Cyber Monday...

Quote for the day:

 I've never been married, but I tell people I'm divorced 

so they won't think something is wrong with me.

- Elayne Boosler

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and checking in on me... I know I haven't posted in several days, but trust me, I am still around!

 

I got a great phone call from my niece, K.B., announcing her engagement!  I so terribly excited for her!  She's had to bide her time for Mr. Right to come along, but her patience has been well rewarded!  :)   Blessings and congratulations, K.B.!  May you live a long, happy life with J!

 

I actually did some decluttering yesterday, but didn't take a picture of it...it wasn't very exciting!  LOL  I decided to go through the file cabinet and dispose of old records that aren't needed anymore.  I ended up with 2.5 medium-sized garbage bags of shredded documents/records that went out in the trash pick-up this morning.

 

Thanksgiving was a non-holiday for us this year because it was just Andy & me...no family...which we all know is the ingredient that "makes" Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Andy made a beef roast dinner for us.  I spent the day working on Andrew III's "bug jar" quilt and Andy spent the day doing whatever he does when he has a day off....watching TV, kicking back, etc....you know...the strenuous stuff!  LOL

 

I have the "bug jar" quilt sandwiched...which means that the top, batting and backing fabric are all laid out and basted together with safety pins.  It is ready to be machine quilted.  I'm not a great machine quilter...but so far I've never had anybody give the quilt back to me in disgust!  LOL

 

When it is quilted, I will post a picture on here so you all can "ohhh & ahhh" over it appropriately!  ;)

 

Yesterday I had 3 auctions of Pfaltzgraff items end on Ebay and all three got bids and sold!  So today I took the packages to the post office and mailed them out.  I have gotten rid of 90% of the Pfaltzgraff items that I didn't want out of the boxlot of items I purchased.

 

All told so far, I spent $7.50 on the boxlot of Pfaltzgraff and so far have made $46.69 on the items I have sold from it.  Plus, I have added 8-10 very nice baking dishes to my own collection from the box.  :)   Not enough money to retire on...but still a decent amount for the investment!  :)  

 

What doesn't sell by the time Ebay starts charging for listing fees for their auctions again, I will just put in the yard sale box and sell next summer on the yard sale.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave a comment to let me know what you have "released into the wild" recently!  

 

Loretta

Dishing it out...

Quote for the day:

You can’t have everything….where would you put it? 

~  Unknown

Hello and Happy Sunday to you!  Hope you are doing well!

This morning I had to get some fasting blood work done, so after I had my blood drawn, Andy & I went out to eat a late breakfast.  That's kinda our routine when I have to have labs done...it's my "reward" for being a  big girl and letting them stick me with a needle!  I especially like it when they give me a "special" bandaid with a cartoon figure on it.  Today, I just got a stupid, old beige bandaid.  What fun are those????  And I didn't even cry when I got stuck!  I really think I deserved a special bandaid!  :(

On top of getting stuck and not getting a special bandaid, I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.  WAAAHHHHHH!  I've started winding the echinacea and Vitamin C to me to see if I can fend it off. 

I have an Ebay auction of some of the Pfaltzgraff dishes ending today.  It has a bid so that will be more "stuff" leaving the house as soon as I get paid for it.  I have another Ebay auction ending on Tuesday.  So far those items don't have any bids but sometimes things don't get bids until the last 24-48 hours.  *fingers crossed*  

The good thing is that right now Ebay is running a special where you don't pay any fees to list the item...you only pay the usual selling fees after the item sells.  So I don't feel bad about an auction if it doesn't sell because it didn't cost me anything to list it.  If the auction doesn't get any bids, I just turn right around and relist it.  So far everything I've listed of the Pfaltzgraff dishes has sold either on the first or second listing.

I've also listed 2 more additional auctions this afternoon for more of the Pfaltzgraff.  I'm slowly but surely getting it all sold and out of the house.  I've also set aside the baking items from the set to offer to Erin & Trinity as they are still "setting up" their houses.  If you've gotta cook, you might as well do it with pretty dishes!  If they don't want them then those items will get listed on Ebay, too.

Since I am keeping the loaf pans from the Pfaltzgraff dishes, I can "release" some of the plain glass loaf pans that I had been using before.  I also found a microwave bacon cooking dish in my cupboard.  Since we don't cook our bacon that way and I've never used it, it too is being "released".  All of these will go in the box for the next yard sale.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and tell me what you have "released" into the wild recently!  

