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Life is never dull

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It’s been quite a while since I wrote anything. I fell last summer and injured my left hip and leg. Took almost all summer to get back to where I was feeling pretty good. I was busy transporting wildlife for Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Price, Utah. I must of put on close to 35,000 miles in 2023 alone. My Hyundai Santa Fe Sport decided to have an engine problem and I had to get the engine replaced. It spent months in the shop while we waited for a new motor to arrive from Japan and to get installed. In the meantime, my husband and his friend from Germany, while driving up to Canada, had a deer take a shot at my little PT Cruiser and after driving it all the way up and back, the engine blew as he was coming into town. It was totalled by our insurance and we were down to one vehicle. That vehicle had the engine light come on and it was in the shop while we waited for Dodge to send the correct part to the shop. That meant we were without a vehicle. So we borrowed a car and drove up north to the Hyundai dealer in Orem and picked up another Santa Fe. This one was a Certified New Car with a 100,000 mile and 10 year new car warranty that started from the mileage that was on the car when we purchased it. A model 2022 that is wonderful to drive for me but scares my husband because of all the technology it has. That was back in March of 2024 and I drove the new car to Wisconsin in April then to Illinois for the Solor Eclipse on May 8th. I was gone almost 3 weeks! I should have been home planting my garden but I had left seeds and instructions for my husband. He is definitely not a gardener and not only didn’t plant anything, most of what I had growing in my greenhouse died because he forgot to water the plants for several days in a row.

Fast forward to the end of May and I fell again. Again, on my left hip and leg but also my shoulder. I had x-rays done and nothing was broken but I tore the muscles, tendons and ligaments in my hip and leg really badly. My shoulder was just bruised and is almost back to normal. However, due to seeing a doctor that was filling in for my normal doc, I got some bad advice which made it worse. She referred me to physical therapy and after 2 weeks with them, things were progressively worse. Finally got into see my regular GP and he put me on bed rest which is where I am now. Things are starting to feel much better but it’s going to be quite a while before I’m able to garden or quilt. My projects are backing up every week. I tried to cut out a couple of blocks on my bed, but that didn’t last long. My hands don’t like the odd angle. I have a hard time just writing this blog. Luckily, my laptop accommodates my odd positions so that I can actually type without too much problem.

I am getting ready for my husband’s 70th birthday. It’s a Lord of the Rings movie theme and my girls have been receiving packages for the party from Amazon for the last couple of weeks. He knows it’s going on but has no idea just how over the top we’re gone. Should be pretty interesting to see his reaction when he gets there. He’s supposed to stay in Panguitch with his brother that morning so we can decorate without him walking into the middle of everything. Based on how well he normally listens to me, it’s going to take some creativity on his brother’s side to get him there. I’ve got to talk to his brother and make sure he can handle it somehow. I’ll try to get pictures of the party to share after the party is over in July.

Life is blooming….

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My garden is in full bloom, even under the heat! I have been fixing the parking strip and planting perennials there to help keep out weeds in the coming years. During the heat of the day, I have been downstairs in my lovely cool sewing room. I have bound 3 quilts, almost finished sewing together the setting parts of the 2021 American Patchwork and Quilting BOM. Still have loads of tiny squares to cut and sew together before it’s finished but it’s coming along nicely.

This weekend is the annual Gentry Cousins Family Reunion at the Sandberg Ranch in Widstoe, Utah. It looks like a very small turnout due to the cost of gas and food which I totally understand. I, too, have to budget my money in order to be there. But it’s a priority for me, unlike many of the family. We used to have a great reunion or so I thought until speaking with my oldest sister, Vicky. She remembers fights at those reunions amongst the grownups that were started by our mother. Doesn’t surprise me at all since she did it every time we had a family gathering that she wasn’t in charge of. She didn’t like to be out of control of everyone around her and often got into arguments with others over the tiniest of things. I guess she was mentally ill and my father was in denial about it all. Funny how the closest person is usually the last person to notice what everyone else can see, isn’t it? I have worked hard over the years to get to know a lot of my cousins but they just don’t want to make the effort to be at the reunions anymore so this year may be the last one I put on. Just not worth it if only a couple of families come. I will still be going to the ranch but not something planned. I like the quietest of the place compared to the city which is why I go there. National parks nearby and places to fish, hike, sightsee too.

