Apes With Tools

I love Tonka

2009-06-25T12:30:00.003-06:00

Here he is my new arrival. His name is Tonka. Rescued from the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter. He is wonderful, loving, active, and talkative. He loves attention and comes when I call. He is not scared of Baxter, the alpha cat in the house in fact its the opposite. Baxter hisses and runs to hide every time Tonka wants to play.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

2009-05-22T23:11:00.006-06:00

A Floral Tribute to Mom/Nana/Grandma. No Matter what you call her, our is the best and here are things as beautiful as she is. We do invite you to post other things that you find as beautiful as Nana.

2009-05-22T06:19:00.004-06:00

My friend Summer Caywood took me here for lunch twice this week. Both times the breads were fresh and soft and the sandwiches piled with goodness. The Club Sandwich is fantastic.
Click here Village Bakery for a link to their takeout menu. Be forewarned they are at 90th south and redwood rd in West Jordan. Worth the ride though.

Last Signs of Spring, Start Looking for Summer

2009-05-20T21:22:00.002-06:00

Some lovely lilacs for my mom and me. And some final duck feeding pics of Kya this time.

I'll Read You a Story Grandma!

2009-05-20T17:13:00.005-06:00

What Kya is actually reading me is my camera instruction manual but she made it sound so interesting. Below I am reading Kya, "Good morning Toes, Good Morning Feet" which is a kids book I recommend.

Signs of Spring 4

2009-05-12T12:30:00.006-06:00

I recommend talking a minute to click on the pictures and look at them full size the details are really great.

Sometimes I really am the great grandma/aunt. Yesterday my mom was babysitting my sister Sara's son the Boogedy. I love this little boy. He is so smart and curious and talkative that its a joy to find things that will excite him. The apartment complex next to our they have a fountain system with duck. The mama duck had 13 babies. We took over some bread and had a very nice time

Is there really a drowning hazard here?

Look at these cuties cleaning themselves.

Signs of Spring 3

2009-04-16T18:48:00.003-06:00

Is there anything better than a day with your grandson, teaching him how to really enjoy a rainy day? Jumping in puddles and giggling? I think not.

Signs of Spring 2

2009-04-08T22:32:00.002-06:00

My Mom, my daughter Jenny and I are all crazy about Pansies. Here are a few that are loving the warm day today.

You spin me round!

2009-03-29T21:14:00.009-06:00

Today's walk took me over to the movie theatre. Inside they have a carousel with some really gorgeous animals. I thought I'd share them with you.

p.s. Thanks marian for the great camera that catches all the glorious colors. don't these pics just pop!)

Change Always Hurts (in the beginning)

2009-03-23T18:48:00.006-06:00

This is what it takes to make a drastic change in your physical activity when you have gotten as obese as I have. There ya see it. Medications for all of the following.

1. anti-depressant (Don't be down)
2. Mood stabilizer (Don't be too up)
3. Sleeping pill (Too up to sleep?)
4. Anti-Inflamatory (to help over worked muscles avoid damage)
5 Muscle relaxant (oops overworked and now have muscles cramps)
6. Stomach meds (because muscle relaxants eat up your stomach)
7. Pain killers (ohh you poor baby you)

All this just so I can talk myself into taking a walk every day and the pool twice a week. (banging my head on a table)

Thanks for listening and your notes of support. You go Steph. It's harder to get the weight off when you are pushing 50 instead of what 25? we love ya!

More springy thingys

2009-03-22T17:05:00.002-06:00

Another sign of spring. I needed my umbrella to take a walk today. How come umbrellas tend to go bad in the middle of a walk? Why not just fail to open and show that it is broke before you are two blocks from home in the rain trying to find something to shoot for your blog and needed to keep your camera dry because you have no pockets? What a pain.

Flame on!

2009-03-21T19:39:00.002-06:00

This is a nod to my sister, Sara at Ibbyskibby. She is doing a collaboration with her friend Jen. They are looking for signs of spring. Here is my very favorite sign of spring. It comes along with opne of my favorite sounds of spring. It when my mom says to me, "Ohh look Jess at that beautiful forsythia bush!" It (the bush) and gettting to live near her are the best way to start spring.

Love Ya Mom!

When did I stop looking in mirrors?

