Where the Water Meets the Sky...

Yesterday was one of those perfect summer days. The water was a mirror to the sky and you couldn't tell where one began or the other ended. (Please click uncropped pic to enlarge) Pointe Abbaye is on the left as the bay lets out into Lake Superior looking north. The Huron Islands are just around the land jut on the right. We had ham sandwiches, iced tea, and beer for lunch and I also got some more stitching done on the Aurora block as Dan fished.

We spotted this Bald Eagle as he was scoping out his own lunch.

Here's a cyber bouquet of wildflowers especially given to all my blogging friends....they're at their peak and boldly showing their blooms in every field and road edge. If I could send you all a vase full, I would!.


I 'd never tried flower pounding so with all the color profusion, I had to give it a go to see what would happen. Some of the flowers came out better than others, both with color and clarity and of course I would never try washing this, I just lightly rinsed in cold H2O... The best and truest of the colors was the brown that sooo resembled "poo" both in tint and consistency after pounding! I'm going to try again using just green leaves, mostly ferns, in a more planned composition. Maybe a stitching base for the the Stitch Along that I'm sorely behind with. If you're a reader of this blog, you know that I have to savor this precious weather when I can and although my stitching is spotty , I am "filling the well" for when the snow flies.

I almost forgot....

CQ Magazine's July Issue is online now

and Carole Samples has a new blog!!! , My Hearts Fancy

In the "Dog House"

Smiley boy Tang

Studious Tasha sans underbite

Couch potato Felon ( arrggghhhh, 120 lbs of slobbering pooch)

Everybody got haircuts and baths this week whether they liked it or not.

The Kindness of Quilters...

The mail box held goodies today!

Gayle from Sparkle Jars sent these darling pot holders, some awesome green batiks and a lavender flower wand. Do check out her blog... she does some great quilting, among which are great scrappy bags. She posts beautiful photographs and shares thoughful words of wisdom. Her daughter is also involved in service quilting projects this summer. Thanks Gayle for your thoughtfulness!

Teresa over at Stitchin' Friends sent along this darling pin cushion as a thank you for winning my blog giveaway. Teresa is currently working on a French Braid quilt and in the throes of a kitchen remodel (poor girl, LOL). Her blog has lots of photos and quilt ideas. Thank you, Teresa for thinking of me!

Alittle Stitching & Portage Quilt House in the news...

I've been working some on the Aurora block to get myself back in the groove.....

( This vine is real wonky!)

(And this one came out looking like barbed wire...)

The local quilt store, Portage Quilt House, is going to be in the upcoming Quilt Sampler magazine! What are the odds that I've been able to visit 2 shops this summer that have been featured? The magazine isn't out yet but I'll be anxious to see the shops article and happy for the extra business that Joanne and Judy will get because of it....

I've spent the last couple days doing some deep house cleaning and hoping to get it buttoned up today. Don't know how it gets away from me so bad. It couldn't have anything to do with the Northern Michigan way of enjoying summer as in this video of Kid Rocks All Summer Long on You Tube. Seems to be the adopted theme song up here this year!

(Disclaimer) Thought I'd come back and add that I am not in a bikini nor am I smoking funny things! but you can get the drift... LOL

Have a great weekend all!

Test Day Anxieties

Today was the day for my state certification test.... I had to drive 210 miles round trip to1 of 2 test sites available here in the UP. The oddity is that the west end of Michigan's upper peninsula is on central time, not eastern time like we are. I got my head around that and started the trip with a Yahoo map into unknown territory. I've never been west of Bergland before so it was a true adventure.

I arrive, test anxiety-ed and a tad weird with the drive to find out I'm to work on a live person, not a manniquin as originally told. OK, (it's all an adventure, right?). The crux of the test is for the proctor to evaluate your patient skills, patient privacy and infection control... she's to follow me through my every move and motion... (did I say I was ready for anything?)

I'm given my 3 tasks to do and the first one is.... Range of Motion ( Oh, they NEVER give anyone that task to do) OK, so glad I studied that one no matter what I was told by my instructers. 3 repetitions, flex and extend... done...... Second task, dressing a patient suffering right sided weakness from a stroke... Plugging right along here... duh... guess what... I did it backwards.... caught myself halfway through, started again.. Whew, done... (You can start over, but if you say you're done, there's no going back)..... Third and final task, empty a urine bag attached to catheter... (easy, done it a few dozen times) all supplies prepared, flip back the clip on the clamp... the whole clip falls off, pee ( lemon water) is all over me and floor.. I'm doomed but recovered and continued with task.

I was never so happy to be done with anything in my life... Now the waiting game.. if I didn't pass this part, I couldn't proceed with the knowledge part. Now true waiting anxiety as the proctor computerizes results.... everything I know I did wrong flashing like this giant beacon....Passed!

