Another tank loaded

I worked in the sewing room this morning finishing the quilting the top I made for South Kitsap Relay for Life next weekend and getting bindings on that and three other quilts. Then I decided I should get outside and do something so I got my second stock tank in the ground and filled with dirt and I planted zucchini and kohl rabi in it. I also planted 6 or 7 hills of pole beans inside the deer fence with the berries. I was excited to see that my blueberry bushes have little baby berries on them this year. Not lots but enough for a taste. Knowing Jakob we will only get a few - he is worse than the birds!
When I was done in the yard the momma cats wanted to be fed and while they ate I watched the babies. They are getting braver and are coming further out of the box. One especially spent time by my foot. Lucy wanted to play with the babies but I don't think they are quite ready for that yet!

The debut

Moving Day

This morning I noticed that the cats looked awfully crowded in their little box nest. See how crowded it was with just one momma (this one is Windex) and the eight babies in there:So I suggested to the boys that they needed a bigger box and they went out and got one right away - before breakfast! They moved the kittens and then moved the boxes around which upset the mommas. Tucci went off the deck and Windex kept trying to move the babies. I was finally able to get her settled down and nursing in the new nest and then Tucci came back after a potty break and joined them. They seem to have accepted it now, as you can see (this one is Tucci):If anyone is interested only four have been spoken for so far so if you want one just let us know and you will be on the list.

There might be carrots

Another day off but the phone is a bit quieter today so I was able to get outside and get one of my stock tanks moved to the new spot. I even got some old carrot seeds planted in it. I think I will be much happier with them closer to the house. The other tank is where it will end up working on killing the grass (read weeds) under it. I left the pile of dirt and weeds there so Jakob has something to do this weekend. If I get up enough energy over the weekend I might get the other one filled up also. I think I will plant zucchini and kohl rabi in that one. I had one tank last year with carrots and lettuce so if I get two done this year that is an improvement. Maybe by next spring I will have a couple of more.
Now I am a bit tired so I will work on things in the house instead.

Just In The Nick Of Time

I remembered today to email someone about the foster graduation quilts to find out if they still needed quilts and when they needed them. It turns out the celebration is tomorrow so I was just in time. I only had 10 done but that is better than nothing. Fred (the contact) came over to get them and before he got here I managed to finish the last couple of feet of the binding on one more so I could give him 11. The rest will be seed for next year I guess.
Fred said that the idea to give out quilts to foster kids who are graduating in our state started out in our county about 8 years ago. First it was just Kitsap County but then it spread to Pierce County as the two counties make up a region together. Now other counties in the state are getting started with it. Fred also told me that in Washington State only about 38% of foster kids graduate from high school and only 1% go on to college so it shows what a major accomplishment it is for them. This is my 4th year to donate quilts sending 10 the first year, 11 the next, 26 two years later and 11 this year. If anyone else who reads this is interested in making quilts for foster graduates, please let me know. They don't have to be fancy or huge. Mine are mostly about 52" X 56" and are made from denim. Rag quilts would be great, also.

A Day Off - NOT!

I must have answered 20 pages today and made 30-40 phone calls to customers, Larry and the parts store along with a trip to Tacoma to return parts. In between I did manage to get 5 loads of laundry folded, rearranged the sewing room so I can get back to quilting, bought and potted up about 80 little plants, transplanted three small trees and got the flowerbeds watered. Not bad, I guess, but it didn't feel like a day off! All in all, my yard is looking better all the time. Today Jakob and I discovered that the white azalea of Mom's that has come back to life smells amazing! I thought it was one of the lilac bushes but it is the azalea - I am very glad it came back to life!

Tomorrow I hope to get denim tops quilted and ready to hand sew the bindings in between getting Lucy to and from the groomer. That will make me happy!

Look! Up in the sky!

It was back to work again today. Not a busy day luckily so we were able to come home and do a little work around the property. Larry mowed grass and I transplanted the rest of the strawberries that Chelsea had gotten a good start on - Thanks, Chelsea! My yard is really looking pretty good considering I haven't really spent that much time out there. Things are blooming in spite of me! Mom's white azalea has even come back to life this spring and the lilacs are making a spectacle of themselves. I need to get out and take some pictures one of these days.
It was fun spending a little time with the Walsh family last night and this morning. Not enough time though! I made a tiered skirt for Chelsea from fabric we got at Fabric Depot a month or more ago and I also cut Layden's hair. He is amazingly good about it but keeps wanting to see what I am doing. He is such a cutie!
Our new little kittens are quite cute. I am pretty sure that both cats had some and are doing a little tag team parenting. That does make it easier on them!
We had a great time in Sitka. If you want to see more pictures of the trip check out my flickr site. It was great to see Rebecca though it did wear on one to hear how wonderful she is all the time!!!! She will remain in Sitka through the summer and then who knows where she will be!
The most amazing thing in Sitka is seeing bald eagles everywhere! We see them here in around Puget Sound but to look up in a tree and see three of them or up in the sky and see more than 30 riding the thermals! That was just awesome!

