Change is Coming!!

As many may know, I have been teaching piano at Missouri Valley College as an adjunct instructor, substitute teaching at the high school and career center in Marshall, working part time at the Martin Community Center, giving private piano lessons, and working as church treasurer.

Today, I am going in for training at a local chiropractor office.  I will be working in Dr. Fahnestock's office M-W, and F.  So, I won't be substitute teaching or working at the community center anymore.  And, I will only have 2 applied piano students at the college for the spring semester and this will be my last semester there.  The next week is a transition time from several jobs to a new one.  I'm really looking forward to the experience.
Christi

Catching Up!

So there's really no way to ever get caught up, but thought I would try to recap everything on my blog!

THANKSGIVING!!!
We spent it in Bethany at my parents' house with my sister and her family.  Mom didn't want to cook, so we went to the community free-will donation Thanksgiving dinner in town.

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!

 Or maybe it should read "Turkey, Wild Indian, Turkey"!  DD is home for the week and brought her Thanksgiving decorations to share.  She's not fond of Cici batting the turkeys around the table.  At least she's entertaining Cici.  Cici may actually enjoy the peace and quiet when DD goes back to school.

Sweet & Savory

Where has the month gone?????

I can't believe we are midway through November, Thanksgiving is on our doorstep, and Christmas will be here before we know it.  Fall is my favorite time of year because it is all about chillier temps (I'm still waiting for those), fall colors and leaves falling (still waiting for the leaves to fall), comfort foods, and making Christmas gifts!

Here is a basket I recently finished.........

This will be a Christmas gift.  The pattern has instructions for a set of 4 nested baskets. This is the largest.  I have everything ready to do the others, if I can find the time.  It has a round wood base and a rolled Gretchen rim.  It had been awhile since I did this rim treatment.  Here is what it looks like at the beginning of weaving the rim.....

Kind of messy looking..........so much fun to bring order into chaos!  Hard to believe it's the same basket.

I can't believe it's NOVEMBER!!

It's November which means Christmas will be here before you know it!  Have you started your shopping yet?????  Sometimes it's not the gift, but the bag it comes in that counts!  Just ask Cici...............

This shopping bag was a source of entertainment for several days.  The bag came home with me after I met DD and her roommate in Columbia on a Saturday in October (turned out to be Mizzou Homecoming, so maybe not the best Saturday to go to Columbia!) and we did a little shopping.  I did purchase my first Christmas gift, not a large item, but something small that caught my eye.  Got to take the ladies to lunch as well.

Here they are sharing a dessert!  

Christmas Ornaments.........

Several years ago (okay, the date on the magazine is  ), I started cross stitching a set of ornaments depicting the Night Before Christmas poem.  I finally finished one that I'm sure I had been cross stitching on for about 3 years.  

Another new family member!!

We made another trip to Rolla to visit DD on Saturday.  It was Homecoming and Parent Weekend all wrapped into one.  We didn't get a very early start since DH had to load a semi of pigs and I had to take care of the neighbor's rabbits before we could leave, so we missed the parade.  We did catch part of the game and the half time show.  It was a beautiful day, almost too hot to be sitting there in the sun!  

Quilt Show Weekend

What a beautiful weekend for the Arrow Rock Festival and my guild quilt show.  There was a huge crowd there on Saturday and a pretty big crowd again on Sunday.

This was one of my favorites made by my friend Gina.  I like the colors and the stars.  I think it has a very patriotic feel.

Cici's Adventures in the Sewing Room

Hey!  It's me!  My name is .......Cici!  The mom told me this was short for Cecilia, my original name.  She says the name Cecilia makes her think of the old Simon and Garfunkel song, Cecilia, You're breaking my heart.......  

We spent an afternoon in the sewing room the other day and I learned all sorts of great stuff!

 Strips of fabric tied to chairs are great fun to play with!

