More Gardening Than Quilting….

I'm quite proud of my little garden, even if I will have to spend a big part of the summer in the chiropractor's office. Wonder if he will take squash for payment? Don't laugh, we're getting there! I won't go off on politics, I'll leave that to DH....anything to keep him out of my sewing room!

These amaryllis's all came from my Aunt Nelda's yard when she passed away 4-5 yrs ago. I brought them home and stuck them in the ground, have never done anything else to them. the white-ish with red one has more than 20 blooms on it now and 6-8 more buds.

One of the stems was laying over from the weight of them all so I tried to 'prop' it up and snapped at the ground. I took the shot next to a bar stool for posterity! Fresh flowers in my house? Is company coming? Well, yes, in-laws, outlaws, kids and grandkids! The flowers were not my idea, that was God's doing!

Hello Hattie! (my mom) This is her Christmas Cactus, still in the same pot it was in when she died 12+ yrs ago. I have pinched and rooted dozens more from it and it never gives up, even this past winter when almost all if my cacti literally froze, even in the shed, with a droplight for heat. We rarely get below 20 degrees here and if so, it is only for a few hours but we had about 48 hrs of below freezing in Jan.

Here is what is left of Hattie's Bird of Paradise; she had it in a half whiskey barrel and moved it in and out every year - not me! I put it in the ground under a tree when we bought this house 8 yrs ago. I has not really grown any larger since it was really root bound and impossible to pull the roots apart when we set it out. It has a dozen or so blooms every year but has never done what is should. Sorry Mom, maybe this will help?

It covered this entire area of dirt B4 so this is a major trim. Look what I found while gardening in my flip flops! Picture definitely tells a story. I'm wondering where his momma and siblings are?

One more pic, cause this IS a quilting blog....

PS: the 'golden' machine is still in the shop with no call from them so what little sewing that is happening is happening on my classic Elna Stella. This is a 30+ yr old gem for traveling, only weighs 11 lbs and, unlike a Featherweight, has a zig zag stitch!

Hope you enjoyed your little tour of my backyard! Happy Spring!

Bad, bad blogger! And my machine is in for repairs again!!!

I owe my dear followers an apology and do apologize and beg forgiveness! I could give you an excuse for every day since my last blog, with most days having been 'stinking income taxes'! Whoo Hoo, they are finally done and for the first time in a long time, we are actually getting money back! QuickBooks is great - provided you know how to use it! I learned accounting with a green columnar pad and a # 2 pencil so wrapping my brain around this program has been difficult, at least that is the excuse my friends (who know nothing about accounting and pay other people to do their taxes) are offering up. I guess I can be anal about some things but thankfully, quilting is not one of them!
So to celebrate the taxes being done I went to the garden center at Lowe's! And went crazy with the plants. What on earth prompted me to buy okra plants? I like fried okra but do I need a whole row? Well, they do grow very tall so I must have been thinking something like a 'privacy fence' between my garden and the dump next door. Yeah, I'll stick with that one! So, I get up yesterday morning and start digging, going build a raised bed where I had that beautiful compost pile for over a year ago until the Bermuda grass took over! I have been a gardener for longer than I have been a quilter and I love to dig in the dirt, but there is nothing worse for my bad back. I have learned to take care of this old injury over the years and I know better, but the thought of paying almost $2.per lb. for squash just makes me cringe! This is because once upon a time, (in another marriage, in another state) I had about 1/2 acre of squash in the backyard and picked on average over 100 lbs. per week! I swear! When I could not give any more to the neighbors, I would stalk them and when they would leave home, I would leave squash on the porch! I was selling squash to the grocery stores! Anyway, a neighbor offered up some rail road ties he had stacked in his yard so long story short, the Bermuda grass and the rail road ties whipped my butt and I had to take a pain pill to get to sleep last night! I still have to get them set and the planting done so as reluctant as I am to take any kind of pill, I am anxious to actually have my plants in the ground, as I see it in my 'minds eye'! My desire to be out there working and the pain in my lower back/hip are at a 'draw' so I am sitting in front of the computer. I'm looking at the bright side here, I got a blog drafted, maybe it will get posted too!
Not much sewing for the last few weeks...my 'not-so-beloved-anymore' 'golden X' brand machine is in for repairs again! This machine has disappointed me greatly, having been in for major warranty work 5 times now, in 5 yrs. It's their 'low end' machine but it was a huge purchase for me! Plus, I had the fluorescent light and the knee lift added on, another cha ching.  I have bonded with it and miss it very much since it has been in the shop for at least 90 days of every year that I have owned it. Seems more like a rental contract! Some history here; out of the box the button-hole attachment did not work. That repair was 90+ days. Next it was the display panel; and I don't even remember the other 2 issues at this point. This time the feed is not consistent for the decorative stitches above #22. I mentioned my disappointment in my purchase with the dealer and I think I insulted her when I asked if this machine could be a 'lemon'. When, after about 10 days, I called to inquire, she said her DH (the repairman) was agreeable to exchange this machine for another (same model) that she recently got on trade in (upgrade) that is approx the same age. OK, I'm agreeable, provided it works! Oh well, he (DH the repairman) needs to go thru it and do maintenance/service b4 it goes out. Well, OK, when will that be? Likely August if history is any indication. She will call. That was about 10 days ago. This backache may have prompted more than just a blog post. I'm going to write a letter to the people at 'golden X' Company but aside from venting; what do I want? How about a $1300. machine that works 12 months out of the year without a 90 day vacation? I thought that was what I bought!  I have known I was going to have to do this but I avoid conflict like the plague so here I am in pain, wishing I could just go sew and getting PO'd all over again. Given just the info I have told you....would asking them to replace this machine with a new one be out of line?