No pictures today.  As stated earlier Tom & I celebrate our 50th anniversary on the 12th of September.  Our sons have decided that we need to celebrate so they are planning a dinner at our house on this Friday.  So guess what I'm cleaning house. 😫😫.  I don't clean house.  I'd rather be sewing.  So far I've mostly cleaned the dining room and entry way.  With Jeremy's help I transplanted a couple house plants and added dirt to the others.  It is 1pm & I'm probably done for the day.

The sons are planning on making Herring Taco's.  Good food.  Lot's of work.  

God Bless my sons and their wives.

Time to start using this blog.  It is a good way for me to have a history of what's going on.

In a few days September 12th Tom and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary.  UNBELIEVABLE!  What a great privilege that I've had sharing my life with him.

I usually spend about 3 hours a day piecing quilts. I haven't used my quilting machine in 3 years, shame on me.  I'm afraid of my cussing machine (Tom calls my machine by this name).

This would be a good place for me to document my quilt tops.  So I'll start with this one.

I bought this pattern when we first moved to Kansas from a quilt store in Manhattan Kansas.  Mom was with me that day.  I miss having Mom to share my quilts with.  Julie and I do share the quilting passion.  This picture was taken at a quilt guild show and tell.

Well enough for today.  cathy

Hopefully this will be the rebeginning of my posting to this blog.  I turned off the air conditioner and opened windows last night.  I'm sitting here listening to the wind gently blowing through the tree branches. I cleaned off the table for the quilting machine yesterday.  Hopefully I'll put a quilt on the machine today.  I add this opening statement after I posted the 2 pictures.  Not sure why it wants to center this part of the blog.  

Should have posted this weeks ago.  We had to let Nellie go on August 9, 2019.  We still are missing her. 

This is a block from Block Head II.  I had to make this block twice.  The block is 18.5 inches.  My 1st block was not big enough.  My sister Julie has already finished her blockhead II quilt.  Her quilt is done in Halloween fabrics.  Me, I'll never run out of thimbleberry type material.  Most of this block is made out of Kansas Trouble material.

 These are 3 blocks from Overbrook's BOM pattern by Pat A Syta.  I'm going to complain, the bottom 2 blocks I had to take apart and redo to make them the 12" blocks.  It is hard to take a pattern that is basically designed for a 10" block and turn it into a 12" block.  I had to make my seems 1/8 instead of the normal 1/4.  On the top block I used the wrong pieces at the wrong time and had to search my scraps to correct my error.  I've really struggled with these 3 blocks.  Now for the positive!  I'm loving these red, white and black blocks.  I think that they will make a beautiful quilt.

This is my first block for the 2018 blockhead.  This year the blocks are different sizes.  This is a 12" block and it is block 6.  Hoping to start on block 5 today. I have been spending some time in my sewing room.
Gardening is mostly trying to keep everything watered.  We really need rain.  1st of July's water bill was $150 higher than last year.  I should just let everything die - but there is a lot of hard work out in the vegetable and flower gardens. Yesterday we had a short rain shower but I don't think it was enough to even register in the rain meter.
Yesterday, was Sunday.  So Tom and I visited Mom.  She was and has been really involved in the conversations the last few visits.  I don't know what has facilitated this change but I'm so glad that I've been able to see this.  Yesterday I could tell that she probably has a cold coming on.  Hopefully she doesn't get the summer cough that so many people have had.

Should have put this at the top of this post.  Last Tuesday the adoption papers were signed!!!  I have loved these 2 from the beginning as I know their parents do.  Getting to the signing of the adoption papers seemed to take a long time but now it is official they are Shepard's.

 I love the laciness of this lily.

 This lily is actually orange.  Near the redneck pond.

