Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Wee Hours of Christmas Morning



Earlier this evening Lucy and Emma were in the chair from which they could see any and all action taking place. They know Santa is on his way. So after watching a movie I came in to play on the computer and Carl is playing on his computer. After much hustle and bustle, last minute customers all that is left to do is make deviled eggs for tomorrow's dinner at Janet's. So I am feeling pleasantly relaxed and thinking of hot cocoa then off to bed. As I head off to the kitchen a check of the living room shows that Santa has been to visit while I have been playing on the computer. Merry Christmas and to all a Good Night!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Countdown to Christmas


Well, I finally quit stalling and put up the Christmas Tree tonight. So tomorrow I will have to get the borders on the customer quilt and get it in the machine to quilt so she will have it in time to give to her mother for Christmas. Every year I say "I'm not quilting after Thanksgiving unless it is something for me", and every year here I am last minute for someone else. Who says you get smarter with age.

I've finished a knitted scarf for my nephew, and have to get the pockets on the Reading Wrap I knitted for my sister and finish the scarf I am making for Kevin's ( the nephew) girlfriend. The only one I have nothing for is Richard he may end up with a gift card. I need another week - so what else is new.
The angel on top of the tree we purchased our second Christmas which was our first Christmas together in Long Beach, CA. Our first Christmas I was in D.C. working for Northwest Airlines while Carl was in Memphis going to A school and we were to poor for me to travel to Memphis to see him. I think in our 41 years of marriage we've only been apart 2 times which isn't bad for a military family. I'm hoping in the next couple of years Margaret and her family and Kyle will all be with us for Christmas. Well, I'm off to figure out borders for the customer quilt. Sweet dreams all.
Anita

Saturday, December 15, 2007

ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

Well, here it is the 15th of December already. Today will be spent quilting and tonight I play a dice game called bunco with a group of friends. Talked to my brother Tom who lives in the Oklahoma City area and they are doing okay. He tells me that ice storms are normal for them just not usually this bad. My sister Janet called this morning to let me know that her husband Richard is in the hospital with a possible pulmonary embolism and will probably be there the rest of the weekend. Also it seems "the boy" Kyle is sick with a bad cold. Haven't heard from the rest of the family so I am hoping they are all well and silence is healthy. So I am off to try and complete the troublesome quilt without cutting it into small pieces when it frustrates me. Hopefully a night spent partially quilted in the frame will stop the thread breaking problems. More later.

Anita

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Tree Lighting in Leavenworth, WA




Early yesterday morning we climbed out of a nice warm bed and caught the bus with several other people and headed for Leavenworth, WA to shop and see the Christmas Tree lighting. As we crossed the Tacoma Narrows new bridge headed east the sun was just coming up over Mt Rainier. I managed to capture a picture of this. Now anyone who knows me knows that I'm not fond of being out in the snow, crowds, or shoping (unless it involves material) and riding on a bus. So you may be wondering what I was thinking. I plead temporary insanity. Carl said he doesn't know what he was thinking when he agreed to go. If you enjoy these kinds of things you will have a good time in Leavenworth during tree lighting time. Now that I am home and warm once again I am looking forward to getting a quilt finished tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Rain, Rain Go Away

The excitement never ends around here. We have broken all records for rainfall. Saturday it snowed and Sunday the wind started with the rain. By Sunday morning when I went to the airport to pick up Carl the snow was melting away. Later Sunday evening the wind began to get stronger and durning the night we lost power twice. Monday morning when we got up the power was still off so we decided to go to the pancake house in Port Orchard for breakfast. We get to Port Orchard and the traffic is at a stand still and the road to the Pancake House is closed off. Seems there is a large sinkhole across the street from the Pancake House. So we decide to try Denny's in West Bremerton. Can't get off the freeway traffic is backed up onto the freeway. So we proceed on to Silverdale where we end up at Olive Garden having soup and salad. We leave there and go to Costco for gas and then on to my sister's house. We visit and watch t.v. until about 10pm and decide that we should try to make it home because Carl has jury duty at 9am this morning. So with bated breath we head home. Roads are clear except for one spot in Gorst where the water is still running quite strong across the highway. Thankfully when we arrived home the power was once again on. It is so nice to be home and to sleep in our own bed. How spoiled we have become.

Anita

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Under the Weather

Here it is almost the end of November already. My last week has been spent not doing all the things I had planned to get done, but being down with a sinus infection. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got some medicine so I can start getting better. In spite of that I did manage to cook a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and we had a good time. My sister and her family came to dinner with Kyle and I and after dinner while everyone else slept off dinner Janet and I managed to play a couple of games of scrabble.

After nap time we all played the Sequence board game guys against the girls and then we played a game Janet brought with her. We all had a good time and good food. (So I'm told - I couldn't smell or taste anything). Looking forward to Christmas when we get together at Janet's and I am feeling better. Then the guys had better look out in the game playing. Well, I'm off to the knitting group and then to help Janet pack up her booth at Winterfest. Talk to you later.

