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!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Many of you know that I am something of a weather geek. And there's a lot going on here to satisfy even the most ardent weather geek. ;-)  We got about 3" of snow overnight Wednesday ... although it was hard to know for sure because the heavy winds yesterday morning kept the snow moving. If that wasn't enough, we had wind chills of 0 ... no surprise then that my friend and I chose not to walk as we'd planned. ;-)

While it is going to "warm" up over the next couple of days (to a "balmy" 43 on Saturday), we've got another front moving through Saturday night into Sunday morning ... up to 8" of snow with a low of -10 on Sunday and a low of -11/high of 0 forecast for Monday.

So much for DH's assertion that getting a snow blower for Christmas would ensure that we'd have no more snow this winter - ha!  

Needless to say that other than walking next door to visit our neighbors (since she and I couldn't walk, we at least got together for a visit), I didn't leave the house yesterday ... I got caught up on my blog reading and spent the afternoon with needle and thread. It turned out to be the perfect day for the crockpot pot roast I had planned for dinner. Yum!  Finished up my lazy day with the hockey game and more quilting.

Our tree and Christmas decorations are still up ... time to get it put away, don't you think?  ;-)  December was just so busy that I didn't have a lot of quilting time, so it's hard to pull myself away from my needle and thread now that things have slowed down a little. Maybe when I get back from walking this morning (at the Y!) ... or then again, maybe not.  Ha!

Hope you all are staying warm - and safe!