Hi everyone hope you had a Happy Easter! I have received one block from Linda. I have not received blocks from Christy and Cindy yet. I got to go view a large display of handmade quilts near Forest Hill, Louisiana, I think it might have been called Longleaf, Louisiana? yesterday - any way they had a beautiful display of quilts in preparation for the Heritage Festival this coming Saturday. So wish I had not forgotten my camera. Gave me lots of great ideas for future quilts. They had a beautiful pink and creme/white log cabin quilt - these were all large quilts, they had one with lighthouse blocks like 2ft x 3 ft blocks, and my favorite was one with flower baskets made of triangles and with flowers appliques coming out of the baskets - one even had a blue shrimp plant in bloom - was just too cool! And they were all local quilts. Is nice to know there are other quilters in central Louisiana. I have not met anyone in my small community who quilts. They have a quilting guild several towns away, but have not had time to go, maybe one of these days. Are any of you in quilting guilds? Best to you, Sandra

When I returned from delivering the mail today, a package was waiting at my case for me, and what a package! Lorraine (paradisa) sent a wonderful package to me! So nice, that I had to take pictures so I could share them with you all! When I opened up my box, I found another box wrapped in blue tissue with a white bow. Once I had that open, there were a lot of smaller packages, all wrapped up in blue tissue with white ribbons. One of my co-workers watched while I opened up everything, and she kept saying how good of a time SHE was having, just watching me open up everything! Well, here are a couple of pictures of the box, which Lorraine sent for me to keep seeds in... and here's a picture of everything with the box opened up... And now, let me tell you what was inside this wonderful box! First, Lorraine sent a lot of stuff, including the see box, which had a wolf theme. I love wolves, consider them my totem, and love what she sent! Now, here's what was inside this box! a CD by Jim Gaffigan, a comedian, so I can relax and have a few laughs. I've already listened to some of this CD, and it really is funny! a peacock feather (don't know why, but very cool!) a wonderful card package of 25 plant labels dehydrated tomatoes (I'll use these in my cooking) homemade strawberry jam 2 packs of seed envelopes a small wolf notebook wolf-themed calendar/checkbook cover wolf bookmark medium-sized wolf-themed notebook 11 different types of tomato seeds nasturtium mix double-click cosmos white brown-eyed susan vine chinese lanterns yellow clasping coneflower cosmos - bright lights cosmos - orange fluted cosmos - tall yellow cosmos - picotee calendula toothache plant geum trifloreum morning glories nemophilia - penny black rose seeds (I've been wanting to try to grow roses from seeds!) gomphrena hardy pink hibiscus (from Lorraine's hibiscus) blue sweet peas fan fare gallardia this box was incredible! THANK YOU LORRAINE!!! (and to think that she was worried I wouldn't like what she sent. how could I NOT like it???) now, all you other e.g.s, aren't you just jealous? hehehe ***heading off to bed now*** -Dan

I have had a few friends in my life with MS and I can't say that being super skinny was a major symptom....nor being dumb as a stump, but heck, I'm not a doctor so what do I know ;oP I love the SS said it can't happen...maybe they need to read or watch the news? LOL I would love to be on a HW show. I'm picturing my life as I sit now...I'm in a paint stained shirt with dirty jeans on (gardening and painting while DS was at school) but I do have on a lovely pair of ruby ear rings :oP DS is out in the center hall of (what they would picture as a fabulous mansion on a HW episode) our old victorian and has just had a major 3 car pile up....This means the mansion is full of torn up cardboard as his cars were all boxes... HE's wearing a paint stained pair of designer jeans, a bat man tee shirt (with paint...what do they do at kindergarten? Dip them in paint) and skull and heart boots while screaming at the top of his lungs for an amballance (spelled as he says it). The dog just barfed up the dinner he stole from the cat...the cat is whining about his lack of dinner (I'll refeed him) and there is a herd of deer in the back 40 pooping all over the yard (this housewife will soon be chasing them out with a hose). Ahhh the romance of the real world....it would be quite a show :oP Anyone else want to be on it? heh heh

Today, for the first time, I imagined what it would be like to run away from home (we are 37, married 15 years, have 17 year old sone and his girlfired age 18 living with us). I even started thinking about how I could do it logistically would I need to take time off work, or could I still go to work each day? Hubby would be alright theres enough reserves in the bank to get him and kids by. I could move to our coutrny proeprty (no power or house, just an old caravan in a paddock) and I could take 3 months unpaid leave from work. All I would need is a few tins of baked beans, a few boxes of matches and candles, some access to music, and my paints. A few good books would be good too. Id have all the space and solitude I needed and enough air to breath and think and relax. No rules, no children, no housework. Dare I imagine what that would be like? no one to offer support to, no one to care about, no one to worry over, no one to smile at, be polite to, struggle to converse with. Wow. I could make my own rules because Id be the only one to follow them. I could eat out of tins and spend as much or as little as I wanted on the things around me. It would cost me nothing to live! This fantasy has blossomed in my mind because of a dream I had this morning before waking. It was a bit mixed up, but there seemed to be people who were talking in a spaceship but had no control over what they were saying or doing. I was hurled out of the spacecraft and was freefalling towards earth. Frightened and panicked, I noticed I had in my hand a small square vinyl package with instructions of how to turn the package into a parachute. But I was too stressed out to read it properly and I hit the ground before I had any chance to save myself. Waking, heart thumping, my brain told me simply, "you should run away from home". Wow, i think I'm suffocating. has anyone dared do the "cave" thing? I would love to hear from anyone who has left her old world behind and learned to live simple, solitutude life. Did it fix her problems? Was she able to return home after a period of time?