Goodbye January!!

 

Don’t let the door hit ya in the behind, as they say.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to be done with January … this month has seemed to last foooooorever! I guess it’s been the crazy weather … pleasant, almost-springlike temperatures one day, bitterly cold temperatures the next, 15” of snow in one feel swoop.  I like snow … but not that much (at one time, anyway) and certainly not with those frigid temperatures!! 

 

At least with February, we have hope that spring will be here soon … spring training starts, we have a couple of birthdays in the family, and it’s a short month, so even if it’s cold and snowy, we only have to endure 28 days of not. 

 

DH and I finished that puzzle we started a week or two ago.  It’s missing one piece … a corner piece.  Since we start by putting together the borders (is that how you all start a puzzle?), we knew from the get-go that we were missing a piece, although we hoped that maybe we just didn’t see it when we first separated the border pieces.  We’ve got another puzzle waiting to be worked … I’m not sure if we’ll start it soon or if we’ll wait a little while, take a bit of a break.

 

I’m still working on my Storm at Sea.  I’m getting closer to the outermost band of blocks … but the further out I go, the more blocks are in a band so it doesn’t go any more quickly when I’m stitching in the last two bands like I am now.  At least before too much longer, I’ll get to use my border hoop that I bought last fall.

 

We booked our condo for our May trip to Hilton Head … wiser heads prevailed and we both agreed that because of the significant savings, we’d book the non-ocean view condo and add a couple of more days to our trip.  ;-)  I can walk around to the other side of the condo building and get a picture of a sunrise or two. Of course, now that we’ve booked the condo, I’m ready to go NOW!  ha!

 

Have a fabulous Friday, y’all!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Didn't we just do the Hodgepodge yesterday?  Hard to believe that another week has passed ... How time flies when we're having fun (now there's an original thought!).

1. It's  been said that one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day. Do you think that's true? Do you find that an easy exercise most mornings? What's something positive you told yourself today? If you missed that boat, what's something positive you could tell yourself tomorrow?

I'm sure it's very true ... if we start our day in a positive frame of mind, it can influence our attitude for the rest of the day ... once we get our day started (with either a positive or negative attitude), it's increasingly difficult to change our outlook. 

2. There will be karaoke at the next party you attend...are you in? Or will you be faking a sore throat?

I will put on my big girl panties and say thanks, but no thanks.  ;-)  And trust me, the other guests will appreciate that!  ha!

3. January 29th is National Puzzle Day...what's something you've found puzzling recently?

I cannot figure out why I've suddenly stopped getting email notifications on conversations I'm following in my Facebook groups. I get most email notifications for non-group conversations I'm following, just not for the groups I belong to. I've checked my settings and I've checked to see if they might have gone to my junk mail folder. No luck. 

4.  Jigsaw, crossword, acrostic, logic, sudoku, word search...what's your favorite kind of puzzle, and when did you last work one?

Jigsaw. We're currently in the middle of one we bought when we visited the Outer Banks in 2012. 

5. Recently a writer by the name of Amy Glass ruffled feathers with a post she wrote saying she looks down on young women with husbands and kids and she's not sorry. Among other things, she says women will be equal with men when we stop saying house work and real work are equally important. You can read the whole piece by clicking here.

What say you? Do you think men and women are equal in the 21st century? Why or why not?

Is she really serious?  This makes me so sad (and not just a little angry) that I'm at a loss for words. 

6. What's a product you've noticed in the grocery store that you'd like to try, but haven't yet?

No ... I can't remember the last time I crossed the threshold to a grocery store ... when DH and I married, we had a talk about our responsibilities ... I told him that if I would continue to work to contribute to our household income, he would need to contribute to the maintenance of our household ... he chose to do the shopping, and truth be told, I was ecstatic that he chose that responsibility because I can't tell you how much I dislike shopping!  ;-)

7. The author, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) was born this week in 1832 (January 27th).  Which character from his celebrated novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, would you most like to meet, and why? Here's a link to a character list if you need help on this one. 

I've never read Alice in Wonderland, and I can't say that I'd be too anxious to meet any of them since they all seem to be so very disagreeable (if not downright mean). 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A Weekend Full of Slow Stitching

 

 

Even though I’m retired, I still find myself looking forward to and enjoying my weekends … and I’m especially enjoying this weekend. 

