Welcome to the Monthly Update. What does that mean? Well, it's just little ol me trying to recap what took place during the month so that I can keep track. I kind of use it like a journal. Please sit back and enjoy a peek into a month of my life.
Any links that you click in this post will open in a DIFFERENT window, allowing you to continue reading this without losing the page.
The previous 2017 monthly update links are located at the end of this entry. I hope that you make it that far.
Goals: ARE YOU JOKING ME? HAHAHAHAHA
Easy Street (ES) - quilted, bound -
Garden Party (GP) - quilted and bound -
Midnight Flight (MF) - blocks madeGarden Party (GP) - quilted and bound -
BOM (blue) quilted and bound -
BOM (Thimbleberries) quilted and bound -
BOM (pink) quilted and bound -
1st - It is my last day in San Francisco. Wow -- these days just flew by but then again, so has the whole summer. Hello August. Oh golly -- there is SOOOO much to do this month and I have more trips. Will it all happen? I am up and packed, checked out of room, and waiting in the lobby for Amanda and Abe. We are walking about 8 blocks for breakfast at Sweet Maple. Let's hope it is worth the hype.
Okay, their food is dang good and we feel super fortunate not to have had to stand in line. Yay for picking the perfect time. As we leave, there is indeed a line. Luck was on our side.
It's time to fly. I am ready for some time with my sweetie. I should be working on my mystery clues and math, but two movies seem perfect. Thus, Going in Style is first up followed by The Last Word and for some reason the plane shut the movie down before we even landed. Ugh, I was 10 minutes away. Now to find it so I can see the end.
2nd - For some reason, I am totally without motivation today. I answer and few emails and take care of some stuff in the Facebook group, but that's about it. Worthless, I tell you, worthless.3rd - It's a repeat of yesterday. Remember me saying how much I have to do? Why is that not penetrating my brain and telling it to pick myself up out of this chair?
4th - Okay, I am doing much better today. First thing, I have all my pictures developed and into the blog posts so that I can work on them this week. The parts for my wool nativity are cut out and put into the busy bag for my trip at the end of the month. Suitcase, tote bag, IKEA bag, sewing machine/table and anything else I will need this week are packed and ready for Abilene. I have managed to finish the laundry AND get some blogging done. Yep, a much more productive day.
5th - Mister and I are at the car rental place promptly at 9 a.m. and within half an hour, I am on the road to Abilene.
Arriving around half past noon, the boys help unload my car and I soon have created a "workspace" just for me. We won't need the table anyway. Right?
After blogging for a bit, I turn my attention to the upcoming mystery. My clues need to be in order and written this week. That means I have to find all the notes and do the math. I also have some sewing still to do.6th - Another day of mystery math. I really don't like geometry and my head hurts from all of this. It's one thing to just figure it out for myself, another entirely to write it so that someone else can understand. The math is winning today. As I work through some test units/blocks, I have nifty thrifty as leader/enders thus making me feel as though a little something is being accomplished.
As for other accomplishments? I have managed to create a wonderful mess. Does that count?
7th - We have got to get out of the house for awhile. I have never been to Fort Phantom so that is our destination. All four boys are along and I want to have some fun before it gets too hot.The Fort is very interesting with some really cool remnants of a time long past. You can see all the pictures and read about it in THIS POST.
As we are getting ready to leave, I try and get the boys to do an "Abbey Road" photo but since they have no idea what that is (seriously, this makes me so sad), it's a bit off. Timing is not their strong suit.
8th - In the Facebook group, we have added a Christmas Exchange and are doing Bonnie Hunter's Garlic Knots for the blocks. My rotary cutter is at work and I have all my pieces cut rather quick. It's only after I've cut them all that I remember I could have just worked with the strips. Facepalm. Or is it faceplant? Or perhaps just "bang head here"?
All the cutting directions for the mystery are complete. Woohoo -- to celebrate I make 6 more Nifty Thrifty blocks.I can only play with rulers and cutters for so long before I need to hear the hum of a sweet machine. Thus, blocks were put together.
