A bit of this and a bit of that................

It must be time for some more quilt photos, so will start newsfromjude with some of those.

The first quilt was made by the Vine Patch Quilters and will be the raffle quilt for their exhibition which will be in April. I was able to place a simple pattern in each on point square across the quilt, and then dress up the border a bit. It is a very nice scrappy 4 patch quilt.

The next 2 quilts were made by Kathy, and the first is a flying geese in circles. Kathy did not want heavy quilting, and no SID.

This one is a Sue Daley pattern, in pretty colours of blue and brown, with some hand piecing on it. It was custom quilted, and did get lots of SID on it.

CHAOS

In my last post, I said I would be back with news of another unplanned event. It started when I was looking through the photos for some baby photos to compare with those of Tate. And I knew it was disorganised, but maybe not just how chaotic it really was, in that chest of drawers. I do have some photo albums in another cupboard that were sorted a loooong time ago, and these drawers were full of ??? There were photos given to us by other people, photos that have been taken since the original sorting, and boxes of slides, which have never been printed, and was one of those "gunnado" jobs. And lots of stuff that had sentimental value, that I could not throw away.  Photo is of all the drawers, and some emptied out on the table. I decided I had 3 weeks, until I needed the tables for the first retreat of the year. And maybe an hour each night sorting instead of sleep would be a good start!?

And a few days later, it did start to look different. Val came to do some sewing, and I had to clear a "little" space in the corner for her.

 Tonight it looks like this, .......

......with this pile still waiting to be sorted!

These are the slides that need to be scanned onto the computer. Some of them have darkened, so I am hoping I can rescue them before they all deteriorate. I purchased a scanner a few years ago for this purpose, and only took it out of the box this week. I still have to work out how to use it though.

And all of this sorting does have a purpose. For years I have been thinking, and even talking, about writing my life story. Nothing spectacular to be published or anything like that though! Just a record of my life for my children and grandchildren to read if they want. In our married life we moved quite a few times, and had a number of farms, and perhaps it might explain to family members, why we did what we did??? True confessions here, and in another corner of my house I have boxes of financial records that go way, way back (won't say how far!!) and I hope to record how much we paid for those properties and the sale prices etc. My grandchildren might be interested to know what we paid for our first car, and information like that. As I have been sorting the chaos, and looking at Mum's photos, I have lots of memories coming to mind. 

As I said, I have had this idea for a long time now, and one reason I have not started, is because I did not know just where to start. Do I do it chronologically, or use various topics, or what?? This week, as I have been sorting, I have developed a plan, so we will see how that goes. I have this book with notes, and headings, and have made a start, just writing as it comes. I know there will be a lot of phonecalls back and forth to my mum, checking on some details. I am very fortunate that she has delved into family history over the years, and has some great photos albums, with lots of dates and details. I must have made an attempt at this a long time ago, as I came across various papers, with dates, and events marked on it, as a time line, so there's a start.

 I think this will be a very looong term project, and fitted into my "spare" time. You know I have a lot of spare time, don't you?  But a little at a time, will be better than just thinking about it, won't it? I do a lot of thinking in my driving up the highway time, and think of all sorts of great things to write about, but when I get home I can't remember it all. And of course I can't write and drive at the same time, can I?

GOING WITH THE FLOW, AGAIN!! 

And speaking of driving, I do remember saying in my last post......

. I have 8 days now, before I head up the highway, I think! You never know just what will happen next. Life sure is not dull or boring around here. 

.... well, truer words were never spoken! I also did mention that they could not get enough blood from me. Yesterday I received a phone call from the blood testing centre, and they said they did not have enough blood to do the tests they needed to do!! Could I try again!! So today, I went "up the highway" again to give up some more blood. This time there was success, as I have been drinking lots of water since that phonecall. 4 trips up the road in a week, is just a bit much, but hey, just go with the flow!!

This photo is not what you want to see on a 38deg day in summer. There were 2 fires close together on the edge of the road just ahead. I was very fortunate to get through to home, as they closed the highway just after I went through. Apparently the fires are now contained, and a large shed was saved.

Time for bed, and another custom quilt tomorrow after the watering is done. We are about to head into almost a week of high 30 to low 40's temperatures, so I won't be venturing too far, I hope, (well, until Wednesday anyway!?)

Blessings, From Jude