Kayaking in the BIG FAT RAT RACE

We decided to go kayaking at Tempe Town Lake, it's close, it's good size and it may rain in Prescott.

It looks nice....doesn't it!! There is a lot of stuff going on at this lake, a rail and a train are two things.


Great picture of Marlene but notice behind her, loop 202 (big noise) and a dump truck that goes beep beep when backing up.


This is the pretty part of the lake, so they don't let you go there, plus they are building a new bridge, more noise.


Low air traffic every 5 minutes and I am not kidding, this lake is right by the airport.



But....nice clouds,

a little desperate wild life,

a little shade, it was 102.

All in all, not relaxing but we did get some exercise and we laughed a lot!!

About TV shows.

You know that I do not watch much TV....only things like Top Chef, Project Runway, Biggest Loser and Flipping Out, which makes my friends come to the conclusion that my taste in TV shows may be just a little wired.

Anyway...this is my new thing, I think watching YouTube is a lot more fun, entertaining and educational than any TV show.

For instance try this one .....this lady has 4,000 videos about what goes on

in her life, it is hilarious and it will make your life seem so organized.

Long overdue pictures from the Mexico trip.

Mexico July 2009

The colors of Mexico, one of the things I love the most!!

We were there for the full moon. It was beautiful!!

A view from the lower patio.

Sunset!!

The entrance to Toni's beach house.

High tide.

My kind of beach, NO PEOPLE!!
Low tide.

Thank you Toni for the awesome trip and sharing your home with us.

Can I just stay here forever!!!

I will be calling this home for the next few days!!

Yes, going to Mexico with my friends Toni and Cindy.

This is Toni's mother's home on the beach near Rocky Point.

We have so much fun!!

It is pretty hot in Arizona right now but I must say

one of the good things about living here is that it's

only 4 hours to my favorite beach in Mexico.

When I am in Mexico I am the happiest person in the world!!!

The Pillow Project

This pillow started it all!

I blogged about it earlier in May, it is

made of flannel and fleece, it was so easy and fun,

soft and cuddly.

I thought.....it would be nice if every small child could

have one.

It didn't take long to make but if I was going to make them as

a gift to small children in need, I would have to

think of a faster and more economical
way of doing it.

So....I think these are just as cute and even more practical.

Each pillow case has a fleece signature heart applique on it.


The costly part of the pillow was the form, so I decided
to make my own. It turned out that this made it even
softer and more cuddly and cut the cost by so much I
could not even believe it....God is good!!!

If someone out there would like to help make these little pillow cases,
I will make the forms for them.
Make them from flannel in a child's theme.
You can make them any size but these are 10 1/2 x 16 finished.
I also made some measuring 14 x 18 for older children. The handy thing
about this larger size is that a pillow form can be purchased for these
if needed, it is a standard neck pillow size.

I hate to rush off now....but I have some sewing to do!!!!

I just realized I did not have

recent pictures of my grandchildren on my blog.

There are several reasons for this.....Tiler is 16 and he is constantly on

the move. Sophie is 7 and it is hard to get a good

picture of her because she has her own idea of what a good pose is.

Tiler with his friend Khristian.
Sophie going to her art awards night.

Her art award.

What a beautiful day!!

Our temperatures here in Arizona have

been below normal so far this June.

It was a beautiful day and the flowers on

my back patio are loving it.

Here is my pride and joy at the Demonstration Garden.
This is the only one still blooming.....my
white sun flower, it is called Moon Shadow.

Artichoke blooming time 2009!!

It is heating up here in Arizona
but we still garden, just with more water and more sunscreen.

Me with a trash can full of greens for
the compost.

Another Small Project!!

It can't get any easier than this!!
I cut these hearts out of fleece with my
little die cutter and hand appliqued
them onto flannel.
Made this into a simple 12x16 pillow with an
envelope opening in the back.

English Paper Piecing or A Fun Thing To Do!!! 5/8/2009

I recently joined a quilting group online.
It is so much fun and it is motivating me to finish this
project that I started last year.
I love English Paper Piecing and this is something
Sophie and I do together.

I made these flowers last year because I loved this fabric so much,

it is Bound to the Prairie by Moda fabrics and I only had a Charm Pack.

Now….what to do??

I am a little intimidated by all of the beautiful projects posted

by the online group

but I am going to try and move forward.

Please forgive my messy basting,

I had no idea I would be posting them on the Internet,

I have a tendency to over baste.

I am thinking about doing something like this with my hexagons
although it is not the traditional thing to do.

To learn to English Paper Piece go to the links on my sidebar.
To view the online hexagon quilting group go to my sidebar and click on the blue hexagon.

Cindy's Birthday Paddle

This is a video, just click on the little > arrow.

Look!!!

I have a pepper!!

I stuck a little Anaheim pepper plant in

one of my flower pots in February and now I have peppers.

I am going to roast this guy in a few days.

A boy's quilt

I have been working on a quilt for for my grandson Tiler.
I am so indecisive about quilts for teenage boys.
You know how I am into pinks and frills.
So I will try to do this.
Pictured, are the blocks for the top.
I purchased these school colors, blue and gold, last year but
he recently changed schools and
his new colors are green and burgundy.
So I will make the back of the quilt the new colors.
He plays soccer, football, runs track and plays a little golf so
I am going to try adding these themes.

Last week I made his name for in the border,

it is paper pieced.

If you would like to learn how to paper piece here is the link

http://www.paperpanache.com/howto/howto.htm

Zucchini in a pot

Since I live in a patio home I am not allowed to have a garden.

So I planted a zucchini in a pot a few months ago.

Look at it now, I have a zucchini.

We will see what happens!!

Garden Day, what a treat!!

This is the best time of the year in the garden.

We are harvesting my favorites.

The lettuce is still tasty, but soon the weather will be too hot.
We are growing several different varieties.

We started harvesting the beets a few weeks

ago. They are my number one favorite but it is hard to

name one favorite at this point, everything is so good when it

is fresh from the garden.

Tomatoes will be ripening soon.

Zucchini is getting a good start before the heat gets here.

The carrot crop is outstanding, there are
three different varieties planted in this one bed.

A feast for me to bring home.

The fun part.

It was such a joy to go into my sewing room this

morning and prepare the pieces of the butterfly

for the little doll quilt. Maybe later today I

will have time to applique it down, but today is my

garden day. I am excited to see what awaits at the

garden since I missed last week due to my bad cold.