Today is the last day to vote in the Readers Choice 2012 Favorite Grandparent Blog contest. It has been a good race against a formidable opponent. I am taking this minute to “plank” you for voting, whether it was for me or for one of the other contestants. When I looked just now, I was still tied for first place with Googie’s Attic. So, get over there and vote! I appreciate all the support!
Road Trip: Cherokee, North Carolina
Fabgrandpa and I took a short road trip last week to celebrate his birthday. We drove up to Cherokee, North Carolina for a little R&R and to hang out with our friends, Rob and Terry. We only got to stay one night, but it was a lot of fun.
The trip up was uneventful, thank goodness, since we had to drive on I-20, I-85 and I-985 to get there. I know, I am a full time RV’er and we go places all the time, but I really don’t like traffic at all. And since we live in the RV full time, when we go somewhere for a short trip, we stay in a motel just like anyone else would. I booked our room at Microtel in Cherokee online before we left. I usually do book online, because it is so quick and easy to do. Then when we arrive, all I have to do is show my ID and I’m checked in. Easy.
On Thursday night, we went to Harrah’s Casino to play the slots, and have a couple of drinks. We had a good time, but didn’t win anything. We never do, but we still have fun. The last couple of times we went there, we ate at Paula Deens Restaurant, but none of us really liked it so we went to the buffet instead. The buffet was delicious but it was expensive! $25 per person, YIKES!
After a quick breakfast on Friday morning, we strolled along the riverbank for a bit to enjoy the view and the sound of the water rushing by. The ducks were out, too.
We decided to drive over to the new (well, new as of last year) Visitor’s Center for the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Cherokee. It was a very nice building with some interesting displays of life in the Smokey Mountains a hundred years ago.
There is a lot to do in Cherokee, just wish we had more time. All too soon we had to get on the road home, though. Next time, we are going to stay a couple more days and go see some of the beauty of the Great Smokey Mountains.
As If I Needed A Reason To Sew
This morning my sister and my daughter in law issued a challenge of sorts:
Not being one to walk away from a challenge, I got to work right away, and this is what happened:
It is not very big, just big enough for a not quite two year old girlie girl.
I am sure she is going to love it!
It’s National Craft Month. What are you making?
Thinking About The Craft Show
I was too busy to get to a craft show in the fall because we were tied up with buying the house. Now that I am thinking about taking my sewing projects to the craft show in April to see if I can sell some of them, I need to think about what I am going to do for a booth! I had completely forgotten about that part of doing a craft show. Back it seems like a hundred years ago, when I went to craft shows all the time, I had a display booth that was made like a tarp but with a metal frame. It was heavy and hard for me to set up if I went by myself. I also had a wicker bassinnette that I filled with teddy bears, and an antique rocking chair. I used both of those pieces to display things I made and my show booth looked so cute.
Now, though, I don’t have anything except for a folding table. I could make it work, but I want something that looks good. A couple of lengths of fabric yardage that draped over the table all the way to the floor can do wonders for a beat up folding plastic table. I think I still have my change box, too.
I have been thinking about making a shelter type booth out of PVC pipe, that I could just pop together, then take it apart to store it, sort of like the one here for This Little Piggie. There are several places online that have plans and lots of pictures. This site has some good ideas. It seems like it would be an easy thing to make. And since PVC pipe isn’t that heavy, I could do it all myself. Then again, I could just take my table and some clothesline rope and tie it around a tree if it is outside. At any rate, it is still worth thinking about what I am going to do for the show.
March Is National Craft Month! What Are You Making?
To celebrate National Craft Month, I made this cutie cute backpack for my grandson using Dinosaur Train fabric from Quilting Treasures®. This collection of cute fabrics is perfect for making things for your child who loves Dinosaur Train.
Another view:
If you aren’t into sewing like I am, you can download projects sheets to make a bulletin board, a picture frame, a lampshade, and book covers that are soooo cute and require no sewing at all.
They are very simple to make, and would transform your child’s room into a Dinosaur Train Nature Tracker Club Room in no time at all! Click here to get the project sheets at Quilting Treasures®. Here is a link for a Dinosaur Train inspired quilt. You can also check out the March challenge from the Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers Club: This project shows children how to make a windsock, a tool to help identify the direction of the wind! Cover it with Dinosaur Train fabric, too!
