A long stretch of dreary weather

It has been snowing off and on for over a week now.  The sky has been mostly gray/white, and I'm glad not to be working on a temperature quilt this year.   January's blocks would almost all be the same.   It's beeni in the single digits and the snowplow guys seem to be working overtime.  Thank goodness for them!  We have been able to get out most days if we want to.  Friday we stocked up on groceries and yesterday I even went to sew with one of my guilds although only three of us came.

Now that Bigfoot's Forest is at the quilter's, I've been working with my string basket the last few days.  At some point this fall, I sorted them all by color before paper piecing 6" high triangles with them.  Now I have two table runners to quilt and a lot of varied triangles still to work with.  Today I'll spend some time with a batch of purple strips that I found on the free table at guild.  They belonged to Kathy T, who told me she was sick of them.  I don't know why - they are beautiful and will make a nice little Rail Fence quilt for Bags of Love.

Other than sewing somewhat mindlessly lately, I've been baking bread a lot.  Other baked goods are off the table as I'm trying to reduce my sugar intake these days.  I use my bread machine to mix, knead, and rise the dough which I then shape and rise to bake in the oven.  This is a plain white sourdough bread using starter I've been nursing for a few months.  It makes wonderful toast and sandwiches.

To avoid cabin fever, which can set in during these cold, gloomy days, we've been trying to gather with friends and neighbors more.  Last night friends down the street came over to play cards.  It was fun.  Next, they said, we should learn to play "Rummy Cube."  I have no idea what that entails, but we'll be doing it soon.