I Can't Think of a Title

Today's uninteresting news: 

Hubby met me at the grocery store after work. He is very helpful with looking for obscure things like pimentos. I never know where to find stuff like that. 

And the really great news is that the grocery store is now making Swedish Potato Bologna! I've been looking for it for several weeks and was slightly excited to find it tonight! This is something my mom has made every Christmas since forever. I like being able to buy it and have it for dinner for several months around this time of the year.

 

When we were done with the shopping, I checked the outside temp and decided it was just cold enough that we could go out for a quick supper and the food would be fine in the car while we ate. 

 

 That could be the only thing I like about living this far north.

Moose

Tonight before we left the Twin Cities we had a wonderful evening with some very good friends. You know, the kind of friends that when you part, you feel refreshed. These are rare friends indeed. I wish so much that they didn't live 2 1/2 hours away.

A few months ago when we were having dinner with them, I made a comment that it seemed like I had made a quilt for everyone I know. Our friend piped up and said I hadn't made one for him. Being the addicted-to-quilting-person I am, I immediately started thinking of what I could make. Since our friends' family name is Moose, I knew I had to find  some fabric with a moose on it.

First, here is the label I made for the quilt:

 The line of fabric is called Trails' End by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics.

 One of the fabrics in the line had these rows of moose and rows of bears. I cut the moose strips out and pieced it together for the backing. I love how it turned out!

 Our friend said she loved the colors and it went well with their house.

See the little moose and bears? It was so fun to find the perfect fabric for the Mooses.

I had it quilted with a leaf design which went just perfectly with the fabrics!

A Pinterest Housewarming

Tonight we visited my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in their new home. I hunted around on Pinterest for ideas and I put together a little housewarming gift-bag for them.(Here's the link to the post.)

On the card I wrote:

Bread so you'll never go hungry. 

Candles so you'll always have light through the darkest times. 

Honey so you'll always enjoy the sweetness of life. 

Olive Oil so you will be blessed with health and well-being. 

Salt so there will always be flavor and spice in your life. 

Wine (or Orangina since we aren't wine drinkers) so you will always have joy and never go thirsty.

If I was at home I would have scrounged around for a basket to put this all in, but instead bought a cute gift bag and some tissue paper. We had a lovely evening and had the honor of being their first dinner guests!

Holy Fabric Warehouse!

A few weeks ago I read in someone's blog (I can't remember whose blog it was) about a fabric warehouse in the Twin Cities. It looked interesting enough that I tucked away the information and thought I would try to find it the next time I was in the Cities.  

Hubby has meetings in the Cities this week and I tagged along.  

The warehouse is in the opposite corner of the Cities, but me and my GPS made it there just fine (with a little Travis Cottrell playing along the way).

This place is something like 30,000 square feet and has every conceivable type of fabric there: upholstery, decorator, knits, rayon, QUILTING COTTON, wool, etc. And also all sorts of trim, gallons of buttons, pieces of leather, batting. All the fabrics were 50% off!

I spent two and a half hours in there and my feet are yelling at me now. But it was fun! (Yes, I bought quilting fabric. Grin.)

The Tie Family Picture

Here's the promised photo of my family in our Uncle Russ Ties.

Can I just state the obvious thing here? I love this group of people so very much. I miss those kids whenever I'm not with them. It was so good to see them that day.

Only Six Days To Go

I have only six more days until my post-a-picture-every-day project is done. I kind of enjoy doing this every now and then on the blog. Makes me have to be a little creative.

I like to bring a quilt with me when we travel. This morning I forgot to fold it up and put in on my suitcase and when we came back to the room tonight this is what I found:

It made me laugh a little. (The pillows with the colored cases are ours. I just have to have my own pillow with me.)

Queen of the Cards

Hubby and I played some cards tonight. I've had the directions (along with a deck of cards) for "Kings Corner" and "Crazy 8s" in my purse for a while. (You just never know when you might want to play a card game...ha.)

We played four games of "Kings Corner" and I won THREE games. (I very rarely beat Hubby when we play games.)

Ha.

Binding

I unexpectedly got a quilt back from the quilter's today.  This is a quilt for some friends and since we hope to see them this weekend, I have been busy sewing the binding on.  If I would have had good matching thread, I would have sewn it all by machine, but since I don't, I'm turning it to the back and hand stitching it down with the closest matching thread I have.  At least I get to catch up on the DVRed shows I have recorded. I have about 36" and the label to go. More pictures in a few days. 