Around 8:00 I am off to pick up Jacob from band practice and am treated to a fun sunset to watch while I wait.
9th - I really need to focus on my personal blog today so I have turned my back on the sewing machine and my fingers are tap, tap, tapping away. The one thing I want to do to help my daughter is to clean our the fridge for her and scrub it down. With Jacob and Josh's help, we soon have that tackled. 
10th - Jake has to be at school by 7:45 a.m. today so I am up early and when I return from dropping him off, I am in a totally quiet house until noon. Blogging, blogging, blogging. I am within two posts of having BOTH blogs totally caught up. Yay me. Oh, and all this while doing laundry.For our evening fun, it's dinner out followed by ice cream. Yep, good times with the boys.
11th - Technically, it is my last day here. I am leaving very early tomorrow morning and thus today is clean up day. I start packing up my various projects (complete three more Nifty Thrifty blocks) and finishing up the laundry along with some spiffing up the house. The boys and I decide not to mess up the kitchen so are off to dinner and laughs. That's it.
12th - Jon and Jake decide to pull an all-nighter with their video game so at 2 a.m. I figure out that since I'm not getting any sleep anyway, I might as well take off for home and so I do just that, arriving around 5 a.m. which is about the time I had planned to leave. After sleeping for a couple of hours, Mister and I return the rental car, stop at the coffee shop to visit, go home so I can shower and now I am racing to Plano for Red Hat event. (This LINK will let you share in our fun.)
(Thanks to Cynthia, I have a couple pictures to share.)That's about it for today. My stuff is in a pile in the dent and there it shall stay.
13th - NOTHING! I am so very tired. Seriously. However, in the evening we do decide to walk for awhile and find a beer. Yes. A beer. That is what makes walking worthwhile. On the way home, Mister found a friend (well technically the friend found him) and he has now come to live in our herbs.
14th - The little thing that gnaws at you to be productive is attempting to start back up today. I set about developing pictures, going through the mail, worked on our Oregon trip plans, and blogging. I know that sounds like a lot but it really isn't. I also watched a lot of Netflix. Not very productive -- I KNOW -- apparently I'm on the "pressure player" track this month.
15th - It's one of those days. My son is having surgery today so I busy myself with the mundane. Laundry. Can it get more mindless than this? I need something to stop my brain from going to terrible places. Blogging! There ya go. I'll let my warm and wonderful wit out. Hahahaha. Once I hear that everything is good, he is out and awake, I am much better. Now to get this backside in gear. I am off to Athens to visit the Miller B&B (a.k.a. my friend Sherri's house) tonight and want to be ready to go the minute Mister gets home.
My sweetie is so kind. He stops to fill the car, clean the windshield and then kisses me good-bye as he walks in the door. The best.A couple of hours later, I have arrived, been given an auto tour of Athens, and fed at Chicken Express. Yep, living high on the hog today. Now back to the house to set up for some evening sewing. (As usual, there is a separate post about our fun on Lake Athens and you can get there by clicking HERE.
16th - I am Sherri's for the day and we are mixing pleasure with my mystery deadlines. I can do both. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
17th - Each time I run off to do something, coming home means time at the computer journaling my memories. Today is no exception. Once the blog posts for the day are finished, I spend my time knee deep sewing strings for the upcoming mystery (haha -- see I can talk about it here because this post will publish AFTER the mystery goes lives even though it will have an August date.)
18th - We leave on vacation tomorrow thus making today a packing time, however I want to get another clue finished so am busy sewing away. Once the clue is complete. I bag up all the string parts for the mystery so that I can de-paper on the plane, in the car, wherever I have a chance. Several clues get typed up and ready for publishing -- woohoo.
19th - Our shuttle to the door arrives at 4 a.m. Whew. It's an early day but we are off for a week together. I have been looking so forward to this and am super stoked. Portland, here we come.While in flight, I manage to make a great mess. It gets some funny looks, but no questions.
