Don aka Cat Magnet

Okay, so I just had to post this picture. For some reason every time Don sits down a cat jumps on him. Weird, huh!!

Cats and Quilts

Well, it's new Year's Eve! Briana drove alone for the first time today. We were both nervous wrecks, but she made it aok! Don is watching TRANSFORMERS II for like the third or fourth time in two days. I made some gingersnaps and some chocolate chip cookies and date-pecan cocoanut macaroons and some cranberry-apricot cocoanut macaroons and some homemade bread. After all that, it's just 3 p.m. and I still have nine hours to kill before the new year. Soooooooo . . . . how about some cat pictures.

We have a new kitty named Shamu. He is a rescue kitty of sorts with crossed eyes and 24 toes. Yes, you read correctly. He has seven toes on each front paw and five on each back. Usually cats have only 4 or 5 on each foot. He's a crack up and fits in well.


Here's a close up of his front paw!!


Noel is the QUEEN!! At anytime of the day or night, you can find her sleeping right here on my bed.


And this is the ailing and aging, albeit quite gracefully, QUEEN MUM Snowflake. She's been sleeping at the end of my bed since 2002.


A few posts back, I featured a quilt with circles. It was done in purples, greens, and blues. For this one, I used the exact same pattern only with different colors. I think I'll give this one to Barbara. Tomorrow is her b-day!!


Now, I'm off to design two new baby quilts for Don's nephew's two little ones, Chloe and Carter. I'll post pics of those when they are done.

Happy New Year Everyone and Best Wishes for a safe and prosperous 2010!!

FROST always brings out the QUILTS

So far this fall I have completed three quilts. Two are small and one is a little larger than a lap quilt.

This first one is a NASCAR quilt. Don picked out the fabric - - he isn't a fan of NASCAR, but his best buddy is, AND his best buddy had surgery and will be down for a long time.



Sometimes I cannot help myself in the fabric store. This blue panel is just that - - a preprinted panel. What is different is that I stitched all around the animals and Santa even though you can't see it in this picture. I still love it.



Okay, Mom, this is one of your Christmas presents. It's in the mail along with a couple other neat items I think you will enjoy.



Detail of the embroidery, beading, and wool applique.



I am finishing up the quilt of circles that I cut out in October and will post pictures of that one soon.

I'm off to wake my family with a big breakfast of Eggy Bakey a la Granny with toasted hot dog buns!!

The leaves have been replaced with FROST

It's 8:05 am on December 5th; it's 28 degrees out, and we've had a hard frost!! Yippee!!

When I was in Welsh this August, I acquired two watercolors. Sarah's latent talent as a watercolor artist has blessed me with one of her originals. It really looks like the hibiscus in her yard!



The other watercolor is one that has been around my whole life and probably Mom's too. St. Joseph lilies. I've rematted and reframed in in contrasting colors. It looks great!



The artist in Mary Narney. She was the mother of a man who was once married to Great Aunt Elsie Whitman. Now, Aunt Elsie was Grandpa's older sister and the first woman attorney in Lake Charles. It was said that, when she died, Uncle Charles found a file cabinet with all this nefarious and damning information on many of the most notable individuals in Lake Charles. Some of the documents were on family as well. I believe he destroyed the contents of the cabinet; at least, I hope he did. My facts might be sketchy here - - family lore, you know.

All the leaves are gone, and the sky is gray. . . .

I have some thoughts that I need to share, ask, ponder, and study.

I cannot figure out why I feel so empty. My life is teeny-tiny; I did that on purpose. Have I lopped off too much?

Yesterday, the colonel at Don's work reported that Don was the ONLY one on his whole installation that made a commitment to the United Way campaign. Over 400 people work at Camp Withycombe. Pitiful.

I realize that the students at DDHS have many very sad stories about their lives - - foster homes, alcoholic parents, mom in jail, drug dealers, sex offenders, poverty, domestic violence, throw away kids, refugees, no faith - - all this is terrible. Stories these young minds should never know are the norm here. When do these kiddos take responsibility for their own lives and move to make a difference? What they have learned is not the extended helping hand but the open, upturned palm waiting for a hand out.