One More Apple Post

This will be the last picture of apple related stuff. I promise.

Today I made the first apple pie I've ever made.

It got a thumbs up from dear Hubby. :)

More on Applesauce

I tackled the applesauce today. Last year I broke down and shelled out the $25 or so and bought one of those apple peeler/corer/slicer thingies. After I used it once, I questioned why I had avoided buying one for so many years. It works well and cuts the time that I spend peeling and coring and cutting up apples significantly.

Plus! It's red! If I have the option of buying anything for the kitchen in red I go for it!

I just had to take a picture of the pile of the peels.

 

I used all sorts of types of apples. I love all the flavors that come through in the applesauce.

I over filled my 7 quart slow cooker with the apple slices, added some lemon zest, lemon juice and a couple of cinnamon sticks. No water. No sugar.

This cooked down to about half this volume. I set the slow cooker on low for about four hours. 

Then I totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I scooped it up into containers for the freezer.

(...and Kathy...aka Nana...it is really easy to make!)

Let's Make Applesauce!

I have this giant pile of apples that will become applesauce tomorrow.

  Our daughter and son-in-law gave us a bunch of apples a couple of weeks ago and today I bought

 a bunch of different varieties. I love the flavor that many kinds of apples give the applesauce.

Whew!

We are home from a pretty whirlwind weekend.

Friday night we saw Bill Cosby in Ames, Iowa. I have always wanted to see him in person and I was not disappointed! That guy is so funny and has clean humor.

My mom and dad were supposed to be the ones who were sitting in our seats, but since Mom's stroke, they were not able to go. Through out the whole show I kept thinking, "Oh, Dad would have thought that was funny! Mom would have laughed so hard at that!" 

It was bittersweet to be there. I am thankful for Dad sharing his tickets with us.

When the show was over at 9:30, we zoomed out to the car (well, as fast as one can zoom with thousands of other people heading the same direction), hopped in and started driving to Kansas City. We arrived at the hotel at 1am.

After a not long enough night's sleep, we were up and dressing to attend the memorial service of my husband's uncle in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a very good service remembering Uncle Russ. It was sweet to see so many family members. A cousin of Hubby's flew from North Carolina, another from Mexico and many drove in. I even got to meet a second cousin that I had only heard about over the years. And as a mom, I was happy to see my kids. They all came to the service and it was so good to see them and hug them.

Then, just to add to the craziness of the weekend, we drove back to Des Moines, Iowa Saturday night arriving at the hotel there at 11:30pm. So not near as late as Friday night, but still.

I think sometimes we forget that we aren't 25 years old any more...

Sunday morning, Hubby was up and at 'em and ready to run 13.1 miles. He ran a half-marathon! He did a great job. He got a better time than he was aiming for, so he was happy. I got up with him so I could collect his jacket and long pants before the race started.

So. Whew! I'm worn out for sure!

My oh-so-exciting picture was taken on the interstate.

I suppose I've seen these trucks with this sign many, many times, but it struck me as kinda funny. I mean, I have never considered following one of these trucks for very long, let alone into a "work area." Are there really some who have followed the truck into the work area and thus the need for the sign?

I don't know. Maybe it was just funny because I was in the car far too long.

In Remembrance

Today Hubby and I attended the memorial service of Hubby's uncle.  You know, after being a part of Hubby's family for thirty years, his uncle feels like my uncle, so I call him "our" Uncle Russ.

Uncle Russ was a man of integrity, a man of strong faith and a man with the best smile and laugh. I will very much miss his laugh and the joking he and I would get into. Very much.

Uncle Russ always dressed spiffy for church. He was 92 years old so the neck-tie collection was quite extensive. The photo below was one of probably 6 or 8 windows that his family hung the ties on. Plus the extended family of something like 50 people each wore one of his ties. (I have picture of all of my family sporting our Uncle Russ Ties. It's on Hubby's camera and I'll get it posted later this week.)

Hoping That Comedy is Good Medicine

We are waiting to see Mr. Bill Cosby in that seat! I've always wanted to see him. I will add that it's a little bittersweet to be here. The tickets were my parents', and my dad graciously offered them to us since my mom can't go.

I am planning on some good laughs tonight.

Photo Books

Yesterday the mailman brought the photo books I put together through Shutterfly.

These three books represent many hours in front of my computer. Each book has six months worth of photos in them. I only have three more to go -- plus an additional one for the cruise we went on last March. (I'm about half-way through that one) 

I am pretty happy with how these turned out. 

