Chenille Quilts

Thought I'd post some pics of our new chenille quilts.....

How angry am I right now??

VERY angry. I'm spitting nails. My blood is boiling.

I don't know why the concept of budgeting is completely lost on my husband. What part of 'revenues need to be more than expenses' does he NOT understand? We've been trying to cut down for YEARS, and I think of options, ask him his thoughts, try to agree on the course of action to be taken (which we usually do) and then he immediately ignores. SOOOOO you cannot imagine how freakin fuming I am right now over paying our credit card bill (which was way too high to begin with) and discover that he's got 4 separate charges for what.....you cannot guess and if you do I'll send you a prize....a god-damn computer game - Mafia Wars on Facebook. What are these $20 charges for? What does this do to better our financial situation? What 'necessary expense' did he spend on like toothpaste, toilet paper, socks? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I COULD DO WITH THAT $80 THAT IS NOW EVAPORATED???? If he were making 6-figures and I was working PT and we had overflowing savings accounts - be my guest - go right ahead - waste money on an on-line computer game, but NOT while I'm working FT with the majority of the bread-winning sitting on my shoulders....no siree bob. This does not fly with me.

And you want to know the worst part?? I saw the first charge on the bill and called him out on it - and I was told "I will not do that again, I'm sorry".....and here it happens 3x again - and once just 2 days ago......Did I mention how angry I am right now????

7 Things Award from Audrey's Country Crafts

Wonderful Audrey over at Audrey's Country Crafts blog gave me the "7 Things" award....I give 7 things about myself and then pass along to 7 others. Here goes -

1) I'm on vacation right now in Fair Harbor. It is a little town on Fire Island and my family has had a house here for 29 years. It is my favorite place in the world!

2) I made a bold move yesterday and walked up to a house that looks like it hasn't been lived in in years - to leave a note in case the owner wanted to sell. He was there! We chatted - the house is an utter dump - he is looking to sell - I made an offer - he considered - and I was turned down this morning. :-( I am sad, but I would have been eating ramen for the next 10 years.

3) I got to visit with the Indy family and the Jacksonville family this week. Yipee!

4) I made pasta for dinner and now I'm having a glass of wine in a quiet house.

5) I went swimmming in the bay with my 2.5 YO nephew Chase today.

6) I recognized an old old friend today as he was walking along the bay - I stopped him and we chatted. How come I'm getting so bold in my old age??

7) It's 8:37pm.....and I'm ready for bed. That is what all day in the salt air will do to a person.

The other peeps I'd like to share-the-7-awards-love with are:

BOWquet

Country Girl

Elegant Hobbies

MandMStudio

Life {the way I see it}

Ocean Creations

DenimNotes

AND for a parting shot, here is my 5 YO nephew with his Sea Robin catch.....He got up at 5:30 am to get on the boat to fish and sea robins were all he caught. But he was happy to have gone.

Vacation Week and other updates!

Yipee!! It is vacation week! Each year my brother and his family come in from Indianapolis to enjoy the beach house on Fire Island. This year it is a 3-week stint. And why not? The alternative is central Indiana - a far cry from the Atlantic.

Vacation week at our house wasn't supposed to start off with a second floor bathroom pipe problem, but alas, it did. I guess it is expected with an old house - the pipe literally wore out. The water leaked through the first floor into a nice puddle in the basement. Needless to say, a lot of $$, a messy house, and a non-working bathroom was not the 'happy' start to time away from work.

AND I almost forgot!! We did the local craft fair on Fire Island over July 4th weekend. We had wagon t-shirts printed up and they were a HUGE hit. In addition - there was a celebrity there and she bought my 'hippie-chic' dress for her little girl - I was thrilled.
OH - we now have a 3 year-old in our house. She is so grown up - she just blocked me from the bathroom because she can go potty ALL BY HERSELF. She actually told me to get out of the bathroom! Oh the things to come...

What a Monday: Preemie Memory Quilt, Girl Gift Set, and a Feature!

I couldn't wait to get home from work today to post the latest pictures and news. My sister so loved the Memory Quilts we're making that she quickly gathered up her daughter Daisy's preemie clothes and promptly dropped them off at mom's house for quilt construction. Daisy was born at 2 lbs so most of the preemie clothes swam on her. And with her time in the NICU, my sister was always washing the clothes - so Daisy really got alot of use out of her few outfits. Mom didn't have alot of clothes with which to make a quilt, but she did manage to get 20 squares. In fact, she even used Daisy's hats! The knit hat was made by our Grandmother and I had mixed feelings about cutting it for the quilt, but it is here - and quite a cool square you can see in the close-up pic:

My cousin in Minnesota needed a girl baby gift for a shower - so we put together this bright pink tulip set for her. It is a long-sleeve onesie, bib, flannel-backed burp cloth, and a receiving blanket. I love this tulip fabric and I think after this blanket was made, it is finito. Thanks for thinking of us Cuz!!

To cap off the day - Audrey over at Audrey's Country Crafts asked to feature our shop on her fantastic blog. Today we were posted - so please pop on over to her blog and check it out - and all the other amazing features she has. THANKS Audrey!

Long Beach Strawberries!

We have a narrow strip of ground between our fence and driveway. The neighbor planted strawberry plants that have come under the fence and filled this space. I'm happy bc now I don't have to plant with annuals every year and I don't have to weed - and look what we get to eat! (Second batch no less!)

