sticky buns, baby quilt center

Sunday morning (12/30) it was delightful to get up and slide the sticky bun dough in the oven, and 45 minutes later….viola: 

 

They were yummy as always!  I spent the rest of the day in the studio, working on the baby quilt, while Michael worked on the picture/video from our trip last January to the Caribbean.  He said it has been about 90% done for awhile, but he needed to add music.  We decided when it is totally finished, we will invite all of the other couples on the trip over for dinner and we will preview it!  By the time I went to bed, I had the center part of the quilt done, you can see how it has changed because I refuse to buy more fabric!  I am determined to make it work with what I had in my stash:

 

 

beginning of baby quilt

Friday was a very relaxed….reading….sewing…knitting….TV watching day!

 Saturday (12/29) Michael left for golf and I spent the morning working on our post holiday newsletter, and the afternoon sewing.  I put 2 pans of pecan sticky buns together at dinner, and Jan stopped by to pick one up.  Michael watched KING KONG in the evening while I read.  By the time I went to bed, this was on the design wall:

Elsie & Cookie, Mark & Walt & Jan

Boxing Day!! Wednesday morning (12/26) was wonderful; Nancy and I got together for the first time in weeks and weeks!  I was surprised she came because it was POURING all day…but she braved the elements and we both got caught up on each other’s lives.  In the afternoon Michael and I watched STAR TREK while he played pool and I sewed and then in the evening, we got to watch MIRACLE ON 34^th STREET and snuggle on the couch.

 By the way, the Christmas truce was still in effect:

 

Michael left for golfing on Thursday (12/27) and I knit in the morning, then in the afternoon I put together roll dough, fixed the ham, and started to heat of Michael’s potato/carrot mixture in the crockpot.  Gale and Phil and Jan and Walt and Mark (their son) came for dinner, after which we all headed into Charlotte for the Winter Wonderettes.  The show was great and we were home by 10.  Jan and Walt and Mark came in for a nightcap: 

 

before heading for home.

champagne, Jan opening presents, Walt's painting

Christmas Day!!  (I forgot to mention my gift from Christmas Eve was an 18 inch wooden ruler ((a truly desired gift!))….and a metal yardstick).  We had a scrumptious breakfast of potatoes and waffles, before opening a gift apiece (homemade peppermint patties and soundtrack of Love Actually) and before heading downstairs for pool, sewing and STAR TREK: INSURRECTION as our next Christmas movie.  At NOON we opened the champagne (with frozen strawberries, raspberries and blackberries to keep it chilled)

 

 

and another set of presents (a novel YEAR ZERO for Michael and anther book THE PRE-HISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE for me).  We finished the movie and Michael and Cookie went for a walk, while I got our Christmas ribs into the crockpot, and cut up lots of veggies for potato soup.  By the time Michael and Cookie got home it was time for another present: 4 Bogey and Bacall movies for me, and the 3rd season of Quantum Leap for Michael.  We both settled down in front of the fire, sharing a grilled cheese sandwich and reading our books.  We took a short nap in the late afternoon and arose to more presents: a DVD of THE EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL for me, and a magazine which is a 50^th anniversary edition about The Beatles for Michael.  We headed downstairs for painting and additional sewing.  We headed back upstairs around 6 and Michael started to put together his latkes, while I started the Cheesy Potato Soup.  We opened another set of gifts, another scifi book for Michael THE MAP OF TIME and another CD for me, GREATEST LOVE SONGS FROM THE MOVIES.  Jan and Walt and Mark (their son from Colorado) stopped by for a wonderful visit.  Walt decided that Jan should open her presents here….so I got to see her face as she opened her new sewing machine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a set of beautiful, dragonfly stitch markers:

 

 

 Then Walt did something that blew both of us TOTALLY AWAY.  He gave us one of his paintings (our favorite one) for a Christmas present!!!  It is so beautiful….and I can’t believe we really own it. 

 

 

 

We sat and talked for quite awhile, and when they left I finished up the soup and Michael made his latkes.  We settled in to watch THE EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.  When the movie was finally over, it was mid-night and we collapsed into bed….what a FABULOUS Christmas!!

scarf/shawlette

Christmas Eve – Michael left for golf, even thought it was threatening rain.  He got in 9 holes before coming home wet and chilled through.  We read for a bit in front of the fire before coming downstairs for sewing and painting.  I finished a scarf/shawlette that Mary Jo showed me when she was down visiting and it is now being blocked on the island:

 

We watched 2 Christmas movies, starting at dinnertime with A CHRISTMAS CAROL with George C. Scott and finishing up with one of Michael’s Christmas presents (we each open one on Christmas Eve), the colorized version of HOLIDAY INN.

celery

It felt like we hadn’t been out to breakfast in ages, so we hit IHOP early on Sunday (12/23) morning.  When we came home, we fired up the fireplace and read the rest of the paper, then I headed downstairs to sew all afternoon…it was heavenly (just working on the flannel baby blanket)!  Michael came downstairs for a bit to start another set of paintings, while Elsie and Cookie snoozed away on the sofa.  We had leftover Chinese yet again for dinner, and watched another of our Christmas movies…this time it was the first movie in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.

So…have I told you about my celery?  Do you know that you can get additional stalks of celery from just one that you buy at the grocery store?  I cut off the bottom 1 – ½ inches of the stalk, and let it sit in barely warm water, on a saucer for a day (or maybe it was 2 or 3  J).  I finally planted it, covering it with an inch of dirt.  For a long time it wasn’t doing anything, but now I have a very healthy crop of leaves.  I try to put it in the sun on sunny days, then move it back to a corner of the porch during the night, since we are now getting freezing temperatures at night.  I hope to plant it in deeper soil in February or March…but here’s how it looks right now (and there’s a second on I planted 2 days ago, right in the middle of the planter):

 

I’ll keep you posted on how they are coming along.

cake mix cookies, 2 sets of Michael's paintings

Michael left for golf on Saturday (12/22) even though it was only 27 degrees when we got up!!  I continued cleaning, and got the rest of my cake mix cookies baked up (I've tried several different recipes that I didn't care for, but these are really good):

 

 

When I was done straightening up and dusting, I tried to vacuum, but the vacuum cleaner wouldn’t turn on.  I read for a bit, and when Michael came home (HOT, HOT, HOT with a 79!!!), between the 2 of us, we fixed the vacuum….but of course, by then it was too late to start vacuuming, so I played Scarlett O’Hara yet again and said ‘tomorrow is another day’….

 We both got to craft for a couple of hours before dinner: I started to iron flannel for a baby quilt for my doctor’s 3^rd baby, and Michael finished up 2 more sets of pictures for his notecards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had leftover Chinese for dinner and watched TV and knit in the evening.

front porch rug

Friday morning (12/21) since the world didn’t end at 5 AM (according to the Mayans) I decided I had to start cleaning my house  J.  With all of the baking and candy making it has gotten steadily worse.  I did that for a bit, had a short visit from Marilyn (fellow knitter) and her daughter Deanna, then my friend Connie came to visit for a bit.  We haven’t seen each other in awhile, so we got caught up on all of the news.  She also commented on how much she loved our new porch accessories.  My neighbor is moving out of SCCL, and she had indoor/ourdoor carpeting on her front porch.  I’ve always liked it, and our old rug was VERY worn, so I called to see if she was getting rid of it.  Michael and I went down and looked at it, and gave her $25 and brought it home:

 

 

I think it makes our front porch look totally classy!  All we need is one more adirondack chair, which I hope to buy in 2013.  Connie left just as Michael was coming home from yet another appointment with the AAA people about our trip to VEGAS in June of next year.  Michael and I talked for a bit, then he sat down in the living room, with the fire on, and with his current book.  I thought that looked TOO inviting for words, so I made hot chocolate, turned on the lights of our tree, wound up our kinetic sculpture, grabbed my book and joined him…it was a delightful afternoon!  We decided to get Chinese for dinner, and watched our 3^rd Christmas movie in the evening, a TV movie called NOEL.  What a nice ending to the day.