Anita

Monday, November 19, 2007

Customer Quilt


I finished one customer quilt last night. It came out quite nice using the Circle Lord Baptist Fan design on it. Today I have one to do for another customer that I will put blowing leaves on. It is all flannel. This time of year is great for quilts made of flannel or using polar fleece for a backing.
Tonight I think I will try making gingerbread cookies with a mix I bought. Never having made gingerbread cookies before it should be interesting. Time to get to work on the next quilt.
Anita

Saturday, November 17, 2007

THE TRUCK THAT WOULDN'T QUIT


Yesterday afternoon we loaded up all the trash so we could take it to the landfill before Carl takes off on his trip to NC tonight. Now I know that looking at the picture of the truck you probably think that we had mounds of trash. That is not the case. We purchased the truck to use for our upcoming move in the spring and it needs to be started and driven every now and then so it stays in top running condition. Being a diesel truck it has a mind of it's own. We load our 3 cans of trash and start merrily down the highway headed for the land fill. It's about a 15 mile drive and as usual we are out in quitting time traffic. We pull up on the scale at the landfill and since the truck is a 'little noisy' Carl reaches to turns it off so he can hear what the lady in the booth is saying. However, he turns the key and the truck keeps running. He looks at me with a preplexed look and says, " It won't turn off". After several tries, we decide that we'll both do the unloading in the building really fast since we can't turn the truck off, and beat feet out of there before anyone has a chance to notice we left the truck running, pouring out that lovely diesel smoke in the enclosed space. We looked like a fast forwarded t.v. commercial.On the drive home we discuss possible causes of our problem. Carl figures the ignitation switch is broken and will have to be replaced. We arrive home and I get out of the truck and go in the house figuring that Carl will get it stopped and be right in. He drives the truck down to the lower end of the property and unhooks the cables to both batteries. The truck is still running. So he unhooks the cable to the alternator - the truck continues to run. He comes up to the house and tells me, "You need to come down here while I try to stop this truck in case it decides to run over me you can call 911". By this time it is getting dark so I drive my truck down with lights on and face the 'diesel monster' so Carl has some light to cuss by. He calls the boy (Kyle) who works for Ford and askes him to talk to the service people and find out how to get the truck to quit running. The boy calls him back with suggestions, none of which work. The truck meanwhile keeps running perfuming the air with lovely smoke. Carl gets the phone book and calls a Diesel Mechanic whose answer was," with only a quarter of a tank of diesel it should quit running in a couple of days". So now we call the mechanic about a mile down the road who has done work on our Honda and he suggests crimping the fuel line. Carl gets the pliers and crimps the line and in seconds we have quiet. The monster truck is off. Turns out that once a diesel engine gets warmed up it is going to run no matter what. The rest of the evening was peaceful.
Anita

Thursday, November 15, 2007

BACK HOME

Arrived home safe and sound about 8:30 p.m. Took us 12 hours to drive from Burley, ID back home. Was a very nice trip until Snoqualmie Pass where we had lots of traffic and rain with wind gusts. How easy it is to forget about the rain and traffic when you aren't in it. The house was still standing, the cats were alive and well so Kyle did a good job. I don't think he will come to Idaho to cat sit once we are moved. (LOL) Well, since it has been a long day I'll say goodnight.

Anita

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Greetings from Idaho

Well, we arrived here in Burley yesterday early afternoon. The sun was shining and while a little chilly the weather was very nice. We looked at the piece of property we were interested in and decided to make an offer on it which we did this morning. Then this morning we went to the title company and closed on the piece of property we sold. We've been here often enough now that it feels like home. We are both looking forward to being moved and settled. So in the morning we will be heading home and hoping that we make it without weather troubles across the blue mountains in Oregon.

Once we get home I will be putting Carl on a plane for NC and I will be quilting custome quilts. The season has started for Christmas. Will add pictures once I get some quilts done.

Anita

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Quick Trip to Idaho


Early tomorrow morning we are leaving for Burley, Idaho to close on the sale of a piece of property and to look at another piece for possible purchase. It will be a quick trip so we should be back home by Thursday so Carl can catch a plane back to NC to help his oldest sister. Her husband just passed away this morning.


While I am home 'unsupervised' I plan to do some more packing of things and get some quilting done so I can put some quilts up for sale on ETSY. After the new year I am going to try and get a website up and running. It will definately be a work in progress. Well, I still have a few things to get done before we go in the morning. I will have the laptop with me so I'll will be checking in while I am gone. This is a picture of Miss Emma. She loves to sleep on every quilt she can get to.


Anita

Monday, November 5, 2007

CATS

Was up late finishing a quilt for a customer. Quilting is getting busier with Christmas upon us. Of course, both cats wanted to help put the binding on the quilt and they are always more than ready to help with the knitting. Emma and Lucy, her sister, are two kittens I rescued from taking a trip to the pound. Both wild when they arrived. Lucy was the first to decide I must not be to bad I always provide food. Once Emma saw Lucy soaking up the attention she decided to give it a try and over the last 5 years they have become firmly placed in the family. My husband is not a cat lover, (make that wasn't) but that doesn't faze Emma. She just demanded that she be noticed and slowly over time she has become Daddy's kitty. I'll try to get pictures of them that will post. Emma is black and white so she shows up. Lucy is all black with green eyes and so far the pictures of her would be hard to see if it wasn't for her eyes. She is camera shy.

Well, the chef (my better half) had fixed something to eat so I must go. Since he retired the end of April he has pretty much taken over the kitchen. Thank goodness he can cook.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Knit Alongs


I have joined two knit alongs on the web. One is with Classic Elite Yarns the other is an Anne of Green Gables. The Anne of Green Gables is more active than the CEY. We are reading or rereading the books as we create a knitted item. I am really enjoying reading the books again and as my project I am knitting a christmas gift for my sister. When I get it finished I will post a picture of it here. Please feel free to comment and share pictures of knitted items you are making for Christmas gifts if you wish to do so. I have finished a knitted scarf for my nephew Kevin. I have also purchased the dvd's for Anne of GG and have watched the first one. They follow the books very well and draw you into the story. Since this is my first post I will keep it simple and see how it goes.

Anita