 

Yesterday morning, it was “warm” enough to walk outside with my neighbor Lois, although I did have to put my hood up, wear 3 pairs of gloves, wear my flannel-lined pants, wool socks, and 2 layers under my jacket (which Lands End touted as suitable for temperatures 5-10 below 0 … although I beg to differ!).  We both prefer walking outside whenever possible, so it was nice that we could get our walk in outdoors. 

 

After I got home, DH and I started some preliminary planning for our May trip to Hilton Head.  In the past, we’ve always been able to book a 4-star beachfront hotel for under $100/night … sometimes as low as $60-70/night.  Of course, it helps that we travel in May and in September … while that’s not off-season, it’s certainly not the prime season so lodging rates are lower (and the weather is still quite delightful).  And we take advantage of the savings offered through Last Minute Travel Club, a free online “club” that offers low, low prices … unlike Hotwire, it allows you to see what hotel you’re booking and it allows cancellations up to 3 days ahead of time with no penalty.  We checked Last Minute Travel Club for the dates we’d like to travel (between Mothers’ Day and Memorial Day) … the cheapest 4-star hotel is over $180!!!    While we wouldn’t have been too surprised to see the rates up a little, that’s over double what we paid last September!  That’s just CRAZY!!!  We decided that our travel budget couldn’t take that kind of hit … not if we’d like to return to Hilton Head this fall … so we did some preliminary investigation into condos.  In the past, we’d talked about renting a condo, but with LMT Club, we could stay at a 4-star hotel and eat all our meals at restaurants for less than we could rent a condo. We found a few in our favorite part of Hilton Head, including one with an ocean view!    Naturally that’s the one I’m leaning towards, although DH is leaning towards another one that’s equally close to the beach but without the ocean view and that comes in 25% less per week.  We’ll have to see if my power of persuasion is strong enough to convince him that it will be worth the additional money to be able to see the ocean and the sunrises from our private balcony.   

 

After lunch, I spent my afternoon working on my Storm at Sea while watching my Blues win their game vs the Islanders (yes, they were lucky with an Islanders’ OT game-winning goal being disallowed).  I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked because I had to unstitch/restitch a 5” row of stitches not once but twice!! I’d show you a picture of the blocks I’m currently quilting … but they look like all the other blocks I’ve shown you.  If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.  ha!  After dinner, we watching Captain Phillips.  Wow … that was intense … but worth seeing. 

 

This morning on the way home from church, we saw this hawk.  I know you can’t tell from this picture, but this bird is huge … about as big as a good-sized adult cat.  Lois and I saw it on one of our walks, sitting in an empty lot no more than 8-10 feet away from us as we walked by.  It wasn’t the least bit fazed by our being so close … and we didn’t push our luck … and kept on walking.

 

I’m planning on spending this afternoon getting in some more hand work on my Storm at Sea, so I’m going to link up with Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy’s Quilts.  It won’t take long before I’ll be ready to move my hoop again (provided I don’t have to unstitch and restitch again today – ha!).  I hope to find a good movie on TV … something to provide a little background noise … if there’s nothing worth watching on TV, I’ll pop in a DVD. 

 

Before I close, I thought I’d share this picture I found on Facebook yesterday.

And this thought:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  ~  Matthew 6:25-33

 

Have a blessed Sunday, you all!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

It's Wednesday ... and that means that it's time for some Hodgepodge.  Why not join in all the fun?  After you're done here, click on the button above to see what everyone has to say.

1. It was decided on Sunday the Denver Broncos will meet the Seattle Seahawks in this year's  Superbowl. So when was the last time you bowled? Not where you thought this question was going is it?  Do you like to bowl? Are you any good? 

I cannot remember the last time I "really" bowled ... about 18 months ago, we had a Wii bowling "tourney" when my sister was here. I do better at Wii bowling than I do with "real" bowling.   

2.   Should sports stars be role models? 

Should they?  No, in an ideal world, teachers, police officers, Sunday School teachers, and most importantly, parents would be role models for our kids. 

3. January is National Oatmeal month...are you a fan? How do you like your oats?

I'd like steel cut oats, with a little fruit (bananas, berries, or chopped apples), a dash of cinnamon, a few chopped walnuts and just a little brown sugar please. We used to have oats for breakfast regularly, but they're just too much work and take too long now that I've got early morning commitments (watching the Ts and walking with my neighbor on the mornings I don't have T duty). 

4. What is one book on your reading list for 2014?

I don't know that I even have a reading list ... I tend to spend my free time quilting, rather than reading these days. But I do look forward to reading the next book in the Psalm 23 mystery series. I hope that it will be published in 2014. 

