Saturday, July 9, 2016

Has the World Gone Mad?

It sure seems that way doesn't it? These days, staying away from the news seems like the only way to stay optimistic. Gosh it is good to have friends and family to spend time with amongst the madness everywhere. We've done some of that in the last week, I am happy to report.

Beginning with a bang at Lake Pineloch Village last Saturday evening. The annual July 4th party was held early, and Dave and Michelle invited us to join the fun. Not every day that you see a female DJ, right?
The lakefront pool is so lovely. Bruce and Nancy are hanging out about the middle of the photo.

A cookout with potluck sides, surprisingly decent weather, beautiful scenery, and fun folks. What's not to like?

Every year a gentleman puts up a lot of money for fireworks, shooting them off from the pictured barge. People are anticipating it heading out to the middle of the lake with the fireworks igniting via remote control.
We have been over there enough times that we know a few people, and of course I'm never shy about meeting new ones, including this woman, also named Gail, who went to Lake Como Elementary around the same time as Bruce. They reminisced about those days, as well as she told him about the gathering we missed where "alumni" came to the school on a Saturday to share stories and pictures before they tear the whole thing down.
You may notice that Mr. Peck has the beginnings of a beard here. Not my favorite, but he has had some positive reviews from some of his other female admirers. :)

Bruce is still a little iffy on my choice of coral for the bedroom, however, looks pretty beautiful in nature doesn't it?
The gang asked me to take a group shot against said coral sky.
Remember how I mentioned in my last post that my then pregnant sister-in-law could hear Matt crying? You may have wondered how that could have been possible, and today it wouldn't be. No air conditioning is how! I can't remember if we had one wall unit somewhere or not, but in what seems unimaginable today, we lived without it. Now that everyone has air conditioning, we have become summer recluses. Not all the time, but lots of the time. Especially this week, oh my has it been hot! Our pool water temperature is...are you ready? 93 degrees!!

Anyway, the baby that began life meek and mild is Katie, pictured above in the white dress standing next to David. These days she is anything but!
How about this for some crazy color?? Too bad I'd positioned myself with that dock light in front of me. I'll know better next time.

Remember how much fun sparklers are?
Of course Brittany doesn't look as if they are so fun in this photograph, does she?  I was thrilled that Nancy was still here so she could join in the fun.

I danced. You're not surprised are you?

In a little calmer celebration we hung out with the old folks on Sunday night. Lisa and Oren had everyone over for a pool party and cookout. Catherine beat the pants off Lisa and myself in the holding your breath under water contest!
I haven't the faintest clue what Cheryle must have been talking about! Interestingly enough, there are three bat colonies at their house, and as you might expect, when the sun went down, they started emerging from the roof line.  Crazy business that is.

After Nancy left Sunday morning, Bruce told me he'd seen something I might want to photograph nearby. Here's something you don't see every day of the week.
Shooting this through the windshield, I was thinking, what the heck is that? I turned around, took some side streets on the other side of the railroad tracks, eventually finding it. I'm thinking maybe an old Holy Land Christmas display? So weird!
For the most part this week I've been sewing, and Bruce has been working. Finishing the curtains, I used two quarters each as curtain weights.
Yup, I taped them in there before hemming them. Bruce's idea, by the way. Nancy gave me another good idea; put clothespins on the pleats for a few days to get everything to hang just right. The hem is straight, btw, in spite of how it looks here.
Should you have the need for something similar, I can attest to the effectiveness of this method.

I finally finished a new novel!! That is big news anymore. A charming modern fairy tale called, My Mrs. Brown. Want an escape from all the madness for a few hours ? Read it!!

Wednesday Pam bought a new machine just like the one both Irene and I have. Except instead of dandelions on the front like mine, she has little paw prints. We are making the same quilt pattern, however, hers is much more subdued! Beautiful blues for her Mother.
After many, many hours behind the sewing machine I finally had all 80 blocks complete, attaching each one to a white square in a chain.
Originally I hadn't thought to do that. Duh, each one is adjacent on one side to a white square so just get it on Gail!
The top is now complete along with two added borders to make it the right size. My refrigerator is nearly empty, my house not so clean, but by golly, I've got the quilt top together.

Perhaps creating order is what keeps me sane amongst all the bad news?

What say we bring back the Golden Rule as a guide for living? Wouldn't that be nice?

love,

Gail









         
               

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