Progress

Please click to expand the view...

I forgot to post this in my last post...our daughter that lives in Missouri came the day after Christmas and we made two more sections...there are 5 sections in this photo...3 on top and two in bottom row.  I think there are 4 sections to each row.  I am not sure how long it actually takes to make the two sections because we do other stuff besides sew.  This is something she designed...she got the idea from a basket she saw.
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I think I got all the wrapping paper and gift bags put away today.  I had thought I was done with Christmas other than the nativity and Christmas stocking, and walked in and saw all of that stuff.  I didn't have the energy to do it when I first realized I had left it out.  And I am wondering what else I will find.  I always find something.

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How many of you make lists?  Some of the women I admire most make lists but I never have.  I always had one in my head...now my head is empty and does not retain my lists so I really need to start making physical lists.

Another thing...do you reward yourself for getting jobs done?  I was always one to do the things I liked the least, first, and the jobs I liked better were my reward.  Or maybe I would allow myself to read a few pages once I accomplished something.  Now, it is apt be I allow myself to visit a few blogs.  Or play Mah Jong Dimensions. 
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I am going to leave you with a video....I may have shown it sometime in the past, but it is funny any time I watch it.


I hope you enjoy it even half as much as I do.

Did you survive Christmas

I am sitting here watching Alone in the Wilderness....Documentary tells the story of Dick Proenneke who, in the late 1960s, built his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula ...I have seen part of it before but not all of it.

Anyway, our tree and what few decorations I have are put away except the nativity set and my Christmas stocking.

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When you really look, you can tell he is in high spirits.

This was just a few seconds before...he had the entire tree shaking and his paws were just a blur.  It is as if were a young cat again.  If it is not the tree it is something else.  And we are having warm weather and it is in an out, in and out.  Roger said, "What is wrong with him?'  I asked him didn't he know?  Bubbie was wanting us to come outside and sit with him.  They just love for us to come and sit outside with them...they are perfectly content.

Well, I have to stop till I can watch this show...

Wishing you a Merry Christmas...

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bubbie has been in fine form these past few days.  In case you cannot tell he was having a ball in the above photo.  Notice that his tail is just a blur.  He was seriously considering attacking the ornaments but we yelled at him before he could do any damage.    But I have not looked closely at the tree skirt.  I had made the mistake of straightening it out a little bit.  And he had tried to dive under it.  I wish I could get a video of him doing that.

I done it!

I could not wait any longer...I had been trying my best to wait till at least the day after Christmas but I just could not wait any longer.   I love puzzles of snow scenes best of all....it being Christmas is a bonus.

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Roger is feeling better...but still has not started wearing that hearing aid yet.  She said to wait at least 5 days.  So, when I talk to him, we have to turn the sound off the TV and I about have to about yell for him to hear...but as long as he is feeling good, I will take that.

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We saw this pair of Bald Eagles on Saturday on the way home from Walmart.  Maybe 100 yds from the road.  I was able to pull off thank goodness.  I post a couple more pics over on my other blog.  These were not far from Paris, Illinois.  Believe it or not, we saw another one about 6-8 miles east of these but there was no place to pull off the road.   I cannot believe how many we see.  We may go a month or two and only see one, or even none.  Then it is like we hit the jackpot...I cannot even think how many we have seen in the past month.    When I was a kid, I never expected to ever see one in real life.

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My current read is Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller.  I am really enjoying it.

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas...I  think I am...I think I was the latest I have ever been mailing Christmas cards.

A little sewing...

I got this fabric back in the summer to make Lorelei a new pillowcase.  But just this afternoon sat down and made it.  She loves turtles...

It felt so good to sew a little bit.  Just seems like I have had a hard time setting down to sew the past couple months.  I think part of it was having that quilt started.  I just wanted it done but did not feel like going in the basement to sew.

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I am sorry for the confusion about Roger's ear.  I should have said that the nurse practitioner did not see the dome...she did not think it was in his ear.  She says it is only an infection.  I hope she is right. 

Not quite a three dog night....

Instead a Two Cat Night....

Every so often, I have a night I can't sleep.   I cannot say that this was a sleepless night...I think I dozed a little bit over an hour...at one point I had been to bed and read a long while and tried to go to sleep in there but just could not settle down...then came in here and boy did both cats come to attention when I came in and picked up the quilt.  Soon as I got it spread out, here they came.

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Roger's ear was hurting this weekend, but he did not want to go to urgent care.  Then it snows Sunday/Monday and I did not want us out in that.  And when I asked how he felt, he just said he felt strange..and I did ask about his ear and that was his answer...and he has not mentioned it hurting again.  I should say that any time I asked how he feels, his standard answer is he feels strange.  I really am stupid, though...he has never mentioned an earache in all our married life.  So should have taken him whether he wanted to go or not.

