He's a SHE!

It's been an interesting week so far at the ol' Casada homestead! I'm diligently working on my #4 UFO, "Wilfred and Cloves" with it's applique'd center (which I've changed, of course! :-D), but I've been thwarted somewhat in my sewing plans....

It started Sunday afternoon as I was returning home from Asbury University where I'd dropped my daughter for another week of school.  I called home to check on the boys, and they told me about a huge rat/mouse the cats were playing with on the porch. Lovely!!  (not) "I'll check on it when I get home!!"

So an hour later, I'm looking at this thing Lucky cat has under the paws....
And it's moving.
And it's got a tail like a rat/mouse...but the head is not right...

Oh.
My.
Word.
It's a KITTEN!!!!

Lucky is not, as we'd assumed -- as we'd been TOLD by my brother who brought him to me after rescuing him (um, HER!) from the motor of a car -- a MALE cat!  He's a SHE!!  Lucky had ridden into town inside the whirring motor of a car and survived to tell the tale, thus the name and my brother's subsequent rescue and arrangment of our adopting him (HER!).  We'd have never taken a female (for obvious reasons).

But the kitten....Sigh.  Sweetest thing. EVER!  It's little eyes aren't open yet, and Lucky cat is the sweetest mama cat ever.  What's a chicken-owning, quilting, homeschooling mama like me gonna do!?  Fix her, of course.   Ironic, really, that he's a she ....here I was lamenting a few days ago about the identity crisis of my chicken.  Apparently there are LOTS of secrets on this erswhile homestead of mine.

See what happens when your husband goes to Afghanistan!!?!

Oh!
And the bees swarmed.  They COULDN"T wait until he is home in a couple of weeks. NOOOOOO! They do it now. 

Kittens. (Well, blessedly, only 1 kitten!) Fine.  I can handle that.

Swarming bees!?! NO.  I worried about killing Jeff's bees through neglect, and the dern things have prospered and multiplied until there's enough for two hives!! The chickens, which I actually kinda liked, are knocked off one by one by varmints or pestilence or neighbor's villainous dogs, and the bees which freak me totally out are taking over the place!!

Where's the justice!?! Where's the fairness of it all!?!

In Afghanistan, apparently.  As usual, my beloved if annoying husband gets the last laugh! :-D 

Oh well.  I'll tell him my stash has reproduced in proportion to the bees.

Those piles of fabric on the tables and chairs are SWARM.

Hehehehe.  Maybe there is some justice in the world after all!! LOL

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?    Micah 6:8 (NASB)

 Did I mention my husband hates cats!?! God is good. All the time!! :-D

Blessings!


P.S.  Don't forget to qualify for the Traveling Stash drawing!!!  You'll find the post here!

Who I AM

My chicken is having an identity crisis!
Since her sisters were eaten by coyotes or foxes or wolves or something...well, she's been a little lonely, and I've had a time trying to keep her off the back porch.  I don't mind her presence per se'...it's what she leaves  behind that is rather, well...not cool. :-D

But she's made some unlikely friends.  Tommy and Lucky, our cats, don't know what to do with her! She eases up and starts eating out of their cans, like she's one of them!

I even put chicken feed in a can for her...She won't have it! She wants to eat what the cats are eating.  Doesn't she know who and what she is!?!

My sister stopped by yesterday and noticed my design wall with my "All About Me" blocks, so far, on it.  I'm working on framing the fabrics that represent "me" a little at a time, when I'm in the mood. :-)

I have a weird assortment of fabrics representing "me."  And my quilt is only going to be a lap-sized quilt.  I've figured out that I'm kinda a boring person! LOL

I've not been many places, so there are no exotic locales represented by my fabrics.  I love movies and  books and quilts and fabrics, scripture and Christmas, and quilts and fabrics, post-it notes, pens, music and ships.  Did I mention quilts and fabrics? 

 I have some army-type fabric for my husband, and school-marm fabric since I homeschool. I have a purse with my name on it -- not because I like purses (that would be interesting!), but because how often do you find a piece of fabric with your name!?!

I'm framing my novelty squares and rectangles with fabrics and colors that I love, and when I'm finished the quilt will be a snapshot of who I am.

It won't be everything....but it will be representative of many things that are dear to me.

