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.

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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.