Briana is a beautiful and capable young woman - - I wish she could see that in herself. Staci, too.

I miss Momma.

Am I a ticking time bomb? Every now and then and more often as of late, I feel this flutter in my heart. It stops my breath and makes me cough. What is that?

Grandpa OB, all 92 years of him, has moved back home from an adult foster care home where he was WELL cared for. The first thing he told Vicki was that he intended to drive to the grocery story. He cannot even walk. He has a right to do as he pleases, but I think this was a bad idea. He has refused professional in home nursing care and his son Pat is not trained nor is he willing to be a thorough care giver. That fierce Irish stubborn streak in him is so powerful. I simultaneously admire and reject that notion of independence.

I am about to start installments of my novel here. Having a blog has helped me get over a little of the fear of exposing my words to the world.

Christmas has been conspicuously absent from this post; that will come soon enough. Actually, I have LOTS of fun stuff planned and some interesting quilts to share when I get a new camera!

Happy Advent,

Dottie

Smile, work, play, read, love, pray!

Flying leaves

It pays to be organized! Today I assigned a Scavenger Hunt to my students - - they could use the notes and any information recorded in their three ring binder. Everyday we write a journal about some high interest topic, and then we break it down for sentence structure, parts of speech, grammar, etc... SOOOO 44 points seems reasonable for a quiz on what they have anyway. Those that are consistently present and organized are acing the Scavenger hunt; those that aren't, aren't. Ha!!!!

Leaves

Last night Briana drove at night in the rain to Youth Leadership up at St Henry's. I didn't want to go home just to turn around to pick her up 90 minutes later, so I hung out in the CCD center while the kids went over to the church to learn the parts of the Mass. I set the radio to Fresh Air with Terri Gross and settled in to cut out all the pieces of another quilt. The same pattern on the green and purple circle quilt will certainly look different with rich hues of wine, ocre, and ecru. The circles are a muted green and off white. I am so excited to see how color changes the dramatic affect of this quilt. In any case there were 108 individual pieces, and, since I didn't have my rotary cutter or my mat, I had to cut all these out with scissors. I suppose this is how they did it back in the day. I finished up just in time for Briana to drive me home in the dark during a down pour. We lived. Yay!

Keeping up with my leaves

Okay, so I just finished posting all my grades into the electronic grade book!! Yea! That took about 1 1/2 hours. Now I still have 4 vocabulary quizzes and two sets of 5 paragraph essays to grade, but that's okay. I am still ahead of the game. Thank goodness for inservice and teacher work days. As far as household chores - - I'm as up to date as I can be. Briana and Don need to help a little to make this whole system work. I fell off my diet yesterday, mostly because I was totally frustrated with a particular boy. A twinkie, a coke, and a piece of chocolate pie later I still wasn't ready to get over my funk! SO I made a batch of Tollhouse cookies and some pecan pralines. I'm a little better now.
I have a pipe dream.
I'd like to live in Eastern Oregon some day. These are pics of bare land for sail. The property is between 3 and 40 acres with nothing but trees, rocks, creeks, and wildlife.




These are images of older homes and one newer home that are within our range. The are a little rough, but I think they would be cool to vacation in and eventually move to when we both retire. The neat thing about this are is that there are several places where one can dig for gold.





Sumpter is on the Powder River and the Crack Creek. Both of these pristine waterways have large known quantities of gold still in them. The Crack Creek had a 24/7 dredge in it for 50 years. The old dead thing is still in the middle of town. Look it up at
http://www.historicsumpter.com/sumpter-oregon-dredge-park.html

There is something so romantically western and cowboyish about Eastern Oregon. I absolutely love the big sky!

I'll keep dreaming!!

Today's favs

Fog, cold toes, cheddar, delicious sleep, my 16 year old, having to turn on the lights in the middle of the day - - Autumn!

October in my teeny tiny corner of the world

Today is October 3rd. For a Saturday, it's typical. Don has guard drill, Briana is sleeping, and I am planning a day that would otherwise be wasted on tv. I'll be turning over some of those freshly fallen new leaves out there.

