THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

THE UGLY. I had my taxes done Saturday by a CPA. I thought this was the best way to go because we lived part of the year in CA and the other in OR and income taxes needed to be divided between the states. In addition to that was my recent retirement and the purchase of a new home. Oh my gosh, we owe so much more to the Fed's and States' than I had projected. Thank God that the Bush tax cuts are still in effect.
Sunday afternoon we experienced a real storm. I don't ever remember such terrible winds in my life. As my DH and I sat looking out the window we saw our beautiful tree leaning dangerously close to the ground. The root system was starting to bulge from the ground. At this time I can sit anywhere in our home and see the signs of spring and I would hate to lose that beauty. My DH grabbed his jacket and was off to the rescue. He took wood 2 X 4's to support the tree against the wind. At times the gusts were 75 mph. The sky was black and the thunder sounded like it was overhead. There was freezing rain coming down in sheets. The heavy rain and wind was over after about an hour but we lost our power. That was around 2:30 so my Sunday To Do List is carried forward to today. We didn't get power restored until after 11:00 p.m. I am grateful to report that our beautiful tree is still upright. Latest weather report, more high winds and rain tonight.

The BAD!!! The earthquake and tsunami in Japan is such a nightmare. As I watch the TV coverage my heart breaks for these people. I can't even imagine what it must be like to have everything around you destroyed and not know where your love ones are. I hope you will join me in praying for Japan and the people. We need to pray that God gives them the strength to overcome this disaster and that their leaders will have the wisdom and knowledge to handle the crisis in the nuclear plants. This disaster effects the world and we need to stand together.

The people of Bahrain amd the middle East need prayer too. Our world is in a bad way and I do think it's a strong sign.

THE GOOD!!! I went to an embroidery seminar and the presenter, Gail, works at the Viking dealer in Medford that is going to fix my Designer I. What's good about that you ask? She is taking my machine back with her so I won't have to make two trips to Medford spend the day waiting for the repair work to be done. At the price of gas this is a very good thing. My embroidery unit hasn't worked since I had it cleaned last year. I'm looking forward to having access to embroidering again. I am making good progress on my American Beauty quilt top and looking forward to starting a special quilt for my oldest grandson, Ben. We are doing well and very happy in our new home.

Praying God's peace for you and yours.

CIVIL WAR QUILTS

T.G.I.F. What a week it has been and I'm glad it's winding down. I'm so thankful for my quilting because it takes my mind off things I have no control over and an opportunity to create something beautiful for myself or somebody else. I've posted this quilt before and it's at the same stage of completion now as it was then. I need to quit it and I'm not sure what design I want to use. The fabric used in this quilt is 19th Century Reds.
So I'm searching the web for quilting ideas and I come across http://www.civilwarquiltsblogspot.com and found so much more. History was never a favorite subject in school but link it to quilts and it's a different story. I really like Civil War Reproduction fabrics. Not many of the quilters around here do, so I'm often on the Internet looking for fabric and patterns. My favorite quilt shop is Bonnie Blue. Twice a year there is a Web Sampler Celebration on the net which involves 12 different quilt shops around the country. It's very cool, check it out. Google Web Sampler and it comes up. I hope you will check out this interesting blog. I think quilting will have a whole new meaning for you.
Have a blessed weekend.