Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hearts A Flutter BOM using Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum fabric
These blocks are made using SuzGuz Designs' free Hearts A Flutter BOM patterns. All fabric is from the Rock Mountain Quilt Museum line. They are in order by month, and are part of the quilt blitzkrieg that's been happening since Sunday. (Finally caught up, yeah!) The samples from SuzGuz Designs are made using the Swell fabric line from Moda for the samples. It's amazing how different these blocks look using subdued fabrics.
Monday, July 7, 2008
I was THAT close!
Sewing the last leaves on my June Hearts A Flutter BOM, almost caught up on BOM obligations, and I check my email and find the July Hearts BOM newsletter! Arrrrrgh! I was so close! No matter what I do I end up behind and scrambling.
Home grown tomatoes
Oh, the bounty of summer! I have seven ripe, juicy tomatoes from my potted tomato plant waiting on my kitchen windowsill to become pasta sauce later today. Aren't they gorgeous?We're already enjoying tomatoes on our burgers and BLT's, but when the plant gets this far ahead of me, I start thinking marinara sauce.
Meanwhile, my little bell pepper plant is still languishing, despite my best care. It has finally produced blossoms, so maybe by first frost I'll have some peppers!
Friday, July 4, 2008
It's about time
Finally, I am a sluggard no more. Quilt fabric has passed through my fingers today and I am almost caught up with my BOM obligations. I made two blocks for the Christmas wall hanging, and four blocks for the BlockCentral BOM (two in blue/rust and two in black/gray/tan). Two more applique blocks for Hearts A Flutter BOM and I will be done for the month. At that point I will bind the gift baby quilt, bind my butterfly lap quilt and quilt a few Linus projects.
All this sewing in addition to 4th of July cooking and watering/tending the outside plants. Whew!
Pictures tomorrow, folks, too tired tonight.
All this sewing in addition to 4th of July cooking and watering/tending the outside plants. Whew!
Pictures tomorrow, folks, too tired tonight.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Nation's sweatiest cities
I'm sorry, this is gross but I just HAVE to comment on it. MSNBC reported on a study of the nations sweatiest cities here, and we in the soggy southeast have to respond: Phoenix? NOT!
Here are the top 5:
1. Phoenix, Ariz.
2. Las Vegas, Nev.
3. Tallahassee, Fla.
4. Tucson, Ariz.
5. Memphis, Tenn.
OK, they did select Tallahassee and Memphis (which was nasty even when I was there in late September, for heaven's sake) but all these desert towns? They explain the study by saying they measured the sweat produced, not the sogginess of the inhabitants. Now, I've been to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson, and the ferocious heat and low humidity guarantee that you may be sweating but not a drop reaches your clothing, because it evaporates as soon as it hits your skin (that evaporative cooling being the only reason you don't keel over, probably). If you're sweating but your clothes don't get damp it just isn't as uncomfortable as when you have to walk around fairly dripping on the sidewalk.
Middle and eastern Tennessee made the list down in the 30's and 40's, but for sheer miserableness they should be higher. And the South Carolina and Georgia coasts? They're down in the 30's too, but I drove through there in June once and about died. Heck, go stand around downtown Atlanta in August and see how you feel. I spent a morning at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix some years ago, and other than the liberal amounts of sunscreen I drowned myself in I was very comfortable at 95 degrees. When it's 95 degrees here, I don't even go outside.
They're definitely measuring the wrong thing. What should be investigated is the amount of water your clothing absorbs in an hour. Chattanooga, we're No. 1! We're No. 1!
Here are the top 5:
1. Phoenix, Ariz.
2. Las Vegas, Nev.
3. Tallahassee, Fla.
4. Tucson, Ariz.
5. Memphis, Tenn.
OK, they did select Tallahassee and Memphis (which was nasty even when I was there in late September, for heaven's sake) but all these desert towns? They explain the study by saying they measured the sweat produced, not the sogginess of the inhabitants. Now, I've been to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson, and the ferocious heat and low humidity guarantee that you may be sweating but not a drop reaches your clothing, because it evaporates as soon as it hits your skin (that evaporative cooling being the only reason you don't keel over, probably). If you're sweating but your clothes don't get damp it just isn't as uncomfortable as when you have to walk around fairly dripping on the sidewalk.
