Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year All!!!
May it be all you would like it to be.  A new start or a continuation of what we are all blessed with! I always feel like i am on the up- swing, days are getting longer and the whole year stretches out in front of me, to make of it what i will.  Some Winter, surely, BUT Spring is the next thing to come, then Summer and as sure as night follows day, Autumn and once again downward into the dark days of Winter. But for this day and night, it is the start, once again!
May God Bless and Keep You all!!!!
Peace Be With You......

Old Standbys

No matter how many toys u have!!!  This is what they REALLY like!
Another visit by Chloe and her Mom, and i have NO toys for young children....

RV cuteness

These were at the primitive store in Newburg, did not get any, but thought they were cute.  It is relatively rare that i see things that are RV themed.
Got xmas things all put away and it looks a little boring around here. Going for a walk with the dogs, that should perk everyone up, don't 'cha think???
Almost the new year.

Geez!!!

Went out today to leave for 'ladies lunch' and the Element would not start, deader than a doornail!!! And it just came to me that i left the cargo light on! Since Sunday when i came back home.  Now why if i could immediately think what was wrong?  could i not think of it right after i used it! AND turn it off when i was done??
Brian was supposed to hook up the charger while i took the pick-up, it started right up!! Got home, he was gone and had not hooked it up to the charger, SO i figured it out all by myself, it is about halfway there right now.  Just hook red to red, black to black. It just did not DO anything, i thought it would hum or something or a light go on somewhere that it was working, nope. BUT the charger needle did show that it was moving up and not staying at 0..so, assume that is a good, OK thing.
One more disaster averted :) (well i hope, have not tried to start the car yet)

Cutie!

 We had visitors today!!  Ridiculously, wonderful, special, happy, cutie patootie Chloe AnnMarie and her mom (my niece), grandma and great-grandma!! It was a really nice visit. She got toys BUT wanted the lights! Isn't that the way?  could have saved some money there...

Brian was worried about dropping her or her falling off his lap i guess. Kept a tight hold on her all the time. He also came in from outside and did a BIG Growl waving his arms and scared the bejesus out of her, the only time we heard a peep out of her...
She wears 9 mos clothes and they fit her lengthwise but are way too big around her and fall off!  Her butt is no bigger than your hand. Just a little thing.  She is walking but preferred mode of travel if crawling most of the time. AND she is getting hair!!
She is beyond sweet......
The holidays is good for getting special visits from all your favorite peeps!!!

Past Projects

Now i can show and tell past projects done, that i made for Xmas as they have all been sent and received.
This is a pillow case i made and below is a close up of one of the squares.  And you know my friend in Iowa i made this for made me a pillow out of the same type fabric, great minds think alike huh??  It was weird to open the gift and there was the fabric i used, HA!!!  So cute tho, will have to take  picture of it to show!

The close up..  hee-hee

This is her corn apron, felt that someone living in Iowa needed a corn apron, as boy howdy, do they ever have corn there! Got these fabrics and pattern at a quilt store in Prineville, that i really like, The Quilt Shack.

Then had to have another pretty leaf picture and hope this is not one i already put on here, taken in McMinneville, first part of December...
Keep warm All!!!

Merry Christmas from the Farm

 Got many beautifully wrapped packages. Visited with family and friends. Spent a cozy two nights in the RV, Everything worked wonderfully and was even able to produce a wonderful (so i am told) bunch of baked beans! Out of the RV!!!  Cut up apples and carrots for the horses. By the 3rd morning they were nickering their welcome to me when they saw me coming! :) I am sure i will be missed...

 Carl did NOT want to get out of bed.  The little booger. Son even lets him UNDER the covers, for heavens sake, one spoiled bulldog!

