Sharon, thank you for the extra quilt block! You didn't have to do that, but it is very much appreciated!

Dan, I want one of each! LOL!
Do you have any more to show us yet?

peace.
-dan

gmom has posted the april quilt block swap. it sounds like a fun one, so check it out!

and now, it's on to work on my blocks for this swap!

peace.
-dan

JUST A REMINDER, YOUR QUILT BLOCKS SHOULD BE GOING INTO THE MAIL THIS MONDAY OR TUESDAY AT THE LATEST. IF YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO SO, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANK YOU!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK-END!

Peace.
-Dan

With Robin reporting in, that just leaves Dee and Melinda who I haven't heard from. I hope everything's okay with those two.

Everyone have a great Monday!
Peace.
-Dan

Dee

As soon as the last package gets here, I'll be divvying up the quilt blocks and getting it all back into the mail. In order for there to be some surprises in your packages, I've decided to not post any more pictures. Whine, beg, and whimper all you want to, but Papa says NO! LOL! You shouldn't know everything Santa is bringing you, so if there's any whining or crying, I'm gonna turn this bus around and take you all home! (Talk about mixing my metaphors!)
I'll post here when I receive those last four packs of quilt blocks, and also when I get them sent out. Until then, you all stay on your own side of the seat, behave (as if!), and I'll take you all out for ice cream. Deal?

Hugs & Sunshine to You All!!!

Peace.
-Dan

*squirm wiggle wiggle*
*poke prod poke poke POKE*
Uh, Mr Dan??? I need to GO!

*jump jump jump*
*poke prod PUSH*
Uh, Mr Dan??? I NEED TO GO NOW!!!!!!

Oh....oops.
Um...are these seats cleanable?

Okay you kids, I'm gonna have to leave you alone for awhile, so don't get into too much trouble (coming from me, that should leave you all plenty of latitude!) My computer crashed last night, and it's all over but the burial I'm afraid. Luckily, the local library is semi-close, and has a decent computer center I can use. So, I'll be checking in on you and your shenanigans every couple of days and updating you on what's going on here at my end. Now, here's a 5-gallon bucket of rocky road and some spoons. Enjoy!

Peace.
-Dan

Oh, and those darn pop-ups on the page aren't helping, either! GAH!

I did however, receive a package of quilt blocks from Dee today! She even included quilt blocks depicting Bump and Stella in the window looking at the birds. I wish I was using my computer, then I could show you what they look like. Dee, they are just too cool! Thank You!!!

And now here we are...
dan_the_mailman (me) hosting
beth_b_kodiak (Beth) sent
micrey (Michelle) received
hazelnutbunny (Melissa) received
lindaruzicka (Linda) received
faintheart (Dee) received
pennijanine (Penni) received
gmom2-6boys (gmom) received
robin1962-2008 (Robin) sent
sandlapperrose (Jeanne) received

As you can see, we are just waiting on blocks from Robin and Beth to arrive, and then I will be filling your packages with new quilt blocks and sending them your way. Everyone keep your fingers crossed while those two packages make their way here...

And Melissa, if you want oreos, then yes, you can have oreos with your ice cream. I've even got marischino cherries for those who want them.

It's been in the 70s hereabouts lately, so yesterday I grilled chicken with a caribbean jerk marinade. There were leftovers, so today we had chicken again, but I made a nice fruit salad with lots of coconut and cool whip in it. MMMMM!!! Bananas, strawberries, m. cherries, pineapple, and watermelon, all mixed up with coconut and cool whip! Want some?

Everyone have a great night! I'm heading back home for some fruit!

Peace.
-Dan

I'm going to give it a few more days on Beths blocks to arrive. If they haven't arrived by next Wednesday, which I'm sure they will, then I'll get with her and work something out. Hang in there and enjoy your ice cream everyone! Remember, good things come to those who wait, right?
Beth, what kind of package are we looking for?

Peace, and bon week-end!
-Dan

So, I'm cruising the internet and see something that catches my eye. It's a little ditty about straw bale gardening. So I check out a few websites, and get a bit excited. I think I've found my experiment for the summer. Here's what I've gleaned. Read it, and let me know what you think...