But his hearing aid had been whistling so bad, he could not stand to wear it and he had lost the little  dome that goes on the tip of it.  So we went down to the hearing aid place to get it fixed this afternoon right after lunch. She looked at his ears first and said that he had an infection, and she was afraid that the dome was stuck in there.  I called our doctor and she was not in today, so he ended up going to Convenient Care.  We were down to Terre Haute before 2:00, and it was almost 4:00 before we got out of there.  It is just an infection...not that that isn't bad enough. 

I have waited since we got home to get notification that his meds are ready but have not received notice. I am to the point I am ready to go get my pjs on.  Roger always says he looks forward to when it is time to go to bed.  I look forward to taking off my shoes and putting on my pjs.

I just spread this out on the floor...too lazy to do anything better.  It is so, so strange.  All those blocks and still there are several sets of blocks close together with the some of the same fabrics in them.  I have no idea how many different fabrics are in these.  And most are from scrap bags I have bought.  Not all, but a big majority.  And some are from quilts my daughter has made

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I thought I would leave you with a little Jeannie

A finish

I have had this about 2/3's or 3/4's finished for over a month at least.  I had to set the sewing machine back to regular sewing and just had not gone back down and started.  This evening I had to do a load of laundry, and there it sat in a pile on my cutting table.  Since we have 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground, and I had shoveled the sidewalks...I thought I am not going anywhere, I am free to work.

I got the load of clothes going, and got the machine sat up, and by the time the clothes had been washed and through the dryer, the quilting was finished.  I had done decided to not even use a binding.  Instead I left enough of the backing to flip to the front and sew down.  but I am not showing you that.  I did not take my time, I did not try to do a good job.  I just wanted it finished.  And finished it is, and has been washed and dried.    I like it better now that it has been washed....but I still am not proud of it.

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The latest Simon's Cat video above...




The above was the video that got me hooked on Simon's Cat videos.  It is so Bubbie that it is not even funny.  And it is still one of the better videos though there are a few that are just as funny.

Hodgepodge

Last weekend, the kids took Lorelei to Indy to see some of the Christmas lights...this is her and one of her friends.  I know it does not show her very well, but you can tell she is all about being crazy.  Any time I try to take a picture of her, she makes crazy faces.  She is a happy child, and I pray she stays that way.

I get to pick her up from school in a bit...we have no real plans.  I need to see if I have all the ingredients for cookies cause we might make some.  I would love to have some peanut butter cookies.  I love chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies, but peanutbutter cookies might be my favorite.

Oh, and the Chocolate no bake cookies.  When Lorelei's mom was young, she had a friend that lived over on the next street.  A lot of times when they got together, they made the No Bake cookies...they might have to go from one house to the other to find all the ingredients, but they would find them.  I cannot have the the No bake cookies without I think of them...

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The other night when I posted pics of the orange, it had made me think about when I worked at the orchard.  There were two or three old ladies here in town that would call my boss and tell her they would really like to have some apples but had no way coming to get them.  She would ask me if I minded dropping some off to them as I came home.  As small as this town is, if they had lived on the complete opposite end of town, it would not have been much out of my way.  So, I always brought them.

It is funny, the difference in people.  The one lady that lives closest to me was well off enough to go to Florida in the winter.  She would barely step out of the door to get the apples and not have two words to say, would offer me a couple dollars for bringing them.  I did not really want anything, but you could tell she would have begrudged it if I had taken it.

Then there was Anna...she always wanted me to come in, always offered me a drink, and tried her best to pay me.  She hated that I wouldn't and finally after the third or four time, insisted that I take $5.  And she was not getting the apples for herself so much, as the nurses that came to take care of her husband who was housebound.  It was like walking into a room of sunshine to go visit her.  And she had a neighborhood cat that came to visit and he had six toes.

Then I had one lady that I only remember delivering to once or twice.  She was little bitty, and made me think of a chickadee or nuthatch, just flitting about.  Had such a bubbly personality.  And was old...I think at least in her 70's if not 80's.  For the life of me, I cannot remember what she had been in her life, but she is one person I would have loved to know better.  But what stuck with me is she told me she loved any fruit and ate ALL of it....the peelings and all.  Even oranges and bananas.  I will never forget that as long as I live.  But she said she shared the apples with the kids of the neighborhood.

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Did you see the moon night before last?  Isn't it gorgeous?  The Full Cold Moon...
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It is not long till I go get Lorelei...I need to see if Roger is going with me or staying here.  I need to remember to take my kindle to read if I want.  Well, I won't be taking it...the battery needs to be recharged...I am reading The Hunters of the Hills by Joseph A. Altsheler...an old book.  I have read several of his books and enjoyed them all.

Mixture....

Do you like oranges?  I think they were my mom's favorite fruit.  I think about the only time we ever got oranges or bought apples was at Christmas.  The apples were red delicious and to this day, if I see them my thought automatically turn to Christmas.  They are a beautiful apple, but not one that I care to eat.

