Greetings

Oh. My. Goodness.

#1....

Right there at the top of the list......Me....Just call me "Blabber-Fingers."  This is a count of comments I've made this year on one of my favorite blogs. Kind of spooky in a way. Who would have thought blog comments are tracked.  Lurking is sounding better and better.

I commented on someone's blog just recently that I thought one of my goals for the coming year might be talking less.  Not sharing my opinions, stuff I'd read, or much of anything beyond a short comment on the weather ocassionally.  Maybe I'll just have to keep my typing fingers firmly in my pockets too.

On the other hand, maybe this will be the only time I'm ever #1 at anything. :)

Winter Wonderland

Pretty, but cold.  I'm not sure how much we got, but it looks like around 4-5".

Last night was just a perfect snowy night.  Not a breath of wind and the snow coming down was so powdery and glittery against the street lights.  And so quiet.  One of those nights where you just want to be out enjoying it.

Christmas At Our House--2012

Christmas past---another one for the books. After all the decorating, shopping, cleaning, cooking, it's over all too soon.  Today is my quiet day to get things put away, dishes washed, empty boxes & wrappings disposed of.  I was really glad to send DH off to work today......four days of him at home, hovering over my shoulder, questioning if I intended to do this or that...GEEZE!!!  :)

And here's some pictures of part of our day:

Just killing them to wait while I took a picture!

Filleting knife, camo

and a shop vac. DH got some pretty nice gifts.

And so did I.

Of course we ate well too. This year I didn't rock the boat and served the traditional turkey and fixings. Not a word of complaint when you give them what they expect.  :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their family.

New Year's Day plans??

Do you have plans for New Year's Day?  If not, maybe you would like to join the QOV New Year's Day Sit 'n Sew.  Here's a link to Judy L's blog with the particulars.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/12/23/qov-new-years-day-sit-and-sew/

Start the new year out right, doing something good for others. I think I will get busy cutting some strips later this week to be ready to join in on New Year's Day.

Merry Christmas, Blog Readers

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each of you kind enough to read my blog.

It's gettin' down to the wire now.  Did some cleaning, made fudge, canning deer & wrapping deer steaks. Tomorrow it's pies and rolls; some more cleaning. Somewhere in there the presents get wrapped.....I need a nap!!!

New BFF

Today I spent some quality time with this new friend.

My new Hoover carpet cleaner. Actually we spent time together yesterday too, since I had to put it together after FedEx left the big box on my porch.  Today it was time for the test drive. First, the spinning brushes wouldn't spin. What the heck?!!  Got that figured out with some tinkering.  Later I realized it wasn't sucking any dirty water into the return tank. More tinkering. Got that working and continued. Dumped, cleaned, and went back over the entire floor to suck out more water.

The carpet looks so much better and I didn't have to half-kill myself hauling a rental machine home from the store and back again.  I always hated doing that. It was always either still wet & drippy from the last use or dry and full of someone else's dirt that wound up in my car or scattered all over the newly vacuumed carpet before I'd get it all hooked up and ready to go.  Sometimes after all that it wouldn't work at all.

My new BFF and I will get along just fine.  Until it dies.  Putting it together and then tinkering to get a couple things working showed me that it isn't made of the most sturdy parts. PLASTIC!!!  Imagine that!

What did you do for fun today??

Here It All Sits

Five boxes and a couple bags of sorted out Christmas stuff on it's way to the Christmas thrift store.

I have to admit, I feel kind of Scrooge-like for getting rid of the biggest share of a life-time collection. But, I'm tired of all of it and someone else might as well enjoy it. I think when I put my Christmas stuff away this year it will all fit into 2, maybe three boxes, a big bag and the tree coffin.  There will be empty space on the storage shelves. Yahoo!!!

The view out my front door this morning

SNOW!!! (click to bigify :)  & really see the snow coming down)

It really came down there for a while, but most of it melted before the end of the day.

Looking For Some Christmas Spirit

When it's 67 degrees out and the outdoor scenery is all kind of brown & blah it's kind of hard to "think Christmas."

I did take myself Christmas shopping on Wednesday in O'Neill.  Now that there is a Shopko store there the shopping is a little better.  Thurs., Fri., & Sat. was their Grand Opening but everything was marked with the sale prices already on Wed., so I lucked out.  I have a pretty good handle on Christmas gifts now, with the things I ordered online.  Still a few things to get, of course.

I need to get started on some cleaning, but don't really want to think about that.

