Hee Hee Hee

January. I made my mind up that I was responsible for making this the BEST year of my life. All the really good ones have had active participation so here I go. Fully and completely involved from the start!

This is a very daunting challenge, in and of itself! How in the world can I top other fabulous years from the past?

Let's Review!

1982: I married John. This is the 30th anniversary. amazing...... So much happened that year. We married and moved 4 times in one year. By Christmas, we were together in Dubai.

1984: I visited New Zealand and discovered I was pregnant. I stood on a glacier. I saw walruses. in the wild. C'mn!!! How many of you can say that!!! We lived in Brunei on Borneo

1985: I had my first child. Without meds. In a jungle hospital with midwives. In September I flew alone back to America and proved that adults were worse than infants when it came to traveling on an aircraft. Rachel said not one peep. Meanwhile the man behind us never stopped

complaining. 8 hours. I do not exaggerate for effect. Non-stop moaning.

1988: I had my last child. We lived in Bombay and I flew to Houston for the birth. Both my mother and my mother-in-law were in the delivery room with me!!!!! Thank GOD for that! It was awful and they were wonderful. I don't deserve them. (But they are stuck with me for eternity) and 6 weeks later my in-laws helped me fly back to Bombay! By the end of the year, we lived in Singapore.

1992: We moved to Alaska. Let that sink in. ALASKA! We lived there almost 5 years and leaving it in 1996 was heart-wrenching. It was the place I lived the longest in my entire life. Until now, of course.

2003: We toured Europe. 5 weeks and we lived to tell. 5 weeks in 5 foreign countries with 3 separate currencies and the hottest temperatures on record. It was nothing short of amazing. Wonderful people. Wonderful friends and wonderful family. It took months of planning and organizing and crossing all the t's, etc. I took nothing to chance getting there. Once we were there, we took it all one day at a time. I will never forget it. Fabulous.

2009: Kids are grown and gone. We moved to a farm. We adopted chickens. We built a garden to eat from. We left the rat-race. Well, okay, we moved away from it but it's still there if we choose to engage.

To the present. Now, up to Sept. 2011 I was cruising and having a blast in general, but to be truthful, I have been slacking. There is SO much I want to do! Or should I say, accomplish! So, now when things come across my vision, I ask myself "Shall I do it!?"

So far this year, I have:

Run 70 miles.

Seen Gordon Lightfoot in concert for the third time

Seen Spamalot

Sewn 2 quilts

Quilted 4 quilt-tops

Won this!

At the end of February, I shall post the tally of things done/accomplished.... by the year's end, I hope I will look back in awe and wonder.

Almost Everything I Thought I Knew About Food Is Wrong

Let me start by saying I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist. I have never been morbidly obese. I have been a quasi-vegetarian but that years ago so doesn't count.

I believed, bought the line, hook and sinker, that meat was something to eat in the strictest of moderation. Grains, especially "whole" grain were good for you and added bulk and fiber to your 'system' which needed it to help pass the waste out the other end. Fruit and veg ought to be consumed daily and thickly and fats should be avoided at all cost.

How many here have read that "Fat makes you fat! Duh!" ? All of us have and I believed that. It was the fat in my diet that kept the stubborn numbers from heading south. It was the odd chocolate bar or ice cream scoop or (gasp!) butter on the toast what done me in, those saboteurs! That and creeping age has kept the spare tube around the mid-section despite all this plogging around the home front

Hmmmmm maybe not. Since last week when I read an article on how the 'low carb' diet helped children with epilepsy control seizures, I was intrigued.

I have heard about the Atkins plan, the South Beach diet and the Sugar Busters thing that was crazy popular some ten years ago but I didn't even glance at it because I was so convinced, by what I cannot say, that all that was hooey and baloney and no one in their right mind would eat nothing but meat, eggs and cheese and (gasp!) butter and expect to make it out alive on the other end! Heart disease! Clogged arteries! Constipation!!!!!! Fer cryin' out loud, who wants to be that desperately thin? You need whole wheat bread to stay clean... everyone knows that!!!!

ahem...... No. I was wrong. I have been off bread, pasta, rice and potatoes & eating large amounts of all the 'wrong' things now for 9 days. No, it is not easy; not for me anyway, who still finds it difficult to resist bread . But I get to eat eggs!! Eggs and not feel guilty with cheese!!! Eggs everyday and every way. Butter (gasp!) and boiled eggs, yum! The whole chicken breast and brussel sprouts and rutabaga roasted. Yum! Bring on the sausage and bacon!!!!! Oh boy!!