First, I want to keep up with my chores. I have been very lazy this summer - - only doing what was critical. I have way less time now with school and all.

Second, and I have already begun this one - - I will keep up with grading papers. I have about 160 students this year - - all demanding and worried about grades and such. The pile on my desk can grow exponentially in a day.

Third, I want to lose some weight. I only want to lose about 5 pounds or so in my core. I am not sure how to do that since I am well beyond the notion that I will ever keep up with exercise. I know that for a fact. SO, the question is - - how do I lose my belly without crunches, running, lifting, bending, or anything else that requires exertion? Drink mega-green tea? Meditate on it? Pray for it? You see my quandary?

Fourth, I'd want to start some new quilting projects. I am finishing up one for Mom right now. I won't be posting a pic anytime soon because it is a Christmas present, so stay tuned until closer to December. I also have one for Stuart and Tammy planned out. In addition to that I have a felt penny rug I am putting together for me. That one has been a work in progress for about two years - - it is EXTREMELY tedious. Also, I need to assemble a huge one that I started for Scott and Vicki. The problem is that I started it before I got my new machine so the technique is not going to be the same. I truly doubt that it will make a difference, but it will bother me.

Now, for the last leaf - - Don and I are attempting to pay off all debt. So far we are doing well. I have paid off Davis-Greenlawn. The ING loan will be paid off this week. We have two other debts only - - Don's truck and this house.

All this is in order to buy a boat and/or a vacation/retirement house in Eastern Oregon. We have found some interesting areas that are really attractive and would meet our needs and desires. Please understand that the places we are looking at are not fancy log cabins or wonderful lakeside property - - we want to go rustic in the literal since of the word. Rocks, wood piles, windmills, wildlife. If you were to ever visit us, expect open air and dinner cooked over a fire. Bring your own sleeping bag and water. You might even have to shoot your breakfast!

Anywho, time is ticking into the future. I think I'll get started on laundry or grading or some other teeny tiny step on those amazing falling leaves.

Tomato Sauce

Recently I made tomato sauce from the hundred or so tomatoes that were in my freezer. I had such an abundant crop last year!!



First I thawed all the tomatoes so that the skin and lots of extra water could be released easily.


Then I sorta cut them up and put them to stewing in a very large pot.


I added some salt, pepper, garlic, and sugar to the sauce and boiled until all the chunks were broken down and the texture was thick.

I blended the sauce in the blender for additional smoothness!

This ended up making two gallons of the most delicious tomato sauce EVER!

I HEART TOMATOES!

More Favs

Watermelon, chap stick, twilight, Law & Order, Bones, fresh laundry, a clean house.

Today is Friday. Don left for three days -National Guard stuff - and Briana went shopping downtown. I'm home all day by myself. It's chilly, overcast, and raining. I have no chores to do, and Verizon has my driveway blocked all day. I could read, nap, sew, cook, plan for next year, paint a picture, sort out closets, organize pictures, sort my fabric stash. Actually, I think sorting my fabric stash seems to win here. I have so much stuff, I cannot even close the cedar chest I've stuffed it in. AND I have some projects planned for when we return for Louisiana that I want to get ready. Lately, I've been using pieces from the top because the trunk is so disorganized. I know I have some great colors down near the bottom of that heap. Wow, I can't wait to see what treasures I might find.

One of my projects is a scrap quilt that is made with just leftover blues, purples, pinks, and greens. All the pieces are strips no wider than 2 1/2 inches wide and however long. I sewed them all together end to end until I made a long strip. Then I folded that in half and sewed the two sides together. I repeated the process until I had a piece about 2 feet wide and about 4 feet long. It is really interesting to see how the colors come together. Now I think I'll cut this crosswise and make strips 2 ft by 8 inches. I should get about 8 of these pieces. I don't know what I'll do with these strips yet. Who knows what I'll find in my fabric search today. This is the fun part!!

More Quilts

This summer has been a busy one, but I still had time to complete a few projects. The first and smaller quilt wall hanging is a wedding gift for a dear friend of mine. The Dutch flowers are made of felted wool sewn on with black embroidery thread.




