On the quilting front

A little fabric goodness showed up on my doorstep yesterday.



Two more charm packs in Pure by Sweetwater, a Whimsy jellyroll, and a Bliss jellyroll. Oh, and a yard of one of the colorways from the Pure line for sashing.

I didn't waste any time cutting into the two charm packs. ;)

And so these...

>

Became these...



Which will be added to these...



And hopefully very shortly I'll have another finished quilt!

I'm learning to love precuts. The last quilt took nearly 7 months of dragging out all the cutting. This one may just come together in a matter of weeks! After this... no more blue and brown for a little while. I need some color in my life! I think the two jellyrolls are going to be just right for that... :)

For a Cause

Let me just say that I don't jump on every band wagon cause that comes down the pipe. I just don't. My heart goes out to each and every need out there but... I just don't. No idea why.

This one though, this one is fun. This is doggies parading in costumes on the boardwalk so that other animals can find homes and love. Not that its any better than any other charitable need, its just every morning when Dex is trying to cuddle while I'm trying to get ready for work I'm thankful that God told me to go to the SPCA and get a cat that day. This cat was suppose to come home with me. This cat was mine before I met him. And I was his. He definitely picked me. I think this is a baby step toward parenthood but we won't go there.

And so, I've signed on with my sister to raise a few pennies for the good folks at the Virginia Beach SPCA so that they can get more animals into the homes they were meant to have.

If there's anyone out there in blog land who would like to help me, here's my website:

http://www.firstgiving.com/annajohnson3

I greatly appreciate anything and everything that you might be willing to give. Even an encouraging word. :)

OBX

But just for a day.

My bff vacationed with her family for a week in Outer Banks and I drove down to spend a day with them. I had never been to the beach there. It was beautiful. Totally different from the beaches here in the Hampton Roads area. I'm still pretty partial to my little corner on the bay but OBX makes a pretty awesome second. Especially when the ponies decide to make an appearance.

This is Amber, my bff, and her bf. And one of his bffs. Like the tween speak? It only comes out every once in a while. ;)



She and I together. The only pic I have of the two of us from that weekend.

More Route 127 pics

Here's just a few more taken on my point and shoot. The previous pictures were all taken on my DSLR.

We were pretty proud of our tent construction abilities. Less than 15 minutes, no instructions. Once a girl scout, always a girl scout.



Molly decided camping was kind of okay. She might be interested in doing it again

We found a pooch more spoiled than our own. Check out her doggie sunglasses!

Her owner told us she was a rescue dog. I'd say she's found her way home.


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Route 127 Sale

My sister and I traveled to Jamestown, TN, the first weekend in August for the World's Longest Yard Sale. The sale stretches along Route 127 from Alabama to Michigan and the main hub is in Jamestown. We've been trying to make this trip for a few years and this year things finally worked out.

We camped at Cherokee Ridge and headed south the first day and north the second day. Below are some of the more interesting things we saw on our trip. Beware: picture heavy!










Notice that this man had his dogs in one side of the box and his chickens in the other.







These kids raised $1,000 last year selling lemonade for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. They earned a brick for their efforts and are trying to earn another brick again this year. Such awesome and adorable kids. And super awesome lemonade.










While on our way back to the beach from Tennessee we stopped to visit some of my side of the family. Megan had come to visit me the weekend before, coincidentally, but the others I hadn't seen since winter break of '06. A lot has changed since this. Good, bad, and sad. But seeing them made it feel like it hadn't been quite so long.

This is me with my uncle, Ken. He's the older of my mom's two younger brothers. He drove up from NC on his motorcycle just to see me for 10 minutes before heading back to beat the sunset.



Here I am again with my aunt, Monica, and cousins, Gavin and Megan. They all belong to my mom's youngest younger brother. I hadn't seen them since before he passed away. It lent a touch of bittersweet to the visit. But just a small one.



And, my sister and I. She survived meeting my crazy side of the family. I actually spend a decent amount of time with her crazy side but this was her first encounter with the Blevins. Kind of weird to think about.

I have a signal!

Let me catch up on life while it lasts... bear with me this may get a little windy... its going to take several posts in a row.

Allow me to introduce you to my latest and possibly greatest bad idea...



I brought home a new monster...


I am SO not a cat person. However, I happen to have a cat dog. And she wanted a kitty. So yes, I bought my dog a cat.



Yes, I know how crazy that sounds. I did it anyway. His name is Dex. He's kinda cute.



And I kinda like him. Maybe I'll let him stay.

Here's the story...

I've known for a while that Molly needed a friend. I kept my sisters dogs for a week while she scrubbed the excess chemicals from the exterminator off her furniture that was making them sick. Yes, for real. The exterminator poisoned her dogs. And so they stayed with me. This is when I realized that the friend that Molly needs is not another dog. Well... that really told me my only other option is a cat. I might as well embrace it. So I decided to stop at the SPCA after work one day just to peak. They had about 50 black kittens and this one little siamese. He was kinda cute so I asked to interact with him. As soon as I sat down with him he flipped over on his back and showed me his tummy and started purring. My non-cat loving heart melted. I decided to fill out paperwork for an adoption but wasn't convinced the Siamese was the one. After completing the papers and signing on the dotted line I walked back into the kitty room and the Siamese started crying to me. None of the other kittens paid any attention. I was sold. And so he came home. And my family went from Molly McGee and Me to Molly McGee and Me and Dexter too!

Hurricane Earl

We survived. Just a little rain. Thank goodness.