Canine Capers

Okay, there were no capers, but I was trying to think of a cute title for a topic that's not so cute. Once again today, I did something I never thought I'd do when I was growing up on the farm. I paid good money to have the dog's teeth cleaned. It feels wrong in many ways, but I guess there are worse ways to spend money. Drugs, gambling, booze,.... okay maybe not booze, but there are worse ways. It had gotten to the point where he had breath so bad it could knock out a horse. I could actually smell his breath when he slept under my side of the bed. I started thinking it was probably bad for his health and feeling guilty for not taking better care of him. So now we need to be responsible for brushing his teeth everyday to avoid this problem in the future. When I was at the vet, I noticed they had a job opening so I told SD about it and she went right over and applied. She wants to be a vet, so the experience would be great for her. Maybe I could get a discount!! They were nice enough to dress him up in a Halloween neck scarf when he went home.

A busy weekend

It was quite the busy weekend around here. It was homecoming weekend, so that meant a parade Friday afternoon, game Friday night, and the dance on Saturday night. It also meant getting college son to and from college to spend the weekend. I had a women's retreat most of the day on Saturday. I wouldn't have gone, but I was the only one from my church on the planning committee, so I was obligated. After I got back, I fixed daughter's hair and make-up for the dance and spent the rest of the night on the couch. Sunday we had obligations at church all morning, an afternoon baseball game for TB, and then DH and I drove CS back to school. So a few highlights:
* The weather was perfect for the parade, game, retreat, dance, and the drive to the cities. A few clouds here and there, but the fall colors are getting so pretty.
*The dress turned out pretty well. Her friends thought it was "retro", I don't get that, but she looked nice in it. Her date's tie turned out a little wonky, but I think he just wore it for pictures. He brought me flowers as well, not sure what to make of that, but it was a nice gesture.
*The retreat was nice; held at a church camp in a beautiful area fairly nearby. There were several friends there and as I said the weather was nice. I didn't benefit from a true retreat on a spiritual basis as I would have liked, but there were too many contributing factors for that to happen.
*Lastly we always enjoy taking CS back to school on a Sunday night. We usually take him out for dinner before we drop him off and it is a nice chance to catch up. We went to an Indian place with a buffet last night which was kind of a stretch for a couple of Iowa farm kids. It was okay, but a lot of new flavors and some of it was really spicy.

Lovely Fall Day

It is a beautiful day here today. We got some much needed rain last night, so everything seems very crisp and clean and the sky is a brilliant blue. I hope this nice weather will hold for the homecoming game Friday night. TB's marching band puts on a special show after the game. College son is coming home for the weekend for the first time since going back to school. The dress turned out good enough for Senior Daughter to wear, so I am very happy about that. It may be awhile before I tackle something like that again. I'm anxious to have the time to get back to some quilting. I have many projects waiting for me and I would especially like to make something for fall. I finished a wall-hanging this summer that I am rather proud of, there are quite a few errors as usual, but it's finished. It took me a long time as usual. I'm a firm subscriber to the "Better finished than perfect" philosophy. It was intended as a spring/Easter wall-hanging. I finally finished it in the middle of summer ( a couple of years after the Easter in question). I decided to hang it up for awhile anyway. I think I will take it down today and bring out my Fall decorations. I was inspired by Joan and her beautiful Fall decor. Usually it nears Halloween before I get things out. Ha

Peter Mayer

I went to the most awesome concert last night. It was my first experience with a house concert and I loved it. DH and I and four other couples went to this concert in a neighboring town. A couple we didn't know hosted it in their home for about 50 people. Everyone brought some hors d'ouerves to share and some brought wine. Peter Callahan, a local musician opened for him with three songs. Following that, Peter Mayer played a long set, we had an intermission time where we could munch on food, mingle, have a glass of wine, purchase CDs, etc. and then he played another set. If you are not familiar with Peter Mayer, he is a folk singer based out of the Twin Cities who writes his own songs. Seeing him live is wonderful as he intersperses his playing with stories that are wonderful, spiritual, funny, and thought provoking. He will be performing at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it would be fun to go then too. After the concert, we invited all of our friends back to our house for dessert. It was the kind of night that was good for the soul; beautiful weather, laughing and visiting with friends, trying something new that turned out so well, and of course the music.

Wierd Flowering Houseplant

My houseplants are the kind that can stand up to a lot of neglect. Several of them get moved outside for the summer so I don't have to worry about watering them. My problem with throwing anything away shows itself in my plants too. I have nursed several of them along for years, repotted their babies, given them away to friends, etc. This plant is one I bought about 14 years ago when we bought our first house. Since then I have whacked off the top when it got too tall several times. What's left grows a new shoot and I rooted and replanted the top. I have 5 of them now and have given a couple away, but I'm not really sure what it is. Anyway, I noticed this week that this one is flowering a very interesting bloom. It looks like there is another one in the works. I don't remember this ever happening before. Can anyone tell me what it is called? I think it might be some kind of diffenbachia (sp) but I'm not sure.