Time to pack up the SUV. I need to get some cookies baked, salads made in preparation for the weekend. Plus a shower. I really need one after working in the garden all morning. You all have a wonderful weekend and I will share my latest quilt creation next time I am online here.

Life in the slow lane….

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Wow, it’s been a really long time since I last posted to my blog. No excuse except my laptop died and I didn’t have easy access to the desktop since my husband uses it all the time. He’s gone for the summer, so I decided to hop on and start blogging again. He is being a nanny for our middle daughter who welcomed a beautiful little girl a couple of months ago. Childcare costs for a newborn are enormous so he was asked to come north and live with our youngest while caring for the baby at the middle daughter’s house during the day. Food and gas are his pay. Pretty cheap since his vehicle doesn’t use as much as mine for city driving. He’s enjoying seeing the girls and helping them both out. We talk almost every day and I do see him once a month if I want to drive 3 hours to do so.

I have been busy working on my UFO lists. I competed the tops for 7 quilts in about two months and sent 5 off to the quilting spa. She has 3 of them ready for pickup when I get up north again. It’s over 3 hours to her house. I recently bought a new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine. I bought a Sapphire 930 that loves my Aurifil thread and is a joy to sew my projects with. Even the 100 Days of Christmas is getting finished using this machine due to how easy it is to sew tiny half square triangles on it. I am also working on the Lady Tulip BOM by Laundry Basket Quilts. I chose the precut version and I wish I’d known how easy it was to sew together. No waste scraps and easy peasy to put together. I have two more BOM coming up in August and September that will come from another online quilt shop. Can’t wait for them to start coming in the mail. I enjoy getting mail more than I ever did before. Must be the slower pace of life here in rural Emery County, Utah.

One of the downsides of moving far away from the city and into a rural community is that you have to drive quite a way to see family or friends. Doctor visits are combined with other errands too. Anything to save on the cost of gasoline right now. I pay anywhere between $4.99 – $5.29 for premium here in my area. So, it’s not cheap to fill up my tank. I even schedule visits to the local quilt shops on my days when I’m going up for doctor visits.

I’m currently working on my yard. Weeding, growing new flowers and vegetables to add to the garden, and designing a couple new beds that will help fill up the back yard and get the weedy areas taken care of. I planted a cutting garden that is about 10 feet by 12 feet. I planted 107 different bulbs and tubers. Mostly dahlias and laitris but I also put in peonies. I have lots of seed to get spread down for the front strip along the road. We put in tulips and other bulbs last year, but the weeds are taking over so I want to get the wildflowers that are perennials going in there to take up the spaces between the bulbs. I really dislike weeding!

When I’m not outside weeding or planting something, I’m downstair working on current project. Right now, it’s a Jen Kingwell BOM that I took a class on at Quilts, Etc. in Sandy, UT. My sister, Laura, took the class with me and mine is almost done where she is just getting started on her pieced blocks. I even cut out several of the months for her! Funny how we all have different ways of getting things done. She works for other people and does a lot of charity quilts. Her personal quilts get put to the back of the list all the time. I am working on one project of someone but that’s it. Once it’s done, I will probably not do any more quilts for others unless it’s family. I’m finding it really hard to do handwork due to a disease I am dealing with. If it gets resolved and I get my mobility back in my body again, I hope to do more. As it is, I have donated several bins of fabric, scraps, books and kits to the Navajo Quilt Project. I hope they were able to use them all. I may have more before I’m done too! 30 years of fabric accumulations means I have more than I could ever finish in my lifetime!

I hope life doesn’t throw too much at me in the future and I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

We All Need Time Off

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It’s been quite a while since I wrote anything. My life has been so busy with my volunteer work for Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Price Utah and with our house and my health. Yup, life has been one thing after another. Isn’t that how it is for everyone? I don’t know anyone who hasn’t faced something during this past year or so. The Covid 19 pandemic has really thrown a wrench into the plans of everyone. Not being able to travel outside our states in some places and to any country due to lockdowns. Wearing a mask that makes it impossible to tell if the person is smiling or not has really been a hard one for our children and seniors. Now that there are vaccines available, people are slowly getting back to normal.

