Day 724

When I first saw pictures of this new place in Boise on the realtor website, I knew it would be ours for one big reason.

The clothesline.

If you've been a reader, you know how important a clothesline is to me. And the great thing about this  house is that it has a permanent clothesline, one just like my great grandmother used to have.

But they'll be no hanging up clothes anytime soon as you can see by the line this morning.

Day 723

Still feeling not so well here but we're heading to Boise for the night anyway. Gotta hang up my new miniature wall quilt in my new bedroom!

Day 722

From  the blog seven months ago, July 21:
We heard the word diurese quite a bit today. As far as I can tell that's the medical term for getting rid of excess fluid by going to the bathroom. As in, they are forcing him to diurese. His IV has been cut off, he's on a cardiac/low sodium diet, his Sprite supply has been reduced, and they are adding and even again doubling some medications all in the hopes the fluid will be purged from his system. 

But at this point, the kidneys still have not kicked in. He isn't eating much, he's sleeping most of the time, and he's too weak to get out of bed on his own. They've given up on even helping him to the bathroom. Thankfully he's not in pain, but he certainly isn't well.

With so many unknowns, it's nice I have some knowns right now - my flowers. Coneflowers. I couldn't decide on which picture I liked best so you get them both.

My, how times have changed. Hubby had an appointment with the kidney specialist today. Things are moving right along - in the right direction - and it looks like next week might be his last week of steroids. Finally. What a long haul this has been! 

What hasn't changed since July is my indecision about pictures. Do I go with the one of the Owyhees I took when I picked him up from school? Or do I go with the second one of Bogus Basin, the one I took when we left the kidney specialist's office today? We'll go with both.

Day 721

My daughter has been pushing me to start selling things I make on Etsy. I haven't been too sure of it but I have come up with a name and logo, just in case.

What do you think, number one or number two?

Day 720

Another day of not much to see but the inside of my eyelids.

Did have to get myself upright and dressed to go pick up hubby from school. From the school parking lot I snapped a picture of storm clouds off the Owyhee Mountains. It was either that picture or a picture of my pile(s) of Kleenex at home. Think I made the right choice.

Day 719

Still being sick I'm not doing much but sleeping these days. I did manage to dig out some little blocks I had tucked away. I was hoping I could get a table runner out of them but it looks like a miniature wall quilt might be a better choice.

Day 718

And tonight's feature is a Marsing sunset.

Day 717

I'm happy to say the sunsets out the window of our new house in Boise are just as pretty as sunsets out the window of our house in Marsing. This is Boise.

Day 716

I learned a few months back that I could put my teeny tiny fabric scraps to use. A quilt shop in Boise collects pet beds for the shelter. Two pieces of square fabric, filled with extra batting and strips and squares and all those little triangle and clipped off pieces of fabric that are just too small to do anything with. I've made several of them so far.

But now I've made a bigger pet bed, one stuffed with fiberfill instead, a bed in a specific color at the request of the owner.

The owner? Our daughter. The animal? Her new cat.

Petri, a girl cat. One of the Valentine's presents from daughter's boyfriend. 

Their task - baby kitty proof their apartment. My task - make a baby kitty bed.

Day 715

Hope everyone is having a good Valentine's Day. Kinda of a bummer here being sick - the best we can do is a frozen pizza.

There was a little highlight in my day. Fish and duck related fabric I won the other day on ebay arrived. It'll be a good fit for quilts for those little boys who live in Alaska with dads stationed far away from home.

Day 714

Yesterday was double excitement day. Thanks to the doctor, today became double trouble day.

Sinus infection. Bronchitis. Two different antibiotics and an inhaler. Lots of fluids and rest. Thanks, doc (I say in a sarcastic voice).

Thank you morning sunrise (I say in a non-sarcastic voice).

Learn How To Make Fabric Valentine's Day Cards - Day 713, Tutorial Tuesday

Learn how to sew your extra fabric scraps together and create these homemade Valentine's Day cards. They are a unique handmade Valentine's Day card sewing and crafting project idea.

If you have some extra fabric scraps or strips just hanging around you'd like to use up, this quick and easy project could be just what you've been looking for.

It's a double excitement day today.

First, my book is again free. Last time before Valentine's Day to get it at no cost to you. If you didn't get a chance to download it last week, click on that link over there to the right to get your free copy.

And number two, finally another Tutorial Tuesday. Yeah, I know - it has been a long time since I did my last one. But let's forget about that and just take a look at what I have for you today. A great way to use up those scraps and make some Valentine's Day cards in the process.