Straw Bale Gardening
The bale is the garden. Put it on your balcony or path if you want to.
Use one or umpteen bales as you need and in any pattern. Because straw bale gardening is raised, it's easy to work with, so make sure you allow for handy access.
Wheat or oat straw is best as it's the stalks left from harvesting grain with very few seed left. Hay bales are less popular as they are made of whole plants with mucho seeds and often other weeds in. Use what you can get locally — it may even be lucerne or pea straw bales.
Put the bales in the exact place, because it's too hard to even nudge these monsters once you've got your little straw bale garden factory in full swing.
You'll get one good season out of a bale and usually two, albeit with a bit of sag. It makes for great compost or mulch when finished with.
Lay them lengthwise to make planting easy by just parting the straw. Make sure the string is running around each bale and not on the side touching the ground in case it's degradable twine.
Keep the twine there to hold it all in place and if it does rot, bang some stakes in at both ends, or chock up the ends with something heavyish, like rocks, bricks, boxes or plant containers.
Starting off with slightly aged bales of about 6 months is best, but if they're new, thoroughly soak with water and leave for 5 or so days whilst the temperature rises and cooks the inside, then they will cool and be ready for planting. They won't be composting much inside yet, that takes months, but you don't want that initial hot cooking of your plants.
Some sneaky people speed up the process of producing microbes and rot by following a 10-day pre-treatment regime of water and ammonium nitrate on the top of each bale. But, hey, organic gardeners are a patient lot aren't we, so let's follow nature?
Keep watered. That's going to be your biggest task. Straw bale gardening uses more water than a normal garden, so set up a system now. It may be that swilling out the teapot on it each day is enough in your area, or you may need to keep the hose handy.
plants to plant
Annuals of vegetables, herbs or flowers will love it. Remember your bales will be history in 1-2 years. Young plants can go straight in. Pull apart or use a trowel and depending on the state of the straw, put a handful of compost soil in too, then let the straw go back into place.
Seeds can be planted on top if you put a layer of compost soil there first.
Top heavies like corn and okra, are not so good, unless you grow dwarf varieties. With straw bale gardening it's hard to put solid stakes in so big tomato plants are out, although they will happily dangle over the edge.
Each bale should take up to half a dozen cucumbers, trailing down. Squash, zucchini, melons — maybe 3 plants, or a couple of tomato plants per bale with one or two herbs and leafy veggies in between. Four pepper plants will fit or 12-15 bean or pea plants.
There's no limit and why not poke in around the side a plant or two of some flowering annual for colour and companion if you like.
Once every 1-2 weeks water in a liquid organic feed, such as compost tea or fish emulsion. Tip some worms on top if you want to use your bales only one season.
It's simple to pull out any wayward grain seeds with straw bale gardening, but with hay bales you may need to occasionally give them a haircut rather than try and pull the tenacious new sprouts out.
PREPARE THE BALES
You’ll have to prepare the bales to make sure they’re past the initial heat of decomposing. With the proper fertilizers and water your straw bale should warm up to a temperature of about 100 degrees. As in many gardening techniques, there are proponents of several different methods. You can prepare your bales by just keeping them wet for three to four weeks prior to planting. If you prefer a more proactive approach, here’s one widely recommended method.
Days 1-3: Water the bales thoroughly and keep them damp.
Days 4-6: Sprinkle each bale with a 1/2 cup of a high nitrogen fertilizer like ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) or ammonium sulfate per day, and water it well into the bales. If you’d like you can substitute blood meal for the nitrate.
Days 7-9: Cut back to 1/4 cup of fertilizer per bale per day, and continue to water it in well.
Day 10: No more fertilizer, but continue to keep the bales damp.
Day 11: Stick your hand into the bale. If it has cooled down to less than your body heat, you may safely begin planting as soon as all danger of frost has passed.

Glad the blocks arrived, Dan! I have heard of straw bale gardening but never tried it myself. If you decide to do it, you will have to keep us updated on how it goes. I wonder if the bales would be a paradise for lil furry critters?

Beth, hope your package finds it's way to Dan's. I know it can be so frustrating but will keep my fingers crossed. Not long ago it took 14 days for a letter from my office to arrive at a client's just 8 miles away!

Ok, I best get busy. I'm going to make Danish fruit pastry as family is coming by later today.

hugsss,
Dee

So, here's where we stand at the moment everyone...
dan_the_mailman (me) hosting
beth_b_kodiak (Beth) re-sending
micrey (Michelle) received
hazelnutbunny (Melissa) received
lindaruzicka (Linda) received
faintheart (Dee) received
pennijanine (Penni) received
gmom2-6boys (gmom) received
robin1962-2008 (Robin) received
sandlapperrose (Jeanne) received

Now, there were seeds sent in, so what I'm going to do is list them here for you all to choose from. If you see any you'd like, please list 3 choices. Later in the week, I will use your lists to decide who gets what, with everyone getting at least one packet of seeds. So, here's the list...
Sunflower, Mammoth Greystripe
Zinnia, Giants of California
Hibiscus, Giant Red
Feverfew
Sunflower Mix
Aster, Yellow
Nepeta cataria
Purple Hyacinth Bean
Pardadancancia norissii (??)
Hot Biscuits Amaranthe
Hollyhock Mix
Silene Schafta
Verbaseum phoenisuem Rosetta
Joe Pye Weed
Butterfly Ginger
Rose of Sharon (white w/ rose center)
Agastache Blue Licorice
Hibiscus syracus "purple"
Yellow Hibiscus

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

Peace.
-Dan

Peace.
-Dan

p.s. Oh, some of you may notice by the time stamp on this and some other postings, I'm not at the library. I've got my computer back on it's legs again, although it's walking with two leg casts and on crutches. At least I can communicate from home again, right! I'm now saving up for a new tower, and crossing my fingers each time I try to use this silly thing.

Peace

But..that being said....I'm wondering....does that package have a postmark from Tahiti?? It had better, with the amount of time it took! LOL!!

Have a great Monday Everyone!