Loretta

Not Gone...Just Away...

Quote for the day:

Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.
~Ambrose Bierce

Thank you all for stopping by the blog even though I haven't had any new posts for a few days.  Sorry 'bout that...

Life has gone from "Park" that is has been in for the last 5 weeks to "1st gear".  Not much of an increase, but a little movement towards my returning to my "normal" life.   

I have started back to work this week, but at 4 hour shifts instead of my normal 8 hour shifts.  I will be doing these 4 hour shifts this week and next.  Then, hopefully, by the week after Thanksgiving I'll be able to physically return to my full shifts again...barring anything bad happening and that I can do the work without too much back pain.

I am continuing with physical therapy 3 times a week until I return to 8 hour shifts.  Then I will drop down to 1 day a week of physical therapy.

I hope to get a good post for you this weekend, so please keep checking back!

Thanks again for visiting my blog.  Please leave a comment letting me know you were here and what you have "released" into the wild this week! 

Loretta

Rain, Rain...Go Away...Come Again Some Other Day...

Quote for the day:

I'm just waiting for people to start asking me to make the rain disappear.
~David Copperfield

"It was a dark and stormy...day?"  

Well...it's dark...and rainy...and cold...but not what you could call "stormy".  Alas, it is autumn.  Soon to be winter.  Soon to be February...

"February?" you ask.  Yep...February.  An important month for us this coming year.  Andy will be celebrating his 60th birthday in February and hopefully all of the kids will come home for it.  Plans have started being made by the Tennessee contingent to come home and hopefully, the Georgia contingent will be working towards the same means, soon.

I have been trying to figure out what to do for someone who doesn't like "parties" to help him usher in his 7th decade of life.  Today, I came up with some ideas, ran them past him and we are in agreement as to which one is best.

So now "we have a pwan...e pwuibus unum"!   (Okay...what movie is that line from, Folks?)  :)  And now that we have a "pwan"...I'm happy...something to work towards.  

I've been working on making more bug jar blocks.  I have started listening to a new book which is riveting.  I cannot recommend it enough!  At the beginning of the book, the author describes the early years of his son's life and it mirrors my own son's early years...the toys, the movies, the games, etc.  I am grateful that my kids did not get into the drug culture because listening to this story is heart-wrenching.   Again...I highly recommend this book...

Here is a link to the father's website:  Beautiful Boy

Now...how about some decluttering for this not-so-fine Sunday...

I have had this stack of sweaters and velvet dresses in my sewing room:

I had been collecting them to do crafting with...I was going to felt the sweaters and make a quilt/throw out of them and I want the velvet dresses to make Christmas stockings out of the velvet.  (Buying velvet dresses by the pound at our former Goodwill Outlet was cheaper than buying velvet fabric....much cheaper!)

I have decided that making the wool quilt is not something that I'm probably ever going to pursue doing, so I "released" them (there were only 3).  I am going to save the velvet, so it has been put away.

It now looks like this:

I store my Christmas fabrics in the picnic baskets to keep it separate from my regular fabric. 

I have 3 more auctions on Ebay for the Pfaltzgraff dishes that I bought at the estate auction 2 weeks ago.  Two of the 3 auctions have bids and will sell.  I'm hoping the third item will sell at the last minute, too.  As soon as I receive payment, these items, too, will be "released" to their new owner!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and to let me know what you "released" into the wild recently!

Loretta

Happy Veteran's Day...

Quote for the day:

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."
   - Calvin Coolidge

I wish to extend a special thank you to all of our military personnel, past and present, for their service to our country.  If it weren't for those brave souls, we would not have the freedoms that we enjoy so much!

My husband, Andy, served for 4 years in the Navy...long before I met him.  In fact, I think I was in 3rd grade the year he signed up!  LOL  (Yes, he did rob the cradle when he married me! ;)...but I digress...)

Here, for your perusal is a picture of his graduating submarine class from New London, CT, October 1969:

And here is a close-up of him in the picture:

...he is the middle one  in the back row!  Handsome, huh?  Downright dapper in his dress whites! 
How young and baby-faced he looks there!  Only 18 years old...


Even though I remembered it was Veteran's Day today, I was headed out the door with these:

...the packages of Pfaltzgraff that I sold on Ebay...when I remembered that because it WAS Veteran's Day, the post office is CLOSED!  Glad I remembered before I had actually driven to the post office!  LOL


Okay...so they'll get mailed tomorrow instead...

