Ready for Christmas

We are ready for Sofie for Christmas. She will not be here to celebrate but we will have a stocking for her hung on the mantle. Her Mom says she is a good baby. When I talk to Mary on the phone, most of the time she is cooing to the baby. I think that is a good thing.

"Spike" is "Sofie"

Sofie was born yesterday at 4:02 in the afternoon. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. She is beautiful and has blue eyes and a full head of brown hair. Both Mom and baby are doing fine. I drove down to see her in the hospital and held her every moment I could. I took my two sweaters with me. By the way, Sofie's middle name is Margaret because she has two Grandma Peggy's.

Im Ready

Mary's baby is due anytime now. Since we don't know the baby's gender, I made both a pink sweater and a blue sweater. Mary seems happy with unisex clothes for the baby but I don't want it to have to figure its sex out by itself. The moon is full this weekend which I understand makes it perfect timing for a baby to be born.

Santa Visit

It was a busy week for Lion activity. We had 4 Lion functions in 5 days. Wednesday was our regular Lion meeting. Thursday we went to the Leader Dog Kick-off dinner. Saturday we worked at the Village Christmas Party. and Sunday we had to beg outside the Kroger store for Candy Cane week. The Christmas party was lots of fun. It was a brunch and Santa Claus arrived in his sleigh pulled by two reindeer. Hubby had the job of taking pictures of the kids with Santa.

Leader Dog Dinner

Last night Hubby and I went to a benefit dinner for the Leader Dog Organization. As part of the program they had several people talk about their experience wit a Leader Dog. One man told about being an ordinary kid and getting his drivers license at 16 , his pilots license at 21, and having a fulfilling career. He always had some trouble with his night vision. Gradually he began to lose his peripheral vision. Upon examination the doctor told him he had retinal degeneration and would become blind. He did. He told about having 80 to 100 people working for him and then being let go by his company because he could not see. It really is mind blowing to think of something like that happening to someone.

Christmas Shopping

Monday we went to the Outlet Mall at Birch Run. Hubby, who hates to shop did very well and only asked "Are we done yet?" a few times. We aren't done yet but put a substantial notch in the job. We buy for 4 daughters 3 sons, 2 daughter-in-laws, 3 son -in-laws. 7 grandchildren, Mom and 1 brother and his wife. I have 10 of them finished. I bought Christmas cards too but I haven't started to send them out. I started my pillowcases last night. (I give everyone their Christmas gifts in a pillow case.) I still have to do "Spike's Christmas stocking.

Getting Ready for the Babies

I have been doing a lot of knitting for "Spike" and Molly.(formerly Heshimu) We still don't know "Spike's" gender so I am forced to use yellow and green. Even in New York, when I was too tired to pack any more I would sit and knit. I knitted in the car on the way to and from Brooklyn. These are some of the things I have finished.

A Big Job

I just got back from Brooklyn. My daughter, Gretel, is moving to a much nicer apartment and since she is 6 months pregnant I went to help her pack. Both she and her husband work long hours so they really have very little time, so I really felt useful. Living in New York City is quite a different experience. Every morning around 10 I went down the 4 flights of stairs and to the corner Dunkin Donut for a cup of coffee. (then back up those 4 flights of stairs.) At lunch time I went down the 4 flights of stairs and two blocks away to get a Diet coke and then back up the 4 flights of stairs. By the last day I remembered to take a bag of trash down the stairs with me. (The stairs made a big impression on me.) Friday night I met Gretel at her work place (on 5th Avenue) and we walked around the little street fair booths and had dinner and then looked at Macy and other windows. The Rockefeller tree still had scaffolding around it. The subways really is easy to use but when we came home, The Tummy drove. It took us 2 hours on the train to get to the car rental for the 600mile trip home.

Quilts for the Babies

I am getting ready for two new grandchildren. Mary's baby is due December 16th and Gretel's is due February 27th. I have been knitting and sewing up a storm. I finished the quilts for each of the babies. Spike's (Mary's baby)has a jungle nursery theme and therefore the jungle theme quilt. The design came from a book called "Rock-a-Bye Quilts and originally had cows jumping over the moon. Mary chose the brighter colors and I found wall stickers from the Dollar Tree that I copied for the animals. I made the polka dot quilt for Heshimu (Gretel's baby.) It's design directly from "Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting" May/June 2011.

