Rain & Shine

So ... I have had some (ahem) complaints about my lack of blogging here. (Oh ... you know who you are.) I am truly sorry, really I am, because I think that it was still Summer when I last posted and now it is 100% Autumn. In AZ the Autumn pretty much arrives in December when there is no time or inclination to focus on it. I was so pleasantly surprised to see it arrive in September here. Who knew?

And on top of all the change in colors which I have been enjoying for several weeks now ... today it is raining! I am loving the rain. I did not love it so much in AZ where my yard and neighborhood had some serious drainage issues. However, here at my home in the Southland I just inhale and enjoy it. I just got back from the grocery store where I got soaked walking to and from my car. I even enjoyed every minute of that.

And lest my descriptions were giving you a chill ... here is Miss Dub3 to warm the cockles of your heart. Oh ... she is such a delight. I spent time with her this weekend (along with all the Dubs) and was nearly sweating from all the ... warming.

Maybe that's why I loved my walk in the rain today.

~ Fall Forward ~

So ... I hope I'm not premature in saying so but ... believe it or not ... we may actually be saying good-bye to the blasted heat that was the Summer of 2010, here in the Land of AZ. Last week: still in the triple digits. This week: rockin' the 80's. You won't hear too many people bemoaning the absence of the 90's in this equation. Let's face it, the 90's are so overrated.

This evening we are even enjoying a bit of light rain. Not summer "the wind blew my neighbor's pool into my pool**" monsoon rains, but a lovely light mist.

Along with the aforementioned advantages to Fall, look what I picked up today at Marshall's on sale because of it's obvious summer overtones? Sweet. (You know how much I love dots! And you know how much I love blue!)

Welcome Fall. Please don't toy with my emotions and revert to your old sweltering ways. Please don't make me beg.

'Cause I will.

** There was an evening this summer when I came home to find a rather large inflated child's pool ... floating in my pool. No lie. Some of my patio furniture was also at the bottom of the pool. It was a pretty big day for my pool.

Book Learnin'

So ... how do you learn stuff most efficiently?? Do you need it in print in order to understand it? Do you have to see it? Do you have to see it while simultaneously hearing someone narrate about it? Do you need that last one more than once? More than twice?

Then, welcome to my world.

I guess you could say that I am a visual person. But more accurately you could say that I'm a step by step kind of gal. Add to that "third time's a charm" and you would describe how I learn best. The worst way for me to learn something is just to be handed the manual. "EEK!" is usually my reaction to that one. Followed by walking away and eating something decadent. I am just that scared of manuals.

But life is funny. And here I am with a bunch of electronic equipment ... and a bunch of manuals. But ... even funnier ... I am making my way with them. I am staring manuals in the face and I am coming out the victor.

Oh ... I am woman, hear me roar.

Why, just the other day, I was faced with the daunting task of replacing the ink in a printer that is so new, I had not faced that task with it before. I did it. I read the manual. I replaced the ink. I did a dance.

And now I am the proud and humble owner of a camera that makes my old camera look like a wimpy girly-man. I tried on a few occasions to unload the pictures already on it and move on from there, but I was stuck. Even worse, I could find the "advanced" manual, but what I needed was the "basic" manual. I was headed straight for the left-over Halloween candy.

But noooo. Not only did I manage to find said 'basic' manual on the internet, (yes, the internet, children ... amazing but true) I unloaded the pictures, figured out how to work the swively display screen and took the above pictures. Of course by that time it was dark (when I started it was light) and I don't like to do 'flash', but I'm still feeling pretty good.

What about you?? Are you afraid of manuals?? What is your learning style?

And, most importantly ... are you still eating leftover Halloween candy?

how does my garden grow?

So ... this is the last week of October. By this time next week it will be November. Mothers all over America are trying to figure out if the Halloween costume will fit over the coat so as not to ruin the effect. People are going on hayrides and having discussions about frost.

It will still be in the 90's here this week. No fooling.

But at least I have my pumpkins. The one in the top picture is ceramic. I think it's cool that it looks like it was painted into the middle of the photograph. Can you see it? These ones above are actually real. But are they actually pumpkins, or are they gourds?

These little ones are wooden. I have had them the longest. I'm not much of an orange person as you can see. I used to carve a pumpkin and set it on the front porch but I haven't done that in several years. Think about it people ... at 90 degrees that is just not a pretty picture.

Happy Fall. I hope your pumpkins bring you joy.

I also hope they don't rot.