Look what we made!  This is one of three pillows for me to sleep on.  This one was my favorite.  It has replaced the folded up blanket on the back porch I was sleeping on.  I finally realized that blanket was really for the DOG!  Disgusting!  I'm so glad to have my own pillow.  I wondered why we used polar bear fabric for it, but it's really soft and since I'm bigger than the polar bears, I guess it's ok.

I was really helpful while we were sewing.  I tried to arrange the fabric strips and when she was sewing, and then discovered that she was doing "air sewing" and got upset and tossed an empty spool on the floor, I chased it and tried to catch it.

One thing did happen that I found rather disturbing.  She placed a little cup of water on the ironing board and explained that she would use it in the iron when she needed steam (whatever that means).  I got up on the ironing board to investigate this and discovered that there was a kitten trapped inside the iron!  It kept watching me from inside the iron.  I got to thinking that pouring water in the iron wouldn't be good for the kitten, so I started drinking the water.  Since I didn't get all the water drunk, I slipped back into the sewing room the next morning and just knocked the cup over to get rid of the water!  I still haven't figured out how to let that kitten out of the iron. It just looks back at me all the time.  I had fun in the sewing room, but I'm going to be careful not to get trapped in the iron!
Cici

Welcome Cici to the family

We welcomed Cici (short for Cecilia) to our home almost a week ago.  She is so much fun!

DD was home from college over the weekend and did some studying and also some visiting with high school friends.........in between catching up on some naps and playing with Cici.  I did laundry and spent all of Saturday cooking.  DD took a healthy cooler of food back with her on Sunday afternoon.

A message from the newest member of the family....

Hello!  My name is .........  Okay, the family hasn't totally settled on my name yet.  At the shelter, I was called Cecilia.  The family is trying that and also are considering Ginny.  Of course, there have been a few times when I thought they were naming me "No!".  This usually only happens when I try to get on the kitchen counter.  I really hope they don't pick this name because it's kinda scary when they say it.  I jump down really fast.  

Busy Weekend!

This past weekend was definitely a busy one!  DD came home for a visit, so we did lots of laundry, I listened to her study (out loud) macroeconomics, math, and some sort of engineering design project.  It was all pretty much over my head, so I just worked on the laundry and keeping food going.  The hubs spent the weekend in the field with corn harvest, so we barely saw him.  DD did convince him to quit early on Saturday evening to go to a movie...........The Magnificent Seven!  
My parents came for a visit on Saturday after stopping at the apple flea market in Waverly.  We had a nice lunch and then Mom and I went to the quilt show at the Martin Community Center while Dad and DD visited the Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum.  Mom and I got some great ideas for quilts!  Here were some of our favorites.....

Finally, Photos Worth Sharing!

I know it has been awhile since my last post, and while I have been really busy, I seemed to be doing lots of things that just weren't photo worthy............did you really want to see a picture of the big hair ball I cleaned out of the tub drain????  While I am really happy to get some things like that done, I didn't really feel like sharing the love/pain of those projects. 

The hubs did start combining when it was dry enough.  He even gave combine rides to some of my piano students.  One little boy carried his ear of corn in to my living room and laid it in a place of honor on my coffee table during piano lessons.  The weather hasn't been the best for combining, so the hubs has been at loose ends while waiting around.  One particular afternoon when he couldn't be in the field, I decided to entertain him by taking him shopping!  

Food, Family, Fun

I feel like I have done lots and lots of cooking in the last week.  Last Monday, I made pot pie...with rabbit!  I had 5 of DD's meat rabbits in the freezer and cooked 2 of them which gave me enough meat and broth for 3 pot pies (yeah!  freezer food!)

Here is one before it was baked for supper.  I'll include the pot pie recipe at the end (you can definitely make it with chicken or turkey and it is delicious).  The recipe was shared from one of my piano families.  I'm so excited to start giving lessons again today.  It feels like forever since I have seen some of my students.

College Visit and Quilts!

Yes, we have already made a trip back to Rolla to visit!  And deliver more stuff!  I know, I keep thinking about bringing it all back home in the spring............and I'm enjoying not having all that stuff sitting around.  DD really "needed" her keyboard, and "wanted" her golf clubs and a visit from her rabbit.  Yes, we took Ian.  I thought we were going to be bringing bff Kari also, but something came up, so it was just the rabbit.  Oh, and she needed Dad to fix some stuff too, so the tools went back.  

