In the deep mid-winter

When we got up this morning at 5:30, the thermometer read -0.4 degrees, but now it is -3. I don't think it's going to warm up much today, either, and all the houses in the neighborhood have large icicles hanging from them. We must have about two feet of snow on the ground, which is less than "down country," but enough for anyone! I regularly shovel the garage out after the car has dripped globs of snow from its wheelwells. I've been making soups a lot recently - pea soup early in the week and French onion yesterday when I also made a loaf of oat/wheat bread.


This week, I've been working steadily on my 16" appliqued blocks. I have the last one all prepared to applique and am half-way through another. I started machine quilting the blocks, too, and am having fun doing each block a little differently. When I finish quilting the blocks, I'll put them together with dark green sashing, pieced cornerstones, and a pieced border. I also made two fabric Valentines for my nieces and a card for Lori, the departing treasurer of the library Friends. I will be sorry to see her go - she's done a great job. We will especially miss her as cashier of the Annual Winter Banquet/Auction. This year's dinner features a gourmet Northern Italian menu, but we make the bulk of our funds in the auction. It is a madhouse as people try to pay before leaving, and Lori has always been so calm.


I've also been keeping up with the Friendship group's Virtual Bee. This week's block was fun to do. The pink and brown combination is really pretty.

On Sunday, I started reading our book group book for the past month and finished right before Wednesday night's meeting. The True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley was an interesting look at 1850's Kansas Territory and the conflict between pro-slave settlers from Missouri and abolitionish settlers from the northeast. I should get busy on Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White for February and not leave it til the last minute, but I've been distracted by Jo-Ann Mapson's Bad Girl Creek. My stack of to-be-read keeps growing, too!