Martha, Me and Miss Dub

So ... it still feels a little like fall and I am relishing it. So much so that I decided to bake a pumpkin pie. Now PDaddy loooooves him some pumpkin pie and although he won't be able to eat the crust (do you remember the part about PDaddy not having much of a stomach anymore?) he will truly enjoy the filling.

And I will truly enjoy watching him truly enjoy the filling.

And then I will promptly eat his crust.

I even went so far as to add some fall touches with the left over crust. Very Martha. Except she probably would have put hers on the pie sooner than I did, because I'm not sure mine got totally cooked.

And because I am an EON (Equal-Opportunity-Nanny) I wanted to show off this very fall-ish picture of Miss Dub during a trip to the apple orchard. Is she not soooo beautiful?

Oh yes ... continuing in my Martha ways I will give you a very Helpful Hint about preparing a flaky pie crust. After you have rolled it out and put it in the pie plate and crimped it like a pro ... stick in in your (self-defrosting) freezer while you prepare the filling. The very purpose of such a freezer is to suck moisture out of the air. Because it sucks some moisture out of your crust, you can add a little more water while preparing it and make it much easier to roll out.

Because ... I love patchwork quilts, but I really hate a patchwork crust.

How about you?

Spicey!

So ... I hate to beat this GiveAway into the ground ... but it's all I have for now. My package is ready to be mailed to Ginger, but it won't be happening tomorrow (an all day class to teach) and possibly not the next day, either (um ... laziness.) Oh ... I decided to throw in a copy of my pattern. I think you can see why.

In other news: it was in the 70's here yesterday. This is big. Possibly ... Huge. I also try not to beat the whole we-live-in-Arizona-and-it's-hotter-than-Hades-even-in-October thing into the ground. But someone needs to.

Why not me?

Here's Li'l Gee perusing the pumpkin patch where he lives. It's always in the 70's there. He is wearing a sweatshirt. Sigh.

So ... someone tell me something about real ... fall ... weather. Make me smell the cider.

I dare ya.

Applique - tions

How many times can we segue into Fall when ... let's face it ... it is still in the 90's out my front door? The way I look at it, if every segue lowers the temps a degree or two, then we are that much closer to a little "frost" on the pumpkins. After entertaining you with the delightful charm of my grandchildren over the last few days however, I thought it time to get back to the very serious business of quilting. And Fall.

This little number has a certain significance above and beyond trying to force a change of seasons. This quilt, "Bountiful", is one I designed and made last year and will be teaching as a class next Tuesday the 9th of October at this store. It also marks the inauguration of my foray into the business of publishing quilt patterns . . . under the name

simplehappy designs

To be perfectly honest, it took me almost as much time to make the pattern as it took me to make the quilt. But, that's OK. I've heard that's not unusual.

Did I mention that I have actually sold some copies? Wow ... will wonders never cease?

Pumpkin Patchwork

I am sorry, but could there BE a more darling way to segue into Fall? I don't think so. This lovely collage of pumpkin-perfect-pictures of my darling granddaughter, Miss Dub, was sent to our family blog with the caption "Pumpkin Patchwork".

So yes . . . I stole that too.

If I sew until my fingers are numb, I will never make a quilt as cute as this one. Forgive me, Mrs. Dub for all the thievery, but honestly, could anyone blame me?

I don't think so.

Going, going . . . gone.

It's almost over.
You know . . . Summer.

This was a weird year in that we had our "summer" vacation when most of the world was unpacking their sweaters. We came back from vacation and lo and behold . . . it was clear down in the 90's here in the desert! The mornings had a little chill and occasionally the temperature in the house actually went lower than the A/C setting. I started eyeing the fall decorations in the closet, but was wary of those triple digits rearing their ugly heads once again.

I am thankful that our summer went out with a glorious bang. I am thankful that our last memories of summer involved children, grandchildren, sun, sand and thousands of calories of restaurant indulgence. I am thankful that even though Arizona boasted record-breaking heat in umpteen different categories, I lived to tell the tale.

Goodbye Summer. Goodbye blister-inducing-steering-wheel. Good-bye baseball games and barbeques and beach bonfires. Good-bye monsoons and sunburns and pool algae. Some will be missed . . . and some will not. All will be remembered.

P.S. Thanks to PDaddy for the superb pics of a beautiful sunset.
P.P.S For more Summer to Fall transition reading (from a Midwest viewpoint) go here. You won't be sorry.