Parties, pyracantha, and politics

I have been busy this week, and felt like I accomplished a lot.

The goodie bags are complete for Wednesday's party, I have prizes for the games, and the gift bag for the Witches' Gift Exchange is ready. Thank goodness all that is left is the party itself!

I finished machine quilting this lap-quilt which was started several years ago. It is bound and complete except for the label. What appears to be pink in this photo is actually a rust color. I really like the way it turned out.

We had a cold front go through last night and this morning. This tree is the only pine tree in the neighborhood, and is in our front yard. It lost a lot of small branches and pine cones.

The pyracantha is just loaded with berries this year. I plan on using some of them for decoration this fall and winter.

My Halloween decorations are ready for next week, such as they are--although I haven't bought enough candy yet. We're also giving out small cans of Play-Doh to kids that are the right age to use it.


The caladiums and the coleus plants are doing well, but soon they will start their downward slide towards winter, if you can call it that here in South Texas. The temperature will only get into the low 50's except for one or two colder days.

I need to start the next quilt, but I haven't figured out how I want to quilt it. I guess just getting it done any old way would be better than not doing it at all. Maybe I'm over-analyzing the problem.

We learned this week that my elder son will be going to Iraq at the end of March. I'm not happy about it, but I don't get any say in the matter. I think the best way to deal with the anxiety is just to pretend that he is home in Virginia with his wife and kids. I don't hear from him very often as it is, so hopefully it will be easy to pretend. I hate this war and wish it would be over soon. I don't think any one in the government has any idea of what this war does to people on a personal level. The best joke I have heard recently has someone telling the president that three Brazilian soldiers have been killed in Iraq, at which the president puts his head in his hands in despair for a few moments, only to lift his head and ask, "Just how many is a brazillion?"

When election time comes around, the only politicians to get my vote will be the ones that want us out of the Middle East. Reacting to a threat is one thing; creating and sustaining an artificial threat is totally different.