If you have a Dinosaur Train fan in your household, they can join Dinosaur Train’s Nature Trackers Club! This is a FREE community for young children, their families and educators who, like Buddy, Tiny Shiny and Don, enjoy exploring,having adventures, and respect their environment. There are lots of fun activities, games and craft projects each month! Register for Nature Trackers Club today.
Once registered, parents can download and print out the Nature Trackers Guide Book, filled with tips and challenges for collecting things from nature, tracking and observing plants and animals, and just getting outside to make exciting new discoveries every day. At the beginning of each month Nature Trackers Club posts new challenges for you and your young explorers to complete.
Just take a look at the cute fabrics in the Dinosaur Train line from Quilting Treasures®:
Click here to find a retailer for Dinosaur Train Fabrics. |
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I was provided with fabric from Quilting Treasures® for this review.
Thinking About Losing Some Weight
I have no idea why the thought of turning 60 this year is bothering me so much. No other age has affected me this way. I think about how it was back when I was a young girl and had a pretty decent figure. Then I think about how I have gained weight every year and can’t seem to get it off no matter what I do. I know I didn’t just wake up one day and there it was, and every day that I wake up and see it I feel worse about it. I just can’t get motivated to do anything about it.
Back in 2002 when we lived in McAllen, I met several older ladies who had had liposuction in Texas. They said it made them feel so much better about themselves and how they looked but I don’t think that any kind of cosmetic surgery is for me. A couple of the women I knew who had that done said they would do it again, though.
I just realized today that we only have six weeks before we go back to work, and I am worried that my pants aren’t going to fit. I want to lose at least ten pounds before we go back, but I really don’t know where to start. I also want to start walking more, but the plantar fasiciitis makes it difficult to do that. I really need a good pair of shoes that will offer the support I need so my feet don’t hurt. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on a brand of shoes that I can get? Do you have a diet or diet website you use that helps you stay on track for losing weight?
Sewing Projects: A New Bag For Donna
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I was getting ready to cut up some of those girlie girl fabrics I got at the Quilt Expo when I got a message from a friend, Froggi Donna, asking me if I had time to make her a tote bag before her hubby goes in for some surgery. I had made her a bag some time ago, but it is too small to hold all her electronic gadgets.
We chatted back and forth on Facebook, with me posting pictures of fabrics I have on hand in the colors she wanted, and she decided on which ones to use. Then I set to work, to get this knocked out before Fabgrandpa and I go to Cherokee, North Carolina on a short road trip, and before her husband, Stu, has his surgery appointment.
I worked all day today, because we’re leaving tomorrow. I was almost finished but then the zipper didn’t work right, so I had to get out my trusty friend, Seam Ripper, to take the top part off and start over. I finally got it done around 9:00 p.m.
A bag like this one costs $35 and that includes shipping. If you’d like one, email me or use my contact form and we can talk about colors
Before I started on this bag, I cut out four or five projects using those girlie fabrics, so stay tuned next week to see what I am making. I am so excited to see the finished projects myself. And, they WILL be for sale….
Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I’m 63?
I loved that song way back when. I’ve been singing it all day in my head because my sweetheart, my honey, my love, turned 63 today. He has been a good sport to pose for my camera on many many many occasions, and he knows that every thing he does could end up the subject of a blog post.
I decided to take a look back in history to see what else happened on March 13 over the years. Here is some of what I found:
483 St. Felix III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1519 Cortez lands in Mexico
1677 Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000
1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly
1884 U.S. adopts Standard Time
1923 Lee de Forest demonstrates his sound-on-film moving pictures (New York City)
1949 U.S. Mens Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
1961 Pablo Picasso (79) marries his model Jacqueline Rocque (37)
1965 Jeff Beck replaces Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds
1969 Apollo 9 returns to Earth
1992 FCC rules companies can own 30 AM and 30 FM stations (formerly 12)
1993 Blizzard of ’93 hits north-east U.S.
Happy Birthday, honey!