I tried to only have one of each color but I duplicated 2.  So 9 different colors and not all of my daylilies are blooming yet.  I get so excited with each new color and where I planted the lily.
Today watered the south and west beds next to the house.  Today's temperature is suppose to be in the high nineties.  Tomorrow over 100.  Too hot for the end of June.
I also weeded a strip of the vegetable garden and mowed on the rider.  Didn't accomplish much today but I was outside for a couple of hours.
Steven mowed around flower beds in the front and the south bed also.  Then he and Tom put up the pool.  We didn't put up the pool last year But I think that I'll use it this year if we continue to have this hot weather.
I sewed for a couple days this week.  I was trying to finish the mystery quilt from Overbrook class that Julie and I took in May.  I'm almost done with the rows, there are 9 and then I need to sew the rows together and then there are 3 borders.  Still hours of work to do.  Tonight is quilt guild.  I don't have anything new to share.
We visited Mom on Sunday.  We usually do.  Leland goes to church with us and then he asks whose turn it is to chose where we will eat.  And he reminds us that we visit Grammy after lunch.  Mom greeted Leland when we went in her room but she didn't really converse with us on Sunday.  Sunday's become a long day for us.  Took Leland home after 3 and then we went back to church at 6:30.  Pastor Don shared pictures, etc of his trip to Cuba.  We are so financially blessed.  There is a lot of poverty in Cuba But Don shared their strong faith in the Lord Jesus.

 Today I discovered that there is a 3rd color of these similar daylilies.  Pictures later.

You can usually smell this oriental lily from across the yard.  Several more blooms to come.  Bed in the middle of the bed with the clematis.
I didn't work outside for long today.  Tried to pull some bind weed.  I have said it before I HATE bindweed. Hoed some in the vegetable garden.  The mammoth sunflowers are up and a couple inches tall.  I'm trying to convince Tom to plant the rest of the mammoth sunflowers on the north side of the shed.  He and Steven cleaned that area up this year.  Except for planting more sunflower seeds I'm done with planting this year.
I weeded under the tomato plants in the big garden yesterday and I'm paying for it today.  Lots of chigger bites everywhere.  I don't know why they love me so much.
It has looked like rain all day.  But we the few sprinkles that we received aren't worth mentioning.
Ayvah and Malachi are here this evening while their parents take classes for foster care to keep their license current.
Time to cook dinner.  6:20

 Daylilies are starting to bloom.  This daylily and orange echinacea are in the east small bed on the west side of the house.

 West side of house.

 Another picture of lilies in the tub near the redneck pond.

 Asiatic lilies in the north bed.

Wisteria finally planted in the new bed.
Today I finally planted the last of my vegetable garden.  I planted 2 rows of green beans.  Wonder is there is enough time for them to grow and mature?
Have a new blister on my right thumb from hoeing in the vegetable garden.  Need new picture of the vegetable garden.  Most of the garden has straw covering the ground.  BUT the grass and weeds grow up and under the straw.
I will never know why I wanted to plant such a large vegetable garden.  But with Tom's help and Stephen, our hired helper, we have a larger garden than we have ever planted before.  Tom has most of his stock tanks planted this year also.  We are in desperate need of rain.  My water bill will be beyond scary.
I have tomatoes, peppers, beans, okra, squash, melons, pumpkins and sunflowers planted and all are growing with a promise of bearing lots of produce.  Tom goes to farmers market in Auburn on Tuesday afternoon and if the garden produces an abundance maybe we will do the farmers market in Burlingame this year.  Both are really small farmers markets.  The Burlingame farmers market is late afternoon so maybe I can stand the heat.
Leland was here on Friday and Saturday.  He spent the night and went to church with us.  Pastor Don was out of town and Tom preached.  Tom's sermon was on fire and I could tell that it wore him out.  His sermon came from the "Lord's Prayer".
Ayvah was here on Saturday while her parents went to training to keep their foster license current.  Josh & Kate say that they have asked the foster system for a baby.  July 13 they sign adoption papers for Ayvah and Malachi.  Our 2 youngest grandkids will be come official on the 13 of July.  It has been a long process But oh the JOY.