Hello there Mount Hood. By 9:30 a.m. we are on the ground and starting our adventure. Click on this Day 1 link to share in our fun along the Columbia River Gorge and Klickitat River. It'll help you understand what the next picture is all about.
20th - Today we are scouting out the perfect area to view the eclipse tomorrow. One of the towns we go through has these great barn quilts all around. Wasco, Oregon - thank you for the eye treat.
Another fun town, Fossil, treats us to a street fair and a local quilt show housed in the mercantile on Main Street. It's so fun that it has a post all of it's own. Please click on this link to the Fossil Quilt Show .We have such a fun day and it includes a stop at the Painted Rocks. Here is your Day 2 link to come along with us.
21st - It's Eclipse Day! You MUST click on the Day 3 link to see how wonderful it all is. Honest. I even find time while waiting to work on my string blocks some more. Yep, quiet moments and quiet projects.
After the eclipse and once we are up on the Gorge again, another couple of barn blocks are spotted while parking to try out a local brewery.22nd - We have such a FUN day together and are treated to a super enjoyable experience. Come along and see what we are up to in Portland with this Day 4 link.
23rd - Wow! Another amazing day in Portland and Oregon City. The morning is so magical at the Japanese Gardens where I discover an exhibit that is definitely worthy of it's own post. Please give this Kabuki Costumes Link a click to see the wonders of it all.We also spend some time in the Willamette Valley and Oregon City. It's a beautiful day filled with fun everywhere we go. From the serene atmosphere of the Japanese Gardens to the beauty of International Rose Garden, through incredible forests and discovering the history of a small town, you can take the trip with us through this Day 5 link. Please come along.
25th - Our trip is flying by. We are staying close to the city today and using public transportation as my sweetheart is just dang tired of driving. While downtown, this window is spotted.It's not much. but it does stand out to us and I am reminded that summer is coming to an end and I will once again spend the majority of my time happily stitching away. I bet many of you are ready for me to hit that point as well.
See what we see today in this Day 7 link.
26th - And just like that, our vacation is over. So sad. We are heading back home to a state that has been hit with a hurricane and many friends are unsure of what will take place the next week. As we go, Oregon has fires everywhere that are threatening to take off and I am reminded that my home state of Montana has been burning for months. What is up? My heart is breaking for all those affected.All my string blocks are ready to sew with by the time we land. Woot woot.
27th - As per my routine, today is picture development day and blog writing. I didn't work oh so hard to get it current so that I can fall behind now. Besides, it's kind of nice to just sit today.
28th - Apparently the niceness of sitting hasn't worn off yet. My fingers are getting lots of exercise though.
29th - Sewing, sewing sewing and all of it a secret. I don't have even a single picture to share.
30th - Oh drat. I have a pair of slippers that has been forgotten and MUST be in the mail today. Well that means they must be made today. And that means I have pictures to show.31st - With the mystery starting tomorrow, I am finishing up everything I can and readying it for publication. Please come play with us. It'll be fun, I promise. Thank you for peeking in this month. September is a reset and back to sewing. I'm excited to put some of this pent up creativity to use. Please come along and see just what we all do --- it includes beach time. (Keep reading)
As always, thank you so very much for checking in with me again this month. I do this for ME and appreciate you so much for peeking in now and then. Since it is for me, I keep it ad free and hope for it to stay that way. It's just a way of holding memories tight. Check back in now and then (or sign up for email notifications and you'll never miss a post) and please check out the link to OUR QUILT BLOGS at the top of the page for many of the quilt groups are starting to restrict the posting of blogs into the groups. If you want to still have a long monthly read and time for your tea, join the group. Thanks for sticking around this long -- I am grateful for everyone who reads each month.
Links to Previous 2017 Monthly Update Posts:
February 2017
March 2017
April 2017
May 2017
June 2017
July 2017
Beautiful photos I think I could just stare at the ocean for hours from where you are sitting. Loved the eclipse photos!
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