OOPS - Forgot something important

This gal is an important person in my life. She's my hairdresser, my therapist, my sister away from blood sisters and one of my favorite people.

Joann Mokanyk is the lady's name - and magic fingers are her fame!

Joann is a breast cancer survivor, heads up programs at a nearby hospital on a weekly basis and teachers Catechism at the local Catholic Church also on a weekly basis. She is a mom to three and grandmom to six.

She knits for "needy" kids - hats, gloves and scarves. I'm trying to talk her into taking up quilting but I don't think her schedule will allow it.

Joann is a good friend and I appreciate her more than words can say.

And only heaven knows what else she does.

Time to do an update on the Hoosiers. We had two weeks of lovely weather and yesterday summer arrived again with temps nearing 90 and today it did reach 92. We did have a rain shower last night and again late this afternoon. Chet even consented to turn on the air conditioner without my having to ask, swoon or weave around - I just do not tolerate temps over 75 well.

Last Sunday we were invited to attend a church in Southern Indiana with friends. I'm not sure where we were - Bear Creek or Bear Hollar - Bear Something - - and I know I could never find my way to that place again. Little country church, with approximately 25 pews. I've never attended a Baptist service before and I have to admit to recognizing only two of five hymns (Jesus Loves Me) and another we Lutheran's frequently sing. We wound our way on narrow two lane, black top roads and were shown where Paul lived as a child, attended church and the one room school house. The church he attended was 125 years old and burned to the ground. The church was rebuilt and some of the stained glass windows were saved.The alter, pulpit and baptismal font were only slightly damaged. There is a company in Batesville, IN that specializes in church furniture (Weberding's) and they restored the three pieces. Probably not visible in the photos is the gold leaf on the pieces.

A few more miles on a winding road and we stopped to see Paul's brother. Paul said they like to sit on their deck out back - so we drove around the building (live on top of a liquor store they once owned - sold to daughter). Couple was sitting out there enjoying the peace and quiet and Paul rolls down the window and asks if lunch is ready. Visited for a bit and went on our way to Friendship, Indiana.

Friendship is known around the world for their Muzzle Loading Competition, held twice a year. The little town with only one main street is packed with people. Flea markets abound with all the usual "goodies." Pictures below are of a few bikers.

We ended up having a sandwich in a nice resturant in Versailles. It was a lovely day out and we got home about 3:00.

I've kept the sewing machine humming the past few weeks. My Orange Crush Mystery is at the longarm quilter gal (along with two other large quilts). I picked up two that she'd finished and have the bindings sewn to the front and need to sew them to the back now. It will be a long project.

Happy Houses is now finished and looking so cute and perky.

Latest project is working on a small quilt using many greens and creams. I'm trying to show that all greens do go together. So far I'm pleased with it. Only problem was I found myself ripping more than sewing today. The blocks are finished and I've laid them out to take the picture. Let me know what you think - leave a comment or email me.

And last but not least - my Stack & Whack quilt. I had the top pieced and sitting in a box on the shelf, patiently waiting for a border. I've had it back from the longarm quilter gal for a while now. It is too pretty to use. I unfold it and admire it from time to time.

Till next time - stay safe, well and cool.

June 18,2008

I just need time out! I've been fussing with downloading pictures from my digital camera and get a message telling me it's not connected. Well - I can see the connections - I can feel the connections. Darn it anyway, these electronic gadgets are all so much fun - WHEN THEY WORK! After many tires it finally worked.

Flood waters in this area have receeded but there is alot of damage in nearby Columbus, IN. Hospital is even closed! And some stores are in bad shape, too. Mark helped a friend - they actually gutted an entire floor and are starting over. I don't think I could handle that. Good thing they are young!

We spent Sunday afternoon with Mark and his friends out at Lake Santee beach, on the pontoon boat. He has a grill on board, we cooked chicken breasts, steak, brats and hotdogs. It is so peaceful and cool on the water. Mitch and Tracy called Sunday evening to wish Chet a happy Father's Day. We had good visits with them. Nate stopped in Monday on his way to work and gave Chet a cane with a metal snake head on the handle and an autographed football - by Tony Dungee. Meant to take a picture - maybe next time!

Yesterday morning I went to the hospital lab and had blood drawn - annual checkup coming up next week. After fasting I decided I deserved a bacon/egg/cheese biscuit from McDonalds. Even went in side to place my order - and yes, they screwed it up again - got ham. I'd not had one of these in years and it just didn't taste as good as I remembered!