For this project you will need:

• Fabric strips
• piece of muslin for foundation
• Cardstock
• Iron
• Pinking shears and scissors
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Envelopes
• Heart template – make your own or download HERE

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

The pattern is now available in my Etsy shop as a digital download with the written directions, step-by-step photos, and printable template. Click to get your copy today!

Looking for other Valentine's Day ideas? Check out some of my other projects!

Otherwise you can find the tutorial for the handmade Valentine's Day heart note cards from fabric scraps right here:

Day 712

After nearly two solid months the snow has finally melted. And now that it's nice and sunny, I can tell that we had quite the windy, wet winter by the look of my windows. Yuck.

Day 711

I imagine I'll wind up being the loser here, but I'm going to go ahead and ask the question anyway.

Whose dinner looks better tonight? My can of Hormel chili with shredded Tillamook cheese melting over it?

Or hubby's homemade potato soup with big chunks of potato and bacon with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper over it?

Day 710

If you had to venture a guess about which part of a rabbit might be most intriguing to a cat, what would you say? The tail? The feet? The nose?

As I was working on my bunny quilt today someone decided to help me answer that very question.

Guess it's the ears.

Day 709

There are times we set too high of expectations and things just can't match up. Whether it's a vacation, a new piece of jewelry, or even a job, what we expect and what really happens wind up being two different things.

Except when it comes to the excitement of having a book well-received.

Everyone who knows me knows I'm pretty laid back. I don't get too excited about much, I don't get frustrated much, I just kind of keep it all in. But yesterday I didn't behave as I typically would. I really was excited. Couldn't contain myself as you could probably tell from all the exclamation points I used in my writing yesterday.

Thank you everyone for your support (and your downloads). If you get a chance to put a review of it on Amazon, I'd love to hear what you thought.

The final free download number was 2,250. While that and the #2 rankings were super exciting, now that the book is no longer free my ranking is dropping. But I'm just fine with that since the whole point was just getting it out there. So back to reality, back to finding a picture amid the hustle and bustle of everything.

Good thing I (finally) had a day off, a day to spend at home all by myself. Not exactly. I worked a while on the computer then went to my recliner. Guess who I found there? The cat.

I later went into the sewing room and who did I find in my scrap basket again? The cat.

After dinner, hubby went to the freezer to get some ice cream. Guess who took his spot? Yep, you know who. (Notice how she won't pay attention to us when we're trying to scoot her along?)

Day 708

As of this moment, the magic number is 1,671 2,065 2,230.

What's the importance of that number? It is the number of times a book has been downloaded free in the last two days on Amazon. What book?  My book! Even more exciting - at this very moment the book is #2 in the Special Occasion Cooking category in the Amazon Kindle store!! Also #2 in Holidays and #2 in Desserts in the Kindle store.

And of all the thousands and thousands of free Kindle books on Amazon, my book is now #183!!

Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with the numbers right now.

We're also still obsessed with Alejandra's.

Caldo de Pollo (Chicken Soup). They have the most delicious flavored broths in their soups.

Bean and Cheese Burrito. Can you believe this platter-size burrito only cost $3.50?

Ground Beef Burrito.

And Pam G, guess what? Ed and I are inviting you next week to partake in eating through the menu with us! You pick the day.

Day 707

The book is now free! Head on over today and get your copy. And please, if you like it, leave me a favorable review on Amazon.

Click here for the book

As for my picture(s) of the day, how about more of our journey of eating through the menu at Alejandra's?

Caldo de Mariscos (Seafood Soup), bursting with shrimp, crab, cod, and super-tasty vegetables.

Beef taco salad.

Chicken tostada.

One more soup to go and then we head to the burrito section.

Day 706

I just had to tell someone...

It's here! On Amazon! Here's my book!

Right now it's $3.99 but the best part is that it's going to be supposed to be free for download later today and tomorrow. (I'm still trying to figure out why it isn't happening.) You can put it on your Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or other digital device. Don't have those things? No problem - you can put it on your computer.

I hope you get a chance to check it out. If it weren't for your encouragement I certainly wouldn't have done it!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement. Blog picture to come later today (got it now), scheduled Tuesday Tutorial being moved to next week...

Updated with blog picture... I now have my own bed at our new house, the house my mom in living in now. A new headboard, mattress, and a very old quilt made by my grandmother circa 1979. Really brightens up the room. Now I have a place to sleep in Boise. As soon as my daughter gives back my pillow.

Day 705

How about some more dessert pictures from my new book?

Don't all these pictures just make you hungry? The book should be showing up on Amazon by tomorrow. I hope to have details then on how you can get it FREE!

Until tomorrow...