Merry Christmas to All, and To All A Good Night!

Carrie and Fayne

We had lunch at Carrie's beautiful house with all of Andrew's relatives.  Frank and I are still the outsiders in the group, even though Carrie is our only child.  But it affords us a way to see our daughter at holidays.  So we share the time with Andrew's huge family.

They are a likeable group, for the most part.  And I have to say, we have good food when they gather.  And lots of sweets.  Jamie, a skinny girl herself, always brings 3 desserts.  Go figure that.

Carrie and Michael

We exchanged presents, Fayne gave me the jar opener I have not found anywhere.  That was the exact perfect thing I needed.  Carrie gave Frank a shoe shine box.  He really needed one; he lost all his shoe brushes and cloths in the flood.









Carrie gave Jamie, Fayne and me a day at the Woodhouse Spa together.  That ought to be fun.  Massages, facials, hands, feet.  Oh yes........I can definitely get into that!




Sawyer was overwhelmed with everything and all the stuff.  He had a ton of presents from everyone.  We gave him a Red Flyer Wagon like Carrie used to have.  I was going to repaint hers, but it was destroyed in the flood.  I found a tent to play in for his bedroom and the cutest octopus that is about as tall as he is!

We also did a Dirty Santa this year and Andrew ended up with my trophy!  I love it.  I still think it was a great idea.
 
I have always felt a let down as the hours of Christmas Day wind down to midnight.  It is a malaise, if you will.   I have felt this as long as I can remember.  As a child in New Orleans, we exchanged presents and had dinner at Grandma Graci's house with my cousin Karen's family from Chicago, then supper with the Baton Rouge cousins. 

It was a day of unfamiliar cousins and Aunts and Uncles we saw a couple of times a year.   And then it was over.

Now, in my 60's I guess it is the same story.......dinner with unfamiliar cousins and then it is over.

Merry Christmas Day

Michael and his momma!

Hope your Christmas was happy and good.  And that Papa Noel brought you lots of fabric and needles.

As with our family tradition, Frank and I opened our presents on Christmas Eve night. He got a CD player (cause he broke his 300 disk CD changer) and I got a certificate for an extensive detailing of my CRV.  He told me I could get new one, but this one is 12 years old and has only 45,000 miles on it.  It has never had a problem so there really is nothing wrong with it.  It just needs to be "hosed" out!  LOL

Andrew opening Presents

Hugeaux the Grand-dog

Presents everywhere!

We went to Carrie's for lunch with Andrew's family.  His parents, Fayne and Bobby shared the day, along with Andrew's brother and fiancee and her three very well behaved kids.  3, 10, 14.   I got them all books and the 10 year old was already reading it when we stopped for dessert!  The 14 year old played chess with Frank.  Frank used to play with my dad.  My dad was Chess Champion of New Orleans for a number of years and would love to beat any comers!  He used to set up situations for me, drilling me on how to best some famous moves.  I hated it.  But when I married Frank, he took over the drills and loved it!  I think that is why my dad liked him so much!

I gave Jaime and Fayne their quilts and they were both very happy.  Fayne LOVED the cats!  

Paula and Glen came over to the house after we got home.  It is so good to see her up and walking and out and about after her knee surgery.  It is  almost 3 weeks and she is nearly there!  Well, relatively speaking!  LOL

I hope your day was filled with family and friends and food!

Christmas Day Spent in Bed

(An Aside:  Click here for a better way to spend Christmas in New Orleans!   It was a rare and unusual sight.  It lasts for a few hours then is just a memory!  But somehow, New Orleans made it beautiful!)

But not in a happy way!

We had dinner with Ann and hubby on Saturday, we tried out a new restaurant called Pat's Seafood.  It is a branch of the one in Henderson Louisiana that has been famous throughout the area since way back when.  We used to drive out with my Aunt Edie and Uncle Buddy when we were first married.


Ann was dealing with a cold that caused her to lose her voice.  She looked like she was not feeling well at all.  I could tell she was tired and after having family and funeral and kids, she had reason to be tired. 

So, smart me, gets her cold.  And now I can't talk.  (Some would say that may be an improvement, and I will hunt you down if you do.)

I slept most of the day, off and on.  Chicken soup, which I hate, is like an antibiotic.  (The noodles taste like paste and cardboard.) Mentholatum on the feet clears up some of the lung congestion. 

I missed Christmas with dear friends at their home surrounded by all the dogs.  They may have missed the salad we were to bring.  But I did have the chicken soup..........

Several people have asked me what a Jawhorse was.  It is a sawhorse on steroids!  Here is the link to a description.  I got mine from Lowes for $98 but since they didn't have any at the store when I went to get them, I ordered it online and had it delivered free to the store.  I just went in and picked them up.

JawHorse  (click here)  It kinda looks like a horse, see those feet?   And the stirrup?

It was a great gift, well received by both of them.  But it was the Roomba that was the most exciting!  Carrie and Andrew both loved it.  It was wonderful to watch their eyes light up when they opened it up.  It made the whole day for me.

And obviously today as well, since it didn't get any better than that moment!