I've Been Tagged: by Chocolate and Steel....

So Chocolate and Steel tagged me and I was kind of in the mood for one of these since I wanted to save the pics from my next Memory Quilt (a girl one!) for another post and I wasn't sure what to write about. And these are different Qs from the other times I've been tagged - yay! Here goes...hope you find it semi-interesting.

1) What is your current obsession? Orchids. I posted about my new obsession with them back in February and now that I've been reading up, there are soooooo many people in the same boat! I have a few new types I'd like to get, but alas, not yet. Here is a picture of the white phaleonopsis Hubby got me for Mother's Day:

2) What is your weirdest obsession? After reading "Chocolate and Steel"'s answers, she going to think I'm the worst person, but I have to say killing the goddamn snails and slugs that are sliming all over my plants and killing my flowering cherry tree!! I put down the pellets that kill them and that was great - until the 40-days-and-40-nights of rain we've had. Now it seems all the poison has washed away. My poor pansies rebounded and are flowering again, but tonight I pulled 2 snails from the pot and threw them into the street. UUGH I HATE THEM! What purpose do they serve??

3) What are you wearing today? A Mossimo black short-sleeved, collared jersey dress with a little waist tie (I got it at Target 4 years ago) and a pale-pink 3/4 sleeve Gap cardigan (I think I got it about 7 years ago). And I wear panty-hose to work because don't think it is appropriate to wear bare legs at work - I know, get with the program. The only way I go bare legs at work is if my skirt almost hits my ankles. Since I just took pics of the orchids, I decided to throw one in of the outfit...

4) What's for dinner? Regular and Banana Walnut Cheerios (the nanny feeds Ryan and hubby won't be home)

5) What's the last thing you bought? Gap kids clothes for Ryan and got a matching outfor for her cousin Daisy. BTW, there are amazing sales at Gap Kids!

6) What are you listening to right now? The hum of the ceiling fan and Dora The Explorer from the other room. I know, bad mom - I should be putting her to bed instead of blogging. :-0 She has been outside all day and she really wanted to watch Dora, so I caved.

7) What is your favorite ice-cream flavour? Vanilla (but would add caramel or strawberry sauce if it was available!)

8) What do you think of the person who tagged you? I think "Chocolate and Steel" makes the coolest jewelry....take a look at these favorites of mine from her Etsy shop....

9) If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be? All paid for? All the taxes too? I'm be where I am in Long Beach - right by the Ocean with a decent piece of property so I could have a greenhouse and garden. Oh, and a house big enough for me to have my own sewing room!

10) If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Jacksonville FL to visit my brother, SIL, and niece.

11) What is your favorite colour? Green - although Blue is a close second.

12) Which language do you want to learn? Polish because it is my hertiage and Ryan now knows it from having a Polish nanny - she even speaks it. My SIL is Polish so Ryan should be able to maintain it, but I want to learn it also.

13) What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? A sleeveless collared navy blue v-neck I got at Loft 3 years ago - it started me on my navy kick and I wish I could buy this same shirt in different colors. You probably think I don't have new clothes with my answers to this post! I do, just not as many with this economy....I DO pare down the closet and donate to goodwill. :-)

14) What's your favourite magazine? Country Living and Coastal Living (bc I would love to live on a farm by the Ocean!)

15) If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? $20 to Starbucks card....$50 on some orchids I'd like to order.....$30 for a mani/pedi.

16) Favorite artist/s? Henri Matisse....and a painter I found on Etsy - Tracey Gurley - I LOVE LOVE her flower paintings.

17) What's your favorite season and why? I like all seasons and glad we have all in the northeast, but Spring is my favorite because the flowers start to come out and weather gets nicer.....

18) Describe your personal style? Easy and comfortable, but not sweats comfortable - cargos and sandals on weekends - easy dresses for parties - white pants in summer and jeans in winter are MUSTS. I also wear glasses and usually do the Sarah Palin hair with a clip - as I've had that for years - it is just an easy style for long hair! Hubby says I have the 'dirty librarian' look.....

19) What are you going to do after this? Put Ryan to bed and eat my Cheerio dinner while watching "Deadliest Catch" from Tuesday night.

20) What are your favourite movies? I don't see many movies, but I can watch "Thank You for Smoking", "Where the Heart Is", "She's Having a Baby", "Snatch", "The Sound of Music" over and over.

21) What's your favourite fruit? How to choose?? watermelon.

22) What inspires you? Just about anything now a days - I find all I want to do is sew - and sew things I haven't done before like summer tunics and dresses and skirts....

23) What music do you like this week? Allman Brothers Band - makes me think of outside late-afternoon BBQs by the beach

24) What is your dream job? Farming and sewing - but I also work in commercial real estate and have gotten back into that area at my current job - so I'm really happy now!

25) What is stopping you? I'd need 48 hours to my day

26) If you could change something in the world to make it a better place what would that be?
Acceptance of those not like ourselves.

27) What do you have planned for tomorrow? Work....it is the Friday I go into the office. I have every-other Friday off - so another reason to like my day job.

The rules :1. Respond and rework; answer the question on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own. OK - I didn't do this bc I didn't read the rules first...

2. Tag eight other people.

My Rambling Thoughts

Oceanside Creations

If I Had a Hammer

Life of a Bird

Have You Seen My Dragon?

Live, Love YARN!

Just be Happy!

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