Where Does Time Go?

I've had a couple emails from blog friends lately, wondering if I'm okay since it's been awhile since I last posted.  Yes, it certainly has!  And I really don't have much of an excuse--or reason--for not writing other than not having enough time to do everything I want to do and the need to prioritize.

I'm continuing on with the diet and exercise program, and I've been meaning to write to tell you how that's going--maybe I'll do that this week.  Work's been going along nicely . . . or at least as nicely as work CAN, but I'd rather stay home and play of course!   And on the quilting front, as I mentioned to a shop owner recently, I seem to be spending a lot more time BUYING quilting supplies than I'm spending on the actual sewing.  (She was fairly happy to hear that, although I'd sure like to be able to spend more quality time in the Sweat Shop!)

BUT, I have been doing a couple little things, like the two Country Homecoming house blocks for this month . . . although I'm late doing those too.  I told our group that I planned to post yesterday, but once again, time got away from me.  Still, better late than never, right?  And there were a couple other participants who were lagging a bit too, so I'm not alone.

First up are Imelda's houses.  I like the way she switched up the fabrics for the top sections (eves?) on the fronts of the houses.  Cute idea to dress them up a little more!

Next are Sharyn's two houses.  Both are lovely.  Last month her houses looked like Halloween and Christmas; if I had to put a month or season to these, I'd say maybe August for the beachy tans of the first one and July for the reds and blues in the second.

Next are Tina's two houses.  I see a little bit of a similar color theme here between hers and Sheryn's houses, since Tina has the red in the first and the more neutral, beachy colors in the second  Lovely!

And here are mine.  My colors are a little brighter than Sheryn's and Tina's.  For the second house, I originally had lighter colored doors and shutters, but they didn't seem to go well, so I had to replace them.  And I think I might need to add a window box or something to the first house--that one window on the bottom looks a little blank and boring.

Now, let me give you links to two other house-builders, Nancie Anne and Tanya.  Both of them have displayed their houses beautiful on their blogs.  Tanya has also posted some great quilted pouches for Secretaries' Day gifts--love those!  Too bad my boss doesn't sew.  One of Nancie Anne's houses has a nice double window that I might need to copy soon.  AND she's posted a display of the whole neighborhood so far--it's fun to see how we're doing now that we've hit the half-way point in our house construction.

I hope you're all enjoying a happy Easter.  I'll try to get back soon and post again.  Thanks for visiting!

Nothing From Scraps . . . Or Anything Else!

It's late Sunday night and I thought I should post SOMETHING so you all know I'm still here.

First, thanks for the well wishes on our upcoming grandparent hood.  I wanted to respond to your comments, but I got hit by a stomach bug Monday night--"hit" is a really good way to describe it, too, because the stomach pains were fearce.  I had to go to work Tuesday to get some things done, but in the afternoon, I came home, and I stayed home on Wednesday as well.  For a few days, I didn't feel like doing anything that I didn't have to do, and getting on the computer was one of those things I just didn't do much.  After that, I felt a lot better, but it seemed like I spent what was left of the work week trying to catch up, at work and at home.  (Poor Hubby came down with the bug a couple days later too.)

It's hard to believe, even for me, but I didn't do one bit of sewing all weekend.  Yikes!  Someone check to see if I have a fever!  Seriously, though, with spring weather arriving in Northern California, I had spring chores to do that kept me out of the Sweat Shop.  Me and all my weedy enemies spent some quality time together out in the yard both Saturday and Sunday.  Then there was the remaining spring/Easter decorating around the house to finish up.  And do you know what probably took the MOST time?  Toward the end of the work week, my friend Missy got me interested in a recipe or two from Cooking Light magazine, and that led to me re-reading a few recent issues from cover to cover, planning out meals for the week ahead, grocery shopping for the things I need, and then doing a whole lot of cooking, trying out some new-to-me things.

Cauliflower soup, for instance--it really doesn't SOUND that good but it was; AND it made good use of a head of cauliflower that had languished in the refrigerator for the last week or so.

Cherry, almond, and ricotta scones for breakfast.  Yum!

Cranberry and pistachio energy bars--cut up, wrapped up, and ready to eat on the days I have CrossFit.

Edamame dip--it's kind of like a pesto with edamame all blended up, and it's great for dipping veggies.

And there were several other things as well, but I don't want to bore you to death.  But for those of you who DID do some scrappy sewing for Scrap Basket Sunday, please link up and show us what you did--because there's certainly a lack of quilt content HERE right now!


I hope I'll get back into the Sweat Shop this week, because I certainly have a LOT of projects that need to be worked on. Thanks for stopping by!