On the 3rd day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas?  This is an old sled that I picked up in Morrison CO years ago when I was slumming with my friends.  (Again, most of my wonderful slumming times have been spent with these buddies from way back.)  I remember that we had such good time that day.  I still hope to have a kitchen garden out back with all of the old kitchen flea market pieces I have gathered.  I just need more!  This antique shop there had a kitchen garden out back that was marvelous and on the way back through the shop, I picked up this sleigh.  When not used this way, I stand it up and put shelved across the leg braces.

So---on the third day of Christmas, as you can see, it is like any other morning as far as the furkids are concerned! For me...well, the Mr. has gone out of town for a pool tournament and I have a special "friend", one of those slum buddies coming for a day to search for more stuff.  The sun is shining and the temperature is brisk, but it will be a perfect way to spend a winter day!

On the 2nd day of Christmas

 This is my lovely 10 year old border collie, Hildy and every morning she gets my paper as she carefully peruses the yard for rabbits.  She hates rabbits.  At her age though, she is beginning to feel the aches and pains of old age and old injuries, so the rabbits don't really need to worry much.  

 Red sky in the morning, sailors warning!  I love these beautiful Wyoming winter sunrises and this sky proceeded the snow storm we had last week.  So I doubt that any of you Wyoming sailors were intending to do much sailing, unless it would have been snow board sailing. 

And lastly, my quilted apples!  The original pattern was not to my liking at all so I improvised and after a little tweaking, I found that this suited my vision of what a quilted apple would appear to be.

Today, I hosted some of my old school co-workers for an afternoon of goodies, drinks and girl talk.  I truly cherish the friendships that have weathered so much...Moves, divorces, illnesses etc.

"True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. " ~ Dave Tyson Gentry

On the 1st day of Christmas

It's not really the first day of Christmas, but with lots to do, I will try to get all 12 days in here.  I love Christmas, mostly because I get to display all of my trees and my many old ornaments.  This little guy sits in a crock amongst my many rolling pins in my kitchen so all of the ornaments are miniature pots, teacups, sifters, etc...stuff related to the kitchen.  Finally today, I did get some baking in.  Cookies, cookies and more cookies and even a cheesecake.

This week has been a sad one for relatives and friends..
My husband lost an aunt, my sister lost a mother-in-law and my friend lost her mother.  Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.
                                                                    

A few years ago, a friend gave me a "goldfish"
plant.  I am sure it has another name.  When I left Saratoga 3 years ago, I was not in a position to bring every single plant so I gave my sister-in-law my plant.  After we were settled, I got a start from her and I now have a "goldfish bloom" on mine.  Friends come and go, but I get to see this friend about once a year briefly and this plant will always be a special one...

Almost every morning I get up before the sun does in the winter.  That comes I believe, from all of those early mornings as a child when there were chores to do before we got ready to catch the school bus in the wee hours of the morning.  I find mornings a peaceful quiet time and as you can see here, so do the furkids!  Lazy canines! This is where they land as they follow me from the bedroom EVERY morning and they stay here until I fix their breakfast.  Hildy does have one chore though.  She does venture out to the front porch to retrieve my paper.  Picture to follow!

Busy hands and feet.

 Another project completed.  I told the Mr. that when this was finished, he could move on to something he wanted to do.  It seems like I have had so many projects that I needed help with!  He is much more the perfectionist and when he starts a project, it will be done right. (I am the one who colors outside the lines and perfect?  no not necessarily a priority.) I have so many things to do before I leave this earth I have busy hands and feet. I had a collection of mostly orange handled rolling pins.  Since I am no longer stuck with orange decor, I decided to sacrifice a few rolling pins for this project.  He sawed them at a 45 degree angle and didn't use the entire length of the pins.  Because there is a metal rod between the handles, that has to be removed first.  He drilled holes and inserted dowels and glued them in which later he cut off flush with the angled pin.
This allowed him to secure with a screw to the back.  Glue reinforced this also.  The rods were cut off and handles inserted and glued back .  A framed reinforced bead board about 8" X 20" now hangs in the kitchen.  Love it!

We are expecting another cold spell with possible snow this week.  I am working diligently on some quilting projects and will be posting some examples soon. 