Greenfield Village

Last night Hubby and I volunteered at Greenfield Village. We were passing out programs for the event. It was very cold but there were over 7000 guests. Most of them were in wonderful costumes. We say whole families of skunks,prisoners in stripes, penguins and angels. We also saw lots of Harry Potter characters.

Getting to Know Fellow Bloggers

After blogging for several years, you get to know certain bloggers even though you have never really met them. Estorbo has become a favorite and it is not because I have a black cat who is definitely high maintenance and a nuisance. Probably because the "wooman" who writes the blog can really describe her feelings well and the photography is fantastic. When I heard Estorbo was ill, it really hurt like he was an old friend. When Kitalog's dog Sophie died it was the same way. I never had a poodle but still again I could feel her love for this dog and her photography is magnificent. I hope Estorbo does all right I would really miss him.

A Weekend in New York City

We spent the weekend with Super G and the Tummy in New York City. We like to stay in Fairfield New Jersey and take the bus into the Port Authority. It is cheaper and much less of a challenge than driving in NYC. One this weekend we did a lot of walking. We went to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We walked around Battery Park and the pier, where we had a wonderful dinner outside (the weather was fantastic). The next day we went to the Cloisters in North Manhattan, It was far better than I ever imagined. Our last day we walked across the Brooklyn bridge and around Brooklyn Heights and had a Vietnamese Sandwich for lunch. It is hard to beat the city for attractions and food.

Greenfield Village

Saturday, Hubby and I volunteered at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, I am a docent at the Martha Mary Chapel and Hubby is a docent at the Edison Illuminating Building. Saturday was the "Old Car Festival." The place was full of old cars from 1915 to 1932. I fell in love with an Auburn. It was so dazzling with lots of chrome and more headlights than I thought possible. The day started out with a steady rain but around noon the sun came up and it was a glorious day.

A Flag Waver

There is no question about it. I am a patriotic flag waver. I like the flag waving outside our front door. Hubby, now, is very legalistic and will not leave the flag out if it is raining or after the sun goes down. The problem is where to keep the flag when it is not outside. We decided a patio umbrella stand in the foyer solved the problem. When people come over they look a little askance at us though as if we were housing a boy scout troop or something with the flag standing in the foyer.

The Zoo

Hubby and I decided to take a break and go to the zoo yesterday. It was a beautiful day, nice and cool. We had lunch at Friday's and then went to the zoo for the afternoon. It was fun to look at the animals and the gardens. I don't remember ever seeing an anteater before. The Detroit Zoo is full of little gardens maintained by private individuals. The chipmunk was in one of those little gardens. We even stopped and ate some Dip'n Dots. Frankly, I wasn't impressed. I suppose they are less messy for children. All in all it was a great day.

Arnold and the Chipmunks

When I started to write this entry, the title came up as soon as I wrote "Arnold." I looked it up and sure enough a year ago I had an entry entitled "Arnold and the Chipmunks." Worse yet, it said just about everything I would have said about Arnold catching a chipmunk. It didn't say, however, that I think chipmunks are as cute as they can be, except-- they eat my flowers and sometimes dig them out of the pots for no apparent reason at all. Hubby tried catching chipmunks in a live trap and then submersing the whole trap. He got rid of 14 chipmunks that way in that one summer. Then, at a Master Gardener meeting, someone suggested that you leave a pail of water out with sunflower seeds floating on the top and the chipmunks will do themselves in. He tried that but came out in time to see the chipmunk swimming desperately and couldn't watch so he let him out. The chipmunk was apparently brain damaged and walked leaning heavily to one side. We decided Arnold was our best choice. Arnold got his exercise and enjoyment and the chipmunks had more than a fighting chance, besides it seems natures way.

Martha is a Civil Engineer

Saturday Martha received her diploma from the University of Detroit Mercy and is now a civil engineer. We had a big party with her sister's family from New York, a brother's family from Maryland, a sister's family from Ohio, and a brother from Wisconsin. Great Grandma was there along with aunts and uncles, cousins and lots of friends. It was quite a celebration. Now she needs a job!

