Almost Spring, Creation Station, Flame, Rain & Other Updates

Well sometimes life just keeps marching on and before you know it a new month is at hand and tomorrow is February, can you believe it?

While I've been puttering around here in my craft room, my mind rambles hither and yon, and a good name finally hit me for my room.  It's the area where I create and is really my 'hub' where I do my thinking, I pray & study, and where I just do most things aside from cooking and housework.  This room is now going to be known as my Creation Station. 

Marty starts a new job on the 8th. I'm praying it goes well.  His unemployment of one month, is far better than the nine months we faced in 2013/14.  The CT scan he needed after a suspicious xray came back fine with nothing showing.  We praise God for that.

Another friend lost his sister to cancer this week.  She was the sister-in-law of the young lady I taught to quilt a couple years ago.  She had gone to Thailand and became too ill to return to the states, so he traveled there for a final visit just a few weeks ago.  I pray the Lord comforts their family.

Ornamental Pear

This week with its 80+ temperatures, revealed spring is on its way.  The neighbor has an ornamental pear that hangs over our fence and I noticed the leaves are beginning to show.

Ornamental pear and a house across the 'valley'.

It'll be blossoming before we know it.  The blossoms don't last long, and then they blow off and look a bit like fluffy snowflakes falling.  These two pictures were just taken yesterday.

Open it Flame.

This young lady was hanging out with me here in my Creation Station.  I had the door mostly closed so that the heat would stay in.  She decided it was time to leave but I didn't open the door for her.  It had just the tiniest of gaps - less than shown in the photo - so she worked on opening it.

I think I did it.

She finally pushed it open with her paw and her nose...

...and said good-bye.

Rain on my window.

A storm began blowing in last night, and this is how it was looking this morning.  Rivulets of water streaming down the Creation Station window.  Notice that same pear tree there on the left?

Bright sun, blowing wind, pelting rain.

Awhile later the sun was attempting to peak through a thin section of the clouds.  It was, at the same time still blowing very strongly and the rain was pelting the window.  That gap hung around for about 20 minutes and I had to close the blinds as it was just too bright in the room.  As I look out now, the sky is blue, fading as the sun is setting with a bank of clouds off over the hills that have a crown of pretty pink-orange on them.  Too low, and not enough for a good picture...and already gone.

Tomorrow, I'll be headed off to Costco for a few things and then meeting up for lunch with my friend Panda, hopefully also finding out when she and her other friend want to get together so that we can start on Allietare. 

Merry Christmas

Wishing my readers a wonderful, blessed and safe Christmas.

We're pretty low-key here.

This is all the further any of us got on decorating that tree.  A shame too as it really is a nicely shaped tree.  Those red bows & streamers usually hang from the upstairs railing.  Marty finally went out on Wednesday, to find the lights and he and Nick put them on.  

Marty was up first.  That's normal.  He made the coffee and then puttered around on his computer.

Having stayed up until past midnight watching a Lifetime channel movie, I was up later.  I dawdled around and eventually fixed breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hashbrown patties.

Nick woke up in time for breakfast, still in just his bathrobe as I started to type but is now in the shower.  After breakfast we finally got around to unwrapping presents.  The kitties got theirs first.  They were really into the whole Christmas present thing, and curious as to what was going on.

That mouse is the same color as you Flame!

I'm sure I can fit into this box-lid....um, sure Raven, aka "Chubs"

After opening the presents, I mentioned it would be nice to re-watch some of our church's Christmas concert [www.gracechurch.org/concert if you're interested - it's a very good concert.] so Nick found a piece of equipment that we've had for probably a year or more and never opened, I think it's called Chrome Cast but I could be wrong.  It's attached to the TV but uses WiFi to operate, so he downloaded the app to his phone, then pulled up the concert and we watched on our larger TV.  About mid-way through, I needed to get up and get started in the kitchen.  There was some cleanup from breakfast, and ahem, pots & pans from who knows when ;p that needed to be dealt with.  I also had to put the frozen pie in the oven.  That was actually baking while we watched the concert.  

