Last for grads

These last two little bags wrap up my sewing of graduation gifts. Payton and Cash are twins and I've watched them play a lot of basketball and I've seen photos on Facebook of many fish, and hunting trophies. I'm hoping these little bags will be useful to them. 

My next project is a doozy... 

Mementos of Janice

I've been to 2 of the auctions of my friend Janice's estate.

The girls seem to appreciate my moral support as they watch their Mom's collections be auctioned.

I've tried to bid only on things that I will use 

and then it has been fun to work them into my household.

I picked up a couple of fat cardinal planters and found them a home on the kitchen window sill.

I also got an antique tool box that I just love.

As soon as I saw it on display, I knew I wanted it and knew it would work for all my greeting cards.

 The drawer is the whole length of the box, 

so I've got address labels, stamps and stickers stashed in the drawer.

Now I have a nice little office in the kitchen for my greeting card business.

All my greeting cards, store bought and my own photographic creations, fit in the top.

Once I got all my many cards in the same place, I got a wake up call about having way too many cards on hand, so now I'm on a mission to use up what I have, before I make more.

I also picked up a really old wooden divided box and found a use for it as well.

No one will see it but me in the 'junk drawer', but it's functional and I'm pleased.

There is one more old wooden toolbox, smaller, and I haven't quite come up with a plan for that.  I think it might become a sewing caddy, but for now I'm noodling on that idea.

I picked up a couple of jars of old buttons, I like to have those sitting around the sewing room.

It's nice to have a few of Janice's collection in use around my house.

She was a good friend and I miss her.

Update:  I worked Janice's wooden toolbox into my little kitchen office set up.

Looks like a matched set to me.

And I eliminated a bunch of stuff, and freed up a big basket so that feels great.

Catching up on the list

I've been sewing my graduation gifts this year.

There got to be a pretty good list of kids by the time all my invites arrived.

I had some deadlines with the local kids to be able to deliver a gift to their party, so those got done a while ago, but the Colorado kids got put on the back burner.

This weekend I had no commitments, yay! 

So, I spent some time sewing.

I made a cute little autumn theme bag for Kayla.

Inside the bag is a small sewing kit and an all purpose metal credit card style tool.

I hope she likes & will find a use for it as she heads for Xavier University in the Fall.

Davis is headed to Colorado State University with a golfing commitment.

I tried to find CSU Ram colors for his bag.  

(It was tempting to use the green and gold of our beloved Packers.)

Again, it has as small sewing kit and credit card style metal tool included.

These zippered bags are fun to make and pretty quick to do.

And, I like the idea of a homemade gift, as I was thinking of each of the kids as I sewed their little bags, wondering what use they might find for it, hoping they will remember that they have an extra button, safety pin and needle & thread if they ever need it.

So, graduation is finally done for me.

What's next?  

I have some ideas for more Danish Hearts motif runners 

so I guess I'll get cutting some red and white fabric.

So

So, not much news around here.  

No major wildlife sightings, unless you count the gray squirrel who was scratching himself so vigorously that he fell right off the deck railing.

I'm hanging close to home until I get some maintenance done on the car.  

An oil change turned into urgently needing new tires on the rear of my car and new tires turned into needing shocks and struts and alignment based on how the old tires had worn so choppy.  So, the shocks are scheduled for Friday and I'm trying to minimize my driving on the new tires until that is completed.  So, no baseball this week.  But I don't mind sticking around home either.

A walk around the yard to see what's blooming is nice.

Crinkled White Peony
My favorite

Lupines are taking over, but I don't mind.

Fancy irises that my friend's Uncle LeRoy gave me about 8 years ago.
Always a favorite.

Such a showy flower

The Hops are full and healthy.

 So, I had my annual Mammogram last week.  The new technology is called 3D Mammography.

There was a poster in the waiting room with Sheryl Crow announcing the benefits of 3D.

Less callbacks, better images, faster images, etc.

So, since Medicare pays for it, I had the 3D.

In all these years, I've never had a callback on Mammo, 

but this year, 

with the newer technology,

I got the call.

So, I've been back, had more images and an ultrasound of the suspect area and all is normal.

I took myself to lunch at Tokyo for a beer and some sushi to celebrate.