2009-03-20T21:56:00.003-06:00

I realized a few years back, that I never really saw myself anymore in mirrors. I would glance at one and fix my hair or my clothes or brush my teeth, but I can't remember when I actually stopped seeing myself in the reflection.
The truth is I am fat. Nothing can change the truth behind that statement. It's not like I didn't realize it years ago, I just haven't really done anything to stop it. I have to change this. I used to have all these convenient excuses for why I was fat. Initially, I put on all this weight when I quit using drugs. I talked myself out of looking at the negative side of the weight gain. I told myself "At least I not using drugs." Then I told myself that my weight kept me from making poor choices with men. After all, not dating at all seemed better than dating another loser.
Today, I really saw myself in the mirror, and I don't like her/me. I fear I am becoming the caricature of the stereotypical fat woman. No matter how nicely I dress within the first half an hour of work,I have dripped something on my shirt. Nothing I own seems to fit anymore.

So it is time for a change. I am pretty sure that the only people that read my blog are my family so I feel that I can blog about whatever i want, even about the boring things. Tomorrow I'm going to take my camera and go for a walk, even if it's only a short one. And I am going to take a picture of something, anything and I am going to blog about it every day. This may get boring, but for right now. I am writing more for me than for anybody else. I have got to find a way to change my life, because right now. I just feel lost. Maybe it's just because it's April, and things are blooming, which of course means my nose is running. And maybe that chemicals in my body are out of whack because of the season and that brings on depression. Or maybe it's just because as far as weight goes. I've reached rock bottom. It's time to start climbing.

Medusa has a Bad Hair Day!

2009-03-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't she gorgeous? My sister, Sara Moses, made this lovely little crocheted gorgon from a book I checked out from the library for her( I love it when sisters take hints. Did you love that button jewelry book Marian? :-)

Anyways, I have babysat twice for her and each time she gave me a little gift. This is by far my favorite, though the dragonfly is gonna look fantastic on my Christmas tree. My sister Sara has a great website where she shows other things she has made. Click here to visit it.

This little Medusa is going to guard my computer at work (after I have taken it around and showed it off to everybody). Below is a picture to show size comparisons. She, (Sara that is, not the gorgon) is a very talented fiber artist.

I got my hair permed and then needed to get it trimmed to get the best look. She is so me. "I just washed my hair/snakes and I can't do a thing with with it/them"

Viva La Vivi!

2009-02-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Gweniviere Ivy Lisa Kaylor!

New Granddaughter means a new baby quilt from her Grandma Lisa and Grandma Jess.

Together we are ArtzyFartzy Quilts. Lisa chose the idea of doing the chenille butterflies.
It was a great idea.
This is one of my favorite quilts.
Thanks to my sweet mother who is Vivi's great-grandmother for binding and tying this quilt.
I always lose steam at the end of a quilt and I am grateful to have a mom so willing to help.

Chenille by the Inch Buttlerflies

2009-01-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the step-by-step photos of how the chenille by the inch works. I got a picture from the Internet and blew it up to the size i wanted to fit a 6" finished square. Then I traced it onto tear away stabilizer, which I pinned to the square of background fabric.

I back tacked the end down and just followed the lines, starting a new strip by back tacking onto the end of the old. Back tack the end and the line is done. After you have all the lines down, spritz with a little distilled water to dampen and use the chenille brush to fluff it. Note: It will fluff more after washing it. It was relatively easy. the fluffing part was not as easy as the manufacturer made it sound but it wasn't all that hard. Just takes a good arm. It works best if you brush in the opposite direction from the center stitch line. We are using it to make a baby blanket for my daughter Jenna's soon-to-arrive baby.

A link to learn more about the product. Click here

Cons: They sell you a book to tell you how to do and give you some lame designs. Don't buy it you don't need it and it doesn't tell you what stitch length to use. That seems like pretty basic information to give in a instruction book. All machines are different so just use a really close stitch or it will lose to many threads during the fluffing process. Don't buy the ruler it's not necessary. It has a line than you line up with the center stitching to help cut apart the strips. but they put lettering right next to it that interfere with your sight line. Don't waste your money. Your standard rotary cutting ruler will work fine.

Pros: It is what is says it is. There is no waste. If you like to look of chenille, its a good product.

Best Sandwich in Salt Lake City

2009-01-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

I went out to dinner last night with some friends, John Houser and Belle Wilcox. We like to try something different every month. John suggested somewhere he had seen a sign for, Little Dave's Deli. Located at 41 west 3300 south in Salt Lake City, Utah, Little Dave's has a marvelous selection of hot and cold sandwiches. The specialty sandwich though is the Philly Cheese Steak. This was the best sandwich I have ever had in all my traveling. Tender loose meat with thinly sliced onions, bell peppers and mushrooms. all this held together with melted provolone cheese served a a perfect roll soft enough to soak up the juice but firm enough not to fall apart. Want a great sandwich? This is the place to go. Not to leave out everyone else. Josh had a cold turkey and salami with the works which he also says was excellent and John had the egg salad which was huge and very good also.

