Life with Nin

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on 23 November 2011 | 1 response

The second snowfall of the season arrived over night yesterday, coating the world outside our windows in white, wrapping the day with silence.  Okay, not really silence when you are living with two small girls, but the appreciation of the few moments of silence I had while shoveling snow and sitting by the fire later was heightened by the view outside.

I have missed the changing seasons and have delighted in the fall and now winter that I am getting to experience while awaiting my third grandchild.

“Over the river and through the woods, ” I sing with the girls.  Our own Thanksgiving will be shared with friends on this side of the river, which now that the leaves have fallen we can see from the house.  Wherever Thanksgiving finds you, may your journey be safe and your companions loving.  Count your blessings and find peace in your world.

{Just a Moment 37}

Posted on 4 November 2011 | 1 response

A new Friday ritual inspired by other blogs.  A single photo from this past week…. few no words…. just a moment captured in time.  If you feel inspired to share…. leave a link the comments with your moment.} My thanks to Soulemama for inspiring {just a moment}.

Sunday’s snow

Halloween

Thursday at Pemaquid Beach

where I saw my first living sand dollar in the wild.  Before the afternoon was over, Lolly had peeled off her sweater (made by my mom for my son, now being worn by the second of my granddaughters).

Have a lovely weekend.

{Just a Moment 36}

Posted on 28 October 2011 | 1 response

A new Friday ritual inspired by other blogs.  A single photo from this past week…. few no words…. just a moment captured in time.  If you feel inspired to share…. leave a link the comments with your moment.} My thanks to Soulemama for inspiring {just a moment}.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Pumpkin Fest

Posted on 26 October 2011 | 2 responses

In the fall many towns have pumpkin festivals.  That is true in a very big way where Chase lives.  I missed the actual festival by a few days – and rainy days have prevented me from taking more photos of the pumpkins yet – but remnants of the festival still line the street.

From what I gather, the pumpkins are the real focus of this event.  But by pumpkins, I don’t mean what you find at the farmer’s market or grocery store.  These are Pumpkins with a capital “P.”  Ranging in size from 500 to over 1200 pounds, these are worthy of Linus’s great Pumpkin search.

and to give you an idea of scale

Among the pumpkins I’m still hoping to get photos of are a black cat, Santa Clause, and a Maine lobster.

These folks take their pumpkin decorating seriously!

Quilts at the Library

Posted on 24 October 2011 | 1 response

My daughter loves her local library for their wonderful children’s librarians and programs for kids.  I like it for those reasons, too, but rumor also has it there is an ever changing display of quilts at the library.  I took photos of some of the October quilts.

 

What a lovely way to celebrate the season.

{Just a Moment – 35}

Posted on 21 October 2011 | No responses

A new Friday ritual inspired by other blogs.  A single photo from this past week…. few no words…. just a moment captured in time.  If you feel inspired to share…. leave a link the comments with your moment.} My thanks to Soulemama for inspiring {just a moment}.

It’s a little difficult to tell from this picture, but we were at the bank, opening the girls’ first savings account.

Have a wonderful weekend.

October 2011 Dogwood Quilt Update

Posted on 19 October 2011 | No responses

This will be the last monthly update on the dogwood quilt for a while, as the quilt is in Florida and I am in Maine.  It was just too bulky to bring it along, especially when I’m really not sure how much time I will have to spend on handwork while I’m here.

I got the quilt layered and have begun the hand quilting.   I’m trying as much as possible to use the same quilting pattern as was done on the original quilt.   The center section is cross hatched, so that means once I have it quilted this direction, I’ll be coming back at a 90 degree angle and doing it again.  I have a lot of quilting ahead of me.

And here’s a sneak peak of the backing fabric.  I used the same paint that I use to paint the fabric for the applique, just in a different way.

No two sections of the back are alike except for the colors.  I asked my sister if she wanted a traditional solid background (white or off white) or something different and she said something different.  I hope she likes it!

Case for my Laptop

Posted on 13 October 2011 | 1 response

One of the things I needed to get made my last week at home was a case for my laptop.   I have a larger case, but I needed to be able to put my laptop, purse and such all into a small tote bag as my “personal” item on the train.

Is it just me, or have pattern directions changed for the worst in recent years?  I’d pulled the pattern out to look at it several times and put it away again shaking my head, which is why this project had been left to the end.  This pattern was from a company whose patterns I have used for probably 50 years.  I used to feel the directions were clear and easy to follow.  This time there were too many issues so that I was not able to see in my head how things were going to turn out before I started.

The pattern for case was for a bigger laptop.  I knew from the beginning it was only a starting place.

The pattern called for fusible fleece as interfacing.  Since this would be providing part of the padding to protect the computer, I wanted to use something with a bit more loft.   As a quilter, I have plenty of pieces of batting leftover from quilts.  But it wasn’t fusible.  (They do make fusible batting, but I haven’t tried it yet.)  I could fix that.

I took Steam a Seam, I product I use for fusible applique and cut that to fit the appropriate pieces.

With the steam a seam between the wrong side of the fabric and the batting, I ironed them together.

After that I followed the directions for a while.   Until I came to the part about using canvas for padding.  Canvas as padding?  I don’t think so.  Once again I cut batting to serve that purpose.

Eventually I had things put together enough to see how much fabric I needed to remove to make the case fit my smaller computer.   I cut the pieces down to size and found it all went together well in the end, despite having to infer some additional bits which the directions and pictures left out.

It has a generous inside pocket where the cords and mouse tuck in neatly.

I even made a matching cell phone case – which required even more modifications than the laptop case.  This one works, but I will definitely be doing it differently the next time.

At least my laptop and associated cords fit well into my tote bag with my purse and knitting.  Hopefully there will even be room for some food and drinks as well.

On My Way

Posted on 10 October 2011 | No responses

By the time this is posted, I will be on my way to Maine.  I’d planned to go up in mid November to spend the last weeks of pregnancy and first weeks after meeting our new grandchild with Chase and her family.  But Chase has had a cold that won’t let go and is finding it daunting to deal with the girls at the moment.  She asked me to come up earlier.  Fortunately I’ve had a week to get done everything that has to get done and I am learning to let go of the rest.

I’m looking forward to the trip.  Airport security has gotten too invasive in my opinion, so I am taking Amtrak.  It’s a 36 hour trip with a train change in D.C. and a transfer from train to bus in Boston for the final leg into Portland.  As long as I remember to get up and move around regularly, I think this will be fun.  36 hours of solitude in a crowd.  Time to think my own thoughts and make the transition back into full time grammy mode.

I’ve missed being with the girls these past 14 months since they moved to Maine and I am thrilled to have this time with them again.   But I’m well aware that there will be a transition time while I get used to normal children noise once more.

I’m not sure how often I will be able to post while I’m up there as there are lots of games to play, songs to sing, books to read, cooking to do and hugs to enjoy.  But I’ll stop by when I can.

I’m a Guest Blogger

Posted on 7 October 2011 | No responses

Today I have the privilege of being a guest blogger over at Dao of Doing.   I hope you will stop over and see what we’ve been up to.

And Missus Wookie,  hope you like the piece the guitar is laying on…

« newer posts — older posts »