Tasty Day!

 It's gonna be a tasty day here.  This has nothing whatsoever to do with the photos I have to share, but as I'm writing, the hubs is injecting some pork shoulder roasts and rubbing them to put on the smoker.  I'm planning a potato casserole and spinach salad to go with them.  He's also gonna cold smoke some cheese on the grill.  We visited some Amish groceries yesterday and he selected a caramelized onion monterey jack cheese, swiss, and mozzarella to put on the smoker.  We also got some farmer's cheese.

Thursday afternoon I made 2 batches of caramels using 2 different recipes.  The first was done in the microwave and took 6 minutes.  The second was done on the stovetop and took over 30 minutes of constant stirring.  Both are very good.  I like the second one better.  Then comes the cutting and wrapping.  I tend to do battle with plastic wrap and waxed paper and come out defeated.  I suddenly realized that I have some really awesome tools in my sewing room, so brought them down to the kitchen and sped the process up and made it easier.........less swearing!

I have also finished a couple of quilts.  Both are baby quilts.  The first is a quilt from the odd blocks I received in a white elephant show and steal at the Missouri Star retreat I attended.  I know it was called White Elephant, but these were really pushing the envelope I thought.  I had the blocks A-G and J from what I'm sure was supposed to be a complete alphabet.  So, the J block was used to make this cute little bag for Jenna who loves pockets.

And the remaining blocks, A-G, the musical alphabet, were made into this baby quilt that I got to use a music panto on.

And speaking of a little girl named Jenna, she is going to have a baby brother in January.  This will be his baby quilt.

Isn't this adorable!  I think I may have to make more bunnies.

So all that candy making and quilting have been really tiring.............

Aren't naps just the sweetest thing?

Christi

It's December!

 

I was so surprised when my dad pulled this nativity scene he had made for Sarah out of his car when they got to St. Peters.  He (just turned 80) really doesn't work in his wood shop too much anymore.  Apparently he was repainting his set and just decided to make a set for Sarah's yard.  It looks really nice in her front yard after the first snow on the 30th.  She's already had a second snow!

I have been spending a little time back in the sewing room.  I had to introduce Mabel to the sewing room.

At first she explored all the low places (cleaning out some of the dust bunnies).  This required a short nap.

Then she managed to climb my pantleg to get to the high spot of the cutting table.  Again a "cat" nap was needed while helping hold down some fabric.

Then she settled in to watch the stacks grow.

And finally moved to the window ledge to snooze away the afternoon.  Sewing is hard work.

After that, I had to roll out the red fabric to get Esme back in the helping mood.  She was a little miffed at being replaced.

There was some discussion about who was queen of the sewing room.

I assured them Cici was still the queen even though she has found a new hiding place between the Christmas pillows on the spare bed.

And Willow has a new bed.

Which is sometimes occupied by others.

At least it's big enough to accommodate friends.

Of course, when the vacuum comes out of the closet, it is best to station yourself by those who are bigger than the vacuum.

What Mabel doesn't realize is that Willow is petrified by the vacuum as well.

Have a great day!

Christi

First Snow - November 30th!

 Yes, you can track a rabbit!  And you know what this means?  Whatever date the first snow fall (that you can track a rabbit in) happens indicates the number of snows you will get in a winter...........at least according to the OLD WIVES, whoever they are.  So, if this holds true, we should get 30 snows this winter.  Yeah???  If that happens, I'm looking forward to long days of sewing.  We'll see how it goes.

Our 32nd anniversary was Wednesday.  We were in St. Pete's at Sarah's for Thanksgiving so took the opportunity to go see Wicked.  Sarah and Aaron and my parents were with us.  This was our attempt at a selfie in the reclining seats of the theater.

Sarah and Aaron were beside us.

They took a pic of us reclined.

And here we are after the show.

After 32 years of marriage, you start to think alike.  We got each other the same card.

Google states that the traditional gift for 32 years is transportation or travel.  Apparently we don't really think that much alike, because I got a new semi truck!  We brought it home from St. Pete's with us.