5. What would you like your future self to say to your present self?

Keep walking ... our bones will thank you! 

6. When scrolling through the TV guide, what is one movie title that makes you want to stop, grab the popcorn, and watch for a while?

Casablanca. I love those old B&W classics. 

7. What are two style trends you hope never come back into fashion?

Bell bottom pants and leisure suits. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I had such a nice, relaxed Wednesday. We finished the jigsaw puzzle we bought on our trip to the Outer Banks in 2012. 

Forgive the glare - we finished it late in the afternoon, when the clouds overtook the sun, so I had to rely on indoor lighting.

I also got a good bit of quilting done. I finished the quilting here 

and moved the hoop 

It won't be too long until I can move the hoop again. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Whole Lot of Nothing Much

 

It’s been almost a whole week since I last blogged … you’d think I’d have a lot to report … but then again, those of you who’ve followed along for very long probably already know that’s not necessarily the case.  It was a busy, fun, exhausting 6 days … just not the most exciting for blogging about … but  that’s my life these days, and truth be told, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent at an out-of-town swim meet.  Because of the Ts’ age range, we were there from the time they opened the doors until the last event … that made for some pretty long days, but I just love seeing this:

and especially this:

 

My neighbor and I were going to go walking this morning, but I passed … I can’t remember the last night I got a good, full night’s sleep … besides, I’d rather stay inside where it’s warm and cozy when it looks like this:

and feels like this:

 

Besides, I haven’t picked up my needle and thread since Thursday … I’m long overdue for a day spent quilting! 

 

Over the last week, I’ve come across a couple of “funnies” that you who are quilters might enjoy:

 

Time to get up and get reacquainted with my needle and thread.  Have a terrific Tuesday, you all!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

It’s Wednesday … and look! I’m Hodgepodging first thing this morning! 

 

1.  Are you a force to be reckoned with? In what way?

I don’t know that I am, but I’m sure that DH would tell you otherwise.  I will say that if I feel strongly about something, I have to admit that I’m rather like a dog with a bone. 

 

2. What are two things you love about the wintertime? Or, if love feels like too strong a word, what are two things you 'like' about winter?

I love snow … maybe not 15” worth like we got last week, but I do love snow.  I like the holidays that come in winter … does that count?   

 

3. Pomegranate, kumquat, persimmon, kiwi, and guava are all fruits said to have health benefits, particularly during the winter months. Do you have a favorite on the list? Are there any on the list you haven't tried?

I haven’t knowingly eaten any of them other than kiwi, which would, I guess, make it my favorite of those 5?? 

 

4. I passed a local church yesterday and noticed they had this on their outdoor sign- 'When all else fails, do the right thing.' Your thoughts?

Seriously?  I would expect that a church would be teaching us to do the right thing ALL THE TIME … not just when all else has failed. 

 

5. Do you ski? According to one list I've seen, the top 5 ski destinations for 2014 are-St. Anton Austria, Whistler Canada, Cortina Italy, Tahoe USA, and Zermatt Switzerland.  Of the five listed, which would you most like to visit? We can make skiing optional if that helps the non-skiers with their answer.

I tried skiing once many, many years ago … couldn’t even make it down the bunny slope.  And since I can no longer tolerate cold, I have no desire to ski.  To be honest, I am not familiar with any of those destinations, so I’m not sure which would I’d choose.  Since I would love to cruise up to Alaska and return to the US via a glass-domed train through the Canadian Rockies, and since I assume that Whistler Canada is in the Canadian Rockies, I’ll choose Whistler Canada. 

 

 
6.  What's the last thing you looked for online? (Besides my blog!)

Prior to checking my blog list, I checked out Facebook … I belong to a group dedicated to hand quilting.  Since I can’t find a guild locally, this group has become my guild.   

 

7. What saying, slogan, quote, or motto have you seen lately that inspires you for the new year?

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I’m continuing to make progress, slowly but surely on my Storm at Sea.  I’m about halfway done with the quilting (I know!  Even I’m asking “aren’t you done YET?!?!”) … and I discovered a piece of my white-on-white with the wrong side out!  I can’t tell you how carefully I pieced that quilt top, having to use my seam ripper several times to rip out pieces that I had turned wrong side out … I was sure that I had all my WoW turned correctly!  Evidently not!

If you click on the photo, it should open up to a larger image … notice the bubbles on the large white triangle in the middle … and compare them to the bubbles on the white patch just to the left. 

