Ten Gallon Rabbit In A Five Gallon Basket

Does this basket make my butt look big?

Wait! Don't answer that!

What Is This?

Look on the ground here.

No, it's not what it looks like.

Despite the frost this morning that came almost one full month after the last frost (so glad I didn't jump the gun and plant anything tender), this white stuff

IS

NOT

SNOW! 

Just the spent blossoms from the neighbor's Bradford Pear! We lucked out this time.

The Next Project- More Roses

This is a mock-up, using old newspaper, to check on proportions. Even though I had the project drawn to scale (No, I'm not usually that organized!), I still ended up changing it when I saw the full-size piece. Why does that happen?

Now, I will go wave my magic wand, and turn the newsprint into fabric.

Hmmm. This wand thing seems to be broken.

Do I see bunny teeth marks?

Bunny Dancing, Blue Roses, And Something Missing From My Garden

Weasley says "You did NOT just try to take a picture of me dancing, did you? Some things should be private!"

Ginny says "Darn right some things should be private! And your dancing is definitely one of them, Old Man!"

Kids. They are all the same, no matter what the species. No respect for their elders! Now if only my camera were not so old and slow, so that I could show you the dancing that goes on here. 

On the quilting front, I have finished the Blue Rose quilt. This is not the greatest photo, as rain was threatening, and I had to be fast.

Well, almost finished. It still needs a sleeve and label. The green line between the center and border is yarn, stitched down with a running stitch. My border is not what I had planned. I actually pulled off a log cabin-style border, and started over. Funny how things sometimes just do not look like what you think they will, isn't it? Here is a closer view.

I do use fusible for my applique, and in this case I zigzagged the edges. I always do some sort of stitching on the applique, because I seem to be fusible-challenged. My edges seem to want to pull up, no matter what the brand of fusible I use. Maybe I'm just too impatient during the process.

I like to sew my binding on by hand. Maybe because most of my quilts are given away, and the hand sewing gives me some quiet time with them before they go. But, I do not like sewing on sleeves! As for the labels, I will print the labels for several quilts at one time, and then sew them on, so that part will wait for a few days.

While I was outside taking these photos, I took  a quick walk around the yard. We have these:

Lilacs always remind me of my grandmother, because of the big, old bush she had next to her front porch.

We also have these:

But from a crabapple, not from a giant apple tree like the one our tree fort was in when we were growing up.

As for these, we do not have as many now that the lovely, long-legged lady strolled through our yard.

I hope this is not a sign of things to come this summer!

Have a sunny day, everyone!

Verizon Wireless Rant, Or Why I Can't Wait Till My Kids Are Off My Plan And I Can Ditch Verizon And Get A Pay Per Call Phone From Another Company

On Monday evening, Second Daughter broke her phone. She'd be embarrassed if I told you the whole story, but  let's say it resulted from a messy bedroom, involved partial nudity at the top of the stairs, a towel, and some excited gesturing. The phone flew downstairs, and after the crash only the keypad would work. No sound, no pictures. Since my experiences with Verizon have gone decidely downhill over the years, I was not happy. 

Cayuga Lake from Ithaca College, where we were on Wednesday.

I know from experience that I cannot just go to the Verizon store and buy a new phone.  If I did, they would make me increase my 500 minute plan to something much larger. Supposedly they can't offer the 500 minute plan in the store (nice way to alienate customers, IMO). We only use about 150 minutes each month.

So on Tuesday morning, I try to go online, but their website only lets me see one of our 3 lines. Several phone calls, and 2 hours later, I can see all the lines on my computer, but their customer service can't see my account. He tries to walk me through the next steps from memory.

Some sort of art project on campus. There are bags of blood (fake?) hanging from the tree, dripping on the girl, while someone with a huge camera takes pictures.

Instead of pooling phone upgrades that belong to one account, and allowing you to use them on any line, Verizon makes you go through the hassle of "buddy swaps". We had used Second Daughter's upgrade to get First Daughter a new phone in January. Now we need to use First Daughter's upgrade to get a phone for the second. I had to act like I was getting a phone for first, who ended up getting a message that she no longer had text messaging.

Goose on Her Nest, Ithaca College

The next day on Wednesday, we had to make sure First had her phone turned off, or her's would be deactivated, and the new phone activated as hers. Remember, she's off at college. And she once flushed on a guy in our septic tank after just being told not to flush. Wasn't sure how this would work out, plus I had to go to Ithaca College on Wednesday with Second, for a tour. The Man in the House would have to handle the activation. It would supposedly be no problem, he just neeeded my ID Number. Wrong. While on campus, I had to call in, and add him as an account manager, create a new password, etc. OK, he goes to activate, it works fine, First had her's turned off (good girl). Everything should be OK.