Back to Cleaning

I have two weeks until Martha's graduation party and now that I have four days until we are back to having company, I have to get back to cleaning. I still have the kitchen to do. It gets really dusty up on the hanging lights and the fan blades. I cleaned the living room and dining room last week. My cats are rather bulimic at times so I had to scrub the wood floor. When I pulled out the credenza to clean behind it. I found 15 milk bottle rings. Hubby says the cats must use it as "goal."

"Sew Like the Wind"

I am a "Three Amigos" fan and I love that line, "Sew like the Wind." Gretel stopped here today and told me she is expecting a baby in February. I am so pleased! But that means I have twice as much knitting to do , two baby quilts and two baby name embroideries. I only have one stocking to complete by Christmas though. I am thrilled I just better "Sew like the wind."

Butterflies

The other day Hubby took this picture of an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly. He was very excited about it. Later that day I told him about this neat article I saw on Kittalog about eagles. He went to her site and looked at back episodes and found the Western Swallowtail Butterfly from her July 23rd entry. He was thrilled and even more amazed by her photography. (I don't know what she does for her living but her photography is excellent). He said," I need a new camera. " So Kitt if you are reading this, What kind of camera do you have?

Sunflowers

We have been busy planting in our new garden space but so have the chipmunks. We feed the birds. We have sunflowers for the cardinals and sparrows. Peanuts for the woodpeckers, nuthatches and sparrows. We have thistle for the finches and sparrows. We have a grape jelly feeder for the orioles and a hummingbird feeder. The birds tend to scatter seed and the chipmunks and squirrels love it. The chipmunks tend to bury clumps of sunflower seeds in our garden. At this time we have at least 5 clumps of blooming sunflowers. We pulled out lone plants or those which were not in suitable locations. All in all the chipmunks are better at planting flowers than we are.

Japanese Beetles

We have Knock Out roses around our front door patio. This year we are having a terrible problem with Japanese Beetles. We are told the best way to limit the damage is to pick the beetles off and drop them in soapy water. The Japanese Beetle traps don't work because they attract beetles from miles around. The beetle is a pretty iridescent green color but eats everything and leaves the leas and flowers all lacy. I am not the squeamish type especially if all I have to do is pick them up and not squish them, Tonight I found 20 beetles who died in my soapy water bucket. For more information go to wikopedia

Charity Poker

In Michigan there are places where you can play Texas Hold-em but a charity must provide the license and the workers to handle the sale and redemption of chips. Our Lion's Club had 4 days at the Big Beaver Tavern. Hubby and I worked selling the chips. It was really an eye-opener. I can't imagine how such young people can afford to drop such big money and do it day after day. A lot of people came and played in the tournaments. They cost either $20 during the day or $30 at night. At least it gives an evening of entertainment for less bucks. Last night Keegan taught us all how to play the game. We split up all the pennies in the house between Kameren. Keegan, Martha, Hubby and I. We learned how it felt when there was a "player down" because Hubby and I were the first to run out of money.

A Very Hot Day

Today we had planned to take the grandchildren up to Port Huron. They have a carnival there that goes with the Port Huron to Mackinac Sail Boat Race. We decided that spending hours at a carnival in 98 degree weather was not such a good idea. So we opted to go to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. It was lots of fun and air conditioned. When we left the museum, the car thermometer said 105. We stopped on the way home for a half gallon of ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Later it was pizza for dinner.

Teddy Bear Suit

I finished the Teddy Bear suit for "Spike".(Spike is the name Mary has given to the unborn child she is carrying. It has something to do with its nose as it appeared on the ultrasound.) Luella from my water aerobics class helped me with it. I did fine until I got to the booties which were supposed to be attached to the suit. They came out a women's size five. so I decided to leave them off.

Kameren Learns to Sew

My granddaughter, Kameren, is visiting with us this week. She is 8 years old. She asked me to show her how to sew. She picked out the pattern and the fabric from my stash. I was surprised at how well her choice looked. She pressed the pedal on the sewing machine and learned how to stay at the 5/8 mark. She told Aunt Martha she made the dress and Grandma helped a little. Grandpa has been busy teaching our grandson, Keegan, all about weather and airplanes. Keegan is 12 years old. They are good kids. This morning we went to visit Great Grandma and swam in her pool.