Thursday morning (12/20) I packed up show and tell and a gift for the Chinese Auction and the cheesecake and a gift bag and headed out.  First stop was HARRIS TEETER (grocery store) to buy a gift card for our quilting president and to drop off some Christmas goodies for my favorite grocery cashier.  I know that probably sounds insane…but you just have to know Martha (the cashier) and you would understand.  Then it was off to Krispy Kreme for a dozen donuts to take to quilting, then the chiropractor (he is leaving in a few days to move to NYC  L) then finally to quilting.  We had a wonderful time talking and playing and eating and knitting, and I finally rolled home around 2.  I knit in the afternoon while Michel painted, then we had soup for dinner and relaxed and watched TV.

I'm baa-a-ack!

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Well – it’s Friday morning, the week flew by and I have to figure out what we did!  Tuesday morning Michael and I finally did something we have been trying to do for the last 11 months….we (and Cookie) returned to the animal hospital where they saved her life when we first got her in January.  They were very happy to see her…they get very few puppies with parvo and even fewer survive.  We took lots of Christmas goodies to thank them for everything they did for her.  Tuesday afternoon Joanne and I went to Stitch ‘n’ Chat and Tuesday evening we watched our second Christmas movie THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

On Wednesday I did a bunch of errands in the morning, then came home to bake a Praline Pecan Cheesecake for quilting on Thursday.  For some reason I was very nervous, probably because I haven’t made one in forever, so of course I did what I always do when I’m nervous…I procrastinated.  This time it took the form of cleaning out my pantry…..it was pretty bad…I couldn’t find anything:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and here’s what it looks like now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael came home and said WOW when he opened the door.  He was sweaty from golfing, but very happy with his 83, scored with an EAGLE on one of the holes!!  As long as he was already messy, I asked him to rake out the pine straw and dig a hole in the front of the house.  Since we took out the 2 big bushes in the front on the house, we have wanted one of those large clay pots for flowers.  They are generally over $200, and we really didn’t want to spend that much.  Well, my errands in the AM took me past a going-out-of-business garden center and this is what I scored:

 

 

It is beautiful and just the size we wanted; now we just have to get some dirt and flowers to fill it.  As long as he was working outside, he accomplished another chore….our neighbor removed our 5 -6 foot wide rosemary bush and Michael dragged it to the back forest for compost:

 

The rosemary had a big hole on the side, created because the front bushes got so big.  The gardening people told us that if we cut it down to the ground, it would come up again and we could shape it better…so cross your fingers because it is now gone  L.  I cut a huge amount first and it is safely frozen in a big plastic bag.  Finally all of the outdoor chores were done and the cheesecake was baked.  We headed downstairs, me to knit and Michael to paint and the kids…again getting along:

Saturday and Sunday (12/15&16) went by in a blur.  I got dipped oreos done, and also made dough for peanut butter cookies and Jan’s Crispy Cookies, and made up 2 runs of homemade Bailey’s.  I made a vat of Potato Soup and we enjoyed that along with artisan bread with Gale and Phil on Saturday night.  I spent several hours on Sunday at Jan’s house, moving her sewing room (Michael was there to help with that), and then helping her to get rid of, or file, bunches and bunches of papers.  We had puffy things for dinner on Sunday and watched our first Christmas movie…ELF.

 

Monday (12/17) seemed like a really busy day.  Michael left for errands in the morning, while I headed to my volunteer meeting. I got home by 12:30 and immediately started baking cookies.  I baked all of Jan’s Crispy cookies and most of the peanut butter cookies.  Also made up and baked a bunch of chocolate cookies.  Michael packed up 2 goodie boxes to send out put them in the car.  I quickly put together some cheese and crackers around 6 and Michael put together a basket for Tim (our caller) and we headed off to our square dancing Christmas party.  There was a ton of good food and lots of laughing and dancing.  We came home tired and just vegged and watched TV for an hour before bed.

it was fun/nice while it lasted....

For the time being it looks like I can’t put any pictures into my blog.  I asked the Fiber Floozies to vote, and the vote was for 1 – just words in the blog or 2 – back to emails with attached pictures.  The emails won!  So, if you would like to be on the distribution list, please send me an email from the email you would like me to use.  On the SMALL chance that someone,  who doesn’t know me personally, has been reading the blog, you could leave your email in the comments on the blog.  If you do, I’d love to know a little bit about you as well  J.

