In Search of Something Spooky

It’s Halloween again. I have to admit it has not been my favorite holiday but it’s growing on me thanks to the blogging community, especially the queen of Halloween herself at Gardening Nirvana. She made her own costume and it’s incredible as are her pumpkins and cards. Here is my daughter’s version of pumpkin carving. She had so much fun doing it.

My daughter had a pumpkin carving contest at work. Her’s is spooky…ish

Halloween is my blogging anniversary. This is my third Halloween. I re-read my first blog and it was a sad thing indeed. I’ve learned one or two things since and hope to learn and grow even more with your help of course. Every time I thought I should give it up, one of you cheered me on.

They glow and make noise if you jiggle the battery box. Spooky? eh. Not so much

This year was going to be different. I decorated the outside of my new/old home. My daughter loves Halloween and really gets into it so we made a trek to the Halloween store and picked up many things to put in my yard. It was the first time ever to decorate outside. I got out all the cute things I had for inside the house but they were never put into place.

reaching from the grave. Is it at all spooky?

You know that phrase “make plans and watch God laugh”? Well the heavens opened up with a belly laugh. I’m not home for Halloween this year. I’ll be painting all day on my son’s halls and stairwell. Let me tell you, if I hand out candy after a day of painting, I’ll scare everyone, not just the kids.

We hung orange lights so the skeleton wasn’t scared at night. It’s spooky out there in the dark.

Bedrooms and molding also have to be painted hopefully before the appraiser comes by. I’ve packed a few more boxes and held up lighted mirrors as he screwed them to the wall. I let in the contractors that put in the new counter top and sinks in the master bath taking photos so he could see the process while at work. Someone will have a beautiful master bath that has not been used yet. We are expecting hoping for a flawless escrow and to be out of here by Dec 1.

Those chains on that little fence won’t scare me. How about you?

My son will be at work till late on Halloween. (Not bad for a guy that was just laid off from a job) He’s doing freelance to keep paying the bills and so far it’s working. That’s spooky if you ask me. Having a huge mortgage and no job. Somehow, everything just keeps working out. He’s in escrow without a realtor. Yes, that’s scary too.

Here is something that really spooks me. Especially when I don’t see them ahead of time. Creepy crawlies.

My daughter and sister will be at my house handing out candy to the kids that brave the rain. I’ll be sitting out front with the rest of the neighbors here in the warm dry weather. There has been no significant rain here in the last year. That’s scary but not spooky. My daughter made her costume this year herself. The hat she wears all the time to start conversations was the starting point. You can barely see the earrings hanging from the horns. I’m tickled with the whole look of it.

She’s quite proud of the final look. Me too. Can you tell she’s part Swedish?

She even decorated the backpack she uses every day on the train.

I would never have thought of all this.

Not much really spooks me anymore. How about you? What spooks you?

Happy Spooky Halloween.

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of the Next Big Adventure

Things change fast in my little world. I was finally catching my breath. Completing the simple pillowcase dress that is going with many others to an orphanage in Haiti, and 2 quilt squares for my quilting group that scared me to pieces. Quilts do that to me. I was ready to get on with the unpacking and putting away of MORE BOOKS.

Simple drawstring dress for little girls with so little

bottom border of the dress

I bought 3 more bookcases so I could get the rest of my books out of storage and eventually get a smaller, more inexpensive unit. I have more to give away and more to sell. There has been a lot of work going on here and a lot of play. Let’s break this down into bite sized chunks.

This was the prototype (experiment) to see how the final one would look

I thought about making another like this prototype but changed my mind.

My house is starting to look like a home and my sister who has been with me for the last three months is looking for a place of her own closer to her new job and all the places she goes to regularly. My place puts a lot of miles on her truck so the search is on.

Now I’ll be heading back to California for a month of working with my son to pack and paint his house. He has an offer on his home and they want a 30 day escrow. There is no realtor involved so they must do the paperwork. After putting my home together with the help of my children and sister, I’ll be helping to dismantle his.

ready to turn in and combine.

A closer look at my take on a quilt square

This little birdy faces the other way.

My quilt squares were turned in this week and I thought they would be put into a big quilt and raffled off. That wasn’t the case. They were divided in two and names drawn to win each of the stacks of 12 blocks. I won a stack and now I’m supposed to put it together and bring it to the Christmas meeting. It’s obviously not going to happen. I doubt I can get it done when I get back in time for the December meeting but maybe for the party after Christmas. It will be a keepsake of each member that made a square.

We all started out with the same 2 fabrics. Then added our own touch. Now the fun begins…in December.

Can you see why my mind is a little scattered these days? Our weather went from hot to canoe weather. Wish I could send some of it to those who need it. My son hasn’t seen significant rain in a year. I’m grateful every day I found this perfect place to be a platform for transitions. That’s the story of life. Nothing every stays the same. It’s all one big adventure, if you choose to see it that way. Go with the flow, that’s what the canoe is for. Paddle in the direction of the current, not against it.

Home is where we can ground ourselves and share with others. I hand embroidered this piece.

Life has offered many challenges opportunities. Even my health challenges have an upside. Since my mouth doesn’t work as well as it used to, I spend more time listening and learning. So much for being the biggest talker in the family. On to this next adventure. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What’s your next big adventure?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of My Favorite

There aren’t enough hours in the day, days in the week or weeks in a year. I don’t think there is enough lifetime to pick my favorite. I could be talking about a lot of things here. In my mind I am but for this moment, I’m talking about quilts.

quilt of valor for our servicemen. This is why I quilt. Generous hearts in these quilters

3 Native ladies

If you are not a quilter, please don’t despair and think this post is not for you. If you are an artist or an appreciator of art, as I am, than you will surely find something here to delight you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like some art more than others but the creativity in others never ceases to astound me. Please don’t let me open a Pinterest page. I’m gone for hours.

A soft colored landscape made completely from fabric, but how?

Even letters and postcards can be made into fabric art

I couldn’t begin to sew on this since I’m already dizzy.

Modern look for a traditional pattern

There was every form of fabric art imaginable at the NW Quilters Show. It’s a small show and I pared my photos down to a few of those that came out in spite of bad light. I wish I had room to show them all and if I knew how to do a slide show, I would. Maybe I’ll learn that this winter.

I see these ladies at every quilt show in their skirts made from ties. I have lots of ties to create with, just not enough hours…yet.

Something simple.

This has taken a while to post as I’ve been quite busy on my own projects. More on that later. I’m almost ready to catch my breath. The quilt show inspired me to keep trying to quilt and try new techniques. A day of appreciation is always inspiring.

What inspires you and which was your favorite.

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself