THURSDAY again .....

.... I guess it's about time for another update on the life and times of ME.

When I left you last Friday, I was about to rustle up some lunch for Mr. Sleepy head, which turned out to be Tuna Salad sandwiches.  After lunch, I finished up on laundry & a few housework things then I headed to Southaven for Hockey and Jere went to the club to run a friend's annual Racquetball tournament.

I guess the Peoria Rivermen were a bit upset that the Kings won 2 of 3 games when we met in their barn two weeks ago because they came out with a vengeance.  While the penalty minutes were pretty low and  even (10 for Kings, 12 for Rivermen) the Ref Mike Sheehan in his typical fashion failed to see  TOTALLY disregarded I know of 4 BIG penalties one of which was an Interference call AND called off a goal scored against Peoria.  The Kings, were way off and lethargic throughout all 60 minutes of play and even though we out shot them 42 - 31 we suffered a 4-1 loss.  Coach had given them off on Monday for the MLK Holiday and called off practice for Tuesday morning which I believe played a major factor in the outcome.

Peter's mom, Julie AKA The Momma Dog joined us at the game and we had a great time watching Adam in the net.  She told me that since Peter would be in net the next night she would probably sit up top.  It seems that she has a tendency to throw up when she watches her boy play.... nervous stomach I suppose.  

Saturday's game the teams looked like TWO DIFFERENT TEAMS !! Our guys dug in and played a hard sixty minutes and gave us quite a show.  Peoria played DIRTY.  The penalty minutes (13 -19) included a fight, check to the head, unsportsmanlike conduct and abuse of an Official.  (The fight was quite good though with Luke Warner knocking some sense into Alex Hudson)

Warner vs Hudson 1-24-2015

True to her word, The Momma Dog perched high up on the very top row during the game, but boy was she loud !!! I kept hearing "MOVE THE PUCK" ---and I do believe her little 5 foot nothing inch frame was much louder than Anisha's (and they can hear her across the arena).

The post-game party that night was very lively and I also met another fan of Peter's from when he played in Pensacola.

Sunday we planned to take Peter & Julie out on the town and show them a little of Memphis food and culture.  Originally I planned to take them to The Rendezvous for some Memphis Style Ribs and ambiance followed by a carriage ride through the streets of Downtown Memphis.  WELL, those plans were shot to hell when I found that The Rendezvous is closed on Sunday & Monday AND after calling about the carriage ride for that night and being assured they would pick us up at the restaurant we selected, I was told (when I called that evening) that no one had carriages out that night .... HARRUMPH .....

HOWEVER, I am actually very happy that things didn't work out for Rendezvous because I discovered a WONDERFUL place up on the third floor above BB King's on Beale. Itta Bena.

OMG .... this place is phenomenal.  The atmosphere was wonderful, service excellent and the food was TO DIE FOR.  I have had a lot of Salmon in my life but this dish was just indescribable. - Grilled with a yummy creamy sauce perched on top of wild rice pilaf and grilled green beans!!! There was also Steak, Red Snapper and Steak and Lobster for the other 3 diners and according to the table all were prepared to perfection.  This place will definitely be a go to place for fine dining in the future !!!

After dinner, we strolled Beale Street and checked out some to the gift shops where Julie found her Elvis sunglasses and fake sideburns for her husband and picked up a few other souvenirs for the family.

Flash forward to Tuesday and the Face Off Field Trip between The Mississippi RiverKings and The Columbus Cottonmouths.  Not only was the arena lively with a reported attendance of 5,632 (at least 5,600 of those being school kids) but the game was EXCITING !!! The boys came out ALIVE and had the Snakes down 5 - 0 when they finally snuck one past Adam at the 3:38 mark of the 3rd period ending the game in a 5 - 1 win putting the Kings in a 3 way tie for 4th place and just 4 points out of 1st (can we say PLAYOFFS ???)

There was a couple of funny (odd) things happen during the bgame.  1.  Everyone thought with Columbus down 3-0 at the end of the 1st period that they had gotten on the bus and headed for home when they didn't return to the ice at the end of the period break.  Well finally they trickled in and I found it strange they weren't called for a delay of game penalty. AND 2.  When Devin Mantha smashed his 2nd goal of the game past Loewen in the second period, Loewen ripped off his mask and slammed it on the ice breaking it.  (which should ALSO have been a delay of game penalty).  They worked on that damn mask 3 times during the remaining duration of the game and I still don't know if it ever got fixed. (BIG BABY) .....

Today was Quilt Class Thursday and I took one of my pseudo-granddaughters, Elizabeth Ann AKA Sam with me to expose her to some of my craft.  She is home-schooled and she and her mom Reba thought she could use some HomeEc.   She had a great time and I had me a gofer.  We got a sashing added to the backing fabric (which was about 3 inches too narrow before that addition) and will get it pin basted this week to sart the actual quilting next week.  Lunch afterwards at La Siesta was yummy as usual .....

On the cross stitching front, I got the head added to the Horses Ass and began stitching the Headless Horseman's ass.  It is really starting to take shape.

So ... I guess that brings you, my one or two faithful readers up to date.  It is about time for The Mr. to arrive home and I guess I need to go think about what to do about dinner.

Until next time,

Cindi
1.29.2015

The Momma Dog !!

..... Yesterday was quilt class day in Hernando.  I headed out around 8:30 to make the 9:00 class and left  The Mr. in bed sick.  I know, I should have skipped class and been a good little wife and stayed home to nurse him back to health, but hey, there are more important things in life...

This is the fabric I had to construct a "Log Cabin" quilt....

So.... yesterday I got all my stuff out to work on piecing the blocks together using the gold fabric as sashing and then proceeded to cut the strips for the border.  now mind you the constructed blocks make a 46" X 72" quilt top.  I purchased 2 yards of that pretty red fabric on top for the border.

TWO yards of 45" wide fabric (36") X 2 = 72" ... which WOULD have given me the perfect length for the side borders IF it hadn't shrunk by 1" when I washed it AND IF I had cut it right in the first place.  NATURALLY I measured twice and cut once.  I just had it turned the wrong way and cut it selvedge to selvedge instead of Lengthwise.  SO... off I went to JoAnn's (35 miles away) to purchase more fabric for the border.

Two hours later, after washing & drying the additional fabric, I did manage to this time cut correctly and after adding the border this is where I am.

After class, Shirley and I went for our typical Mexican lunch and again I headed to JoAnn's for MORE fabric for the binding, quilt batting and pins to "baste" the whole thing together at next weeks class. 

Now mind you, the quilt top is constructed of several different cuts of plaid flannel with a mottled gold cotton sashing and red with gold dotted binding.  For the backing I have is this cute ....

.... farm animal print (cows, chickens, sheep, pigs) so what to add for the binding ????

..... why not black fabric with tiny white polka dots ?

How cute is that ?

HOMEWORK:  make "bias" binding from the black/white dot fabric.
 

In the mail I also received the pattern from Nicole for the February SAL (Stitch-A-Long).  The chart says:

"Cross Stitch is the act of sewing thousands of tiny kisses onto fabric" ~ Author Unknown

As you can see in this snap ....

 

..... I have selected a pretty rose color evenweave fabric and some yummy silk Waterlilies hand-dyed thread in Mulberry.

At 5:30 the RiverKings were at Fazolli's for the 2nd Sign & Dine of the season, and THE MOMMA DOG aka Julie was in town (from Ontario) visiting the Hockey Son.  She has claim to him as his REAL mom!  We had such a GREAT TIME!!!  While the guys were at their table interacting with the fans that showed up, Julie and I had a good visit and chat about our guy.  (No, I will not reveal any secrets she shared) but leave it to say, we have a lot in common and had a great chat.  Peter had already bribed his mom into dinner at Red Lobster, so I tagged along and we had another hour of fun watching Peter put away a big plate of crab legs.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures, but Julie is going to be here until Sunday, so snaps to follow.

 
I did manage to get a few stitches in on Sleepy Hollow, but not before I ended up with this:

After picking for about 10 minutes, I gave up and cut the knot out....

Then got this far before my eyes were crossing with sleep and I hit the sack.

I spent the last 2 hours this morning (Friday) on line trying to get my "Cloud" straightened out with Verizon.  I do love my mobile service with Verizon, however, their website is so NOT user friendly.  I am pretty tech savvy  but somehow I deleted my entire "Cloud" account and after online chatting with one of their reps, I finally gave up.  THAT will be another day's challenge.

I am now starving, and as The Mr. just wandered in (feeling a bit better) I guess I need to get up from here and rustle up something for lunch.

On tap for tonight I will be venturing down to the "barn" again to see the RiverKings take on the RiverMen in their first match-up of the season on home ice.  Jere will be at the club for a Racquetball tournament so I believe Julie will occupy his seat and get initiated into the Hockey Family.

Detail to come .....

Till next time

Cindi
1232015

IHSW, TULSA and another MONDAY !

This past weekend was the first IHSW for 2015.  Those of you that read my page can read about it on the tab up there.

My weekend past was so hectic that I only got about 50 stitches in the Sleepy Hollow piece.


1.16.2015

 


1.20.2015


Today also is the January New Moon check in on my TUSAL .... also on a page on a tap up there.....

Yesterday we spent the day with our hockey son, Peter.

He does look a bit different than this picture as he has shaved off his mustache.  Anyway, we picked him up around 11:30 and went to Gengis Grill for lunch.  I swear, I thought I was going to need to ask for some side boards to hold the pile of meats and veggies he stacked up in his bowl.  After lunch we went shopping at a couple of places including some specialty shops at Wolfchase Galleria then came to the house and hung out till time to go to the Coaches show. 

It was a fun, relaxing day!!

I noticed in the last few days that the battery in my laptop that I have had less than 2 years has gone bad.  I purchased the "Black Tie" service plan when I got it which includes replacing the battery, but I have to send it off to the Best Buy Geek Squad repair center and will be without it for 3 - 4 weeks..... UGH .... what am I gonna do without it ?????

Well I shall not ignore my blog, even if I have to spend the time in the frigid room that houses out desk top,  I'll keep things up to date.

Gotta go stitch some...

Till next time..

Cindi
1.20.2015

 

Monday ... Again !

...........and such a busy weekend it was .....

When I left ya'll on Thursday, I was about to head to Hernando for my quilting class.  Well, I made in on time, for the first time :) !!  Some worked on getting their fabric cut and a couple manned the sewing machines and pieced our already cut blocks together.  I got to strip # 9 and realized that I didn't have enough fabric to complete the 15" squares I wanted.  So on the way home, I stopped at JoAnn's Fabrics and found 2 pretty pieces of fabric ~ a red and a gold that would co-ordinate perfect with what I had.

 

This project will be put on the back burner until later this week.

Friday after my morning coffee I got to cracking on the baby seat blanket I was making for Mallory's shower gift and WOW ... it turned out SO CUTE!!! 

Label printed on fabric !!! 

 

 

Hockey Friday night was the first meeting between the RiverKings and Fayetteville FireAntz.  The two teams swapped the lead during the 1st period ending with a 3-2 with the Antz on top.  Then when they came out for the 2nd period our boys never gave the Antz another chance to score.  Adam saved 25 of  28 shots on goal and the Kings netted 5 of the 40 shots they fired giving them a 5-3 win, putting them up past Fayetteville into 6th place (can we say Playoffs ???).  !!!

A friend of Jere's passed away last week so Saturday morning we attended the memorial service in Germantown.  It was the second time I have been to a Catholic funeral and had forgotten how many times you were up and down ... singing songs, praying ..... whew and it was almost 2 hours long... but was a really nice service for a wonderful man.

I delivered Jere back home and dashed back east to Collierville for Mallory's baby shower getting lost and arriving 30 minutes late.... but what a nice party it was.  There was lots of snacks, a few typical baby shower games and such nice gifts she got !!! 

Near the end, some of the guys showed up and look at these great looking boys, their brides and those darling baby bumps.

Robbie, Mallory, Chelsea, Ned

Proud Granna !

Another trip north to pick up Jere for the hockey game that night and we were heading south to the Landers Center.  

It was my night to work at the Booster Club table, so I missed the first 2 periods of the game, which included a couple of pretty good fights (Sheldrake, a former RiverKing is playing for the Fayetteville FireAntz and got in a tussle with Mike Grace), Peter taking 3 past him into the net to give the Antz a 3-0 lead, Adam replacing Peter in the net as goalie and the Kings ending the 2nd period down 3-2.  WELL, all they needed is me down on the glass to get the score even at 5-5 ending regulation play .  Then 2.27 minutes into overtime, Leo slapped one in to give the guys a 6-5 win.  

Sunday morning we met the kids and my brother & sis-in-law, along with Kristin & Brandon and Kasey at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. YUMMY !!!

Isn't this a cute pic of Kristin & Brandon ???

After breakfast I dashed to Kroger to pick up stuff for my famous Cheese Dip and some fruit for the watch party at Casa Jackson of the afternoon match-up between the Kings and Huntsville Havoc.  The Hockey family (along with 3 of the pseudo-grands came over and the boys added another win to the history books taking the Havoc 2-1.  With Peter working his magic in the net he stopped 26 of 27 shots putting another win under his belt. 

And .... its Monday ......

This is the first year Jere's company, Ducks Unlimited has observed Martin Luther King day as a company holiday, so he is off.....(and of course still snoozing at 9:03)....

On tap for today is to pick Peter up, go to lunch, let him get a little shopping in and then hang out at Casa Jackson until time for the coach's show tonight at Maria's Cantina. 

Check back tomorrow for a report on today's events ......

Till next time

Cindi 

1.19.2015

That darn mystery .....

..... if you guessed Glendon Place "Sleepy Hollow" ... you are correct.

Way back in October,  2010, my hubby, Jere asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  Well, I had several cross stitch patterns I had been drooling over (plus Halloween was coming up) so I created a document on my computer and listed several patterns and fabrics (smart girl that I am I included DETAILS about the patterns/fabrics and links to where he could go online and order them) In early November, I emailed the list to him and boy did he do GOOD.  He gave me this chart pack with the linen to stitch it as well as Glenda's "Witches Wheel" with fabric and Prairie Moon's "We'd Turn Back" with fabric.  My stitching mojo disappeared for a couple of years around mid-2011 so they sat in my stash box until I got the Witches Wheel out in mid 2014 and completed it in October.

It is still unframed but by far the most interesting piece I have stitched ever.  I did take it to a framer to get an estimate and ~ whew ~ I'm going to have to mortgage the house to get it framed the way I want it ...(triple mat to match the beads, along with an interesting wood frame).. ~ Anyone want to donate to the cause ~ ??? I can set up a GoFundMe !!!

The Prairie Moon calls for Belle Soie silk threads and after pondering several other options, I decided that until I was able to get the silk, I wouldn't stitch it.  Well, fortunately for me, Jere paid off my credit cards in early December and my LNS had a 25% off year-end clearance sale the last week of December, so ~ BAM ~ Belle Soie silks are in my possession !!! This will probably be my next start.

But I have regressed.

GP Sleepy Hollow has been in the qSnaps since January 6th and here is where the needle stopped Tuesday:

I fondly am calling it my "horses ass" ....

Yesterday, I was all over Memphis running errands and hunting down fabric and such to create something for little Wesley (my soon to be new grandson!)  His mommy, Mallory has chosen elephants as a theme for the nursery and I did order fabric for a quilt (pic on previous post) which came in on Tuesday, but as good as I am  ~ slow as I sew ~ I will not be able to get it finished in time for this Saturday's baby shower being given by Robbie's aunt.  SO ~ I found a free tutorial & pattern for a car seat/carrier cover (you know, you throw it over the car seat/carrier when you get it out of the car to keep the little bugger warm) ... WELL ... Hancock was having a 75% off sale for fleece and I found this:

How cute are those elephants ??? And the tiny polka dot flannel will be perfect for the inside !! The only problem of the day was I found the perfect cording for the project at the 1st Hancock I went to, but they only had 1 yard.  After the very sweet sales lady was in hold hell with another store for 10+ minutes, I decided that since I was going in the general area of the WolfChase store, I would just stop by .... well .... they had this cord in EVERY COLOR BUT blue !!! I got all my other errands finished and decided one more stop to the Raleigh store wouldn't hurt AND THEY HAD IT !! A whole bolt !! AND it was on sale for $1.00/yard (originally $3.99/yard) ... boy did I hit pay dirt, since the project calls for 8 yards (a savings of $24.00 !!!!!)

This will be my project this afternoon and tomorrow!

I am attending a free quilt class on Thursday mornings with a friend at church in Hernando (30 miles away) and the project for this week was to put together a log cabin block.  Just one.  Well being a bit OCD I decided that if I was going to do one block, I could do enough to at least make something with them.  So I dug through my huge box of fabric and came up with 2 "jewel" packs of some plaid flannel.  (How warm would a lap quilt be made of flannel ??) While I did get the fabric washed and cut, I only got 7 of the 13 strips pieced together for today's class ...

And look at this cute farm animal print I had for the back !!!

I may have to purchase some more plaid fabric to complete the remaining 6 strips, but hey, Hancock has their flannel on sale for 75% off too.

Last night the Hockey son and rest of the team were at Dale's Restaurant for a "Sign & Dine".  Not a lot to report on things but it was really good to see Peter after a long dry spell with the week long road trip.  Home play resumes tomorrow night, so I am sure I will have lots to report on Sunday.

Gotta go .... it is 7:30 and i have to be in quilt class by 9:00.

Till next time

Cindi
1.15.2015

Sunday Check-in

Well another week has come to an end and I haven't accomplished near what I had hoped to but a little news is in order:

On the stitching front, I did get a few more stitches in the new project .....

Here is where I left off on Thursday.....