Saturday morning (11/17) Michael left for golf and I left for choir practice.  I had a good time with all of the people in the church and finally got home around lunchtime.  I spent the day reading a lot, and working a little in the studio.  I finished off a second scarf and both are being blocked on the island right now…pictures when they are dry.

Sunday (11/18) we had wonderful, fluffy pancakes for breakfast (I just love my recipe!) and I spent a good bit of time reading the paper.  We went to the Fort Mill Community Playhouse in the afternoon for the Saunders Family Christmas…a really feel good, get you in the Christmas spirit, funny play.

Monday morning (11/19) I had a volunteer meeting, after which Jan and I finally got our fabric postcards in the mail!  I read most of the afternoon and we went to square dancing in the evening.  We haven’t been in so long, we were both afraid we had forgotten everything we learned, but we both did remarkably well.

Thanksgiving post cards

Friday (11/16) was a fabulous day…I knit and sewed all day!   Jan wanted a few fabric postcards for Thanksgiving, so I made 6 and gave her 3 to send out (Michael decorated the fronts):

 

 

Connie came over for a great visit around NOON, and we talked through all of her knitting projects.  Otherwise, it was a totally relaxing day.  Michael got to practice golf for awhile, and after a quick visit to the grocery store, we had dinner and snuggled on the couch all evening.

rose, jam/cheese logs

I worked in my studio in the morning Wednesday (11/14) before heading to the doctor’s at 11 AM.  I love my doctor and he took me to task for not taking care of my body as I should…..so, I have until the end of January to make some changes, and then he wants to see me again.  I hit the bank and the grocery store on the way home, and did a bit of organizing before heading to the kitchen.  Michael and I put together a sweet potato casserole then packed it up and headed to Osceola Methodist (where I quilt on Thursdays) for their Thanksgiving dinner.  Dinner was wonderful, with more food and desserts than you could shake a stick at.  Michael was especially pleased to find ice box cake as one of the desserts…one of his childhood favorites.  When we got home, I put together 2 jam cheese logs (picture tomorrow) to rise overnight.

A few days ago, Michael picked what will surely be the last rose of summer…

 

 Thursday morning (11/15) I was up early to get a few things done before Jan picked me up at 8:45.  We had a trunk show at quilting and we needed to be there early to set up the chairs and food.  I baked the logs at the church:

 

 

 and they were a big hit.  That might be the first time I’ve made them since we’ve moved down here….Michael doesn’t really care for cream cheese, so I have no reason to make them.

The trunk show was terrific…we had lots of quilts, lots of guests, and once again….lots of food.  Jan and I finally made it home around 1 and I spent most of the day and night reading a new book.  I did stop around 6:30 to go to choir practice (Osceola asked me to sing their Christmas music with them and I accepted), but when I came home, it was back to reading again before bed.

Michael headed out at 8:15 Tuesday morning (11/13) for his physical and Jan picked me up 15 minutes later.  We had breakfast at Briggs and headed to Mathews to pick up her sewing machine and deliver the cupcakes…with a quick stop at Dollar General.  We didn’t know how to get to Hobby Lobby (HB) from there, so looked it up on the GARMIN.  Thelma Lou (Jan’s Garmin) told us what to do and we took off.  We were talking and talking as usual when I finally really looked at Thelma Lou and realized that we wouldn’t be at HB for another 45 minutes!!!  Now we knew we were close, and Jan figured out that Thelma was taking us to Rock Hill (unfortunately, Jan and I have exactly the same sense of direction….horrible!).  We pulled over and tried again and 12 minutes later we were there.  Jan returned some yarn and we both bought more (a different kind of course), then headed over to COSTCO for a few groceries.  Two hundred bucks later we were finally on our way home…it was 1:30.  Michael spent most of the morning doing paperwork and giving the dog some exercise…so both of us headed downstairs at that point…him to paint and me to knit.  We had these great crab/scallop shells for dinner (something we haven’t seen since we moved down here…but a new grocery store PUBLIX carries them) and he watched a movie for most of the evening while I continued to knit.