It's a very important thing to know who you are, I think.  Especially as women! We are cast into so many roles -- wife, mother, chef, chauffeur, doctor, nurse, teacher, counselor, lover, quilter -- and we excel at multi-tasking.  It's easy to lose sight of those things that are quintessentially "me."
I cannot let my many roles define me.  Rather, who I am should define them.

Jesus understood all about identity!! As you read the Gospel of John,  Jesus takes you on a journey of His "I Am's":

I am the Messiah (John 4:26).
I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35).
I am the Eternal One (John 8:58).
I am the Light of the World (John 9:5).
I am the Door (John 10:7).
I am the Son of God (John 10:36).
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

He knew Who He was, and that determined all that He did...right down to His gift of death on the cross and His gift of Life through the resurrection!

I suspect my lonely chicken will figure out who she is when the chicks are big enough to roam the yard with her.  On the other hand, she may totally freak me out one of these days by meowing at me!

Either way, I know who -- and whose!! -- I am!!

Blessings,

Chicks, Blocks and Stacks

It's been a productive week for me!!  Since Jeff left on Wednesday, I've been burning the midnight oil -- partly to exhaust myself because, just as I've gotten accustomed to having a bed-fellow again, he's gone and I have to figure out how to keep myself warm!

:-) Sigh....

I tied into a several-day project of re-organizing my sewing room.

Oh.

My.

Word.

It was SUCH a mess!! So all the furniture went out, all the fabric went out, all the projects -- finished and unfinished! -- went out, and the cleaning and sorting began.

I didn't realize how much fabric I have....!! I got it all sorted by color, and stacked to the ceiling in the closet.  Before I'd kept lines or types separated, but this is much better.  I can see at a glance what I have.

Um....I think I can lay off the background fabrics for a while.  I think I don't need to buy any fabric until the next millennium!!

I organized my projects, too.  I bought hang-up shelves for my closet rod, and stacked boxed-up projects into them so I can pull them out easily.  Before they were stacked willy-nilly on the closet floor and I could never find something without pulling out a million things! UGH!  How can I complete Judy's UFO Challenge if I can't find the UFO!? So that's much better!



I kept my peg racks on the wall for blocks to hang on.  They're pretty!! :-)  and they are a good reminder that those projects need attention.

I had to drop everything on Sunday, though, with a phone call from the post office.  Did I wanna come up and get my baby chicks!?  I wasn't expecting them 'til Monday, but okay. Yeah. :-)  They are the cutest little things!  My friend and fellow quilter Tracy and her family piggy-backed the order with us, so they came Monday to pick up their baker's dozen.  Nothing bonds people like quilting and chickens! LOL 

With all this going on, I managed to actually sew!!! I'd curtailed my sewing time while Jeff was home, so it was heaven to sew nearly the whole day today.  I worked on Eventide (a Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. pattern), Thelma's sew-along at Cupcakes n' Daisies.  I've also been working on the mystery quilt I'm leading at my club (a tease, since I can't show it to you!), and I've got 25 blocks finished on the Farmer's Wife.  I'll be doing a dozen or so more blocks for the FW this week in preparation for our monthly class. 

And while doing all these, I've also been "leaders and enders"-ing on Cathedral Stars, the class I missed with Bonnie Hunter.  She's right...it's like getting a bonus quilt while you work on another one!!!  I have my little basket of "twosies" -- 2 - 2" squares, a light and a medium/dark -- stacked up and ready to feed into the machine between chain sewing other units.  Fun, fun, fun!!

And all in an orderly room that doesn't smother me anymore!

Paul wrote "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is." (Colossians 2:5 NIV)

Thank the Lord that my faith in Christ is much firmer than my ability to keep my sewing room orderly!!  :-D 
Blessings!

Ready or not?

Sometime next week, the man of the house returns! :-D
Jeff gets 15 days leave from Afghanistan...and boy, has it been a busy week!!

I'm trying to prepare for his homecoming. Getting laundry actually put away (a minor miracle, you understand, not to dress from the clothes basket!). Floor swept. Furniture dusted. Bathrooms spic and span. Or they will be.  BEFORE he arrives. (I hope!)

All the housework I've neglected for the ten months (2 months in training, 8 in country) he's been away, is now getting done! LOL

 My story is that I've spent the last ten months keeping his bees and chickens alive...

Well, the bees, anyway.  I saw them buzzing on a pretty day earlier this week (we've had temps in the 60's!).  So they survived the winter (no thanks to me!).