Peace Pole, Ithaca College

Next step, transfering the data. Customer service said no problem, take it to the store, they will transfer your numbers and pictures. We couldn't back it up online, because it didn't work.The store only transfers the numbers for him. Meanwhile, we have had a fine time on campus, spent the night with my parents, and returned home on Thursday.

Farm along Route 88, New York

Where I returned to the store to ask them to transfer the photos. They said they couldn't. I said you have done it for me 3 or 4 times in the past. They said they haven't done it for years, because it destroys phones. I reminded them that they had done this for me in January. They said they could sell me a memory chip that I could put into the old phone, to retrieve the pictures, and then I could keep them forever (remember, if I buy from them, they up my minutes?). And that is when I lost my temper, in a not pretty fashion. I have to say I am very sorry for raising my voice to a clerk (although they really don't have to use that smug, you poor, stupid, un-tech savy, old woman attitude, do they?).

Second Daughter no longer has her pictures. And as soon as the kids are out on their own, I'm ditching Verizon. There is no reason this has to be so hard, other than that they are trying to confuse you, or extort you, into spending more money.

Out my back door, Thursday evening just the barest hint of a rainbow.

I'm calm now. Although I'm wondering what unexpected surprise I might get when I get the bill, because the paperwork in the phone box does not match what I am seeing online for my account.....AAAAGH!

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to walk around Ithaca College campus, take it. It's absolutely breathtaking. So is their tuition, but I'll save the FAFSA rant for another day. 

Ginny Update

Just wanted to let you know that Ginny came through her surgery OK (my wallet didn't). At this very moment she is running from a bowl of Bunny Basics T, to her hay, over to a dish of banana-flavored Critical Care, and back again to the food. She must be worried I will let Weasley into the room to eat it!

 Now we wait to see what the pathologist says. And I am off to make leaves to go with yesterday's blue roses.

More Work In Progress

Building blue roses.

Lunch Break And A Work in Progress

Time for lunch. For these guys, the sound of the vegetable drawer opening is akin to an electric can opener for cats. 

We are taking a short break from this, which is putting the improved free-motion sketching skills to work

Hope you are having a sunny day.

Update on Ginny

Well, I went to pick Ginny up at the vet's yesterday evening, only to find out that they hadn't done the surgery! An emergency case came in, and filled up their surgery time. Don't know why they didn't call, and have me pick her up earlier. Anyway, we are rescheduled for Thursday afternoon, and keeping our fingers crossed. Actually, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Ginny is giving me her backside.

Thank you to everyone who sent prayers, good thoughts, and hugs our way. It gave us warm, fuzzy feelings. Please keep us in mind again on Thursday.....

A Little Worry

This morning I was happily ironing this tablecloth. It came from my husband's family, but we do not know who made it. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to put trapunto (grapes? flowerbuds?) on this cloth. Luckily, stains seem to release easily from this fabric, since wine glasses tend to have unfortunate accidents.

Anyway, I was waiting to call the vet about a lump I found on Ginny's belly that looked infected. I fugured he would drain it, and give her some antibiotics. That's not what happened.

 

This is Weasley wondering why I didn't bring his daughter back home. Right now she is at the vet's office, awaiting surgery to remove the lump. The vet did not like the look of it, so he is having it checked by a pathologist.

Now I'm probably being too much of a nervous Nelly, but the last time one of my rabbits had a "procedure", it didn't go well. Ginny's mother, Molly, had been ill for awhile. Our vet was out of ideas, so he sent us to some rabbits specialists in THE BIG CITY. They thought they found the problem, but she did not survive their testing. That was a big shock.

So right now, I'm worried about the process, and the outcome. If you wouldn't mind, could you keep my girl Ginny in your thoughts this afternoon? Weasley and I would both appreciate it. Thanks!

It's Nice To Be Young

After staying up till at least 3:00 a.m.(post-prom), Second Daughter made it to her 10:00 a.m. Dek Hockey game, with a smile on her face.

Then, she played some basketball.

She followed that up with a homework session, and a rehearsal for a gig coming up at the end of the month. And NO NAP. Oh, to have such energy!