Our First Harvest

We planted pole beans this year. We planted two kinds, Cobra and Blue Lake. We had our first bunch of Cobra beans. I like my beans not beany. These were tender but not remarkably tasty. The Blue Lake beans aren't ready yet. It does look like we will have an enormous amount of beans. Our tomatoes are still quit small. We have lots of blossoms on the cucumbers but no pickles and we have 2 small zucchinis. The raspberry bushes have been providing enough berries for us to sneak snacks from. When the grandchildren come next week, it won't take them long to discover them.

Shopping at Lowe's

Today was one of those fun days when Hubby and I run to the hardware store. Hubby has been working on the downstairs lavatory and we went to Home Depot for a light fixture, faucet, and towel bar. We found the light fixture but didn't like the faucets, so we went to Lowes. We found what we were looking for and then went across the parking lot to this little middle Eastern restaurant and had a wonderful chicken shwarma sandwich. Then Hubby said "I forgot, I need some bricks to block the hole under the cyclone fence. "(Arnold tries to get out and the rabbits try to get in.) While he was looking at bricks I noticed that they had some neat plants on clearance. I found a cala lily for $2, and a clematis for $2, and a penstamen for $1, a pretty pink shade plant for $3, a coreopsis for $3, and while Hubby was in the checkout line, I found a Stokes Aster. What a deal. As long as we were buying plants we drove over to the nursery and got a big leaf blue hosta.( It was also on sale.) On the way home we stopped for ice cream. We went home and planted all our new plants.

Salute to America

Hubby and I are volunteers at Greenfield Village. Last Night we were assigned to keep people from going into the stage area at their "Salute to America" concert. The weather was warm but dry, the concert was great, and the crowd was friendly. Only one time did some guy really get nasty about coming across the line. There were 9000 people at the concert. It began with a drum and fife core, then a ragtime revue group and lastly the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. They did this concert for three days in a row. The night before, just before the DSO came on, a violent thunderstorm came through. They had to cancel the concert and get everyone out of the area. As we drove up last night trees and branches were down, underpasses were still flooded, traffic lights were out, and Edison crews were still guarding downed wires that the crews hadn't been able to reach yet. I guess we picked the best night.

Cleaning the Foyer Closet and Cedar Closet

Now it is time to get all the winter coats to the dry cleaners and then move them to the cedar closet. I brought the spring jackets down, they usually don't need dry cleaning. I sorted all the mittens and gloves and threw out the unmatched ones. The cedar closet has some clothes that don't fit me now but just might some day. I did find a good dressy winter coat that I don't wear anymore and a long pleated skirt. I will take them to Salvation Army. They are still in the bags from the dry cleaners. I am sure there are other things that I will never wear again but I am not sure. I have lots of winter skirts and sweaters that I wore when I was working. Now I rarely wear them because I don't get dressed up as often. That doesn't mean I can't wear them or on some occasion I might. I even have some Indian pant outfits that I used to know shat thy were called but have forgotten.

Cleaning the Craft room

The problem with my craft room is that I keep buying extra stuff. Some how I never seem to use any of it up. My basket of scrap yarn gets bigger and bigger. My shoe boxes of cotton scraps seem to multiply and yet when I start even a scrap quilt I feel compelled to buy more fat quarters of the "right" color. While I am working on a quilt I get all the material out in piles so that I can match everything but it takes weeks to get it all cut and you have to see it all to get everything matched. Then there are patterns and books and all the equipment like sewing machines, light boxes, ironing boards, quilting stencils, cutting tools and thread. It is easier to write on my blog than figure out where to put things.

Finished the Quilt

I finished the quilt for Bill and Rejina. It turned out nicely. I especially like the red binding. Hopefully Bill can take it back to Oregon when he comes in July. Otherwise I have to take it in carry-on luggage or send it UPS and insure it for a $1000. Now I will start a quilt for Sammy. I want it to have lots of animals on it in cockeyed picture frames. It is still in the design phase.