Today I started making room for the Christmas tree and a few other Christmas_y things.  I used to decorate the house to within an inch of it's life, but now I like a less cluttered, more simple look.  Is that an age thing??  I've been sorting through stuff and only bring up the stuff I want to use from the basement. Before I started bringing stuff up I had to take stuff down....empty jars, canners, car show trophies, etc.  Many trips up and down the stairs. (How come I'm not thin?)

My kitty was helping me. Here she is holding down the tree skirt and stand so they don't get away before the tree gets set up. She'll spend the season hanging out under the tree. She does it every year.

Maybe I'll feel more "Christmas_y" once the tree is decorated and the lights are turned on.  I'll set out a few of my Santas and call it good.

Once I've decorated like I want I think I'll take the rest of the stuff to Good Will or the thrift store or something.  My eventual goal is to have all my Christmas stuff in ONE good sized tub and the tree storage "casket."

Gray & Dreary Day

Today was such a dark, dreary day. Heavy gray clouds that made it look like it could rain or snow any minute. It didn't, of course. We don't know what moisture is here in Nebraska anymore.  It was a really good day to just stay inside and work on quilts.

I've been working on the same two all year......Bonnie Hunter's Jamestown Landing and Orca Bay.  When you just work on units for so long it doesn't seem like you ever make much progress. Today I got these pressed.

 

These are the last small units I need to sew for Orca Bay. The next step is cutting some red, black & neutral squares and piecing blocks. 

Then I moved on to removing the paper from the back of these string-pieced units for the Jamestown Landing.

Once that's finished they can be sewn into pairs for the setting blocks. All the blue and neutral HSTs are finished and ready to sew into blocks.  Progress has been slow but soon there will be actual results.  

The brown handled tool laying on the mat is so handy for removing the paper from the blocks. Slip it in under the paper & loosen the paper from the seam then fold it back at the next seam & rip it off. Repeat, repeat and repeat some more.  I think the tool is from my ceramic making days way back in the mid-to-late 70s. It was used to scrape off the seams on the green-ware made by the molding process. Either that or it's the only surviving piece of an old manicure kit. It works great, that's all I care about.

Not that I was going to.......

Thanksgiving Wishes

Even though we had our family Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening I'll still fix a smaller Thanksgiving dinner just for the two of us. The pumpkin pie is already baked & I may just have a piece before bedtime.

I just got to thinking this afternoon that yesterday would have been my Mom's 98th birthday. And then I remembered that today is our anniversary...we won't even talk about how many years.  #2 granddaughter's 14th birthday was the 12th. It kind of feels to me that it got overlooked, but when they become teenagers that family birthday party just doesn't hold the same charm that it once did. I looked back through my pictures and #1 granddaughter's 14th birthday is the last one I have pictures of too.  They grow up too fast.

Daughter & #1 granddaughter are coming on Friday to work on a photo slide show for granddaughter's graduation.  I have the scanner & know-how. :)  So sometime tomorrow I suppose I'll have to do a little straightening up and housecleaning. I've been letting it slide & we wouldn't want them to think Grandma's a slob, now would we?!?

Hoarder???

I'm not there yet, but I do sometimes wonder how I will use it all up in my lifetime.

Fabric For Life

Nothing exciting going on here so I just want to ask if you've entered the "Fabric for Life" contest?  Enter here: http://ck.upickem.net/r/zWadc7FXJS?r=482528 
After all, who wouldn't want fabric for life?

And that about says it all.

Ahhh............

....it's over!!! Election 2012 is history. If I never got another political call or saw another campaign ad I would be a happy camper.

Yesterday was a LONG day. I'm one of the minimum-wage election workers who make it all happen. Before every election all of us make a trip to the county courthouse for election training. Before every election we're told how important we are, how they couldn't do it without us, etc. etc.  So what's up with the minimum wage?  Is that what all election workers all over the country get?  Or is our state/county just cheap?  I'm the messenger, so with the training, picking up the election materials and returning them to the courthouse, I rack up about 150 mi.  I'll have to figure it up to be sure, but I think I make more in mileage reimbursement than I do in wages.  However, on the bright side, now those political calls and ads will go away.  Now it will be the news media endlessly rehashing the whole thing.

