Thankful Thursday

For the whole year!  Our designated day to be grateful for the welcome the natives here gave to our undocumented aliens who landed, starved, and had a rough first year in this unfamiliar place.

Not that I think about the first Thanksgiving very much.  I try to always remember to be grateful, because I know how much I am blessed and always have been.  I wouldn't trade lives with anyone, anywhere, which I think is a wonderful blessing.

As for you, dear reader, I am thankful for your visit and your kind, brief attention.

I have been busy here, making the end of the year the best part yet.  I'm knitting some socks for a grateful family member, and piecing a wall hanging for winter decoration.  I would say a Christmas decoration, but 1.) it's of evergreen trees, and 2.) I don't change things around very often.  I will probably have evergreen trees hanging next August, if the past is any indication.

So that is my excuse for failing miserably at blogging faithfully during November.  I don't think anyone really minds too much.

I hope that you are having a happy relaxed day, enjoying good food, family and friends, and football (if you so choose).

Excuse me, because I may have to do some Quality Assurance work for the pumpkin pie.  I don't want to feed my kids untested food.

NomNomNom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Swatching

This month in one of my Ravelry groups we are knitting swatches to send to our swap partners.

I tend to knit the same sort of thing in the same weight of yarn, or knit things that will be used by someone it fits if it is given to a charitable organization.  Which is by way of explaining---that I don't do too much swatching.

I am enjoying this exercise however.  I have chosen to try the same unfamiliar stitch with a couple of different weights of yarns and sizes of needles.  This yields quite a different look and sometimes you need a few more inches to really get a sense of it.

After the swap is done I'll show them to you.  I know, you're dying with anticipation.  Silly me.

In other late-breaking news, with the help of my car's defroster and twenty minutes of smacking and scraping and sweeping, I finally got the accumulated snow removed from my dear old car.  I had taken the newer car out to do errands a couple of times, but I much prefer driving the car I usually drive.  (I am not being paid to share this information with you.  It's a 1996 green Toyota Camry with 188,000 miles on it.  It is a wonderful car.)

We have had two others since we purchased that one.  Reliable, handsome, and I'm a loyal fan.  It sounds like I'm describing a husband.  (He's reliable and handsome too.)

Well friends, we are embarking on a new week.  Make it a good one!

Dr. Seuss and I

Sometimes after I have spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet, I think of the Seuss book with the words, "Oh the places you'll go!"

In just an hour or so this morning I read messages from women all over the world who were reporting on letters, post cards, and gifts they had received from other members of the group.

I was directed to read about a teacher who gave his students the assignment of writing a letter to their future selves; the person they hoped to be in twenty years.  He saved the letters and sent them  when the time was up.  That was very moving and meaningful to both teacher and former students.

I visit a few other bloggers, some of whom are nearby and who I have met now, in person.  Some are celebrity knitters (the blogs I read, not the people I've met.)  One is a bundle of energy who travels to teach all over the country, and quilts like the most prolific quilter you've ever seen!

I also found some folks who went on the road, traveling year round in their travel trailers.  Some of them are also gifted writers and it is great fun to read about the world as seen through their eyes.

Then there are book recommendations.  (I have grown more and more finicky about what I will read as I grow older.)  I may read one trashy book, but I won't subscribe to the whole series, thanks anyway.

Let's see, where else did I go besides stopping to check in with my sister, and try to use my reluctant Words With Friends game.  It's very slow to use these days, now that it is improved.

I think that was about it, because I went shopping and got the gifts for one of the main people on my Christmas list.  (All week I was going to make a couple project bags, but just wasn't in the mood.  Once I find a fabric I really like for this, I will be a model of industry.  Trust me on that.  Chuckle.)

I'm going to award a neat prize to a commenter between Nov 1 and Christmas.  I promise to use the impartial random number generator, but the more you comment, the better your chance.

I will even appreciate knowing what your idea of a neat prize would be.  Would someone like a ginormous box of quilting scraps?  You would be doing me such a service!  You have no idea!

Hope you are having a fine weekend!

The Big Dig

This isn't going to be about the snow storm, fun as it is to discuss.

