Getting Ready For Christmas

Wow, Mother Nature is unrelenting this year! Here we are getting ready for Christmas and preparing for a visit from my brother and sister-in-law, as Mother Nature begins her own version of White Christmas. Rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow should begin sometime tomorrow (Wednesday) and continue through Friday!!! I e-mailed my brother and cancelled and rescheduled for Saturday-Sunday...hope we can get together then.

I was supposed to work at the quilt shop today, but Miss P. isn't going to visit her mom because it is still snowing and freezing rain north of us today! What a mess...

Oh, well. Husband and daughter and I are here to celebrate and that's all we need. Daughter declared she may just stay in her pajamas ALL day on Christmas! More power to her!

Dear daughter and I baked Christmas cookies yesterday. I tried a new recipe. Cranberry nut cookies...not bad, but probably won't do them again. Made my favorite sugar cookie recipe and got those decorated. I made toffee crunch... YUM!

I guess I'll make a vegetarian meal for Christmas. Daughter will be pleased. I'm not sure if Grandma will be here. I am still debating about dragging her out of the retirement home in bad weather. Doesn't make much sense to me, but I will decide Christmas Eve.

My Gourmet group met here last Tuesday. It was a resounding success, if I do say so myself! The recipes were delicious and everyone seemed to have a good time.

The Jazz Cafe was great! We didn't go till just before daughter's group played. They were spectacular, as usual! Dear daughter has taken up the clarinet! She is just a musical maniac! She started lesson this week.

Blessing to you all! Happy Holidays!

Christmas approaches..

Yikes! I've done it again! Didn't I practically pinky-swear I would not forget to keep up with my blogging? Oh, well...

Christmas is fast approaching. But, first there are soooo many things going on in addition to Christmas! And then throw in an incapacitating snowstorm and you've got one big mess... We had our first official 'snow day' on Wednesday AND Thursday this last week. But first, daughter and I had to make an onion quiche and buche de noel for her World Language Open House which, of course, didn't occur because of the storm! So now, the buche de noel (or is that du noel?) is being "reconfigured" for the Jazz Cafe dessert scheduled for this evening (PS, sleet is predicted to start late this afternoon).

Tomorrow, Sunday, I am scheduled to teach the second part of a class at the quilt shop. I've been pretty nervous about this and I am actually hoping for a snowstorm... which, as it turns out, is kind of in the predictions for tomorrow. So maybe I can put this off for one more month...

Tuesday, my Gourmet group meets at my home. So I have to plan and purchase the food. The group arrives Tuesdsay morning and they prepare the recipes and then we eat. Its fun, but always nerve-racking prior to the actual day. So Monday I have to clean and shop....pray for no snow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Last weekend we went to our daughter's high school musical, Grease. Dear daughter was in the pit orchestra. They did a great job! It was very entertaining. And, of course, daughter's sax-playing was superb..as usual.

Gotta go. I'll post some pix of my latest projects.

Those dang computers...

Well, its been quite a week around here. It all began last weekend when my dear daughter and I decided to watch Hulu to catch up on some show we had missed. We got the brilliant idea that we should be able to connect the laptop to the tv and watch the shows. WRONG! Our old laptop crashed and we ended up taking it in to have it resusitated at Staples. While we were there, we purchased a Sony Vio so we would have a laptop for daughter that would support gaming and hopefully take care of her into college. ( we may be living in a dream world around that idea...).

So the last several days we have been spent trying to get 3 laptops (2 older and one new) back into our 'network'. Hubby and I are too old for this, evidently. We finally got a friend of a friend (who is significanly younger) to come over and help. Of course, in less than an hour he had everything up and running and gave us a list of things we need to improve our network!

In the mean time, I traded in my Brother embroidery machine for a newer model. Wow! what fun! (Also has its own 'learning curve'...) So yesterday a good friend came over and helped me start my first project. I'll try to get a picture of my dish towel. It Worked!!

Wednesday I am going to Des Moines with friends for the day. We will be going to the AQS Quilt Show. It promises to be a fun day. Unfortunately, after this week, I will have no money to spend there...nuts! Oh well, it will be great just to see all the quilts and new products.

Ta ta for now!

How About Those Hawkeyes!

I'm not usually a huge football freak, but I think those Iowa Hawkeyes deserve my support! They are doing very well this season. I guess I'm a 'fair weather' Hawk fan.

I quilted a quilt at the shop yesterday. I'll try and get a picture of it when it is bound. I started this quilt 2 years ago when I went on a quilting weekend to a lake in northern Missouri. It was a beautiful setting in late October (about this same time of year, but MUCH warmer). The quilt was from a Better Homes and Garden Quilts and More called Exclamation Point.

Wow, we had our first snow of the season yesterday!! That's just not right. We've been trying to 'winterize' around here. Taking in outdoor furniture cushions, Goodwill runs, etc.

Time to get back to my sewing room. I'm working on a quilt for the shop. More later!

Cool, Crisp Morning

I guess Fall is officially here. The morning is cool and crisp. I need to go for a walk in the woods...or at least on the trail behind our house.


Had a great weekend. Worked a couple of hours at the quilt shop on Saturday. Worked on the New York Beauty quilt at home. Gosh, that quilt just goes on forever! I hope I can finish it in my lifetime!

Saturday evening was the Homecoming dance for daughter's school. They had a great time.

Sunday, dear daughter and I went to Des Moines Civic Center with my brother and sister-in-law to see Wicked! Had a very enjoyable day! The show was staged beautifully, but I did not come away from it wanting more. Sorry to say, but it just didn't do much for me. From all the hype, I expected to be awe-struck, but wasn't.

