Blizzard blowing in!!

Well, the snow arrived and so has the wind. We are in a county that is under a blizzard warning and the wind I can hear outside my windows is proof of that!! Kaiser the Wonder Beagle was wondering why I made him go out in that crazy weather tonight!! LOL! It's a night for staying home if at all possible!
I was basically a "slug" today. Slept in til 9:30 and Kaiser slept even longer! I unpacked bags and projects and put things away, then read the mail and did the laundry. Then I ate a late lunch and found I was tired again so I took a nap. I didn't get a lot of rest last week so I was making up for lost sleep. :-) I set my alarm wrong and instead of getting up in an hour, I slept for 2 1/2 hours! Oh, well, my husband is out of town. Poor guy is missing this blizzard as he is in San Diego where it's a bit cool and rainy. Better that than this cold and snow!! I managed to start my patriotic quilt block but didn't get it finished. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll have more energy.
There were some fun things in the mail.........including this...........



This little Reindeer ornament was made by Cindy from Arizona. We were partners in an Ornament swap. She did the machine embroidery and even added my name on the back! I think there's a CD inside. I really like it as I do not do machine embroidery so it's nice to get something unique! Thanks, Cindy! I forgot to take a picture of what I sent to Cindy but I made a wool star ornament and then tucked in a little fabric gifty with the card.
I only took a few pictures while I was in Iowa, some on my way to Iowa City and some on my return trip. I meandered my way across southern Minnesota to the Interstate and when I reached Clear Lake, Iowa, I met my friend Sue for lunch. It was nice to "catch up" but then it was back to the Interstate again. I really like to take "side roads", though, so I decided to get "off the beaten path" and instead of taking the interstate, I took Hwy. 3 east and passed through the town of Hampton, Iowa. I was immediately "taken" with the town square. I'm thinking this is the County Courthouse and it was so lovely that I had to take a picture. It was a beautiful day and I didn't even need a coat. That was only a week ago. I am sure it's covered with snow by now!

There were several businesses around the square and one caught my eye........it was this little shop called the "Wood Cellar". I wasn't in any hurry so I decided to stop in and take a peek. The shop was filled with all sorts of good smells and lovely Christmasy things. I only bought one item.....a plaid tea towel that I will decorate for Christmas. Not sure if it will be for this Christmas or 2011. :-)

All for tonight........

Sandi

The Calm before the Storm........

I returned from Iowa early today. It was a nice drive with sun shining on me almost all the way home. Only a sprinkling of snow had fallen early this morning but if the weatherman is even close to being right, there will be loads of snow falling by this time tomorrow. I don't mind. My mom is doing well and is happy to stay home and be safe. I'm happy to have been able to get home and have no place to go so I don't mind at all if it snows. I have plenty of projects to do!! One of those projects is my patriotic block for today that I sketched while I ate supper tonight but have yet to sew the block together. It will get done tomorrow. In the meantime, I am going off to bed now as I am really, really tired...............
Sandi who is happy to be back to regular blogging!

All is well....

Just a note to say that my mother's surgery went well, very well, in fact. The hospital computers are very slow but at least there are computers for visitors to use! Thanks for your kind words, thoughts and prayers!
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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wherever you are, and whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I hope you have a lovely day. I share this little quilt with you that I designed and stitched in 2000............

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all my quilting friends, blogging friends and each of you that read, comment, or follow my blog. You are all a blessing!

Sandi

P.S. If you want to see the Hay Bail Turkey that sits on Main Street in Henderson go here and you can see him in last November's post. He looks the same this year. :-) You'll also find the recipe for my son's favorite Christmas candy that you might want to try. Yum!

Almost forgot to mention....

that today is our 41st wedding anniversary. We sort of celebrated yesterday with a trip to Mankato to eat at Happy Joe's because pizza makes me happy :-) and Steve likes chicken and such so with the buffet we can both enjoy our favorites. We did a little bit of shopping for some supplies and, of course, I found a little Christmas ornament to add to the tree. :-) We're thinking that after the holidays, we'll go some place for dinner and it will probably be to Khan's Mongolian Barbecue as that's a favorite place for us. I just like it when someone else cooks!
Talked to my mom and she's sounding good but tired. As my sister said tonight.....we'll just take one day at a time and won't try to plan much more than that.
No photos tonight, no finished projects as the day was filled with lots of phone calls and sprinkled with some cleaning and decorating. I did do some stitching, though, while I watched Dancing with the Stars tonight. My favorite was Donny so I was glad he won. Steve was hoping for Kelly or Mya. That Kelly really blossomed. She looked like she was having such a good time. I thought her partner, Louis, was going to cry when Carrie Ann was praising Kelly. It's amazing what encouraging words can do for the soul!
Time to close up shop for the night. :-)
Sandi

Here are the winners.......

of my "Friday the 13th Lucky Day Giveaway". I've sent e-mails to each winner and their packages are all ready to go. All I need to do is add the addresses and they will be on the way to.........

Tudy is the winner of the notebook and fabrics.

Dee is the winner of the Gold bag of star fabrics for an old friend and

Lisa is the winner of the Silver bag of star fabrics for a new friend.

And Gari is the winner of the final prize of fabrics as someone

who has commented on my blog in the past 40 days!

I would love to give a prize to all of you who commented. I enjoyed reading each comment and started out to answer each one.......and then, my mom got sick some things had to go. I will be replying to each of those comments as I really appreciated some of the thoughts you shared!

Also, the charm squares are cut and ready to go to this past summer's Christmas in July charm square winners. I think they'll get packaged and addressed before I leave for Iowa, but maybe not. You will get them soon though. Nothing new to report on my mom so it's like being put on hold in a phone conversation. Can't quite do some things and also hard to think straight til this all gets worked out.

Sandi