vintage halloween?

I can't say I'm one to go all out on dressing or decorating for halloween. There have been years when I sported my dracula cape and fangs, but they seem to have gone by the wayside some time back. What has remained a constant for the past 20+ years have been a couple of button-pins. Pair them with a black shirt, and I'm ready.

If I had a scanner, I'd add a few of the old days in here, but I don't, so I'll just say "happy halloween y'all"...

It's done!

Finally, it's done. No, I'm not talking about a quilt. Not talking about my reupholstery project (though I wish I were). I'm talking about my colonoscopy. If you're squeamish or don't want to hear anymore, you can stop here, though I don't have any pics to show.

This is the little scope the doctors prefer you get done around age 50, if you're not having problems, just to see how things are looking. Well, I've rocked along almost 9 years past that. "Oh, I'm regular as clock work, I can wait," or "eew, that prep sounds terrible, I'll wait thank you". Couldn't put it off any longer, I knew it needed to be done.

The prep? Well, I practically built a little nest in the bathroom, thinking I'd be in there for several hours. I had a book or two, and a book of puzzles. Made sure the portable phone was in there, along with my cell. You know what? The anticipation was far worse than the actual doing. I'd heard the horror stories of drinking a whole jug of awful tasting stuff to clean you out. Nope. My doctor's method of choice is a little 1.5 ounce bottle of oral saline laxative, ginger lemon flavor thank you, that you combine with 1/2 glass of ginger ale, followed by a glass of water. Then a glass of clear liquid hourly after that for a few hours. Maybe it helped that I ate light over the weekend leading up to this, but it really wasn't a problem.

Probably the hardest part, in my case, was getting the little needle in my arm to give me the anesthesia. I have small veins anyway, and it took the 4th poke to make it work, but work it did. As Bob administered the anesthesia, he said I'd start to feel tired. I said ok, closed my eyes a second, and asked when they'd be starting. "We're almost finished. Open your eyes if you want to take a look." I had already been told it was not unusual to wake up after they were in, so I wasn't surprised at that...just surprised that we were already to that point. And no, there's absolutely no discomfort when they're on the way out.

So within an hour of the start of the procedure, it was done, I talked to the doc, got dressed, and was on my way home. And they gave me some pictures! How often do you get to see your insides??? As instructed, I had a driver (Elizabeth was good enough to take care of that). I guess my major complaint was that he recommended I wait a day to eat my Mexican food and margarita, and I have to admit I was looking forward to it, but that's ok. It can wait. The colonoscopy couldn't.

So here's me on my soap box: don't put it off for the fear of the unknown. It wasn't bad, and it's the right thing to do.

traditional, vibrant, and tasteful...I guess that's me!

The link to this was over on Penny's post, and now it's at the bottom of this one.

Islamic art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences . Islamic art uses many geometical floral or vegetable designs in a repetitive pattern known as arabesque. It is used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of Allah.

People that like Islamic art tend to be more traditional people that appreciate keeping patterns that they learned and experienced from their past. It is not to say that they are not innovative personalities, they just do not like to let go of their roots. They like to put new ideas into details and make certain that they will work before sharing them with others. Failure is not something they like to think about because they are more interested in being successful and appreciated for their intelligence. These people can also be or like elaborate things in their life as long as they are tasteful. They tend to prefer geometric patterns and vibrant colors.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

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casting more shadows

Making progress on Ashley's t-shirt quilt. I'm continuing to do it in sections, then join the sections together. With this section now sewn, I'm able to pretty well have a final layout planned...about 5 shirts wide by 6 down. It's set aside for the weekend, because Sue and Troy are coming to town, but I'll get back to it next week.

In other quilting news, Ty finished the quilting on California. I've sewn the binding strip on, and will get it stitched to the back side and make the hanging sleeve. Wah-lah, another project will be marked "done".

Another weekend goes by

Hard to believe that weekends can zip by so fast. If only the middle of the week would move so quickly!