Rather this has to do with an encounter I heard about from a quilting friend.  It has bugged me ever since, and since blog subjects are scarce I will share it with you.

If you're a regular here, you know that I spend a lot of time on my quilting passion.  Or at least reading about my quilting passion.  It's hard to accomplish much if you hate to cut anything up----but I digress.

Anyway, this friend was shopping for fabric in a popular country-wide fabric and craft chain store, and was standing in line to have her purchase measured and cut, chatting with another customer.

"What will you be using your fabric for?"

"Well, I'm just filling in some color gaps.  I've used my greens and need some more."

Puzzled look.  "Hmmm?"

Explains, "I make quilts and need a lot of colors."

"Do you have a quilting machine?"

"No."

"Well, you aren't a real quilter, then, are you...."

A quilting machine makes you a real quilter?  It's good that she wasn't talking to me, or she'd have been in the hospital.  Apparently she doesn't realize that not that long ago, a machine quilted quilt wouldn't even have been allowed in a quilt show.

I am a big fan of machine quilting and the people who do own machines and quilt for others!  God bless them all.  But I surely do love coming across a lovely hand-quilted quilt!  

And I hope that someone enlightens that ignorant person who dared to say such a thing to my friend, a Real Quilter to her very core.

Whew!  I feel better now.

I Am Not Ready

I made the move to change my header picture to something "more seasonal".  So I found a great many pictures taken in winter.  Snow covered trees, car accidents, holiday shots, birds, squirrels. The whole ephemera of our winters here.

As you can see, I just can't climb aboard the Winter Wagon yet.  I am, however, quite involved in quilting this week.  I have wiggled and jiggled with my sewing machine which is said to be able to do machine quilting.  I stitched in the ditch to hold some segments together and then did some hand quilting in some noticeable areas.

So I moved a quilt to the header.  There will be snow-----at a more seasonable time.  (In the meantime, I can scarcely get my doors open for the amount of snow that's accumulated.)

Sigh.  I'd rather not talk about the weather.  If you have access to television, I expect you know about the snow and cold.  No need to bring it up here.

I did notice though, that it was so blustery this morning that there were no birds at the feeders at all.  Not even my marauder rodents were stealing seeds.  Everyone with good sense stayed out of the weather.

I hope you were able to as well.

Hippy Skippy

I have not been successful at blogging daily, now that I forgot to blog on Sunday.  Does that mean that I should throw in the towel and quit?

I am waiting to hear something from someone.  Anyone will do.

While I'm waiting I will tell you about slip  ping and sliding around on the roads in town this morning. I texted my friend over the weekend and she said she was fine, but wishing she'd had her snow tires put on last week.  I thought of her while I did errands this morning.  Snow tires would have been a great help.

Most people were just creeping to places where they would have to turn or stop.  No salt or sand has been spread yet, so it's me against nature.   I'm not too worried about my own driving---I'm excessively careful, but I don't trust other drivers, especially youngsters who may not have much experience----or who think nothing bad can happen to them.  Not so, children.

It was my intention to insert a car accident picture here, from my own archives, but of course, it can't be found.  We had a car flip onto its roof, right in front of the house one year not too long ago.  (Driving too fast for conditions----which were icy in some spots and clear in others.  Oops!)

If nobody comments today, I'm done with this experiment.  On to quilting.

She's Really Cooking Now!

I hate to report that Good Guy is under the weather.

I especially hate to report that because that means the the Head Cook is also under the weather.

Unfortunately, we both still like to eat.  Therefore one of us will have to (shudder) do the grocery shopping and turn the groceries into edible meals.  I have heard that there is a generation of young folks who hardly ever cook, but buy food already prepared.  Alas, I am not part of that generation, and spent many years shopping and cooking for a lively family of seven.  I have the knowledge even if it's a bit out of use.

The upside of this is that the house now smells like fresh baked bread, and a baked dessert.  That doesn't happen to much with the Head Cook.  He makes great stuff, but doesn't do much baking.

My sister's husband cooks too, but once the meat is prepared he thinks that is plenty.  Kind of a manly point of view.

So I am expecting a speedy recovery for Good Guy and in the meantime I'll enjoy having the kitchen to myself.  As much as I can.