kitties, many movie reviews

We had a lovely lazy Sunday morning (12/23) before Michael left for a few errands while I headed downstairs to try to make this a very productive day.  I kicked off Miss Scarlett, and continued to work on the borders of my FPF.  When my honey got home, he made me a smurfy breakfast: 

to keep my energy up while I was working  :~).  

By the time I finished for the day to head upstairs, I had the first (white) border on the FPF quilt:  

and had made the second and final black border:  

My quilting was done on the first Prayers & Squares quilt: 

and I had several more blocks completed of the last retreat quilt:  

Of course, my babies were with me the entire time.....squished in their bed:

I’d call that a very good day!

***MMR – Michael’s Movie Reviews ***

(a plethora of reviews for your reading pleasure)

THE GREEN BOOK – Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali star in this movie and two more different people you could not put together in this very different “road picture”.  Ali plays Don Shirley, a brilliant black pianist (during the 1960’s) whose concert tour through the deep south is in dire needs of a bodyguard.  He hires Tony Lip (Viggo), a tough talking bouncer from the Bronx.  A relationship develops as they travel from one city to the next and each learns to appreciate the qualities of each other by the trip’s end.  Why a black artist chose to travel the south in the 60’s, and what The Green Book is, are just 2 of the things I learned from this movie.  A true story, well acted, funny, sad, heart warming and one of the best movies I have seen this year!  I give it FIVE fat quarters out of FIVE!!

CREED II – Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lungren.  The movie is a boxing, revenge, and family story.  Adonis Creed, son of the late Apollo Creed, has become the heavy weight champion and Drago’s son (Apollo Creed fought Drago in an earlier movie and was killed by him) is compelled to fight the son of Apollo!  So, the revenge match is set up – son against son.  The boxing scenes are well choreographed and not for the faint of heart.  And behind the boxing are sub-plots about Rocky and Adonis, Adonis and his wife and baby, Adonis and his mother and even Drago and his son.  All comes to a head in the second (yes, second) Adonis vs Drago match-up!  The plot is predictable, but it is presented well and worth a viewing.  I give it 3 at quarters out of 5.

THE MULE – starring and directed by Clint Eastwood.  Another movie inspired by true events!  Eastwood plays a man whose lifelong business and passions (growing day lilies and his flower shop) have failed.  He is also estranged from his whole family (wife and daughter) and now he is poor and alone.  At his granddaughter’s pre-wedding party, he hooks up with a man who gives him a card to contact someone who needs a driver.  This leads to him becoming a ‘mule’….a person who illegally transports drugs from state to state.  The story revolves around his new ‘job’ and his relationships with his family.  It’s a complex story interwoven with DEA agents and family, drug cartels and the ending is thought provoking.  Well acted (with a cameo by Andy Garcia).  Clint Eastwood (at 80+) is outstanding and so is this movie.  I give it 4 fat quarters out of 5.

ROBIN HOOD (2018) = Jamie Foxx as Little John (all other main characters played by relative unknowns!)  This is NOT your father’s Robin Hood.  Even though this movie bears little resemblance to the original, it’s almost like a prequel.  It’s full of action, a twisty plot, some romance, and unbelievable stunts!  Arrows fly, horses jump, cardinals want to take over the English government and Robin Hood has to save the day!  If you don’t care about historical accuracy, this is a movie you can enjoy with a bucket of popcorn and a soda!  I give it 3 fat quarters out of 5.

This is an incredibly thorough, thoughtful and informative piece….but it is also very scary when you realize (if you haven’t already based on everything that has been happening) the personality of the person in charge of our country.  And the revolving door of people being fired continues: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/us/politics/trump-two-years.html

popcorn & pears

Michael left for golf on Saturday (12/22) while I headed downstairs to finally get back to quilting on MISS SCARLETT!  I have 14 rows to do on the first Prayer’s and Squares quilt, so my long arm was going from 11 AM – 3 PM, and now I’m over 1/2 way done.  

While that was happening, I was working on the borders for the latest FPF (four patch frenzy) quilt, after I got all of the columns stitched together.  I got the first border put together: 

it's the white hanging down

and also got a few blocks done on the last quilt cutout for retreat by using them as leaders and enders:  

I headed upstairs at 3 PM to set my hair and put together another pan of ham/cheese/poppy seed sliders.  Michael and I left after 6 PM to head over to Jorie & John’s for their annual Christmas party.  There were TONS of people there and TONS of food, but my sliders were gone in a flash :~).  We had a good time eating and talking with all of their neighbors and friends before finally heading home…it was a lovely day.

We're gotten 2 Christmas presents in the mail.....a great popcorn sampler from Anne (Michael has already eaten 2 bags):

and a box of luscious pears from Sue & Charlie:

Isn't it fun to get surprise packages???

ice box cake, Jim & Ann Mary

It was another dreary and very windy day on Friday (12/20) when I was up and out very early to visit with Linda and get my clogged ear all cleaned up!  She was wonderful and it will be a blessing not to feel like I have water or pressure in my ear all of the time!  

I made a quick stop at the grocery store and was home by 9:30.  When I got home my honey was in the living room having oatmeal for breakfast, while Cookie was enjoying the fire:  

I had to get my blog out, and get out my last set of weekly minutes (after 9 YEARS!!!) as secretary of Scrap Happy Quilters, before heading to the kitchen.  