How does this work? If I understand it correctly, it's like this:

We eat carbohydrates to get glucose for energy. The pancreas makes insulin to use the glucose as energy (fuel) for the brain and store the excess blood sugar as fat for future use, in case it needs it. We take in way more carbs than we need to live everyday and therefore, the pancreas works overtime to process all this. But when there is little in the way of carbs to offset, the pancreas stops producing insulin and the body heads over to turn the stored fat into fuel. Pretty simple.

Since the body is not getting the carbohydrates it needs to function, it burns the stored fat. Say that again. Ah ha...... but where does the protein consumption come into play? If you didn't eat a good amount of protein, your body would start to break down your muscles to fulfill it's needs. You don't want that! so you have to find the right balance of enough protein and fat to sustain and a tiny amount of carbs so your body kicks into ketosis, where the stored fat begins to burn.

All of this to the degree that you don't fall to pieces in the process. I have stated all this very simplistically and realize it is not done completely accurately but darn close. The point is, I am a few pounds lighter; I am drinking lots and LOTS of water so don't tell me all I am doing is spilling excess water; I eat plenty all and and therefore am not hungry which is weird; I hope to continue this for 5 more days.

What I miss: orange juice. That and fruit in general. But I get that again next week.

Keeping With The Resolution

.. to get my closet filled with awaiting tops to get quilted, I have pinned the Six Halves Makes a Whole Quilt top on the machine and have finished 2 out of 9 rows. This is slow going but I am in no rush. (As long as I have it off the frame in 7 days!)

Linda Kay and I taught this as a class last year and each made a sample using different fabric schemes. I went, naturally, with batiks.

This is going to be heavily quilted with feathers and spikes. All the colored pieces will have simple wavy inlines and I'll let the heavy stuff show on the large expanses of background neutrals so they don't pop off so obviously.

We started off the day weeding in the raised beds. I have this sneaky suspicion that Spring is coming very early this year and I don't want to get caught with beds of healthy weeds! We received our seed order form Parks today and I am eager to get the seedlings started. Not yet! Not yet! I know.

John pruned all the peach trees and gave them a spray. We are planning on planting 4 avocado trees shortly as well now that we have found a good reliable source of them, cold hardy varieties for our location.

Last week I started to cut back severely on carbohydrates to see if that diet could help knock off some of this unshifting poundage I am carting around. The first two days were a snap but day 3 was weird.... I felt light-headed & ravenous and yesterday was strange, too. I've been eating eggs, cheese, meat, butter like crazy, etc but no substantial starch at all and at this moment I would gladly drink 4 oz of orange juice except for the fact that I have come so far and don't want to mess it up.

We ran 5K again today and I felt fine. I have not been hungry today since I ate 3 thick slices of bacon and scrambled eggs with cheese. It's nearly 5 o'clock and I am thrilled to learn that carrots and rutabagas are low carb roots. Thrilled because the garden is teeming with these veg and I want to eat them! That and kale.

Have I lost any weight? well... maybe two pounds. That is still in the range of daily fluctuations so I'm going with .... let's give it 2 weeks before I make any claims to success.

Now, why am I doing this? Because I don't want to haul any unnecessary weight around a 13.1 mile track!

More Shopping!

I read somewhere recently that a real must-have in the kitchen is a rice-cooker. I had one years ago.... many many too many years ago and have no idea where it went. It must have been during the years we lived overseas....... But it was a cool device and after reading that declarative statement, I thought to myself, "Self. He's RIGHT! You SHOULD have a rice cooker for no other reason except then you would never have to clean up the over-spill that happens every single time you boil rice!"

I had to make pit-stop at Wallyworld a few days ago for catfood and as I passed the appliance section, that voice popped into my head, "rice cooker......rice cooker....." and I said to myself, "Self! Wake up from your daydream and look at that rice cooker!" So I checked that 4-6 they had to offer and settled on this one by Rival. It's small, only cooks up to 6 cups of rice but I can't remember the last time I cooked more than 4 cups. (oh yes I can! I made pot-load for gumbo in December and yeah, that boiled over as well.)

Anyway, with just 2 people to cook for, this one is perfect in size and price. $13.47. Even if it was a complete disappointment, that is not a hefty sum, right?

and I made brown rice that night. Now, I love rice in all colors (did you know there is red rice?) and I especially love the nutty brown rice but I hate that it takes so long to cook on the stove-top. Not any more.