I have been recovering from foot surgeries. Finally wearing shoes again. Now it’s neck pain and back pain injections to help me have a better quality of life. I can finally walk around the block. Something that most people take for granted has been out of reach for me for years. I am so thankful for medical advances that made it possible for me to walk again. Life is to be lived, not watched passing you by.

One thing that has not changed is my quilting. I have been working on several Lori Holt patterns, doing challenges online with a group of quilters from around the world and following Moda as they do the Sewcialities quiltalong which is a weekly post and pattern. I finished the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Grassy Creek. It’s on my pile of quilt tops waiting to be quilted. One of the most time consuming projects I’ve ever done! I’m also working on a project that I purchased back in 2004 when Don was deployed to Iraq with our son, Mathew. I never got one block done then. Must have been too overwhelmed with the kids and life to get to it. Now I have 3 blocks done, 2 more to go! Then lots of applique for the sashings and borders. Don loves it and says I had better get it done and hung for people to see as they enter our home.

Don has been busy working on the basement. He’s almost done with the drywall part. Next up is mudding, painting and flooring. Then building shelves for my extensive fabric collection and floor to ceiling book shelves in the family room for our books that are about all that’s left in our storage unit. I have been starting seeds for preparation to plant in our garden. Flowers so far but today I hope to get another grow light and heat mat that will help me start the vegetables that will go out early. Life is never dull and if you are doing it right, never boring!

I hope I can add a couple pictures to this blog so you can see the wonderful birds that we have seen this past winter. Life has been so lovely here in Orangeville. We have beautiful scenery right outside our neighborhood. Deer walk through the streets and quail visit our yards all winter long. Song birds have been singing and making life in lockdown so enjoyable. I wish you all could live where I live or in a similar place. We don’t need big cities to enjoy life! Nature has it all!

Time for change….

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It’s been a tumultuous year. Our planet has been hit by a virus that started out in China and spread throughout the world in the first global pandemic since 1918. The death count here in the US was orginially projected to be over 3 million but has been revised to under 500,000. Still a lot but not the catastrophic amount that was first projected.

We are wearing masks as a way to feel safe but I fear that is only a feel good measure. If you are meant to get it and die from it, you cannot stop it with a piece of cloth. Those pushing for masks said differently years ago but fell to the pressure put on them by the radical left of our country.

We have been having riots. Neighborhoods burned to the ground. Civil unrest like no other since our own Civil war between the states and all because one side did not like how the presidential elections ended up. We have lost the ability to have rational discussions. Our media lies to us. There is no way to know what is true anymore.

On top of all this, the West is burning. Wildfires have devastated whole towns and millions and millions of acres of forestland. Nature is having it’s way with us. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and torrential rains that flood millions of acres in the deep south and the eastern side of our country. Yet, we all keep fighting against each other. It’s time for change. Winter is coming. I’m praying for the worst winter ever to hit the entire world. I know that sounds horrible but only nature can undo what man is doing. Winter seems to bring out a side of people that they don’t let out any other time. People are more helpful. They worry more about their neighbors. It’s like that scene in Ghostbusters where they had to sing in order to stop the Pillsbury dough man from destroying the city. That’s what needs to happen. Time for change….

Summertime and the weather is hot!

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It’s been a while since I posted here. Life has been so busy. I have been transported for the DWR in our state, plus getting more involved in the Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Price, Utah. Never realized how much my time would be taken up by transporting when I started.

My husband retired back in March and we decided to move closer to Price. Well, several house viewings later and a couple of offers, we are still trying to more. The house we got our offer accepted on has had many issues crop up as the VA required inspections for pest and for mold and water damage. Renters had flooded the basement several times and there is now black mold growing somewhere so we are waiting for the remediation to finish to find out if the owner is going to pay for the removal of the mold. If they don’t, they will have a house they can’t rent or sell so I really hope they agree to paying for it. In the meantime, I have kept busy packing up our stuff, mostly my quilt room, and transporting. I’m also busy doing bird photography. The birds here in Utah are really awe inspiring!

