Happy Birthday to.......ME!

Today I am blessed to be one year older. I like to spend my birthday with my dh Bill. To reflect a bit on this our first year together was in 2003. It was a mild spring day on March 18, 2003 and we decided to spend the day fishing at the pier in our neighborhood. We did well catching fish, enjoying each other's company and making the day special. Many people would have been upset with the day, because we sat through a misty rain most of the day. The way we looked at it was we were together, no one was bothering us and we were enjoying the day fishing. We have repeated several birthdays fishing, but none was as special as that first birthday we were together.

We do try to spend my birthday together. The place may vary, but one constant is we talk about our life together.

Bill supports me with my love of quilting. He encourages me to do what I enjoy doing and to be with people who also enjoy quilting. If it wasn't for Bill I would not be working for Batiks by Design or going to National Quilt Shows or designing again. He also makes sure that I don't overextend myself. I have the tendancy to work too hard to please others and forget to take care of my own needs. I love Bill for taking care of me (and my parents when I am gone).

Today was a totally different birthday for us. I woke very early 4:19am. We had an appointment for 9:15am 65 miles away from home. I was also concerned about today's weather, because we were to get thunderstorms and lots of rain. For the most part the bad storms and heavy rains did not happen where we were, but it was very windy. Our appointment went well, but we won't really know the results of it for a while.

On our way home we stopped at our favorite local restaurant to have some lunch. A man from our neighborhood was also there and sat to talk with us for a while. We are neighbors, but don't see each other often. To make this long story short we spent several hours talking. We got home just in time to make some baked potatoes and grill some steaks to enjoy a family dinner together with my parents.

After dinner we drove down to the lake. We could not have fished from the pier today even if we had the time. The lake is up over the pier and the waves on the lake were white capping. With all the rain north of us I think they will need to hold the water in our lake to allow the flooding above the dam to go down. This makes us happy, because fishing is usually better during a flood and for the summer after a flood.

Tomorrow it is back to work. I think we will be assembling some kits and cutting fat quarter for the April shows. Stop by the International Quilt Fesival at the Batiks by Design booth # 1241 & 1243 to meet both Patti and myself. The fesival is April 11-13. We will also be set up at the Kentucky Oaks Mall during the AQS show in Paducah, KY, but I will only be there thru Thursday April 24.

See all of you soon.

Peggy

March Snow

Spring was in the air. Trees were turning red with buds and the daffodils along the road were blooming. We saw our first robins since late fall and the blackbirds were entertaining us on the way to town with their flying group acrobats. I would wake up early to daylight and it was lasting until after dinner. All the usual signs of spring.

Since moving to western Kentucky back in 1984 I have witnessed another usual sign of spring many times over. That sign is a heavy March snow. Usually it is wet and sticks to the trees and true to form we were blessed with a nice March snow Friday. Here is a picture of what our snowball bush looked like Saturday morning. I should have waited until the sun was shining to take the picture, but I was afraid a wind might blow the snow away. It was very pretty, but the snow is now off all the trees. Some still remains on surfaces that are protected from the sun.

Bill and I cleaned the snow off the front deck yesterday after breakfast. Unfortunately the snow shovel handle broke, but we did get most of the snow off the upstairs deck. Our dog Tipper
had laid on the snow right at the front door. Her body heat melted the snow enough to create ice.

My DH and I told my dad it was there and that he should not go out via their front door, but to come downstairs and use our front door.

Needless to say he did not listen and when he went out he fell as he was trying to close the sliding glass door. I was in the shower at the time and Bill thought I fell. So he checked on me first, I was not the one to fall. When he went upstairs he discovered Dad laying outside at the icy spot on the deck. Fortunately he only hurt his right elbow. Both Bill and him said he has grooves in his elbow to match the grooves of the door frame. I thought Dad would be sore today, but he is fine.

We thought Tipper would be a small dog, because her mother is short. Here she is as a puppy.



She laid under the saw horses as Dad and Bill were building her dog house. She quickly outgrew the dog house, but the cats could hide from her in there. She was soon too tall to even crawl through the door to get to the cats.

Bill is now home from fishing with a broken line. Does that mean he had a BIG OLD FISH on the line???????

Need to go get some work done.

Peggy