A call like this gives a person a reason to think about how it might go.

What if there is a cyst, a tumor, or whatever else could indicate need for further treatment.

Thinking about what would I do, would I ever consider radical surgery, intense chemo, other extreme treatments.  I'm not sure I would.

Of course talk is cheap when not faced with a real decision to make.

Hopefully I won't have that occasion for many years to come.

But that doesn't keep me from thinking about how I would manage those medical decisions if needed.

So, I think it's okay to have a sketch of a plan.

In the meantime,

Life is Good.

Fresh

It's fawn season in Wisconsin.  That sounds cute, but the roads take the lives of so many, that it's bittersweet.  Last night, I was headed to bed late and happened to notice the motion light was on out back.  The trail cam took this photo for me.  

This little fawn must be quite fresh, 

it wasn't very big as it walked almost right under Mom's belly to be safe.  

They mosied into the woods, I hope they stay away from the road.

It would be nice to think it will survive the fresh stage.

Talk about a surprise

I've been kind of having a quiet day.

I walked around the yard to see what was blooming, put some iris supports under the heavy blooms, pulled some weeds, helped the hops plant get hooked onto the ladder lattice, and just enjoyed seeing what was in bloom.

Then I came in the house, sat down to work on a crossword puzzle and listen to the news.

I heard a clunking noise and looked up to see this yearling climbing up on the front deck.

Yes, he was going for the bird feeder.

Before he left, he stood up and checked the bird house to see if it was a feeder.

So, 12 noon, this young bear is out and about.

Something to be aware of, I guess I'll put a note in the neighbor's mailboxes.

A surprise like this could be not fun if you outside and unaware.

Baseball Regional Semi Finals

It's not hard to note the difference between the LuckFrederic baseball program 

and the Webster program.  

You might notice the difference in uniforms.  LF has one uniform for home and away.  The Webster kids dress like major leaguers, with high socks and a spiffy uniform for home and another for away.

  Arriving at the ballpark in Webster on Thursday, 

you can see that Webster has invested dearly in their baseball facility.  It's almost like a minor league park with classy dugouts, big concession / restroom building and well maintained playing surface.  The pitcher's mound is the real deal, not just a rubber spiked into the dirt.  Having a famous former major league pitcher for a coach has an influence.  Not knowing, but I'm speculating that the Jarrod Washburn influence is responsible for most of Webster team look.  I noticed matching backpacks hanging in a row on hooks in the dugout too.  Each player having a matching set of gear, nice.

But even with all that first impression winning look, the Webster kids had to play hard to beat our team last night in the game that would end the LuckFrederic season and send the Webster Tigers on to the Regional Finals.

Runner on first, Jack Washburn pitching

Jack Johansen gets the bunt down.

Gage Johansen in his wind up.

Gage delivers the pitch.

Jack Washburn delivers the pitch.

Gage was the starting pitcher for the game and he pitched a good game through 4 innings.  Jack Washburn was pitching for the Webster Tigers and the two boys were well matched, giving up a few hits but also racking up the strike outs.  

Both teams played with confidence and after 3 innings, it was all tied up at zero.

In the 4th inning, Webster found their bats.  

They capitalized on an error with aggressive base-running.

I was sitting right behind 3rd base and saw the aggressive approach and it paid off for the Tigers.

So, after 5, the Webster team walked away with a 0 to 10 victory, but that score doesn't accurately reflect the kind of game this really was.

I'm proud of our kids, 

and I enjoyed watching this game on a sunny, warm evening on the last day of May.

Here are a few photos from after the game.

Jack and Mom Heather

Jack and Uncle Harold

Jack and Harold

Jack and Grandpa Kenny and Gage

Jack, Aunt Wanda and Gage

Kyle, Jack, Heather and Gage
I saw these shadows when I snapped the pic, but didn't think they would be this bad.
Owell.

Jack, Jude, Gage

Three J boys

Cousins Jack, Emily, Gage

Well, another season is over.

Now, I can catch up on graduation photos and other blog postings that are very behind

but first, maybe a short nap.

After my nap, I realized I had not posted any game photos, so now have added a few above so you'll better understand my description of the ballpark, etc.