So, not only does Ian have enough show wins to be a registered champion rabbit, but he's been to college now too, so is smarter than the other rabbits!  We took DD out for lunch and to Walmart where she picked up a skillet and griddle.  There is a kitchen in her dorm apartment and she has been doing some cooking.  She doesn't particularly like the campus food.  She even took all the leftovers from our lunch.  I had to get DH some ice cream on the way home since he didn't get my leftovers.  She also took us to a used book store in downtown Rolla that is really great.  She does have an actual light over her vanity now instead of the previous construction light.  However, there is still a lot of work to be done.

This is the sidewalk we used to get in.  She's also experienced her first fire alarm (11:44 pm on Friday evening) in which she was forced to use the emergency exit where there is not concrete sidewalk yet.  

Quilting projects and cats!

I'm so happy to have some quilting projects that are finished, or at least to the flimsy stage to share.

This was a kit I purchased from Red Button Quilts when my guild hosted a trunk show back in April.  The quarter is in the picture to show just how large (SMALL) this wall hanging is.  I hand quilted it myself (OLYMPICS project), and just got the binding and buttons done on Saturday.  It will probably go to one of my nephews at Christmas.  I have started a tradition of making one snowman wall hanging every year and giving it as a "bonus" gift at Christmas.  I still have a couple of nephews who haven't received one.

Two Weeks and So Much Has Happened!

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I blogged!  Some would think I was on vacation, but it really didn't feel like a vacation.  Let me catch you up.

1.  Made pasta sauce and salsa, peach preserves (no photo), and put many peaches in the freezer.

2.  Went to the Lyceum Theater to see Fox on the Fairway which was fabulously funny! 

Sewing T-Shirts!

I keep seeing the coolest t-shirts pop up on facebook.........Here are a few of my favorites!

Welcome to Rio!

Have you been watching the Olympics?  We have.  While finishing the binding on my Mom's Surprise Star quilt, we watched the first gold medal of the games go to a 19-year-old American young lady in the air rifle competition (yes, we tend to watch the less popular sports).  We also watched the end of the men's cycling road race yesterday and the exciting crashes on the steep downhill portion at the end of the race (not a good time to have a needle in your hand!), and the first swimming events (also not a good time to have a needle in your hand as you are yelling at the TV for them to swim just a little faster).  Mom's quilt binding is all done and I have started the hand-quilting project I had saved to work on during the Olympics.  This might not have been the wisest of moves as my hand-quilting is not the best, and then when paired with the exciting things happening on TV, well, let's just say I'm going for a "rustic" look on this wall hanging.  Watch for pictures of the completed project.

I'm so happy to finally have these Rudolph placemats finished.  This set of 10 (yes, 10) are going to my sister.  I machine quilted them myself.  The pattern is a take off of Bonnie Hunter's Fair and Square quilt (I refuse to do string blocks, so my setting triangles are solids).  I had 2 layer cakes of the Rudolph fabric and made a small throw/wall hanging and 2 table runners, and then used the scraps to create placemats for my sister.  I love the bias striped fabric as binding.  What little fabric was left has been cut up and added to the scrap bins.  One more thing to check off the UFO list!

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

Okay, so I'm a day late in wishing Harry a Happy Birthday, but I was too busy reading this...

Bricks in the Barnyard.........and so much more!

I'm so excited that Bricks in the Barnyard is finished!

I started this at our Bonnie Hunter workshop last September and it is now totally completed!  I backed it with flannel to make it a nice throw possibly for one of the nephews for Christmas.  I love how planned it looks and I got rid of so many scraps!  

Getting Round To It ............with friends!

I got to spend some quality time in the sewing room yesterday..........with company!  DD had another rare day off work and we really didn't have anything scheduled to do!  So I was up in my sewing room and was soon joined by 3 other girls............