This was the view out the front door as the sun was beginning to set on Christmas Eve.
Heard coyote's howling in the middle of the night.  The wind came up and the RV was rocking, BUT not as bad as in Florida or Desert Hot Springs! Thanx be. And this morning it was actually balmy out there for a bit. Then turned cold again, think it is about 27 out there now or at last sighting.
All the festivities are about over.  The niece from California is coming in the next couple of days for a visit so will leave the tree up for a bit more. Like the lights in any case.
Oh, one of my brothers friends had to butcher one of the range cows, getting old i guess and they grind up the whole thing into hamburger, yumoooo, steaks and roasts in there, no additive of fat, actually by that age they are pretty lean. It is such good hamburger, no fat at all, have to add some evoo to the pan so it does not stick, got 20# in one # packages. Right place, right time , happy me.....
Take care all

Just catch-up

Had a doctor's appt today and only have 1.7# left to loose!!!  Exciting.  Also had appt with nutritionist to find out how to survive the 1st 6 weeks..... hmmmmm does not sound like much fun. Well one never said this was to be fun! Soo, looks like the operation will be the 1st part of January.  Wish me well
Had lunch with my lady friends today.  They had Pecan Pie!!!  I had spinach with chicken :)  Good chicken!
It keeps getting colder here.
Bonnie Bounder is moved up by my brother's house for ease in access to the bathroom (as can't use the facilities as all the water is blown out) and hook up to electricity.   For Christmas guests (me) So would assume it started ok. He took the flat tire in to get fixed.  I am leaving for there on Friday, there is no internet so will be absent for about 3 days....
Everyone have a Very Merry Christmas!!!! With friends/relatives and however you celebrate it.
Take Care and God Bless

Santa Claus

This little Santa was made by my mother for my son in 1972.  He treasures it and has kept it in remarkably good shape considering all the places and moves he has been in.
Don't know if u can enlarge to see it or not, BUT he has a plaid shirt with itsy bitsy buttons and button holes, and a green corduroy vest.  Green velveteen boots.  Suit is of red wool.  He has Christmas stamps in his pocket from 1980.  Bell on the tip of his hat. 
I remember her being so thrilled to have it completed.   She hated to stuff things. And he is a pretty solid little bugger.
We moved into the house and Brian came in the house one day from visiting his storage shed, stating "Here is my little dude!"  Santa has been waiting on the rocking chair for Xmas to be here and is a major part of our holiday celebration.
So here is to the little Dude!!!
Merry Christmas One and All!!!!

p.s. Had questions about Carl. He is still here, doing well. Stinky and hairy as always.  He was taken for a bath today, so looking good right now. Altho seems the hair comes out worse right after a bath, how is that?

Take Care & God Bless

Nice Bouquet!

Luci got a bath, washed the bedding and cleaned house. That was my day. Plus reading and blogging..... Dogs in and out.
Have a great week!
Merry Christmas all!!!

Sew Many Quilts

 We have a great fabric store in Bend, called Sew Many Quilts. LOTS of quilts hanging up on the walls, this section was Arista Manor by Moda. You could make so many things and have many, many options!

friend Deedee and i spent the day, going to antique stores and the fabric shop, Real Dealz, which was pretty much sold out of its xmas things!  Went for lunch, again... going to have to stop doing that, had too much bread!!! But had another salad.....

 I loved this quilt, the colors and machine quilting was wonderful!

I want to make some of these!  They are so cute.  And you would be able to see what was inside them with that clear part. There were also some cute little bags that had the metal tape measure, cut into pieces in the band of the opening that made a really neat closure.  Am going to take some classes they have every month for making table runners.  I only have two and they are both for xmas, so need some other seasonal ones. Spring, Summer, Fall, Easter. 4th of July, the list could go on and on.

Bluebird

Got this off an e-mail sent to me!  It said Merry Christmas my Ass!!!  Ha, ha.. thought he was just so cute and disgruntled... even looks mad, huh?  But a cute picture....

Sewing!

 Well, this is what i did today!  Made a baby fleece blanket. Two pieces 1 1/2 yards tied together. Sort of cutesy, but there it is.  My sweet niece (the youngest at 21) is preggars, due first part of May. It is a girl!!! Youngsters certainly do things differently than we did back in the 'old days' and we were far more advanced? than our parents, right? right? Yea for the 60's!!!!  Well, whatever.....  This was fun to do. BUT  when i laid it on the floor, (which i do to even up and cut the fringe before tying) Carl felt that was a good place to sit, sooo had to be shooing him out of the way, he soon got tired of me and seemed to understand i was not down there to play :)

Also made a pillow case using a new method to getting the layers together in like ONE step,it was fun.  Saw this on one of the blogs i follow and HAD to go get fabric and make one with the new system.  This is for a little girl and thought it turned out really cute. Also did french seams to finish it off.  Am getting better at those, first ones i made had edges sticking out and threads, now they are pretty much smooth :)
Just takes practice, what Mom always told me!
Am also working on another crochet baby blanket that is pink!

