Pin It Weekly #320

Happy Weekly! I hope you are enjoying your week. We are set to vacay in Galveston soon. It's a family (the whole family) vacation. So I thought I'd look at some art that would help me get into the mood of beach, sun and water. These are from my board abstract art paint oil pastel prints

These are pins from a quick search on Galveston Island.  

Have you been to Galveston? It's a lovely island that packs lots of fun in a little space. Many of those places are within walking distance from our hotel. Of course, because it's sitting on the Gulf, I'm looking forward to seafood--shrimp, crab, oysters. YUM! What is your favorite thing to do at the beach?

Weekend Work

This old hand-crank
pump was the impetus.

Richard and I have been busy in the yard. He wanted a water feature in the back yard to entice the birds. More birds. Apparently there aren't enough. 


So what the heck. I made it quite clear that I am not willing to pull grass in a flower bed that we had abandoned years ago. 








Richard: But everyone can see it (the abandoned flower bed) from the patio.
Me: Why does that matter? Look at the yucky mess the birds made ON the patio.  (They throw seed on the bricks. Some they eat; the rest sprout. Or rot.)
Rich: I'm going to clean that up. 

Water, water everywhere.

Me: I think that sounds familiar. And I am the one who power washes the bricks. When it (the pressure washer) works!
Rich: I am going to fix that power washer.
Me: Hmm.
Rich: Okay, so here's the plan. 
I sat down.

Thirty minutes later I was still sitting in my retirement chair. (The rocking chair given to me at the retirement party.) And he was still making his argument, telling his plan, and otherwise keeping me from going into the studio. 

Plenty of flowers and shrubs for the birds and hummers to enjoy.

In the end, he won. Of course, it wasn't much of a fight since I may have wanted the same thing as he did. I just wanted the work completed on my timeline--fix the pressure washer, clean the patio and move the bird feeder, clean the flower beds we already have, build the water feature. That order is important.

The Knock-out Roses he planed on the side.

My thinking is that if he runs out of steam and quits, at least the work that has to be done will be done. He wanted a water feature.

Kale and Swiss chard from my sister, Laura.
 I like mixing veggies in the flowers.

Milly running around with Duke.
We do enjoy the yard.

The House of Horror

Do you remember that our middle son's family is living with us because their house got sick with mold and essentially died? Remember that they had to leave and abandon everything? 

Our house is under reconstruction, yep, mold. We had a water leak, the water seeped into a wall, the wall soaked up the water, mold stuck it's dirty hands in our house. 



Eventually we discovered the water and began the search for the source. But that was after the wall had sponged up all it could take. The gaping holes in my bathroom, closet and foyer match the concrete floor. Water seep under the floor in the corner between the toilet and tub. How does that happen? Anyway that spot was super-icky. 

In a flash the kids were gone, piled into their SUV like sardines and working to find a place for the night. Poor little Marley was in tears until all of her dolls were safely in the car. Ella, of Elf on the Shelf fame, had to stay since no one could touch her, but she found Marley later that night, so no doll succumbed to the mold. 

Anyway we called in the pros and they have been quite helpful. Thus far they've dried out the walls, torn out the sheetrock that was molded, and made several calls to the insurance and environmental guy who is to tell us how sick our house really is. Right now, there are huge dryers (humidifiers) that are keeping the house warm and toasty in this cold wet weather we're getting.

Richard and I have relocated to our camper and are pretty comfortable. Adam, Jen and Marley have borrowed Will's family camper and made themselves at home. It's bigger than the two bedrooms in our house where they've lived for a year now. There's a slide-out for the living area and two in the "bunk house" which Marley claimed for her dolls. So I think they are going to be okay as well.

Richard and I don't need as much space. That is, until workers begin installing sheet rock. That dust may put me out of the house entirely. Right now clothes are draped over chairs and benches. I was forced to take everything out of the closet, so today I went through every piece and made smart choices. 

Some sentimental things have even found their way into the donation box: graduation gowns, a suit our boys wore for weddings when they were small, pieces I really liked. 

I'm trying to figure out how to contain the dust and grime that are always present during construction. At least, how to keep some of it off clothing, books, and surfaces. 

I'm also trying to put a positive spin on this minor disaster. It's just a few rooms and I get to redesign our very small master bath and closet. Richard has been very helpful in that regard. 

He assures me it won't take very long since he can hire Adam's guys, and our boys will pitch in as well. "We help each other in this family," he reminds me. Ah yes, family. We have family to lean on, and that is enough.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Waterparks

Summer is here and waterparks are an important, fun way to spend a summer day. These pins are from a simple search not a particular board, but you'll see that there are plenty of rides, slides and pools from around the world and everyone makes for great fun.

Disney World FL

Bali

Beijing

London

Dubai

Ohio

Bulgaria

Gulf Shores AL

So scary that I couldn't look long enough to determine the place!

Summer themed quilts are always fun...

Happy Summer! I hope this inspires you to make a summer themed quilt. You can find these and many other on my "heart, quilts" Pinterest board.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: M U D

Mud? I know, it's not something that most of us would consider a good thing. Maybe when were children playing mud pies, but not likely as adults today. 

But if you've seen pictures of the flooding in South Louisiana, you've seen mud. Muddy furnishings. Muddy clothing. Muddy appliances.  All sitting on the side of the street waiting for dump trucks to haul it off. 

And you've seen lots of muddy water. Water is naturally muddy here. Slow moving and muddy in bayous. Fast moving and muddy in rivers. Not moving and muddy in swamps. Every body of water seems to be muddy, especially when stirred up. Rain water stirs up the mud. 

It's all very sad for the families who have lost everything: homes, jobs, vehicles. Thankfully, help is arriving slowly; volunteers are pitching in with the cleanup. People are able to begin to rebuild their lives. But in the middle of it all is the mud. 

Stinky, smelly mud that will soon begin to rot and carry disease. Muddy water in every hole or bowl-shaped object breeding mosquitoes, which also carry disease. Mud pies may have been fun play when we were children, but it is not pleasant to victims.

But mud can be inspiration for creative endeavors, not just mud pies.  Here are ten quilts that could easily have been inspired by Louisiana mud. 

Please continue praying for the tens of thousands of displaced families who are still battling the mud and water of the floods. They need your help. Should you choose to donate money, please choose carefully. Two safe nonprofits are the Louisiana Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society (CAAWS). In both cases you can include a note with instructions that your money is to help flooding victims.