Call me crazy, but I am thinking about getting another cat.  We lost our 13 year old  last year to a melanoma and with three dogs, thought that was enough.  Having grown up with the influence of a father who loved animals, we were always surrounded by critters as was the Mr.
Our animal shelter had a Black Friday cat special which I seriously thought about.  Any cat with black on it was available for adoption at a reduced price.  Instead, we took advantage of cyber Monday and bought another flat screen TV.   Yes we have too many of those too!

"Happiness walks on busy feet." ~ Kittie Turmell

This 'n that

 Gotta have a smoke after Turkey Dinner?  The furkids were given some rather large rawhide chew bones Thanksgiving afternoon to calm them down.  Hildy especially wanted to play with this very noisy new toy and it was becoming difficult to converse with the continual squeaking.  This morning, little Spencer, sporting a new haircut by the way, jumped up on the bed with the center of one of these bones in his mouth looking much like a cigar.

 Now to the craft projects.  A good quilting buddy needed a coat rack built.  She wanted a board with 3 glass doorknobs on it.  She told me she would give me 5 knobs if the Mr. would build hers..and he did!  She also took us to lunch for payment. They came from a home she lived in years ago and the old doors had been taken down, but she rescued the knobs.  I had a gun rack which was left in the house here, took it apart and used this maple board to put my five on...just for accent on the wall.  I scored this glass light globe for $5.00 last week, hung ribbon through the holes and filled it with glass globs and a silk plant. 


Below, a rolling pin from my collection hangs on the wall beside my fridge. The Mr. cut a slice from the rolling pin to make it flat, put these knobs on and it will have perhaps an apron hung on one or more of the knobs.  Love it!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for!  Thanksgiving at home was always a happy one and we were surrounded with cousins and aunts and uncles.  Mom always had the Thanksgiving meal with everyone else bringing side dishes.  With everyone there, we would draw names for the Christmas celebration which was held at my Aunt Dora's.  I am thankful for all of the fond memories and although our holiday was a quiet one this year with our neighbor to share our feast, it will be one to add to the reservoir of memories in my head and heart to cherish!

Happy Birthday Joan!

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition." ~ Samuel Johnson

Friendship

I have been chastised for not posting lately.  Life has been so very good that I rarely even get to the computer.  By nature I am not a tech person...I am a people person.  My dad never knew a stranger and no matter where he was, he made conversation with the people he met.  Guilty!!!  Since moving here has been a matter of leaving old friends miles and miles away, I had to make an effort to make new friends here, not that I have deserted or forgotten my old buddies.  They are just miles away.  Anyway, it seems that every day has found me involved in a new project with someone.   I spent one day learning to make a "Hot Dog Pillowcase", which I need to post I guess and this past weekend I went to Windsor and to the "Ranch" on I-25 with gals here to some Holiday craft fairs.  Great fun and great food! Last week I did a pottery piece with a friend and we checked out another shop.  I scored a wonderful old Singer sewing cabinet for $15.00 and a light fixture to fill with goodies.  (Guess I need to find time for pictures and posts of them don't I?) The Mr. put together a project for me with 5 old glass door knobs and hung it today in my dining room and is working on a rolling pin rack for me. I am working on some quilt projects and have met with about 6 friends for all day projects..new quilt patterns etc. and we take turns doing lunch..soups and deserts and breads.  The Mr. and I got the basement bedroom finished.  It needed a new floor, paint in the closet and new baseboards.   On Sunday, I spent the day with yet another friend and we made five batches of biscotti..all turned out so yummy.  So I will get some pictures and do some posting and some catch-up I promise.  Can one have too many friends? NEVER!

More quilting

This is my completed version of Sylvia's sampler...120 squares, quilted, and bound and washed.  Whew! Don't know what I will do with the other 20 squares, but something for sure.  And below that, the finished purse with the great fabrics I acquired at the spring quilt shop hop.  Granted, the fabrics are a little wild for me, but a gal can't have too many purses, and it WAS quilted!

Today I got my new copy of "Mary Jane's Farm", which is a bi-monthly magazine geared to all of the farm gals, real and wanna be.  The articles and pictures and ads all remind me of my roots.  Great recipes and home remedies and organic gardening tips abound as well as inspiration for living in a manner that is kind to our earth. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"  I have learned that what you need, and what you think you need are two very different things!  In looking back at my childhood and the way we were raised to do just that, I thought we were poor.   I realize we were in fact, being kind to mother earth.