Here we go again....

Okay, guess you are wondering about the remark I made about the house. After 6 years and two attemps to restore this 150 year old house, we get it. This house does not want to live anymore, it just doesn't!

Thousands of dollars have passed through it with little improvement. Every new addition leads to another costly breakdown.

Then there is the general area, the lack of jobs and the depressing feeling you get looking out at snow everyday from October to April. Early in January my son noticed the crew on the manufacturing floor of the company he works for , weren't making anything...they were cleaning the building. His company is one of three that actually employ people besides Walmart. By the end of February all three companies were in trouble and lay offs began in waves.

Recently I heard someone on Fox News say...10% of people do nothing in a crisis, 80% wait to be told what to do...10% just do it. It's like a burning building. Some people sit at their desk and go up in the flames, most wait for someone to tell them to leave after it's too late and only some see the smoke and just get up and go.

We saw the smoke. Dave started applying for jobs early in the year. We made our plan to be gone before the 4th of July. He found that most military defense jobs are in Huntsville, Ala. or San Antonio, Texas. We started packing and I had to get through some surgery where I was comfortable with the doctors.

About 10 days ago we bought a newer pickup truck. I had my surgery on Thursday. We decided to head for San Antonio where the outlook for a job is best, where he has already passed the first hump to qualify.

I am working on renting a house on the west side of the city near the base. This looks most promising. I am looking forward to living where I can go out side all 12 months of the year! Where they have real grocery stores and Malls! Where people use visa cards instead of food stamp cards.

When you are heading over 1500 miles to a new home you have to give up 50% of what you own...it's the things/stuff that clutter your life and hold you down. When we arrive in Texas we will have to first buy beds since all the large furniture has been sold off or given away. The moving truck will be filled with our life, things that are really important to us that can't be replaced.

The house, well it's in the hands of a lawyer this time. No one has money to buy it, and so, what will be, will be. It'll just be a part of the past, a photo in an album, a memory of hard work with little results! North Western Pa. is a hard place to live! Everything is old, the weather is awful and the economy ended when the oil dried up and Penzol left sometime back in the 60's. It never recovered and I don't think it ever will.

What will happen to us? We haven't a place to live yet but the HGTV ladies already have our feet on the ground in Texas! We'll arrive sometime in early June but they have set up a Quilting retreat already for August! This feels so good...real people with life and fun all around them! We'll be staying in this retreat near Houston, Texas.
http://www.cabinquilter.com/quilterscabin/

As the days move forward I'll try to post again and let you all know where we will be landing. Just another adventure!

Who would have thought...

....that at age 65 I would get a new grown daughter? To top that off she is from Thailand, beautiful and a friend of my son Dave's. Her name is Prim.

I'm not sure just how this came about but most likely Dave was telling her about my sewing and how much I would love to have quilting books from her country.

Yesterday I got a mailer with a very cute Thai mailman on it. He is wearing a helmet because they use scooters in Thailand.

On the back of the envelope he has his hands folded, showing respect with the Thai greeting.

Inside I found 2 quilting books. One celebrates the granny patch while the other celebrates the log cabin.

Here is a picture of the King of Thailand that was on the inside cover.

King Bhuimibal Adulyadej

So many tote bags, but what wonderful leather straps they used! Now I will be searching on line for leather straps!

And the log cabin quilts..

Thank You for the wonderful gifts and Thank You for being my Thai daughter, Prim.

Homespun

I don't have much time these days for posting but I have managed to finish this gift quilt made from Homespun's. I have no place to even hold it up for a nice photo and today it was raining so outside was not possible.

I'll tell you all later what's been going on but lets just say for now, everything has a life and a time when life ends, including houses.