I decided I'd make a broccoli salad this year, so looked up every internet recipe and then did my own thing using my gleanings as a reference.  To the broccoli, I added crisply fried bacon pieces, sliced almonds, a little sliced green onion, some finely diced red bell pepper - green and red are Christmas colors you know - and then the mayo, a little garlic white wine vinegar, sugar and the usual salt & pepper.  Oh and raisins, can't forget about them.  When I worked for a large aerospace company, our cafeteria had the best broccoli salad and I sure have missed it.  

In addition to the broccoli salad, we will have our traditional prime rib roast - I wrote about it here for Toaster Oven Tuesday back in January.  We will also have crescent rolls from the pop open tube, boiled red potatoes with butter and fresh parsley, buttered corn, cranberry sauce, and for dessert, peach pie - Claim Jumper frozen - and ice cream.  I think that's far more than plenty for the three of us.  I'd have probably skipped the corn even, but Nick wasn't keen on the idea of broccoli salad, so requested corn.  

I also had to get the table cleaned off enough to be able to at least put a Christmas table cloth on half of it and we'll have some nice ambiance for dinner.  I pulled out a couple pillar candles too, and our cable provider has been broadcasting a Yule log with Christmas music, so maybe we'll turn that on in the background and it'll feel like we're in front of the fireplace.  

Marty has taken off to do a short hike while the roast cooks.  We're in the mid-50s here with clear skies, but gusty winds.  Had hoped we'd have the rain today that was predicted a week ago, but as is often the case, the forecast changes daily, and the very little bit of rain came in a day or two early and it's dry out today.  I sure miss the Christmas weather of my childhood, and the excitement of knowing we could get a white Christmas.  It almost always snowed on Christmas or within a day or two either side of it.

I hope your Christmas has been as bright and shiny as Flame's laser-cat eyes.  Stay safe, and give all your loved ones extra hugs.

Life in the Slow Lane

I see my last post here on D.O.O.W. was already a week ago...definitely in the slow lane.  To say 2014 threw me off-kilter is putting it mildly, but I've been home for two full months, and one would think I'd be back in gear by now, yet I'm not.  I'm not sure if that still has to do with the grieving process from losing my mom, knowing I still have to contend with my dad's ongoing issues and trips back to the northern wet land, or just a build up of many issues these last few years.  What I do know is that motivation and enthusiasm aren't real strong right now, so things get put off and left undone and then they build up and that adds to the feelings of being overwhelmed and it seems an endless cycle.  I'm tired just thinking of all that needs to be done!

One specific thing that popped up while I've been home, and I'll try not to expend too many words on it, but about a month ago, I started getting sustained heart palpitations.  I went to my usual urgent care facility, which is also where my regular doctor is, but when you just walk in you see whomever is available and this time it was the Physician's Assistant (how does one formally address them? they aren't Dr.  So-and-So) who diagnosed them as PVC's (premature ventricular contractions) which typically are more bothersome than threatening.  She referred me to a local cardiologist for a stress test but when I went, her equipment wasn't working and I just didn't have a good feeling about her office and staff in general so did not make a subsequent appointment.  I found a different cardiologist; the appointment was yesterday.  I really liked him, his staff and his office set up - stuff like that is really important in my book!  I explained the stresses of this past year and gave my health history along with any family health issues.  He fit in a stress test while I was there.  During that test, my BP went up to 240/100 so they stopped the test and will do another one again in a couple months.  In the meantime, they fitted me with a 24-hour monitor (the top lead is so itchy!) and have me scheduled for further tests in February.  He recommended I take the usual baby aspirin dosage and take magnesium (oxide), which has a natural bp-lowering affect and wants me to continue monitoring my BP at home.  He doesn't think there's any reason I should postpone my trip back up to the wet land around the 20th.  

In other news, the furnace has been repaired as of yesterday.  There was a part that normally opens & closes and it was sticking closed, so had to be replaced.  All is good, and warm, now = happiness :)

After the cold snap of several nights with sub-freezing temperatures, I took inventory of how our outdoor plants survived.  Here are some photos of their really sad condition:

Jade plant, normally stands about three feet high, was looking very round and full and in bloom.  Very sadly drooping.

All of those fleshy 'petals' froze and are too damaged to recover.  If left alone, they will turn black, dry up and fall off.  If the main stem(s) weren't damaged too much, they will produce new growth and the plant will come back even fuller...unless I prune them back lower to the ground.