As usual, it's been a busy one. I hit quite a few garage sales, and raked in the loot..er..usable goods. Mixing bowls, broiler pans, gift bags, sheets, decorative items, curtain panels. And coats. Here's my contribution to society. I really think its sensible, and something any of us can do to help a kiddo and not cost a fortune. The schools in the area where I work have "clothes closets" that help out families in need of basic items. I think most of the clothing is donated, or lost clothing that never gets picked up by the end of the school year. My goal is to find kids' coats at garage sales, usually spending no more than $1-2, and take them to Debra at work to pass on to the schools. (I think her point of contact is the school nurse.) I took one up to her a week or two ago, and picked up 3 more this weekend (total for the 3 was $4!). There was something I heard recently that was basically about maybe not making a world of difference, but making a difference one person at a time. With our Santa Cops program, so many of the families request coats and shoes for the children, so we know the need is out there. Something to keep in mind for you bargain hunters.

Ashley's t-shirt quilt is making progress, although it's taking some time. I decided to go for the shadow effect, something I've seen but not tried, so it's a learning process on measurements for the pieces. Here's a bit of it. At first I thought it might work up faster than just sashing, but I don't think so. Maybe even a bit more time involved, but I do like how it's coming along.

I watched Lily last night for a little while, and it was nice to spend some Grams time with her. We went to eat at the restaurant of her choice (McDonald's), then back home for a bit of coloring before bedtime. She drew 4 costumes that she'd like to have, and knew just what she wanted, right down to hair pieces and tights. We might have a budding fashion designer in the family...

That's it for now. Have a good week, everyone.

We're almost 1/2 way through October already

Life gets busy, doesn't it? Hopefully things will settle down a bit. And I can't even say there's been anything momentous going on, just stuff.

I got started on a t-shirt quilt for Keith and Misty's daughter, Ashley. Keith has been a good friend for a number of years, one of "my guys" at work. I don't have the final layout yet, but have one in mind that will give a shadow effect. That will allow a randomness to the design, as opposed to just joining them together or sashing them. Here's a picture of several of the shirts. Ashley's involved in volleyball in school, does some running, and is active in her church, and the quilt will reflect that.

I've also started in on an upholstery project. I picked up a chair at a garage sale sometime in the last year, and about a month ago got the fabric to put on it. I've been able to strip off the old dusty and faded material, and it's stripped down to the frame. The springs are in good shape. But can you say, "sneeze"????? Some of that dust had to be 40 or 50 years old, and sure did tickle my nose. The first layer of upholstery was probably from the 60's or 70's, but underneath that, and underneath the batting and some kind of a shaved wood filling, was another material that I'm sure was the original which had been flipped over and re-used. I've put some Old English on the exposed wood, and my next step will be to put on new webbing, then batting. I don't know how long this project will take, but I'd like to see it functional and in use within a month or so. I like it, and think it has character.

And my bedroom re-decorating project is coming along. I found a nice bench for the foot of the bed on Craig's List, and at a garage sale the other morning got a tall display shelf that will help on balancing out the room. (Can you tell I watch a lot of HGTV???) I had thought I'd make a new bedspread, but it's just not coming out like I want, so I'm still looking for the right bed treatment. So much of what's out there now are comforters, and I may end up going that route, but I'm still looking for a spread.

It's been beautiful fall weather, and yesterday I made it to the park to take a walk. I don't know why I keep putting off getting off my duff and getting some exercise, but once I was there I really enjoyed it. Such a variety of ages and reasons for people being there. I saw a young mother with her little one sitting on a blanket under a shade tree, and a boy who looked to be about 9 on his scooter. He'd go past me, and circle back, coming around again to do a trick or two. There was a dad with a fishing line in the pond, and a fellow sitting on the bench reading a book (must have been a good one, he was on the last few pages). Of course there were the bicyclists, runners, and walkers, as well as the young families on the playground. As I rounded one of the curves, there was a couple sitting on a table with their bongo's playing a repetitous beat. The guy was real serious till I gave him the thumbs up sign, then he grinned. And there was a little couple who looked to be about 80 out for a walk before it got hot. Their's was a slow shuffle of a walk, but they looked to be enjoying it. Why do I go into this much detail about a walk in the park? It's simple really... I hope that if I look at this and remember that it really was a nice experience, I'll be inclined to get out and do it again!