The little cheap $13.47 Rival cooked the brown rice in less than an hour. I think I am going to go buy another one as a back-up.

Oh yeah, ain't it cute, too? Looks like an alien robot.

Running: Yesterday was the first time to run since the 11.5 miles. It takes my old muscles that long to recover and not feel absolutely miserable. It actually felt pretty great. So much so that I ran 2:1 splits. Plog for 2 minutes, walk for 1. And really I can drop the "plog" reference. I am truly running at this point in time. Smoothly, rhythmically. Here is an area I pass: I call the meadow.

How Much Money Have You Saved Lately?

I figure I have saved around $12,000.00 over the years, including shipping and handling.

If you know me, you know I have an issue with sleep, or the lack thereof.

I pass out on the sofa with every good intention of watching whatever John has on and wake up only long enough to stagger to the bed, where once again, I pass out.

Still, this means I wake up long before dawn. And sometimes this can be around 2am. If that happens, like a cat I wander around in search of a warm spot and into the guestroom where there is a tv and chanelsurf until, hopefully, sleep overcomes me and I get another hour or two.

But this can take hours to attain and in the meanwhile, I get to see some amazing products offered in the most appealing way.

How is it that if I had my credit card in there at that moment, some product would be winging its way to the house but in the cruel light of morning, I can't even remember what it was? So, I went over to the As Seen On TV website, in order to refresh my memory of what I thought I needed a few nights ago.

Oh yeah, The EZ Mover, the furniture moving device

Now that's pretty slick, I don't mind admitting. Just that lever gizmo is worth having. It's not that I'm going to order it now, but at 3:27 am, I was thinking, "I could use that!"

And this, The Forearm Forklift

but I doubt I'll find anyone who'll help me test it out. See, it takes two.

Here, the SlideOut Tower Storage.

But I don't have space between the washer and dryer for it to slide in, much less slide out.

I think I want this Inversion Table. It's supposed to help with back issues

But I'm not going to order something that expensive without giving it a try first. I mean the blood could rush to my head and I pass out all alone. All alone... and hanging there. No, that will never do!

I could go on and on, and I won't.... I just thnk to myself snugly that I save so much money by having no memory. It's wonderful and so is this:

Remember Vince, the Sham-Wow guy? The SlapChop dude? "You're gonna slap your troubles away with the Slap Chop!" Nevermind troubles; He went away* for some time (bet he wished he had his SlapChop) but he's back! Now with the "Schticky"

Nah, I'm not going to buy it either. And in case you didn't get that reference about the mugshot, it's because of his arrest a few years ago. If you want to learn of the details, I'll let you go in search.

Do the Funky Chicken!

Okay, here is the first month of the Funky Chicken BOM. So silly and whimsical.

And now I have excavated these to UFOs.

IS this on it's side? Or right-side up? Hard to tell.

A little washed out in the photo. The batiks glow

I had made, oh some 10 + yrs ago, a couple of mariner's compass wall-hangings and one huge quilt. These were the left-overs. Too much to throw away and not enough to make a lap quilt. What to do? I started by making blocks like a string quilt (although I didn't know back then that these are string quilts) and then just let the composition take it's own course.

THe one on top is very loose and reminds me somewhat of a Rothko painting. Blocks floating inside blocks and thin lines breaking the surface.

The bottom one, Angles, is much more controlled. Very balanced and 'equal', with the contradictory blocks making a break-away for the eyes.

Now I am back at the indecision as to where to go with them. I want to complete both or either.

Mug Rug

My sewing friend Linda Kay has been making these little mug rugs with her scraps of fabrics and yesterday while rooting around in my scraps of batiks I came across a handful of half-square triangles I had left-over from a project.

So, being the easily distracted person th OH LOOK!!! A CHICKEN!!! at I am, I stopped what I was doing and made two!

Thanks LK!!

Gordon Lightfoot in Concert

Last night in Baton Rouge. This is not a review of the concert but perhaps of life.

I love his music. Always have since @1973 when I first heard the voice. And then, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Has there ever been another song title that flows so effortlessly? It's almost a song in and of itself. So many songs....

He's 73 yrs old and on tour again after a 5 week hiatus over the holidays and that ain't easy at any age. I don't know why he still does it. I don't really care 'why'. It's amazing that he does at all.

