Jigsaw Puzzles

I'm spending a week visiting my daughter and 11-year-old grandson. One of our week's activities is putting together a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. A breeze, you say? Yah, right! My grandson picked out this particular puzzle. The problem is that every single piece (1000, remember!) has one edge that is straight. Every Single Piece!!!! Now who would be nasty enough to design a puzzle in such a way! And what mother in her right mind would allow her son to pick out THAT Puzzle!!! I like puzzles. But I like them solveable in less than six months. Jig saw puzzles are supposed to be entertainment, not torture. LOL
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My Niece! She Answered!

A little over a week ago I mentioned that I had found a long-lost niece. It took me awhile to figure out how to contact her by email but was able to do that a couple days ago. No Answer! This morning there was an email in my mailbox! I am thrilled, for our two families lost contact about 23 years ago. This is so exciting!!
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Postage Stamp Basket Quilt Block

Isn't this a nifty quilt block? It measures a mere 4.5 inches finished size. I made it yesterday. However, I've already made one quilt using this block and will probably not make another. So this Postage Stamp Basket Quilt block hangs pinned to the curtain for its decorative effect...and perhaps to entice me to make another...and another...and...No! I'm not going there! There are too many other tasks today!

You, however, may have time on your hands. If you do and if you are intrigued by this pattern, you can read Alex Anderson's instruction at this website.

This is a great pattern for scraps. Each basket takes two pieces of fabric, one light, one dark, each 6"x8" in size.

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Him and Me? He and I? It's Easy As Pie!

It's been decades since I studied grade school grammar and I'll admit that my own grammar is not always correct. However, the misuse of pronouns when talking about "him and me" is rampant. There is a simple rule that makes it easy to determine whether to use "I" or "me".

First of all, when speaking of another person and yourself always mention the other person first, i.e., "him and me", or "he and I". Never "I and he", or "me and him". It is proper (and polite) to refer to the other person first just as it is polite to allow the other person to walk through a door first. It's simply courteous as well as grammatically correct.

Secondly, when speaking of yourself and another person, there are times to use "me" and times to use "I".

Here's an easy test to determine when to use "I" and when to use "me". Simply remove "he and" or "him and" from your sentence and you will automatically know whether to use "I" or "me". It's easy as pie.

Examples:
My mother gave him and me a sandwich. (My mother gave ... ... me a sandwich.)
He and I drove down to the beach. (... ... I drove down to the beach.)
Look at this photo of him and me. (Look at this photo of ... ... me.)
We ate lunch and then he and I left. (We ate lunch and then .. ... I left.)

Please don't get me started on the verbs "lie" and "lay". For the proper use of "lie, lay, lain" or "lay, laid, laid" go to this website. It's easier to give you a link than to try to explain it myself. (Said with a wink and a smile).

My spouse is clamoring for breakfast. I'll go make oatmeal for him and me. Later, after lunch, I'll lie down for a nap.
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It's Time in My Life to Downsize

My neighbor holds the best yard sales! Sometimes twice each summer. Her grown daughters must hire U-Hauls when they visit from across the state for much of the clothing, etc., seems to be theirs. Tables and tables. And there is always one very long table for ten-cent items. I found this New Home sewing machine on that ten-cent table. I grabbed it faster than you can blink an eye. The funny thing is that this was at the end of the day and this "treasure", if you can call it that and some do, still sat unsold.

I figured for ten cents I'd have a piece of garden art. However, this little machine, with all its attachments and its original instruction book, still works. And I cannot simply set it in the garden to simply turn to rust.

It is a treadle machine and needs a treadle base. I thought perhaps I might fortuitously run across such a base sometime in my yard saling but I have not. The machine sits on a shelf in the basement awaiting rejuvenation by me or some future owner.

I'm not quite ready to give up on it. Maybe THIS summer I'll find a treadle base and I can take a soapy cloth and some WD-40 and make this gem look ALmost as good as new.

As for the Singer 201 in the background? It's one of my favorite machines...an excellent straight-stitch machine that I bought at a friend's sale a dozen years ago. I've named this one Leona after it's former owner. It sat in my sewing room for many years and has pieced many a quilt. However, I've downsized my sewing room to TWO machines (my Singer 403a and a Singer 15-91). I can't bring myself to get rid of the 201 for I may yet again use it.

Maybe I'll wait till Next Year to downsize.

The Alpha Dog

We live in a small town. We live on a small lot. That means our house is within mere feet of the neighbor's house. The neighbors have a new dog. We don't mind that. We like dogs. We like cats.

The problem is that when the dog is tied out on their back deck, he barks. Yips. Yaps. Barks. Whines. The fella wants indoors where the kids are, where the fun is, where the food is. Can't blame him.

Still. Yipping and Yapping are annoying to say the least. It was especially annoying last summer. Every time we went out into OUR back yard, Neighbor Dog would yip-yap at us...as if WE were invading HIS territory.

DH tried an experiment. He walked outdoors with a hamburger in hand, walked to the edge of the property, faced off Mr. Yipyap, stood there and calmly ate his hamburger. He saved the last little bite and tossed it to Yipyap. To this day Yipyap has never again barked at us while we are in our backyard. What DH did was to tell Yipyap that DH was the alpha male. The alpha male eats first. The rest of the pack eats the leftovers.

The funny thing about this is that somehow Yipyap now assumes that I, too, stand higher in the pack than he. If he happens to be yipping on his back deck, I simply tap on the window, do a stare-down until he is quiet. Now and then I'll have to do this more than once, or perhaps stick my head out the backdoor and give a low growl. He blinks his eyes, looks to each side, pretends he is not watching me, and eventually lies down and is quiet.

A Quiet Yipyap is a much better neighbor than a Barking Yipyap.

Yipyap's two live-in friends, two orange cats, are much friendlier. They are allowed to visit our deck for scratches behind the ears. They purr. They don't yip. That's a nice difference.

Easter 2008

It's Easter morning. There are no dyed eggs at our house. It takes grandkids to develop in me a desire to dye eggs and today they are not here. Nothing wrong with dyed eggs. It's simply that they are so "fluff" in regards to Easter.

The "real" Easter is in the Bible and My favorite Bible verses this morning are in Romans, Chapter 8.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become con-formed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Apostle Paul said it so well. How can I say it any better!

Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!