Miles and Miles of Texas

Texas is sure a BIG state.  The roads go on & on & on.....  Bill and I traveled to Arizona to visit with family.  My big sis is getting treatment at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Mesa, Arizona.  I wanted to go out there to give her some support so away Bill and I go.  We stayed with his daughter while there.  His son flew in from Las Vegas to see his Dad.
While visiting with my sister, we went out in the desert on for a ride.  The flowers were just starting to bloom and it was so pretty.   Here are some pictures that I took.  I took more but with my phone and I'm just not smart enough to get them off of it to show you.  I actually went out in the desert 3 times and enjoyed every second of them. After we got home, it was scary to see the 'big' trees after not seeing any for 2 weeks.

Hawk on top of cactus

Superstition Mts. in the background

On our way home, a dust storm appeared along I-10 in New Mexico.  We made it to Deming before the state police closed the highway.  It was closed the whole state of New Mexico.  We did run into a brown out.  Let me tell you, you NEVER want to be in one.  It was as if the car was buried in sand.  Couldn't see a thing, zero visibility.  Spent a night in Deming then continued on home.  If we had taken the northern route, they had snow.  It's a toss up as to which one was worst.

My oldest granddaughter graduates this year from high school.  This is her senior picture.

Alexandria

Aly is going to take a year off before college.  She joined the Texas National Guard and will be in training this fall and winter.  Aly usually wears her hair up and it's strange to see her with it down.

That's about it from here, it just so good to be home.

Happy Easter

Tonight the Easter Bunny comes and hides his eggs and maybe leave a basket full of candy for the little ones.  It's real hard for grandparents to have something besides candy for them.  Bill and I bought a tricycle for the little boy and clothes for the little girl.  What little girl doesn't like clothes especially the ones that grandma picks out (as long as it has purple and/or pink).  It's not hard getting something for Ethan because he loves riding toys.  I hope that everyone remembers the reason for Easter.

One lap quilt is done.  I quilted and put binding on it.  Here is a picture of it and a close up of the quilting that I did in the border.  Free motion quilting isn't hard as long as you have a picture in your head of what you want it to look like.  Just remember not to quilt to the edge (like I did).  I didn't take into consideration of the binding.  Next time I'll remember.

Lap quilt from scraps

Showing the stitching in the border

 The hummingbirds are back.  We first noticed them about a week ago.  Sure sign of spring.

We have a bird feeder hanging on the end of the porch roof with sunflower seeds.  The pic below shows the results of the dropped seeds.

Sunflower plants growing on their own.

The celery has been replanted 3 times.  The dumb a$$ squirrel keeps knocking it over.  My dreams of finally growing my own celery are disappearing.  No picture, it looks to pitiful to show.  Oh heck, let me go take a picture.

 
Ya'll have a great Easter and no fooling on Monday!

I'm baaaaack .......

One short week seemed like 2 weeks.  Hubby and I made a quick trip to Florida to see my family.  My sister from New Jersey traveled to Florida to visit with her new granddaughter and Bill and I decided to headed on over there to see her.  (Like Texas is a short hop to Florida???).  We left last Sunday and hit rain all the way through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  It seemed like we were in a car wash for 2 days, that's how hard it rained and why it took that long to get there.  Anyway, it was a great visit with my two sisters (one lives in Florida) and my big brother.  Here are a couple of not so good pictures.

From left to right:  Brother Bob, Me, Brother in law Gary, sister Janet.

 

Three Sisters - Jean - Donna - Janet

The day before I left, I made a large lap quilt using 1 package of a layer cake  (about 40 pieces of fabric that is 10" square).  I finished the top in ONE day.  Easiest pattern I've ever made.  Here is a picture of it:

My one day lap quilt - just need to put it together then quilt it.

 We can't forget my celery.  It needs to be planted now.  Hopefully, I should get it done by the middle of this week.  It's looking good!

Started 2/28/2013

Bill got the lawn mowed today.  It was real high in spots and brown in others, but it's looking great.
My granddaughter has surgery tomorrow and I think I'll head on down to the surgical center to be with my son while the operation on her knee is taking place.

If I didn't lead such a boring life, I would have more to write about!