Sammy and Spike

Well, I have started knitting. I finished a sweater for Sammy and made a 6 month size sweater of the same pattern for the next boy baby. I thought I would use some yarn I had left over from previous sweaters. For some odd reason I saved all these little pieces of yarn and rolled them up on a ball. The sweater is a little lumpy because I kept having to piece the yarn. I put the stripes in because I was worried I didn't have enough yarn. I am currently making a little teddy bear suit but I need help from the knitting group next Monday.

First Day of Summer

I don't understand why I am so busy and still can't think of anything to write. Yesterday I went to water aerobics then to my friend Helene's house to show her how weight watchers online works, then I went to my knitting group and after dinner I went to a meeting for the Lion's Club golf outing. But what do you write about things like that. I didn't drown. I showed Helene the program and then we sat and talked for an hour. At the knitting group I worked on a little outfit for our expected grandchild. I did meet another new member of the group, there were five of us knitting at the Panera. At the golf outing meeting it was decided that I will handle the marshmallow drive again. After I got home I worked on Rejina's quilt and we watched the first part of that PBS program about Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Today after water aerobics I took Mom out to lunch.

A Busy Visit

My daughter came to visit for a few days. Since she told me that she is expecting a baby is December. So, of course, we went shopping. I bought enough yarn to knit for six babies and material for baby quilts. While we were at it I bought the material for Sammy's quilt and the new baby quilt. (The new baby is temporarily going by the name of Spike since the ultrasound showed a substantial nose.) Then we decided to buy the fabric for the pillow cases that I make at Christmas time. All in all the economy should show an improvement after the two days shopping. My craft room is busting at the seams.

The Lion's Garage Sale

Today was the day of the annual Lion's Garage Sale. The Lion's Club rents out the parking spaces in the City Hall parking lot. They also use one for Lion junk. Hubby and I sold stuff today. The most interesting things which we sold were; a stand with two gumball machines full of gumballs and money but no key, two carved chairs from Africa, a pineapple shaped tea kettle. We don't make a lot of money but it is a presence for the Lion's Club and the money (the parking places do well) goes to the Michigan Eye Bank.

The Lion Banner

Tomorrow night is our end of the year dinner with the Lions. That means it is time for me to sew all the new patches on our banner, It doesn't take long but it is harrowing. ( Whoever had the brilliant idea of making dog biscuit shaped patches should have to sew them on.) Hubby and I have one more year as officers in our club, he is secretary and I am Tail Twister. We will be installed again at the meeting. I enjoy the Lions and I like the things we do. We received new patches for our work with Leader Dogs for the Blind, Bear Lake Camp for the Blind, Welcome Home Services(aid for blind elderly) and help to Madonna College services for the deaf.

Plant Sale

Yesterday we went to the Tolgate Farm Plant Sale and bought several plants, one of which was called "False Indigo". I thought it was really pretty. We also bought a "Joe Pye", a cone flower, a woodland poppy and another shade flower whose name I can't remember. It was too hot to plant in the afternoon, so we will do it today. In the afternoon, Tyra called and we babysat the pseudograndchildren. They are so good and so affectionate. Grandpa was enjoying rocking them in the hammock.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Yesterday, Hubby planted all the vegetables except the zucchini. Next Tuesday we will go back to the Farmer's Market to buy more annuals to put color in our terrace garden. It is surprising how much cheaper flowers are there than at the local nursery and they have a much broader selection. Today I have to cut cloth for the charity committee for my quilt guild. We make up quilt kits for members to put together and donate to charity. Most of our quilts go to a senior rehabilitation center of Beaumont Hospital. Tomorrow is the Plant Sale at Tolgate Gardens and we also wanted to go over to the Miracle League Baseball game. It is a special league and field made for handicapped kids who need to have walkers or wheelchairs.

I have a Kindle

For Mother's Day Hubby bought me a Kindle. I love it. So far the book I have finished is "Madame Bovary" and I am currently reading "Great Expectations." I like reading from the Kindle and these books are even free. I am not a fast reader and I don't usually read during the day, but a chapter a night works well for me. Super G has one that she reads on the subway on the way to work. I think it would be very useful during a vacation. You wouldn't have to carry all those books.

