Goodbye January...hello.....

This month has flown by, but I acutally got my application in for the Quilt show in Bloomington in March. (More details to come). Annie and I have been knitting and painting and sewing and just making a total mess but it is so rewarding. She has an Art show in April as well.
Memphis and I were able to play in the snow and dig a tunnel though a big pile of it. That kid has tons of energy. The other night his Mother and I were saying we were too tired to do the dishes, and he said, "I'll do them, all by myself!"  What a guy, do you think he will still offer to do this when he is 16?

He such a good help in the kitchen!

Mother and Daddy are so cute! I took this picture of them with my new camera.
Santa was good to us all.

And we are having a great time with our new "stuff".

The Great Toilet Paper Conspiracy!

I am officially 60! I feel kind of free! I even wore a hat to the grocery store.
Christmas was great!. Memphis was so sweet and appreciative of everything. We gave him a 50 cent maginifying glass and he yelled," I've been wanting one of these!" Next week, I am off from work and Memphis and Annie have the whole week together. My sweet Mother and Daddy gave me a new camera. It is a Coolpix P510. I am in digital heaven. Smile, you may be on Amy Lue's camera. Annie has been cooking up a storm and it so yummy and healthy. I am so glad she likes to cook. We have had puppy drama, but not with the new puppy. She is doing great and has quadrupled in size. Sid was diagnosed with heartworms and was pretty much given a death sentence. We have been feeding him  liver, antibiotics, prednisone, and treated him with Ivomec for cattle. He has perked up and is feeling  more like his evil self again. We are hopeful to keep him going.

Now to The Great Toilet Paper Conspiracy. Have you noticed how toliet paper doesn't last as long as it used to. The amount of tissue on a single roll has been steadily diminishing for the past few years. But in the last 2 years it has been dramatic. The companies are now packaging it in 12 roll packs. Are you kidding me? My Mother never bought 12 roll packs. I never bought 12 roll packs. But it is impossible for a simple 4 pack to last more than a week. The cardboard center keeps getting bigger, the roll is looser and there just isn't much there. I believe they are just fluffing it up more and more and rolling it so loosely that you have to buy at least a 6 or 8 pack for a family of 2 1/2.  And the price of that 12 pack is 14 dollars. For TOILET PAPER?  Come on. I don't know the answer cause it's not like people are going to boycott toilet paper. We are way to far removed from the days of corn cobs and the Sears Catalog. You can't even get a Sears catalog. What are the college kids going to do for homecoming, and Halloween? Please, there has to be a way to get this back to a normal price for a reasonable amount of tissue. Write your congressmen, write your senators, write your toilet paper companies. We must overcome the great toilet paper conspiracy!

Well the countdown is getting closer and closer. I sort of stopped counting during the hot weather and some of my friends thought I would be making great philosphical insights.

We are the home for wayward women, yet again. I don't understand some people. How can they be so mean? We now have another Mommy, son and kitty.  Our home is almost full. But wait....Memphis has a puppy now.  Annie found a box of puppies outside the Dollar store. Luckily, she did not bring home all of them, just 1. I gave lots of ultimatums and she insisted she could handle it. I didn't want Memphis to see it unless she was sure she could take care of it. He already lost a puppy because no one would take care of it at his dad's house and I thought that was just MEAN.

One of my co-workers retired and we were all so jealous. I has been a crazy year at admissions. New technology that doesn't work and deadlines with new rules. And is just me or are the students .....well I guess I better not say that. My student went to a really tough school and it is harder that any other school. Blah, blah, blah.

I missed the Bull sale in Missouri because we had to work overtime. I was really unhappy about that. I WAS able to watch the sale online, and they announced it and said SOLD to EVERETT and JUNE PATRICK of BEDFORD, IN. That was really fun. His name is big Bubba...and boy is he ever big.  So handsome, strutting around the front pasture with his girlfriends.

Finally a "sort of" rainy day. Perfect time to learn to quilt! So if you live near Bloomington, IN, I will be teaching a beginning quilting class starting Sept 13th.
Here is my official poster for the class:

I am teaching a quilting class at Hobby Lobby Sept 13 and 20 at 6:30-8:00pm. Cost is $50. Hit me up if you want to sign-up! This will be from scratch piecing and quilting. All you really need is a needle, thread, scissors and some cotton cloth. No fancy gadets and pricey gizomos! Resuse discarded cotton clothing or purchased cotton.

SIMPLY QUILTING

USE IT UP!  WEAR IT OUT! MAKE IT DO! OUR DO WITHOUT!

Hand Piecing and Quilting for the Beginner

Thursday September 13^th and 20^th

6:30-8:00p.m.

Start from scratch with the simplest method of piecing and quilting.

Contact:

Amy Patrick

alpatric@indiana.edu

812-276-3714

Cost: $50.00

Cash, check or money order due at the beginning of the 1^st class

Supply List:         Scissors                     Straight pins      Needles(Betweens Size 10)    Quilting Thread

                                Pencil    Ruler    Thimble    

Fabric:                   1/3 yd. cotton fabric

Here is an opportunity to reuse old cotton clothing in similar weights. You may also

                                purchase at least 2 contrasting colors of cotton fabric.  Let me know if you have any

                questions about fabrics, supplies or unsure about what to bring. I will also have some   

scrap fabrics available for you to use.

View from a Cowpath - Countdown to 60: I can't believe it is time for school already. Our...

View from a Cowpath - Countdown to 60: I can't believe it is time for school already. Our...: I can't believe it is time for school already. Our college students are back on campus and the traffic is crazy and we have lots of students...

I can't believe it is time for school already. Our college students are back on campus and the traffic is crazy and we have lots of students all over the sidewalks. Unfortunatly, I am unable to sign up for a fall class, but am hoping to do some workshops.
 I will also be teaching some classes this fall. The first 1 will be "from scratch quilting" or I could call it sustainable. That is the new buzz word.
The old saying Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without, is appropriate for the class. I plan to have students use old clothes that are no longer wearable for piecing just like the old original quilts which were made from scraps or clothes to worn out to wear any longer. We will be using simple tools. No fancy rotary cutters or mats. Just the basics that would have been available back in the day.
I think it is important to learn how something is done from the beginning and then new techniques and tools can be utilized later.
It's like teaching people where their food comes from. We will not be growing and weaving the cloth but I will talk about that as well.
The venue has not yet been set, but I am working on that. I may also have some classes at my home if we get the studio ready soon.

Grandson update:

1st day of Kindergarten was something else.
Notice the Spiderman tie as he hams it up for the camera.
Daughter update:

Hanging out with the chickies. We are finally getting some eggs allthough they are quite small because most of the hens are bantys. But it's great fun and Memphis likes to cook them himself.
We are really dedicated to getting the studio ready for photography and other art projects for fall. The opressive heat just really kept us from moving forward this summer. But Memphis and I found a door, now we just need to get it installed.
Things are moving forward!

What a week. Crazy temps, drought, visitors from New Mexico, and still pumping iron. But I works. I was able to pick up the 50lb. bag of chicken feed and put it in the shed. We had a good visit with the cousins. I took them around IU and the "old home places" in the hills.
We now have even more roosters. Ruby became Rubin and very proud of himself I might add. He has been put in timeout by himself since he decided my leg was a snack. The other boys seem to be getting along okay. But our egg sources keep getting smaller. No one has layed an egg yet but they are doing a lot of crowing!

I finally got my grandson Memphis bedroom fixed. It is really cute. He calls it his office. I used my mother and dad's dresser and chest from their 1st bedroom suit, and painted it blue and red. I added decoupaged tractors to the top of the dresser.