Some areas that weren't quite so exposed, were unharmed.  These plants get these clusters of star-shaped flowers (no fragrance) usually around December, but I think these plants actually were getting them in October this past year.

The second plant at the other end of the window is more exposed and suffered more damage.  It isn't dead, but sure doesn't look very pretty.

The geranium plant didn't fare very well either, though the "Red Apple" plant that hasn't been tended to all year did fine.  It doesn't belong IN the geranium pot, but not much has been maintained in these areas in my absences of 2014.

The aloe on the doorstep is fine - it's well protected, but does need to be cleaned up of the old dried 'leaves'.  That's a good-sized plant in a large pot.

In the back yard, the Schefflera suffered significant leaf damage, already turning brown.  It has long needed some maintenance and pruning, so it may finally get some...or not.

This 'frond' was the only one damaged on the large epiphyllum.  It's also long over due for pruning care.

The Naked Lady lily variety suffered as well.  The exposed leaves froze but it still lives.  I noticed a second plant was appearing a few feet away from the mother plant.  It's been planted here for about 17 years without much care other than to occasionally pull away the dead dry leaves.

I know this doesn't look like much, but if you note the far left corner you'll see a bit of green.  That's how this Airplane plant aka Spider plant aka Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum' plant is supposed to look, and I suppose there's a whole lot left under all the dead leaves, but most of the leaves that were exposed are now those dead, dark looking streaks in this photo.  This is one of those plants that self-propagates by sending out runners with baby plants, so it's virtually indestructible.  It will be back.

And what did I spy in my bulb pots?  New growth!  This is just one of them but all three or four pots had new shoots popping up. 

Oh Flame, I know you're not squawking at me; nice yawn!  Truly life in the slow lane.

Flame, stop laughing at me!  Flame and Raven enjoying a small patch of sun hitting the bed.  With double-paned windows, it's really hard to get a really good patch of sun in which to bask, but they try.  More remarkable is that they are this close together while laying down!

Next week starts off with Nick back to school on Monday and me taking "the girls" to visit the torture device.  That'll be one more thing off my list. Nick's asking for me to arrange for music or voice lessons again.  Unless he miraculously is endowed with a car, it would have to be arranged to have someone come to our home; not sure I'm comfortable with that during those times I'm gone.  What to do, what to do. 

Thursday's Thoughts are Lacking

Truly I am loving being home.  I have found though, that I am mentally all out of sorts lately.  Staying focused is a challenge.  Today I updated our financial stuff and discovered I was two days late on our cable bill.  Glad they don't automatically shut it off.  But the bigger question is, how did I manage to overlook paying it, and also end up almost late on a credit card payment?  I'm thinking this whole back and forth between home and my dad's, from my own records to his records, from my former - now non-existent - routines here at home to living day by day, has totally fried my brain.  I told my husband my routines were all out of whack and he said "What routines?"; poor man doesn't know or recognize I had routines....well, I did, even if they were often hit and miss, now they don't exist at all and my thought processes aren't even thinking about making lists to get back on track.  If I'm rambling, reread my second sentence ;p

This was a 'from scratch', crust and all, turkey pot pie.  I found the recipe online and it was from a Taste of Home contributor.  Instead of crimping the crust, I just overlapped the top one and tucked it down the insides of the pie plate.  This would have been a good one for Toaster Oven Tuesday.

This is all that was left after dinner, and I got to enjoy the leftover for lunch the next day.  The crust was really flaky.  I guess with 2/3 c. + 2T shortening it should be!

We had a pretty good rain soaking a couple days ago.  So much so that the birds were trying to find a dry spot.  Outside our upstairs windows are 'planter' ledges and you can see the silhouette of a little finch hanging out safely with Flame on the inside trying to figure out how she could grab that little birdie.  At one point there were two on the ledge, and my poor kitty was quite frustrated!

The ash tree in our back yard has finally turned to its beautiful fall yellow; leaves are beginning to drop - the heavy rains helped as well to get them to drop.  This is normal that it's leaves do not drop until December, while in other parts of the country, ash trees will have lost their leaves two months ago.

Some of the leaves floating on what becomes our own private 4" deep 'lake' in the back.  Previous owner was a cement guy so except where the ash tree is in a 20' x 20' section of lawn (make that roots & dirt), the rest is all concrete and as it's all well over 20 years old, the roots of the over-50 year tree have cracked and lifted the concrete, so water collects in that back corner.  The birds love it at times, gives them a place for water, and worm-collection.