The Farmer's Market

This morning, after water aerobics, Hubby and I went to the Oakland County Farmer's Market. We bought our tomato plants, pepper plants, cucumbers and eggplant. I also got a basket of hanging geraniums and some Wave petunias. It was unbelievably warm so we watered the plants well and put them in the shade. Tomorrow will be a more comfortable day for planting. Luella showed me how to pick up stitches on my knitting so I finished one sleeve.

It is Warm Today!

Today the temperature hit 90 degrees. It was wonderful. The only problem is that the back yard is like a swamp. Hubby wore his big boots and put the trellises up for the pole beans. I cut off the dead tulips and planted some flowers in a pot for the container garden. I then sat out in the sun and did some counted cross stitch. I have a quilt on the frame but I didn't want to be indoors. I am also making a sweater for my grandson, Sammy, but I am stuck on the next step. Luella is a sweet lady I met at water aerobics and she is helping me with the knitting. So I will bring the sweater to swimming with me tomorrow.

Tomita Japanese HoriHori

I received the most wonderful Mother's Day present from my son Bill. It is a gardening implement and on the label it says "Tomita Japenese Hori Hori G..." It is the most amazing tool for use in the garden. It took out clumps of grass in the rose garden like butter and I edged the front flower gardens with ease. It looks like I need some kind of permit to carry it legally. My gardens are coming around. Today we did two hours of volunteer work at Tollgate Gardens, then came home, took a nap, and then worked on our own gardens. I really don't have the stamina I used to have. I thought the water aerobics would help but I am not sure it is. I guess this approaching 70 years takes a lot out of you.

A Pretty Good Day

Today I started the day by going to my water aerobics class. We had a substitute teacher who was terrific. I came home and worked on the garden in front of my house. It is definitely a high maintenance garden, because it has two major invasives in it, clustered bell flowers and wild onions. (I am being kind to the onions by calling them "invasives." They are really weeds.) Today was Hubby's birthday so he grilled steaks for dinner and with the cake and ice cream I used twice my weight watchers points. I also had bourbon on the rocks to celebrate Ben Laden's capture. Thank goodness I had weekly points which was better than I did on Easter. The poor man had to make his own birthday dinner, at lunch time I tried to make myself a sandwich and gave myself quite a cut on my thumb.

Spring is here, Maybe

Finally the tulips and daffodils are coming up. It has been a long winter and such a rainy spring, but infinitely better than the disasters in the South. We have lots of new plans for the garden and hopefully some for the inside of the house. Hubby is anxious to get going outside but not so much inside. I have to get Bill's quilt on the frame and I am experimenting with machine quilting. Super G was visiting and she has made two quilts. One she is hand quilting the other is her Math quilt and that she will yarn tie. Maybe if my daughters quilt I can justify a long arm quilter.

Here in San Antonio

We are having a wonderful vacation in Houston and San Antonio. We had a tour of NASA, went to Galveston and saw the Battleship Texas. We are in San Antonio for Fiesta. The weather is perfect, in the high 80's and 90's with a lovely breeze. It makes me think more about spending the winters in the south. I will put some picture up when I get back home.

Bill and Rejina's Quilt

I finished the top of my son Bill's quilt. Rejina chose the colors and the design. It is a mariner's compass pattern. I had one heck of a time mitering the corners of the border. I won't start quilting on it until we come back from our vacation in San Antonio next month. I have to set up the quilt frame in the family room because it is the only place big enough. Then I will concentrate on finishing it as soon as I can. As Hubby says, "It cuts our TV viewing in half, because we can only see the top of the TV screen."

Spring is Here!

Yesterday the temperature was in the 50's and I talked Mom into going out to Bob Evans for lunch. It is the first time she has left her building since her heart attack and surgery. She said it felt real good and she ate a good lunch. We didn't try to do anything more but she said maybe next week she will go to the dollar store too. The temperature today went up to 64 and I have the windows open. It has been such a long winter.

Charity Quilts

I belong to a quilting club and they require that I do a charity project each year. I just finished these two crib quilts. They are made of flannel. I collected flannel scraps from my daughter, Mary and from Sue, the wife of a fellow Lion, along with my own leftovers. I quilted it with Pearle cotton (yes, by hand). The quilts will go to abused women and children.