cupcakes

Michael left for golf Monday morning (coming home with an 86) and I had a very productive morning before leaving to visit with Nancy.  I got both the Volunteer minutes and the Thursday quilting minutes written up and sent out…and a bit more paperwork before leaving at 9:15 for Nancy’s.  We switched our normal meeting day so that Jan and I could go to Matthews on Tuesday.  I knit on the new scarf while Nancy continued to straighten up her studio.  I was home by 12:30 and worked on snowflakes and knitting in the afternoon.  I also got cupcakes made, chocolate with mint frosting (am taking as a thank you on Tuesday to the embroidery store):

 

 

 
These represent my first solo effort at piping on the frosting (thank you very much Barrie for the lessons!) and they really looked nice (like roses) until I put the saran on  L.

We had soup for dinner, after which I headed up to the Lake House to collect $$$ for square dancing (1 down, 5 to go….YAY!!!)

black/white purses

Sunday (11/11) was a FABULOUS day…I didn’t have to go anywhere, we had no company, my honey went to the grocery store for me…and best of all…champagne and puffy things for dinner!  I spent the time wisely, working on more purses.  When I started the last set of black/white purses before the craft fair, I decided that I couldn’t get all 7 done, so I just did 4 of them.  On Sunday I completed the last 3:

 

I got a lot of knitting done on a newly started scarf, and in the evening we watched a Judi Dench movie (a Christmas gift from LAST year) and then several episodes of ‘our’ show AS TIME GOES BY…a perfect ending to a perfect day.

snowflakes, purses

Saturday morning Michael left for golf (coming in later with an 84) and I had a long chat with Mary Jo.  It was wonderful talking…but the really good news is that she’ll be here in THREE WEEKS!!!!!!  I eventually headed to the studio to work on stuff and finished up some new snowflakes:

 

Then I took a break and had a nice long chat with Connie, who stopped in on her way to work….we were supposed to talk about knitting, but ‘life’ intruded instead and we talked about our upcoming doctor’s visits for physical's  L.

 I was downstairs again by 1:30 and finished off 7 more purses:

 

 

Jan and Walt came over at 5:30 for Mexican Chicken Soup and popovers (Michael's absolute favorite and I don't get to make them very often because the oven temp they cook at is incompatible with anything else), and we left at 6:30 for the symphony in Charlotte.  It was a salute to Benny Goodman, with the most incredible 28 year old clarinet player you ever heard.  We were home before 11:30, but stayed up for just a bit to give the bed a chance to get warm (electric blankets….hooray!)

Thursday morning (11/8) Jan picked me up at 9:15 for quilting…we did a mystery, which turned out to be a finger pin cushion, and then knit for the rest of the time we were there.  I came home and worked on purses for the craft fair and spent the evening weaving.

Friday was errand day….I had an appointment first thing in the morning to have my hearing checked (I have minimal hearing loss) then hit Michael’s and Aldi and the grocery store on the way home.  I spent the afternoon working on purses, and the evening doing the same, while Michael made popcorn and watched the 2 hour premiere of some shoot-em-up-lots-of-loud-noises-show.

Jimmy, Jimmy & Sally

Michael left early for golf on Wednesday (11/7)…they went to Longview, where Michael did scoring for the Chiquita Classic earlier this year.  I spent the morning making roll dough and pulling together a quiche before going over to Sally and Jimmy’s for lunch.  Jimmy was leaving for the golf course as I arrived, and Sally and I had a wonderful lunch and gab session for several hours.  When Jimmy came home, I got a pic as he relaxed in his chair for some TV watching, but when they decided to start smooching…I was outta there  J:

 

I worked on snowflakes in the afternoon, and ran a pan of rolls over to my neighbors for dinner (the best thing about this new recipe is that I got three pans of rolls out of it!)  We had dinner and christened our new sofa by watching TV for the rest of the night!

new loveseat

I had a wonderful visit Tuesday (11/6) morning with Nancy…it felt like we hadn’t seen each other in a month!  After she left I got a bit done on the new snowflakes, then stopped to let in the delivery men for our new loveseat in the media room (looks like 2 first class airline seats, doesn’t it):