He is quite fragile-looking. Very thin and slightly stooped. He played:

Spanish Moss

Sundown

If You Could Read My Mind

Shadows

Don Quixote

Ribbon of Darkness

Home From the Forest

Beautiful

Canadian Railroad Trilogy

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Did She Mention My Name

Rainy Day People

Fine As Fine Can Be

A Painter Passing Through

Baby Step Back

Let It Ride

Sweet Guinevere

Never Too Close

The Watchman's Gone

Cotton Jenny

Sea of Tranquilty

In My Fashion

* not sung in that order

That's 22 songs that I can remember him singing and I know there was one more I can't recall the name of. The backdrops looked like huge sails with colored patterns projects on and I kept thinking what splendid fabric that would make.

The band was perfect and missing two former members who have died over the years. Lightfoot doesn't change his band for anything less.* see comments

His voice of his youth is firmly in the past now and there is no returning, except from the vinyls and digitized cds. Again, I don't care. He sings the songs and knows the words and needs no reminders of what they were back then or changes them up to be current. I suppose because the words are timeless to begin with and the melodies are endless.

I think I drove the girls mad playing the cassettes in the car endlessly. I hope they like him now but who can say. All I know is there aren't many singer-songwriters like him around today. You could listen to the music and understand the lyrics and they usually told a story but sometimes only left you interpreting the meaning for your own purpose.

I loved it. And the audience for the most part loved it. He made several punny jokes, such as

"I gave up drinking anything stronger than pop. Of course, Pop will drink anything!"

This was completely in keeping with a man of his generation. He wasn't trying to be edgy or tragically hip. No one groaned.

Several people left for whatever reason. Maybe they were disappointed in the thinness of his reedy voice. Maybe it reminded them too much of mortality and the relentless unflinching passage of time. All I know is 96% of the audience was over 60 and perhaps those who stayed saw what I did.

Back to the Applique

After taking quite some time off, I am back at the applique and was surprised to find I had made this many of the Jacobean applique last year:

The photograph doesn't show the true deep purple of the background, but you can tell how vibrant the other colors against it. It glows.

When I was at the shop last week, two of the fellow Sharp Needles came in and showed me this new applique BOM, Funky Chickens from Fat Cat Patterns, with the most whimsical chickens I've ever seen.

This is January

So, being the grabby stitcher that I am, I immediately pulled some fabrics off the shelf at the shop and paired them with what I have in the stash of leftovers and have begun making this BOM as well as the Farmer's Wife and 4th of July by Judy Niemeyer.

All this is ok because while the word 'bored' doesn't ever apply in the world of quilt-making, for me it is fun to take a little time off from each project in order to see it again later with fresh eyes.

Well, I am pleased and pained to report that yesterday I plogged the entire 11.5 scheduled miles. Pleased that even though I was fairly exhausted at 9.75, I continued to the bitter end and only had to take the shoes off for a quick massage. Pained in that although the feet made it through this time, the calves were whining and the knees weren't happy either. I hobbled into the house after walking around another 2 miles out with the chickens just to make sure I didn't cramp up.

I will definitely walk another few miles outdoors today as well. I am worried that tomorrow it's going to be bad. With me it usually follows that the real pain occurs two days after the exertion.

I have managed to weigh one pound less this week than the last 400 weeks. I wonder if this is because I have cut back on all the coffee. It isn't the coffee; it's the half and half. So if I am drinking only half the half and half I used to, it follows that I have taken in fewer calories that are normally consumed every week. Nothing less has changed. I look the same. One pound doesn't register to the eye. Oh well. whatreyagonnado?

Pick-Up Sticks from Strip Smart Quilts

I mentioned a few days ago I was scurrying to finish this in time for Saturday's Demo at Bright Hopes and as it happens, I will be able to get it there on my work day instead! Whoo-hoo!This is using Thimbleberry fabrics from my stash with a background I have been clinging to for 4+ years. It's about time it got (half) used up. The only thing I 'had ' to buy was the binding fabric because I really didn't have anything left after the pieced border. In fact, I would've made it larger had I had more fabric but I am truly stickin' to the resolution.

Well. It's Been Quite a Day

It started off with a passel of puppies.

8 black standard Poodle puppies to be exact. The mother of St. Tammany's Greatest Techie (AKA UberGeek) has a Poodle which just became a mama-dog to the sweetest litter on the planet. 8 squirming sausages all eager to latch on and grow except the runt, which has her work cut out for her as the others are so much larger and aggressive & basically hog all the available faucets.

