Great week, so far!

"At my age, I don't even buy green bananas!"  Claude D. Pepper

What social butterflies we have been this past week and to come!  Last Saturday, we met with family and friends for a surprise birthday party for a good friend (my daughter's mother-in-law) who is the same age as I am.

Sunday, we celebrated the Fourth of July with family and friends...many of the same we saw the night before.  And our daughter from out of town joined us.  We all went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens for food, fun and music...then a really fabulous fireworks display!  We have done this together for several years...always fun...sometimes really hot, but this time the weather was warm but not too bad...a nice breeze kept us cool.  The Fort Worth Symphonic Orchestra played...mostly patriotic music.  There was a wonderful solo singer..very rich voice....and I always get goose bumps when they play each of the armed forces' songs and have the vets and current military stand. 

Isn't this a great "patriotic" fireworks display?  I have discovered a "fireworks" setting on my camera which is fun to have! (I took MANY more, but won't post them all!!)  Maybe a quilt in the works??  I'll have to try printing off some of my pics on fabric!

To continue with the social life...tomorrow I am having lunch with good friend I have not seen in awhile and then Thursday we are hosting our poker group at our house.  We have not met for poker for about three months...we have trouble this time of year finding all six of us in the area at the same time!!  I am definitely planning on not winning as we haven't played for quite awhile and I'm not that great to start with!!

After all this "eating out", I think we will need to curtail the calories and get back to our usual eating pattern which is, at least we try, modest!

Let the fresh air in!!!

"I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges." Anonymous

What a beautiful spring day!! I have opened up the house to let the wonderful fresh air in!!  These are the days that make winter bearable!  Here is a picture of the redbud trees blooming on the lot next door.  It has never been built on and we keep hoping it will never be!  And some of the crape myrtles are budding out, the blue bonnets in our yard are getting ready to burst into bloom, and for the first time since we planted it  nine years ago, our mountain laurel is blooming...just barely so I will wait a couple of days to get a picture of it!

I have finished both of my mini quilt swaps...one is my winter one which is very late getting out and the other is a subsitute for fall to someone in the swap group who never recieved one.  When I signed up for these seasonal swaps, I didn't get a  spring one sent to me, but the moderator of this group has set up what she calls her "quilt angels" who volunteer to make quilts for those who do not get one. (Some people who sign up do not fulfill their committments for some reason or another.)  So I did get a spring quilt made by someone other than the person who was supposed to make me one.  Therefore, I signed up to be a quilt angel too, and that is why I am making a second fall quilt.  It is just 18" square...kind of fun to try a new (for me) technique.

We have been eating out much more than we usually do...we went to dinner and a concert with some friends last Saturday.  Wednesday, we got together with our poker bunch, ate out and played cards...very sad for us...we lost big time!! (Not really; we just play for quarters)  Then yesterday we met a couple for lunch whom we hadn't seen for awhile.  Then tomorrow is Easter and, although we are staying home, we are having dinner here and will probably have more to eat than we would normally have.  Thursday I am meeting a couple of friends for lunch whom I used to work with and haven't seen for awhile; then Friday going to the Bear Creek quilt show which will probably mean eating somewhere!!!  So...about time to hit the ol' salad trail!!

My next project is to make a quilt for my best friend from grade school who celebrated her 50th wedding anniversay this year..I want to give it to her when I see her in Chicago later on in the spring.  We are getting together for a celebration of our 70th birthday year....about 15 of us have gotten together somewhere for significant birthdays several times.  Good times!!

Busy Week!!

"The Power of Imagination makes us infinite."  John Muir

Monday: Board Meeting and this year's first show meeting.  The topic of our show this year is "Everyday Heirlooms" with a special exhibit of quilt and quilted items that "tell a story".  I have volunteered to do the Donation Quilt again this year. I made up kits for members to make the blocks, and I will get it put together. Some one else will do the quilting.

This is the "Birth of a Quilt"  over 800 31/2" half square triangle blocks.  Now to just get them all put together with the design in my head!

Thursday: Met our friends, Debby and Raymond for dinner at Mi Familia in Granbury.

Friday: TVQG meeting.  Everyone did a great job of getting their kits turned in to me. Our speaker was Karen Combs who does very neat Optical Illusion quilts.  I wish I had taken her workshop the day before but I didn't sign up in time.  Then I had an eye appt. at 1:30 so after the meeting, I just killed a little time by going to the Fort Worth Art Center where the old Modern used to be.  They always have some interesting art displays...one in particular caught my eye...Threaded Paintings...all done by hand, embroidery...very detailed!!  I recommend going to see it.  And I grabbed a little lunch at the Z-Cafe there in the same building...a nice little deli type place.

Sunday: Went to dinner with Bob and Eddy Lou then looked at each others' pics of our Alaskan trips.  They are planning another trip there this summer.

Monday: studioQ meeting at Bethany's.  We had a great time doing marbling on fabric using shaving cream for a base and Dyna-fabric paint.  Our recipe ingredient this time was to do a symbol.  There were only seven of us at the meeting and only four of us did the block for a symbol.

Top-Heather's swirl; middle-Beth's heart and bottom-Wendy's Chinese "sticks". Mine is not finished...I chose the symbol for female and was writing quotes from women around it but need to do a lot more work on it.

And today...it snowed...again!!!  I didn't even take any pictures of it!  By afternoon it was all gone!