A couple weekends ago, I took a trip with my girlfriend, Delores, to the Northern Railroad station in Ely, Nevada, to meet up with Dirt the cat and to ride the railroad. It was a great day! Dirt was wonderful and the wild horses we saw were beautiful!

We also drove through the Fish Spring Wildlife refuge and saw a number of wild horses on the way home from there. The sun was just starting to set and the light was not the best but we loved how beautiful they were. Unfortunately, in August, the BLM and our state officials are pushing to remove 2/3 of the herd from the west desert of Utah on the premise that they are ruining the land. However, we that have been involved in this for a while know that it’s for oil exploration and for more cattle and sheep to be put out on the same range. Our government needs to have a wake up call. Joe Q Public is not being told the real story nor is it being told right in the newspapers. A sad day in Utah when we put big money before the icons of the West.

Goodbye Pepe!

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This past week my husband and I were hit by a distracted driver as we were turning on a green turning signal light. The side airbags deployed, a rear tire was busted and part of the bumper was removed. Our insurance company didn’t even try to repair it. They made it a total loss due to the cost of repairing the airbags and the worth of the SUV. They didn’t know the memories we had in that little guy. Over 120,000 miles were put on during our many road trips across the country and the rescue trips I made to take injured wildlife to the rehab center down in Price or down to Best Friends to take fish or other animals for them to take in permanently. We went on our 25th Anniversary trip in Pepe. 23 days alone with each other as we traveled all the way to the Outer Banks of South Carolina and North Carolina. Pepe took us to Washington state, where we visited our extended family there. He also took Don and his friend, Gary, all the way to Calgary, Alberta, Canada and back in four days. Pepe was a very dependable little guy. We kept him serviced and just about 2000 miles ago, I put on winter tires while on a trip down to Albuquerque,  New Mexico, in a bird transport trip. He also took me to many quilt meetings, shows and retreats. Our last trip out of state together was to the Oregon coast for our 26th this past Spring. We were gone 13 days. Memories that can never be replaced or relived are all we have left of Pepe. May he rest in peace.

Welcome – Little Nicholas

After spending the last few days recovering from the accident, we took ourselves to Low Book Sales to look for a replacement. We tried out three different SUV’s, looking for a comfortable ride, seats that fit us and good gas mileage. We ended up with a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Same color as Pepe, but more space and more economical on gas. The Nissan Rogue and one neither of us can remember were the other SUV’s we tried out. We wanted to stay close to the same amount each month. Hopefully, we may get a better financing deal through our credit union. Our daughter works for it and thinks our credit is good enough to get a lower payment with Gap insurance included.  

Once we get some light, I will take some photos of our Little Nick and get the hands free blue tooth set up so I can talk as I drive and be in compliance with our hands free laws. Need to see if I can get my SiriusXM added on too. I can’t wait to start making memories in Little Nick too!!

Quilting adds meaning to my life.

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Years ago, when my youngest daughter was two weeks old, my sister invited me to my first quilt guild meeting. I was entranced by the designs and how lovely the other quilters were to each other and newbies like myself. I joined the Jordan Country Quilters and remained a member until they disbanded almost 18 years later due to the older quilters dying or joining groups closer to their homes. It was a sad day for me when I heard that not one person cared enough about this founding group of the Utah Quilt Guild to keep it going. They had over 80 members at one point but as quilters age and the younger ones took over, the sense of history and continuity was lost. As a younger quilter with six children, a husband on deployment four times in 10 years, I wasn’t able to do much in the guild at the time. I had a leadership position in the Utah Quilt Guild and could not do both. I was saddened to hear that the outgoing president didn’t think it was important to keep going. Make me wonder to this day if they were as committed to their position as they should have been to accept it in the first place.

I looked around for a while for a new group to join and ended up joining two. A day time group and one that met twice on the third Friday of the month. Both are totally different in the way they operate and I enjoy them tremendously however, due to my wildlife transportation trips, I had to scale back to the one that meets twice a day on the third Friday since I could get to one of their meetings on a more regular basis. This group is extremely involved in charity projects too which is something I really love about them. We take a break in December so that we can spend time working on our own projects which is why I have time for the 2018 AQS Christmas Countdown challenge. Last night, I finished block 5!