They have some great old time soda in bottles as well. We had Nu-Grape soda, Dad's Root Beer, Nesbitt Orange and I took home some Plantation Ginger Ale for Papa.

The only bad thing about this restaurant is that it closes at 6pm Mon-Fri and at 4 on Sat. However, The owner kept it open late for us as we waited for friend to join us. Who does that anymore? Well he won our loyalty. We plan on becoming regulars.

Final note: the Jersey Stick dessert? Frozen cheesecake on a stick just another thing you don't wanna miss (that is if you have room)

Best Bingo Prize of All

2008-12-28T07:25:00.001-07:00

Look at this gorgeous artwork! This is a Natalie Lowry original. Done especially for me. Doesn't It look fantastic on my purple painted living room wall?

Don't you wish you were me?

Mmm Godiva Chocolate

2008-12-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day this year, my son Joshua bought me a box of Godiva chocolates. I immediately gave my mom two of them and my dad two also. Mom said to never give her Godiva chocolates , as they are just too good. So with a great suggestion from my sister Marian, I gave her this.

When she opened it there was a letter on top that said, "Dear Nana, I know you made us promise not to buy you any Godiva chocolates but it's the holdays and we hope you'll forgive us and still love us. -josh and jess"

When she opened it inside we these pictures of josh and I eating Nana's Godiva Chocolates!
I smeared chocolate all over my face for effect. Here is her reaction.

What's Christmas without Octopus?

2008-12-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

Look my little sister, Sara, made for my Christmas tree! Christmas cephalopod for the tree. Isn't that wonderful? It sure makes me smile. My sister can knit anything. Check out here website here and see other cool things she makes.

My Wonderfully Awful Christmas Tree

2008-12-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

It takes a certain sort of person to love this tree. My mom and I were in Wal-mart looking for lights for my daughters tree and saw this 4 ft tree on display. Mom said I simply must get this for you!. This was the display model. All the rest had sold out. I have done what i like to call the "Dr Suess Tree" last year. My sister bought me a wonderful collection of neon gren,blue, pink and a selection of purple ornaments and I hung them on my white tree (see pic on the left).

Well those ornaments look great on this purple tree. However the picture dont really do it justice. When it's lit I can't stop smiling. True it is Christmas gaudiness to the max, but I am not out to impress the world. Anything that makes me smile after a long day at work, is fine by me. And this tree is unique to me. No one in my family has one even remotely like it.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

River of Time

2008-08-17T07:33:00.000-06:00

This beautiful quilt is made out of batik fabric. In case you have never used batik fabric. It's more closely woven to hold up under the dying process which means there is less distortion of the fabric during the cutting and sewing process. My sister Marian collected batiks for years. Recently she pulled them all out to make a quilt, I was there and she gave me some of each fabric. It was such a wonderful day (couple of days actually) spent ironing and cutting all these batiks and laughing and chatting with my sister. She had enough to give me 4 in centers and 2 1/2 inch strips of everything. She also cut squares and strips for herself and all the rectangle for the original quilt she had planned. I came back from my visit to Dallas with 2 bags of precut pieces. I separated them into two stacks. I pulled out the oranges, yellows, reds and the few browns most of the pinks and half of the purples into one stack. So I was left with all the blues, greens, limes, blacks, some pinky magentas and half of the purples to make this beauty. I had enough squares left over from this project to make a blue couch throw as well. I used the warm colors to make a throw as well. But that is another story.

Sometimes I like to look at this when I am missing my sister and think about how fun that visit was.

Welcome to Apes with Tools!

2008-05-07T19:21:00.000-06:00

I guess I will jump on the blogging bandwagon and see if I can find enough interesting things in my life that you might enjoy.

Of all the quilts I have made, this is my favorite. This quilt is one that my mother and I made for my oldest son as a wedding gift. This quilt is titled "Lucky Stars 2". The combination of blues, aqua and lime greens was chosen to fit the location of a beach wedding. This is favorite color way. I could and probably will make 2 or 3 quilts with this color scheme. I love it that much.

I told my son if the marriage didn't last a year, I wanted the quilt back. (After all, bachelors live like bears. I didn't want it hiding in a nasty cave in the woods) So anyways...I got the quilt back. I guess that's the best thing about this divorce.

Stay tuned for more quilts and the stories behind them and other crafting goodies. And maybe some pictures of some cute grandkids.