A Sewing So and So

I've been doing so actual sewing, seamstress kind of sewing, the last couple of days. When I got my new sewing machine, I convinced my daughter to let me make her homecoming dress. How hard could it be, right? Nevermind that I haven't made any clothing other than pajama pants in the last 15 or so years. I'm coming along okay on the dress, but its made out of slippery fabric, so that has added to the challenge. I'm used to working with quilting fabric and this stuff wants to go everywhere. The hem is a little wonky, I'm hoping she won't notice. What I have left is doing a fitting on my daughter, adjusting if necessary, and putting in a ZIPPER. What the &*(^#@ was I thinking? The class for my machine that includes zippers isn't until next week. By that time, I will have finished the dress, daughter will say she hates it, and we'll have to go shopping to buy something that will probably be overpriced and ill-fitting. No optimism here!!

Friday Night Football or It's All About the Band

We had our first real home football game this Friday night. What made it real was the band performing in uniform. I did watch the game from time to time so I know that we won 8-6. The score should tell you that it wasn't the most exciting of games, but it was the first win of the season, so I am happy for the football team. As a sophomore, it is TB's first year in marching band and this was their first half-time show, so I was there to cheer for the band. There is quite a group of friends that we sit at the game with to watch our kids in the band. We visit and pass candy we've brought from home and stand and cheer at the appropriate times. We had pretty decent weather on Friday, it got a little chilly, but there was no wind so that helped a lot. The band has a tradition of making the big "C", upper left during each game. This year the music theme is ABBA, so songs from the Mamma Mia movie...Mamma Mia, of course, as well as Dancing Queen, and The Winner Takes It All. I managed to refrain from singing along, I was too busy taking pictures. The kids wear their hats backwards after a win. Next time TB will have to wear a t-shirt that matches his uniform a little better.

A Few Quilty Things

Can it be true that a whole week has gone by since I've posted? In my own defense, I have been busy. We have had a lot of things going on at church this week with the start of the program year. That means choir and bell practice, women's group meetings, planning for the fall women's retreat, etc. etc. I've had church or church meetings/practices every night this week. Tomorrow is our first home football game with TB marching in the band and our traditional after-party, so I can't wait for that!

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I thought I would post a few pictures of quilty things I finished up at the end of the summer. One is my first bed sized quilt. I started this big block quilt at a retreat a few years ago. I got it home and it was too long and too skinny, so it hung in the closet for a long time until I got around to fixing it by adding a border on the sides. The quilt store I frequent had a special on quilting where they provided the batting for free, so I decided to slurge and have it professionally done. I just went with a simple meander pattern in green thread, it doesn't really show up in the pictures. Incidentally, DH made the bed several years ago out of cherry. I'll save the others for another day, it's time to get ready for work.

Art at ISU

As I mentioned, my daughter and I went for a college visit at ISU, my alma mater. I wanted to share a few pictures of some of the artwork on campus. Now I wish I had taken more pictures, especially outside since it was such a beautiful day. Here are a few of my favorite places on campus.
This is one end of a three piece sculpture on a wall outside the Oak/Elm Dorm entitled "Conversations". The artist was Christian Peterson and it was the last sculpture he did before retiring in 1952. Next is "Fountain of the Four Seasons". It was finished in 1948 and restored for it's 50th anniversary. It is on the north side of the Memorial Union. My favorite is the Wedding Ring that is on the lawn outside MacKay Hall. Unfortunately, it was vandalized several times and the current sculpture displayed is a cast of the original which is kept inside for safety. I also enjoyed seeing the Grant Wood murals in the library and walking by the Campanile. Sorry for the layout of these pictures, I'm still having a difficult time figuring out the best way to add pictures.

Days Flying By

Wow, where did August go? I can't believe it's September already. Everyone in the family, except DH, had their first day of school yesterday. It seemed to go well for everyone, although I haven't gotten a full report from college son(CS). He has already been back at college for two weeks, training for his job and working as a computer lab and tech support person. He was more than ready to go back to a new dorm and roommate both of which seem better than last year. I was most excited about him having a sink in his room, but that paled in comparison when he visited some friends from last year who are living off-campus. He was totally wowed by their awesome apartment, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he'll want to move out.
Senior Daughter (SD) and I had a nice trip to Iowa last week for a college visit to the old alma mater, ISU. We also managed to stop at one of my favorite quilt shops and stayed over with the in-laws and helped them with a few tasks. The campus was beautiful as always, but they didn't do such a great sales job otherwise. She is interested in Biology and Pre-Vet and the old prof they had us meet with was neither encouraging nor welcoming and barely tried to make her feel interested in going there. The music dept. however was great and arranged a meeting with the guy who would be her music teacher. It was fun to walk around campus with her, it brought back a lot of memories and I enjoyed telling her stories about my college days and showing her the dorm where DH and I met. I'll post some more pictures of campus another time.
I'm back to work at the elementary school nearest to our home. After working full time the last few months last spring, I'm back to my regular hours, just afternoons. I will miss the benefits, but it is a great schedule and I really like my coworkers and being so close to work. Not to mention time alone in the morning at home. No more excuses for not blogging or doing the other things I need to at home. We're gone from home most nights with different activities, so that time is precious and needed.
Our youngest son is a sophomore in high school. The upperclassmen started late yesterday, so this was his first day with the early wake up. Their bus comes at 6:50, so for a boy who could sleep all morning during the summer it will be a big adjustment for awhile. He got up on his own this morning, so I hope that will keep up. His blog nickname will be The Tall Beast or TB for short. I'm stealing that name from the Olympic volleyball player Phil Dahlhauser. He's 6'5" at 15 and still growing, so the name fits.