Snowy Days Ahead!

Sorry, I've been the "absent blogger" but Christmas things needed to be done and blogging had to take a "back seat" for a bit. Everything is ready now but it looks like no one will be able to make it to our house for Christmas!! If the weatherman is even half-right, we are in for a lot of snow!! There is no doubt that we will have a white Christmas. The thing is that we already had plenty of snow and last Sunday we got more so we don't really need what we're getting right now!!!
I took the photo above right after the snow that we got last Sunday morning. This is the "town tree" that sits outside City Hall. I loved this picture because most things around it looked black and white and then the ornaments just "popped". :-)
So, what has kept me so busy that I can't find time to blog.....well, there were Christmas cards and a letter to write. I finished those on Monday and off they went in the mail..........

Then there were "Chocolate Molten Mug Gifts" to put together for friends and neighbors. I am so glad Terry Atkinson posted this little giftie on her blog as it was just what I needed for giving. I did take a "short-cut" though.........I didn't make fabric bags to hold the mug-cake ingredients but instead found Snowman plastic bags that worked great and allowed me to put together more mugs because I wasn't spending time making bags.

I made one of these for me last week just to see what the cake tastes like. It was very rich and chocolatey. I should have added ice cream as Terry suggested and it would have been even better! :-)

Some of the mugs went to friends in my Bible Study group, so I took them along when we met on Tuesday. We were at my friend Joanie's house and it was so beautifully decorated. She has such a knack for arranging things. I've shared pics of her flowers and gardens during the summer months but here is the arrangement she had on her dining room table. It was so lovely!

I baked cookies today and then, of course, I had to make fudge! And then.......... our Christmas present was delivered today! We bought a kitchen table and chairs right after Thanksgiving and decided it would be our Christmas gift. We relegated the cardtable and chairs that we have been using since we moved here (3 years ago) to the basement!!! I should have taken a picture but I forgot. I've been too busy watching the snow fall and following the weather story on T.V. We'll know in the morning if our kids will be able to make the drive to be with us on Christmas Eve. If they can't, then all we want is that they stay home and stay safe. We can share our gifts and enjoy that ham dinner on another day. In the meantime, here's wishing you..................

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Sandi

Counting the days til Christmas!!

November is almost over. Just one more day and then the countdown to that special day begins. When my children were little, we had an advent calendar that hung at the end of the hall. The three of us would sit down on the floor and one of us would read the message and then the Bible verse that went with it. And then the kids took turns snapping the ornament in place for that day. It was a special time and now a treasured memory. I passed that Advent calendar on to my daughter. Some things you can keep forever and others need to go on to someone who will treasure them anew. This year as I put up my tree, I thought of all the memories connected to almost every ornament. Some made me smile, some made me laugh and some made me cry when I thought of those who are gone now. I wondered, too, who will want all these ornaments? I know my kids, especially my daughter will want some but will anyone else ever treasure them as I do. I'm not sure anyone can and that is what makes ornaments special to each person. Sometimes they are like a photograph because you can remember the year you made or received the ornament and the person connected to it. A few years ago, I inventoried every ornament and wrote where it came from, who made it or gave it, or where I bought it. It's like a little volume of memories. Putting up the tree is a real joy for me.....even when I shed a tear or two.......because it's just like taking trip backward in time and making a visit to so many special places in my memory and mind. And with that.........here is the result of my tree decorating........

Now please don't think that those bags and boxes under the tree mean that I have already been out shopping and have it all done......... Nope.......instead, I am the queen of "fake" gifts. :-) I put the gift wrapping supplies in a gift bag and then stuff it with tissue so it looks like a gift. There's a bag for the extra light bulbs I need when one burns out and a bag filled with Christmas books, some with craft supplies for making fancy decorated tree balls and more. I just don't put food in the bags as Kaiser the Beagle would eat it and the bag, too!! Hanging on my tree are ornaments from the late 60's up to the present and from Iowa to the Far East to Minnesota to Europe and back again and around the country.....all memories of places we've lived or traveled. I love it!

This tree in the picture above is in our Family room. The ornaments on it are all ones I made and taught in Community Ed classes, at the library and at the Landing. These are the ornaments I thought I'd do one a month and post to my Keeping Christmas All Year Long Blog. I wasn't very successful at that as I kept the spirit of Christmas all year long but Easter Eggs, summer fun, health issues and then "just life" things meant I never got around to making duplicates of the ornaments. I may get to them yet, as I know what ones I want to share.

So, with my trees decorated and because my husband cooked the turkey, it left me with not a lot of work to do for Thanksgiving. I used the time to stitch. :-) Several days before Turkey Day, I cut out the little penny mat designed by Heather on the recent Cross Country Christmas Blog Hop. I was determined to finish it and give it to my daughter at Thanksgiving so she could take it home with her.