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Weekend Wrap-Up

 

 

I had hoped to get linked up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching yesterday … but I was a woman on a mission, and by the time I’d accomplished that mission, I was too exhausted to even think about blogging. 

 

Saturday was a fairly laid-back day here at Chez Nana.  I did get in a walk with my neighbor, got caught up on blog reading and emails, and got dinner prepped in the crockpot – all by 10:00!  I rewarded myself with plenty of time with my needle and thread.  ‘Round about 8:30, I put the quilt aside and started a puzzle … and I just had to finish it before I could go to bed.  Fortunately it was a 500-piece puzzle, so DH and I finished it up by midnight … well past our usual bedtime! 

 

As a result, we were up later than normal Sunday morning … dashing our plans to visit a new (to us) church.  We are growing increasingly unhappy at our current church home … ok, maybe me a little more than DH, but he’s a smart man … he knows if mama’s not happy, nobody’s happy.  ;-)  Maybe we’ll visit next Sunday?  We charged on with the rest of our plans for Sunday … visiting JoAnn’s Fabrics to find a piece of foam suitable to make into a cushion for T#2’s bench … I had the fabric (a curtain panel to match the pair on the window in her bedroom), but I needed the foam to wrap with the fabric.  It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes to find a piece that would work … but it took fooooorever to get the foam cut and priced.  Now I remember why I don’t shop at JoAnn’s! 

 

Our next stop was Kohl’s.  Perhaps you remember my “rant” about jeans … several recommend Lee Jeans.  I do not like shopping in brick and mortar stores … I avoid it like the plague (thank God I was a husband who is agreeable to do our grocery shopping … he’s a keeper, I tell ya!).  So the jeans I tried earlier were all purchased online.  I looked online for Lee Jeans, but it there were so many that fit my rather limiting criteria (straight leg, petite size, at-waist fit) with no way that I could determine how they differed.  Since I was ordering online, I was reluctant to just order them all.  Anyway, at Kohl’s, I found a very, very limited selection of Lee jeans in the style and size I wanted … the only ones were relaxed fit, which are cut a little more amply in the seat and thighs.  Well, that’s my problem with traditional fit jeans … too loose in the seat and thighs!  But I did find a couple of Levi’s jeans that fit very nicely … unfortunately they came only in a medium length (which means I’ll have to get them shortened) and they had teeny, tiny pockets (I am in the habit of carrying my iPhone in my pocket).  But they fit! 

 

After we did our shopping, we drove over to St. Louis to use a gift certificate we received from our car dealer (not sure why they were so generous – we bought 1 car from them, 4 years ago!) … so we had lunch at Maggiano’s Little Italy.  Yum!  I had the lobster carbonara … I fully intended to only eat about half the portion, but it was too good to stop … I did force myself to stop before I ate the full plate!   

 

After we got home, it was time to make the cushion cover.  While I’ve been sewing since I was 9-10, I’ve never tackled anything quite like this.  But I’m happy to report that the cover turned out well.  Ok, maybe it’s not quite what you’d expect if you had it professionally covered, but T#2 will be thrilled to have a cushion for her bench, and that’s all that matters to me.    I wanted to take a picture of the finished cushion … but I didn’t finish it until the sun was setting, and today there is no sunshine … my photography skills are not the greatest under the best of circumstances. 

 

After I finished up the cushion, I got to spend some time with needle and thread … while I know I’m making progress, it sure feels like it’s taking forever to quilt this … I know that part of it is due to the 2-month hiatus I had to take, part is because I had to rip out a fair amount of stitching, and part is because I’m giving this a little more quilting than I usually do  … but it sure feels like I’m never going to get this done.  <sigh>

 

Hope you all have a marvelous Monday!

A Day Late, A Dollar Short?

When I came to the random thought on Wednesday’s Hodgepodge, I was stumped for something random … quite unlike me, yes I know.  And of course, today all I have is random.  Figures.

I saw this on Facebook … I thought it’d bring a smile to those of you who quilt or sew.

