A bonanza of sweet treats!

I got a message a few days ago from UPS saying that a package would be coming yesterday, Dec. 19.  We watched and waited, but by 7:30 pm, hadn't seen or heard a thing.  Then at around 7:35, we got a message that a package had been delivered.  It was from Peter's Gourmet Market, a Dutch store in Michigan that Mom and I shop at regularly.  I hadn't ordered anything recently, but obviously Mom had - and it is wonderful!  Three layers of yummy Dutch goodness!

Paul hasn't had many of the goodies in the box, but of course, I have and am delighted.  

I was going to bake cookies today, but that isn't necessary.  I think we have enough for a while!  I'll put some into a tin for Chris and then serve the rest when/if company comes or we get a hankering for sweets.  

This leaves me with a little more time to work on Christmas cards and make Chex Mix today.  Maybe I'll even get back to sewing on the Bigfoot quilt.  Some additional fabric arrived yesterday, too, so I am ready to add a few more rounds.  This afternoon, we're getting together with some neighbors and tomorrow afternoon with other neighbors.   These are folks we see almost every day when it's not winter, but in winter we all hibernate somewhat.  It's good to get together during these dark months.

Dresden Garden finish!

 I took my newly finished Dresden Garden quilt to guild yesterday, and two quilters held it while I took a picture.

This looks a bit blurry to me although it looks fine on my phone.  I'll see if I can get a clearer one when I show and tell it at my other guild Tuesday night.  I used a pattern on the Riley Blake website for the fabric bundle "Flora" and hummed the tune of the old song while I worked.  But I diverged after making the Dresden Plates, adding the paper pieced butterflies and then the subsequent borders.  

Robin immediately recognized the "potato chip" blocks in the next to the last border.  Those are fun to make although my mom would probably tell me they make the quilt too "busy."   I enjoyed making the pieced binding.  This quilt measures 72" x 72" so will fit a twin bed.  I have no recipient in mind for this quilt - I never do - but I will enjoy having it on the guest bed for a while.

Bigfoot in the sewing room

 

I started working on a quilt for my son who loves Sasquatch - Bigfoot as some call it.  Some people believe the creature hangs around Whitehall, NY, a town we go through on most trips south.  I've never seen him driving through, but the area seems to have captured the attention of locals.  There are even stores with souvenirs devoted to Bigfoot.

Elizabeth Hartman's pattern Legendary had a 10" x 18" pattern for the creature surrounded by tall pines.  I made one big tree and Bigfoot for the center of the quilt, and I've made a bunch of smaller trees to go around the center medallion, as it's turning out to be.  

Last summer I bought a panel of smaller pictures of other creatures called "Legends of the National Parks."  I'm cutting those out and sprinkling them around the outer borders, along with some big footprints.  This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but maybe I'll have the top done in time for Chris' birthday in January.  I plan to have it longarmed.  

Other than Bigfoot, I've been running back and forth to the public library most days, checking on the Light Up the Library display, attending programs, and helping with refreshments.  There was a musician playing Celtic holiday tunes on the guitar and autoharp (beautiful), a musical group rockin' the house with carols, an author signing his latest book, and a classical pianist who explained the origins of popular holiday songs.  These have all been great ways to get into the holiday spirit!  

Things will settle down next week, and I have a stack of gifts to wrap.  I plan to make some Chex Mix to give Chris and his friend Marad before Christmas.  I've ordered a tourtiere and apple pie for Christmas Eve.  We plan a New Year's open house so I will make some goodies for that after Christmas.

Winter is definitely here

As is typical for December, we've had a little snow every night and we wake up to the sound of the snowplows on the roads.  Living on a corner makes it more apparent that there's lots of activity in the early morning hours.  This was our view a few mornings ago.

We've had more since then, but none of it has clipped our wings much.  We have still gotten out and, yesterday, even took a walk.  Today, though, I plan to stay home, do laundry, read, and sew.  

My brother and his wife have been visiting over the weekend and are leaving this morning before the predicted freezing rain starts.  I hope they don't encounter any on the way home to NJ.  We did have a nice weekend - lots of good conversation and food.  We went to see the Wicked movie which I loved and also to A Christmas Carol adaptation played by local folks.  Our little town may seem like "Maybury" once in a while, but that's when we love it the most.  The holiday lights downtown, sprinkled with snowflakes now and then, make it very cozy after dark.  Hope you're enjoying the season as much as we are.

Lighting Up the Library

I spent most days at our public library last week helping take in donations, assembling Christmas trees, decorating the meeting room, and more for Light Up the Library, our Friends of the Library's big fund raiser.  The library looks gorgeous now, and this afternoon we'll have a grand opening program with music by "Donna Thunder" and her band.   She stopped in on Saturday to plan her grand entry with The Little Drummer Boy.  Should be quite an experience!  Here are a few pictures of the library. 

The local figure skating club girls are always so excited (and so cute!) to be decorating their tree.  This year's theme is "Skating on the Canals in Holland," and all the ornaments are blue and white.

