In Search of Five

Happy Halloween. It’s here again. We have the perfect Halloween weather, though not for the kids. It’s windy, raining and spooky. The wind is knocking down decorations right and left whipping them down the street to be recovered later.

Tombstones went flying.

My daughter, son and I have combined our meager collection of decor and put out everything we had here at my place. This is where we will be tonight eating the candy that was intended for the neighbor kids. I don’t think any will brave the rain. Most go to city sponsored functions anyway. We have candy just in case.

What you see going in or out the screen door.

Gruesome waiting for a small fry.

Helping hands to take your treats

Scary books, well maybe not too scary

Snake on the porch

This spider webbing kept the wreath from blowing away and trapped lots of bug too. Ick!

Witchy Poo and her albino pumpkin are inside this year.

We all have skeletons in our closets, don’t we?

The witch lost her shoe

I’ve been trying to race the weather to get my outside work done before the rains came. Guess who won? I had to pay someone to paint the front of my house. My son is not good with ladders and paint buckets. My sister spilled half a bucket of paint trying to do just the trim so I call in help. I did manage to get the porch area painted with 2 coats. It’s hard to see the difference but it feels so much happier to me. The soft yellow is so much better than the dull beige. Got it finished and cleaned up in time for decorating. I know the bugs schedule now and I’ll do the rest of the painting first thing next spring.

 

I put up the metal quilt square to show that this is a quilt friendly home.

Halloween marks my blogging anniversary. I’ve been doing this four years now and wondering about the merits of a fifth. I know I want to reevaluate where I’m going with this. This last year and a half has been challenging in many ways. What am I saying? They are all somewhat challenging. So the weather has brought us inside and that’s where I need to go. Inside for some deep soul-searching. There is that word again. Searching. Do I still have anything of value to offer? Your time is precious. I never have enough time. So I’m going to take a moment to ponder the number five.

Corny wants a book with his treats

I hope you have a festive Halloween with more treats than tricks.

Are you ready to come inside?

 

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

In Search of the Results

I was waiting for the final verdict on many things last time I sat down to write. You know how things come in threes, well that doesn’t always work for me. This time it was in a group of four. In a two week period, the engine in my car decided that 84,000 miles was all it had in it. I think it got some junk in the engine and it wanted a cleaner diet. So Wednesday afternoon my car was ready… finally.  It hums along nicely and I have a new 7 year, or 70,000 mile warranty on it. Guess which it will be. Was it worth it? When you realize that a new car would have been the price of many engines and a used car will come with its own problems, I can say emphatically, yes!

It’s a working truck all the time.

I was also waiting for the eye appointment to figure out why my vision has blurred so much after the recent eye lid lift. The goal had been to get more vision, not less.  The ophthalmologist did such a thorough exam that I could see almost nothing when I left her office. There was nothing pathological going on with the vision.  No macular or retinal problems. The surgery had healed well and peripheral vision was markedly better. So the unknown blurriness has continued with varying degrees. Further searching for a solution will be required. New glasses are also on the to-do list.

Disappearing 4 patches. Something else I’ve never done

I’ve never done any applique. Buttons will go in the center of some flowers after quilting. Another for a group member

My TV that had been having freak outs, finally lost it while scarring me half to pieces. I was ready to opt for no TV. The silly thing was not even 6 years old and had been in and out of storage depending on if I had a place of my own to live or not. Yes, it’s been that kind of decade. So my son decided to buy the new TV since his had not survived his move. He had help packing.

miniature apron in vintage fabric

The second mini apron for a fellow quilter

Last but not least, my refrigerator started leaking water behind it again. Manufactured homes don’t do well with water leaks. We had already tried a new motor but the fridge was 14 years old, not ten like I had “assumed”. So off to the discount appliance store we went. For half of what I paid for a fridge in 1998, I got a perfectly wonderful new one that will not leak, ruining flooring and walls in the process. I scored a good deal and it will add to resale value here should the need arise. I am old after all. Energy Trust got the old one to recycle properly.

These were the most fun for my quilt group member and neighbor.

The eyes, engine, TV, and fridge are finally managed and I’ve still managed to get a few projects finished. I can now enjoy the autumn weather that is peaking around the corner. Is your summer over and ending on a high note or just beginning? Are you ready for the change of seasons?

We each got 2 to make for a quilter in our group. A dozen of these will be so cute

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of a Verdict

It’s been a whole month for goodness sake! I have not had the great news I wanted to pass on so I said nothing. I’m still waiting .

The eye surgery was technically quite straight forward and easy. Though I didn’t feel anything once the eyelid had been numbed, the surgeon scrubbed the eyelid…hard. After the second week, the sutures came out. Easy. I drove myself home so my daughter didn’t need to take another day off work. More antibiotic was required as soon as I got home and for that entire 2 weeks, no driving allowed. The antibiotic would leak into my eye and while it caused no discomfort, it did blur my vision.

Before the surgery. Where we started from.

The thing now is there are still spots of blur and I’m not sure why. So when I took my sister to the same eye clinic to get her cataracts checked out, the nice young man at the desk overheard our conversation and insisted I let the charge nurse know about it.  She called when time permitted and another appointment has been set. I’m trying not to be concerned. Maybe more healing time will be necessary given my age. There was almost no discomfort. I cut the pain pills they gave me in half and only took two so I could sleep through without rubbing my eyes in my sleep. I tend to rub way too much.  So the verdict is still out on this endeavor.

Right after before bruising sets in

Looks worse than it was.

They look more equally baggy but no longer in my field of vision

I watched more television in those first two weeks than I have in the entire year. I found some BBC mysteries on my son’s Netflix and did a marathon listen while trying to enlarge blog print so I could try to catch up. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. The background noise was pleasant and when vision permitted, I did a bit of hand embroidery and worked on a few projects that have due dates. A few squares for the October meeting of our quilt group and a first birthday gift for a friend’s son. The work outside had come to a grinding halt. Tech Support is back home after the month away for free lance work and now we will get busy again.

 

Added to a dozen more for a raffle quilt this Christmas

Our fall colors for Safe House quilt. Each of us make 2 squares.

I also got the final verdict on my car last Tuesday. My engine went to death row. Parts broke off and sent metal into the engine. It’s final days are over and a new one will have to be put in its place. That sentence was so harsh, my poor son had to take me to lunch so I wouldn’t sob loudly in public. By the time I’d finished, I was ready to face music and pay the piper. I really thought my heart would stop after getting this news. I know it missed several beats.

We have autumn nights and summer days along with an invasion of thousands of stink bugs that are flying everywhere and come out when it gets a little bit warm. Makes it hard to do anything outside, especially paint. They seem to be worse on this street though everyone has some degree of infestation. It feels like a Hitchcock movie around here right now and only safe to go out after dark.

Any question as to why nothing is getting done outdoors? So this doesn’t stick in your mind, here’s the quilt I made for my friends little boy.

Misty Lane

Embroidered label

Dan Drive

Light amount of quilting along the roads and some details. Softness is primary to this cheater quilt.

Robbie Road. Can you see it?

Is there anything you are waiting for a  final verdict on? Something you know for sure or is life still filled with so much mystery?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself