House project, part the 1st

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Suzanne

We were hoping that today would be the beginning of the end, but it rained, so maybe TOMORROW will be the beginning of the end of the patchwork siding look our house has been sporting since forever.

Since the house was built, the green siding has been multi-colored. I’ve never been 100% sure, but I think there were two problems: I think the builder didn’t order enough, and there was a dye lot issue, and I think that some of the siding faded oddly almost right away.

When we moved in, we knew it had hail damage, and that we’d have to reside eventually. What we didn’t know was that there was water damage to the windows on the west side, so we also had to replace windows. It’s a long story, but we ended up deciding to go ahead and replace ALL of the windows, whether they truly needed it or not.

This meant that we couldn’t afford to do the whole house at one time, so…this is year 3 of this project. But the end is in sight! This is the last section of the house to be finished, and then Mark can paint!

Soon the following will happen:

1. The last of the green vinyl siding will come off

2. The doors and windows will be replaced

3. Something will be done about the front steps that have settled, exposing insulation and generally looking hideous

4. The rest of the new cement board siding will be installed

5. House will be painted (the cream color you see is just the factory primer color).

I bet you’d never guess in a million years what color I want to paint…

Must be summertime

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Suzanne

The first baseball game!

We’re pretty sure the boys’ team won, but we are hazy on the score.

I’m pretty sure that was Joe batting, but we were hazy on that as well.

The only real problem was that it was really cool, and we were all wishing we had sweatshirts. What’s up with that? It’s June, for Pete’s sake.

After posting last night, I remembered that there is another young relative that was born within the last year that doesn’t have a quilt from me yet, so I brainstormed and got started on something for him last night. I’m sure you were worried.

And today, I’ve been working on plans for a commission quilt project, it’s going to be a lot of work, but it’s going to be a beautiful project in the end. The biggest challenge will be giving it up when it’s done!

TTFN-

Suzanne

The return of the daily photo

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Suzanne

I don’t know what happened, I just quit taking pictures every day. I don’t have really willing participants, except for maybe the dog(s), but I can only take so many pictures of the dogs. I’ve been missing this, though, and had decided to start it back up tomorrow, the 1st of June. But there I was, sitting out back, knitting in the wind, and the dogs were laying out in the grass and it was so pretty, I was compelled to take their picture.

Only, I had to go inside and get the camera first, and by the time I got back, Katie had moved on. But Cocoa was willing to lay back down, and the trees and grass and sky hadn’t changed, so I went with it.

I did end up getting a couple of shots of her before we went to play Frisbee and Chicken*.

She was the victim of a recent haircut. She hates haircuts. But after a haircut and a bath, she’s like velvet, which means she gets more cuddles, but I don’t think she has that much of a sense of the future.

I’m at a bit of a loss for a sewing project at the moment. Everything’s either waiting for binding, waiting for quilting, not a stage where I can easily sit down and just sew…sounds like time to start something new, right? Maybe I’ll just go knit. Or do one of the other many things I ought to do, like clean. I vacuumed for awhile, and wanted to mop the kitchen floor. OK, I didn’t WANT to mop, I just thought maybe it was probably time. Only, I can’t find the fancy-shmancy micro-fiber thingy I stick on the end of the mop to clean my wood floor. I can’t really fathom where it would have gone, so…the urge has now passed, and I probably won’t get back to wanting to mop again for ages…

TTFN-

Suzanne

*To Play Chicken, you must have a really obnoxious rubber-chicken toy that squeaks when you squeeze or shake it. You then throw the obnoxious rubber chicken as hard as you can, and Cocoa will chase after it. We are just thrilled that she actually wants to PLAY with something. Whilst she’s distracted, chasing the Chicken, Katie chases the Frisbee. If Cocoa notices, and can get to the Frisbee first, though, all bets are off. Poor Katie doesn’t stand a chance…

Photography Class

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Suzanne

aka Why Will and Joe will be even more annoyed with their Mother

I signed up for an online photography class last night. I’d invite you to join me, but it filled in about 30 minutes. I was telling the boys that I’d be trying to get into the class and they seemed excited. Until I told them that the thing about me taking this class is that they’d be subjected to the camera even more often they were now.

Talk about eye-rolling.

My sister just got a brand-new fancy-pants camera, and she got into the class, too. I’m looking forward to taking the class “with her” — though I admit to being a little jealous of her new fancy-pants camera.

I don’t *need* a new camera, but I would like some new lenses. Only, for my Sony camera, the lens I want is $350. For her Nikon, a comparable lens is only about $100.

However! I found out last night that the Sony cameras can use the old Minolta Maxxum Autofocus lenses, so I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for used lenses. And now I don’t know what to do, because now I seem to have too MANY choices, as opposed to the single choice I thought I had before. I’ve looked at eBay, craiglist, and about a gazillion different camera places that sell used equipment. Which one do I pick? They CLAIM to be in good shape, but can I trust them? ARgh!

So, I thought I’d throw this out to the Universe: does anyone have a Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7 lens they’d like to sell me? Because I know I can trust all of you.

Or maybe some stock tips or a surefire way to win the lottery so I can go on a camera shopping spree?

p.s. between basketball and every day usage, the boys have been filling up the laundry basket with socks. good grief! this pile of socks last night just called my name. i could wish for the beautiful photography subjects that i see on other sites: nature, cupcakes, a beautifully decorated home, but that wouldn’t be me. every day adventures are what i seem to have.

What I did while my blog was on vacation

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Suzanne

1. Spent way too much time checking to see if my blog and e-mail and other websites were BACK from vacation.

2. Played Pathwords on Facebook.

3. Tried to quilt a finish quilting a quilt that I’m having trouble with (choosing a design, the fabric is super-busy and I don’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to do. I figured it out, but now I have to execute).

4. Cut out the pieces for two quilts and started piecing one of them. Almost finished piecing the one, actually. I squishy-heart-love checkerboards and churn dash blocks. Pictures later…

5. Spent way too much time checking to see if my blog and e-mail and other websites were BACK from vacation.

6. Ate way too many Hershey kisses while checking to see…

7. Did a radio interview. More about my 10 minutes of fame later…

8. Started reading my new books.

9. Spent way too much time checking to see if my blog and e-mail and other websites were BACK from vacation.

10. Tried to teach Joe how to crochet. He decided he preferred knitting. Maybe because he enjoyed reading Franklin Habit‘s book so much:

11. Spent way too much time checking to see if my blog and e-mail and other websites were BACK from vacation.

Looking for the giveaway quilt? There’s still time to sign up and spread the word, scroll down or click here. I’m extending the deadline until Monday, since it was kinda hard for people to sign up when the site was down.

TTFN-

Suzanne