Wyoming Breezes

Recently, I’ve been surrounded by a lot of activity. First the roof was replaced on all the buildings in the complex, and this week, the trim and soffits were painted on all the buildings. One thing that attracted me to this complex was the condition of the buildings and grounds. The management team has been stellar!  In the lower right, you can see my tiny garden plot. Compared to Valerie’s garden  mine is pretty pathetic, but I like the color that it provides to my entryway.  Classes at the University of Wyoming start next week, so students are moving back into town. Last Saturday was “move in” day at the dorms, and this week students are moving into off campus apartments. I live on a corner, so I’ve noticed a considerable increase in both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Soon, everyone will fall into a routine, and it will be less chaotic.

quilting projects on the "design floor" August 2019 This photo tells the real story behind my crafting: I tend to create a mess in more than one room when sewing. I often pull various fabrics from my stash to audition border options, so it's common to see piles of fabric in crumpled heaps or in piles. Friday afternoon, I found eight, white/blue half-square triangles (HSTs) in a bin of odds and ends and turned them into star points for a couple of square, eagle panels. The striped fabric in the center of this mess was also in the scrap bin and will be used for a quick border. I worked on these two Quilts of Valor (QOV) on Friday and Saturday for the Riverton QOV group. They plan to award nearly 250 QOV to veterans for Veteran's Day. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a few more quilts for the ceremony.

my new home August 2018 One of the maintenance guys came by on Friday to hang my pendulum clocks, fix a window crank, and attach my flag holder. With that all done, my apartment now "feels like home." I am very impressed with how helpful the manager and maintenance crew are in this complex. The maintenance guys even hauled some of my "purged" items to a local church for a yard sale. All of the residents that I've talked to (some have lived here from 5 - 10 years) are pleased with how quickly their requests are handled. I'm happy that I found an apartment that is well maintained and the people are friendly.

August 2018 My sewing machine hasn't been used for over a month, but on Friday, I moved the pile of "stuff" around it to sew a couple of curtain hems. Most of the windows in my new apartment are covered with vertical blinds. When I bought my previous home 25 years ago, all the windows had vertical blinds, and I grew to detest them because they do not provide a lot of privacy. To my dismay, vertical blinds haven't improved much. The master bedroom in my new apartment has a patio with a sliding door that faces a sidewalk, and outside the door is a flood light that has a motion sensor. For the first week in the apartment, I struggled getting adequate sleep, as the flood light came on frequently (there a tree near the sensor), and the vertical blinds did little to darken the room. The only solution (other than unscrewing the bulb) was to add curtains to darken the room. I found a pair of curtain panels at a local thrift shop for $5 that I thought would block the l...