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.

entrelac sweater in progress

Jan and I hit the ground running on Tuesday (10/30), leaving at 8:30 for Hobby Lobby (for yarn and Thanksgiving sales) and Ollie’s (a discount place) and sewing machine repair for Jan to drop off another one of her sewing machines.  We also had to hit an embroidery store for me…I’ve been avoiding it for quite awhile so, we get lost getting there…finally find it….it is EMPTY!!  All locked up, no furniture in it…nothing.  I am beating myself up BIG TIME.  Jan says ‘maybe it’s in the next set of buildings down’ …I go down….nothing there…by then we are close to where they had a store in the beginning, so I go and look there….nothing….I am so bummed….this is all my fault for procrastinating….as I swing the car around to leave the parking lot…I see the store name in another area.  Long story short (too late  J) we go in and even though I have had this stuff FOREVER, they are so nice and exchange everything I want….WHEW!!!!!  Jan and I celebrate on the way home!  I told her when we go to pick up her machine from being fixed, that I want to take a plate of cupcakes to the embroidery people. 

In the afternoon I went to Stitch and Chat and work on my entrelac sweater: 

As I may have mentioned, I finally made the split for the underarm and have completed about 3 inches since them.  People will certainly see me coming in this sweater....but I hope it also makes people smile.

 

Michael wanted to watch a scary movie in the evening, so he made popcorn and watched the movie, while I continued to knit and watch TV in the studio.

HALLOWEEN!!!  Happy Halloween to everyone! Michael left for golfing (coming home with an 89, but that put him in 3^rd place and he won 8 bucks) while I stayed home and read and knit on my charity sweater for the entire day and night.  Sometimes I wish I knit faster, but it is what it is and generally I try to remain content.