Wontcha Come Sit A Spell??

Here we are on friday! I've been here officially a week now. It was last friday that the moving van pulled out from Irmo, SC....and we headed up to Winston Salem, NC with dogs and cats in tow!

Today was the day I *HAD* to get out. I hit 2pm and just had to get OUT of the house...away from packing, away from unpacking, away from sorting and tossing and trying to find places for things. I've tried to be RUTHLESS with myself on things that we haven't used in a long time...moving house does that to you. You come across pictures, and letters, and remembrances. Some wonderful when you rediscover them, some painful and heart breaking. Unpacking in a new house is a time to put old ghosts to rest.

So today I bravely looked up in the yellow pages where the nearest Office Depot was. There was a package to mail, and it was in a shopping area I hadn't checked out before. Turns out, I won't need to check it out again! *LOL* Other than Office Depot, there wasn't anything I needed there. But pulling out of the parking lot created a challenge, because I couldn't turn LEFT where I wanted to! I had to turn right and negotiate my way to the next U-turn place, and low and behold...there was an ANTIQUE MALL!! (Oh happy day!)

It was just what I needed to do...browse the aisles in solitude, and enjoy things from a by-gone era.

I found TWO of the most perfect ladder back chairs in a booth that was having a sale! I knew right away that I wanted these for my front porch.

I also found two wonderful baskets (not pictured yet....don't know what I'll do with them) and a beat up porcelain chamber pot that I have the notion of sitting a plant inside..but that is for another time!

I came home and put the chairs right where I pictured them on the front porch! I had an old crockery water container filled with eucalyptus in the house, and I brought that out, and a couple pieces of gray graniteware that I have colected over the years. A plant placed in the big one, and two antique quilty throw pillows completed the vignette! The sign above the the chairs reads "Relax...It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!" (That was a hobby lobby find with a coupon!) and the nail to hang it was already there!

I grabbed a 1940's crazy quilt that my aunt had given me that had seen better days. It really is a cutter piece, but I could never bear to cut it...so it is perfect for draping over the porch swing. Two more throw pillows and I have a cozy porch!!



Here are some pics of the kitchen. It was the first room to come together. I'm now working on the master bedroom and shuffling other things that show up there around to where they need to be. Every now and again I come check email, either at my desk in the basement, or at the little desk in the kitchen where I have placed my lap top. At first I wasn't crazy about having that desk there...but now I like it!

After all the unpacking is done, I'll think about what color to paint the kitchen...and then on into the dining room and living room.

Right now the kitchen table and stuff is in the sun room because the dining room walls have been stripped of wallpaper too and all that is going to get DONE before I put furniture in there.

Yep. I need a nap. It's 4:30. I think I'll go take one...the sign is right! It doesn't get much better than this!

Bonnie

It's A Snow Day!!

DS #1 Jason came up on tuesday night to help out around here! Last night he and I headed out to Applebee's for dinner (Kitchen was still mostly un-user-friendly!) and on the way there, the rain turned to SNOW!!

We sat in Applebee's just looking out the window at the snow coming down and swirling around heavier and heavier and heavier! Before long it started to pile on the cars and the roads..we slowly drove home. He said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! I am heading back to SOUTH CAROLINA, this is NUTS!"

So this is what we awoke to on Valentine's Day Morning. It is just LOVELY! And I am sure it will melt by mid day because it is supposed to hit the 50's.

The second picture showing the deck railing is my view from my kitchen window! I've never had a kitchen sink that looked out into a back yard...and I love this so much!


If you look close you can see the dogs playing out in the back yard. This picture was taken from my upper back deck. They are so thrilled! And what is better than two fireplaces going on a snowy cold day? One is in the living room, the one with the wood stove is right here in my quilting room!


