Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

A Little Seque

Yes, I know I left my last post indicating that I was about to start our Christmas cards.  Didn't happen.  A picture of a pattern which I had previously downloaded popped up on Facebook. Now done up in Christmas colors, it drew me down the rabbit hole and I headed for my sewing room, inspired to action.  The pattern was for a very cute potholder and it is a free download.  

Here are the two I made:

And a closer view of each one:

I chose red and green but not in obvious Christmas fabrics so they can be used year 'round.

I had so much fun quilting the fabrics and then choosing coordinating colors for the bias binding.  I love my Clover 1" bias tape maker!  Also, using Bernina foot #10 makes topstitching a pleasure.  It's so nice to have just the right tools for every job.  ♥

I'm Dreaming of a . . .

Ten days until Christmas and we have had a beautiful, white, misty day here at the resort.  Church this morning was full of glorious Christmas songs along with a wonderful message on the fulfillment of prophesy as that first Christmas dawned.  

These short December days bring a beauty all their own, but the addition of snow makes them perfect.  I snapped this photo as the day was slipping into evening.

Tonight we have a special program at church called "Present Your Gifts to the King" wherein people, mostly children, share songs and talents as we all munch on snacks and baked goodies.  It's very relaxed and low key and filled with laughter and cheers.  

Tomorrow?  Hopefully Christmas cards will be written and addressed and ready for Tuesday's mail.  Wish me luck!  

Merry Christmas! ♥

And Now It's December

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was wonderful! Ann, Eric, Cameron, Keaton and Daniel came to stay Wednesday night and thus began a fun-filled (and food-filled!) holiday.  We relaxed and, as we say, fell in a heap that night and then popped up Thursday morning to get things ready for the big dinner.  Fortunately we are creatures of habit, or maybe I should say traditionalists, so the menu is never an issue.  Turkey, stuffing, gravy and all the other standbys.  Mmmm...

The one thing we've changed in the last few years is our potatoes.  We switched to the Pioneer Woman's decadent recipe for mashed potatoes and as Ann says, we've never looked back.  When it came time to make the potatoes, I had plenty of help!

Kitchen crew at work!

The dinner was a success and we were blessed to have our niece Kirsten, her husband Tim, and little Taylor joining us.  Our table was full and so were our chairs!  

We spent the rest of our days relaxing, reading, visiting, napping and putting a puzzle together.  And, of course, one night we all watched Home Alone 2 as a prelude to the Christmas season.  Even after all these years, the Home Alone movies still make us laugh.  

Saturday morning the guys all helped Dan change out our tires to snow tires, inspired by the light snowfall of the night before.  They worked together, with a team of two on each vehicle and the work went swiftly.

Dan and Keat on the pickup

Eric and Cam on the car

Even Daniel got in on the act when it came time to air up the tires.  

He had to borrow some gloves and tennis shoes from me, hence the pink hands and pink shoelaces.  Yes, this eight-year-old wears the same size shoes as his grammy.  (And why, you are asking did he have to borrow?  Simple.  He came in his shorts--note the bare legs--and his slides.)  ♥

Another Quilt Done!

I finished another baby quilt this week and actually remembered to photograph it for posterity.  

It's the same pattern as the last one I made, and truthfully, I'm excited to start another, this time for a girl.  It's a fun pattern to make up and uses fat quarters for the larger focus fabrics.  I'm about out of whites for the framing, so I may actually have to go fabric shopping.  It's been fun to see how many quilts I can make from my stash.  Kind of like a contest with myself.  

Somehow (maybe through Pinterest?) I stumbled upon a site featuring the most amazing knits for dolls.  The designer is Norwegian and has recently published a book of many of her patterns.  I contacted them to see if it was available in English and was thrilled to find it was. The designer is Maalfrid Gausel and you can find many of her patterns on her website.  Yes, I ordered the book. :-)

Not much else has been going on, but we're gearing up for Thanksgiving.  We have family coming and it will be fun with visiting and of course, lots of food.  We have much to be thankful for! ♥

Coffee and Me

I didn't drink coffee until I was thirty-five years old.  I made coffee for others in the offices where I worked while I worked my way through college, and after Dan and I married, I made coffee for him every morning in the harvest gold coffee pot we got as a wedding present.  But I didn't drink any of it.  It always smelled wonderful, but taste?  Not so wonderful.  

Winter of 1985 I was hired to finish out the year for a teacher who was ill.  I had been subbing for a couple of years and had a good rapport with the principal and staff at the school, so I was thrilled.  That it was the school where Matt and Ann attended was a plus.  The class across the hall from my classroom was taught by a good friend of ours and every morning he'd come into my room and tell me coffee was ready and I would say I didn't drink it.  You guessed it, by the end of the year, I was drinking coffee.  It helped that he had an in with a salesman for a really good brand of coffee and used it in the pot in his room.  Cheap coffee it was not.

I did discover, however, that the addition of a flavored creamer really upped my love of the stuff.  The question now was, was it the coffee or the creamer?  Who knows, but I can't have one without the other unless it's a cup after a big dinner with some yummy dessert.  Then I drink it plain.  

When we moved to Moscow and I began teaching full time, I had a microwave in my classroom and would have to reheat my coffee numerous times during the day.  Since I would often leave my cup here and there in the room as I moved about with the kids, I would sometimes have to have an "alert" to find it.  Finally one of the kids would go look in the microwave and say, "It's in the microwave and it's cold again.  Would you like me to reheat it for you?"  That often happens here at home now, and then, when I finally find my cup in the microwave, I have to reheat it--again.  

My good pal Kathy had a recent blog post about finding a holiday carafe for sale on Etsy and that she had ordered it with good results as it arrived in like-new condition. The post caused me to wonder if she used it to keep her tea warm throughout the morning and then led me to ponder my usual scenario of repeated trips to the microwave as my morning progresses.  Apparently I'm consistent!  ♥

Front Porch

It's a gray day here at the Resort.  It started out foggy, now it's just gray, bleak even, and rain is forecast for this afternoon.  A good day to be indoors, with something warm and comforting to drink.  In my case, pumpkin spice coffee with salted caramel creamer.  Mmmm . . .  she said with a smile.  

But back to my post title.  I've put up pictures of our front porch decorated for fall before, but this year we have something new.  Years ago I made a wreath for the front door but I have been somewhat dissatisfied with it for a while.  We have friends who have a Christmas tree farm outside a neighboring town and they also have a corresponding Christmas shop in their barn.  The past couple of years they have added a fall festival and shop. I was perusing their website and noticed some gorgeous fall wreaths.  I had to have one!  And so I bought.  

I love, love, love it.  So beautiful and welcoming.  It's the perfect addition to our little front porch which was swept clean yesterday courtesy of my sweet husband.

Yes, that poor old scarecrow is still there.  He's tradition.  ♥