Archive for August, 2008
Gone with the Wind
Another breezy, rainy day thanks to Gustav. Fortunately, he is passing well offshore of us so we are just getting fringe effects.
But it reminded me about our MQR postcard swap…this time’s theme is “Gone with the wind” As a Floridian, this is what comes to mind when I think ‘gone with the wind’.
Another Floridian and online friend Barbara also did a similar postcard recently for one of her exchanges. When I saw hers I told her I had done one too…only my hurricane was on the west coast LOL….she lives on the east coast. Of course, those of you all along the Gulf coast and southern Atlantic seaboard can relate to this. Right now, I hoping Gustav’s ‘bark’ will be worse than his ‘bite’ as we have family hunkered down in Louisiana waiting…..
And on another note, I got this postcard yesterday from my cousin Mary Ann. This one is for our August family exchange….the theme was “Heat”. Isn’t it cute! Thanks, Mary Ann.
Can you believe it!!!
It’s pouring….again. Thanks to Gustav. Don had to drain the pool this afternoon, and will again in the morning. We are OK, but just a few miles south of here, there are still so many people out of their homes from the flooding of Fay last week. Now, we are sandwiched between TWO storms! Fortunately for us, Gustav will be mainly a rain event for us and not a land falling hurricane.
I really am concerned for the people of the Louisiana coast..it looks as if they will bear the brunt of Gustav. We have family there, as do some of you. Please, lets all think positive thoughts for them.
And Hanna…what are you going to do? Where will you go??
It is the peak of ‘cane” season after all. I’ll be glad when it’s over! Just 3 more months!
The class
Cool Mail and a peek
Aren’t these shirts just the coolest! Vicki sent them, one for me and Don. Thanks Vicki we both love them. I’ll get you a photo of Don when he puts his on, but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be as entertaining as Gina’s was!
Busy again today…finished this one up. I’ll get better photos tomorrow after I’ve trimmed all the threads.
And Fay, though pretty far away now, is still sending those feeder bands down here with wind and rain! Don has had to drain water from the pool every day, but at least we’re not having flooding like some other areas are.
A busy day AND a new toy!
After we got all the storm shutters rolled back up, I got to work. This is my first week back to work since surgery and all the visitors.
So first, I finished beading my inchies and got them off in the mail to Carla for our MQR swap.
Then I was ready to quilt. Thought I’d ease my way back into it with a quickie. A while back (actually, a long time ago) I posted the one and only turning twenty quilt I have quilted. The client wanted custom, and got it. Well, a few weeks ago she brought a table runner made from fabrics left from that TT and wanted it quilted exactly the same way. So here it is. It was a good warm up. 
And she has already picked it up, happy as a little clam!
I loaded another quilt on the frame and worked on it the rest of the afternoon.
just about over
The worst of Fay is about over for us. It really was not bad, which is a good thing. Our highest winds were 60 mph, and we are getting lots of rain. The winds have really dropped off now too. On the photo below you can see the ‘eye’ is north and well east of us now. The storm is really moving slowly, so the gusty winds and rain will be here for a while yet. The power flickered a couple times, but never went out for us. That is a very good thing….cause that is a major pain. Even though we have a generator, you can’t really get it going till after the storms pass. We were lucky this time….and lucky is GOOD.
So, during the night and early this morning while the wind was howling and I couldn’t sleep, I worked on beading my inchies. Not yet half done…I have to make a total of 29, but they are looking pretty good I think. I used hot pink, hand dyed dupioni silk stitched with Sulky holoshimmer thread in lime green. The beads are pink and lime. I love these little word beads!
I’ll get the rest beaded so they can go out in the mail tomorrow.
OOPS..forgot 2 things
First, Happy Birthday to my youngest…baby girl Kelly, who is 32 today! Wow!
And second, here’s the latest Fay picture. We’re just getting the outer bands now. But like I said before…things are going to be OK.
See ya after the storm!
Last minute
Fay
All the prep is done. The hurricane shutters are up, the furniture moved inside from the lanai, as are the plants, bird feeders and baths. We have plenty of food,water and kitty supplies. The cars are filled with gas, we have flashlights and batteries; and gas for the generator. We are ready…as ready as we can be for whatever Fay throws at us. The boat is secured, all the sails and canvas off. The propane tanks full as are the water tanks. We are ready. The outer bands are pouring on us now….just a taste of what’s to come. But this is south Florida…hurricanes are are way of life here. The main thing is to be ready. And the best part is …we always have plenty of warning—time to prepare. Unlike those who live in tornado alley, or earthquake country. Mother nature always gives us several days of warning. We have learned over the years to heed that warning. We did, and we’re ready. So we hunker down and hope for the best, knowing we have prepared for the worst.
We have endured worse than what this one will be. SO … in preparation, I also did some sewing. Got a couple postcards done, and my inches made and quilted. So that if the power goes out, I will have work to do by hand…beading my inches. The longarm doesn’t like the generator power…we found that out after Charley in 2004. So now each year I prepare hand work to keep me busy until the power is restored.
We have a family postcard exchange deadline coming up, so I got that one done. The theme is “Heat”. I also have an MQR postcard exchange coming up…theme is “Gone with the Wind” worked on that too. Bet you can guess what mine will portray…..
And Kelly wanted a bookmark postcard…so this is what I made for her.
I will go first thing in the morning to the post office, before things deteriorate too much to get these in the mail.