If You Could Buy Yourself The BEST Xmas Present

What would it be?  You might be surprised by mine.  Even the people who know me well would be totally surprised.


It is not fabric.





It is not a doggy item.

It is not a new car.

This is Carrie's old house

It is not a new sofa or new table.  





It would be there's beauties!!!

!!Fringe!!!!

or maybe these babies!!!

!Buckles!!!!!

I have no idea why, either.  But ever since I saw a pair of Carlos Santana boots two years ago, I have lusted after a pair.  I am not a clothes horse, I am not particularly shapely and svelte.  I am not in the public eye at parties or in business.

But I do love those boots!  And they really are made  by the Carlos Santana who sang Oye Como Va in 1970.  (Loosely translated it means hey, come on and listen to my rhythm!)  Don't you just love a bad Latino boy?  Maybe that is why I love Dr. Gorgeous so much..........

What about you?  What is it you lust after, oddly?

Stash Report and a New Addition

Yes, I was weak.  I went to the quilt shop to purchase the Christmas Dog Fabric and fell in love with this.  So it will become my Christmas Table Runner.  Sorry Dogs.

With that purchase I added 1.75 yards of Christmas delight!

used this week	-6.910
used in Oct	-59
added this week	6.250
Add in Oct	66
Used YTD	-203
Added YTD	177.25
Stash Reduction	-25.75

Here is a tease of what it is looking like this Saturday afternoon.  Going together quite nicely.  It was no particular pattern.  I just opened EQ and went to table runners and thought this would fit the bill for a cute Christmassy runner that would showcase the fabrics, be easy and quick and not too much cutting and sewing.

I got it finished just before dinner.  Dinner was Leek and Corn Chowder I cooked this morning.  I know Ann is on the road and probably hungry right now for some of this deliciousness.

I finished and wanted to take a picture of my amazing Christmas Table Runner and this happened.  Which is what happens any time I try to take pictures.  I put a Santa bowl for effect and they thought it contained some marvelous new doggy food and would not leave it alone.

Obviously bassets are pretty smart because after they decided there was nothing in it, DiNozzo sat to wait for it to be filled!

That is about the best picture you will get until Frank gets his stuff off the table and I can take the picture in the REAL place it will be.

I failed to think about the binding, so I have to head back to the store on Tuesday and get binding for it.  Black.  I have enough of the green, which is the back, but I wanted black.

Oh, here is the back......What you see on the design wall is Patch No Work Moroccan which is the bed quilt for my room.  That is a corner of the queen sized quilt.  Hopefully I still have all the pieces because for sure there is no more fabric left.  The quilt shop it came from is long gone......

Hey Amelia.....I miss you!

Two Quilts To Live In Texas

These quilts will go to a dear friend of mine who lives in Keller TX.  We met years and years ago over a couple of tri-colored dogs.  We crossed paths several times at activities, the local clubs were very active back then because we all worked hard to set things up.  No so much today, no one sets up picnics or club things anymore.

We hiked together, we went to Fun Day Picnics, had weight pulls and we showed our beautiful dogs at shows all over the south and southwest.  Now, both of our dogs are gone, crossed that Rainbow Bridge, taking a piece of our hearts with them.
But the friendship remained, and we still talk every once in a while.  When I am in the Dallas area I call and try to see her.

And I can think of no better place to send my quilts than to my dear friend in Texas.

The Merlot Grapevine was made in 2006 in response to a challenge issued by a local guild.  We were to take a block and change it by adding a line or subtracting a line.  The new block would be used in a quilt we were to design.  When I made the change in my block, it looked like a grapevine trellis to me, hence the grapes.  I am not the best applique person, but they have stayed on all these years!

The Christmas quilt was a fun way to use up my pieces.  On the back of this Christmas quilt I used a large piece of fabric that has Swissy pups dressed in sweaters, like they really need sweaters!

Have happy  thoughts of me and the Swissys when you snuggle up with my quilts.

glen

Stash Reduction Report 9-9-12

With America gearing up toward 9-11 on Tuesday they have been showing some great documentaries on TV lately.  I watched one the night Charlene stayed here that was from the victim's perspective in all 4 planes.  I didn't know that people from the tower were on the phones with their families and police and EMS while the towers were actually falling.

As I watched the towers fall even from the perspective of 11 years out, it felt like I was watching it happening all over again.  It was incredibly emotional.

We should never forget that feeling we had that day.

In other news..............Karen Stone came and lectured and gave two classes AND I've got a new foster.  Another cruelty case, if he is heartworm negative he will go up north in a transport to a wonderful, prescreened perfect forever home.

See McGee at  this post  He is undercover presently waiting his medical reports and will lose his manhood next week.


My stash went down!  Yeah! 20.5 yards and counting!  I told you when I got the tension correctly set on the quilting machine it would zip out some UFOs and eat up some yardage.  Look for even more in the future!  The Elephants are going out to Charlene H. for quilting.  We made plans to have them done so I need to get the back put together and the whole shebang squared up.  I hate squaring up a quilt.  Is there an easy way?


used this week -4.5
used in Sept -4.5
added this week 0
Add in Sept 0
Used YTD -148.5
Added YTD 128
Stash reduction -20.5

Have a great week and if you want a cute boy, let me know!

glen

CHristmas UFO to a Loving Home

I actually put a Christmas UFO from about 5 years ago on the frame.  The stars that were on the panto table already seemed perfect when done in a nice Christmas-sy Tomato Red thread.  It was originally going to be the backing of another Christmas quilt I was making.  But I liked it so much I wanted it to live free on its own!