I need a new pair of jeans, but I’m having a time of trying to find a pair that I like and that fit!  I’m not even worrying about length (I’ve got SHORT legs … I’m short anyway [5’2”] and am long torsoed, so my legs are even shorter than you’d expect … DD is 5’1” and has to push the seat back – a ways! - after I’ve driven her car).  I’m almost 63 and a Nana … I’m not interested in jeans designed for the 16-year-olds.  I would prefer classic jeans … I have never been a slave to the latest fashion trend … I’ll wear these jeans for a few years so I don’t want something that will be horribly dated in a year or two.  I’m not sure I have a style … I guess the best way to describe my style would be Lands End.  I would prefer plain denim … these denim blends bring back too many painful memories of my parents being too cheap frugal to spend the money for 100% denim jeans when I was a teenager.  I prefer jeans that sit at my waist … try as hard as I might to wear jeans or pants that ride lower, I can’t get over the urge to pull them up where they belong.  ha!  Unfortunately, I just don’t have much of a waist … so jeans that fit in the waist end up being a bit too baggy in the seat and thighs … not enough so that I can pull off wearing “skinny jeans”, but so much so that even traditional fit (vs relaxed fit) just doesn’t work.   Argh! 

We have above-freezing temperatures (just barely) and had rain yesterday … amazing how much snow is gone.  There are still great big piles of snow where the plows pushed all the snow, but they’re considerably smaller than they were two days ago.  It’s going to get into the upper 50s tomorrow … only here in Illinois can we go from –9 to 56 in a week’s time.  Crazy.

Over Christmas, I asked DH why he wasn’t a fan of hockey … I mean if it involves a ball of any kind, that man is glued to the TV.  His answer was that there wasn’t enough scoring in hockey.  Wouldn’t you know that the scores of the next 4 Blues games were 5-0, 6-2, 5-2 and 5-0.  Of course, after each game, I had to remind him that there just wasn’t enough scoring in hockey.  Alas, the Blues lost last night 2-1 … I just knew that he’d get a little revenge by reminding me that there isn’t enough scoring in hockey … and he didn’t disappoint.    Fun times here at Chez Nana!

I’m going to try a new crockpot recipe today … hope it turns out as good as it sounds.  It’s just a little after 10:00, and I’ve accomplished so much already this morning … caught up on blog reading, walked for an hour, got dinner in the crockpot and have even published a post.  I guess I should “reward” myself with some time with my needle and thread.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Snowy Hodgepodge

 
It’s Wednesday, and that means time for the Hodgepodge.  Yes, I know … it’s been a loooooong time since I’ve taken part … but for some unknown reason I just cannot wrap my brain around writing up my Hodgepodge post Tuesday night … and with needing to be at DD’s at 6:30AM on Wednesday mornings, I just don’t have time to write my post before I leave … I don’t know about you, but I need more time to ponder the answers to Joyce’s questions.    I guess that means that I’m just going to have to link up Wednesday afternoon. 

1.  Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English.  Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words were chosen).  Here are the words/phrases they'd like to see banished in 2014-
selfie, twerk/twerking, hashtag, Twittersphere, Mr. Mom, T-bone, _______on steroids, the suffixes-ageddon and -pocalypse added to anything and everything, from the world of politics the words-intellectually/morally bankrupt and Obamacare, and from the world of sports the words-adversity and fan base
Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?  Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?After surviving Snowmageddon, I vote for eliminating the suffixes –ageddon  and –pocalypse. 

2. What one unfinished project nags at you begging to be completed in this new year?
Tidying up the basement … reorganizing our storage shelves, getting rid of empty boxes are high on my list of things to do down there. 

3. When did you last have a bowl of soup?  What kind? Homemade or from a can? What's your favorite soup?
DH made chili Sunday afternoon.  Now that he has a snow blower, there really was no need to go out and shovel periodically … doing so would have been futile even if he had no snow blower, what with the heavy snowfall and crazy winds.  So we just stayed inside.  My favorite soup is Chicken Enchilada Soup (DD's recipe).  

4. Snowed in, snowed under, snow job...which one most applies to your life in recent days, figuratively speaking?
Snowed in … what with 15” of snow and bitterly cold temperatures, we were snowed in the last three days.  I did get out this morning as DD worked this morning … the main roads were fairly clear, but the side roads were a mess.  The traction alert on my dash was lit up like a Christmas tree virtually the entire time I drove through our subdivision.  The street crews were back this afternoon, working on our streets, so hopefully I’ll have an easier time getting out of the subdivision Friday morning. 

5. What's the funniest movie you've ever seen, or at least one of the funniest?
Hmmmmm … I’m having a hard time with this one.  I like a good comedy, but it’s not my favorite genre.  I guess I’ll just pass, although I’m sure I’ll kick myself as I read everyone else’s answer.