The worst was over after that one.....

And I knew I was walking out with my certifcation... Hooray...

Or should I say Hoop and Holler... the name of this watering hole on Lake Gogebic where I changed out of my scrubs into my shorts .

In the little town of Ewen, I'd passed a little quilt store on the way. My reward for passing the test ( if I did) was to stop on the way home. It was a tiny store but of course I hunted down the threads and also found some pretty green ric rac by Moda. How I love rewards!

I'd left at 7:30 and was home by 4 so pretty good day all in all. Dan even had BLT's ready when I got here. For now I'm "pooped", not to be confused with "pissed" of which I literally was earlier.... so thanks everybody for the luck and support with this latest step forward. Now I'm headed to the screen house.

Till the next time,

Jane

TIF Challenge Work and a Few Pics

This is what I came up with for Junes Challenge. Stories about wolves have been around for a long time... Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, Aesops Fables... the current story is that the population of the Grey Wolf has made such a comeback here in the Upper Peninsula that they are tabled to be removed from the Endangered Specie list. Link to DNR Survey Numbers. They'll still be protected but the numbers are large enough that they can hold their own ground. Just like my stash, it's holding it's own ground. In the midst of some projects I think that it says, "I'll huff and I'll puff and take over your house if you let me".

Here's the block that I pieced with the colors chosen for Julys TIF. I got as close to the apple-greenish color as I could, not a color I had on hand and the lavender pink comes out way darker on the block than the sample. It's all a guesstimate that I try to replicate as close a s possible and another color combo I wouldn't have worked on my own... another reason why I like working the palette. I have no clue as of yet where this is going but a half way mark kind of leads me to the idea of cutting this up, we'll see.

This little guy spent his day on my log chair, his lower body taking on the camo effect of the wood.

Wonder what carrying your house on your back all day feels like ??

We had a scheduled power outage last week and decided to take the bigger boat out on the bay for the day. We did a little rock hounding at Snug Harbor.

D in his element here.

The front flower bed is beginning to fill out and you can see in the background that the wood shed attached to the garage is filling up. D has turned into a log junkie, always scouting and scavenging new sources.

Now I wait for the satellite guy. He's already called and said he's off his schedule.... what's new ???

Till the next time...

Premio Award and a Meme , too

The talented and oh so witty Paula Hewitt from The Beauty of Life , has passed the premio award onward. Thanks P, for handing it on to me!

Here it is....

To keep the fun going I would like to nominate,

Janet from Go Crazy With Me

Sue from the Magpies Nest

Toni from the UP Quilter

Connie from Life Scraps and Patches

Carole from Wippys Place

Judy from Stitch Along With Me

Meg from Albuquerque



Don't want any of you to feel pressured, just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your blogs.

The rules for receiving this award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.

Now on to the 5 Things About Me... separate from above of course...

What was I doing 10 years ago ?

Almost to the day... I was sitting here in the exact same spot I am now, but it was in a Starcraft pop up trailer and we were on vacation as we always were for the first 2 weeks of July. I was probably reading a book and dreaming about what it would be like to live here all the time, making mental notes about where the sun rose, what trees would have to be taken down and putting names to the birdsong I'd never heard before. See? Dreams really do come true!

5 Things On My To Do List Today ? (actually tomorrow, it's evening here now)

a- satellite guy is coming to install Direct TV, we are dumping the Dish
b- study for a certification test I'm taking Tues
c- do some work on my swap block
d- weed out front flower bed
e- launder and hang comforters and bedskirts

Snacks I Enjoy ?

Better Made wheat and honey twisted pretzels, Chex Mix and Townhouse Crackers. Spinach dip and corn chips too, hmmm. I'm more a salty snacker but when I do the sweet craving thing (not often), nothing is safe. I try to keep Captain Crunch cereal around for that. (I'm hungry now)


Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire ?

Of course after gifting the close relatives and friends, I'd add on to the house making this part a studio of sorts. I'd have a bio-dome built here on the property with a pool, a waterfall stream and an atrium. I'd love to travel around the world but then I'd come back home to see all of the USA I haven't so far, randomly giving money to people and causes who needed it. I don't think alot would change with me personally. I'd just worry less and smile more, Alot more!

Not that you can buy courage, but I'm sure being a billionaire I'd be confident enough to make a few phone calls and tell some people I know where they could stuff their own money now, !!

Places I've Lived ?

Detroit MI
Fowlerville MI
South Lyon MI
Myrtle Beach SC
UP MI


Hopefully that was somewhat entertaining, certainly more than you may have known about me before.


I've sewn a block for July's TIF and still have the end result of June's to post so I'll get the photos loaded and possibly be back tomorrow.