She was warm in her own box but didn't stand even a fighting chance against the others, until the Vet said to take the others away totally and let her have as much as she could take in. I really hope she makes it. Mena, the mama, is the perfect mother. She dropped 6 of the puppies alone and took total care of them and then popped out two more. She doesn't make a fuss when we people interfere with nature. She is so good-natured about the whole process and this is her first time.

When I was a first-time mama, I was snarling at everyone. And I only had one!

I got home in the afternoon after stopping by the quilt shop to get some binding fabric. YOU KNOW WHAT MEANS!!!!

I finished the sample of the Pick-Up Sticks from Kathy Brown's Strip Smart Quilts Book and will sew on the binding tomorrow so I have it for the shop on Thursday. We have a Demo Day on Saturday with Kathy Brown showing her new Fat Quarter Cutter ruler and I was really hoping I would get in done in time.

And Kat came home for Spaghetti dinner with a sauce made from the garden. (summer garden, that is) Tomoz she is going to help me clean out 2 closets..... a Christmas gift!!! yippee!!!!!

I ran 4 miles yesterday and am gearing up for 11.5 next Sunday - Monday. Since I got off schedule over the holidays (c'mon... tell the truth.... would YOU run on Christmas Day and New Years day?) I am still working towards getting back on the Sunday long day runs....

This means I should be training Tuesday and Thursday and long runs on Sunday but I work on Thursday which make the schedule awkward.... so I go Tuesday Friday and (usually) Long Run Sunday. 11.5 miles..... man.... that sounds so far. And now I don't, won't have Rachel with me. Just the Ipod.

Ok.

Coffee Maker on the Fritz

I am the first to admit I drink, probably, too much coffee. I wake up at the awful hour of before 3am and brew a pot (6 cups) of coffee. Now, to mere mortals, that is 6 cups but my cup is twice as large as yours so I only drink 3 cups before 5 am.

Then, when John wakes up, I make another pot and together we down 8 more cups of joe. (or 4, depending on your math).

But, I have literally worn out the coffee maker. It used to take less than 10 minutes to brew a pot of coffee and lately, I notice it takes enough time to work me into a rage. (and I am one of the calmest people you could ever come across....... I would never flip out over a coffee) I could be standing there listening to the tell-tale gurgle of a nearly filled carafe and think, "Yea! coffee!" and there would be, maybe, 4 ounces swilling around.

ARRGGGGHHH! Really? So , being me, I set about doing te usual things

1. Clean out the filter. Really good this time.

2. Brew a pot of vinegar to clear out sediment from the pump.

3. Repeat that.

4. brew a pot of plain water to clean out the vinegar.

5. Brew coffee.

ARRGGHHHHH!

Now, without my knowledge, John has noticed this same problem and ordered a new coffee maker. Yea!!!!!

well..... not so much a coffee MAKER as a coffee press which is not the same thing at all.

The press, an AeroPress, makes one cup at a time by adding 2 HUGE scoops of coffee grinds to the press and adding 5 oz (5 oz?) of 175 degree water you heat up in a microwave after determining how long to set the timer for YOUR specific microwave.

So It finally arrived (three weeks after he ordered it) yesterday and I read the instructions thoroughly last night. The LAST thing I want to do at 3 am is learn how to make one cup of coffee when I WANT three, or six depending on your math. And I went to bed knowing what I had to do in 7 short hours.

Ao I did it and.......

On the plus side:

1. I am drinking 5 oz of coffee in less than 3 minutes.

2. The coffee is very good. Really very good.

3. You know that creamy skim you see on a cup of coffee at a fine restaurant after an exceptional meal? Oh yeah.... it's in there.

On the minus side:

1. I am drinking ONLY 5 oz (which is nowhere near a cup! let's be honest. I don't care how small your cup is; it isn't 5 oz) (Unless you live in Holland) (That is not a rip against Holland) of coffee at a time and if I want more (and trust me.... I do) I can have it only after cleaning the grinds out and repeating the whole process, instead of just pouring another cup (or two, depending on your math)

2. The AeroPress deposits the coffee directly into your cup, so you better have a very sturdy flat-bottomed coffee cup to set this gizmo on before you try to press the coffee press. It is a very snug fit and you sure don't want to topple 175 degree water and coffee grinds all over the counter as you push down on the plunger.

3. There is no no. 3. It just looks silly with only 2 numbers.

So, we have come to a decision. Perhaps I should just cut down on coffee and perhaps the AeroPress is the very device I need to "help" me achieve this and possibly, quite possibly, this is the source of my problem re: sleep or the lack thereof!