So, yesterday I was gone all day and today I'm being a slug and/or catching up on things at home. Needless to say, I'm not getting any of  THIS done:

That was LAST Tues. & Wed.   Canned the chicken I got on sale a couple weeks ago, and all the good broth. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time, but buying the little cans of chicken for like a $1.69 apiece when I want a chicken sandwich or some stir fry for my lunch is ridiculous.  I canned it in 1/2 pt. jars and each one has about as much meat as three of those little cans.  The amount of meat in the cans just keeps shrinking. Really, do the food processing companies think we're all stupid???

My Favorite Holiday

It really is!!  Decorate to your heart's content, admire cute costumes, eat candy. ESPECIALLY that last one. I need to go buy another bag full since the Snickers somehow vanished. :)  As an added bonus there's no big meal to cook or presents to buy. So why didn't I even get ONE decoration put up??!???

This morning I was looking at a couple digital scrapbooking blogs I visit, just admiring the Halloween kits available for sale and thinking I really should make some layouts, work on learning my graphics programs better. 

A number of years ago I decided this was the ideal way of scrapbooking. I already have a huge stash of quilting fabrics, books, magazines, STUFF and didn't want to start another stash of paper scrapbooking supplies. Well, I collected some digital supplies, made about four layouts and just didn't get back to it. However, and that's a BIG however, I have collected gigabits of digital supplies that I feel guilty about not using. 

Sometimes I wish there were three of me....one for quilting, one for genealogy and one for digital scrapbooking. Well, maybe four....one for housework and cooking to make the DH happy.

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

The Search Is Over

My new-to-me ride.......

2005 Chevy Equinox LT

Really nice for a seven year old car and much easier for this old lady to get out of than a low-slung sedan.  Low miles too. Hope it proves as durable & reliable as "Old Blue" the Buick that got traded in.

Windy!!!!

According to AccuWeather we were supposed to have winds today of 30-40mph with gusts of 50.  I think it might have surpassed that by now.

Yesterday I took my new camera out and took a picture of the Asian Pear tree. It was such a gorgeous, bright gold/orange.

So pretty.

And this is what it looks like now.

Sad, isn't it??

A good day to stay inside and do this.

Sorry, didn't realize how cruddy my ironing board cover is until I saw the picture.  Pictures don't lie!!

Someday I will get that Orca Bay quilt put together.

A pot of Vegetable-Beef soup is on the stove for supper. It's the perfect night for it, with the wind howling like it is.

Evening's Entertainment

First off I was ticked that "NCIS" wasn't on. Here I am, home on a Tues. night & my favorite show isn't on. So I watched "NCIS: Los Angeles" instead. Not bad, but they don't have Mark Harmon, do they? And then, POW!! the main event, the presidential debate. I came away from that one asking myself, "How can two guys talk so much and not actually SAY anything?" 

Tomorrow............

I have lots of things on my "tomorrow" list and it keeps growing. Some have already survived MANY tomorrows.

Three Heartstrings quilt tops that came home with me from Quilt Club that need to be quilted and bound.

Quilt block parts that need to be pressed.

Three tops of my own awaiting quilting and binding.

A top I bought off eBay. It was the first one I quilted on my Gammill Premier using a pantograph pattern. I've learned a lot since then. It still needs to be bound....how many years later?

I really need to find time to study the manual for this, my new toy.  Took this picture with my smaller camera and the ones above it with this new one.  Actually the picture quality is just as good with the small camera, at least to my untrained eye anyway.  They are both 12.1 megapixel cameras. The biggest difference is that this one has 35x optical zoom and a few more bells & whistles if I can figure them out.

We won't even talk about the canning and jerky making that I have yet to do. Or all the genealogy information that needs to be entered into my database. Or all the pictures that need to be scanned.

Tomorrow...Tomorrow.....Tomorrow....

Too Good To Not Share

And the Lord spoke to Noah: ''In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people are destroyed. But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an Ark.''
And in a flash of lightning He delivered the specifications for an Ark.
''Okay," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints.
''Six months, and it starts to rain,'' thundered the Lord. ''You'd better have my Ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time.''
And six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping. And there was no Ark.
''Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?'' A lightning bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah, for emphasis.
''Lord, please forgive me," begged Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project, and your plans didn't meet code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then I got into a big fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system. My neighbors objected claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.
Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the Ark because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the spotted owl. Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now we got 16 carpenters going on the boat, and still no owls.
Then I started gathering up the animals, and got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind. Just when I got the suit dismissed, EPA notified me that I couldn't complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood.
Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe. And the IRS has seized all my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about owing some kind of use tax. I really don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years,'' Noah wailed.
The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled.
''You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?'' Noah asked, hopefully.
''Wrong!'' thundered the Lord. ''But being Lord of the Universe has its advantages. I fully intend to smite the earth, but with something far worse than a flood. Something man invented himself.''
''What's that?'' asked Noah. There was a long pause, and then the Lord spoke:
''Government.''   (Thanks to Al and the Bayfield Bunch)

Almost Gone

Ah, September is almost gone...yet it seems like in just got started. Today is my youngest's birthday. He's 36. I guess if I was a seriously dedicated blogger I would have dug out one of his baby pictures and posted it...or maybe the naked-in-the-bath- tub picture....every kid has one of those, right?