Baby Quilt

I finished the quilt for Avery Scout today. She is my great niece. She lives down in Orlando so the only reason she would need a quilt is to cover the floor or grass so she can lay on it. I used a different quilting pattern called twining vine and kissing leaves on the border. I did it in blue and pink in case their next child is a boy.

Night at the Academy

Last night I went to an Academy award party. It was lots of fun. Our hostess had televisions in three rooms and lots of food and wine. It was an all ladies party and we spent most of the time gabbing and only stopping when an award was presented. We had score sheets to record our guesses and the winner got a trophy. I made 9 correct guesses out of 24 awards which is surprising because I saw none of the movies. The winner had 16 correct guesses. We all oohed and aahed at the beautiful gowns and we all wished we could dress like that just once in our lives. However, we wouldn't look that good in the gowns anyway.

Needlework

Some people have said that I have ADD. I hyper focus. Whatever, when I start a project I usually finish it. (with the exception of a leisure suit I started for my first husband and it was turning out so badly I scrapped it.) Not only do I finish it , but I work on it every available minute. I make spread sheets to keep me on track. I have been working on Fish City. I am on a five year plan. There were 15 pages of directions and I do three a year. After completing the 13th page I decided I needed a break from Counted Cross stitch and did some pillowcases. I think the embroidered pillow cases look good with a quilt although I make people take them off of the bed when they sleep so they don't get used as much as the regular pillow cases. At any rate I always have a needle in my hand. It isn't that I am not interested in other things but ... I like to read but never in the daytime. I get all groggy like when I do.(Sort of like playing solitaire on the computer, but that doesn't stop me from doing that.) In the summer I like to garden and Hubby has stopped saying I always have a broom in my hand. What other hobbies are there? I won't do scrap booking.

EZ-Pass

We take the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes an awful lot. We need to in order to visit four of our children. Last weekend we drove around the city of Chicago. That is when an EZ-Pass is really super. You don't even realize there is a toll booth. It used to be just the convenience of not having to find the correct change, but now it even pays. There is an annual fee but there is also a discount of the tolls. So if you use the toll way a lot EZ-Pass pays for itself and if you only use it occasionally it is still so much more convenient.

Fond Memories

Last night as I was snuggled in bed under my quilt with the blizzard wind blowing outside I was thinking about my friend Dorothy. We went to school together. She lived in a house that had been remodeled and added on to from a very small house. Her room was in the attic. The stairway came down the side of the kitchen and you had to crawl over the side to get on it. There was no heat upstairs but since the family had originally been from Germany, they had these wonderful feather beds. (Like sleeping under a giant pillow) She also had several cats who slept on top of the feather beds. Dorothy's room was decorated with horse statues.(was it Breyer or Beyer?) Dorothy's Mom was a fantastic cook and could make the best apple pies. Whenever I came over she would say "Eat, Margaret, Eat!" and I did.

My New Project

My brother, Michael and his wife will be married 40 years in June of 2013. Since Michael is an avid bird watcher I decided to make a special quilt for him. My idea was to make a tree and put many different kind of birds in it. I have plenty of time. I dyed the blue fabric to get the sky the right color. It would not have bothered me if it came out a little uneven after all the sky is, but it dyed really well. I got the tree pattern from the Master Gardener Tree Pruning Handbook and now I am busy appliqueing the tree to the top when that is done I will start on the birds.



Here is a picture of what I have done so far. Also there is a picture of my cat wall hanging.

Nothing Happening

It snowed today. I studied Spanish, cleaned the kitchen and now I will embroider a little. Yesterday I went to water aerobics, cleaned part of the basement, finished my page of Fish City (only 2 more to go), we went out to dinner. The day before, I went to water aerobics, went to book club,(only Carole showed up, so we had a good time catching up on family), I embroidered.
The day before that, Wednesday, I went to Mom's for lunch and to a Lion's meeting. Tuesday I worked on Rejina and Bill's quilt and Monday I worked on Mike and Marilyn's quilt. It has just been a typical winter week.

