Tuesday Tidbits - TUSAL is Not a Misspelled City in Oklahoma

If you spend any time in the blogosphere, you have probably found that lots of crafters, quilters, stitchers and sewers (Hmmm? Maybe I should say “people who sew”) have blogs. They often come together in SALs, Stitch Alongs, to compete with one another in completing a project. The hostess of the SAL sets the rules and people interested in that particular activity may join. Everyone seems to have a lot of fun.

Since I am a *flitter*, working on this project then moving to another project and another before anything else is complete, I wouldn’t do well in most of these competitions. I’m also too humble and too much of a perfectionist to think that any of my work would be good enough to pass along to someone else.

However, one of my bloggy friends, threeundertwo at "Lit and Laundry", led me to the TUSAL, Totally Useless Stitch Along at "Dragon My Needle". I can so do this! No worry about perfection or completing something in a given time frame. For the rules of the TUSAL, go here.

Here is my TUSAL so far.


Three containers? What can I say? I've always been an overachiever. But here is why I have three containers:

This vase holds the tidbits from the embroidery and crocheting I do while watching television in the evening.

This vase sits beside my sewing machine. It gets all the tidbits from the starts of seams, seams I have to rip out, basting stitches, etc.

This vase sits beside the ironing board. It gets scraps of fabric too small to go in my scrap basket, selvages trimmed from fabric, and other bits of fabric "debris". May need to get a bigger container for this one. Check back at the next new moon to see how I am progressing with my TUSAL.

The azaleas are in full bloom in North Carolina. They are gorgeous. I think they have more blooms than last year. Ann, our 86 year old neighbor, says, “If you come to North Carolina when the azaleas are in bloom, you will never want to leave.”

Here are some pictures of the azaleas in our yard.

Most of the red buds have leafed already, but the dogwoods are in full flower. I’m anxious to see what our magnolia tree looks like this year.A couple weeks ago, I put out the hummingbird feeders. To my delight, I have seen a couple scouts feeding from them this week. I fed three or four pairs last summer. Hopefully, I will have that many and more this year.

The wrap around porch reconstruction has been stalled waiting for a mason to replace the brick foundation. He was here today for a bit and will be back tomorrow. Now maybe things will move along quickly.

The city did come by and picked up most of the old porch that could not be salvaged.

Saturday, Hubs, daughter K, grandson Boogie and I took a day trip to the Crystal Coast of NC. The purpose was to look at some vacation properties for our upcoming family vacation in September. We found this place. It is absolutely perfect for our family of five kids, spouses, and two grandsons. This is a picture from the beach side of the house. To see picture of the inside, click here.



Hubs is like a kid waiting for Christmas. So I’ve added the countdown clock to my left sidebar just for him. Lots of time left but lots of projects and plans in between that will make time pass quickly.

Finished for Friday - April 3

Finished for Friday is hosted every week by Lit and Laundry. Check out what she finished this week. Awesome!

Speaking of laundry...Our washing machine died last Tuesday. Not something unexpected as our repair guy told us almost two years ago that it was going to need replacing. After a week without a washing machine, down to his last pair of socks and undies, with threats of having to go to the laundromat with me ringing in his hearing aids, Hubs purchased my dream washer and dryer.
After delivery of the Dream Machines (which you can see in the background) on Tuesday morning, I set about doing all this laundry. Then on Wednesday, I stripped our bed and the guest bed down to the mattresses and washed all the bedding. All the winter blankets are now clean and stored away until next fall. I also had a basket of bedspreads and comforters sitting in a corner since sometime before Christmas because my old washer was too small for them. Now they too are clean and stored away. I think Hubs and all the dogs are afraid to stand still as they may end up in the washer/dryer. LOL!

One of our daughters and her husband came for a visit. They arrived last Tuesday. Laura left last Thursday while Tommy stayed on until Wednesday of this week. During that time, it seems like all I got done was cooking, baking and doing dishes. But it was nice to have them here. Hubs and I get tired of looking at each other.

While visiting with the kids in the evening or watching basketball all weekend, I got all this t-shirt yarn rolled. Now I'm ready to start crocheting a rug for my studio with these forty six balls of fabric.

I also crocheted two of these kitchen sets. The other set was included in a gift bag I sent home with Tommy for his mom.
Now that spring is in full bloom here, I located the hummingbird feeders. They were cleaned, filled and hung in anticipation of the arrival of these amazing creatures.

Why do the littlest of tasks often times go undone for so long? I painted this rabbit and welcome sign in 2003. All that needed to be done was attach the cup hooks and chains. Fifteen minutes of work for Hubs. But now it is Finished for Friday and hanging on our back porch.

Have a good weekend!