I was not especially fond of eating oranges either, but we would roll an orange around with a lot of pressure....the cut a small hole at the top, and I don't know if my brothers did this, but I would also use the knife and stab around down in the pulp....then squeeze the juice directly into our mouth...delicious.
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Well, I got a wish today.  We went to Hardee's this morn and as we were walking in I told Roger I wish 'T' and 'C' would walk in....I sat down, and Roger waited for our food...about the time he sat down in came T and C ...so we sat and had a good visit.   Then another couple we sometimes visit with came in.

That second couple has been married 60+ years.  I cannot remember if they had been married as long as I have been alive, or a year or so shy of that.  I know it totally surprised me cause they do not look nor act that old.  But lots of days there is a whole big group that they visit with.  And they personally know each other...know all the same people--people we don't know so we go ahead and sit elsewhere...

And while we were all talking today, found out that T's nephew had drywalled the other couple's whole house.  They were bragging on what a good job he had done and had not told who, so T asked who done it and it was that nephew...

As I have said before, we live in a small town...at Hardees most days there weill be a group that sit and visit...some eat, some just have coffee.  some of the workers know what we want to eat without us having to tell them...LOL
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We had to run over to walmart as we left Hardees, and ran into Roger cousin and his wife there....so we were those people that stand and take up a whole aisle!  Though we did try to get out of the way,, and not really take up the whole place...and we were back in a back corner that does not have a lot of people come through.

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Every now and then I try to do some sketching with colored pencils.....I mean about once a year.  The above I got disgusted with and quit.  Others can just draw and sketch and paint so I get stuff and then I am then too afraid to even try but I really think a person has to try...sometimes over and over.   Maybe I should make that my New Year's resolution...to try daily weekly at least, or daily would be better.

I think I might be better off to cut and paste...LOL

Friday happenings and more

I got this in the mail yesterday...a good friend sent it to me...she is someone I met through blogging.    It is hard not to sit and read it all at once.  I sat right down and read yesterday's devotion when I got it, and then today read today's and they both were/are so fitting for how I have been feeling.  I searched for it on line and when January ends I am going to order it.  It is published bi-monthly and I think if I ordered it now, I bet I would still get this current issue.  At least that is what I have had happen with quilt magazines.
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Another friend showed her thumb on her blog...so I tried to take one of my thumb....it is my right thumb so had to take pic with left hand.  Not an easy task for me but I did get one good enough for you to see.   I did this at the end of August...that dark spot was down at the very base of the fingernail when it was first done.  It is taking its slow sweet time growing out.  My hand slipped off a wrench, and I hit this metal edge on the power washer.  It hurt....

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More not so great photos and video...the ones that I take are just taken with my little P&S camera. I am on one road and those buildings are over on the next road...at least half a mile away.  Maybe more.  And those geese are about midway between the farm buildings and me.  If  you expand the view, notice that big old red tractor! 

You might want to turn the sound off or way down on this video....



While the videos don't look so terrible on my computer, I don't know what happens to them when uploaded to youtube...they become even worse than they really are.  Still you can get a feel for how they were today.  This time they were over in some farm fields.
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I keep meaning to tell that my current read is

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck... it has been years and years since I read it though I have looked at it several times and thought about starting it again.  If I knew, I forgot that it is the first of a trilogy.  I don't know if I have read the others.  The second one is The Sons, and the third is A House Divided...and that title sounds so familiar but I honestly don't think I have read it.

I hope you have a good weekend....

Not so great image and video...

As usual we were headed to McDonald's this morn...a lot of morns we choose to go to one in a neighboring town...for a couple of reasons.  They remodeled ours and we neither one really like how it is now.  Not enough booths, and there is no color...everything is gray and black, except for a few light shades that are red.

But that is not the point of the story.  We always like to go to the neighboring town and watch for hawks on the way, and we occasionally go through the end of the strip pit area.  As we were about to pass the road into that area, I noticed all the geese in the area and quickly turned down the road.  And soon as I did, down the road I saw two Bald Eagles fly across the road  at a very low altitude.

So I spead down the way as fast as I could to get across from the snow geese and to look for the eagles.  I did spot one of the eagles all the way across the field in a tree beside the big strip pit.

When my camera is as zoomed in as close as it will go, I never get good quality photos, but at least you can see him.  When looking without zoom, unless you are really looking you would never have seen it.  That is how far away he was.  I could just see little white dot...I had to get the binoculars out to really see. Then try to find him with my little P&S.

All told today, we saw at least 6 eagles, and two more, but I really think one was one of the first two we seen cause I had focused on the one and did not see where the other went.  And then another one was where we later seen two more...so am assuming it stayed there a while.

Below is a short clip of the snow geese...I recommend turning your sound down  or off...the wind was horrible.



I could not hold the camera steady ....partly the wind.  Partly just me I guess.

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I do have my tree up, and the lights on but that is as far as I have got.  I am thinking we will decorate it tonight...

It is a pathetic tree...I bought it new last year, because it does not take up much room.  But you can see right through it.  But I am living with it again this year.  I hope I remember how much I hate it and next year soon as the trees come out, I want to go look for a new one.