Good Day, everyone!
                                    See that beautiful Crock Pot there?  That was one of my Christmas gifts from my better half!  I have two, one big and one small.  And the smaller of the two has seen better days---too many of them!  Lost the lid a long time ago, so I have to use a plate.  And plates don't usually have handles, sooooo.......

       Anyhow, I have a renewed interest in all the things I can do with this puppy!  Was looking up recipes this morning, and I see lots of yummy meals in our future....just what I need to loose weight, huh?  Ah...well.....

      So, I'm also getting a new mop today!  Yay, me!  Which is a good thing, you see, as yesterday I pulled a mostly-full gallon jug of apple juice out of the fridge, poured myself a glass and then fumbled the put-away process.  You guessed it---gravity took over and you just can't drop something that heavy from 2 feet off the floor and expect it to stay intact.  Apple juice SHOT everywhere....most of it SHOOTING under the fridge. 
     And you know, I didn't even get mad.  No frustration....no defeat....no anger....nothing.  I stared a moment at the devastation and headed for the mop.  Realizing I could NOT get it all up, I mopped until there was nothing more to mop, then returned to my ice cold glass of apple juice.

     And I consider that experience a measure of how satisfying it is to finish a quilt.  Not even a shattered gallon of apple juice all over your kitchen floor and a tsunami of apple juice gushing under your fridge can dampen the elation of finishing a quilt.

    Now I'm off to the store for a large size bottle of Mr. Clean......*sigh*

Good day, friends!

          It was a very blessed Christmas and here's hoping the New Year will be meaningful and blessed for everyone!

         I think it will be a quiet one for us.  Sister-in-Law must work....Brother-in-Law will wait at home for her.  Son Matt and Girlfriend Liz may be over for cards, but I always collapse like a deflated balloon on about 10 o'clock.  Everyone makes fun of me, but when my back hits that mattress, it's all worth it!

         We have found a buyer for the house, and we are hoping escrow closes mid-January.  Then it's off to Big Bear for us.  We were originally considering Idyllwild, but circumstances have us pointing our compass to Big Bear. 
         So....the tree is still us, and a few boxes still sit about waiting to be packed with a few Christmas things.  We still have papers to sign and some things to pack, but we hope to have all the boxes into the front room by the time escrow closes so we can get everything out the door as expediently as possible. 

          Well, this is what I worked on today.  I've had this quilt in the UFO pile for far too long.  I used to work on it back when I was working.  When I got off at the end of the day, I had to wait for my son to get through work, as we carpooled together.  So I took it to a local park, threw it over a picnic table under a shady tree, and did the tying.  It was amazing how many women approached me to see what I was doing.  Made a few nice friends this way!  Then life got in the way and I had to box it up for a while.

 But now, Southern California is experiencing a cold snap (if that's possible...*sigh*), so I thought now would be a nice time to finish it.  It's QUITE utilitarian...I tied it, and it has the wrap-to-front binding, stitched  down by machine.  It's about king size, so it will fit the top of our bed.  One UFO down...a few more to go. 

 

I call this my garden quilt.  The log cabin strips are all "ground and sky" colors, and the border is a gorgeous floral.....I think it was a Kaufman.  The back is a solid rust.  So the whole thing reminds me of everything great about a garden.

 

Went to see Lord of the Rings---The 5 Armies---yesterday.  Seemed like one, long battle.  They killed off Smaug too fast, also.  I am a BIG LOTR fan, but I don't think this one came up to the level of the others.  What do you all think?

Tomorrow, friends..................