How much longer?????

I had two goals in going outside this afternoon, one was to feed the birds and the other was to take a photo of evergreen trees for the blog.

As you can clearly see this is not a photo of an evergreen tree. This was the last photo I took as I came back into the backyard. I happened to glance in the direction of the pump house and thought it might provide some interesting material sometime for my photo file of old structures.

The pump house use to play an important role on the farm. Years ago there was a windmill on the south side of it which pumped water for the house and livestock. The windmill came down years ago and a well now provides water for the farm, but the building still remains.

It has become a storage shed, holding such treasures as a Smurf picnic table, old doors and windows, a work bench, goose decoys and various other items. All have seen better days. The door seems to be falling apart at a rapid pace and I have been wondering how much longer that pane of glass is going to stay in place.

Have you ever thought about........???

I know, a cell phone, not very exciting nor original. We switched
carriers today. THANK HEAVENS!!! Finally, some company has arrived who actually cares that we are able to get service south and east of town where we live, work and farm. Adios, Verizon!!!

These little phones are rather remarkable things. They can take a photo, a person could text on them if they so desired, access a website, they can be an alarm clock, an answering machine, one can reach people just about any place in the world, if you are with the right carrier, and lots of other things. And they are so small they just slip into a purse or pocket, which I found out is not the best place to keep one. They are amazing.

Another reason I find them extraordinary is that I was in the 7th grade when our first telephone was installed on our farm. It was a pretty big deal and that was 44 years ago. We were on a party line and there were 7 other families on our line. Talk about getting to know your neighbors.

The land line we currently have doesn't work if it rains or snows very much and we have wireless Internet as I would never be able to do anything such as post photos to a blog if I had to use the telephone line for our Internet connection, it would time out constantly and I would be very frustrated.

So I am impressed with this little blue gizmo that I can hold in the palm of my hand, take anyplace I go now and call someone from the middle of nowhere and if I wanted to spring for a Blackberry, I could even access my e-mail and all that other stuff those things do.

Frustration and Hope

I decided to downsize this photo. It should really take up the
entire screen as that little machine and the legal pad next to it have monopolized my day!!!!! I am preparing for our tax appointment coming up this week. Everything has to be checked and then all the labor forms have to be filled out and filed.

What a pain in the neck!!!!! I am so relived that the government instituted all those paperwork reduction acts or it might be way too overwhelming otherwise. It wouldn't be such a bad job if it weren't for the multitude of labor entries and forms, haven't really seen any of that paper reduction I mentioned in the above sentence, only an increase. As in every sector of our lives where government is concerned, meddle, meddle, meddle!!! That thought can be saved for another post sometime. I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities on that front.

I will say that I think I have things under control. Now to transfer all those numbers and not transpose any of them. I would much rather be in the sewing room even though it is in total chaos or over at the studio dyeing fabric. Hopefully I will make it to one of these two locations soon, very soon!!!

What's in a bag???

A bag is a handy item to have, a multi-purpose bag is great!!!! This bag is made of heavy canvas, reinforced with a plastic coating and is wonderful if one is involved in quilt making and has a need to haul things around to classes or retreats.

I received this bag last Christmas and I have had to protect it more than once, so it has been deemed an excellent bag by the quilters that I know. Hmmmmm, perhaps I should get my name on it someplace?????

It is nice and roomy and is capable of carrying lots of things. It went to Paducah this spring full of quilt sandwiches. This fall there was an iron, small cutting mat, rulers, rotary cutter, scissors, pack of sewing items, fabric, a small wall hanging, instructions for a quilt top, handouts and a roll of paper towels for a retreat our Guild conducted. I have packed it full of hand dyed fabric when bringing the fabric from the studio back over to the house. It is very useful.

Right now it is sitting on the dining room floor, waiting to be returned to the sewing room. I had taken it to Parker last week and tossed a few books into it---- Hot Textiles, The Painted Quilt, a couple of thr3fold journals, Ruth McDowell's Piecing and the American Quilter magazine. Hard to say what will go into it on the next trip, class or retreat or maybe it will have to stay at home in the sewing room???

Day 2--Reflections

I chose a photo of our dining room table today. I was just going to go with the table itself until I saw the reflection in the glass top and thought it said more about why I chose this object.
As with any New Year, I always reflect on the past year or years.
I received a gmail from my Aunt in CA today and she was telling me about the Sunday dinner menu she was preparing. She cooks Sunday dinner for the family members who live in CA and she has been doing this for a number of years. I have had the privilege of sitting at her table graced with roses from her garden and eating one of her fabulous meals. She is having pork chops cooked Darlene style this evening, which my cousin enjoys, along with Apple Crisp. I can imagine they will have a wonderful time.
Our youngest daughter started a once a month Sunday dinner tradition last year with her two sisters and their husbands who live along the front range. They will have their family dinner tonight, the first one of the new year at Daughter #2's home. They are rotating this year. They are working on an Italian theme this year and their menu sounded delicious. We were able to attend a few of the dinners last year and it is always a treat.
So even though our dining room table is not covered with food at the moment, nor are there any guests coming, it is full of memories of meals shared with family and friends over the years and in spirit I am in CA at my aunt's table and with our daughters and their husbands and finance this evening at their table.

I'm In

Photo # 1

January 3, 2009

Even though the challenge has been underway for two days I am forging ahead. 363 photos posted would be spectacular in my view. Maybe I will post a couple extra here and there to catch up or two at the end, IF I make it that far.

This is a small section of the leaded glass in our front door. Christmas lights are hanging on the other side from the eaves.

I have not been able to capture the dancing reflections in the glass that I have seen in the evenings the last few weeks when the lights have been on, but none the less a memory of them will always be there when I look at the door.

A year ago we had a solid, steel door in place of the one we now have. The door has made a major difference in our entryway and home and how I feel about that area. It welcomes visitors and is great on this side as it allows more light into our home. Light is a fabulous thing.

Thinking About......

My daughter sent a link to the new blog she started in connection with the Flickr 2009/365 challenge, which is to take a picture everyday in the year 2009. This is her blog address--- http://everydayinaphoto.blogspot.com/ I think she takes great photographs. I used one of her underwater photos of a sea turtle in the dye painting class I took from Hollis in May '08. Still quilting it. My daughter has hopes it will hang in her office one day. She has some beautiful photos of coral I would like to paint and quilt as well. Works out well too as she is not a fan of traditional quilts.

So now I am thinking about doing this challenge thing as well. In my mind there are more than a few challenges connected with this "Flickr Challenge 2009/365". Starting off with picking up the camera each day and taking a photo, this could prove to be the easiest part. Then I would have to upload or download the photo from the camera to Adobe and do some work on it. Then comes posting the photo to this site, which can be a technical challenge for me at times and writing something about the photo. Good grief, that would mean I would have to blog each day as well AND I am already two days behind, but that sums up my life. It might take a day just to decide if I want to do this or not!!!!!!