Sarah was very excited to host her first Thanksgiving.  While it didn't mean that I didn't have to cook this year, I didn't have to do all the cooking.  She worked hard on the turkey (which she named Steve).

And she was proud of her work.  She did forget to wear the special apron she had bought for the occasion.  

It was a delicious meal.  We made 3 pans of turkey tetrazzini for her to freeze and she sent me home with turkey and broth.  There is a delicious smelling pot pie in the oven right now and one for the freezer!

We helped her decorate for Christmas.  She got to put up ALL of her Christmas decor including the 40 nutcrackers.  We took the group fireplace pictures.

Her cat managed to pull a blanket down and play with one of her nativities.

Sarah and I braved the cold and crowds to shop at Penney's at 5 AM on Black Friday!  David and my dad got to Menards a little after 6.  We met back at the house for Grandma's cinnamon rolls.  We also went to Bass Pro and Home Depot later in the morning.  It was a very fun Thanksgiving.

Goodbye November and Happy First Snow Day!

Christi

So this just happened!

 

I know, I need another cat like I need a hole in the head, but she was homeless and so stinkin' cute, and NOISY!  I was at a friend's house ordering some t-shirts, and this little noisy thing was there making sure everyone knew that she was lonely.  My friend is headed out of town and didn't know what to do with her (we're pretty sure it's a her).  She was just going to have to leave bowls of food and water out and hope.  I decided to bring her home and give it a try.  We have been needing to get another outside cat and wanted a female, so we'll give this kitten a try.  I'm not naming her until she survives at least 48 hours.

Don't you love the white tip on her tail?  Willow is a big concern, but the kitten didn't seem too concerned about Willow except when Willow accidentally stepped on her.

This was her second trip down the steps of the deck.  The first time, she was walking under Willow in between her legs.

She will reside in the shed.  She is currently using Willow's big (and very unused) dog house.  She seemed to be starved even though I know my friend had fed her and her tummy seemed full.  She's definitely missing her mom.

So, this post was not supposed to be about a kitten..............but rather to catch up on some sewing room events.  You may remember my Into the Woods quilt that was previously finished.

Scraps from this quilt were used to make 2 table toppers/runners.  The round one is for my mom's round table in her basement.

The rectangle runner is on my coffee table.  That pretty much used up the scraps from that quilt.  The remainders have been cut into strips and squares and added to the appropriate size boxes for scrap quilts.

Not a lot of sewing has happened.  I did clean the sewing room very well and cleaned Sarah's room as well.  She had taken all the books from this shelf, so I cleaned it and organized some of my sewing things there.  A bolt of fabric fits the shelf perfectly!

I did finish my Little Ghost quilt that goes with the children's book, The Little Ghost Who was a Quilt.  I have it displayed over the desk chair in Sarah's room.

That's about all that has happened in the sewing room.  Perhaps I got it so clean and organized that I am afraid to do anything to mess it up!  

This past weekend was girls weekend in St. Peters at Sarah's.  We did some shopping in Main Street, St. Charles.

And we went to the casino!  

We also played cards and poker, ate out, and did some shopping at the mall.  I think I have most of my shopping for Sarah complete and a little done for David.

Well, Thanksgiving will be here before you know it!

Christi

Retreat!

 Our guild held our fall retreat last Friday and Saturday.  Two days of sewing and visiting and all sorts of fun!  You might be wondering what happens at retreat...................I enlisted the help of a little froggie friend to share with you.

You could play strip poker (for strips of 2.5" fabric.........what were you thinking?)

He helped hold the ruler for cutting fabric.

He searched for a drink of water in the bee-utiful table decorations.

He helped stir one of the delicious soups.

He sampled some snack mix from the snack table.

He held fabric while it was going through the machine.

He attended to some pressing matters.

He made sure everything was going through the machine correctly.

And by the end of the first day, he was exhausted and there was still a second day of sewing!

I finished 4 small projects and almost all of the blocks for a larger scrap quilt but failed to get any photos of those.  So, stay tuned for a later post that might show what I worked on.

Christi