I'm not very happy with the typos that neither the editor (me) nor the co-editor (Hubby) caught. 

Bummer.

An Oldie But Goodie

I had a really quiet day and didn't do anything photo worthy.

So...

I think I might have posted this picture before, but I don't remember.

This is my mother-in-law with her father. She is about sixteen months old in this photo. He was a traveling evangelist. He died when my mother-in-law was only about two and a half. She's now 84 years old. That makes this photo over 80 years old. Wow.

Anyway...just felt like digging up an old photo. This is one of my favorites for sure.

Cooking

I've been making extra food and freezing it in single serving containers.  

Why?

It's my little way of trying to help my dad. He spends all day with my mom, being her cheerleader, supporter and just loving her. I thought that if he had simple foods at home in the freezer to reheat and not have to spend a lot of time cooking, then maybe it would help alleviate some stress.

 So far there is Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Tomato Soup, a chicken/rice/cheese/broccoli casserole and some applesauce. More is coming, Dad!

I Only Looked

Remember this post when I wrote about my slight obsession with buying quilt magazines? And how I spent several hours sorting through all the quilting magazines I had?

I was in a store and saw quite a large display of quilting magazines. I stopped and looked in wonder at the number of them. Then I walked away without even picking up a single issue!

 

I was very proud of myself. (I know. It doesn't take much.)

I Love You in Sign Language

 

I know this isn't a very good picture. We'll just establish that I am no good at "selfies" whether it's of my face, or whether it's of my left hand. I think you have to be of a certain age to be good at taking a picture of yourself and I am waaayyy beyond that age. ha.

Friday afternoon Hubby and I took off for Iowa to spend the weekend with my mom and dad. It had been two weeks since I last saw my mom. (Six weeks ago, Mom had a stroke that took away her speech and her mobility on her right side.)

Mom has been on a rehabilitation floor of the hospital for about three weeks.  I was very amazed at the change I saw in my mom. 

Today I saw her physical therapy session and saw her sitting up unassisted and she seemed pretty steady. I remembered back about 4-5 weeks when she first tried sitting on the edge of the bed for five minutes and would keep leaning over and was very unsteady.

Overall she seems much more alert. She tries to say something, but mostly vowel sounds come out and we don't understand what she is saying. Frustrating to her and to us. 

She gives big smiles when family comes in and it's not totally lopsided. She's learning to nod her head "yes". She's good at shaking her head "no". 

She is feeding herself and doing a really good job. She doesn't want any help and is clear about that. (Her stubborn streak is showing through. Grin.)

My sister and brother-in-law visited Saturday. And a sweet, wonderful bonus was a visit from my daughter and son-in-law. My mom was pretty excited about seeing her youngest granddaughter. She would hug Megan and then motion with her finger for Zach to come over to get a hug. Pretty cute to see that!

This afternoon I tried to teach her how to say "I love you" in sign language. She really caught on! I think Dad is going to work with her on that every day. She held her hand up with all the fingers in the correct position and held it out to my dad. So sweet! 

I didn't think about taking a picture of that accomplishment (phooey), thus the awkward picture above.

I had a hard time telling her good-bye this afternoon. But as I was signing "I love you" to her and saying it to her, she looked at me and I knew that facial expression. It was most definitely, "I love you, too, Honey". Made me cry and made me happy all at the same time.

It was a good weekend visit. It was good to talk with my dad in the evenings at their house. If my readers out there think of us, please pray for strength for my dad. He works so hard to be a support to my mom all day long it wears him out. I admire his dedication very much.

Tomorrow Mom moves out of the hospital to a skilled care home. It's in the same community so she and my dad will still have their support system around them. I'm thankful for that. Mom will get even more intense physical, speech and occupational therapy there.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and specifically for my mom and dad.

Friends

This sweet lady talking to my mom has been her friend for many decades.  This friend was with my mom (and my dad) when Mom had the stroke six weeks ago. She followed my dad (who was following the ambulance) to the hospital and made phone calls along the way. She comes to visit my mom in the hospital several times a week and always with a very cheerful smile. 

I will write more tomorrow night about how my mom is doing.  I will say that it has been so good to see her. And get a smile and a hug.

In The Midwest

Hubby and I are going to spend the weekend with my parents.  It's been a couple of weeks since I've seen my mom and I'm looking forward to seeing what she's learned in therapy.

These giant windmills are a typical sight along the way. They're a little eerie at night when all that is visible is a red light blinking.

Volunteer

Last night Hubby volunteered to make supper for tonight.