6. In general, would you say you're clumsy?
Not really … thankfully as quilting has several dangerous tools (seam rippers and rotary cutters). 

7. Elvis Presley was born on Hodgepodge Day (January 8th) back in 1935.  Are you an Elvis fan?  What's your favorite Elvis tune?  If that's too hard, which Elvis tune do you dislike the least?  Click here for a list of his songs.
I’m not, nor have I ever been a fan of Elvis.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I can’t believe it … I’m the Queen of Random and haven’t a random thought worth sharing.  I’ve spent 15 minutes wracking my brain for something even semi-sharable (is that a word? if not, I believe it should be!) so I’m going to wrap things up or this won’t get posted on Wednesday at all! 

The Blizzard of 2014

There’s not a lot going on around here … snow, wind and cold temperatures!  As a result, lots of quilting.  I stayed in my jammies Sunday and Monday … and just might again today.    Of course, since my jammies are a pair of sweats, it’s easy to just put them back on in the morning … warm and toasty. 

I wanted to get out and get some pictures of the huge drifts out front … but it’s just too stinkin’ cold … and to be honest, I’m not sure that my photography skills are adequate to do justice to the drifts.  We got 14.5-15”, and with winds gusting up to 30-35mph, there are places where the snow is 3-4’ high and places where there’s just the thinnest layer of snow, not even covering the grass. 

DH got out yesterday and cleared our driveway (so much for his assertion that buying the snow blower would ensure no more snow this winter – ha!).  I admit that as I watched out the window, I thought for a moment or two that I’d get dressed and get out there and help.  But he was making such good progress … even through the 4’ wall of snow left behind by the snow plows … it would take me 3x as long to clear anything with a shovel.  Besides, I remembered how much pain I felt in my hands after walking outside in the 30-degree weather last week … I didn’t even want to contemplate how they’d feel after being out in –8 degree weather!  I’m so proud of him … not only did he clear our driveway, but he helped several of our neighbors with theirs. 

So I stayed inside and quilted.  After all, it’s National Hobby Month, so I had to, right?  I continue to make progress, but I’ll spare you the pictures … like I said Sunday, what I can show you now will look exactly like what I’ve already shown you … so I won’t bore you with more.

DH and I finally got a wild hair and took down all our Christmas decorations last night … truthfully, I got the wild hair and DH had no choice but to come along for the fun.  ha!  I don’t know why, but we always have such a difficult time putting together and taking apart artificial trees … I’d forgotten that when we bought this artificial tree.    There was a moment last night when I was definitely regretting our decision to go artificial this year … but we finally got the tree taken apart and back in its box (sort of … it’d be back in its box if the box was about twice the size … no amount of coaxing would get that tree collapsed together like it was when we opened the box).  Without the Christmas decorations, the house looks so empty. 

Temperatures will actually get above 0 today, so things are slowly but surely returning to normal in this neck of the woods.  I’m going to enjoy my last home-bound day … quilting, of course! 

Stay warm, everyone!
 

Winter Wonderland

The snow is here … heavy snow, up to an inch an hour at times.

The snow is so fine that it really doesn't photograph very well ... hopefully you get the idea.  And the snow is coming down even heavier than it was when I took that photo.  We are smack dab in the middle of the 7-12” band.  With heavy winds, that’s going to mean blizzard-like conditions, and the temperatures are plummeting so we are going to just stay home and stay safe (and warm!).  With nowhere we have to go, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to watching the snow fall … I’m definitely NOT looking forward to the cold weather that’s moving in (low of –10  tonight, high of 0 tomorrow, and low of –12 tomorrow night).  Thank goodness DH filled my van up last night … I think it will be running for a while tomorrow morning so it will be warm when I get in it to head up to DD’s. 

All that cold and snow is perfect chili weather … and perfect quilting weather.  Not that I need much of an excuse to spend time with my needle and thread … ha!  I’m still working on my Storm at Sea … hand quilting is slow going, but I’m making progress … and enjoying the process, so it’s a win-win situation.  I’d show a picture of where I am now in my quilting, but it’s going to look just like the pictures I posted here, here, here and here.  I’m linking up over at Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching (edited to correct link).

Our Ts had another swim meet yesterday … T#1 is a little under the weather but still managed to swim well, even knocking off a little time on a few events; T#2 cut a lot of time off every one of her events; poor T#3 was DQd on two of his events but did well on the others.  I just love watching them compete. 

Hope you all stay safe and warm!