Cold, Cold, Cold

I am not a winter person. I don't enjoy winter sports. Four days a week I go for water aerobics and the hardest part is getting up and out in the cold. Funny but afterwards when you would think I would be wet, the cold doesn't bother me. I do have a hat which keeps my wet hair warm. The rest of the day I stay indoors. I work on a different quilt project everyday and I study my Spanish too. And I fight with Arnold who must also have cabin fever. As I type this he is playing with the vertical blinds and screens on the window in my craft room. Whatever I do he has to be on the table which I am working at.

A New Mouse

Yesterday I was studying my Spanish at the computer. I always study using Excel. I have endless columns of vocabulary words and verb tenses. Anyway I was having trouble with my mouse. I took it apart and tried to clean the little wheel and was complaining to Hubby about it. He said, "You have an old mouse!" in a tone that meant he was stunned to find I had obsolete equipment. He contacted Martha who works at an office supply store and told her to bring home a mouse. My new mouse has a scroll wheel and buttons on the side that work like the forward and backward buttons, perfect for checking blogs. Oh, and it doesn't have that little rubber ball inside.

En Espanol, Por Favor

Hubby and I went back to Spanish class again. It has been years and we still can say very little.
We received a notice that our class, Spanish 4 , was in danger of being canceled so we figured to sign up for Spanish 3 again. But when we got there we found that two new members have joined the class. One of them had lived in Nicaragua for several years and the other could read Spanish but not speak it well. So the class is on and we are the dumb ones again.

New Quilts for 2011

I keep this chart on Excel of all the people I want to make quilts for. I average 3 quilts a year. This year I will make a quilt for my son Bill and his wife. I will work on, but I have no hope of completing a quilt for my brother's anniversary. I have a charity quilt I must complete by June. I have two quilts I have started but have no immediate plan for completing, a Jacob's ladder twin sized quilt and Martha's queen size quilt but as she is still in our house and doesn't have a queen size bed, I am in no hurry. Last year I finished a flannel quilt for her in a jigsaw puzzle pattern.

Hubby and Facebook

If you saw Hubby you would find a quiet, distinguished man. In a group he seems quite reserved but something happens to him on Facebook. He logs in several times a day and makes comments on everything. He always has been fond of puns. Today someone commented that it was "one's day"(1-11-11). He said " Yes one's day fell on a Tuesday. He loves to tell of silly anecdotes that happen around the house or comment on the cats behaviors. He also keeps tabs on other bloggers from the Weather Channel to News channels. On our bookshelf he found a book of quotations from various people on several topics so every once in a while he puts one of these on Facebook. I have heard that often actors are shy peoples who are not shy when they are pretending to be someone else, I wonder if Facebook doesn't bring out that same characteristic.

Winter Scenery

Hubby has been busy feeding the birds and squirrels. Don't tell the other Master Gardeners that he feeds the squirrels. His theory is that if he has corn out there for them, they won't dig up his tulips. ( Just to be sure he put medicated foot powder on the ground over the tulips). Over the winter we get fox squirrels, red squirrels and gray squirrels, the chipmunks hibernate. We see goldfinches, woodpeckers, nuthatches, cardinals, blue jays, sparrows and juncos. I understand that titmice winter over but we haven't seen any. We went to a lecture on outdoor lighting and we are inspired to look for a way to accent our rocks at night.

New Year Plans

I won't call them resolutions because then they seem sort of arbitrary. I signed up at the YMCA for water aerobics 4 days a week. I am surprised at how much I like the water even though I can't swim. I bought the fabric for Rejina and Bill's quilt and have been working on my brother's anniversary quilt. He and Marilyn won't have their anniversary for two more years but the quilt will be my own design and a lot of applique so I need plenty of time. If it doesn't turn out I should have enough time to do something more conventional. I even hand dyed some of the fabric! This will be the last year for Fish City, I hope, it has been a 5 year project. Hubby and I volunteered at the Ford Museum on New Years Day. I worked at the Lego Train and he took pictures of people at a sleigh set up. Hubby and I also work for the Master Gardener Society. I do their web page calendar and he does the newsletter. Today he was out at Tollgate farm splitting firewood for the maple syrup evaporator. Tomorrow is the Lions Christmas party. We both enjoy the Lions a lot. He is secretary for our club and I am tail twister. I think we will be busy this year.