Flame discovered she can jump from the desk top to the top of my 6' tall bookshelf upon which I have some boxed projects.She was hoping she could just jump down without Nick's help - she's very independent you know.  Nick is now 5'10" and that hair almost makes it to 6'.

I took this through the side window of my car.  Kind of represents my brain these days, very foggy.  This was somewhere south of a major university town on the interstate in the wet land I keep going to.  Those aren't DUCKS in the field ;p  they're cattle.  There were places where the fog was so thick you couldn't see but a few car lengths ahead of you...and some drivers weren't going any slower.  Me?  Well, 55 was a good speed rather than the 72 the policeman accused me of on the previous trip south.  He still reminded me of Don Knotts in Mayberry, RFD, lol.

That's it for this week, we'll see how long before I post again.  I'm hoping Bonnie Hunter's electricity gets back on so that she can get the next step of Grand Illusion out for us tomorrow.  That woman is an absolute wonder at how much she gets done.  I want to be like her when if I grow up before I die.  She must be incredibly organized and seems to have energy to burn.

Update on Job Hunt, etc.

Marty's feeling a whole lot better since his surgery.   Hard to believe that was already a week ago yesterday!

Today he went out and got a haircut.  We discussed my cutting his hair with the hair cutting kit that he bought, but since I haven't done that before we decided to wait a bit.  He doesn't have a lot of hair, and is not shaving off the very top of his dome.  And the reason we decided to wait on my doing it?

He has a face-to-face interview tomorrow.  It wouldn't look too cool if he had gouges in his scalp or uneven sides or something.  I don't think Nick will let me practice on him either, not with all those curls that he'd just as soon have hanging to his shoulders.  Ah, but for school dress and hair codes, he would.

Marty also has an upcoming telephone interview, but I don't know when that's scheduled, it might not actually be scheduled yet.

Another thing Marty did today...registered at the local community college.  I'm just not gung ho on that path for him at this stage, but he said it didn't cost anything to register, so I kept quiet.  Not sure but I think he thinks he can work on a nursing/medical/sonogram/x-ray field of study....me, I'm not sure that's a good fit for him for so many reasons, but it's his decision.

And while I was at my computer briefly earlier today, Flame decided she needed to come pay attention to me for a change, so to keep kitty-computer-time fair, here's a shot of her peering over the top of my laptop.  

Sweet Flame :)

My Week In Review

This may be the norm for my blog for the next month or so, we'll see.  I'd like to be posting more frequently, but I'm preparing for my vacation trip to the north, which begins on 3 July and I'll be gone for the better part of July.

I'll begin with last Friday, having completely been caught unprepared that it was Flag Day!  When I was in elementary school, our local American Legion provided the school with a list of Flag rules which we students were to memorize and then pass a little quiz, and once passing it, we were than awarded a little cardboard certificate honoring our accomplishment.  We were taught loyalty to our country and to our flag.  The flag was to be honored and not disrespected.  It always bothers me to see our flag disrespected by rabble-rousers.  If they think our country and our flag are so bad, I'll gladly give them boot and send them somewhere else.   Frankly, I don't think they'd find ANY country to their liking as the only like causing mayhem and angst :)

I went to Costco last Friday; I hadn't been in quite awhile.  Didn't spend a lot but there were things we needed that I typically only buy there.  I hadn't been wearing shoes at home because I feel so very hot in the summer when I have to wear shoes and socks.  By the time I got to the check out, my feet were cramping and that continued until I was almost home.  I could feel the muscles contract too.  Later in the day I also did my Walmart shopping, so more on my feet in shoes time, and those dogs were not happy.  I know, it's probably bad form to show feet pictures, but this is what my toes do these days when my feet decide they need to cramp up on me.  

See how those two toes next to the big toe pull down?  I couldn't intentionally do that if I tried, and they feel really weird when it happens.  I had just taken my shoes & socks off so the tops of my feet still have the sock imprint too.  I think in part, I had them laced too tight which cuts off circulation resulting in cramps.