This next quilt is one that I made during the heat wave. I parked in the basement for about 4 days trying to stay cool. I was already planning to do a quilt with circles - - so the time was right!!



This third quilt was made in May. It was a competition quilt using a feature Hoffman fabric. I chickened out and didn't send it in for judging. Maybe nest year, I'll get brave enough with the next challenge fabric.



I hope you enjoy!

Upon Solitude

Three weeks ago - - anticipation and preparation
Two weeks ago - - party party party
Last week - - recovery and putting things back in order
This week - - solitude.
I've read a book, stared out the window, embroidered, folded clothes, slept, cooked, petted the cat, pulled a few weeds, prayed.
Next Week - - ?

Post reunion blues

It's all over. Wow! I didn't think we, our house, my sanity would make it. But, now that folks have come and gone - - I want it all back. I want all the family and running around and stories and confusion to last forever.

Observations - - we all get along with only a few misunderstandings here and there. Mom got much stronger while she was here. Some of us are louder than others. All of us want what is best. We are all Christian. Food is still our number one activity. We all like to grow interesting plants in our yards. We all have kids and more kids and more kids. We are all well-read and educated. We ALL engage in meaningful pursuits well beyond our professional lives. I am honored to be around such interesting people. Who knew that Jack and Gretchen would create such an enormous legacy of life. Most of us are just ordinary people with no particularly amazing talents putting one foot in front of the other with faith in God and hope for our children. That's kinda cool!

Anticipating the unstoppable

It's Tuesday night. People will start arriving on Friday. Let's see, I need to talk to Father Charles tomorrow, get cash, buy a new iron, confirm with River Drifters, go over the itinerary with Barbara, and go to a workshop. Thank you, Don for taking Thursday and Friday off - - I will need you every minute!! In case you are wondering what all this anticipation is all about, well I can tell you. Starting Friday, the Bonnin Family Reunion 2009 will officially begin. We have lots to do and loads of fun and family planned for the crew. I am looking forward to all the festivities - -after all, my mom is turning 80. From the beginning I didn't know if this was going to happen. First, the economy crashed - - would people be able to take a week off from life to travel to the NW for a vacation? Then we had record snowfall. What would our house, deck, airport, anything, be like after all that snow? Then Don was slated to be activated - - Would I be managing this without my Rock? Then Swine Flu and the fear of traveling on an airplane. Then, at the last minute, Granny got sick and had to spend time in the hospital. EE Gads! I did not think we were going to pull this thing off. Well here we are; it hasn't happened yet, but things are still green light, so to speak. Now if we can keep every one healthy and avoid any accidents between now and the July 6th, I will be grateful. I wish we could all be together for ever, but I know that is not possible. I envy my friend Drew who lives with her family - - husband, daughter, brother, mother, various sisters. She is unhappy about it. I don't think she knows how lonely she'd be without them. In any case, I have covered as many details about this reunion as I can possibly think of. I know that there are going to be a whole lot of "uh-oh's" along the way, so I am putting on my duck armor so my feelings won't get hurt. I'll post lots of pics when I can get my brain back to what is important.
PS - - FAVS, cont. Mike's Hard Lime! Sleeping with the windows open. Charlie Marbles (our newest kitty). Hearing my mom's voice. Pulling the last weed in the garden. Sunshine. Praying for Susan, Aimee, Betty Kirby, and that lady next to me in church.

Favs

Favorite Flavors:
Licorice, cinnamon, basil, lime, Cabernet, butter, green tea, garlic, white chocolate, cream cheese, tomato, watermelon, crab, beet, coffee, coconut, green pepper, cilantro, saffron, curry, pecan, not in this order.
Favorite Flowers
Day lilies, dahlias, petunias, lavender, irises, magnolias, lilac, plumeria, daisies, dogwood, and tulips.
Favorite Sounds:
Rain, wind in the trees, baby laughter, purring, piano, and silence.
Favorite Miscellaneous
Jeans, napping in the sunshine, iced tea, camp fires, dirt in my garden, meditation, old pictures, quilting.

