The Year goes out!

You all know the old saying that March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion.  Apparently 2015 knows it as well or wants to be remembered forever!  Before Christmas there were tornados in the south of the US-while I am technically a southerner I live at the far northern reaches so it's too cold for them here.  Although what with global climate change one never knows!-Beginning on the 25th/26th torrents of rain have fallen on Missouri, some folks got 7 or 8 inches.  (Not here, Ann, we just got maybe an inch of rain and a couple of inches of sleet and snow mixed.)  That said every river, pond, lake and reservoir is flooding.  The eastern part of the state is seeing the worst flooding since 1993.  All along the highway to Columbia I saw standing water, water covering roads and parking lots.  That was before the really big rains came.  Many people have lost their homes, businesses, autos, etc, in fact everything, some are still being retrieved from rooftops!  Interstate 44 is flooded so much in places that the overpasses are threatened with water as well.  The Mississippi will flood next as all this water drains into it so the disaster has not ended.  Now add to that the fact that winter cold (High temperatures in the 20F when the norm is 40F) arrived.  Things are horrid for these people!  I haven't heard the number of people affected but it has been declared a disaster area.  There is a John Denver song (may he rest in peace! I still miss him) called Falling Leaves that is about refugees (you can listen to it on Youtube just search for John Denver Falling leaves there are several) and one line is "They could be you and me." This really hit home with me (before the flooding) in light of the 51+million displaced persons in the world today.  That number has gotten just a little bit higher this week.  US Refugees will have government help re-starting their lives, folks here will race to lend a hand, the Red Cross is likely there already, Churches will send food etc, quilts will be made and delivered, etc.  One of the best things about us is that we lend a hand in such emergencies.  It would be lovely if the same concern would apply to the homeless, the poor and refugees the world over, and that lack would be one of the worst things about us.  I find myself afraid. Not something I'd admit to often I can tell you and something that does not stop me from living life as I choose.  What am I afraid of?  The biggest is the horrid split in this country, which may soon be bigger and deeper than the Grand Canyon.  My Country is broken-I don't think we can be fixed.  That is my greatest fear, That we will turn on one another completely for only by pulling together can we hope to face the challenges of the future.

More SSCS!

I forgot yesterday that I needed to post a photo of the pressies I sent to Noela in Chookyblues SSCS!

So here they are!  A square table mat (or wall hanging-I did add a hanging tube) with a matching mug rug.  The ornament of hexes and a couple of extras:  a scissor fob-to keep those little snips from running off! and a Missouri pin from this past summer's traveling Quilt Along.  I also sent chocolate which I sincerely hope did not melt!

I think I might have to make one for myself, if I could find 25 little things I could use it as an Advent calendar, hum.

I'm still recovering from all the hoopla today, it doesn't help that sleep has been hard to come by for the past week!  I've been neglecting my shoulder exercises and that is causing me pain in the night-at least until I realize that I should get up and take a pain pill!  Maybe I'll go down to the studio and start the purge or maybe I'll just take a nap! Oh, and do those exercises!

SSCS and some Christmas

Finally the day arrived that I could open my package from Simone!  Inside I found this

Lovely table runner!  The photo doesn't do it justice but I tried several times and this was as good as it got!  The colors will be just right to put it in my bedroom on the chest of drawers.  I've been intending to make a runner for there-now I have this one!  Thank you Simone!

Christmas is a busy day!  I always make a blueberry coffeecake (actually blueberry buckle but we've always called it coffeecake) I think my children would complain if I didn't make it!  My big boy grandsons won't try it because they think it has coffee in it, I think that's very funny!  We also traditionally  have an sausage and egg casserole.  We eat brunch and open gifts at Beth's house-it's bigger and has three boys living there!  It's hard to drag them away from their toys so soon.  We had Scott, Bri and Ryan this year so we waited for them to drive up from Columbia to open gifts.  Then I came home to finish dinner.  This year we had our big Mexican feast which is a lot of work doing mostly small things, like chopping olives, that just take time.  Plus we had to set up the studio for eating and tote everything downstairs.  I don't know which is worse taking the studio down and replacing it or moving the living room furniture into the kitchen and the kitchen furniture into the living room-my house just isn't set up to feed 14 easily. (Or even 8 truth be told.)  My Dad and brother, Bobby, came as well as the children.  At 87 my Dad finds our noisy crew a bit much I think, but he loves getting to see the boys and Ryan made up with him.

Everyone went home and I went to bed!  Even Quinn was tired-she'd been with at least three other dogs all day running in and out and all about!  I was awake before she was and that doesn't happen often.

Today we celebrated Ryan's first birthday in Columbia.  He was actually born on Christmas, best present ever.

Tomorrow, I start "Un-time" and I have several things I want to do to be ready for 2016!

