holiday timezzz buzz by

These past few weeks have gone by in a blur. We did manage to dig out the three decrepit bushes at the front of the house and plant a more native bed. Here are some shots of Ian and our helper on the project.





I also finished the 100 blocks to my quilt several weeks ago but am not keen on how they look together - verrry busy. I'm waiting for some inspiration on how to make it a little easier on the eyes before actually sewing them all together. I'm thinking of breaking up the pattern with some solid strips or something. However, I think I will just put it on hold for now since I'm also not keen on investing in more fabric at the moment since Ian and I are going to Italy in April and trying to cut down on extra spending until after the trip.

Texas is crazy

It was 75 earlier today and now it's snowing!!! What the h?

east side sketch

Home invasion, shooting leads to massive search

06:52 PM CST on Thursday, November 6, 2008

KVUE News

AUSTIN -- Police sealed off an entire neighborhood near Highway 290 and Cameron Road Thursday where heavily armed SWAT officers lead a massive search.

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I hope this doesn't become a trend. Thankfully it didn't originate in our neighborhood, but the truck crashed off Berkman after a police chase. I actually went jogging that morning with Barley before my neighbor told me what was going on and that police recommended we stay in our homes.

Cupcakes for Obama

For an election night potluck we went to Tuesday.

Weenkin

The pic is pretty dark but Ian's Boognish pumpkin is on the top right.

Quilt'n

Well, I started my 3rd quilt a few weeks ago. I hope I'm not crazy - especially with work/life being so busy the past few months. Some friends started a monthly craft night and while in Ginger's I became possessed and bought a bunch of fat quarters and a quilt pattern. It looks pretty simple - Yellow Brick Road - and since I haven't done this in 3 years and may be biting off more that I can chew, I felt safer with this pattern even though it's not too exciting. I eventually want to do a quilt out of the Denise Schmidt book I have, but hers are based on xeroxing patterns and tracing the shapes and I prefer my rotary cutter and Omnigrid rulers.

I've done most of the basic cutting and stitching of the blocks these past two Sundays, now I just need to start stitching the bricks together into more complex patterns.

People always seem impressed when they learn I'm making a quilt top. I had someone ask if it involved a lot of math. Someone else remarked that you probably save a lot of money making it yourself versus buying it at Anthropolgie or wherever. Not really. In fact if you want something that will last a while and be pretty soft, it's not exactly cheap to make. Really, it's about working on a project that you can see progress on quickly and have a sense of accomplishment. Also, I'll have something unique that no one else, even myself, could replicate. The hardest thing for me about quilting is not about the actual stitching, it's about making decisions about fabric. I'm strangely indecisive about this part - it's such a commitment and if you suddenly decide you don't like it half way through - well, i don't want to even think about that.

After washing the fabrics, I began the basic cutting.

My least favorite part - ironing. Although it's not too painful to iron fabric versus collared shirts...

I think the main reason I haven't done another quilt is space. We've been in apartments and unless you have space to leave things out it's too much of a hassle to take out your supplies and then put them away. Now that we are in the house, I can actually set up my sewing gear in the guest room and leave it out until I'm done!!! Or until we get our next guest.

Pinning the first strips - right side down, of course.

First stack of sewn & pressed strips.

Cutting in action. I cut a few fabrics slightly too short at craft night (I was cutting on my hands and knees on the floor while chatting with friends, drinking wine, and fighting my cat allergy which is not really an ideal atmosphere) and was afraid I'd have to buy some more fabric. Thankfully the pattern allotted for a little extra on the end.

The best part - the fabric! I love all the tiny patterns, particularly the vintage-inspired patterns at Ginger's. I love the mom & pop fabric shops in Austin. I got some fun patterns at Gingers but needed some basic solids so the quilt wouldn't make me dizzy. I sadly discovered nearby Hancock Fabric on airport no longer exists, so I chose to brave Joanne's versus the much hated Hobby Lobby that's closer. Joanne's only had about 8 colors of quality fabric to choose from - the other 100+ colors were not 100% cotton and were super scratchy and thin-looking. Plus I had to wait for about 25 minutes to get the 2 bolts of fabric I finally found cut. I have to agree with Ian - he has bad memories of having to go into Joanne's as a kid with his mom and even thinking about going into the store makes his head start hurting.

First round of cutting & stiching is done.

This always helps.

