Time keeps rolling on....

I can't believe it's September already. I had an incredibly busy summer.

I planted a beautiful garden.
Part of the squash garden came up early from seeds of last years' plants.
Mark and I put a cover on it this year, to hopefully protect it from the deer. It worked pretty good right over the tomatoes, because of the sticks. But right in the middle, where they could press the netting down,they still reached the plants on the end and ate them. I'll outsmart them next year. I didn't harvest a ton of stuff. When I came back from vacation, the squash looked like it had developed some disease and started to go downhill from there.

After recovering from the shower, I spent most of June baking cookies for my niece's wedding. The wedding was July 16, and I was determined to finish baking by the end of June. The plan was to have time to work on the quilt I was making for their wedding. Of course, other things interfered, like doing my job, and still doing PT for the foot. I spent one entire morning buying tickets to go and see Paul McCartney in August. But I digress.

I made about 230 dozen cookies. I baked 58 dozen ladylock shells. I took photos so I could make a tutorial on how to make ladylocks. Eric and Zack and Gretchen (Zack's girlfriend) filled them and made them cookies. Gretchen and Zack made oreo balls in exchange for thumbprints for her sister's wedding. (Her sister got married the day after Madeline). Eric iced 14 dozen Maid of Honor cookies for me because my hands were cramping. My mother-in-law made 46 dozen cookies (she's the Pizelle maker). My other volunteers made another 100 dozen cookies. I also made mincemeat cookies in remembrance of my mother (our traditional Christmas cookie). Needless to say, it was a successful cookie table at the wedding.
(This is one of three tables) I would do it differently next time, like traying the cookies myself so they'd all have a container to go home in.

In the meantime, I was working on a queen sized quilt for Madeline and her new husband Zach. Her husband is an artist and has made quilts for Madeline and his family. At the rehearsal dinner, he made prints of two of his paintings, one of the church and one of Stone Harbor and they gave them to family and friends they as a special gift.


At one point I had hoped to finish the quilt before our vacation at the end of July. Clearly, as time went on, it became quite clear I was going to be hard pressed to finish the top, while I was baking cookies. My friend Jenny offered to help me out by cutting and sewing while I was baking. So for two afternoons, she came over and spent about 10 hours of her time, sewing strip sets and cutting 2" segments. When I finished making the cookies at the end of June, Jenny came and helped me lay the blocks out.

I started sewing blocks, because everything was ready to sew. Because of her help, I was able to take the top on vacation with us and present it to Madeline and Zach. They loved it. It was a beautiful moment, and when I started to tell them about the quilt, and why I chose the colors, I got all choked up.


So we spent a fun vacation at Sea Isle City this year. It's a busier place than Stone Harbor but it's still the beach and we had fun. I had my first mani and pedi with my sister Patty. Of course I chose fuchsia for my feet.

In August, after arriving home, I went to see my Cardiologist who is monitoring my cholesterol and he told me that because my Apolipoprotein B number is low, I don't have to worry about being as aggressive about my high LDL since I can't tolerate any of the drugs they give me. I promised to exercise, lose weight and keep improving my lifestyle and made an appointment for next year.

On August 18, 2010, Paul McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center (the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins). I'll miss the Civic Arena for its' unique looks, but not for concerts. Beautiful new venue for the Penguins. Paul was awesome and I cried several times during the concert. One was when he started to sing "Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you..." It just brings back my entire childhood. Then I cried when he sang the song he wrote for John Lennon, and again when he was singing the Long and Winding Road. It was fantastic, and Paul McCartney is quite a showman. The movie screens on each side of the screen make you forget he's the size of a peanut on the stage. I loved it.

Finally the weather has broken. We can open our windows at night and there's a small breeze coming through. I'm busy cleaning up my desk today so I can finish the other border on the quilt and then start quilting it. Now that I've given them a glimse of the quilt, I'm anxious to finish it.

Have a great day.