Indoor Activities....

Indoor activities.................you'd think sewing would be involved, but not today!  It's too hot to be outside, so indoor activities prevail.  My DH painted the bathroom.  He started the project yesterday and finished today!  There are plans to do the floor next week right before we leave for a couple of days to give it time to dry.  Bathroom looks good!  This was his reward............

 Blackberry Pie!  Oh my!  DH is a pie lover, so pie is always a great treat for him.  

Leaders and Enders!

I was so excited when Bonnie Hunter posted her new Leader and Ender Challenge today!  I had just finished binding my Leader and Ender Tumbler Quilt.  Mary D. did an awesome job machine quilting it for me.

Rabbits and Kittens and Quilts, Oh my!

Well, County Fair Week is over!  The projects are back home and mostly put away, the rabbits are back in their cages, and all is well.  The DD took 15 projects, got all blue ribbons, and 8 were selected for state.  She also had the grand champion meat pen of rabbits and won senior showmanship.

Aren't they cute!  Of course, when we were trying to pick 3 who were identical in body type and weight to have a uniform pen, I had to wonder why we always have 2 pair when we need 3 of a kind!  It's such a gamble!

Cake for Breakfast!

The 2 blackberry bushes are producing nice big berries.  I'm picking about a quart every other day.  I also found the first 2 cherry tomatoes............of course they look more the size of grape tomatoes.............

Look what all that rain did!

My driveway and house are currently surrounded by corn on all sides...........

"The corn is as high as an elephant's eye..........and it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky."  That's from the musical Oklahoma", the first musical I ever saw.  We are headed to the Lyceum later this week to see 1776.  Can't wait!

Rainy Days!

Happy 4th of July!  Some things you just never outgrow.............

Gettin' Ready for the Fair!

So I haven't been doing much sewing the last few days.  I did finish cutting up all the scraps that were culled from my folded fabric and did some cutting for another project.  A couple of months ago Emily Hardwig from Red Button Quilt Company did a trunk show for our guild and we had the opportunity to shop.  I picked up a cute little kit to make a snowman wall hanging.  At our workshop on Saturday, someone asked if anyone had started any of the things we had purchased from the trunk show and no one indicated they had, so I decided it was time to get started.  I hadn't realized just how small it was going to be.............1 inch pieces!  I still have to draw some lines before I can start carefully sewing them together.  

DD has been working on 4-H projects for her last county fair.  Normally, she works throughout the year and has several things ready by this time.  However, with senior year and now a summer job, there just hasn't been the same dedication to the 4-H projects.  So she's cramming stuff in as fast as possible.  I helped her list and tag the things that are done, and was pleased to find that she only has about 5 left to finish before July 12th.  She is trying to create a BB-8 Cake for cake decorating (for those who are not familiar with Star Wars, BB-8 is the new droid from the recent movie).

Fabric Folding 101

I know it's been awhile since I blogged, but I have been busy (washing a few windows) cleaning up my fabric stash.  

The power of washing windows...........

Things had been getting really dry here.  Even my garden weeds were looking droopy.  I had started taking curtains down yesterday to wash and planned to wash windows today.  However, Mother Nature had another idea.  We got 2" of rain last night and this morning.  There were even puddles!  My DH has always requested that I not begin the process of washing windows until he gets the crops planted each spring.  Somehow, a nice clean window just brings on the rain.............and today, just the plan of cleaning the windows made it rain.  So now, the Hubs has told me to pace myself since he'll want it to rain again in a few days.  If I had actually gotten all the windows washed in one day and washed the car, he would need to get out the ark!

Rainy day activity............adding the last border to my Curved Log Cabin quilt!

Quilt Work Day Fun!

Went to my guild's quilt work day on Saturday and had a great time (minus the intrusion of the snake, but that's another story).  I will admit to being exhausted when I got home, but attribute that to the very early morning...........I had gotten up quite early with my DD to get her to the school to meet up with the group traveling to Louisville, KY for National SkillsUSA.  She will be there all week.

