Look Good Enough to Eat?

Voila! It's a wrap! Man, am I glad that's done and with actually very little stress. The Bells of Ireland looked beautiful with the rich chocolate brown. Decorating with fresh flowers is the best - not only because it makes it super easy as opposed to piped doo-dads, but because it just looks so fresh and alive. Hope the bride and groom really enjoy their special day. I, for some inane reason, decided to make my own wedding cake. That was possibly the worst decision I've ever made, but apparently I was adamant about it. I remember trying to frost the buttercream in our very chilly house the morning of the wedding and it kept freezing up on me . . . ugh . . . talk about stress.

And while I'm on the topic of stress, we're feeling a bit more at ease now because we've decided to stay put in our house for at least another year. The thought of walking away from the house and neighborhood that we adore just to break even was pretty depressing. So now it feels good to be planting and fixing up the place for us - not just to lure potential buyers. And now I'm able to look into some jobs here that I've taken an interest in; namely, a postion teaching English at Desert Academy. My interview is this Tuesday at 8:45 am so please send out the positive energy my way - I need it.

Easy Peasy

Part two : fill and and crumb coat with chocolate frosting. Complete! As you can see I've delayed grocery shopping until next week so we can empty out our fridge to make room for the cake. If you're wondering, I made an extra 10" cake to make sure they wouldn't run out - second helpings of this cake are always likely. Tomorrow I load up and pray - transport is definitely the most nerve racking part.
I'm back on track now with the quilt-along ; all fabrics cut into nice neat 2 1/2 " strips. Hopefully I can get next week's task done before we leave on our trip - but hey, not that it really matters. I'm feeling all warm and cozy inside because when I checked my flickr account a lot of people had some very nice comments about my fabric choices.


Andy went on an amazing hike the other day and took some killer photos. Wish I could've been there - the trail descends from White Rock down to the Rio Grande. Gorgeous.

Andy is very into petraglyphs. This is just a sampling of the several incredible ones he was able to photograph (despite the rain).

We're headed to the circus tonite - hopefully it won't give my kids clown nightmares - or me for that matter.

Be Here Now

What a day we had today. Knock on wood, but it seems like the kiddos have finally gotten to the point where they can play for extended amounts of time with each other so that I can get a few things done around here. It sure helps that the weather is beautiful and they can be outside most of the day digging in the dirt, collecting earthworms, and generally having some good, clean, TV-less time.

I usually dread Thursdays - somehow the energy around here seems to get a little off and we all tend to suffer. But today was different! It all started when I got my fabric in the mail that I ordered to start my first online "quilt-along" - the bright idea of Dana who writes one of the blogs I check out frequently, Old Red Barn. I was worried about choosing coordinating fabrics online, but it actually turned out quite well I thought.

The one on the far left is a Paula Prass design that I used as my "feature fabric" -- so now I get like 50 extra chances to win the Janome 6600, which I guess is the finale of this whole deal. So me and about 2,000 other people are making a quilt together! Cool. If you want the details, check out her blog.

. . . hmmmmmm . . . what else did I do today? Oh yeah, wedding cake madness has officially begun!

It all started two days ago and now I have all the cakes baked and piled in my freezer. Tomorrow I start the filling and frosting process. Cake delivery is this Sunday 1:30 pm. The countdown continues. It's an all chocolate wedding cake - I like this bride.

What else -- oh, I've been awakening the seamstress in me lately, making a couple of new halter tops just in time for our trip to the BEACH. That's right, only one more week until we set off for South Carolina. I can't wait to feel some real heat baby. Anyway, the tops are turning out really cute - thank you Amy Butler!

Although I must say, I made some significant adjustments to the sun surf halter so it wouldn't look so maternity-ish (Andy's suggestion). As soon as I can get somebody to take a photo of me wearing them, I'll be sure to show them off.

Okay, It's now several hours later and I am pooped. I'm off to bed to finish reading A New Earth. Not that I think Mr. Eckhart Tolle is really saying anything new, but something about it is working for me. I've been trying to focus more on the present moment unsuccessfully for years, but now, reading his book, it's actually beginning to happen. It's starting to get a little esoteric for me at the end, but I think I'll be able to glean the useful nuggets that apply to my life. I mean, heck, Oprah likes it and she's never wrong - right?

Looking forward to waking up with a swirl on my face. Nighty night.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's . . . !

Nice to have a couple of super heroes around.

Getting Hands Dirty

Yesterday Andy and I started our Spring planting. Perennials from the last couple of years are coming up strong and the risk of freeze is finally over. Just focusing on the front yard for now, especially since we're planning on putting our house on the market in the next week or so. Don't panic anybody - we're not going anywhere. Not yet anyway. We love our casa so it will be a mixed blessing if it happens to sell.

As you can see, we're way into Columbine this year - it's just such a cool looking flower. But I was just informed by my neighbor that this is not such a good spot for them so they may be migrating to the backyard beds.

This could easily turn into an addiction.

Good for me, though, to be outside again getting my hands in the soil - and giving my sewing machine a little rest. Actually, that's not true - it's just that I'm in the middle of free motion quilting my first somewhat large quilt and I can only do a little at a time, because if you didn't know this already - quilting is quite tiring and if you're not in the zone things can get pretty frustrating.

To catch you up on recent projects . . .

This is the wall hanging I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I loved making it and have decided it's much more fun to make a quilt when you have the recipient in mind. I started with the "santos" fabric which I used for the center panels and coordinated a multicultural mix of other fabrics. The magnolias I machine appliqued on top, which conveniently disguise some of my little mishaps - and I think they really add an artful, collage-like quality to the quilt. Applique and I will be good friends I think. Hopefully Mom likes it as much as I do.