I thought I'd show you the update on the "bug jar" quilt blocks that I've been making with the fabric I've received from my swap with other quilters.

I still have more fabric coming in from other quilters, so this is not all of the blocks nor the final arrangement.  After I get done making all of the blocks, I will do my final arranging and add the "shelves" that the jars will "sit" on.


I have an affliction called "Quilter's ADD"....LOL!  I start planning my future projects long before I am done with my current ones!  


In this case, I'm thinking about the "Disney Princess" quilt I'd like to make my granddaughter, Sera, for her 5th birthday, in Sept. 2011.


When we were in Tennessee for her 4th birthday, I found this 2 yard piece of fabric at Goodwill for a couple dollars:

It's got "sparklies" in it...Sera like anything "sparkly and pretty"!


I thought I'd pair it with a bright yellow and a dark purple.  I don't have any dark purple, but I did find some yellow to show you...

Doesn't the yellow makes the lavender "pop"?


Thank you all for stopping by my blog today.  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and what you "released" into the wild recently!


Loretta

A Day in the LIfe...

Quote for the day:

You know you've got to exercise your brain just like your muscles.

~Will Rogers

It's Tuesday...yep...it is...I think...yep...I'm pretty sure it's Tuesday.

Today was my day off from physical therapy, so I took the opportunity to go to Rite Aid and Walgreens and do my "couponing".  Thought I'd share my deals with you all...

Here are my purchases from Rite Aid:

Before coupons the total was $18.21.   After coupons I paid out-of-pocket  $3.04 and received $7.49 in UP Rewards to use as cash towards my next purchase.   So today I got all the above pictured products for free, plus made $4.45 for shopping at Rite Aid today!  :)

Here is what I purchased at Walgreens:

Before coupons the total was $38.35.  After coupons I paid out-of-pocket  $22.04 and received $7.00 in Register Rewards.  In addition, two products have rebates that I will send in...$19.99 and $5.99.   So I got all the products purchased for free but also made $10.94 for shopping at Walgreens today!  :)

Now for some decluttering...

Andy & I both like to do Sudoku puzzles.  We buy the books for $1 at Deals and Andy does the 4 star puzzles and I do the 3 star puzzles.  (Yeah...he's smarter than me...what can I say?)  

After he does the 4 star puzzles he puts the books aside for me to do mine.  However, not only does he do more than I do, he isn't as picky as to what books he likes to do his in.  There is only one brand of book that I like to do...the others either are in big books that are hard to handle or the print is too light or the puzzles too small.  (Yeah...I'm picky...LOL.)

Anyway...the moral to the story is that we end up with a pile of books waiting for me to go through and pick out which ones I want to work the puzzles in.  

Here's the stack of books:

Here are the books that I "released" by throwing away because they don't meet my specifications:

I like to do a puzzle or two before I fall asleep to unwind or to take with me to appointments when I have to wait.  Here are the five books that I kept to do the puzzles in:

I know that the structure of those last sentences was really awkward and could use some editing...but, frankly,  forget it...it's Tuesday, for goodness sakes!  LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you "released" into the wild recently!

Loretta

Don't Bug Me....

Quote for the day:

We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.  ~Bill Vaughan

Hello to everyone who stops by my blog today...

I've been doing some quilting and some decluttering and I will share both with you today!

As was posted in this post I have been working on  "bug jar" quilt for my grandson, Andrew.  Last week I initiated a swap of bug fabric on a quilting forum that I am on.  Saturday I received the first of the fabrics in the swap and immediately sat down and made them into blocks!  :)  I am now up to 21 blocks for the quilt!

Here's a picture of all but one of the blocks as I have them on my design wall.  (This is not the arrangement they will be in for the quilt...this is just a place to put them and admire them while I make more blocks for the quilt! )

Aren't those bugs just the cutest things???  

Not at all like these...

Which leads me to my decluttering...

The moth pictured above is an Indian Meal Moth...yes...those kind that live and grow in grain and grain products...

Well...if you haven't guessed by now...our pantry got infested with them.  :(:(:(:(:(

So today I went through and checked everything that was grain or grain based...and ended up throwing out probably $50 worth of food from the pantry.  Every box of cereal had to go, all crackers, nuts, etc.  Even things I had stored in plastic Tupperware and glass jars with "airtight" seals had to go.  So far the only thing I've found that wasn't infested was stuff bought within the last two weeks, and for some reason...all the instant oatmeals seem to be okay...we've seen no sign of them in those. 