We'll now jump to Monday, and my excitement for that day was this,

You know how sometimes there's just a little bit of something in a bottle in the fridge and you want to be able to get it out of said bottle so you grab bottle and swing it down so that the force flings the sauce to the opening?  Well, someone didn't put the lid on tight and I didn't check it and I ended up with barbecue sauce everywhere but on the country pork ribs that I wanted it on.  So I the spent the next half hour or so cleaning cupboard doors, walls, refrigerator, cat bowls, and obviously, the floor.  So God has a sense of humor in making me do something I hadn't gotten to in a long while, cleaning floors.  They really need a deep scrub with bleach - the grout is supposed to be cream, not brown!   But then, the grout would also have to be re-sealed and I'm just not into that right now.  Besides, that tile was destined to come out with the kitchen remodel that may never get done until we decide if we're ever selling this house, lol.

Now these, this is what that barbecue sauce was supposed to go on, and thankfully I had a full, unopened bottle in the pantry.  They look almost burnt, but they weren't.  Marty thought they were a little tough, but I used a knife with my fork and didn't find them to be tough at all. All I did with these was place them on that foil lined pan in my large toaster oven, season with a little S & P and baked at 250 for 90 min.  After that, I basted them about every 1/2 hour for the next 4 hours or so, turning each time.  

And sauteed mushrooms make a good accompaniment to ribs in my book.  Along with a nice potato salad, which I didn't get a picture of but referred to as mashed potato salad as I managed to overcook the potatoes just a bit and add too much dressing made from mayo, pickle juice, mustard and spices.

Earlier in the day, I had also pulled all fabrics of a certain type for the project I want to take to quilt camp in mid-July.  In so doing, I realized I had very few lights and needed an equal number of those, so on Tuesday, I first checked the only two places in town that carry any fabric at all.  One is Joann's - and well, I really dislike our Joann's, it's old, not well maintained though better than it was a decade ago, and they just didn't have a single piece of anything I was looking for.  So I went to the other place, and they only had three fabrics I was happy with.  I came home again, and just was not satisfied that the three plus the ones I had were enough, so I decided I'd travel to a couple stores out of town, about a 20 - 25 mile one-way trip, ugh!  I found four more pieces I was satisfied with at the first place and was surprised they didn't have more as they're a huge place, but they tend to be heavier on batiks and a good sampling of all others but minimal on 1800's, so I drove even further on to the other place that I knew had a lot of 1800s repros and found six more pieces.  This is the project and some of the fabrics from my existing stash, I didn't take any pics of my purchases:

 I can't give a week's worth of updates without at least one kitty pic.  Here, from Wednesday is laser cat, revealing why her name is Flame, who was caught studying for her piano practice recital.  The pink striped mousie in the background is Raven's.  It's funny how the cats have chosen completely different toys to play with and call their own.  And they don't take each others!

Also on Wednesday, well, to be more exact Tuesday night, but they had it all day on Wednesday, my car went to the car doctor for it's annual check up which included oil change, new drive belts, timing belt (eek, that one's expensive), and a bunch of other stuff.  So yesterday, after getting my car back Wednesday afternoon, I drove Nick to his piano lesson and on the return stopped at Petsmart to get cat food & litter (can't have Marty run out of that while Nick & I are gone).  When we got back into the car, those three lights came on, and stayed on.  So why are they on just one day after getting my car back from the spa?  I drove on home without incident, and looked them up in the manual "Take vehicle to Toyota Service Dealer", ok, so I call and arrange to take the car back this morning, which I did, all the while with these lights glaring at me.  I also had to get up early to do this, no happy camper here!

I reached the dealership, stopped the car and turned the ignition off.  The assistant service manager, who had processed my car a couple days before, came out, I started the car back up, NO IDIOT LIGHTS!  What?!! So the dude tells me there's no way of knowing what caused it, but it 'self-corrected'.  And, IF, they come back on, bring the car back.  When the lights go off, the car's diagnostic computer resets/erases whatever info was indicating a problem.  He insisted it must've been the gas cap and even opened the gas door and further tightened the cap for emphasis.  Wrong!  I've been there/done that and none of those are the lights that come on when the gas cap hasn't been put on correctly, and besides, the gas cap hadn't been touched in 209.7 miles since I'd filled up over a week ago.  Surely the light would've come on before this, and certainly only one light, not three different ones!  Now I'm a bit worried about having a problem on my 900+ mile drive in a couple of weeks.  If there is a real problem, hopefully those lights come back on before then, and I'll go straight to the car shop!

