Mixing Sad and Happy Times

Today I grocery shopped at the Fort Eddy Road Market Basket and also went to Lowe's to pick out a new toilet to replace my 40+ year old one here. It doesn't flush properly at all and won't shut off unless I leave the cover off of the tank so I can manually press down on the valve to keep it from running the well dry. Ugh!

I found a wonderful handyman locally who said that he charges $30 an hour and that he could do it in about 2 hours. That's a bargain! He's coming Sunday and will bring his son to help him with the heavy lifting. I pray that it all goes well! Felix was a bear about keeping that old toilet. He stubbornly refused to replace it with the modern low-water flushers because he said that every time he used them in public restrooms, his balls would hang down into the higher water level in the bowl. Ugh! Who could blame him?

Today my regular bank statement came in for the checking account and it was addressed to me, my sister, and my brother in law. I had their names put onto my accounts when Felix died in case anything should happen to me. This way, they will have free access to funds for both checking and savings accounts. But seeing Felix's  name disappear from the statement hurt me terribly. I wept with sadness. Everything seems so hard without him.


But I did go into the Friday Quilters at the Golden Gese and had lunch with all the gals there. It was good to see what they were working on today. Maureen is adding an intense purple batik border to her red, white, and blue blocks. Looks great!

Beverly is adding embellishments to her pretty charm pack blocks that are little flowers whose petals are cut with pinking shears and have button centers.  So much work!

I brought in a Christmas table topper that my sister, Suzanne had made and she asked me to quilt it and finish it. She had made the mistake of trying to bind it with that little bias tape that is made for clothing and when it didn't work, she became discouraged.

It is so pretty and it is reversible,  too. Here's  a peek at the other side.

Here  is where I was cutting out pale green 2½"strips for a replacement binding. Maureen has cheerfully volunteered to do the actual binding for me and she's an expert at it!

Nancy, the shop owner and master quilter, showed us her small but perfectly embellished wall hanging.

Look at those tiny pieces! And it has hand embroidered wreaths with the littlest buttons I've ever seen! Good work, Nancy!

Back on Tuesday, I was at the Senior Center where Sarah had made two pretty placemats for the newest Meals on Wheels recipients.

Mary was cutting out some adult bibs in a nice masculine plaid.

Sue held up the small piece that she's been quilting on her domestic machine. Nice work, Sue!

I brought in an odd lot of perle cotton and crochet cotton for folks to tie their quilts and it all disappeared.

Meb had a stack of hand sewn Dresden plate blocks that she's been doing. She loves to have hand work to take along at the Dr.'s office.

Mary had fun with her scrap piles!

We all enjoyed our time together sharing our progress on our projects!

Happy quilting!

Two Months

Today marks the end of the second month since my beloved Felix passed away. I still miss him terribly but I think that it is getting a little bit easier as I adjust.

Yesterday my  registration renewal paperwork arrived so I went to the town hall and renewed my car's plates.  I put the stickers right onto the plates and tucked the registration card into the glove box so that nothing could get lost.

My 40 year  old toilet desperately needs replacing so I  called a local handyman for hire who said he could do it. He said that he charges $30 an hour and that the job would take about two hours to do. I will buy a new toilet from the nearest Lowe's for around $150. It will be the new higher height which will be a blessing for getting off of it.

Felix and I always talked over any plans for repairs or improvements. It is unnerving and strange to make these decisions all alone. It takes me several days to get up the courage to make phone calls. I'm like a turtle who must pull back into its shell to hide.

However, I did get a great furnace repair guy to clean and service my old oil burner for me. He also repaired the poor pressure and temperature of the domestic hot water off the furnace. Additionally, he was able to change the sand filter from the well. So I should be all set for winter.

The days are getting cooler which I find to be a blessing. Its mostly been 70's by  day  and mid 40'sby night.

I didn't go into the Golden Gese on Friday, so I have no quilty pictures to show you today, but hope to get some this morning when I go to the Senior Center.

Happy quilting!

Cooler Weather!

The weather has been blessedly cooler and drier lately but tonight's forecast said that Wednesday will be hot and humid again. Ugh! At least it is only for one day.

On Friday I went to the Golden Gese to sew with my friends.

Beverly was working out the placement of her lovely charm pack squares.

A new gal, Sonia Noyes, breezed in and showed us her gorgeous stars and courthouse steps variation.

This was all done in Civil War reds creams and tans. Isn't it beautiful?

She was at the shop to audition some fabrics for the backing to her quilt and picked out the medium cream color from the ones you see here.

Also, I want to say a specially big "Thank you!" to Katie, who reads my blog and sent a large box of fat quarters and scraps to me for the ladies at the Senior Center! Thank you, thank you!

On Tuesday at the Senior Center, Meb let us look at her novice work on her new long arm on this beautiful pink Civil War creation.

Nice going, Meb!!!

As for me, I took a couple of pairs of blocks from my orphan blocks pile and made two placemats for the newest recipients of Meals On Wheels.

They are far from perfect, but I hope that they will cheer someone's day!

I  miss Felix terribly but I am getting through each day and pray for him as the clock strikes 7:45pm the moment when he passed away. God bless you, my honey!

Happy quilting!

RABBIT!

Some of the silly little rituals that Felix and I always enjoyed with each other make me think of him. Like saying, "RABBIT!" as the first spoken word of the new month to ensure good luck. We also used to say,  "Gilmanton! We're  saved!  We're  saved!" as we crossed over the border into our town when on the road to home. I still do those and think of him fondly. How I miss his cheery company!

When my sister, Suzanne, who lives only a quick 25 miles away, invited me to her cookout today, I jumped at the chance to go. Her friend, Jasmine, has two daughters and one was celebrating a birthday with all of us. Here's Jasmine manning the grill for plenty of tasty hamburgers and hot dogs.

Her daughter, Kate, enjoyed the traditional song of "Happy Birthday" as she blew out the candles on her strawberry shortcake.

The family dog, Leroy, a lovely Golden Retriever, was trying to behave himself and not beg for food.

Here's  Suzanne, my wonderful sister, making my special favorite flavored coffee called, "Jamaican Me Crazy."

She was also wearing a pretty pair of sandals to show off her First-Ever new pedicure! Wow, French Blue toenails!

Lovable "Ernie" a favorite family cat, was very much enjoying the catnip  mouse that I'd brought for him!

After we'd all eaten our fill of delicious food, there was a hilarious skit that Jasmine's younger daughter, Jada, performed with Leroy, the dog, on the front lawn.

 It was so heart warming to spend the whole afternoon basking in the company of family and friends!

Earlier in the weekend, on Friday, I did go into Concord to the Golden Gese with my quilty friends. Maureen had most of her red/white/blue blocks assembled and they look terrific!

I actually felt up to sewing, too! I worked on joining some of my 6" HST blocks together into pairs.
I have 144 of these to do and the plan is to make 12 rows of 12 blocks each for a top that will be 72" square.

Here are some of the tiny pinwheels that I paired up.

I think that this is the first time since Felix has been gone that I've dragged my machine out of the car and really sewed. Baby steps!

Hope you are enjoying this cooler weather on Labor Day weekend. Happy quilting!