. . . distractions . . .

. . . here's the thing . . .

. . . there are times when 

you just need a little distraction . . .

. . . maybe you're going through 

a stressful something . . .

. . . or a painful something . . .

. . . or a monotonous something . . .

. . . or a neverending something . . .

. . . in that case, a change of pace 

can be just the ticket . . .

. . . maybe you jump in the car with your besties . . .

. . . and maybe you head for 

the happiest place on earth . . .

. . . that's right ~ 

the orange county marketplace . . .

{followed very closely by the newly discovered tai pan in rancho cucamonga, might i add}

. . . then, maybe, just maybe . . .

. . . half-way through the drive . . .

. . . you need to stop for various reasons . . .

. . . including, but not limited to:

•refueling

•potty breaks

•fresh diet cokes

•reading material, perhaps

. . . may i suggest reader's oasis books . . .

. . . located in the heart of 

beautiful downtown quartzsite, arizona . . .

. . . look! there's my friends 

vicki {in black} and amanda {in pink} . . .

. . . they're checking out the mags {25¢ ea} . . .

. . . or maybe . . . 

. . . just maybe . . . 

. . . they were trying to get 

up close and personal with paul winer . . .

. . . bookstore owner . . .

. . . and nudist . . .

{look ma! no tan lines!}

. . . talk about your distractions! . . .

. . . deluge = blessing . . .

. . . rain = wonderful . . .

. . . wind = big, fat mess . . .

. . . pine trees = pain in the neck . . .

. . . rake = necessary . . .

. . . geraniums = pummeled . . .

. . . worms = drowned . . .

. . . me = grateful . . .

. . . let's talk about . . .

. . . burlap . . .

. . . rough, itchy, scratchy, burlap . . .

. . . {supposedly} trendy, chic, all the rage in the decorating/craft world burlap . . .

. . . i don't like burlap . . .

. . . and i was a little peeved when the project runway contestants . . .

. . . were required to "dizzign" something out of potato sacks this week . . .

. . . oh, sure ~ they dyed/distressed/ruffled/pleated . . .

. . . but in the end . . .

. . . whoopsie . . .

. . . it's still just ugly old burlap . . .

. . . blitz . . .

. . . he's the seattle seahawks' mascot . . .

. . . isn't he precious? . . .

. . . and here he is in official logo form . . .

. . . we all know that dads love football . . .

. . . well ~ one dad of a sweet, soon-to-be-born baby girl 

loves seattle seahawks football. . .

. . . a lot . . .

. . . so ~ now he can burp her in style during games . . .

. . . extra points to me for creativity this time! . . .

. . . two words . . .

. . . yard work & binding . . .

{fine ~ technically three words}

. . . well . . .

. . . remember december? . . .

. . . that was the month of sorely neglected flowers . . .

. . . january was the month 

when i tried to make it up to them . . .

. . . by completely filling the green barrel 

with weeds, fallen leaves, 

topiary clippings, and dead blooms . . .

. . . after hard work comes the reward . . .

. . . what could be better than a trunk show? . . .

. . . with quilts crafted by real pros? . . .

. . . starting with . . .

. . . "here's the scoop" . . .

. . . dang! i should have written down 

the clever names of these masterpieces . . .

. . . love the checkerboard sashing . . .

. . . "modest dresses" . . .

. . . pink & black dresses . . .

. . . aprons . . .

. . . embroidered christmas wreaths . . .

. . . "my favorite things" redwork . . .

. . . something about "the gall" . . .

. . . "out of the blue" . . .

. . . argyle . . .

. . . lovely christmas star . . .

. . . patriotic stars . . .

. . . amazing knots . . .

. . . and holy cow . . .

. . . check out this little appliqued floral number! . . .

. . . thanks for sharing, sal and glenna . . .

. . . then, we, the amateur quilters from harmony park ward 

held our second annual drive-by quilt show . . .

. . . for the viewing pleasure . . .

. . . of whoever happens to pass by . . .

. . . think anyone would notice 

if a quilt or two turns up missing? . . .

. . . i love to see each quilter's interpretation 

of the same pattern . . .

{check out the spider web quilting!}

. . . i had nothing to show last year . . .

. . . this year was better . . .

. . . i managed to finish eight projects in 2009 . . .

. . . binding and attaching hanging sleeves 

on four of them in the past week . . .

. . . for those keeping track {me = sore fingers!} . . .

. . . that was 1530 inches {127.5 feet/42.5 yards} 

of hand stitching . . .

. . . so, to sum up . . . 

. . . what i did on my blogging vacation . . .

. . . yard work by day . . .

. . . stitching by night . . .

. . . thank goodness new seasons 

of trash television have begun . . .