Over these last few days, I've been starching, pressing & cutting all those fabrics so that when I get to quilt camp all I'll have to do is sew, sew, sew and be happy.  As I'm cutting, this is adding just that much more to my scrap bins, and of course having had to make new purchases, also added to my stash. 

I'll be back on Sunday for sure with my stash report numbers....headed in the wrong direction, hehe.

Stash Report, Week 23, 2013

Well, I haven't added, nor have I taken away, so no change is at least not 'bad' right?  I wasn't sure I should even post & link up with Patchwork Times, but when you don't link, others don't look, so here I go:

Used This Week: 0 yards
Used Year to Date: 10.25 yards
Added This Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.625 yards
Net Used for 2013: -13.375 yards 

Besides, I can post on a few other things.


I have one of these:  

 

 

Needle strawberry...oh, and see how its stem has been peeled back? uh huh

It's independent of the pin tomato and it's just been laying around on the sewing table, and I'd occasionally find it on the floor, hmmm, guess a furr-ball thinks it's her toy...but which furr-ball?  The other day, I caught the little Klepto in the act and it was this one...

FLAME!!!   Huh? What? Who? ME??

Little stinker!  What's really funny is I recently bought them some new mousie toys and this really neat, from my totally human perspective, Cardinal-looking bird, also red like the strawberry.  Neither furr-ball will play with the mice :(  and the bird?  I'm utterly perplexed:  

Chirping cardinal

It's cute right? Looks like a bird, somewhat? Has feathers, beak, wings. It CHIRPS, or more accurately, "CHIPS" and when it "CHIPS", both cats run and HIDE!  They are both afraid of it....now that just ain't right, right?  I'd like to know why it scares them; they're fine until they hear it.  And it's sound isn't a whole lot different than the "chip-chip" the Twohy makes as it bobs along our patio while the kitties give their rapt attention to it through the screen...just feet away.  Go figure.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/06/09/stash-report-week-23-2013/

UFO Progress

Judy's having us link up on our UFO progress this week, and if you've kept up with my few posts this week, you'll know that I was almost finished with Cumberland Mountain, a quilt I started in Sept 2006 and had last worked on in Jan 2009.  I am very happy to report it is finished.  Here now are some photos of the finished UFO quilt :)

Getting a true daylight sunlit photo with my wonderful helpers, Marty and Nick.

Laid out on a double-bed for size reference.  It works as either a coverlet, a large lap blanket, or something to drape over the sofa.

Mom, what? This wasn't made for me? 

It feels so very good to have a finish.  I've updated my Gallery, my 2012 UFO List, and my UFO Parade tabs to reflect my finish.  I didn't list it in my Get It Done 2013 tab so no update there.  Now, what to work on next?  I'm really dragging my feet on that one because I really, really want to work on some of my newer UFO's or start more new projects (I need an April NewFO, still time!), but I still have at least a half-dozen  other 2006 starts that need to be finished. I haven't sewn since I finished Cumberland Mountain, so really need to get moving.

Cat Tails #10

Raven.  Keeping an eye on me as I cut scraps.

Raven.  Pretending to be a dog sleeping nearby my chair.

Flame.  She's keeping an eye on my cutting as well.

The Cat's in the Bag

These are from a week or so ago.  It seems wherever I am, there also are my fur-babies, and they can be SO amusing, praise God for fur-babies :)

This cute little cotton bag was a Christmas gift to me from my daughter, and I had no idea what to do with it.  I needed to wash it so did, and had left it laying on the chair when Flame came up and nuzzled her way into it, and later shifted around - it's a perfect snuggle bag for her.  And it matches her color, but those are not kitties on the bag, rather gingerbread boys which is a tradition between my daughter and I at Christmas.  When she was little we would make gingerbread boy cookies and now that she lives too far away to do that, I usually send her one or several things I've picked up during the year that gingerbread boy related...this year she sent to me!

See that red & white object in the background?  That was SUPPOSED to have been sent to my daughter for Christmas - gingerbread boy silicone candy mold.

Mom, can you pull the drawstring tighter? No?

SNUGGLE

P.S. Oops, no design wall post this week...maybe next week will be better.