 Today I will be working on block 6 of the 2018 and catching up on the other three years so that by December 25th, I will have 100 blocks done! Can’t wait for this one to finish because I love finished projects, don’t you!! I’m loving the glossy colors of the #Aurifil thread that I’m using for my blocks and that stiletto is a must for keeping the tiny points together as they move under the foot of my machine. Love quilting!! 

Barn Owl

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Over the summer I took several juvenile barn owls down to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Price, Utah. Today one of them came full circle in that I was able to pick it up and release it at the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It came from the Lee Kay Gun Range in West Valley City so releasing it here was a good choice and a hopeful boost to the genetic diversity of the local barn owl population. 

Block 4 of 2018 AQS Christmas Countdown

I have finished Block 4 in the 2018 Christmas Countdown challenge from AQS! So far I have kept up and I’m doing blocks from the three previous years so that by December 25th, I have 100 blocks done and a quilt top almost finished. All in Red and White fabrics which is a first for me. I’ve done a blue and white as a wedding quilt years ago but it’s been a long time since I worked only in two colors. I am looking forward to putting it into a show once I get it done! 

Sunset from the Salt Lake City Cemetery tonight

Winter has set in this week and our sky is looking smoggy but it does make for interesting sunset pictures.  Hopefully we’ll get another storm that will clear out the pollution. We live in a fishbowl and during the winter it gets so bad we have red burn days which mean the air is so unhealthy we are supposed to stay inside. 

Time to get back to quilting!!

Monsoon weather

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Today I took a lovely little white Ferret down to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, from the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter. It was a biter that had been returned to the shelter several times due to its temperament. Thankfully, there is a person who is a ferret expert that lives and works at the sanctuary and they will be fostering the little one until it’s deemed safe to adopt out. If I had to live my life in a small cage, with dogs barking around me and people poking at me, I’d be biting them too. Ferrets love big spaces to run around in and companions to play with or they get a bit of a temper. Much like a child that is kept indoors for days on end, they want attention and play and lots of space to run around in.

I saw several Turkey Vultures sunning themselves in the trees along the road in Mount Carmel, Utah, so I pulled over, jumped out, and walked back to take a few pictures in the cold drizzle that was hitting our state. Turkey Vultures, Mount Caramel, Utah, 10-4-18

I also saw a lot of migrating Swainson’s, Ferruginous and Redtail hawks clinging to the top of posts as they waiting out the inclement weather. I even saw a juvenile Golden Eagle hunkered down, waiting for the rain to let up.

 

Juvenile Golden Eagle
Juvenile Golden Eagle
Redtail Hawk

The weather didn’t give me great photos but it’s not often I see Goldens that close to the road. They usually don’t stay long on the poles and this one flew as I pulled up to take it’s picture as did the Redtail. Typical behavior for wild birds.

The weather has become like our normal Monsoon fall weather. Rain has been coming down throughout the state, causing flood warning in many areas that were hit by fires earlier this summer. It’s put out the fires that we still had burning for which I’m thankful. I will be posting pictures of the areas that were burnt along Highway 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon. It’s pretty sad to see the devastation.

I got home to find a package waiting for me with the three quilt books I’d ordered from Fat Quarter Company. Two Pat A. Sloan books and the Christmas Fig BOM book also the 80 weight Aurifil thread that I’m going to try out on my applique. If I like it, I will be ordering a few of them!

Tomorrow I will be finishing a quilt that my daughter and I made for a wedding. It’s a Spooky Courthouse Steps quilt. Wedding is on Sunday, rain or shine, outside at a campsite in Big Cottonwood Canyon. My daughter told her about the quilt so that they can have people sign the label as they come to the reception. It’s going to be a lasting memory of their special day. I’ll post a picture of that lovely couple with their quilt when we gift it to them. I hope they love it. First time my daughter and I have made a quilt together but I see many more in our future, come rain or shine!!!