When will I be done?

Last night I canned 23 small jars of banana peppers, only 1 didn't seal. It took way longer to do because of all of my distractions. This am i canned 9 q tomatoes and 2 didn't seal. I dislike when the jars don't seal.

So, i'm going to stop counting jars and i might be done canning for the season. i still have tomatoes turning red but i'm feeling like i'm done.

canning :(

Ok, so we all know i am a touch crazy for canning. i am a touch crazy for every craft i get into and when they all happen at once i go major crazy. i ordered a bushel of peaches thinking i had a week between canning my tomatoes and the canning class on tomatoes but it turns out that the peaches are coming on MONDAY! they will come after VT and before a baby shower. one of my friends came friday so we could can together and she decided that it would go a whole lot faster if i just put the tomatoes in a jar and processed them. 15 q plain tomatoes on friday. there are more tomatoes coming every day in my garden and i'm to the point that i didn't even go out and pick today. it is like i'd rather not know what is there to be done.

i worked on my crazy messed up quilt today and all i have left to put together are the boarders. i'm making it a crib size and it is deffinatly a boy quilt except i put a paper doll material in that is all girl. i might rip it out, i think i'll still do that tonight. i am taking my doll quilts to CC tomorrow to show a friends' mother-in-law, says she will go crazy for them.

james had a scout campout and bike ride today. let's just say that i'm surprised he was still walking. i'm not sure he will make it to church tomorrow. i went in to check on him at 8:30 and he was sound asleep. he did find a bike for me somewhere close to where he works. this is a good thing. i've not been on a bike in years! speaking of bikes, i need to put his in the garage...

Adoption

Many of you know jams and i are trying to adopt. tuesday i spent 2+ hours searching a website looking at children who are legaly free for adoption. i stumbled upon a sibling group of 3 and LOVED them. the middle child reminded james of me. as i read the bio i cried. as i talked to james about the children i liked, i cried. as i talked about the children the next day to friends i cried again. then i got a call from the site and they informed me the children are still available for adoption and gave me a number to call.

i called the number and the lady said "oh, i think you are to late, they were chosen this morning and are no longer accepting homestudies". of course i was crushed, i still am. However, the good or bad news is there is a set of 3 siblings but they are some medical challenges. that is pretty much all i know. i don't know race or gender. i know where they live and the age of one of the children. There are more people i need to call and way more paperwork that needs to be completed. Red tape, i am swimming.

a give away

http://macyaugustus.blogspot.com/2009/08/4500.html

cute purse!!

what is a scrap?

i should take a pic but i have not the time. hehehe, not really, i just don't want to walk upstairs and take one.

how big do you consider a scrap of material? some say a fat quarter. I say 3/4 " X 3/4" is the smallest piece of material i will use, sometimesit is considered a scrap and sometimes it is the size of a piece for a block. actually even that statement isn't true. I will use 1/2 " and make very scant hems. i love making doll quilts out of scraps. it is my newest passion. i also enjoy making quilts out of scraps but find they become SO heavy because of all the hems.

I want to know what you all think but i don't know how to create a poll on here.

my dog

This is my crazy dog. would you believe she forgets to jump at times? for instance, the other night my husband took her out and on the way back in she forgot to jump up the front step. totally smashed her face into the concrete porch. we are surprised she still has teeth.

we also think she can't see very well. we feed her treats by tossing them on the floor and she gobbles them up. yesterday james was feeding her goldfish crackers and she had such a hard time finding them. you'd think she'd be able to smell them but sometimes that doesn't even work.

i love her anyways! beautiful dog.

elephants

i made an elephant for a friend back in Feb for her baby shower. it is the cutest thing but everytime i sit down to make another i forget how it is put together. monday i cut out 2 more and have not had to rip anything out, before that i think i had to rip off an ear. the elephant before that i only had so much material and after i had everything cut out and laid out i realized one ear had to be sewn on upside down. james noticed it right a way but no one else has looked that close and maybe no one else will.

so a lady asked me to make her 2. it has taken me 6 months to do so. now why is that? because i lost my pattern! but please, is my craft room that messy~ yes, yes it is!!!! not only is sewing set up in there i've got scrapbooking, card making and quilting going on. so i've resolved to not go to joanns or hobby lobby or hancock fabrics. i will only purchase material when it is on sale at quilt shops or when i need something to finish a project.

i need to work on my red/white and my blue/white and finish them. they are to cute to let lay around as tops and i'll get to practice machine quilting as i do it. my question about machine quilting is: how does one go about tying off the ends of thread when one is done with a line or squiggle and you don't want a continuous line on the quilt? a bit wordy? sorry. backstitching shows, knots show so what is one to do?

is anyone interested in a quilting bee to hand sew a crib quilt i'm working on?

more pickles yesterday

After going to bed around 1130 again i'm still tired. the thing is, this am i didn't wake up at my normal 730, i woke up at 824. my first thought was "poor dog" second thought was, mom hasn't called me. so i took care of the dog and went to check on mom and she is sound asleep. (20 min. later not asleep anymore, i just heard her close a kitchen cabinet.)

my friend did come yesterday. we canned 24 pint for her and i got 5 pint from her cucumbers. it was a good day, took 4 1/2 hours. she only cut herself twice, one was pretty bad but said she didn't need stitches. realized i've been hot packing my cucumbers and peppers this summer. that is a NONO. i've got wiggly veggies now. james said it doesn't matter, he sometimes likes a softer pickle so not all is lost. why do i make directions waltz in my mind instead of line dance like they are written?

i wanted to take a break from canning for a while (i'm sure you can guess why). then i checked my email and a different lady from church has requested help with her canning because she only started last year and isn't confident enough yet (which i totally understand) to do it by herself. another reason is she doesn't own a canner. of course i emailed her back volenteering my services. i so love to can and it is because i know the joy of having just the right abount of salt or sugar in something and knowing i made it. knowing what is in that jar and not having to ask someone else to pronounce a big long word and asking what it means. anywho, i'm not taking a break even though i should. i will slow down but not stop!

pickles

yesterday i canned 13 pint of pickles and 9 pint of zucchini pickles. it took all day. i went to bed at 11 and got up at 530. tomorrow i will can pickles with a friend from church. in 2 weeks i'll teach a tomato canning class here at my house. i want to can beef next. actually, next i need to organize my basement storage area.

mom had her surgery today, it seems to have gone well. i dislike the inconvience of perscriptions not being signed and therefore not being able to be filled.

i've been working on "my messed up quilt" and a tiny quilt made of cast off quilt scraps.