And I did! She really liked it. I really enjoyed stitching the project and cut out two more of them to take along to Iowa this next week so I'll have something to help pass the time.

Speaking of time, I got my grandson, Jacob, to give me a few minutes and help me set up my little village houses. I don't have very many and, in fact, don't consider myself a collector of them. I just like the ones I have because I received most as gifts from my mother and daughter. Jacob (and Grandpa Steve) helped me with the lights and setting them out and now I can imagine myself in this little village as a child. So this is daytime.............

and then the sun went down and night fell ..............

and then it was time for Jacob to go home. We were blessed to have the whole family together and enjoyed a good meal and a great day together.

And then the next day was Black Friday and my husband and I ventured out. We didn't go to the mall but to furniture stores. We bought something for us for Christmas and I'll post what it is when it's delivered. :-) Then it was time for grocery shopping and a quick stop at my daughter's and that's when she gave me the pretty yarn doily in the picture below. I noticed that on Thanksgiving day she was crocheting on something but I never asked. Never occurred to me that it might be something for me. I love it when I get crocheted or knitted gifts as I cannot do either one!

That's about all for this post. It will be my last one with pictures for several days to come. I'll be able to post messages while I am at my sister's but not photos. I'll be heading to Iowa tomorrow as my mom's surgery is Tuesday morning. She's doing well now and looking forward to getting through this so she can get back to enjoying family time, visiting with her friends and stitching.
I'm leaving my husband home with good stuff in the freezer and fridge so he'll not starve. :-) I also left him with instructions to plug in the tree everyday so that the Christmas spirit lights up the house. I'm betting he's not going to remember to do this. :-)

I have just one last thing for you............

Two years ago, I designed a set of postcards with an ornament to color and sent them to my grandson, Jacob as an Advent series. I posted them to my Wooly Buddies group last year for those who would like to make them in felt or wool. I have posted them to the group again and also to my Seasons BOM group. The ornaments would also look cute done in Redwork. If you are interested in the designs, they are free and posted in my groups but you will have to join to access the patterns. I provide them for your personal use and so that you can enjoy making them for yourself or with others. I'm planning to take supplies along to stitch up these ornaments (plus a few other projects, too) so that I'll have something to pass the time while waiting at the hospital. I'll check in when I can and post as time allows. Have a good day, good week and enjoy the spirit of the season!
Sandi

The tree is trimmed.......

but I forgot to take pictures so I think I will wait til after Thanksgiving to share photos of the finished tree. Actually, there are two decorated trees........the big one in the living room and a smaller one in the family room. The one in the living room has 40 years worth of ornaments on it. The one in the family room is decorated with ornaments that I designed and taught in community education classes and at Murphy's Landing (now known as TheLanding - if you live in or near the Twin Cities make a visit in December as it's a wonderful place to step back in time to Christmas Past!). Many of the ornaments on our big tree are from trips we took when my husband's job took him overseas. I love to visit "far away places". As a kid, I loved that old Perry Como song of the same name. I imagined I would travel someday and I am glad that dream came true. I don't do much traveling these days, except to Iowa to visit my mom but the postman brings me things from "far away places" ......... like this..........

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jenny organized "A Very Quick Christmas Swap". On Friday, I received my package from swap partner, Marlene. I was also swap partner to Jenny. :-) Her package arrived on Saturday afternoon, just when I needed a break from tree-trimming. She sent me an extra fat quarter because she didn't think her ribbon was very "Christmasy". I think it's lovely and it will end up in a crazy quilting project as little florets. :-)


After I took the photo, I almost threw the envelope away and then I realized.....it's an original sketch from Jenny. Can't toss that in the trash so it's going in the scrapbook file. :-) Thanks, Jenny!
On a serious note, my mom is in the hospital. She's developed some issues related to the kidney stones. The doctor wants to keep her for a couple days and run some tests so that surgery can go on as scheduled for next week. I have appreciated all your thoughts and prayers and ask that you keep it up. She's doing well, but what a bumpy journey she is having. We'll know more tomorrow about what the week will hold.
That's all for tonight. Have a great Monday and a good week!
Sandi

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Yes, I know that it's not yet Thanksgiving so I shouldn't be putting up the tree so soon.......but I'll be heading to Iowa right after the holiday to be with my mom when she has surgery. I had this plan that if she came to visit that we would talk about Christmas memories from the past. I think that would have been so much fun. Instead, I set up the tree by myself but later on my husband helped with the lights. He had no choice but to help me with the lights as he's taller than I am plus he's the one who has to replace light bulbs when they burn out. You see, we have these lights we bought years ago (like 15 at least) that do this cool "fade in, fade out very slowly" thing and he really likes them. However, the bulbs burn out all the time so I'm not happy when the lights don't work. I solved my problem, though. I put white lights all around the tree first and embedded them deep with the branches and then we added the "fade in, fade out" lights. Now if they don't work, I have back up!! I am so pleased that I thought of this!