Middle and eastern Tennessee made the list down in the 30's and 40's, but for sheer miserableness they should be higher. And the South Carolina and Georgia coasts? They're down in the 30's too, but I drove through there in June once and about died. Heck, go stand around downtown Atlanta in August and see how you feel. I spent a morning at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix some years ago, and other than the liberal amounts of sunscreen I drowned myself in I was very comfortable at 95 degrees. When it's 95 degrees here, I don't even go outside.
They're definitely measuring the wrong thing. What should be investigated is the amount of water your clothing absorbs in an hour. Chattanooga, we're No. 1! We're No. 1!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Bunny still in residence
Here's my now much larger rabbit in residence, wandering around the back yard eating clover. He was under my dogwood tree yesterday at dusk having a little bedtime snack, and this morning I startled him under the side yard hedge when I went out to water flowers. I don't think he is full grown yet, but how much bigger he's gotten in only a week or two! I'm waiting for when he figures out he can reach my tomato plants by standing on his rear legs and stretching. For now, the pot is too tall and the tomatoes are safe, but it's only a matter of time.
The perils of real estate shopping
I've been reading a lot of blogs recently about people shopping for a new home. Having spent two years finding our current home, I think I have a little experience in this area. You want to hear my real estate pet peeve? Six little words. "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed."
If I went shopping for a sweater and found one that was labeled "100% wool - information deemed reliable but not guaranteed", do you think I would even look at it? How can you begin to evaluate the merits of a house if you can't be assured of the basic information? The whole process is based on the seller hiding as much as possible and the buyer trying to find out what the seller isn't saying. One poor blogger had to find out from the house inspection that the whole place had to be rewired! Not "new wiring would be nice" - "had to be rewired". You think maybe that little tidbit should have been in the seller's disclosure statement?
My husband and I have been contemplating whether we should move now that we are retired. This house is older and needs updating, and is noisier here than when we bought it (we're on the corner of a street that's gotten busier and busier). I had thrown out the idea of townhouses or condos for consideration since we hire the yard work done now, and neither of us is Mr. or Mrs. Green Thumb. After dinner we have been driving around our area of town looking at the newer developments.
Most of them make my husband gag, and I'm not much more tolerant. Pretentious, over-ornamented little crackerboxes, covered with vinyl siding and faux stone, gables sticking out everywhere, on a lot the size of my driveway. And, by the way, priced twice what I could get for my all-brick single level 2000 sq. ft. house. For all of this you get to drive twice as far as I am now to the grocery, doctor's office, stores. Using $4.00 a gallon gas. I don't think so.
We did find a new development of townhomes that was all brick, located in a handy area and didn't immediately make us avert our eyes. Several were for sale, so when we returned home I looked them up online. The price made me wince, but if they were really new, 2000 sq. ft., all brick units, maybe I should take a closer look.
The on-site sales office in the model unit was supposed to be open every day, so I visited yesterday. When I arrived, there was a sign on the door saying the agent was out showing a house, and listing a number to call for assistance. I called, got her voicemail, and left a message that I was at the office and would hang around a while - please call back and let me know if and when she will be returning. After getting rather warm waiting in the car, I got out and walked around the development, and then returned to the office. I tried the door, and to my surprise it was unlocked.
Fine, I said to myself, I'll get to take a look at the model without the agent breathing down my neck. Not to mention waiting in the air conditioning. I had my camera in my purse, so I made photos while I poked around. There was a stack of xeroxed floor plans on the credenza, so I took one of those, too.
It seemed rather small. I know what 2000 sq. ft. looks like, and it wasn't this. Oh, the finishes were nice, the high ceilings were attractive, the layout was pretty good, but where was the rest of the house? After mentally rearranging the furniture multiple times, I realized that we just couldn't make it work for us.