And Friday's addition.....

And here is where I stopped when I couldn't keep my eyes open last night ....

Have you figured out what it is yet ?????

I also got a text from my daughter-in-law, Mallory asking if I still sewed .....

Of course I still sew !!!

Well, she said that it would be neat if I made a baby blanket for Wesley (my soon to be new grandson) and followed up with a pic of the fabric she has picked out for the nursery...

Isn't that elephant print ADORABLE ???

Well, I jumped online and found the elephant fabric and blue "clown" stripe available at a little fabric shop (actually the one she got this from) in McDonough, GA called Scarlet's Thread.  The solid "Cobalt" blue fabric was available at Fabric Depot in Portland, OR.  

So.... little Wesley will have a quilt from fabrics from coast to coast.

I found a free pattern for a Lotus Brick Path quilt and a darling color-bookish elephant that I am going to attempt to applique on one corner of the quilt .... Progress pictures to follow at a later date.

I also got my invitation to the baby shower to be given here in Tennessee by Robbie's Aunt Lyn.  The quilt won't be done by then, but I am sure I can come up with something for the little begger.

On the Hockey front .....

I didn't report on Wednesday night's game when I checked in on Thursday, but it was sad .... 

Our guys got out front with 2 goals in the first 8 minutes of the game. Then Adam took 7 shots and allowed 4 to get past him in the next 9 minutes.  He came out and Peter went in and only allowed 1 goal on a power play.  The guys I think were sluggish and had the upcoming LONG road trip to Peoria on their minds and just couldn't get their heads (or sticks) back in the game. 

The first match-up between the Kings and the Peoria Rivermen was Friday night and the boys came through against the 2nd place team with flying colors.  Peter took 25 shots, allowing only 1 goal and our guys had success on 3 of their 25 shots. With the Kings leading 2 - 1 at the 19:00 mark of the 3rd period, Peoria pulled their goalie to allow an extra attacker.  7 seconds later, Whitie fired one from the neutral zone giving us an empty net goal and ending the game with a 3 - 1 win !!! 

OH ... and it was the most "gentlemanly" game I believe I have ever witnessed..... NO FIGHTS & only 6 penalty minutes occurred during the entire 60 minutes of play ! 

For Saturday night's game we had some of the Hockey Family up.  I made ............

Taco Bean Dip 

And .....

Chocolate Chip Cookies

.... along with Salsa and Cheese dip from El Mezcal (our favorite Mexican restaurant).

Adam played REALLY GREAT, but sadly the defense fell apart at one point and allowed one puck to sneak past giving Peoria a 1-0 lead in the middle of the 2nd period....(Damn that Trask) .... It was a total opposite from the previous nights game with Sobatka &  Sicard squaring off in the first 5 minutes of play (Sobatka, with his long arms won the fight handily) Then 10 minutes into the 2nd period, Clancy & Hudson went at it again.  I believe that fight ended in a draw.... but at the end of the game, the Rivermen prevailed with a 1-0 win and the teams tallied a total of 56 penalty minutes. 

Today's game (with Peter again in the net) will begin in about 30 minutes, so I must get off here and get some lunch prepared.  ~Hamburgers and Fries are on the menu for today~.

Check back tomorrow and see what happens !!!

Till next time

Cindi

1.11.2015

 

Baby ... It's COLD outside !!!

.... When my feet hit the floor this morning, I was so thankful there was carpet in the bedroom.  But as I ventured out into the hall, my bare feet hit the hardwood floor and BRRRR.... ice cubes !!! I stumbled into the kitchen to get coffee started and heard the tick tack of little feet and Amy looked at me like "well, aren't you gonna let me out to pee ???"

AND BAM ..... the blast of cold air went straight through me to the bone !!! FIVE DEGREE FERIENHEIT temps today with an expected high of TWENTY SIX....

 

If I didn't have plans to meet my friend Cheryl at the Methodist church in Hernando this morning for a quilting class she is taking and then help her set up a blog I would go crawl back in bed and thaw out my frozen toes!!!

 

 

 

I did spend yesterday all piled up in the new Laz-e-Boy with Downton Abby on the tube and stitched.  We had the heat wave of the week as temps got up to 31 but it isn't supposed to get above freezing until Sunday.  At least we don't have to deal with that nasty S word this week!!!

Here is where I stopped when the disastrous hockey game came on at 7:05.  I may post an update about that later, but just wanted to share another hint (pic) of what I am stitching this week.

 

 

Can you guess what it is yet?

 

Till next time,

 

Cindi

1.8.2015