Things rattling around in my brain

I am so proud of myself. Today I am administering 2 of my last three exams this school year. The final covers three novels and poetry. The students have a great deal of writing to do. I think they thought I was kidding when I said that this test was comprehensive! In any case, it sure is keeping them on task!

Things:
1. Clock watchers bother me.
2. Don and I have been married 19 years.
3. It is raining.
4. I am so excited about the family reunion.
5. Briana starts Driver's Ed. this summer.
6. Summer break is 3 days away.
7. How does one deal with an ADD child?
8. What if it is your own child?
9. My daylilies are almost in bloom.
10. Deer ate my petunias yesterday.
11. Father Rick Sirriani is leaving St. Henry's, and I don't know why.
12. I love to quilt.
13. Staci is graduating from Marylhurst Saturday.
14. How do I prepare salmon on the grill?
15. I feel a poem coming on.
16. I need to get retirement napkins and plates for the party on Monday.
17. What do I get Don for Father's Day?
18. He bought me a cordless drill for our anniversary.
19. Grilled Chicken salad from Burgerville sounds good right now.
20. I have lots of work to do, and I am here floating down a stream of consciousness.

Summer is on its way

Today I am administering my final exam to my ESL seniors. For the most part, they are doing very well on the multiple choice/multiple guess test on the novel we just finished. They also have a quick response writing piece to some literary aspect of the novel. Eee Gads! It is as though I have forced them to eat raw slugs!! What babies! After Friday, I will have no students on B days. I will have only 3 finals to administer during finals week, and then I will be done! I am so looking forward to the summer when Briana and I can just sit back and eat ice cream all day - - NOT! We have the reunion and then drivers' ed and then day camp for the grandkids and then some inservice days and it's back to work!! I'm really not complaining - - not everyone gets 14 weeks a year of paid vacation! I do have three new novels I want to read and a boatload of magazines - - I am going to two weddings, and I want to work on four different quilting projects - - ambitious summer plans!

I'm still here

Wow! I can't believe I let a month go by without posting. Let's see, I have graded 70 research papers, thrown a huge Easter Egg Hunt



and Easter Dinner for 26, edged my front flower beds, planted lots of flowers, visited Chicago, rented a few wrestlers to clean out under all these trees, and, last but not least, worked full time. Briana is totally into cooking, so I bought her The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook circa 1981. I have one that I have permanently borrowed from the KILT and am not really willing to give it up. So I found a used copy on Amazon for $4.99. Wow! It is as though I have given her a treasure map. She baked this amazing Apple Cake last night - - I didn't see it until this morning and this is what it looks like.


Last week I was too tired to make the chocolate butter cream frosting for a cake I had made for a baby shower, so Briana and her friend made the icing and decorated the cake. I wish I had a photo of that one - - OMG - - the frosting was an inch thick and tasted like a chocolate bunny. Needless to say, several people called me afterwards and wanted to know how to make it - - I had to defer to Briana becasue I was asleep on the couch when she made it.
In any case, Spring has sprung in Oregon. This is the view from my dining room window.

If you recall, I believe I posted a photo of this same shot at night in winter. What a difference 5 months makes!
Today is Sunday, so after church Briana and her friend will be studying for AP US History exam, and I cannot decide if I am going to quilt or plant more flowers. Maybe, I'll do both!! Looking forward to seeing you all this summer!

Before and After

About three weeks before Briana's birthday we took this photo.



Now, after the metal-mouth has disappeared, and the hair turned blonde, Briana is feeling very sixteen!!

How to piss off a cat

Apparently, Snowflake has bad memories from her last trip to Tiajuana.

Don and his cats

What else can I say?

Quilts

This baby quilt is extra long so it can be used on a toddler bed as well. I made this one for my friend Emily who adopted a baby boy named Cooper in March. They already have a son named Parker. I made him a lap quilt with pockets a few years ago when they went on a long road trip. It fits over his lap in the car seat with slanted levi's pockets so he could keep crayons and matchbox cars at easy reach. It also had a bit of a patriotic theme.




I made this quilt and sent it to Kirsten for Baby Gretchen.

Pictures I like to look at

This is my basement window. All of the east facing windows were iced up like this for days. Not only were we isolated and couldn't get off the hill, we couldn't see out either. That made for a really interesting Christmas 2008.




