Peanutbutter cookie kind of day

Lorelei and I decided on peanutbutter cookies today...they may be my favorites.  Just soooo good.

I am trying to get up my nerve to make some yeast rolls again...it has been years since I made any.  There is a recipe I have that calls for 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and the rolls with the potatoes are so good.  I don't know what the potatoes do;  you certainly can not taste them in any way.  But the rolls are wonderful.

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It was up to 12ºF the last I checked...and temps in the high 50's are headed this way.  If 'they' are right.  That will be such a drastic change.  But I will enjoy it to the max.

I am making a shopping list.  It is amazing how much stuff I suddenly need.  LOL  It has actually been 4 or 5 days since I have been to Walmart.  We are usually there at least a couple times a week if not more.  Seems like there will be a medicine to pick up or something to go there for.  And I like to go and get all the bulky items at one time, then go back for regular shopping.  LOL

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I am currently reading Twenty Miles from a Match: Homesteading in Western Nevada by Sarah E. Olds.

I have been looking at this book for ages...I had checked the library and no luck there.  So, even though I have tons of books on my kindle, I went ahead and bought it.  I have really enjoyed reading it, but I probably won't read it again.  (I am crazy, I know, but I have certain books I re-read every so often.) 

A bit cold

Photo from early 2011

I know we did not get down as cold as some places did last night/this morn...but -9º F is cold enough for me.  And I saw at one point on my tablet that the low had been -10º....and so far the high that I have seen is 4 above.

Lorelei's school was cancelled for today and they just cancelled tomorrow...so we have her.  I told Roger all is right with my world.  I am pretty used to not seeing her through the week, but boy if I don't see her during the weekend, I am just so off-kilter.  And I know the day is coming when she will be busy and have her own life...but just not yet, please.
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My crazy cat begged and begged to go out last night but I would not let him...and he started in this morn.  So, up about noon, I let him out...he was back inside in less than five minutes and has not pestered me any more to go out.

I have always said that Simon's Cat could have been all about Bubbie...



So many of his actions are so Bubbie...

Good Will teacup

I was in the Good Will the other day and saw this.  I just immediately loved the set...even though I have been decluttering, for 99 cents I bought it.  I was thinking I would find a new home for them after I enjoyed them a bit.  And I still have someone in mind..  They were taped together,  a couple wraps each way.  I, in my stupidity thought it was to hold them together.  But I get them home and the tape comes off, and they are cemented together just like this.
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I have been looking through photos...running into photos that fill my memories.  The above is Sarah on the left edge and one of her childhood friends...that childhood friend is who received the quilt in the previous post..for her little boy.   And that little, tiny bike she is riding!  I don't remember where they came up with it but she and Sarah had a ball with it....they had Roger paint it silver. And they did other stuff to it, but I don't remember what.  I just remember their laughing and have a blast.

The two had a paper route together...one did one side of the street and the other girl , the other side.  It worked out good...they would do each other's route if need be, or some of us adults would if needed.  But they made the money!  They were both conscientious  and delivered the papers just how their customers wanted.  Most people just wanted it on their porch, but two or three had specific instructions.  I remember one lady wanted it on her porch and she kept a brick laying there and wanted it laid on the paper.  She would leave Sarah's pay under the brick, right on time.

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And these boys are grown now...I seldom see them, but they are still like sons to me.  There was a year or two that they about lived here during their waking hours.  There was another brother not pictured, a couple years younger.  They are cousins...Kenny in front, was in Iraq for at least one tour, maybe two, and the cousin that is not shown was over there a couple tours.

But Kenny started coming when he was 3-4 years old...he would come and open up the door to see if he could see anyone.  And if the girls were still at school, he would come in and sit and wait for them.  Sometimes falling asleep.

They were just good kids...played hard and ate good.  Not a bunch of bickering and fussing.  You know how some kids, you are ready to send home...I don't think I ever sent these home without it was because we had to leave.

I sometimes long for the old days....the girls had other friends their own age, but these here are the ones so very dear to my heart.  

At long last....

I finished quilting this the other day...a big, loose meander.  I put the final hand stitches in the binding last night after 1:00 a.m.  Maybe 1:30.

I am going to show a couple more shots before washing...

If not for  that block that has the sun in it, and then it is used as a cornerstone, this quilt would have been titled 'They Only Come Out at Night'....but I did not think of that before I put the sun in...and still consider naming it that.

I have not made a label for it and I know I should, but I so would like to just get it sent to the child it is for.

The two shots below are after washing and drying.  I had meant to measure to see how much it shrank but totally forgot.

