So far...

Just two more setting triangles and I'll be done. I wish my green corners for the churn dash blocks stood out more, but oh, well. I'm still loving it.



But, I have to put it away for a while and work on that baby quilt. February is getting closer and closer and I'm still 12 blocks shy of a quilt. And, 4 of those have to be drafted before they can be sewn. (I secretly love a good challenge, although I'll complain as much as the next quilter about one).

The tree guy came yesterday to look at the trees and quote some pruning. We are very pleased with the tree guy. He's very flexible and we tell him what we want and he tells us how close he can get to that without making our trees look like something from a Dr Seuss book, with odd branches left sticking out in strange places. And, we do what he says. He comes every year during the winter, which is his slow season (he calls it the season of beans and rice) but it's the best season for cutting trees back and I don't understand why nobody else around here sees that. But, it makes for good prices and quick service because we're in the "off" season.

He's going to cut a lot back. The huge old ash in our back yard has grown over my one sun-loving flower bed and while I won't enjoy the extra water it will take for the next couple of years to keep it beautiful in the heat, the beds should look fabulous for the extra time in the sun. It's a trade-off. In three years the tree will have grown back over the beds and after a couple of years struggling to get my sun loving plants to grow in shade, I'll have him back, cutting over it again.

Our tree guy is a real, grown up hippy; long hair, goatee, year round sandal wearing, surfer dude. But, he's also very involved in the neighborhood association. And, he's a good enough business man to offer a cash discount. And, we have him in every year to cut back something on our shade covered lot. We're just too old to climb trees without the right equipment and he has the right equipment. He was giving us advice about an elm tree yesterday and when I explained I could still climb that tree and cut limbs, he was absolutely understanding of my attempt to save a little money. And, he knows we take good care of our trees and I think he appreciates that.

The prices have gone up and that's starting to edge up against my new carpet budget. So, I'll need to get to carpet shopping soon, before I find something else that needs repair and takes a bite out of what I have saved for floors. We've gotta have new floors. I've used my steam cleaner to keep those old carpets going long after their expiration date (the previous owner installed the cheapest carpet he could get on a really poor pad, just to sell the house, and that was 11 years ago.) I can hardly wait, even though we're doing our own removal so we can clean the slab before they lay the new flooring and that's going to be a lot (LOT) of work.

But, it will be so worth it. Did I say I can hardly wait? It's like looking forward to cmas all over again. Good thing we're not doing anything in the sewing room. There's about as much stuff in there as the whole rest of the house; looks like a hoarder lives there, except I'm not. Well, maybe a little bit, but not all the way.

Take care and have a great day. I'm working my buns to a crisp trying to prove something everyone else says can't happen. How do I get myself into these messes? Lane