Three days into the snowstorm, and I'm doing fine!!



Six days below 25 degrees looks like this.



Last summer in my front yard!



A dahlia from the Swan Island Dahlia Farm. Unfortunately, no flowers will be in bloom during the Family Reunion.



Granny and Briana - Christmas 2007. I love this picture because both ladies are so pretty in red.



Lilly and Briana - Christmas 2007.



Updated MOOSE picture!


This is a picture of Don with Cameron and Connor in front of a big tank at Camp Withcombe. We let the little boys climb all over tanks, humvees, trucks, and an old WWII ambulance.

One of my favorite poems

Name of Horses

All winter your brute shoulders strained against collars, padding
and steerhide over the ash hames, to haul
sledges of cordwood for drying through spring and summer,
for the Glenwood stove next winter, and for the simmering range.

In April you pulled cartloads of manure to spread on the fields,
dark manure of Holsteins, and knobs of your own clustered with oats.
All summer you mowed the grass in meadow and hayfield, the mowing machine
clacketing beside you, while the sun walked high in the morning;

and after noon's heat, you pulled a clawed rake through the same acres,
gathering stacks, and dragged the wagon from stack to stack,
and the built hayrack back, uphill to the chaffy barn,
three loads of hay a day from standing grass in the morning.

Sundays you trotted the two miles to church with the light load
a leather quartertop buggy, and grazed in the sound of hymns.
Generation on generation, your neck rubbed the windowsill
of the stall, smoothing the wood as the sea smooths glass.

When you were old and lame, when your shoulders hurt bending to graze,
one October the man, who fed you and kept you, and harnessed you every morning,
led you through corn stubble to sandy ground above Eagle Pond,
and dug a hole beside you where you stood shuddering in your skin,

and lay the shotgun's muzzle in the boneless hollow behind your ear,
and fired the slug into your brain, and felled you into your grave,
shoveling sand to cover you, setting goldenrod upright above you,
where by next summer a dent in the ground made your monument.

For a hundred and fifty years, in the Pasture of dead horses,
roots of pine trees pushed through the pale curves of your ribs,
yellow blossoms flourished above you in autumn, and in winter
frost heaved your bones in the ground - old toilers, soil makers:

O Roger, Mackerel, Riley, Ned, Nellie, Chester, Lady Ghost.

Donald Hall

I love this poem.

Day Lilies

Gentle fingertips pluck the lily from a tall stalk.
With lines and spots, a map of joy and stress
On cheeks turned up toward the sun
Dottie follows the thin web down into foliage
Specks of brilliant green spiders try to dodge detection.
A pink plastic Easter egg missed by grandchildren
Reveals its hiding place among the leaves.
Within are two shiny quarters. Cool.

Dottie examines the six perfectly shaped petals
Green throat, now maroon, now cantaloupe, now butter yellow
With all stamens sporting dress shoes dusted in pollen
And one pistol, bulbous and sticky, protrudes.
This flower lasts just one day but deserves a moment of respect
Its perfection never duplicated.
This one gets the nod - - the admiration.

Soon Dottie moves on
To those more mundane details of the day
Bills, papers to grade, correspondence
Plans for the weekend, the month, the lifetime ahead

Tomorrow another lily will bloom.
It may rain
Droplets that scar fragile petals
Or sun too hot
Could scorch and wither them
One day to bloom and flaunt
Attract, pollinate, and germinate
Twenty-four hours – a lifetime – no time
For the mundane details of
A tedious life.

Quilts

I love this quilt! It is huge!! Kristi got married in 2007, and the table cloths were white with this blue starry fabric and little silver bells. With the fabric from the wedding, I made this mondo quilt of 16 log cabin blocks with multible borders. You can't see it but the back is pieced with all the scraps no bigger than 18 inches square. I gave it to Kristi for Christmas this year. I think she likes it : )

Quilts

Here is another quilt I made for the family reunion raffle. It is about the size of a larger throw. the image is a Japanese screen. The fabrics in the screen are alternating, although it is hard to tell in this photo.