Sitka

Larry and I made it safely to Sitka, got our luggage and car and found our little girl. The weather has been somewhat rainy but today we have had sun so we were able to do a little more outside. To recap our time up here so far:
Wednesday: arrived, had dinner, found the B&B and checked in and drove to one end of the road.This is the view of Swan Lake and Sitka from our bedroom window.Thursday: went to the Raptor Center, chocolate factory, whale park and the other end of the road.Then we went to the quilt show and the museum in the same building. Larry and I went to the Sheldon Jackson Museum while Rebecca was rehearsing for graduation. Attended a BBQ at one of Becca's friend's home and went to Baccalaureate.
Friday: got Rebecca graduated and went to the reception following. We all took afternoon naps and then went on a cruise. We saw both a grey whale and a humpback whale blow and fluke. Pretty cool! Also saw sea otters and a sea lion or seal.
Today: We walked over to Totem Park and on the trail through the park. We also went part of the way up Harbor Mountain and to the north end of the road just checking things out some more. Right now Larry is napping in the car and Rebecca is napping here in her room.
In news from home, Jakob was excited to report that we have 8 kittens now. Chelsea is also excited about them and Layden is interested also. We are looking forward to seeing them tomorrow when we get home (not just the kitties but Jakob, Chelsea, Oli and Layden also).

Coming out of the woodwork!

I am feeling better again. Don't know what I had but I am glad it is over! It is good I am feeling better since we were very busy at work. We started with 7 calls and ended up going to at least nine! Tomorrow we have 7 scheduled also and we will get more phone calls. All in all, people are being pretty understanding about us being gone Wednesday through Friday and we already have 3 calls scheduled for next week!

Talked with Rebecca this evening and figured out what we need to bring of her stuff. Now I just need to get it packed up with our stuff. She will be flying to Sitka tomorrow and we go the next day.

The weather was beautiful today. It was still 66 degrees at 8:40 pm! I went out and rode the tiller through the lower garden area so maybe Chelsea, Oli, Jakob and Layden will get my strawberries transplanted down there while I am in Sitka. That would be awesome! Lucy was very good as I tilled. She sat and watched me go back and forth and didn't wander off until I had the tiller put away.

I finished one more of the quilts today so I am up to 6 now. I hope to get at least one more finished before we leave.

Darth Jakob

I am just not feeling quite myself today. Not really bad just a little puny. I worked a bit on the quilts. I finished off another one and got backs ready for all of the denim ones and have 5 pinned and ready to quilt (I ran out of pins or I would have done more). I also got all the extra backing fabric put away so the room is looking a bit better.

I also took care of paperwork stuff. I got all my bank statements and credit card statements tidied up along with all the deposit/withdrawal receipts and credit card receipts cleaned out. It has probably been 6 months since I really did a good job of it!

Larry should be home from the commissary soon so I will help get things put away and work on making dinner and then it will be time to work on bindings with my feet up.

I also got Norton installed and updated on both of my computers. Of course, the boy's response to that is that Mac OS X is a much better anti virus program but it will take more than that to convince me to step over to the dark side!

And Stars Too!

It seems I am to have Thursdays and Fridays off now. That is pretty exciting! I am hoping I will be able to get lots more done around the house. I am still answering customer pages but in between I can get things done.

Yesterday I got three more tops quilted and got the binding machine-stitched on. On one I even tried quiting stars. It worked out pretty well. I am sure with time they will be much nicer stars. That means that I have 10 quilted so far. I need to cut more binding strips and get those ready and get some backs put together and get a few more quilts sandwiched. Since I bought more safety pins I can actually have more than one sandwiched at a time.

Last night I went to church and helped get things prepared for our Cinco de Mayo dinner tonight. I was in charge of the guacamole again. I made it two years ago for the dinner and it was very nummy. Last night's was just as good - so good that I need to get some more avocados today and make more - a little too much tasting was done last night.

The sun is out this morning so if it dries up a bit I can also get out and do some mowing. We need to get things looking pretty good before we head to Alaska on Wednesday.

Flowers and Hearts/Leaves

I didn't get as much done on quilts today as I had hoped because we just kept getting pages for the business that I had to check and then I had to call the customers and then I had to let Larry know that he should call so I could tell him what the customers needed and then sometimes I had to call the customers back to get them scheduled. I also called about at least one part from our supplier. All in all a lot of phone calling. I also got 4 loaves of bread made so hopefully that will be enough until I get back from Alaska.

I did get two tops quilted and I even tried something other than a large meandering sort of thing. I added in some flowers on one and some hearts/leaves on the other. I was quite impressed with myself. I also did get three more tops sandwiched and pinned ready to quilt and machine stitched the binding on one more so I have something to work on while watching TV this evening.

Also, had to take Jakob to the doctor's office to have his TB test evaluated - the good news is he does not have tuberculosis. I am sure everyone was concerned about that one!

I even made dinner (second night in a row) and got the kitchen cleaned up.

Just plugging away

Not much has been happening here really. I am working hard on the graduation quilts and in the yard (weather permitting). I have three of the quilts finished and two more quilted so far. I have today off so I am hoping to get 4 or 5 more quilted today. I also finished the binding on Rebecca's quilt so I will be able to bring it to Sitka next week. It is time to really think about getting ready for that trip. Besides my clothes and other items, I need to get some stuff of Rebecca's down from the attic and get it packed to take along. We also need to make sure that Jakob has enough food to get him through our absence - can't have the little boy starve!