 

 

He made waffles and sausage (and made the syrup). It was all very, very yummy! And such a treat to not have to think of something to fix for supper.

I'm blessed.

This Week's Project

I guess it's a good thing that I have a pretty extensive fabric stash because when I want to start a new quilt, the fabric is already there.

Here's what I've put together this week:::

I used a Jelly Roll (a pre-cut roll of 42 fabric strips that are 2.5" by 44") and followed directions from this blog post I found when hunting around Pinterest. It went together very quickly.

Right now it's about 56" square. My next step is to try to figure out what to do for a border. I'd like for it to be a little bigger.

The little strip on the left is a left-over piece. I'm trying to figure out if I like that look as part of a border. I have some black fabric and some tan fabric that "reads" more solid I'm planning on using for one of the borders.

As I look at this I like the idea of a black border, then the pieced border and then the black for the binding. Any opinions from my readers?

Hooray!

I just signed myself up for the Scripture Memory Team celebration in January!

I've been working hard on memorizing Bible verses this year. Two a month. (Technically more than that, because sometimes there have been two or three verses at a time.) I only have FIVE more to go!

I never would have believed that I could memorize that many verses. I believe the Holy Spirit put it in my heart last December to give it a try. I chose to focus most of the verses around fear and God's love for me. I can't even begin to say how many times I have resorted to those verses in these last ten months.  I've shared the verses with friends and family. I've flipped through my spiral note card-book when I needed to focus on God's word. Let me tell you, He speaks!

Houston, Texas here I come! (And if the weather is super nice there in January, I just may not come back to the Frozen Tundra of the North.)

The Wind Won

About ten days ago a very strong wind slammed the car door onto my ankle before I could get my foot inside the car.

Yes, it hurt.

I checked for blood and seeing none, started on my hour and a half drive.  When I got to my destination,  I looked and saw a huge bump. Thankfully it hasn't hurt to walk. I just have this fantastic bruise.

Obviously, it's blog-worthy. ha.

For some reason the angle makes my ankle look swollen. It's not.

Backyard

The view from our backyard. Quite cold and blustery today. 

A sign of the months ahead, I'm afraid.

Majesty.

This photo is from a couple of summers ago. Hubby took it from our backyard. I came across it in my process of organizing our photos into books.

Enjoy the Majesty.

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies
Psalm 36:5

Target

Our Friday night date.  Well, this and dinner out.  So pretty much a perfect night. Grin.

Picture Overload

Early in the summer I told Hubby I was tired of quilting (gasp!) and would spend my time organizing our digital photos into albums.

After I made two more quilts 

(What can I say? I guess I'm not all that tired of quilting...and I have another one planned out in my head) 

Anyway...

I finally got around to working on the photo albums. 

Since digital cameras joined our house, we have to have another way to have our photos organized. Up to this point in our 29 year marriage, Hubby has done a great job of getting the photos labeled and into albums. 

We have used Shutterfly for making albums of each of our kids' wedding and a couple of other times and have always been happy with the results.

I have one album finished (waiting for Hubby to look it over before I order it) and am working on the second album. I decided to put six months worth of photos in each book. One complete, only five more to go. Sigh.

 

One of My Favorites

A Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Honeycrisp Apple, and Tomato Soup

One of my favorite quick meals for when the weather gets cooler.

Let's Do a Month of Photos

Here it is October and I haven't had a single month so far this year that I have posted a photo every day for a month like I have in the past.  Since I actually thought of this on the first day of the month, I think I will start this today!

Today's photo is not one I actually took today, but I can make up any rules I want for this Post a Photo Every Day This Month Quest. Because this being my blog and all, you know.

These are photos of a flannel quilt I made for my son-in-law's birthday.  It's measures 56x72.

This was a kit that I bought last spring. I had never made a quilt with flannel before. This flannel was thinner than flannel I have bought in the past to make nightgowns, or shirts.
 

I had left over fabric, so I made a smaller star block for the back. I love how it turned out!

 As usual, I sent the quilt to the Missouri Star Quilt Company for the quilting. (Sandwiching a quilt and then trying to quilt it with my machine is not my favorite.) I was not sure about the square design I chose for the quilting, but it turns out that I really love it! It works for the star design and it works that this quilt is for a man.

I try to make the label blend into the backing. I think I made this one blend in a little bit too well. Oh well, lesson learned.

After I washed it, this quilt felt so very soft. Loved it! I hope my son-in-law enjoys it this winter (and many to come.)