A Walk in the Snow

Today I decided I had had enough of being in the house. Cabin Fever you know and my plan to have Thanksgiving Day dinner with one of my sisters and her family was derailed due to the falling snow. Needing to collect my mail from my mail drop I decided a bit of fresh air would do me good. I dressed up in my cold weather gear aka motorcycle riding suit and off I went grabbing my camera on the way out the door.

As I walked along enjoying the peaceful and quietness of the morning I could hear the crunching of the snow under my feet. What a beautiful site before me with the freshly fallen snow and flakes gracefully floating down from the sky. As I walked along I met a young couple towing their small child on one of those circle sleds. We exchanged greetings and went on our way.

As I came to the end of my street I started up the hill being careful to step far off the road as each car started up the hill.

Collecting my mail I wondered who chose the spots to place our banks of mail boxes. Thinking that all SUV's are not equal I watched this one back all the way down the hill not being able to get where he was going. Stepping to the rear of the bank of boxes I prepared to jump over the embankment behind me should he not be able to stop.

Not being ready to head home I decided to walk out to the gate and see if the county had plowed the road into town and who should I meet but a jogger out for a run. The road hadn't been plowed so I turned back towards home wondering when the snow would go away so I could get into town.




















As I turned to head home a Jeep turned into the gate stomping on the gas deliberately trying to fource a slide and I wondered if I could get out of his way. I watched as he drove on down the road and turned towards my house.

As I walked along I stopped here and there to enjoy the beauty of the day.

Finally heading home I was met by this cute little fella who was also out enjoying the snow.




After a few games of toss and fetch I continued on home having enjoyed the falling snow.

Baby it's Cold Outside

We're in a cold weather snap out here on the far left coast. It's a whopping 22 degrees outside and has been all day long. How it can snow when it's that bloody cold is beyond me but snow it did, just enough to make a mess on the roads up here in the woods. Winds are whipping out at my sisters clocking in at 60 mph which makes me glad my big trees protect me. I know this is nothing compared to what other parts of the country get but I'm still cold and am already for summer to be here. LOL

November has not been a good month for my furry friends. My Lady developed an abscessed tooth that had to be removed. A day spent at the Vet Hospital, tooth extraction, Bx and big vet bill. No sooner had she recovered and back to the Vet I went with Roscoe, the Manx. He was one sick kitty. Dehydrated, very elevated BS, low Potassium and UTI. Spent three days taking him in for IV fluids with Potassium added, antibiotics and now daily BS tests with insulin shots. In one week he's improved 100%. I can almost see the weight coming back. His diabetes is no way under control, some days normal, some days way off the scale. In talking with the vets I find more indoor only kitty's tend to develop diabetes than indoor/outdoor ones. Makes one wonder if all the exercise they get chasing down prey has something to do with it not to mention a diet other than dry kibble.

Thanksgiving this year is going to be iffy. John won't be coming home with the weather so unpredictable. Driving from here to Portland is iffy if not impossible and I certainly don't expect him to drive home in the kind of weather we have been having. I've been invited to two of my siblings for dinner but don't know if I will go to either of them. Both are out in the county and driving on ice is not my idea of any kind of fun especially off this hill I live on. My sister has so generously offered my nephew to come fetch me as he has studded tires and is a good driver in snow. Not him I would worry about but all the other ones on the roads. I'm going to bake my dinner rolls just in case and hope the promised higher temps and rain arrives on time.

This year I am prepared for the bad weather I know we will be getting. I've stocked up on kitty food, litter, people food and all the other necessities one needs to survive stuck at home. I can eat out of the freezer and pantry for a month or so. Won't have the fresh veggies and can easily run out of eggs but in a pinch can always walk a mile to the high dollar mini-mart here if I really need those things.

I've managed my time at home with sewing. I'm working on a very old UFO, my Broken Star that I've been ripping apart and English paper piecing back together. I have one more leg on the center star to complete and then start the broken star around the outside. This isn't going to be accomplished in a day or two, but will take moths to take it all apart and re-do it. I have another Quilts for Kids kit to put together this week so when the weather breaks and I feel it's safe to drive to town I can get it back in the mail. I enjoy doing up these little quilts for these little kids who need a love to wrap in.

My missing quilt has been found. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I found it right here in my sewing room.
Having had a "seniour moment" I had forgot putting it in the container I had planned on using for our Sister RR exchange. One of my sisters happened to be at Joann's when they had a sale on their boxes and she had purchased one for each of us. Deciding I would start doing something about the containers sitting on the floor holding remnants of other finished projects I opened the one closest to my hand to see just what was in it.....Much to my surprise there was Mom's missing quilt.

Today I put the binding on and stitched it down. Another UFO completed and out of the way. The odd block in the middle of the 3rd row is left over fabric from a one piece sun-suit I had made some 50 years ago. Remember those one piece shorts that were all the rage during the Kennedy years?

The Mysterious Quilt disappearance

Last Saturday I went out to my sisters for our bi-weekly sewing get together, taking a quilt made from Mom's blocks to show n tell. Did the show n tell, put it back in the bag and merrily went about sewing.....At the end of sewing we packed up hopped in the car and off for a late lunch and also take care of some business for our LLC.

Well, the other day I decided I had caught up on due projects so would bind it having stopped at Joann's for a hunk of fabric for it....and would you know it's nowhere to be found here in my sewing room or anywhere else in the house.

Next thought is...has to be out in my sisters shop and that I had forgot to bring it home....hmmmmm she can't find it either. I barely remember not having it in the car on the way to lunch so it had to be at her house. NOT unless its hiding in plain site and she doesn't know exactly what she's looking for. Her shop is big, a converted 3 car garage and packed full of totes and sewing tables, machines etc. Hopefully come this Saturday our next sewing date I can find it out there otherwise it's a mystery yet to be solved.

Today I'm going to spend my time stitching on blocks for our raffle quilt. We're getting close to having them all done, nearly 100 blocks and then can assemble it ready for quilting. Every year I keep saying this is the last one I am going to hand quilt and every year I find myself settled in during the winter with a nice warm quilt in my lap.


We've handed off our Sister's Round Robin centers. I get to be the first one to add on here. I'm not quite sure what I will do other than add a stopper round and square it off. It's bright and cheerful as are my 2 other sister's centers. I'm waiting for it to talk to me and it better get busy as we are handing off again the first of December.

Mine is dark and dreary and I'm not one bit happy with my choice of fabrics. My center is the Kansas Troubles fabrics that we are using in our raffle quilt, which IMHO will be quite nice not like my center. I also made a big goof and didn't notice it till the 2nd time I had ripped out and had it completely back together. Some days mistakes can stay mistakes and we can live with them. I wasn't about to tear it out a 3rd time. I wish I had went with bright colors which are more to taste.

We are into winter here. It's been gray, wet and cold. Time for fires in the stove and yet some days are bright and sunny. It's been one of those kindling years so far.....lots of kindling used to start a fire to warm the house then let go out. I've been using my little radiant heaters which will warm up the front of the house but now I need that heat in my sewing room way at the back of the house. National Weather Service is predicting a winter like we haven't seen in almost 50 years. I'm not looking forward to that but this year I am going to be prepared for it.