This morning, I looked at the MLS listings again for two of these three bedroom units - same footprint. One says 2000 sq. ft., one says 2100 sq. ft. Remember, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed? Where did the other 100 sq. ft. come from on the second one? I pulled out my copy of the floor plan. No dimensions, but I had paced off several of the rooms, and could calculate the size. I couldn't even get 2000 sq. ft. if I counted the garage and the screened porch (which you aren't supposed to, btw - only heated areas). This crap is what makes me hate real estate agents. Just tell me what size the darned thing is. If you had said "About 1750 sq. ft.", I would't have bothered looking, I would have known it was too small. Drat!
If they can't even be honest about the size, what else aren't they saying? Don't they feel at all guilty for doing this kind of nonsense?
If I went shopping for a sweater and found one that was labeled "100% wool - information deemed reliable but not guaranteed", do you think I would even look at it? How can you begin to evaluate the merits of a house if you can't be assured of the basic information? The whole process is based on the seller hiding as much as possible and the buyer trying to find out what the seller isn't saying. One poor blogger had to find out from the house inspection that the whole place had to be rewired! Not "new wiring would be nice" - "had to be rewired". You think maybe that little tidbit should have been in the seller's disclosure statement?
My husband and I have been contemplating whether we should move now that we are retired. This house is older and needs updating, and is noisier here than when we bought it (we're on the corner of a street that's gotten busier and busier). I had thrown out the idea of townhouses or condos for consideration since we hire the yard work done now, and neither of us is Mr. or Mrs. Green Thumb. After dinner we have been driving around our area of town looking at the newer developments.
Most of them make my husband gag, and I'm not much more tolerant. Pretentious, over-ornamented little crackerboxes, covered with vinyl siding and faux stone, gables sticking out everywhere, on a lot the size of my driveway. And, by the way, priced twice what I could get for my all-brick single level 2000 sq. ft. house. For all of this you get to drive twice as far as I am now to the grocery, doctor's office, stores. Using $4.00 a gallon gas. I don't think so.
We did find a new development of townhomes that was all brick, located in a handy area and didn't immediately make us avert our eyes. Several were for sale, so when we returned home I looked them up online. The price made me wince, but if they were really new, 2000 sq. ft., all brick units, maybe I should take a closer look.
The on-site sales office in the model unit was supposed to be open every day, so I visited yesterday. When I arrived, there was a sign on the door saying the agent was out showing a house, and listing a number to call for assistance. I called, got her voicemail, and left a message that I was at the office and would hang around a while - please call back and let me know if and when she will be returning. After getting rather warm waiting in the car, I got out and walked around the development, and then returned to the office. I tried the door, and to my surprise it was unlocked.
Fine, I said to myself, I'll get to take a look at the model without the agent breathing down my neck. Not to mention waiting in the air conditioning. I had my camera in my purse, so I made photos while I poked around. There was a stack of xeroxed floor plans on the credenza, so I took one of those, too.
It seemed rather small. I know what 2000 sq. ft. looks like, and it wasn't this. Oh, the finishes were nice, the high ceilings were attractive, the layout was pretty good, but where was the rest of the house? After mentally rearranging the furniture multiple times, I realized that we just couldn't make it work for us.
This morning, I looked at the MLS listings again for two of these three bedroom units - same footprint. One says 2000 sq. ft., one says 2100 sq. ft. Remember, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed? Where did the other 100 sq. ft. come from on the second one? I pulled out my copy of the floor plan. No dimensions, but I had paced off several of the rooms, and could calculate the size. I couldn't even get 2000 sq. ft. if I counted the garage and the screened porch (which you aren't supposed to, btw - only heated areas). This crap is what makes me hate real estate agents. Just tell me what size the darned thing is. If you had said "About 1750 sq. ft.", I would't have bothered looking, I would have known it was too small. Drat!
If they can't even be honest about the size, what else aren't they saying? Don't they feel at all guilty for doing this kind of nonsense?
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