So, here's the tree prior to adding the lights. I show you this so you can see that it's a nicely shaped tree. It's as old as the lights. It keeps shedding. See the photo below.............. You would think it was a real tree!! I figure that eventually the tree will go bald and we can finally get a new one. New lights would be nice, too, but Mr. Engineer likes to fix things so I'm sure they'll be back next year. :-)










I tried to take a couple of pictures after all the lights were on...including my back-up lights and the "pizza light" as it's known that tops the tree.
I really need some photography lessons but I kind of liked this one and the way the tree reflected in the window in the living room. Tomorrow, I'll add the decorations. It will take me all day because I love looking at each one and remembering where they all came from or when we made them. :-)
And speaking of decorations, I'll have a new one to add to my tree thanks to a package that came in the mail today. I only signed up for a couple swaps this season and one was Jenny's "Very Quick Christmas Swap". All you had to do was send two fat quarters, a yard of ribbon and two buttons - all Christmas themed. Here's what I sent off to my partner, Marlene and also to Jenny. I offered up to do two swaps if there was an uneven number and so I got to swap with Jenny, too!! (I love her blog and her Shabby Roses BOM!)


Here is the package I received from Marlene. Each item was gift wrapped and, if I was to wait til Christmas........well, I didn't.........it was just too tempting. There were two lovely fat quarters, the ribbon, and two of the cutest angel buttons and a Santa ornament!! So Santa will go on the tree tomorrow and the angels are going to become an ornament, too. Thanks "sew" much, Marlene!!

I also got an e-mail with good news. I won a giveaway over at InchWorm fabrics and I've got some blueberry muffin goodies coming to me all the way from Pago Pago. I'll tell you more about that when the goodies arrive plus a little Pago Pago connection that I had several years ago. Funny how things happen!

There was not much sewing action going on here today because I was determined to get the tree set up. I'll get back to my projects on Sunday after church. I'm just happy the tree is up, that it didn't fall over and that I didn't fall off the ladder! Oh, and the lights are still working! :-)

Have a great weekend!

Sandi

Oh, JOY!

My Wednesday was a better day for me and for Kaiser, our beagle. I started my morning by going to over to our vet and getting a different antibiotic for Kaiser. He slept almost all day - the dog, not the vet, but is still bothered by joint pain and doesn't like going up and down the steps. Kaiser is evidently a very sensitive dog as first it's the allergies, then the skin infection because of the allergies and then the reaction to the meds. He's just wandered in here from a nap and is curling up to take another nap! Ah, the dog's life!

SO what made my Wednesday a better day? This...................

I put the garland and lights along the front porch railing! This may not seem like a big deal but I've had it on my list since last Saturday. The weather has been so nice here that I kept telling myself to get the job done!! So today after lunch, I did just that!! There was bit of sunshine and I didn't even have to wear a coat while I did the job! It's not quite done, though, as I have to get out the bows that I'll add but I'll get to that this weekend.
The day wasn't all good, though, as my mother has decided she just doesn't want to travel right now so I won't be going to get her for Thanksgiving. I was really hoping she would come for a visit. Instead, I'll go down to get her right after Thanksgiving and then go on to Iowa City to my sister's where I'll stay while my mom has surgery.
Surprisingly, my aunt Loretta called from Florida and it's not often she calls. She's moved there permanently so it was nice to chat with her. Our family is now spread far and wide and we don't see each other very often. Sometimes, I really wish it was different but that's not realistic.
I played with my Christmas fabrics in the late afternoon. I stitched up four of the little bags designed by Terry Atkinson for the Cross Country Blog Hop (go here for the project) and they are going to look so cute in the mugs I bought. They're in the dishwasher so photo will come later. Then I cut a ton of charm squares for my blogging friends who commented on my giveaway post last July. I am finally going to finish this project and get their charm squares mailed off before Thanksgiving! You may see your name below...............

AnneMarie was the actual winner but several of you were so committed to commenting daily that I had to make charm packs for all of you. The winning pack will have about 100 charm squares in it and the others will vary. In the picture above, I am only just starting to portion out the stack of charm squares that I've cut. They would be fun to use in a placemat or totebag or something.

Thursday promises to be a day of stitching. We'll see what I accomplish by my next post. :-)

Sandi