The chickens, however, have not fared so well.

Coyotes or foxes got several.  Neighbor's dogs probably got a few more.  One we think was eaten by a possum or a minx (head of poor Bucky nipped clean off! UGH!  He was such a pretty rooster!)  Only three (of thirteen!) survived.  Not good to be a chicken at our place these days.

The truth is, of course, that I've been too busy quilting.  (Who has time for chickens and bees!?)  I've done other things, too.  Homeschooling and running with two active boys takes time.

But all the available time I've had I've spent in my sewing room.  It is, truly, my therapy! :-)

And yes, my obsession! LOL
This week, while juggling the many things I need to do, I've worked on the Brown Bag Quilt!  The top is complete, and it goes into the "to-be-quilted" pile. My deadline for the challenge is April 1st.  Quilted and bound! :-)  I've come this far, I'll try to see it through! :-D

It's amazing how my priorities change, though, with the eminent arrival of my deployed husband.  Suddenly, the quilting can wait.  I want the house to be ready.  I'm preparing myself  (I've lost about 15 lbs.  My butt is firmer from step aerobics! and I got my hair done.  I'll try to work in a pedicure --- what is it about painted toenails that guys like!?!?).  I wanna get the taxes finished (so I can give him news of a refund, Lord willing! :-D). It wouldn't do for him to come home and find that he was second in my priorities!

All week long this scripture has circulated in my head:

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.  (Luke 12:35-38 NIV)

Wouldn't it be something if we lived like we thought Jesus would arrive at any moment!?

I want to be able to open the door immediately for Jeff.  No scrambling to do what has not been done.  No covering up misdeeds or mismanagement of what he's given me.  Just,

"Come on in, honey!  I'm so glad you are here!"

When He comes, will He find me ready!?

Blessings!

Fall Colors For People Who Don't Do Anything

Jeff asked me to send him photos of the house and what not.  He's got alot of rocks and sand around him in Afghanistan, and I'm thinking he asked for photos because the colors of fall might be particularly pleasing to see.  So I sent him the spectacular tree color from our yard.  No...not the trees in the background that are a quarter mile away....our yard:

Yeah, buddy.  It's a virtual kaleidoscope of brilliant color from the side of our home.  We are the envy of every house around us.  We are the epitome of stunning autumnal resplendence.  (It's a Thanksgiving miracle!)   LOL
Wait 'til you see the front yard:

We planted a lovely hemlock there before Jeff was deployed.  After the fourth time the wind blew it over last March, we staked it down.  I can't imagine why it didn't last through the summer.  It's as if it were never there....

We have some lovely mums.  It's a good thing they are perennial...Lord knows my not-so-green thumb would have done them in weeks ago if not!

They need a little...weeding? perhaps.  Pruning? Cleaning up? (Do you deadhead mums?)  Of course, I'd have to leave the sewing room to do that.  There just SOOO many hours in the day!! If I were going to leave my sewing room, don't you think I would sweep and dust!?!?

And, like any good homeschooling mom would do, I assigned the children to do animal husbandry -- meaning, it's Sam's and Will's jobs to keep the chickens and bees alive until Jeff returns from overseas. (They are his hobby; quilting is mine, thank you very much.  Do I ask him to watch my fabric when I'm gone!?! Nooooooooooooooooo.)

So far, so good!

Bucky, the rooster, is some of the best fall color we have! And, the bees are still buzzing, so I'm optimistic.

Lest you think I never DO anything...there is some lovely fall color INSIDE the house. :-D

After Mary at Quilt Hollow posted about her beautiful little quilt by Lori Smith using Jo Morton fabrics, it reminded me of the little quilts I have (long had!) in my "to be quilted" pile. They are "Little Jo's" -- designed by Jo Morton and using her fabrics (I tweaked a couple of them because I got carried away and cannot leave --hehe, get it, leave ...!?-- well enough alone).

Now there's some fall color to love! They may actually be quilted some day....assuming I can find the time in the lazy days of fall.  (....at this point, I'm thinking the bees have a better prognosis!)

Good thing the Lord is a little  more reliable than I! :-)  The Psalmist writes:

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.  (Psalm 36:5-9)
 

He preserves "both man and beast" -- bees and chickens, and my Jeff in a foreign land.  I don't have to do anything!

 

 

Except maybe send a photo or two to show everything's OK at home (right after I deadhead the mums!).

Blessings!