It did not alter the looks of it all that much.

 It is sooooo soft and cuddly....is that how you spell cuddly?  You know what I mean I am sure.  The backing is flannel.

It has taken me long enough to get it done...but I am happy with the results....remember to click to expand the view.

From my oldest daughter...

My oldest daughter was traveling for work,  and had left Delta with Lorelei and her mom.  So she comes back to the Indianapolis airport, comes to Sarah's house.  And stays for the holiday...but she and Lorelei drive to St. Louis to check on her house.  She sent me this scene the next morning.  Delta is waiting for Lorelei to get up...I think she has adopted Lorelei as her own.  She always waits for Lorelei to get up when Lorelei visits them.

One day when Daughter was here we were down in the basement sewing, and we could hear Delta up here...just constantly pacing.  Could not rest with us down there.  Well, daugher went and picked up Lorelei from school and brought her here.  We did not hear another peep from Delta, and when we came up, Lorelei was sitting on the couch and Delta was laying below her, perfectly content.
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This is a project that my daughter is working on.   So simple but so beautiful, I think.

She works full time,  and I she seldom works just 40 hours, yet she still does so much more than me with her sewing.

Etc

I did start the quilting...I am doing a loose meandering quilting.  I chickened out on trying something  more complicated.  For different reasons, partly cause I felt like I could do the meandering successfully, and partly cause I knew it would be quicker. 

And I definitely did not want to quilt it too much.
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Lorelei came yesterday evening and spent last night and is spending the night tonight.

We made chocolate chip cookies tonight.  When Lorelei's mom makes cookies, they are uniform in size and shape.  Hers have always been that way.  Mine?  They have always been like this...each one a different size, different shape.  But they still taste wonderful!

From Thursday

Roger and I went to a nearby town for breakfast, and then went on a little drive...we were checking a fishing spot.  It is a place we almost always see a Great Blue Heron, but did not Thursday.  We have also seen an eagle there two or three times, but again, no luck this time.  However, I did spot this little 'guy.'

I don't think I have ever seen a snowman this tall.  Did I say tall?  I meant small!  I wonder if it was made by a child or an adult. What do you think?  I tend to think it was an adult.  Cause I think kids want to make BIG snowmen.  But maybe I am wrong.

I have had the above quilt top finished for a while now...it has one more border than is shown here.  I pinbasted it last week but have not been able to decide how to quilt it.  It is for a childhood friend of Sarah's.  For her little boy.   I have about come to the conclusion that just meandering is the safest thing for me to do.  Still not set in stone.

I made a small quilt sandwich this afternoon to practice on and to see if the machine needed any adjustments.

This is the back...I considered quilting like this but just not so sure.  I am afraid on the actual quilt it will draw the attention to the quilting rather than the cute kitties.

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When I was sitting up my sewing machine for quilting, I gave myself a scare.  I put on the free-motion foot, and proceeded to wind a couple bobbins of thread after I made my thread choice.  Well, I took the first one off and put it in, while the other one wound.  So, I started to drop the needle down to pull the bobbin thread up.  I was first using the button that will either drop the needle down in or pull it up...it wouldn't work.  So I reached for the flywheel and tried to turn it forward.  It would not turn!  My heart just dropped...then I happened to notice that I had not taken the bobbin off...there is a little 'bar' that you push in in order to fill a bobbin and it was still pushed in.  When I pulled it out back, the machine worked fine.
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I am getting ready to post more of these over at my other blog...I took them within the past week or so.  It is from the same place as the other photos I showed a bit back...I don't know if it is part of the same group or not...I tend to think it is.  This time there were only 4...last time there were 9...and they all have beards about this long.

A few little things...

The Michigan Murders: The True Stories of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror  
by Edward Keys is my current read.   I was lucky enough to get it on sale for 99 cents.  I don't want a steady diet of true crime books, but I do read a few along.
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We had dreary, drizzly day.  Not one bit of sunshine.  And according to the weatherman we won't have any sun for the next few days, plus we will have more snow.  The main roads are now clear, but the side roads still have slick spots.

I record a lot of music shows...one of our favorites is Songs from the Center.  It is only a half hour show, but it will have singer songwrites...most I have not heard of.  Tonight we heard the one below...



On the show it was just Thor Platter and his guitar:  I liked it better but have not found that version.  He wrote this song when he was younger, but he did not say how young he was when he wrote it.

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We are watching the first episode of the new season of Victoria....so I best get off here and concentrate!

Decisions...