Tuesday afternoon I had a surprise visit from Mrs Goodneedle and Quilt Keemosabe! They brought lunch and got to be here while the quilting machine, aka Fiona,had her table assembled, and resumed her rightful place upon it! I had thought I was going to put casters on her to make the table moving easier, but we found out that the casters don't run as well on this berber carpet as plain old "super sliders" moving pads do! So the casters came off, and the sliders are in permanent position under the legs. I should have done this LONG ago!

I have new canvas leaders to put on her roller bars, a new panto pattern cover...and I may even venture out to get her a new table top today so she will look brand spanking new and ready for quilting!

One thing about snow day....since schools for the county are closed today, the quilt ministry group I was going to go sew with at Mrs Goodneedle's church is also out of session for snow day today! I'll look forward to that next week!
This last pic is Jason's truck before he left this morning. Yes, he is headed to warmer climates south!!(I love you so much sonshine! Thanks for coming to help your ole mama! *hugs & kisses*)

Hot tub is in!!

As you can imagine, it's been wild here! It's been a few days since I've posted..mostly because I couldn't dig myself out of the boxes to find my way to the computer!

Here are some pics of the moving guys installing the hot tub! We've got an electrician coming to do all the wiring within the next few days. It also needs a new cover, hopefully will be able to shop for one this weekend. I am really looking forward to getting this set up so I can SOAK and enjoy my new surroundings!

The Van Is Here!!

They showed up at 7:45! We weren't expecting them til 9am so there was a lot of running around to move cars out of the drive and garage, etc.....

I had luckily taken my shower and had dressed by the time they showed up!

The first thing I had to do was take a pic of the truck for Lucy! When she came to visit me here in the US, her first trip to America, she was amazed at how BIG the trucks are. So here you go, Lucy! My whole HOUSE is loaded onto this truck with no room to spare!

The first thing to come off the truck is the hot tub! It is going to go in the gazebo part of the deck, which I absolutely love. We had to remove a railing to get it up there, and I'll get pics of the process...here it is eagerly waiting the tub to be put into place!



One big ICKY!! When the guys were looking up under the accoustical tile ceiling in my sewing room to find where the cables for the tv etc ran...they found..A SNAKE SKIN!!!! ::::: insert a panicked squeal from me ::::: It was SO GROSS. It was crunchy and old, so hopefully there is no snake still in my ceiling! It was right there in the insulation! Poor snake..what a bad place to peel off your skin...up against fiberglass insulation? Itchy!!

Oh, the joy of life in the country!

Okay...I better get back to supervising!! Back with updates later!

Stripping in NC!!

Hey everyone! We are in! We closed on the house monday, spent monday and tuesday and part of wednesday tearing out a wall in the basement to open up the space and make room for my quilting machine.

We also tore down a rotten dilapidated playhouse/treehouse that was quite the eyesore, but probably served it's purpose in years gone by. The lot is awesome. Being out in the country is awesome!

The moving van was finally finished being loaded friday night about 9pm, and we headed out then...two dogs, two cats, and a trailer pulling all the stuff that the movers wouldn't bring. We got here about 1am...so tired and falling into bed, only to have the cats meow all night because they didn't know where they were!

Of course, they cat-napped all day yesterday, and were up again last night meow meow meow..dig dig dig in the litter box, and crunch crunch crunch on the kitty food... :c|



While the guys were pulling down the playhouse outside, I prepped the walls in the opened up studio space and started painting. I went with a color called 'pearl white' which is more of a sand, very light khaki. It sure cleaned up the look of that paneling a LOT! I also went with a semi gloss because I like being able to wipe things down. Flat paint is a pain, even washable flat..I just don't like it.

You can see the stripe in the carpet where the wall USED to be. I don't know what I'm going to do about that uncarpeted stripe. Most likely my machine and bins will cover most of it. I'm not going to worry about that now! I'm not crazy about the drop ceiling, but that is small potatoes too in the whole scheme of things. I do know I want to add more ceiling lights.



I rented a steamer from home depot yesterday, and spent all of yesterday taking two layers of wallpaper off the dining room walls, and all around the border of the living room. I started on the front hall...but gave up on that for now, it will be easy access for later since there won't be furniture in the way.