Nope, and I'm not posting pictures of the jars of pears I've canned. Or the jars of apples before that. Or the jars of beef I canned today. Or the pear pies I've made. Yum!!

There hasn't been any sewing or quilting going on.

There was a little genealogy excitement. One of the DH's ancestors who has been very hard to find has seemingly turned up thanks to a great ancestor hunter in Iowa. With her last name spelled differently than any of us had.  This ancestors father-in-law is still a bit of a brick wall. We know his name, but not his father's name.....and there were a gazillion Baileys in the NY-VT-NH area. Often several in one generation with the same name, but not even closely related.

So there you have it. My September. How was yours?

Sew, Kitty, Sew!!

I want a kitty like this!

Every quilter needs one!!  All mine do is eat expensive cat food.

Fall Is Here

While it seemed like the long, hot, dry summer would go on forever, Fall is here. Warm, sunny days with a little cool breeze. Cool nights, perfect for sleeping with the windows open a little, but the AC & fan shut off. So quiet.  It was actually cool enough last night that there was frost in places in town. Not at our place, but in the southeast part of town were it's a little lower.  I want more ripe peppers so I hope it holds off a little longer.

To me, Fall is Pear Pie time and here's the first one of the season. I suppose you could make it out of canned pears but it wouldn't be the same.

Note we've already enjoyed a good portion of it.

I've also made my favorite Potato & Butternut Squash Scallop. Another seasonal dish.  Pretty simple to make really. Sliced potatoes & squash, browned pork sausage, chopped onion, salt, pepper and cream to cover.  Bake until potatoes and squash are tender. YUM.

My kitties will be jealous, but here's some doggie pics taken during my dog-sitting stint a couple weeks ago.

Ollie's favorite spot on the back of the couch. Yes, Roscoe is missing a front leg.

Note the one ear perked up, one ear flopped over and the soulful eyes. He uses this look very effectively.

It Seems Like The House Grew

My doggie buddies went home this morning. The kids got back from Glacier NP and picked them up on the way home. I don't know who was happier...the dogs or the kids.

Oops...same picture as last post. :)

My house, especially the living room, seems so much bigger without the three dogs, their beds, their toys and the one's kennel. I miss them!!  My cats don't.

A little sewing went on today....VERY LITTLE.  Long-term projects do drag on. Maybe I need to start something new to get my mojo back. Last year I was thinking of making a Twister Halloween quilt. Now would be a good time to do it. Or would it just turn into another UFO??

This Week........

...is dogsitting week.  Son & daughter-in-law went to Glacier NP on vacation so their dogs are on vacation too.....at my house.  Since there are three of them, I'm really glad they're all good dogs.

Roscoe, Zoey and Ollie

They look content enough, don't they?  I enjoy them. My cats??  Not so much!!

Weeding

No, not the garden.  This past week has been the official "Week of Weeding" in the Northeast Library System. The idea is to encourage all the libraries to weed out their collections to make room on the shelves, get rid of things that are no longer useful to the collection and to freshen up the look of the library.  Participating libraries also get their name thrown in the hat for a drawing for a Kindle.

My goal was to get the adult general fiction shelves weeded. They had become so crowded that it was hard to put books away. I should have taken some "before" pictures but didn't, so here are the "after pictures."

These two pictures are the books removed from the shelves.  Books are HEAVY!!  (Library Boards...remember that when you look for a  librarian. She/he must be able to handle heavy boxes of books.)

They aren't all removed from the database yet. Hopefully that will be done in the next couple weeks.
I'm estimating that close to 400 were weeded.





These next pictures show the shelves "after."  Please notice that there is some space on EVERY shelf for adding more books and for face-out display.   Some rearranging needs to be done to equalize the space, but at least there IS space.

SPACE!

SPACE!

SPACE!

SPACE!

SPACE!!