And I am using up the ends of the batting from the last two quilts.  That means another large yardage usage for the back and two pieces of extraneous batting that will be used up.

I am getting there!  And I think I will send this Christmas Quilt to my doggy friend Natalie in Texas!  Yes.  She will love it!

So it already has a nice loving home.  She is a wonderful artist who works in clay.  She does amazing stuff.  Maybe she will share some of her work with us one day.

This is the completed top, just needing binding.  It went so fast, I finished it in one afternoon.  It is about 68 by 68 inches.  I have to choose that soon and get it rolling.  The back is a pieced conglomeration of the large Christmas fabric pieces I had.  All my Christmas fabric is contained in a plastic shoe box, so nothing is really large.  I love these dogs, they almost look like my beloved Swissys, just needing a little brown on them.

I wonder if I should email Natalie and send her the link to this post, or just let her be surprised when a box arrives at her doorstep!  I think I will surprise her!  I would LOVE to be surprises thusly!

My foot is on the trees on the back of the Christmas Quilt.  LOL.  I didn't realize my foot looked so sexy!  And I don't even have on my sexy shoes!  Oh La La!  I will have to show you the sexy sandals.  They are truly incredible.  I can't imagine what will happen when they fall apart.  This is the second summer I have worn them.  Did I say they are incredibly sexy?

glen

Christmas is Over

            There is always a sadness in the air when the sun sets on Christmas Day.  I remember one year I was in 5th grade.  My beloved Ganny had died the year before and Papa was in Houston with his mistress, whom he had kept hidden for all those years before.  He came to New Orleans and brought some presents for Kenny and me.  His presents were usually stuff he






had rounded up from old houses and junk shops and reworked.  This year it was radio units for both of us.  I was in my bed, my parents came in to tuck me in and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was playing on that radio.  My dad wanted to turn it off, but my mother said, let it finish.  Christmas is over when you turn it off.


I have never forgotten that moment.  And now, Christmas is over.  And I always feel sad.
We were at Carrie's house for lunch/dinner with Andrew's parents Bobby and Fayne, and his brother and wife Michael and Amanda.  No Tristan this year, so his present went home with Amanda. 
Carrie's house was beautifully decorated. The table was elegant. Everything was wonderful. She has such a way with putting things together, her house looks like a picture in a magazine.  I guess that is what she is good at doing, such a creative and artistic mind. 
She had Brussels sprouts, collard greens cooked in bourbon, au gratin potatoes, green bean casserole, bow tie broccoli salad.  Fayne brought spiral ham, spaghetti and cheese and sweets.  I supplied some chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie and biscotti.  It was a fine feast.
After dinner we gathered and distributed presents.  Andrew opened his BBQ grill (we all pitched in and bought him a really nice one), Carrie opened pearls from Andrew and a Kitchenaid Mixer from me. 

Our present from Carrie was interesting.  She told me when I opened it I was going to feel violated.  I was totally intrigued at that statement.  I opened the wrapping to find the oil painting of the plantation that hangs in my dining room.  She had "stolen" it from the house and we had no clue!  Taped to the frame was a voucher for a weekend in that very same plantation!

And now Christmas is over.  The sun has set on the day.  And I am sad.  The worst part is my brother has not even called or sent a Christmas card or contacted me about our mother.  I wonder where his kharma is sitting tonight.

Merry Christmas until next year, glen

Quilting today

Today is quilting day with Paula and Norma.  I have one to finish up and several baskets to make still for Christmas.  I will be working hard and furiously on these challenges to get them finished by the deadlines I need!

Merry Christmas to all and I hope you get MORE!

If I don't get back to you for what ever reason, I wanted to make sure you knew I wanted you all to have a Merry Christmas.

My tree is minimalist this year due to the constraints of the surgery....and time.  But it is still pretty.  I find it interesting how we can see beauty in less when we never thought about it before.  We usually load our tree with the wonderful ornaments we have collected in our 38 years of marriage, 25 years of child rearing, and life.

This year we have not a single ornament.  And it is still beautiful.  Next year the ornaments will be back on, simply because they are a lifetime of our memories.  And we do want them on the tree.

Merry Christmas, I hope your Christmas is definitely MORE!

glen:  thanks to all of you for being my friends.  I love you all!

Another Christmas Present almost there

It just needs to be sandwiched and quilted.  Fabrics were chosen to enhance the tea pot.  I think I will find some crumpets and maybe some nice jam or lemon curd. 

I love the colors together, they are some of my favorite.  And while it didn't bust a lot of stash, it did it what it did with meaning!

So if you are reading my post, and are on my list of Christmas people and like this.........speak up.  And hurry, Valerie likes every one!

And if you want to know how long is it, it is just under the length of a Smelly Basset!

glen