 

 By then Michael was home from errands and voting, and he took me up to vote while he ran to the grocery store.  Rotisserie chickens were on sale this week, so he got one and we ran home to make stuffing and veggies and had a nice chicken dinner while watching a bit of TV.  AT 6 Pm Michael and Cookie and I headed over to Jan and Walt’s.  Walt and Michael went to the movies, while Jan and I watched election results and knit.

art crawl, Cookie, tooth faiy pillows

Sunday (11/4) I made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast (Michael’s favorite) and we got to relax a tiny bit before customers showed up again.  I had mulled cider in the crockpot again, and baked one sheet of spice cookies just before people arrived…again, everyone said how good our house smelled  J.  We had about 1/2 of the people we had on Saturday, but almost everyone bought something, so that made it worth doing from NOON until 4 on Sunday.  At one point my scarf rack was looking pretty bare because I had sold so many, so Lynne decided she would make it into a purse rack….she has such a good eye…I thought it looked like something artsy-fartsy my friend Mary Jo would have done:

 

 

And of course, we couldn’t have Cookie jumping all over everyone as they came in, so she was banned to the media room, and laid there whimpering as everyone passed by:

 

I sat down at 4:05 and put my feet up once everyone left, and Michael went to try out for a play in Charlotte.

I spent Monday morning completing 2 tooth fairy pillows for my neighbor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paula came down for a nice talk around lunchtime, and in the afternoon I started working on some new snowflakes.  At 5 I went up to the Lake House to collect donations for our Thanksgiving food drive, at 6:30 the ART CRAWL participants all came up for a short meeting and to pull names for our raffle prizes, and at 7:15 I started collecting $$$ for the square dance.  Only 6 or so more dances before I am NOT treasurer anymore….YAY!!!!!  I got home after 8 and oh my…..I have the BEST husband on the face of the earth!!!  I don’t know why, but about a week ago, I just had a craving for a simple box of Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese.  Well…of course, there’s none in the house.  I have thought about making some…but just haven’t had the time…so when I get to the garage door, there is a big note on the door that says my honey has a big surprise for me.  I go inside…yep….CREAMY mac ‘n’ cheese (he knew I hadn’t eaten any dinner before I left at 5)….I can’t believe something out of a box tasted so good…I collapsed on the sofa at 8:30 with my yummy bowl and finally relaxed.

black/white purses, art crawl

Thursday (11/1) went by in a flash.  I tried a new roll recipe for quilting…but I didn’t put enough yeast in it, so it rose rea-a-a-a-ally slowly.  I was 45 minutes late to quilting with my dough.  Michael and I both like this recipe better…the crusts on the rolls get crispier than my old recipe, PLUS, it made enough dough that I could make rolls for Michael for dinner (normally he never gets any rolls when I make them for quilting because everyone SNARFS them down, regardless of how many I make J.)  I just did a bit of knitting at quilting…and a LOT of visiting.  I stopped at Jimmy & Sally’s on the way home for a visit and didn’t get home until 2:30.  I had to iron something in the afternoon and FINALLY got the new purses pressed and THUMPED (you fiber floozies should certainly understand that remark J):   

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing what I’ve been doing for the past 3 days….reading a fabulous book by Jody Picoult called SING YOU HOME.  OMgoodness, a friend gave it to me and I just loved it.  I stayed up until mid-night and finally finished it.

Friday (11/2) the marathon begins…we are up at 7 to start setting up the house for the ART CRAWL we are part of over the weekend.  It takes all day and we still aren’t finished by the time we leave to see a friend in a play in Charlotte.  The name of the play was SYVIA, and it was mostly about a dog (played by a young blond woman).  It was certainly unusual….we got home around 11 and fell into bed shortly afterwards.  Saturday morning we were up again at 7, finishing setting up the house, making mulled cider and baking spice cookies.  All was ready by the time the first customers appeared at 10:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had about 54 people in all, and did very well.  I left at 3:45 for another performance by the band.  It has been a year since I started….my first gig was the air show in Monroe, NC and that’s where we performed again Saturday night.  I got home close to 11 and was exhausted.