You know, idle hands are the devils workshop.......
Take care all, Stay warm!

Old Mill District

 This is today at the Old Mill dist in Bend.  Down by the Deschutes River.  there was a wind blowing and it was bitterly cold.
Went with my lady friends for lunch at a really cool Pasta place.  It was very good, but we had salads. Mine was spinach, roasted red peppers, artichoke, black olives, feta cheese with a vinaigrette dressing, yumo!



  

 The Canadians were there too :)
The place had a very festive door!  It was nice and warm in there! Had some Earl Grey tea too!

Here are friends Mary on the left, she was my supervisor at one point at ye ole' employment office.  someone used to call it the 'unenjoyment office'  HA!!!  On the right is Carol.  We used to live in the same trailer park.  I have been friends with these two since moving to Bend in 1978. Mary i knew of before that as had been working since 1972 but in a different office.  Sooooo....that IS a long time!!!!  We normally meet at least once a week someplace in Bend, sometimes in Redmond.
Take Care all, stay warm!!!

I Know!

I know, i know, more stupid fog pictures, but i DO really like them. just look at all the little pieces that have just frozen there. And the background all white with a touch of the red berry like things. Have pics of those too! Ha!
We are all overcast and cold and the heat is coming on like every five minutes, hmmmm.
Been beading. I make little crystal dangly things to hang from the rear view mirror and my niece wanted one.  While looking thru all the beads i have come across quite a few projects that i stuffed in the box at different times, on spending sprees, never completed them and now have no idea what my original intent was...hmmmm.
Diana Galbadon came out with a new book, "the Scottish Prisoner" and have been up late nites reading that.  Don't know if any of you read her, but let me tell you they are a great read.  this is not one of the 'normal' books which are normally over a 1000 pages long, She comes out with one about every two years. We have to wait forever for a new segment. This one goes back and elaborates on a specific period of time.  She has done this a number of times with novellas and shorter books, this one is only about 500 pages, so much shorter.  They are time travel/historical about Jamie from the 1700's and Claire from around 1990's.  The author is very detailed in descriptions of time and place.  You just know everything about the characters and the time she is in.  I DO love the books and being immersed in all their lives and time.
Have a good Monday everyone!

Another

This was also very pretty tree. Awfully femmie for some guys tho.
Yesterday  friend Carol and i went to see "The Descendants" with Geo Clooney.  Good show, but not funny as i thought it would be. Not funny at all. But beautiful, filmed in Hawaii with many long, sweeping shots of the wonders there.
Also went to lunch and did some finish up shopping, BUT discovered today i forgot some things, going to Trader Joe's!!! So have to go back to Bend. 
Overcast and cold today. Friend Tanya came for a visit today, was such a delight to see and talk with her. Wish i knew magic words to make things easier for her. Hopefully my continued friendship, thoughts and prayers will help.
Take Care all, take time to tell your loved ones that they are just that!

Xmas trees

Have to share these trees i found in a store in Newburg, Primitive 'something' can't remember the name of the store, but it is further east than west of town and has lots of crafty things and antiques in it, a fav store, BUT they had this PURPLE tree, it was amazingly not bad....   :)

Tree's Up!

 This is a cotton boll angel (is that the right word? boll?) that i got on Plantation Row by the Mississippi /river West of New Orleans, last year.  And a little ornament my mom made for me one year, counted cross stitch!

I always liked the bottom of the tree, used to get right under it, laying on my back and look up through the boughs :)  It is a little 4 ft fake tree, but suits my needs.... no room for a huge tree. and this is cheap, as i already had it!  It was fun getting out all the ornaments, have not had them out for two years.  Only have one more package coming from my computer on line shopping. So am doing pretty good.  House is clean, tree is up-bring on the good times!
Take Care and God Bless all, Have a Blessed' Christmas.

A Day That Will Live In Infamy!!

We have to remember our history or we are doomed to repeat it!
I had the privilege of being able to tour the "Arizona" memorial in 1987. It was a very humbling and rather religious experience.  We were the 1st group of the day onto it, there were not the overwhelming crowds, it was very quiet. There were Japanese tourist's with us. We all appeared to feel the same. It was very moving. From there we went to the Punchbowl Cemetery and Memorial.  It was a beautiful experience. Glad my son (17 at the time) and I were able to experience this together, in the calming, quiet atmosphere that it was.
Always to be remembered.
Take Care and God Bless all...........