Peace.
-Dan

p.s. And, since no one has spoken up for those seeds, I'm going to go ahead and plant them out at my folks' place. I know Mom and Dad will enjoy them. And Linda, Mom packed that brooch you made for her and took it out to Minnesota with her. They're visiting my sister for a couple of weeks, and Mom said she wanted to wear it when they went out.

And now, on to the quilt blocks!

(and I'll take the hollyhock mix if that's okay)

But wait, there's more... When I was finished sealing up all the packages, I found 3 extra quilt blocks. When you get your package, count how many blocks you received back. If you did not get the same amount of blocks you sent in (1 extra for Jeanne and Dee) then please let me know. I will put these blocks in the mail to you, and we can all live happily ever after.

And, having said that, it's on to watch The Big Bang Theory. That show cracks me up!

G'nite!
-Dan

a little off topic but the quilting round robin is finnished and everyone has posted a pick of what they got back in the mail, it was so much fun and I learned a lot. most of all I love the quilt I got back from my new friends. this is the one where we sent out a quilt block as the center and each player added a border.

can't wait to get my blocks
thanks dan
michelle

I have my applique picked out for my next block. I think this will be a fun one too. This is going to make quite an awesome quilt when it's all done!

well, rats I can't get the picture to open.
beth

I am thinking of doing mine in black to make all the different fabrics really pop out. I've never used black before, and usually don't like it, but I've seen several quilts lately that have been scrappy with black borders/sashing and it really makes everything look dramatic.

Persistence pays. 
Bunny I love your idea and will be looking for some green/grey batik.
 Sat we are going to a quilt show. I just love them though they tend to make me feel incompetent/ LOL 
Bunny, your time is getting really short here. How many more days are you guessing?????
 hugs Beth

I'll tell you what...the days are literally DRAGGING by. Why do the first 8 months go so quickly, but the last one lasts forever?? UGH.
The magic day is officially the 25th, but knowing me, I'll go into May. I am ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS late (usually by 2 weeks or more!!), and those that know me know that I like to have things done YESTERDAY, thank you very much, so being late REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY bugs me.

But other than that, things are going well.
LOL!

and the saga of Melissa and her quilt blocks continues...

Dee

Beth, your blocks look so cool spread out like that. I haven't done that yet to really look at what I have.

You should have seen my first attempt of tying my quilt for my room. It was done on a frame and all rippled and not smooth. So I took it all out to start over but have not done it yet. I love Quilt shows and feel like a failure because my attempt at quilting doesn't come out like what I see. I've only been at this about 3-4 years so I have a lot to learn. When I moved here I was a seamstress and figured I knew everything. BOY! Was I wrong.

Melissa, that round robin sounds like fun, when does it start up again?

Thank You everyone I love the blocks.
gmom

Um....would someone define patient, please??

Don't forget to count the number of blocks you received, and make sure you received the same number you sent in, okay? I've still got these 3 extra here, so I know there was a mix-up somewhere along the way. If you are short on your blocks, please post here so I can get them to you.

***dosing Melissa's fingers with pepper*** Mel, don't you know chewing your nails is a bad habit? Now, stop that!!!

Hugs, Hair-Mussings, and Purrs to You All!

Peace.
-Dan

I got 9 blocks: 1 from Robin, 1 from Penni, 1 from Dee, 1 from Linda, 1 from Melissa, 2 from you and 2 from Beth. if you have an extra one from Jeanne, Melinda, or Michelle you can send me one more but otherwise don't spend the money. I sent in 10 total.
gmom

now, is there anyone who hasn't received their blocks yet? melissa?

everyone have a good day!

peace.
-dan

gmom! I've got your block all sealed up and ready to go into the mail tomorrow! after asking you to e-mail me your addie, I took a chance on the computer and tried accessing that file of gw addresses. well, that didn't work, but then I thought of how aol is kinda, half-working for me, so I checked in my saved e-mails and there was one with your address in it! I usually delete those once I've input the address into the gw file, but thankfully I forgot to do so this time! lol! so, the envie is all addressed, and I'll be mailing it out tomorrow.
I'm glad you spoke up because not knowing who these extras were supposed to go to was making me feel bad. I tried to not short anyone with what I thought was a fool-proof system, but it looks like my "system" fooled me! ah well, live and learn, right?

so, in the paraphrased words of the Monkees, your 10th quilt block is now saying "here I come!"

-dan

Here is one of my favorites from the Quilt Show.
It's achallenge quilt.
Challenge: Create a quilt representing the color of a food.
This is Blueberries.
There were so many beautiful Quilts I could not decide which ones to vote for. But I liked this one for the colors and creativity.

-Dan

The poor envie that contained my blocks....wowie.
It has 8 postmarks (8!!), 3 rips, and was so limp that it literally oozed out of the mailbox. LOL
BUT the blocks are great, and I can't wait to put them with the others & see what I can come up with this weekend!

Thanks for hosting, Dan! And thanks to everyone for making such great blocks! :O)

Peace.
-Dan

peace.
-dan

***banging gavel***
THIS SWAP IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED.

peace.
-dan