Barley tried to keep me company, but kept laying in the most inconvenient spots like the one pictured below. He kept resting his head on my feet which I usually try to take advantage of since he's not the most cuddly dog, but not this time.

Goodbye mud pit

Okay I lied, most of our backyard is still dirt, but this weekend I put in our second plant bed thus taking another dent out of the mud pit. The main challenge was just figuring out what to do with all the random plants I had accumulated and what to cover the bed with. Ian wanted the crushed granite and after going back and forth I decided to go with mulch to give it some contrast from the patio. It turned out better than I imagined it would! It's interesting, because I wasn't planning on doing any yard work this weekend with threats of Ike's impact on Austin, but when Saturday came and there was no sign or rain or heavy wind, it was really the perfect time to be outside. Really the only impact we had from Ike was about 10 minutes of rain, late Saturday night. Sunday morning was so cool and breezy, being outside was actually enjoyable for mid-September in Texas.

We tried to stay with native plants and finally planted the succlents my mom gave us 4 months ago: 2 aloe veras, 2 spanish daggers, a taller cactus and a pencil cactus that I split into several bunches. I bought some dwarf fountain grass, four-nerve daisy & silver ponyfoot to help fill it out. I'm curious to see what the ponyfoot does since I've never worked with ground cover before and it needs well draining soil. I don't think our Blackland prairie is the best at drainage....

Here are some pics.

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Here's the area between the house and the patio. There used to be a weird tree/bush here that was way too close to the house that Ian removed. This was a problem drainage spot, so now when rain spills over the gutters, it won't pool up here.

Here's a before pic - it's the area on the left.


Barley was my helper this weekend. Although we had to put him inside a few times so he wouldn't run out while the gate was open.

time for a margarita on the patio

Our patio is finally finished. We started adding flagstone about 2 weekends ago and Ian put on the finishing touches last night. We still need some rain to help pack down the crushed granite, but for now, we are done.


All these DIY projects are definitely a learning experience - particularly this one. Ian figured out the easiest way to do it after we'd already done over half the flagstone. He was tempted to rip up the first half and start over, but I think we'll see how this looks for the next month or so to see if we really want to redo any of it.

A few other things we learned during the 'experience'..... The particular rock we (i.e. I) picked out was extra thick which meant it cost more and was a huge pain to move around. We also dug out more dirt that we needed to and had to fill it back in. Poor Ian did all of the heavy lifting and rock placement since with my injured finger I couldn't do much else but fill in the cracks with granite.

Weekend 1: after digging out the area, we got the rock and crushed granite and began putting the puzzle together.



Weekend 2: actually leveling and filling in around the rocks.



Yesterday: finishing the last sections and packing down the granite.



Stay tuned for our next projects. I'll be working on turning the rest of our mud pit backyard into something a bit nicer and Ian is focusing on a fence that will provide us with a bit more privacy than the current chain length.

Who would dare build a pergola in the August heat?

we would.

Thanks to the planning skills of my dad, we were able to build a pergola on our back patio in a weekend. It was a serious family project since Bob also helped out. Thankfully we were able to work well together and no one yelled or stormed off:)

Last week I dug the post holes after work in the evenings. My folks came up Friday night and we actually put the posts in so the concrete could set overnight. Saturday started early with a hearty breakfast made by yours truly and then a trip to home depot with the giant trailer my dad brought.

Saturday morning

By the time Ian got back from his test (which of course he passed with flying colors) we had almost framed the top of the pergola.








Saturday early afternoon






We got about 85% of it completed by the time it got really hot around 1:30pm. The rest of the day was spent with a dip in the new Mueller Community pool, an early happy hour (of course), and then watching the American Olympic swimmers secure the first gold medals of the games.

Sunday morning

We just had to finish securing the rest of the slats which took just under 2 hours (the final one took some finagling).



Admiring our handiwork......



In about 2 months once the treated lumber has had a chance to dry out a bit, we'll stain it a rich brown color. Ian and I are excited to start extending the actual patio with flagstone and then finalize the top terracing level.

Mexican wedd'n

We visited San Miguel de Allende for Morgan & Josh's wedding in late May early June and I wanted to share some pics. It was Ian's first trip to Mexico and he's definitely ready to visit again.

Although a little Americanized, San Miguel was a wonderful experience. Cobble-stoned narrow streets, fireworks at all hours of the day and night, naps in a hot room with no A/C, hammocks on the patio of the Casita, hidden interior gardens, deserty botanical gardens, ATVing......