Forgive me if I have posted this before...I am thinking about making a bunch of these for a sew along I joined.  Funny how I joined it, and thought maybe it would inspire me to get something done but now it is just one more thing to try to do.  But maybe with time I will be more into it.  There is another option that I think I will do...maybe...
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We happened to come across a Matchbox 20 concert on TV the other night and I heard this song. It is new to me...but we both really liked it.



I

A finished puzzle

I finished it at last!  I did better about not devoting every moment to it through the day.  I just would not let myself start that...still,  I spent a lot of hours on it.

That face!  Even though the entire puzzle is very appealing to me because it is sewing related, that face is what forced me to buy the puzzle.  It is a look that could have been taken straight from Bubbie.  There is a certain smugness, while at the same time a contented look.  He is almost always very pleased with life.

And Bubbie definitely likes to be right in the middle of what I am working on, though he did not bother this puzzle--a first in his 11½ years of life.  I have had this puzzle for at least a year, maybe a couple years and have not tried to work it because I did not think it would survive him.

As you can see it has 2000 pieces.  When finished it measured 27½ by 38½ inches.  If you are interesting in seeing the biggest view, Right Click on each photo then click to view in a new tab or new window.  This will give you a slightly bigger view

In progress

I have several things in progress...including this puzzle.  I had it started once before and something happened and I decided to just throw it back in the box.  I had some sections together but this is one of those puzzles that even though it interlocks good, it does not hole together to pick it up and move it about.  You know how some puzzles hold together so good you can pick up a pretty big portion to transport it to where it is supposed to be.  This is NOT one of those...some of the time it is hard to even move three pieces without one falling off. 

This is just one of the things I have going...it is the one getting the most attention when I have the time.  Though I have had it out several days, last night is first night I have spent a lot of time working on it.  Oh, I have sat here and there for a few minutes, but most days I have only worked half an hour or 45 minutes. 
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We got our little walk in today...for the 3rd day in a row.  I am not sure if we will get it done tomorrow and Tuesday but Roger is enjoying it.  I think it is helping him mentally.  As well as helping me. 

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Do you ever think about how easy you have it compared to your mom/dad?  Or just how much you have.  I would be embarrassed to tell you how many pairs of scissors I have in this house..or I should say we because Roger has a pair or two that are his for flytying, etc. 

When I grew up all my mom ever had was one pair of scissors, other than a pair that came with hair clippers.  I don't know how long she had had them when I came along...but she made almost all my clothes throughout school.  (I did make a few things when in high school.) 

I could not count the quilts whose pieces she has cut with those scissors.  She made pillowcases, she made curtains.  Anything she wanted, she made.  And I might add that it was made with a treadle sewing machine.

Another day done

I thought I would show you how the day ended...we have such beautiful sunsets.

Today I tried taking Roger to a local park that has a paved track, as in a track for running  track.  I think we both need the fresh air when we can get it...he enjoyed it.  He never wants to go to the woods and ramble any more.  I think because he is afraid of stumbling and falling.  That stroke did such a number on him.  I hope we can start doing this a few times a week.
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I got a cleaning job done today...one I had been putting off since getting back on my feet.  I won't go into details about what it was...just wanted to say it is amazing how much what your thoughts and fears can do to your abilities.  I was trying to climb up to stand on the side of the bathtub....now don't yell at me for doing that.  I did it all the time before to change a lightbult, to clean the top of the cabinet above the stool, etc.

But I was trying to be careful and just could not do it.  I don't even know what made me forget what to be careful, but I thought this is stupid, and I was up there without even thinking about it!  When I was thinking about being careful, it was like I had lead weights tied on and I could not step up there for love nor money.

Besides the cleaning, there was laundry.  When I die, I will leave at least one load of laundry waiting to be done!  

Things to make you smile...

1.  I thought I would share a few things I have been laughing about.  You can read some great comments from kids HERE....you have to scroll through some ads but it is well worth it.  It is actually tweets from dad about things his children have said.

2.  I love Jeanne...so here's another from her.



3. I showed the following to Lorelei....she totally got it...true comedy crosses over to all ages.  We still laugh every time we watch it.



4 and 5.    I cannot resist a couple Lorelei videos..





The videos of her are priceless for us.

A good day....

We always say any day we see an eagle is a good day.  Lately, it has gotten till any day we see turkeys is a good day, too.  I think the past year we see eagles more often than turnkeys.   Still, it isn't quite the thrill of seeing eagles, but it was fun.

There were nine of them, but five were on the far side of the field with too much corn stubble in front ot them to get a decent picture.

They were just a few flocks away from our house.

Did you notice they all have beards?