Basically, I filled 2 big black garbage bags with infested food and a couple of the storage containers.  The storage containers that I want to keep will be washed with bleach before being put in the dishwasher.

No...I didn't get any pictures...I didn't want to gross you out that much.

I've also ordered from Ebay some pantry pest traps to put in the pantry.  When I've used these in the past, I've had no problems with infestations.  Looks like I need to go back to using them continuously.  

On the "up" side...the pantry really needed to be gone through and now it is no longer bursting at the seams!  LOL  That's one way to clean out the pantry.  See...there's always an optimistic way to look at things!  :)

Now, onto a lighter, happier note...my Ebay auctions of the Pfaltzgraff dinnerware end this afternoon.  So far, 2 out of the 4 lots have bids on them.  Hopefully, at the last minute the other two lots will get bids, too.

That means that as soon as I get payment on those, they will be leaving my house!  YAY!  

Now...I'm off to put my whole cloth quilt in the quilting frame so I can get started hand quilting it.  I've been wanting to do one of these for YEARS and finally found a reasonably priced queen-size pre-printed top when we were in Georgia in May.  

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "whole cloth quilt"...it refers to a plain piece of fabric that is heavily quilted and the quilting design is what makes the quilt...not the fabric design like in a pieced quilt.

Here is a picture of the quilt top I bought.  It is solid white cotton and the design you see in the picture will be quilted with white thread.

Just to show you how truly insane I am...the diagonal lines in the center and around the edge were 2" apart...which I thought was too far apart.  So I went through and added lines between the already printed lines...so now they are only 1" apart!  LOL...Yes...I know...I am insane.  BUT...you heard it here first!  LOL

Thanks to everyone for stopping by my blog.  Please leave a comment to let me know what you "released" into the wild today.

Have a GREAT day,

Loretta

Of Chocolate and Bugs...

Quote for the day:

There are two kinds of people in the world:  

those who love chocolate, and communists.  

~Leslie Moak Murray

Because I love you all, I'm going to share this recipe that I made yesterday with you!

Run, do not walk, to the store and buy what you need to make this!  

Then, go to the drugstore and ask for some insulin because you will need it to keep from going into a sugar coma!

crockpot turtle pudding

And while you are on her blog/site, you may want to bookmark it because she has some WONDERFUL recipes.  I have tried several of them and they are all good!  MMMMMMM

After posting pictures of the "bug jar" quilt blocks on Tuesday, I got an email...from SOMEBODY...whom shall remain nameless...but whose initials are T.K. and happens to have a lovely sister named Kristin...

Anyway...this person-who-shall-remain-nameless-to-protect-the-innocent informed me that seahorses are NOT, in fact, BUGS!

Oh no, she di-int!!!!   LOL

Okay, okay...so not only are the seahorses not BUGS...but neither are the frogs, lobsters, and fish that are on the fabrics I bought to make this quilt!  *sigh*

So maybe I should rename this quilt "Creepy-crawly Things That Boys Like to Collect" quilt!!!  :D

(The person making this observation is the mother of two boys...so I'm sure she knows what I am talking about!) 

I am a member of www.quiltingboard.com, which is a forum for quilters.  I have posted a request to trade bug fabrics on there and have had several people respond!  They will send me pieces of "bug fabric" and I will return in kind with what I have.  That should greatly increase my variety of bug fabric for this quilt!  :)


No pictures to share with you today...but thank you for stopping by!  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and let me know what you have "released" into the wild recently!


Loretta

The Start of a New Quilt!!!!

Quote for the day:

“There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness.” 

~ Dave Barry

Good morning, Peeps!  Glad you stopped by my blog!  Bet you are surprised that I am posting a blog entry in the morning!  Well...me, too!  LOL

For those who know me personally, you know that I am NOT a morning person.  However, I thought since I had a few minutes and was semi-awake, I'd go ahead and show you what I started on yesterday...

This would be considered more of a "quilting" post than a "decluttering" post...

That is unless you've seen THIS...(cue scary music!!!)

Yes, folks...that is a closet full of fabric...called a "stash"...

So, in my own liberal definition of "decluttering"...my making quilt blocks is "decluttering"...because it is using up something that is in the house and making it leave my house...eventually...when the quilt is finished...it will leave my house...and find it's new home...eventually...

So...here is what I started making yesterday...

