Day Four After Christmas

My Christmas cactus came through once again. I counted 10 open blooms and at least 20 little tight buds.

I love this little reindeer ornament and fat quarter from Carrie. It reminds me of Carrie, so talented and non-pretensious but absolutely charming. Check out her blog to see the high quality of this very talented lady. Thank you - I love it and I can always use a good neutral fat quarter.

D#1 was just here to collect the Dude for a day of cleaning his room. He is supposed to be back tonight. She cut some strips to put a pieced border on a table runner while she was here. After she finishes the top, she'll be back for help with the batting and backing. She does well, she just needs the confidence that she can do it - comes with practice (lots of practice).

I made an envelop pocket for my new e-reader. I read that there were millions of these e-readers sold for Christmas, that sounds like a booming market for these enverlop pockets. Hmmmm! This is the envelop pocket I made for the Dude's e- reader. He has a Kobo and I have a Kindle but they are basically the same size.

Big T is back at the PC. He is bound and determined to beat my high score on Bejeweled. He plays strategically, lining everything up for the most points. I play fast and take all the little ones I can get and they add up. It's the same way we play Chess (or anything else) - he thinks it all out and develops a good long-term strategy and I play lightening fast for one move at a time. Blows his mind at Chess because he is trying to think through why I made the last move. (What he doesn't understand is that I usually don't know either.)

Hugs - Marie

Non-traditional Thanksgiving

Two days before Thanksgiving and 30 days until Christmas. I probably should be panicking(?) right now, but for some reason that hasn't hit yet. (Maybe it's the medication??) We have once again decided to have a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year (we do this almost every year). Instead of the turkey, etc with all the work and mess, we have 'heavy snacks and hors d'oevres' and play games, work puzzles, sew and watch movies all day. This is what works well for my family and we look forward to it every year. I think it started many years back when the girls decided they wanted 'steamed clams' for the big meal that year. That was when we found out that no one in our house enjoyed the big, traditional dinners.


Big T told me last night he wants 'stuffed cabbage' for thanksgiving, so he and D#1 are going to make them Wednesday afternoon.


Christmas gifts for the Little Miss are already in CA and waiting on her mother to wrap and put under the tree. Now I can concentrate on The Dude and get him under way. He is getting harder to buy for each year and is growing like a weed. Last Christmas I bought 'smalls' this year it will have to be 'large' and maybe 'extra large' for sleeve length.


The gifts are almost done for the book club friends. I had to get on the ball once I realized that I didn't have until the 25th - they had to be ready by the luncheon date of 12/08. I think I have 5 mug rugs left to make. They have been such fun to put together.


My wonderful husband decided that he doesn't like paper napkins at dinner time - so he is getting some hand made napkins as part of his christmas presents. (Big T - act surprised if you read this.) I can't decide whether to make them all one pattern or to mix and match.


The vertigo is still hanging on by a thread. It only kicks in when I lay on my left side or bend over to pick something up. Better but still bothersome. I did lots of sleeping on the ship because Big T was afraid that I'd have an attack and be really sick. I did get lots of rest.

Hugs - Marie

Spring is here

I am sitting out on the screen porch as I write this enjoying the spring - finally! (It's a tadbit cool, but I won't admit it.) The wind chimes are chiming, the birds are cheeping and Big T is installing some outdoor landscape lighting. It doesn't get any better than this.

I posted two more quilts on Hummingbird Treasures this morning. My Hummingbird table runner and the contemporary quilt art - A Study in Purple. I am quite pleased with both of them. I finished the wall hanging in a free shape format instead of the traditional squared form. We'll see what kind of response they get on Etsy.

Yesterday I opened Konda's blog for the jelly roll winner for block 2 and there was my block. I'm afraid my shout was not very lady-like. I won a gift certificate from Debby Maddie, the designer of block 2. Thank you Konda.

My Christmas Cactus is putting out one more bloom. I will have a Christmas flower by Easter Sunday. It must be getting just the right amount of sunshine through the window.

Hugs to all! (I'm off to find a long sleeve shirt for my adventure on the back porch.)

Marie

Getting Ready for the Holidays

December 15, 2009

All right, I gave up and ordered “Google Blogging for Dummies” from Amazon. Everything I try beyond simple posting takes far too long for me to figure out. Of course, if I weren’t such a control freak, I could ask for help. But no, I have to figure it out myself.

I am so excited – Big T and I were browsing a bookstore today and saw a book co-authored by our older daughter (M). It was front and center on a center aisle shelf. There was her name and her book for the whole world to see.

The holidays are here. I finished my homemade gifts for everyone and am busy wrapping. I have not even sat at a sewing machine in almost a week. I am too busy finding the things that Big T and I acquired for everyone throughout the year and stashed in a safe place. Every year I say I am going to keep a list; but that’s Big T’s job and he does it well. I think everything has been found and is either wrapped or sorted to be wrapped.

We are having multiple holiday celebrations – one here and then one in San Diego. Yes, we are going back to San Diego again. We are ALL going this time so the entire family will be together at the holiday season. What a special treat for all of us.

My Christmas cactus is blooming. The first bloom was spotted the day after Thanksgiving. Big T and I started this one from a single stem cutting (I won’t tell you where we got it though). The last two years it has bloomed at Christmas. (Of course, it also bloomed last May.)

I am working on my plans and goals for 2010. I don’t like to call them New Year’s resolutions because I have never kept them in the past. Why would I think things would change this year? I am very goal oriented so I will approach things how I work best.

I need to start focusing on building up my readership of this blog. Any suggestions from you would be appreciated. If nothing else, it would prove there is someone out there reading this. Sometimes I feel as if Big T and I are the only ones reading this (and I’m not really sure about Big T). Leave me a comment and let me know you exist.

During our walk through the arts and crafts show on our last trip to CA, we sampled some delicious quick breads from a bakery called Mama Houli & Sister T. The breads were absolutely great. Their website is www.mamahouli.com. Check it out. My favorite was the lemon ginger bread – I think I went back several times for samples.

I have taken several e-classes online the last month or so related to embroidery and appliqué. The classes at www.embroidery.com are a perfect way to learn a new technique. I like the concept of sitting at my desk watching a demo on my PC while in my grubbies, barefoot and no makeup. This is the only way to learn - beats those college lecture halls with 200 students and a professor who was microphone-shy and couldn’t be heard past the 3rd row. You will start to see some of these new techniques on www.hummingbirdtreasures.etsy.com in the coming year.

From me to you, lots of hugs and thanks for joining me in my new adventures of learning to be creative and artistic. Happy holidays to all of you!

Marie