Like a hole in my head...

Life 'round these parts is not busy at all. I've got oodles of free time on my hands as I try to finish my dissertation, search for a job, traverse the skies between Nashville and Tampa, paint the bathroom, help the boy landscape the yard, and try to figure out why there are always huge piles of laundry to be done. Free time....HA!

Yet even with all these demands on my time, I still have the urge to create something. I know I could be working on those long promised patterns for you guys (they are coming, I promise), but wouldn't it be nice to have someone else do all that pesky thinking? And make a pretty quilt? And maybe win some sewing supplies in the process?

That was exactly the thinking that sucked me into my latest adventure. I was blog cruising the other day and ran across this post on the Old Red Barn Co. blog. Remember the quilt giveaway from last summer? Now Dana's doing a quilt along for that same pattern, with plenty of giveaways along the way. And the grand daddy giveaway at the end is a Janome 6600! Yup, same as my baby. Obviously I don't need it, but one of you should win because its an awesome machine. Totally not to late to join in the fun as I'm just getting started myself!

I tried to go for a stash-busting quilt as I should not even be starting this project, never mind buying more fabric.






I bought more fabric. Just a little, I promise!

But look: pretty, green, and featuring a lot of my favorite fabric designers! Yippee!


Left to right:
Top row - Paula Prass, Anna Griffin, Paula Prass, Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner

Bottom row - Heather Bailey, random stash fabric from JoAnn's, Amy Butler, Jessica Jones, Amy Butler, Patty Young

I'm a little behind the official steps of the quilt along, but I've got strip ready for when I get a free moment to sew:



I'll keep you updated on on my progress (or lack thereof) here, but in the mean time you can head on over to the flickr group to see how everyone else is sewing along!

Gratuitous Cuteness

The only little feet going pitter-patter in this house belong to felines (sorry Mom!). But you, dear blog reader, deserve a little cuteness when you come by to visit. Where I am going to find some gratuitous cuteness for you? Never fear, I have a solution:



Look at that cute fuzziness! Not cute enough, you say? Try this on for size:



Would you look at that fat belly? So fat and squishy and loveable! It helps that our little part Maine Coon/part stray mutt of a cat is a total love bug and can't get enough of the loving that we want to give. He's a bit of a "special" kitty too, which makes him all the more endearing.



Pounce!

Play, eat, sleep... I wish I was a house cat!

Whew, all that cuteness must be exhausting. Why don't you take a break, buddy.


Good Kitty.

Summer food is good food

First start with a crisp salad, with greens picked fresh from the garden and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing...


Follow with a juicy Moroccan-spice rubbed steak (from our local CSA!), grilled zucchini, grilled sweet potato chips (thanks for the idea, Mindy and John!), crusty bread, and a surprisingly good box wine...


I don't cook, so thank this guy for the meal...


Finish with some garden-grown strawberries for dessert.


I love summer...

Air boat...AIR BOAT!!

Although I currently reside in the South, I am by birth what most here would classify as a Northerner (aka "damn Yankee" if you are some random southern not-such-a-gentleman on the elevator...). Of course, we Ohioans classify ourselves as Midwestern, but I've been scolded by people from Kansas on that designation, so we'll leave that discussion for another day.

Growing up near a lake, a Great Lake in fact, I spent many of my formative years on different types of nautical vessels - sailboats, power boats, row boats, a random jet ski. Yet the one thing I have never experienced first hand is an air boat. There are no swamps in Cleveland, so no air boats. These crazy contraptions remain just a romantic yet intriguing figment of my imagination, represented only by Hollywood images of sleepy swamps where moss hangs from trees, a festive jug band accompanies dinner, and a crocodile or other crazy psychopath may or may not be hiding just out of sight...

(I need to stop watching horror movies)

Despite all the other pressing issues to ponder - global warming, writing my dissertation, what to eat for dinner - I still found myself haunted by air boat questions. Can you really power a vessel by a giant fan? Do these things even exist?

I finally got my answer with my first real-life sighting of an air boat. Really!!

My excitement, however, probably should have been tempered by WHERE I saw this airboat:

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