FOG!!!

 Here is my car by the side of the road out of Amity, OR.  Had to stop for a little photo shoot.  Just LOVE the way the fog freezes on different plants, rocks, trees.  And you loose all the extraneous extra background 'stuff' and allows you to just focus on one thing.  Every where u look things are different, not normal, accentuated. It is a marvel!

 Also like the different shapes and sizes of trees.  How the different types have their own shape and size.. In the fog this becomes extra clear.  They aren't the, then they sort of just stand out, singly or in groups.  You are just driving along all by yourself, surrounded by cotton batting and all of a sudden something jumps out at you.

Some weeds just stand out and are now special, red berries abound.

 Even dead trees/stumps take on a life of their own and stand out.

 This is curly willow, would love to have one of these in my yard.  they just go crazy, all over the place. the fog outlines all the twists and turns.
Delayed my start this morning as news said it was slick and cars were off the road all over Portland and Salem areas, so that was enough to make me wait until later in the day, left about noon and pavement was dry at that point. No problems at all getting home.  Got past the Stayton area and sun came out and it was warmer and could see all the rest of the way over the mountain.
Take Care all, isn't nature beautiful tho?

Woodburn Outlet

We came, we shopped, we conquered!!!

Pine trees!! & friends

 The pines west of Sisters.  Love these trees! Someone, Forest Service? has done alot of work clearing the underbrush and thinning in some places.  You can see further than you have been able to for years and years.

Her is friend Janmarie and her main squeeze Patrick. She is always so good about letting me use her place as a place to 'operate' out of when i am over in the valley. It is a good thing as then i don't have to flip for a no tell motel :)
We had dinner at Red Lobster, i did really well until the little cheese biscuits, can't resist them, they were warm and soft and sooooo good  But NO desert, for lunch either, that has to count for something, right??  Anyway i hope so.  Have another weigh in on Tuesday and hope to be within striking distance of my goal.....

We had ALOT of fog last night on the way home from Beaverton in the dark, interesting. This morning fog again, but here in Mac it has burned off and sunny skies prevail!!!
Have a good day all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GREAT DAY!!

 This is what it looked like as i left Redmond, Just a gorgeous day. Cold, but clear and crisp just as i like it. There was about a foot of snow up top of the mountain, but the pavement was essentially bare.  Just spots of ice here and there in the shade where there had been water.

 Then i got to Salem and met my Cousin Paula. We have not seen each other in probably 30 years, it is a sad statement of fact. Met for lunch in Salem and had a GREAT time, chat, catching up, talking about everyone we knew. What we remembered of our grandparents.  It was a fun time.  I look forward to many such meetings in the future and not let life interfere any longer!!!!

 Went to my friend Janmarie's house in McMinneville and we went to visit friend Nora in the area around Washington Square (huge mall) glad i was NOT going there as there were many cars and it looked like NO parking spaces.  We had a good chat with Nora and husband Ben. She gave me yarn and needles to start learning to knit, so i have to do that, so i can make my own dishrags and scarfs:) She has been my crochet mentor/guru...

 The leaves were still in the process of falling on some of the trees in McMinneville and had to stop and try to get some good pics of them. Don't know -they did not turn out exactly like i thought they looked like, they were just beautiful, could not figure out the type tree they were,  had little prickly pods on them also...

Hope u all had a good day as i did.  Loved seeing old, dear friends.
Take Care and God Bless

A Roll

Boy, i have been on a roll!  Even did some sewing, that turned out!!! Cards all posted.  Got packages wrapped and boxes are ready for mailing. Finished two books.  No housework tho, that has sort of slid near the wayside and needs to be done in the not to distant future :)
Made plans and going to the valley tomorrow.  We have bright blue clear days with the mountains just sitting there in their new whiteness and jutting out into space. Been cold, cold, cold. So since weather is not coming in, it is time to get over there and visit with people i have not been able to see for some time. And there will be no adverse weather to deal with, if there was i just would not go.  Going over those mountains is treacherous at times, been there, had to do that and now i am of an age where it is just not worth it. Not fun or an adventure anymore.