Blast from the Past: September 2012

**Ooops.  I’m totally fine.  I had a scheduling error**  Here is the morning post.

I’m doing a little series of posts that feature old blog posts.  I have been going back and looking at them.  It’s been fun.  I started blogging in June of 2009…WOW.  Over ten years.  I’m so glad I’ve kept the blog as a diary of sorts…today I’m telling you about things I was working on in September of 2012.

On the quilting front, I had just finished up this quilt Blue and Gray from Country Threads.  I just love this quilt and still own it.  I would so love to make another only make it bed sized.  Hmm.  That’s a thought.  You can find the pattern along with many other great patterns in THIS BOOK.

I was busy working with recycled cotton shirts and had made this quilt, Hip to be Square.  You can find the FREE pattern HERE.

I was busy making… Pineapple Crazy blocks.  You can see the finished quilt HERE.

I was hosting a quilt along.  This was my piece.

Kelli was busy and had just finished making her Talking Turkey quilt top.  This is a Bonnie Hunter quilt you can find in her book String Fling.

Here is a young version of her dog Puppycat showing off the quilt.  Unfortunately, Puppycat is getting old and some decisions are going to need to be made about her health.  It’s so hard as dogs age.  The line between what’s humane is so hard.

Kelli had also completed the center portion of her Virginia Bound Quilt.  I just love this.  You can find the pattern in THIS book.

The biggest news of all on the quilting front is that I had just purchased my longarm quilting machine.  I bought an APQS Millenium.  I was waiting for its arrival.

I was writing that I loved the program PicMonkey for photo editing.  You can read the post HERE.  I still like PicMonkey.  Sadly the PC version has changed to a paid subscription.  I don’t afford it but Kalissa does so if I need something she typically does it.  I do use the phone version ap as that is still free.

I showed a picture of our FREE pattern School Spirit.  Find it HERE.  It was featured that month on Moda Bake Shop.

Then I showed how I used the PicMonkey program to edit the photo.

I believe I donated this for a school benefit.

On the family front…

Our son Buck had gone off and was fighting wildland forest fires in Idaho.

Kalissa was deep into Homecoming festivities.  Here she is in her outfit made of duct tape.  She even covered her boots in duct tape.

I hosted the cheerleaders at our home.

In the kitchen, I was busy making “Funeral Meat Sandwiches”.  You can find the recipe HERE.  If you want to know what funeral meat is…follow that link.

I shared a recipe for Chicken and Spinach Tortellini Soup.  Find the recipe HERE.

I was cleaning out the freezer and was making cow tongue sandwich meat for my husband.  If that’s your thing, you can find the recipe HERE.

At the farmhouse, they had poured a new spot for a fire ring.

Kramer and I were busy working on the landscaping around it.

The sad news was that our beagle Gracie was not doing well.  She repeatedly was at the vet.

I had written:
“This morning we called our vet.  They had two cancellations and could get her in.  I dropped her off this morning.  Shortly after I got home the vet called.  The tumor was egg-sized and on her kidney.  Her spine was inflamed indicating probably lymphoma.   We could have had her kidney removed but it would be quite invasive and risky only to have her live with lymphoma.  The vet didn’t give her long to live in that state and predicted more suffering.  We opted to put her to sleep.”

You can read the final post HERE.

Gracie was such a good dog.  She was my first beagle and the one who turned me into a beagle lover.

I vividly remember trying to negotiate with Kramer to try to get him to approve my getting a house dog.  Initially, he said no and I remember getting in a big fight over it.  About two weeks later I told him, “Either we get a dog or we do foster care for kids”.  He cheerily said, “Let’s get a dog.”  That was the start of house dogs and beagles for our family.

We all really loved her.  She was a rescue dog.  She was five when we got her.  We had her for 3 years before she passed away.  I’ll forever be grateful to her for winning Kramer’s heart and letting him see a house dog isn’t so bad.

…and that’s what was happening at the Kramer house in September of 2012.