me for not actually measuring - the panel cuts were 6-ish inch squares and the outer rows about 3.5".

I pieced the back, out of sheer necessity.

Because I didn't have a clue as to what I was going to do with the fabric when I bought it, I bought what I thought was enough.  All I knew is I wanted a lap quilt.  The lady at the fabric booth helped the best she could with estimates, but let's face it - she didn't have much to work with!!  By the time the quilt top was finished, I had a veritable mountain of turquoise, brown, and cream scraps, but not enough floral to cover the back.  And I had no binding...something that apparently slipped my mind back then.  (But hey - I had only finished two quilts at that point and both were under the watchful guidance of a teacher at my LQS.)

So, a few weekends ago, I sat down with my graph paper, pencil and eraser and got to work.  After about three hours, I finally had a combo that would both use my scraps and leave me enough for binding.



The next struggle was the quilting, which is no news to those who have read my previous grumblings about the actual quilting step.  I had decided long ago that I would straight-line quilt, but I wasn't sure how to do it with the seams between the two blocks (the outer and inner rings) not even.   I finally decided to start in the middle and quilt a square spiral in the center section and then parallel the seams in the outer ring blocks.  Except for running out of top thread a little over two-thirds of the way through, it went pretty smoothly.  I prepped and attached the binding, then packed it up for my beach trip.

As I was finishing it, I couldn't help but think about how much has changed in a year.  The quilt show (where I purchased the fabric) was in May 2010 and I had only "restarted" my quilting in January.  I had not found any of the blogs I follow and had never heard of "modern quilting".  I hadn't started this blog, either.

Shortly after starting this quilt, I began falling in love with quilts from people like Rita, Rachel, and Julie - who I still admire to the point of near stalking.  They had a crisp, clean look that often made me catch my breath (and still do!).  I began seeing that, yes, it is ok to use solids in a quilt and - gasp - I liked it!  I found straight-line stitching and gave it a try.  I started perusing websites more and more, and my list of  must-read blogs and must-try projects continued to grow.  I grew, too.  And it makes me wonder what my style will be like next year.

Looking back, I'm not sure I would have made the same quilt today as I started back then (even though "back then" was only a year ago).  Not that I don't like it.  I love it... it's cozy and warm and I love the chocolate/turquoise combo.  It's incredibly special to me because it's for my husband, my schmookie.  It's themed around a quiet cup of coffee, one of the simple pleasures we both adore.  I know it will get lots of use. 


But, for now, it's back to packing.  We leave this beautiful piece of heaven tomorrow.  I swear the weeks go by faster each year.  Fortunately, the weeks in between trips seem to go just as fast.  I leave here refreshed and rejuvenated - just the way it should be - and I'm already looking forward to next year.




(See my Linky Party page for blog party links and buttons.)

time for a vacay

Well, I'm sad to say I didn't get my Guitar Quilt quilted on Wednesday. When I got to the local quilt store, all jazzed and excited, I found out they were closing at five. Not enough time to get the quilt done. Turns out their normal closing time is five, but they stay open later for classes on days they have classes. When I booked the appointment, there was a class scheduled until seven that night but no one signed up for the class, so it was cancelled. Therefore, the shop closed at five.

The ladies were super nice and tried to help me out, even offering for me to get started and leave it on the machine overnight. But with work being what it is and my evenings being booked solid, that just wasn't an option. So, I'm signed up for July 14th now. There is a class that day, too, but it's the middle of a Beginning Sewing series that already has people in it, so I should be ok. :)

So - instead of finishing that quilt at the beach, which was the plan, I'll now be finishing Molly's quilt (the Above All Fabric quilt along) and Matt's Coffee Quilt.  I was able to piece the back of Molly's Quilt and get it quilted on Saturday.  Here is the back...no pic of the quilting yet.

Both are already packed in the car, ready to go. We'll be gone for two weeks, which should be plenty of time to get the binding done.  I'm also taking my pile of hexies.  I've been working on these since last fall but Kristen at K*D Quilts has inspired me to get to work on them again.  I have about 150...but need about 1,100.