First off...when you start a new quilt, you make a "test block"...to make sure you read the cutting and sewing directions correctly, and to make sure that you "enjoy" making this pattern.  If you don't enjoy making the pattern, this quilt will become a UFO (UnFinished Object) and will languish in some deep, dark recesses of your sewing room...and we don't want that...we have enough of those as it is without adding more to them!

Here is my "test block" that is made from scraps of fabric:

(P.S. Trinity...ask Paul if he recognizes the brown fabric the jar is made of!  And Erin...do you recognize the fabric the lid is made of?)

I liked the way the block pieced together and so I started cutting the "real" fabric...the fabric I had selected for the quilt...and made these three blocks while watching the election results last night.

These are the start of a "Bug Jar" quilt for my grandson.  It will be a twin-size for when he gets big enough to go into a "big boy bed".

I love how the faint stripes in the gray fabric used for the lids looks like those old zinc lids they used to use on canning jars many years ago!  :)  

When I'm quilting I either watch TV or listen to audiobooks that I download from the library onto my laptop.   The book that I am currently listening to is "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop, an excellent book, I might add!  

She is a former wife of a polygamist who was high-level in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints cult in Colorado City, Colorado.  I have read several books about the FLDS, especially those which are written by former members.  They are REAL eye-openers as to the "real life" of this cult.  The book that got me started interested in learning about the dark little secrets in that cult was "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer.  He is a great author that has written many documentaries, including "Into Thin Air" about the hikers to Mt. Everest.   If anyone is interested about learning more about this cult and it's lifestyle, I encourage you to read books by the people who have escaped it.  I have read several and the themes and information are the same, so I know it isn't just one person's grudge.  These books certainly paint a different lifestyle than is portrayed on TLC's show, The Sister Wives.  I have watched those shows and they are so "white-washed", it is pathetic.  It's like glorifying the life of a meth addict when we know that a meth addict's life is not glamorous.  

Okay...off of my soapbox now...LOL. 

I encourage you to see what your library has available to download to PC, MP3, and CD's.  It is amazing what is FREE to us out there...you just need to know about it and use it!  

With that, I'm going to sign off for today and go get ready for my physical therapy appointment.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you are reading and what you have "released" into the wild recently!

Loretta

 

Election Day in the USA...

Quote for the day:

Politicians are like diapers.  They both need changing regularly

and for the same reason.  ~Author Unknown

Today is Election Day for what is termed "mid-term elections"...or as our Asian friends would say..."Erection Day".   :D   I hope that everyone of you got out today and performed your civic duty and voted.

While at the polling place I heard that this is the last election that we are going to be using the electronic voting.  The workers said that starting with the next election we are going to go back to paper ballots.  I didn't hear the reason they gave...but I was saddened by the news...I like the electronic voting.  :(   

 When someone mentioned that it was just like Taylor County to take one step forward and 2 steps back, the workers said that "everyone" is going back to paper.  I don't know if that "everyone" is "everyone in WV" or "everyone in the USA".  I guess we'll just have to wait till the next election and find out. 

I wanted to share this link with you...I think you might enjoy it:

http://www.cabbagesnkings.net/2010/10/object-identification-from-cats.html


I had 2 very good days without any pain...Saturday and Sunday.  I was doing pretty well on Monday until I went to physical therapy.  Last night I woke up about 4 AM with back pain.  I took a pain pill, but didn't get back to sleep till 7 AM...and then slept till 9:30 when the phone rang.

 The physical therapy sessions last for 2-2.5 hours and I am wiped out by the time I get home.  I think that the pool therapy in 95 degree temp water really lends to that tired feeling afterward.  Even though I can do a lot of exercises in the pool that I wouldn't be able to do on dry land, the warmth of the water not only relaxes the muscles...it also relaxes me!  

 When I get home after physical therapy I have no energy left to cook or do anything else.

Between the physical therapy, which is Monday, Wednesday and Friday...dealing with the pain and many nights of lack of sleep, I just don't have the drive or desire to declutter.

I can tell you that one of my Ebay auctions...the one for the berry bowls...has a bid on it.  The other auctions have "watchers", so I'm certainly hoping that they sell, too.   That will be some items leaving my house...which will feel good!  

These are the berry bowls that have a bid so far...

Even though I'm not carrying through with much decluttering right now, I encourage those of you who are working on decluttering to continue and I'll catch up with you when I am feeling better...I promise...Scouts honor!  


Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave me a comment to let you know you were here and what you "released" into the wild recently!