I worked on sewing my Curved Log Cabin blocks together and got the first border on as well.  Here is the photo when they were laid out on the floor before being sewn together.

Peas and ........Rabbits!

Rabbits have been our focus recently.  I helped DD clip toenails on 5 of her rabbits Thursday evening.  Her Californian bunnies are really cute, but haven't enjoyed the heat.  It's fun to watch them snuggle up to a frozen milk jug of water to stay cool.  We are also taking care of the neighbors rabbits for a few days..........I counted tonight and there are 110+ whatever babies are in the nesting boxes.  My favorites are a pen of 8 babies with their mother and they are so excited when you feed them, they sit on top of the food and you have to keep moving them aside to put the feed in.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Can't believe how hot it is this afternoon.  I managed to stay inside as much as possible, only ventured out to check on DD's rabbits.  I did make a trip to Walmart for groceries and decided that peach salsa sounded good, so picked up stuff for that.  DH helped do the chopping and dicing (he thinks is an Iron Chef).  

Gettin' It Done!

Yeah!  I finally got the braided borders on my Bricks in the Barnyard quilt!  This quilt was started at my guild's Bonnie Hunter Workshop last September.  Bonnie is a quilter from North Carolina who designs scrap quilts, writes books, and travels doing trunk shows and workshops as well as using social media on a daily basis.  I don't know how she finds the time to get it all done.  Anyway, my guild had booked her for a 2-day event (over a year ahead of time) last September.  She did a trunk show, then a 4-hour workshop on Bricks in the Barnyard, and an 8-hour workshop the next day on Smith Mountain Morning.  I will admit that Smith Mountain Morning was a much harder quilt with lots of pieces, and a larger quilt, and somehow, mine is already finished - completely quilted and everything!  It has been for a few months now.  I had finished the center of Bricks in the Barnyard awhile ago, but got bogged down in the braided borders.  I really wanted the borders on there, so kept plugging away at them and finally yesterday decided they were long enough and started trimming them and sewing them on.  

Gardening...........

Gardening has taken up some time during the last week.  I seeded my mother-in-laws cherries for her, and then picked and seeded my own.  I made DH a pie, and have enough for him to have 1 pie a month for the next year in the freezer (that's how he marks time, by the number of pies!).  I also made a batch of cherry preserves.......

I had just enough jar flats and 1 box of sure-jell left from last summer.  My DH planted peas in the garden for me this spring.  We normally have only a half dozen or so pea plants come up in each row, so he decided to just plant 6 rows this year and use all the seed.  I don't know what happened (some shift in the tides or the Earth is slightly off its axis), but we have 6 beautiful rows of peas.  I have picked peas twice, shared some with my in-laws, put a few in the freezer, and had creamed peas and new potatoes for lunch today.  Delicious!  

When I visited my parents last week, I helped my dad set out some Hostas by the new house.  They are working on landscaping, and have a long ways to go.  The new deck and sidewalks look great.

My mom and I also took a little car trip to Allendale, Missouri to visit a quilt shop there.  It was quite the scenic (and hilly) drive as not many people live there, lots of prairie!  We did see these buffalo very close to the road.

Allendale is not a large metropolis by any means, but the quilt shop was very cute.  Yes, I'd say there are more bolts of fabric than people in the town.  

Did a little fishing while we were visiting my parents.  Here are DD and Grandma with part of the catch.  I fried a pan full of fish, bass, bluegill, and crappie, and took to a dinner at church yesterday.  It was all gone.

I should note that I'm really not much of a gardener.  My mother is appalled by my garden, and I'm sure my grandparents are turning over in their graves at the way I garden.  I just like to think of myself as an equal opportunity gardener..........the weeds get the same opportunities to grow in my garden as the vegetables do.  At least I garden.  I had the opportunity to show my piano students this morning what peas in a pod look like!  The garden looks a little better now since DH took pitty on me and tilled in between some of the rows this evening.  He's waiting to pull all the pea vines next week.  I don't mind shelling peas, but picking them is not my favorite.  

Christi