Kathy Brown Is Coming to Town

I bought her book, Strip-Smart Quilts and the bizarre ruler I think back in August..... don't remember exactly and have been diligently clearing the decks to make time for one of the quilts in it. Pick Up Sticks is her version

And I am making it with Thimbleberries in autumn colors. I know, it's closing in on Spring but I am still sticking to my resolution of whittling the stash down to a more manageable size. It is so large, I still cannot see much difference.

(I can say the same thing about plogging and my thighs... but let's not go there, shall we? At least for this morning, I shall be foward-looking and completely optimistic.)

Anyhoo, Kathy Brown is coming to the quilt shop on Saturday, Jan 14 and I want to have this on hand to show her. I doubt I will have it quilted as well, but you never know.

I intend to take down the Christmas trimmings and tree today as well. Give the whole house a good dusting. That and another 5K.

Such a busy bee!

The 10 Mile Mark

I went 10 miles with Rachel Monday, my farthest distance ever and under 2 hours, 15 minutes. Yes that was a plog and yes the feet hurt.

We stopped at least 4 times to pull on my toes.... I don't know what the deal is with my toes.....

But pulling on them and pushing on the ball seems to release the pain spots for anther couple of miles. As we mess with them, my toes begin to cramp up and become rigid, weird.

Anyway, we also experimented with a couple of stocking stuffers... a running belt that holds energy food for the Marathon.

The first thing was how comfortable the belt is... I don't even know it is there riding low on my hips. But the GU Tube, Tri-Berry flavor, was dreadful. I don't know if it is the viscosity or the taste or what but the idea is you tear open this little tube and squeeze the goo in your mouth and then grab a cup of water to wash it down. I was plogging with a water bottle in one hand and the pod in the other so juggling all that while walking was a trick. But I got it open and squeezed some goo in and tried to dissolve it with my tongue, which rebelled against this invader mightily. It took five more squeezes and plenty of gagging to get it all down and apparently, the orange one isn't any better.

I decided right then and there those will probably not be hitching a ride in March but the GU chews , watermelon, were much better. Now, getting that package to tear open is another matter. I will have to cut small tear seams before the next run.

There are sport beans as well to test drive, they look like jelly beans but have electrolytes to boost the "athlete" (yeah right... that's what I am , an ATHlete she said, channelling Jon Lovitz.

So I popped into Academy to find an armstrap for my phone. The device has the interval timer and the Nike lozenge and so far I have been holding it while plogging along but that gets me slightly nervous as the distance increases. I could drop it, for example.....

They had at least five different armstraps and I tested every one of them before settling on one that comes two to a pack: and black one and a white one. I really liked one that had a clearview window that I could see through and even touch to open an app without taking the whole phone out (unlike the ones I selected) but the strap was a bulky velcro thing that I worried would chaff my upper arm as it swung back and forth.

But check this out! This site shows how to sew one! And I have clear plastic "fabric" to make the window thing and can adjust the strap so it doesn't double under my arm but behind it instead. Hmmmmm

They also carried the Sport Beans so I bought a couple of flavors and if the others are as tasty as the watermelon, we have found a winner! They taste like slightly salty Jelly Beans.

After this I wandered over to the clothes to see what they had regarding running gear. My cousin runs in a tennis skirt and says they are very comfortable but I don't know how I feel about wearing such just now.... I like the yoga pants I have been wearing. BUt I don't know what the weather will be like on March 4. It could be hot and humid or cold and blustery. So I'll just keep waiting.

What A Way To Start The Year!!!

You're not going to believe this!!!!

I get a phone message from John, on the golf course, stating he hit a hole-in-one on the first hole, the first shot of the first day of the first month! His first hole-in-one!~ AMAZING!!!!!

And I finished my first of two Civil War quilts by Barbara Brackman.

It measures 84" Square which is really pushing the limit on my long=arm but I intend to try to do the quilting myself, hopefully by mid-January

Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Panic

This is me on a good day! AIM, Fire! .... aaaaanddd miss by a mile!
Poor kitteh.... I hope it is okay.......

I love the back paws all spread out... and the little wiggle just before it launches itself into space
hat tip : CDR M at http://www.ace.mu.nu/

Resolutions

Perhaps I ought to give this one a shot.

Resolved: Be less snarky this year.

In that spirit, I shall remove the last post of the old year. Start Fresh

Let's see how long I can go before the snark rises once again.