First up was making biscuits (I never did get a picture of them).  I’ve had this recipe FOREVER (a new recipe Mary Jo) and am finally making them.  They need to freeze before tonight’s dinner because you bake them directly from the freezer.  For a long time I've wanted to have some kind of bread in the freezer that I can bake at a moment's notice and I finally made them.  Michael left after that for a haircut along with stops at Harris Teeter (dropping off Christmas goodies to Martha, everyone’s favorite cashier), Karen S’s for Xerox boxes, CVS (to spend coupons), and Comporium.  

I started on an ice box cake after the biscuits, since it has to thoroughly chill before tonight.  I made the chocolate pudding:  

then layered it with graham crackers 

and popped it in the fridge.  Michael was home by then and we both headed downstairs.  

I worked on my quilt: 

while he ran his emails as we both watched:   

Yes, it’s THE CLOSER….but that’s not why the picture is here…..look at the picture again….far left….see that lamp (which is in the lawyer’s office, who charges $500 an hour)….we have that EXACT SAME LAMP….what a hoot!  The kitties were with us as well, squished back into their tiny bed:

We finished up watching around 4 PM and I headed upstairs to get a jump on dinner.  I got my soup prepped 

while Anne was there for a short visit to find out how my ear appointment went….and after she left I started to cook my Elephant Chicken Soup:

Jim & Ann Mary showed up at 6 PM 

with sausage bread (so very yummy, Jim makes it every Christmas!) and we eventually sat down to our soup and biscuits.  They loved the soup so much that Ann Mary asked for the recipe :~).  We played Mexican Train for several hours before stopping for the ice box cake (and a little Cookie time).  

It was a lovely and relaxing evening.

I’m very, very confused by this rhetoric….I am sure I remember Trump saying during his campaigning that he would build a border wall, and I am positive that he said he would GET MEXICO TO PAY FOR IT!!!  Why then is he threatening a government shut-down…and proud of the fact that it will be a long one….if he doesn’t get US money for a wall???  And we’re talking 5.7 BILLION dollars….yes…that’s BILLION with a “B” dollars of your money.  https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/12/21/trump-says-a-shutdown-would-last-for-a-very-long-time/23624535/

SHQ Show & Tell

It was a rainy, but balmy day when we got up on Thursday morning (12/20).  I got my blog out and got some laundry going before heading out to quilting.  I just took my knitting as I am trying to race through this sweater for AJ…..as usual my knitting goes pretty slowly, but I’m trying to spend a lot of time on it (or as much as my arthritic hands can take) so we will see if it is done before Christmas.  

Many people brought handwork of some kind to quilting (instead of their normal machines) and it was delightful to sit around and chat and work.  As always show and tell was beautiful:

Marge is on the board with one of those skinny snowmen

this batik quilt was so beautiful

as was the backing fabric

June's undersea wall hanging

the trapunto sharks & turtles looked like they were leaping off the quilt

a truly gorgeous double wedding ring from Sandra

I got home around 2 PM and spent the afternoon in the living room, reading and dozing!  Michael and I had leftovers for dinner and while we were watching TV in the evening, I was knitting away.  The sweater part is all done!!!  And all of the ends have been woven in, I just need to complete the hood….YAY!!  Thank goodness for bulky yarn and small kids!

I have to brag on my friend….BG!!!  You may not know that in addition to a fulltime job, and a quilt ministry to the less fortunate, she also started a soap making business about a year ago.  She is now in many, many stores and this is her latest display in Avon:

Isn't it awesome?!!?

kitties, kitties, kitties

I was up early on Wednesday (12/19) for my ear appointment at the Lake House at 8:15.  I had been hearing practically nothing in my right ear for over a month, and Linda confirmed that it is blocked with wax.  I made an another appointment for early Friday morning for her to work on getting it sorted out.  I hope she can do it with the equipment she has, otherwise it is a visit to the ear doctor, and that always costs $300!!!

I headed home before 9 AM so that my honey could go golfing, made a  cup of tea and SKYPE-d with Janice until 10:45.  I stopped for a bite, then continued working on my latest quilt.  

Since the project box I had my retreat projects in is getting kind of empty….kitties are very interested in it:  

I spent the rest of the day sewing:   

It’s amazing how much smaller/shorter the column looks once you put in those 15 seams  :~).  

The kitties were with me and once again squished into their kitty bed:  

Michael left at 6:30 PM for a read through of the play….yes…he got cast….I think the title is something like WHEN THE FAT LADY SINGS…hopefully I’ll know a bit more about it in the coming weeks.  I headed upstairs to knit on AJ’s sweater. 

new FPF blocks completed, crab truck

I wanted to be on the road by 8:30 AM on Tuesday (12/18), but didn’t make it until 9:30.  I was home by 11:30 after trips to WALMART (for vitamins for Michael's eyes), then the dentist (only to drop off treats) and ALDI’s.  

I didn’t get to sew at all yesterday, so I immediately headed to my studio.

Other than a brief stop to meet Anne at the crab truck….

OMword….I had a crab sandwich, which  was totally yummy….and Anne had a crab cake in a soup container with crab soup poured over it.  We sat out in the sun on the patio to eat our lunch, then I bought home crab soup for Michael….which he said was delish.  

I sewed until late afternoon 

when we tried to connect with AJ again.  This time Marc had put SKYPE on his computer and it worked perfectly…..YAY!!!  

By dinnertime I had completed all 96 of the blocks for the newest quilt:  

We had assorted leftovers for dinner, then Michael left for the movies and I headed upstairs to watch TV and knit on AJ’s sweater.  I got the back all completed, and wanted to start on the front….but suddenly kitties showed up, totally interested in playing with the yarn, so I had to put that away  :~).