It's Hip to Be Square

Who doesn't remember that great Huey Lewis song? Certainly this girl does, and while thinking about using it for today's title, I thought to myself...maybe he was on to something? Think nerds of yesteryear being hip today?

While a clever title, I'm referring to something entirely different, namely quilting. I am SO guilty of not squaring up all of my former quilting projects, however, and this is a big however, I hope, following yesterday morning's tutelage from Mr. Everything has to be Square himself, I may do better next time. Certainly my project I worked on most of yesterday is square because you know who made certain of that. Plus, I'm doing my best to learn how to machine quilt. While I prefer hand quilting, when time is of the essence, machine quilting is a darn good substitute. That is, if you know what you are doing and have the proper tools. The walking foot Bruce gave me for Christmas, years and years ago, got quite the workout yesterday, and with pretty good results, if I do say so myself. It helped that the project was squared up beforehand. As well, I received a lesson on how to get the most out of my quilting ruler better. Having a master carpenter in the house is the best!!

Pam and I did a little fabric shopping at Sewing Studio on Tuesday, both of us coming away with nothing but a good memory. There are some mighty impressive machines there, many of them computerized like this one.

A woman began chatting with us while we stood adjacent to this machine, and was one of the friendliest folks you'll ever meet. A customer, I might add, although she did put on a pretty good hard sell for the machine she uses at home--a Baby Lock. I used to have a Baby Lock serger, and in fact, I did not even know they made regular sewing machines, but I certainly do now!!

Must have been something he ate that caused our little Baxter to be under the weather all of Wednesday, and part of Thursday. Most of the day he looked and acted like this.

Kelly came by on Wednesday morning to pick up a canvas she'd ordered as a Christmas gift and what a marvelous three hours we shared. I've known Kelly for about seven years and she just gets sweeter with age.

She was loving up on Mr. Not Feeling Well. It would be nice if a few other folks were looking for Christmas gifts, particularly out of my inventory, which is vast. No worries though, I'm doing just fine as a non-businesswoman, something I was never very good at anyway!

That said, don't think for a moment I'm still not camera crazy because I am. Just today, while running errands, I saw a heron lakeside on Bumby. Had to pull into the adjacent church parking lot to take a photograph. Just because I thought it was pretty, not because I'm hoping to sell it!

The color combination of the gray blue heron amongst the dying reeds and green grass was so nice I could not resist. I walked across a bit of a field, and my, oh my, it was a treasure trove of activity and tiny weed flowers. Lovely actually.

Writing that it makes me think that it is high time B got out his favorite Christmas movie--Love Actually. Never fails to put him in the Christmas spirit and we are going to need that in the next few days as it is just about time to find a Christmas tree. Hopefully this weekend.

Sewing yesterday was made even more pleasant as I listened to my favorite Christmas music. For the most part I don't consider myself one to enjoy fantasy anything, however, Fred Waring's, Christmas Magic, aside from the real Christmas story songs, is filled with Christmas fantasy. Bring it on!! Over and over again! Snow, Snow, Beautiful Snow. Yeah, right. What is a Florida girl, who has never even seen a big snowfall, singing along to a song like that for? Because a girl can dream can't she?

I would be remiss did I not mention the lovely Calla Lily given to me by my sister-in-law Ruth's parents on Thanksgiving day. Why not show a photo of the beauty? Why not, indeed?

Coming home after a few errands, and yes, I did finish my project first, I went out front to get the mail. Of all things a male Cardinal was sitting on the ground. I stopped to talk to him on my way inside, and while he did not talk back, he did stay put long enough for me to get my camera, sitting in my purse on the kitchen camera.

He was still sitting there after I went back inside to put my zoom lens on the camera, however, the sight of that sent him flying, first into some bushes, and eventually up into the Chinese Tallow tree beside the house in the back yard. As long as I've been paying attention to birds in our yard, this is a real first. I only wish you could have seen him in person because his red breast was big and puffy. :)

I was super happy to see him fly into the tree for obvious reasons.

Bruce took a super early flight to DC this morning, chauffeured by yours truly, as his car is in the body shop having a few scrapes spruced up. I'm getting a ride there soon to pick it up as they are closed over the weekend. Speaking of which, hope yours is full of, almost Christmas cheer!

Learning to be square,

Gail

Compelling, or Not?

I skipped a meal yesterday, no, make that two. I don't know why I had no appetite, I just didn't feel right. As you well know, I rarely, if ever snack, however I always eat three meals a day, well, except for yesterday. After a sleeping marathon, I ate some delicious homemade granola this morning and I'm feeling some better.

The state of my health did not keep me from finally getting my hair highlighted. Six months is more than long enough to go without a touch up. Not only did Cheryl highlight my hair, she cut it into a much more stylish look. Who is Cheryl you ask? Well, she did my hair for years and years when the children were young, and not so young. We went through countless looks together, most memorably the "Dorothy Hamill" if that gives you any indication how long ago it was. Cue the applause for Facebook! Yes, that's where we reconnected. Apparently she found me on a mutual friends page, sending me a friend request, and there you have it. Did I mention she charged about $40 less than Melissa? I can't wait for Bruce to see it when he returns this evening.

Before we go any further let me mention a book by Larry McMurtry, entitled, Literary Life. It's a memoir of not only his writing, but his massive library as well. One line really resonated with me that I'd love to share with you. Discussing his library he writes, "....you write what you've read, to a large degree--and just as importantly, you write what you will someday reread. I'm not sure if I fully understand the second part of his statement but I certainly can relate to the first part. One aspect of my photography that gets almost as much attention as the images, are the titles. If I've told you this before, please skip down...Anyway, most of the time they come very quickly, on occasion, not so easily. For this seeming ease I credit years, and years, and years of reading. Listening to a lot of music has helped as well. One image that comes to mind which stymied me for a while is a flamingo with his neck all curved. I'm sorta proud of the title that finally came--U-Turn. Some are good, some mediocre, just like the images.

To my mind, most people assume it is easy to take a compelling flower photograph. The longer I'm at this, the harder it becomes. Maybe my aesthetics have changed, maybe I over think things, at any rate, here's some I've been working on with some lovely calla lilies I bought at Whole Foods. Don't you just love the intense purple?

Having tried this in all sorts of ways (these are only a sample!), I'm still not convinced any of them are good enough for print. The good thing is that I don't have to decide any time soon because Mr. Roger is on vacation for now and....drum roll please......we are taking a holiday!!

Yes, you read that right. We'll be heading over to Siesta Key next Friday, spending the week along the Gulf after attending Steve's annual Memorial Day blowout. See, last May posts for a description of his amazing party, which he'll try to outdo this year. Don't ask me how he'll do that, but I know he'll try. Following the week along the coast, we'll head back to Sarasota for a wedding. The romance began three years ago during, you guessed it, Steve's party. Sweet, huh?

More details to follow as the time draws near.

One thing about me is I hate planning and waiting. Bruce's job expertise is in large part due to his planning skills. He maps the whole job out in his mind tackling it piece by piece. Me, as far as trips are concerned, I'm much more prone to get in the car and see where I land. Of course, this is completely impractical, however it does avoid the waiting game.