After the show, we went to Jordan Creek Mall and did a little shopping. Ate dinner at Pangs(?) Chinese restaurant. Very tasty! Finally got back home at 9:30.

Get this, my dear hubby had cleaned the carpets on the first floor while we were gone! What an angel!

Last night, as I watched House and Lie To Me, I worked on the cable vest for my daughter. I am making good progress. It should be done before she graduates...from college! Why do I even start this stuff? It takes for ever...

More soon.

Early Morning Thoughts

Tuesday morning. Not much going on. Just finished breakfast and gearing up for for morning walk with hubby. He just needs to wake up...

Finished hand sewing the binding down on the Bento Box quilt! I put 'minkie' on the back of this quilt, so it feels yummy. I also quilted it myself with a pumpkin-themed meander..looks great! I also bound the Birthday Banner from Patrick Lose's book, Poster Quilts. Its really sweet. I quilted it with silver metallic thread...not as easy as it looks.

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning and everyone is still sleeping. The weather has been so fantastic this last month that its unbelievable! Mild temperatures, mild humidity and no rain...wonderful! Yesterday hubby and I planted some mums in the front yard. We went to Menard's (hubby's favorite store) and got 4 weird pumpkins for the front entry, too. We also put a new screen door on the doorway that enters into the garage. There is a wonderful breeze into the house if the garage door is open

Didn't get any sewing or knitting done. Still working on dear daughter's vest and a New York Beauty type quilt. Both will take a while. I'm already tired of both and want to start something else....and probably will. Such is the life of a knitter/stitcher.

Today is shaping up to be productive, also. We need to complete the screen-door project by adding the hardware,although Hubby keeps trying to convince me that it works just as well without it. I think he's ready to stop working on this project...

Thursday night thoughts..

Had a good day at work today. Sold lots of material and got to do a little satin stitching on a shop project.

Hubby had a physical and passed with flying colors. Darling daughter was not friends with anyone arrested at her school for drugs today, thank god.Dog had no accidents in the house, that we know of. So, all in all, it was a great day!

More soon! I promise to write more often than not.

Why do I do this?

Why do I do this? I'm terrible at keeping up with my blog...I certainly apologize. Here it is September and I haven't even LOOKED at this blog for months.

I'm in the throws of a quilting and knitting revival. I have been making small quilt projects alot lately. Took a fun class at my local quilt shop with Patrick Lose, quilter and author from Phoenix. Really improved my satin stitching...thanks Patrick!

Took a one-day bus trip into Chicago for a visit to Midwest Stitches. OMG! Could have spent sooo much money there..Managed to keep it under 500, barely. I'm working on a vest for my darling daughter. Got it at the WEBS booth. I've already ripped it out once....oh well. Got MORE sock yarn...what was I thinking??!!? and some beautiful hand-dyed yarn for a vest for me, and some soft and yummy alpaca for whoever.

Hubby retired this last summer! Two weeks before, he fell off the ladder while painting and broke his arm! He is getting back to normal and hopes to take up the planned fishing he said he was going to do when he retires. Its great having him around. We are walking more and getting alot of cleaning and moving of 'stuff' accomplished.

Getting back into the swing of fall. Had our first Gourmet for this year. YUM! Good food and great conversation. And wine to boot! I volunteered to do December.

Daughter is a junior this year! Yikes! Where did the time go? She is now driving herself...what a relief! She is currently volunteering at the Natural History Museum and hopes to go into Archeology. Also planning on going to France for spring break with French class. We are so proud of her!

My mother is doing well. She was living with us for about 10 months. She is currently in an assisted living facility and getting along fine. She celebrates her 90th birthday in November!

The pictures show some of my new paint colors in our condo. You can hardly see the soft yellow in the 4-season room, but its great! The sweater is the one I made at Crazy Girl knit shop. I accidentally felted it..oops!! I can't wear it but daughter can.

Signing off for now. We'll see how long between entries next time...

Hello again...

Another cold day in January! When will it stop!!??! One bright spot: Yesterday I saw 'Spring Awakening' at the Des Moines Civic Center. OMG it was fabulous! I had been prewarned of the sexual content, but it was such a powerful story, that it didn't really bother me. Its a must see for anyone with tweens or teenagers. The message I left with was be sure to listen and tell them what they need to know, no matter how uncomfortable you might feel. And the music was wonderful....

I'm posting some photos of my finished projects and a couple near-finished projects. And one that may never make it out of the basement...

I stopped at Crazy Girl knit shop this afternoon. I picked up the cutest little miniature sock shaper that is a key ring. It included instructions for a sock to fit the sock form.

Happy New Year...if you still read this

Well, one more time I have neglected my blogging duties. This is hard!! So, let's begin anew. Happy 2009!! The holidays flew by faster than usual. I didn't even get xmas cards out!

I got some socks finished, a scarf, fingerless gloves (boy, there is an exercise in futility), a paper-pieced quilt, and a pathetic-looking sock monkey. I'll try to get some pix on board of these projects.

Been busy working at the quilt shop. Had the flu the first week of the new year. Saw 'Spamalot' in December. It was a riot! I'm going to see 'Spring Awakening' this Sunday.

The weather here has been pretty unbearable! Either too cold or too much snow or both at the same time! I guess that's why I've gotten so many projects finished. There have been temps in the minus thirties!!

I'm going to teach a couple of friends how to knit tonight. We will start with just a basic knit stitch in a dishcloth...really simple. Should be fun!

More to come...I promise.