The Friends of the Library's tree includes ornaments made from the pages of old books and some book-related ornaments.

The local jeweler loves to make centerpieces and tabletop trees each year.  This year's includes small Byers Choice figures with packages on Christmas morning.

I have done almost no sewing, but I did finish reading The Gray Wolf by Louise Penny.  It ended in a cliffhanger and now we fans all have to wait another year for the next book.  I started the latest book in the Secret, Book and Scone Society series by Ellery Adams.  The main character is a former librarian and current book seller who specializes in bibliotherapy - right up my alley,

Thanksgiving was postponed to yesterday due to our first real snowfall of the season.  It looks very pretty out, and I did get some wreaths put up outside.  Yesterday Chris got our bird feeders out, too, and I did a little clean up of my sewing room.  I'm still machine quilting a twin-sized quilt but very slowly due to the library project.  Hope to get back to it this week before my brother Rob and his wife Linda come for the weekend.  These are busy times!

Stymied

It's been pretty busy here, even if we had no real commitments this weekend.  I have been working on the list of donors and items for the Friends of the Library's  Light Up the Library project.  Set ups begin tomorrow and continue all week.  The display committee (which includes me) meets donors or picks up items to be set up somewhere in the library.  

We generally let people with floor trees pick their spots, which makes them happy.  We did a walk through last week to figure out where floor and tabletop trees might go.  We have twice as many floor trees this year than last, partly due to donations of used trees by community members downsizing.   At left:  last year's "Inclusion Tree."

I have a huge pile of donations in the living room, but one good thing is that the tubs of donated fabric in the dining room have diminished greatly.  Yesterday, a lady picked up the fake fur, which took almost a whole tub.  That leaves partial tubs in the garage and the dining room, and I plan to consolidate them today.  Phew!  And maybe the person who gave me the four of fabric tubs will come and get the tubs soon, too.   She is cleaning her mother's house out and needs them for storage.

Today we did some grocery shopping, and I have a batch of sourdough bread in the machine now.  I finished the new Louise Penny book last night (it ends in a cliffhanger), so I plan to start something a little lighter today.  It's a take-it-easy kind of day, gloomy and good for napping.  I will try to get some packages ready to mail, too, which will be a load off my mind.   They are heading to Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, and California.  The one for the Netherlands went out last week, and my Dutch sister said she mailed hers to us on the same day.  We always say we live parallel lives.

So... why am I stymied?  My credit card and ATM card were compromised on Thursday, and I'm waiting for new ones to come in the mail.  That means no online shopping!  I had been waiting to do Paul and Chris' shopping until the packages got mailed.  Now I will have to wade through the throngs in the stores or be nervously waiting for deliveries.   

Distracted by food

I have read quite a few blogs and talked to a few people about not getting a lot done over the last few weeks.  The election and its aftermath seem to have taken the wind out of some people's sails, including my own.  One blogger said she was "driven to distraction."  I haven't been reading or sewing as much as I normally do.   When I do sit down and read, however, I am really enjoying Louise Penny's latest, The Gray Wolf.

Although I haven't been quilting as much as usual, I am about halfway around the wide last border of the Dresdent quilt.  It's pretty easy quilting - straight lines down the pieced and plain sections as in piano keys.  It's a fairly big quilt (72" x 72") for using a walking foot, but it's happening.  If I knuckle down I can have the quilting done in another week... but will I?  There's no deadline, really, but I would like to make a few drawstring bags for gifts I should be mailing soon.  Yesterday I wrapped all the presents I'm sending to my sister in the Netherlands, and I hope to get that package out this week.  Last year's package arrived way past Christmas, so I want to get it in the mail sooner.

I also want to start on a Sasquatch quilt for Chris.  I have the Elizabeth Hartman pattern, Legendary, which I plan to modify quite a bit and add a border made with a panel of mythical creatures.  I think it will be fun and fairly quick to do.  If I don't get it quilted by Christmas, I will simply wrap the top up and promise to get it finished by his birthday in January.

Mostly, I've been cooking soup and working with sourdough starter.  I bought the little container of starter at King Arthur Baking a few weeks ago and fed it religiously for a week.  I hate having the "discard" so have been searching for recipes to use that and also have been reading up on various ways to maintain the starter without so much discard.  I have a loaf in the freezer and plan to make another later today using the "no waste" method.   This light rye bread was really good.

Last Friday I spent much of the day cooking a huge kabocha  squash Chris brought from work.   It tastes great but has a very tough skin, so I cooked it in the crockpot for 5 hours.  Then I peeled it, removed the seeds, cut it into smaller pieces, continued on the stove before mashing it.  I have another one in the garage that I'll deal with eventually (before it freezes).

 Chris arrived yesterday with a frozen whole chicken, so I got a loaf of bread out to give him.  The chicken is now defrosting in the refrigerator because there's no more room in the freezer.  I'll cook it Wednesday (if it's defrosted by then) and we'll probably eat it for the rest of the week.