Today's project is taking the paper off in the kitchen! The kitchen is a smaller one than I had in the previous house..it has two different kinds of paper..one white floral thing, and a dark navy thing that makes the kitchen more like a cave..I need to bring the light IN! So today..I'm stripping in the kitchen :c)


I need to get the paper off of the wall behind the fridge today because the new fridge comes this afternoon! My arms are tired, I need a massage!

Tomorrow the chaos continues with the arrival of the moving van. They are going to hate life because they can't get down our windy driveway that is a bit steep! They will have to park up on the road and wheel everything down. Poor guys!

That's about all the time I have for this update..and of course nothing quilty to relate at all, other than the fact that upon cleaning out the vent behind the sofa in my old family room....we FOUND my lost THIMBLE! The $50 one I loved and lost..and it is FOUND! :cD Oh happy day....

Bargello Wins The Bowl!

It's done! And in the quick of time, really! It went so fast! Amazing what you can accomplish with friends sewing along with you. Add pizza delivery, some pink lemonade, and some popcorn!

It's 8:47pm here on the east coast. I'm cleaning up my mess, and packing the car for driving to Winston Salem tomorrow....folding a bunch of laundry (Jason and Kim get the old washer and dryer for the cute house that Kim just bought..)and we'll be out of here in the morning!

I decided just to pack some handwork with me, but the ott light is going with all the stuff I'm bringing...

I've negotiated breakfast and lunch at the house..but dinners will be OUT until we are fully moved in and functional!

I'm taking the camera with me...but I probably won't be able to post again until Thursday or so unless I find a wifi place some where and I think I'll be too busy for that. So ya'll take good care of yourselves and each other, and I'll be back with an update as soon as I can!

It's A Top!!

Here's a pic of Charlotte working on her Carolina Crossroads! She is doing blue/yellow/neutral and it is really turning out nice!

I've had fun sewing with her! I even moved my laptop to the kitchen and hooked the webcam up to it, and we had virtual retreat with Lucy! She was sewing on her featherweight working on her mennonite quilt while we were sewing on ours...Live on webcam! It was so fun, we could hear her little featherweight just humming away through the speakers on my lap top.

It got to be her bed time, so we said goodnight to her, and kept on sewing! We had pizza delivered...and kept on sewing!

My top center is together. And I'm taking a break to pull fabrics for borders! Charlotte is still working on hers...I told her to stay as long as she wants and keep sewing! I've got to start loading the car for going up to Winston Salem in the morning, but having her sewing makes the chore more bearable!

DH bought a Queen sized mattress/boxsprings today that is going to be in Jeff's room. We are also buying a futon for Jeff's room, so at least we won't be doing the "sleep on an air mattress on the floor and camp out" as bad as I thought we were. It's a compromise!

Yesterday I ordered the appliances from Sears. I went online and they had many items on sale for the weekend, and if you bought 3 or more items, you got 20% off EVERYTHING! So I feel like we really saved a lot and got a good deal on the appliances. The stove and washer/dryer will be delivered tuesday. The dishwasher will come later, on the 17th.

So little by little..it's all coming together!

One Down...Five to go!

Here are some pics of my first panel!

I have had lots of questions on how I decide what goes where. Basically, I don't decide! I just do things randomly. I do know that I be sure that I don't end the panel with two light strips, or two strips that are the same fabric..because when you join the panel into a loop, well, you'll see why!

I also found that the longer panels can be unweildy...so this last panel I didn't sew it into a loop before cutting it into strips. I folded it first, sliced my 6 subcuts...left one subcut un-looped, and then sewed the remaining 5 into loops. I just found that I got straighter squares this way. But whatever works for you..works for you!

My friend Charlotte is on her way over to sew too! Her daughter and my son are an "item" and it is so fun to have my son's girlfriend as my own quilting friend!

I'm setting up a table for her to work on her project while I work on my bargello. We might order pizza later or something...

Back to the machines!