PS I consider the week between Christmas as "Un-time"  it doesn't feel like 2015 but isn't 2016 so it's Un-Time.

Solstice

According to multiple sites accessed by Google tomorrow is the Solstice.  Winter for me, summer for my friend Ann who lives in Australia.  A lot of folks are say that it's today-who knows?  Anyway, every year after the holidays I swear I'm going to have a party for the Solstice,  because I think it would be different and fun and because the special events that make up the holidays are really thinning out by now-everyone wants to get it in early.  I never manage to pull it off though, actually I never even try to pull it off!  (I'm always afraid that no one will come and I have precious few people to invite, sigh.  It's remarkably difficult to make friends these days.)  Regardless, I'm always grateful I never got around to it as this week is always packed with baking to be done-I don't even begin until this week-packages to wrap, projects to finish, etc.  I do have all the packages wrapped, all those that needed to be shipped have flown away and been delivered.  The Christmas cards have likely made their way to their destination.  The cookies are done but the breads can't be made before Wednesday at the EARLIEST.  While baking cookies I tried to put all my Christmas cds onto iTunes and then onto my iPhone so I'd have a Christmas play list.  I did FINALLY manage but it was a process rife with difficulties.  About half way through I found myself wishing for a good old stereo with a multiple cd player that I could just set on shuffle.  Sometimes technology is not my friend!

 I am cross-stitching my little fingers to the bone trying to get Kolby's stocking finished before Friday, but I can see it won't happen.  I'll have all the x's in but the backstitching and assembly won't be finished, sigh.  I do plan to keep on with it and hope to at least be able to pack it away with the others for next year.  (Then I will have three more to do but I have to go buy fabric before I can start Nora's.)

This little cutie was finished and shipped off to one of my favorite authors, Suzie O'Connell, as my version of a "Northstar Angel" along with some other goodies.  Suzie writes the Northstar romances (Mountain Angel) and I beta read for her.  I also NAG her daily to write on her new book.  Mostly, that's just fun and encouragement but I call it nagging.  It arrived in Montana last week and she loved it!  It's always a bit hard to send something to someone you know only a little (although we did meet in person last summer), always wondering if they'll like it or hate it!  Luckily, she has a little daughter so I was pretty sure this would be a hit!

Along with all the holiday comings and goings I've been going to physical therapy for the shoulder three times a week and I'm all finished with that!!  I'll still do the exercises at home for quite some time yet as I can't reach behind me yet, and have been told that that will be a while in coming.  I'm just glad that the painful soreness has relented!

Today, I took my two big boy grandsons to the National Toy and Miniature Museum.  All I can say is Oh, My God.  That place is amazing!  An entire floor dedicated to fine art miniatures in various sizes.  I was just blown away.  I'm still standing amazed at the blown and cut glass vases, glasses, bowls and such some done in the 1:48 (that's 1"to 48") scale and even the 1:12 (normal dollhouses) had some pieces so tiny you'd have to use tweezers to move them. One artist was quoted as saying it was "like trying to hold a gnat while you clipped its wings."  Brayden was really into them, Kolby not so much.  They did like the second floor, which was toys through the years.  The pedal cars especially.  I found it interesting that toys my children had were to be found in several cases.  All Steve's Star Wars toys from the first time around and the big wheel they all had to ride on!  Then there was my Betsy Wetsy and other dolls that I had.  I'll be going back as we ran out of "Good" before we ran out of museum!

Enough rambling, sleep calls and I have to make the bed first!

Santa's Sleigh has landed!

I decided this year to join Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap and have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his sleigh with my parcel!  So I was delighted to open my door after the postman came to see that it had arrived!  All the way from New South Wales, Australia and Simone Harding!
Inside I found these:

This package goes Under my tree until Christmas Day.

The ornament, which Simone says is made of Australian Wool (Whoot), is already hanging in a prominent place on my Christmas Tree!  I love it!

Thank you Simone!  

Sleighs!

I've been stitching along on Kolby's stocking.  I thought on Monday I was going to have to start over!  Every time I put in stitches I spent about double that time looking for the mistake, sigh.  Finally, I pulled a lot of the stitches out and began from that point.  (Only because the one place I can get the fabric for them is closed on Monday! Or I would have gone on and started over.)  Everything is moving along much smoother now, thank goodness!

I've also made some of these:

Funs little candy sleighs!  Some have already gone home, shoot some have probably already been eaten!  They are cute, even though the runners (aka candy canes) don't really want to stay on or in place.  The instructions I followed, sort of, said to use a glue gun but then they weren't for eating so instead I used double stick tape.  That worked well for everything except the candy canes.  Oh well, I had fun and everyone is enjoying their Christmas candy!

I've also been dressing a little bear that I've had around here forever.  She will soon be taking a trip to the mountains.  No photos yet, maybe when she's been received.