I didn't do any sewing today, but I spent some time admiring the colors of the lettuce patch that I was thinning in the garden.  Aren't these colors beautiful? And, the thinnings made a tasty salad.

The serviceberrries (aka June berries) are blossoming. They should not be in bloom till the end of the month, but the warmth has brought them on early.  Although they don't last very long, this is one of my favorite sights in the garden each year. I think they look like lace against the sky.

We had another great weekend here. I hope you did also.

And A Good Time Was Had By All

So, yesterday was finally PROM DAY! Second Daughter was dancing from the moment she woke up. Most of the day was spent in preparations. First was the hair.

Don't you love that look?  Forty-one hair pins later, we moved on to the make-up.

The dress was ready.

The shoes were waiting. The nail polish was also silver, by the way. 

The clutch was packed. Amazing what a girl can fit in here!  But really, with all the gadgets they carry these days, a redesign might be in order.

The rabbits were given treats. Always a necessary part of any formal affair.

The hockey stick was retrieved.

Just kidding! We made her leave that at home. And so she  was all ready, waiting for the handsome young man (and his mother and sister) to arrive.

He brought these with  him. The cream/pale yellow looked beautiful with  the blue dress.

And after several photo sessions at various friends houses, where the parents outnumbered the kids, they were off with their buddies in a big limousine. They had a nice dinner, and danced the night away. I would love to show you more pictures, but I'm not comfortable posting pictures of other people's kids. It is sufficient to say that the girls were all beautiful, and the boys were all handsome, and they had a great time!

Creative Cue: Band

The Creative Cue for this week is  Band.   Since the high school marching band has been a large part of our lives for the last six years, I relied on my parade pictures for this drawing. I had to do a lot of simplifying of my photographs to make this work. It was complicated by the fact that the uniforms have many asymmetric details, which can really skew your perspective! For example, those points on the back of the marchers are not in the center of their backs.

For those of you who know my Second Daughter, this was from an early part of her marching career (middle school), when she was still playing trombone, not sousaphone. And her curls were still short. Time really flies!

Late Again On My Creative Cue

Last week's Creative Cue was "shake".  My free-motion drawing was based on a picture taken on our Good Friday trip to North Adams. Technically this is not a shake, but it is as close to one as we generally get around here. And it was being shaken as we drove over pot holes!

The word for this week is "band", which I thought would be easy, with all the marching band pictures I have taken over the last six years. But, all the drawings I came up with yesterday looked like "blobs", not bands. Back to the drawing board, no pun intended.  

(Edit:  I just checked out the other drawings for shake. I  like to look after I post my own, but this time I wish I had looked earlier. Check out Paddys Daughter's photo of her dog shaking. If I had seen that first, I might have drawn Ginny shaking her feet at me as she ran away. Of course, the meaning of that is NOT as warm and nice as a dog shaking paws!)

Catching Up

On Good Friday, Second Daughter and I went to North Adams to get First Daughter from school, and bring her home for the weekend. We stopped quite a few times to take pictures. The rivers were running very fast from all the rain we had had in New England. This is the Conneticut River, from the French King Bridge. This bridge won an award in 1932 for its beautiful steelwork, which you can't actually see from the bridge. The view is always wonderful though, and changes alot with the season and the light. In the fall, tour buses stop here.

Here is a shot of Second Daughter taking pictures of the Cold River. Her camera is nicer than mine, and she takes much better pictures, but I don't have access to them to show you.

On Saturday, First Daughter worked, Second Daughter played miniature golf, and we finished up the day with this. 

On Easter, there was egg hunting, there was thankfulness that the Easter Bunny did not raid the papaya treats, there was a tasty dinner, with spinach salad made from the first spinach from the garden,  and there was lots of this.

(Yes, this really is Easter, not the Fourth of July!)

On Monday, Second Daughter was home from school sick. Don't tell her I put this picture here. She won't be happy!

And while she called the doctor, I took First Daughter back to school. The water was still high, and amazingly, there was still a littler snow in the mountains, to let us know it is only early April. I didn't get a picture of that, because there was no safe place to stop.  This is the Cold River, again.

  

We had a great weekend, and hope you did , too. Finally on Tuesday, I was able to get back to the sewing machine. More on that in the next post.

Now THIS Is More Like It!

We're happy now. Thanks for sending the sunshine our way!

A Bun Without Sun Is No Fun

We are supposed to see the sun today (finally), but so far, not a glimpse. If you have any sunshine to spare, could you send it our way? We'd like to flop out long and soak it up.