Terry’s Thoughtful Thursday - May 10 2007
RaNdOm ThOuGhTs
Another Thursday where I can write and not have to think! Today, there are a number of ramblings rumbling around in this ol’ brain of mine, but the first is an update on the 
Quilting Passion Forum “Comforting Virginia” Project.Virginia Tech University To date, there have now been a total of six (6) quilts donated to, with the latest donation shown to the left. This quilt was a second quilt made by Nina (Iowa); it is very bright and cheery and also patterned after a relatively new logic puzzle craze that flaired to popularity last year, called “Sudoku“. Stay tuned to this Web site (slated for Friday, 05/11/07) for an article featuring these truly unique puzzles that have beautifully crashed into the quilting world!
My thoughts also run along side of all the torrential rains we have had here in northeastern Oklahoma, which sits on top of the gorgeous foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Lake Hudson is 5′ above normal level, meaning that it is about 100 yards up on my property. This in turn means that when it goes down, there is going to be a huge mess to clean up along the shoreline! You would be surprised at the interesting things I find. Year before last, I found a brand new paddle boat! No ID on it and had one small hole in it, which patched easily and securely. Did you know it was grueling excercise to operate a paddle boat??? I have also found fishing rods, ice chests, an antique bath tub, along with a ton of driftwood.
Back to the rain, though. I would say that my garden needs it, but the truth is, I have no garden because the first one froze in mid-April (yes, you read that correctly) and it has been raining too much to put out another. It is a sad thing when you have to water your tomato plants (and other garden plants) whilst they are sitting on your kitchen counter!
It is getting to where I dread Sunday afternoons. Week before last, a car did an illegal U-turn in front of me about a mile from my home and took out the passenger side of my car. This past Sunday, the sun came out and I decided to try to mow before the rain set in again. Big mistake. First, I got stuck. I wish I had a picture of me because I am sure that you need a laugh like you have not had for awhile. Imagine sitting on the lawnmower, getting stuck, and the tires spinning in smelly mud and throwing the mud up and over onto my entire body! In the space of a minute, I was covered. And stinky. Let us not forget the stinky. I reeked! Second, after cleaning up, the mower on my lawnmower broke! Guess it didn’t like the mud, either. At least now I have two excuses for not mowing: Rain and broken mower. The mower gets fixed next Wednesday… no clue on what the rain is going to do!
Then there was today. I had to deal with the man’s auto insurance all day, but once again the sun came out for a little while late this afternoon. My oldest son invited me to go run his trot lines (very long fishing lines set out in the middle of the lake) with him and my grandson. 
I have been cooped up forever due to my health, so I decided to go. Off we went. Talk about catching the fish (and I will not even mention the huge snake that we watched swim along side the boat!)! He had about a dozen huge catfish, and the joy that I saw him and my grandson share is beyond description. My grandson grinned once and said, “I’m his little fishin’ buddy, Grandma”. Talk about tugging at the ol’ heart!
Remember me mentioning that the lake was flooded up on my property? Well, my grandson is sitting on an icechest almost 100 yards from the “real” shoreline. We were wading to dry land after hopping off the boat. Now, why would we hop off the boat? Because a huge thunderstorm rolled in while we were out on the lake and my son took the boat back to the dock and we walked up to the house so that we would not get drenched! And I cannot even think as to whether I should start a new paragraph telling about the alligators that have now been spotted numerous times on this lake! GRDA is trying to catch them, as the ones that are here are an endangered species, and if someone were to harm them, they would be fined and/or imprisoned. Um, OK? “Chew my leg off, little ‘gator, I won’t hurt ya!”
So, how was your week?
Quilting By Design Site Map.
An original articleby Terry Crawford.
quilting, quilts, sudoku quilts
May 10th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Terry, i am a little bit envious to you that you still have time to go to a lake with your grandson.
Here in my place, the only thing i do is face the computer and think and eat in front of it the whole day.
Reminds me to go look forward to the good old days where people have all the time doing things like you do but didn’t take advantage of it.
Thanks a lot.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Oh Terry, what a string of bad luck you’ve had. I hope that the person who hit you doing that U-turn has good insurance and will get your car fixed up. How’s the lake, er, I mean, your backyard?
May 10th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Ana, your message reminded me to stop more often and enjoy my moments right now! In fact, yesterday, as my son and grandson pulled off, I realized that I miss seeing them. My health (pacemaker put in) has gotten in my way of living life to what I want it to be, but I should start doing the small things again (like going out on the boat with the kids!) and not be so afraid of trying!
Val, the water in my immediate yard is down and my garage isn’t flooded now. It’s a mess, though! Yuck. It’s needed a good cleaning out for a year, and guess I’ll be doing it pretty soon now. LOL
May 25th, 2007 at 3:16 am
y is it that whenever u recognize terrys work from an article pubished on quilting passion the link for the website never works under any article 404?
May 25th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Huck, I’ve tested over a dozen links to QP and they all seem to be working. If you’re trying the link at the bottom of each article that’s a Technorati link, it will only pull up under special conditions.