Tonight will be a fun night...girls night out to the Def Leppard concert in Raleigh.  Can't wait.  Then a day with the boys tomorrow, likely including Cars 2, and off to the Outer Banks with everyone Sunday.  This is our ninth trip together and we look forward to it all year long.  And I mean that quite literally - we start talking and yearning for "next year" the day that we leave.


If you've never been to the Outer Banks, you need to add it to your list of things to see.  We are partial to the southern part, Hatteras Island in particular.  You just can't beat it.  Tiny villages full of houses, vast beaches, and gorgeous sunsets.  Wanna see?  Here's a google images search on "Outer Banks NC".   No traffic, no noise, no hoardes of people.  Sheer, wonderful, all-out peace.  Island life is the life for me.

It takes forever to get there...nearly six hours from our friends house...but it's worth it.  Because the islands are so far from the mainland, there are only two places to cross - Manteo/Nags Head has a set of bridges or you can take the Swan Quarter ferry to Ocracoke and another to Hatteras.   We opt for the former as Ash gets seasick and the SQ ferry is about two hours long.  In some areas on Hwy 12, you can see water on both sides, the island is so thin.  Very cool...except in hurricanes.   

So in a little over 48 hours I'll be unpacking and settling into what has now become our home away from home.  I'm still trying to convince Matt that we need to retire there.  Almost there.  :)

Can't promise a lot of activity here, but I'll try.  I'm sure you'll understand, though, if I make myself scarce.  After all, someone has to watch the kids while they play.  :)

landscaping update

So here I sit in the land of sickening irony... and governing it all is my friend Murphy.

I had this fabulous post all planned out, showing you my landscaping progress.  How I went from this...

to this..

I was going to show you my before pictures....

And talk about all the in-between pictures...

But then THIS happened.... 

Some storms came through North Carolina on Saturday...not big ones, really.  We've had much worse.  A "watch" popped up on my weather radio and I checked the radar.  A wall was moving towards us, but no warnings.  We were going about our business.  No thunder, no lightning.  Then "BAM!!".   So loud that my husband ran in and shouted, "I'm OK, I'm OK!!" because he knew I'd be freaked out.  He had been outside watching the trees and had to duck for cover.

Twenty minutes later, the warnings came out - for counties to the east.   At least they had warning.

The limb hit the corner of our roof and slid down the side of the house - knocking things off my son's wall, while he was in the room.  (Yeah - this mamma's still a little freaked about that one.)

The damage to the house appears fairly minimal, which we are very thankful for.  One of our neighbors had a chainsaw out yesterday cleaning up a limb in his yard.  Lots of old trees in this neighborhood.  Fortunately, his was only in the yard and did not his his house.

Of course, we're also super thankful that Matt and Trenton made it inside (they were both outside) and Tanner wasn't hurt given the tree just missed his bedroom window. (I was in the basement sewing, of course....LOL!)

My plants on the other hand, didn't fare as well.  This is what it looked like after Matt moved the limb.

I had planted three peonies.  One came out unscathed.  This one was hit, but probably will make it.  Just the outer stems snapped.

This little guy, though... not much hope.  All stems were snapped right at the base.  I left it planted; maybe the roots will shoot up new stems. 

Not really sure how the two below will turn out.  It's upsetting, too, because they were the ones showing the most growth.  I've cut the broken stems off now, and they are about half their original size.   *sigh*

Again, though, it could have been much worse, so I'm just frustrated more than upset.    We try to make our yards look better, but nature comes and knocks us back.  All four of us got out and cleaned up things yesterday (I have the best family EVER!) and it looks good again.  All the stray sticks and leaves are now in the burn pile.  :)

So, here's to some healthy rains and warm sun - maybe my plants will make a comeback afterall. And here's to a safe, in-the-basement, sewing room, where I can hang out and pretend that storms don't exist.  :)