Okay - here come the brags. While surfing the quilt sites I found a cute house block pattern and of course I had to make some of them - picture shown below.

Next picture is a small piece - commonly known as Snail's Trail.

The binding isn't stitched to the back side yet - tonight's project.

That's it for today - hope everyone is safe and as healthy as they can be.

Flooding in our area

Park Road - the Dog Pound - water right up to the doors

Dam at Country Club on Park Road

Side yard at Nate & Deanies house.

Attire of the day!

Water Water Everywhere

Rain - Rain - Go Away - - it's been coming down for at least the last 20 to 24 hours. This is the scene from my front door, houses across the street.

About half of our backyard is underwater - if the seeds planted about three weeks ago hadn't taken root yet, we may have corn or beans in our yard this summer. Picture below is our backyard.

We lost electricity for about an hour this morning. I spoke with Mark and his yard is under water

Nate called to check on us and said he had a foot of water in his garage - he rushed his Harley to people across the street where it's a bit higher. Nate, Deanie, J.D. and Chris were evacuating to the Holiday Inn.

The big drain down the street from us can't handle the rush of water - it's backed up to our mailbox. Cars can not go through it. Have been hearing sirens quite often and turned on the local news. Roads are washed out, a bridge is out, the street in front of the hospital is flooded as is the other main intersection in town.

My heart goes out to people who are in flood and hurricane areas.

I was sewing away this morning when we lost electricity - first thing I thought of was "I NEED a treadle sewing machine." But then I realized it was so dark I couldn't see to sew anyway. So I stood in the windows and doors and watched cars trying to get out of the addition. Phone company and electric company were out looking for damage and soon all was running again. I was so happy! The pictures below are the quilt tops I finished up this week; these were all in stages of completion. A couple of them still need borders and I'll get to those next week.

Pinks/Browns/Whites - will put dark brown This is Boxy Stars from Quiltville site. It is

borders on it. ready to go to the longarm quilter gal.

This is the "Orange Crush Mystery" quilt top.
We were given a clue/directions about every two weeks. Had no idea what the outcome would be. I think I've done my last mystery quilt! I want to add some kind of border to it before it's ready to be quilted. This is another big quilt!

The pictures below were taken last Sunday. We spent the afternoon with Mark and some of his friends. Pontoons are so peaceful and enjoyable. We went to his house and had turkey roast, potato salad and slaw.

Till next time - - have a good week!

Happy June 1st! Summer has arrived here in Indiana. The field that butts up to our backyard is now planted. I am hoping for corn, not soybeans! I like the sound of wind rustling through the blades on the corn stalks. (Can you tell I'm a farmers daughter?)

J.D. arrived after his four month visit with his mother in Arizona and is planning to attend Indiana University in the fall. Hope all goes well this time that he's able to go. He was gone four months and looks different. He stopped in for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon.

Nate & Deanie stopped in to use the computer - he had to fill out some forms for his health insurance for work. We never did get to the site so he's stopping in the HR office first thing Monday morning.

Tracy called yesterday morning from WalMart where she was waiting at the deli counter. The family was going to take the boat out for a few hours and she was getting lunch. Sounded good to me. The food, I mean - not necessarily the boat trip.

And speaking of boats, we are going out to Mark's this afternoon for a pontoon ride. It should be lovely on the water. I don't mind a pontoon ride as it just slowly inches along! (Kind of the same way I walk). We'll go for our ride and have supper - he's a good cook! I'm only taking slaw and potato salad - from a deli of course!

Nothing new from Mitch in a couple of weeks - he's been traveling for the company. Gas prices are affecting their business, too.

And now I get to brag about my sewing. While waiting for the next Mystery Quilt Clue, I've been keeping the machine humming. I ripped apart a red/white/blue piece I did a while ago - Chet frowned when I showed it to him - think he was telling me that it looked too much like swastizkas. So apart it came and resewed it into what you see below. I think I'll dig out some navy fabric and add a border to it.

The next photo is a piece put together in a few hours. Had the segments all made and just had to sew them together.

These pink/brown/cream blocks are just two of the 12 I made yesterday and this morning. Another scrappy look quilt, the pattern is from quiltville.com. The owner of that site has one in the same color combos, hope mine looks half as good as hers. I'll need to scrounge through the stash for sashing and border fabrics. Ah - so much sewing to do and so little time.