Sloan's quilt

Here are pictures of Sloan's t-shirt quilt. I am posting the front, the back and several parts that are most interesting (I think). I will be giving it to her for Christmas. It is reversible. She selected the colors. It was fun to make. I made each section (square) with the front, back and batting in between, and then machine quilted each section separately. The quilt was then put together in columns. After the 3 columns were stitched together, I made a border and put some more batting in for the border. The last part was the binding. I always do a bias binding - that way the binding won't roll and do "funny" things.

Waiting for Jan's quilts

Look what I found in my pool today.

The hummers only get serious just before closing time.

I fix the squirrels their own bowl of special treats but nooooo that's not good enough, they want the bird food also.

Our best and worst moments occur within social relationships, research shows

"Our best and worst moments occur within social relationships, research shows
"-- In the first study of its kind, researchers have found compelling evidence that our best and worst experiences in life are likely to involve not individual accomplishments, but interaction with other people and the fulfillment of an urge for social connection.

..... research suggests that the events that end up being most important in our lives, the events that bring us the most happiness and also carry the potential for the most pain, are social events -- ...... connecting to others and feeling their connections to us.

It was not independent events or individual achievements like winning awards or completing tasks that affected participants the most .......... but, moments of connecting to others that that touched peoples' lives the most."
http://www.physorg.com/news202059503.html

Last fill-up for 500 miles

Remember....

Today, Saturday September 11, 2010, is a beautiful late-summer day here in Connecticut, with a clear blue sky overhead, just as it was nine years ago....

Every year since that day nine years ago, the Easton volunteer firefighters have placed these flags on the green in front of the firehouse & across from the volunteer EMT in memory of those who perished on September 11, 2001....

It is displayed for just one day, it appears in the morning each September 11 and is gone the next morning....

Is crazy the new normal?

Dear World

If you hadn’t already noticed, we have a significant number of crazy people here in the United States. It might not be quite as many as it seems by what you see on our news but since many who cover the news are nuts, they seem to be attracted to these kooky stories like the pastor who was threatening to burn the Quran.

But, after pondering for a few moments about what people like to watch on TV, i.e. the Jersey Shores, the cable news guys who pull in the huge audiences, i.e. Glen Beck, the politicians who are running or being elected to run our country, i.e. too many to mention here, maybe crazy is the new normal and there are more of us than I thought.

And there are some who think that some porch spiders are actually space aliens that are down here to monitor earth human behavior. I rest my case.


TGIF

A little doll makes her debut....

The beautiful little girl is Ella, who was christenend this past February....She is the great niece of my dearest & closest friend who I have known for more than half my life.... I promised her mom Kelly that I would make something for her to wear for the occassion...they waited to christen her til her dad Mike, who is in the Army, returned from Iraq...The family lives in North Carolina for now, as Mike is still in the Army....I found a pattern for this hooded sweater made with chenille yarn for the hood & sleeves making it look like a little white teddy bear coat...

And since Ella is a redhead, I decided to make the angel on her afghan a red-haired angel....just for her...

These afghans are also made from chenille yarn, the rainbow is just my idea to use all the various

colors of yarn in one afghan, the navy & white, my New York Yankee colors...and the black & white afghan was made specially for my friend's daughter-in-law, who likes everything black & white....

"And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

My river friends and I, want to say happy trails to the man in the mirror. Our friend TJ beamed up on August 31, 2010. He spent much of his time with his friends on our river.


“Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”



Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet



We hope it's a wonderful new adventure.



We'll miss you TJ

The river gang.



Picture taken by Kim Hebert

Some furry neighbors drop by

The best news today is Hurricane Earl decided to pass us by...but we were visited recently by some furry critters who hang out in the neigborhood.....

These deer pass often at the lower end of the yard, & I was able to go on the deck
and catch them before they noticed me & walked into the woods.....

And no, not a furry critter, but one of the hoya wax flower plants that I have...this is the

first time I have seen the starburst flowers bloom in several years...when I went to water the plant a few days ago...lo & behold there it was...they are very delicate, almost fake looking, so I guess that's why it is called 'wax' flower...probably won't see another for a long time...

And sorry these are not really clear, they were taken looking through the screens one evening a

couple of weeks ago.....I looked out & there grazing on the bird seed I put out was a pretty

healthy, good sized red fox....(hope you can make him out)....he hung around for a little bit, even

stood up at the bird bath, then turned around & trotted down the driveway into the woods....