Hibernating

With this unwelcome winter weather here already I have a very STRONG desire to hibernate.  Luckily for me I can "hibernate" in the basement office.  It's "sunny" all the time and I can't see a snowflake anywhere.  (It has almost everything I need.  (Junk) Food in the closet, drinks in the refrigerator, movies and music on the computer, and a bathroom not too far away.)  I started my "hibernation" yesterday after waking up to snow.  I did go to bed with snow on the ground but I thought, hoped, wished, it might have disappeared in the night.  No such luck.  I was in a foul mood which helped the hibernating desire.  I decided to spend all day in the office.  That was pretty much the case.  And in so doing I sewed two rag quilts!  They both have to be clipped but the long part is done.  They don't have a loving home yet but soon will when I donate them.



Today the sun was out so Kade and I ran a few errands so I could stay in the rest of the week in case the sun doesn't show itself again.  This afternoon I decided to work on some projects that I'd already started just so I could say they're done.  The project I just finished is my Christmas cards!  Let me rephrase that so no one gets mad at me.  I finished the outside.  Mickey still has to take the family picture and I have to write the little blurb that goes inside.  I started the cards last month at a crop with my friends.  I didn't want to print pictures so that's what I decided to work on.  I also knew I would be terribly busy most of November and December.  Who isn't?  In case anyone is curious here's a picture of the supplies I used to make my cards.  I will post the finished product in December.  There are two variations of the card if you're wondering.







I just want to thank my friends Becca, Vicky, and Tricia for all their support while getting the card started.  And talking/forcing me to use glitter glue.  I couldn't have done it without you and the card wouldn't have looked as good either.



Last month I finished the cable jacket I was knitting.  Soon I will get a picture of it.  I've worn it a few times.  It's very cozy and keeps me toasty warm.  Now I have a stack of cable squares to sew together.  But I have a line of bags waiting to be sewn too.  There's too much for me to do.  Maybe I'll spend the entire winter in the office.

So Exciting!

I just filled up the van for $24.77!  That's amazing.  (Gas was $1.86!)  Not long ago I had to pay at least $45.  Whoever's controlling the oil prices, keep it up.  I mean keep it low.  Now if we could just get the dairy farmers to drop the price of milk that would be great.

Lily's Quilt

Last Monday my friend Janel had a baby girl named Lily.  I just had to make something for her.  I decided on a rag quilt.  Since I knew she was coming I started shopping for the quilt a while ago.  I found two cute print flannels and kept searching for a third print or solid to go with them.  I found a solid.  When I was cutting the blocks out I noticed the print flannels weren't actually 44" like most are.  They were barely 42" which means I couldn't get enough blocks out of what I bought.  I went back to JoAnn for more.  They only had a little of one of the prints left.  So I started looking for a fourth fabric to go with the others.  I bought one but didn't love it.  I cut out all the blocks and started pinning it together.  I HATED it!  (It was either too pink or I didn't like the way the fabrics worked or didn't work together.)  I couldn't give this to my friend's baby!  So I went back to JoAnn, thankfully the flannel was on sale, and bought something totally different.  I loved what I bought and I LOVED the way it went together.  Here's the end result:











I hope to get a picture of Lily laying on the blanket, someday.



Don't think that I'm going to waste the other flannel.  The Relief Society, the woman's organization in our church, has asked us to do some service for our community this year and report about it at a dinner.  I will make the rag quilt and donate it.  I'm also working with a few sewing group friends to make afghans to donate to Real Services.  As a family we are also going to adopt one or two elderly people and help them have a better Christmas than they would.  Should be fun.

Hardy Roses

Last week as I was leaving and/or coming home I noticed a lot of color on a rose bush.  I had to go take a look. This is what it looked like:  four open roses and at least two buds. Here it was the first week of November, we had already had frosts in the night, and we had our first snow.  This rose bush looked better than it had in the summer.  Go figure.

Last Soccer Games

Yes, I'm behind again.  Two Saturdays ago the girls had their last soccer game.  They both played hard, well one of them did, but both had a good game. We also had wonderful weather for the last day thanks to a little Indian summer.



Meg's game was first.  She played goalie a lot.  The coach even took out his own daughter to put Meg in.  She's good.  The last game is when the players get their medals and patches.  The coach forgot.  Supposedly they are in the mail.  Here's a few good shots of Meg's game and a team photo.  She is really into it.  Just look at her face.  Reminds me of someone else when they used to play.

Mat's game was right after Meg's and on the next field.  We loved it when it worked out like that.  Mattey wasn't as motivated as in other games.  She played but was more willing to sit and cheer.  Mat got to play goalie.  That's when she's wearing the big gloves.  Mattey did get her medal and patch.  She was happy about that.