It can't possibly have been a year

It Can't possibly have been a Year

I can't believe that it has been nearly a year since I last wrote in this blog.  Life does tend to get away from us.  It has been a very busy year.  To begin with we have a new Great Granddaughter  and she is now 8 months old - wasn't that just last week we drove over to Chicago when her mommy went in the hospital to have her.  Well I guess it has been.

Then in July my quilting buddy and I took off for a Quilt Shop Hop into Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Canada and Iowa.  It was my first trip into North Dakota and my first trip out of the USA.  It was a lot of fun.  I had no idea there was so much open space in North Dakota - next time I will be better prepared - and I am a country girl - just not that much country!!

In August my husband and I took off and headed west.  We went to Yellowstone National Park where we had a close encounter on the Buffalo kind.  

He had it in his head to charge the road, but she had other ideas.  It was interesting they way she headed him off and turned him.  It also seemed like she was talking to him the entire time.  There was a herd of them in the area, but these two really interested me.

From Yellowstone we headed further north and went to Glacier National Park.  The scenery in this park is spectacular.  If I was a decade or two younger it would be a wonderful place to hike - but I was content with the car and my camera and some wonderful places to pull over and take pictures.

Our last stop of the trip was the Badlands in South Dakota.  It was an interesting place to visit, but after a while, one rock starts to look just like the last rock, but this place was rather interesting.

In between all the trips and the holidays, our granddaughter graduated from High School, our grandson joined the Marines, and we had several family parties and picnics.  It was an eventful year.

But it is now January and while we've had a very mild winter so far - especially compared to last Winter at about this time - we did have a bad ice/snow storm last weekend and the weekend before.  This past weekend included the coldest temperatures of the season but didn't come close to last year thank goodness.  But then again it is still January.

I've spent a lot of time reading  - I definitely won't go into all of them  - but I read some of my favorites:

David Baldecci

Clive Cussler

Donna Andrews

Amanda Quick

Susan Wittig Albert

Laurie R. King

Jacqueline Winspear

Hope Callaghan

Susanna Gregory

Thomas Perry

Ellery Adams

Jennifer Chiaverini

Nevada Barr

 And also a few new ones

Dale Mayer

Susan Ella MacNeal

Lynne Hint

Kennedy Chase

Sally Goldbloom

So many books - so little time!!

Polar Vortex Part II

It is now official - this morning we broke the all time record low - not just for January 31, but as far back as the records go.  The old record for our area was -28 set February 3, 1996.  The new record is -33 set this morning.  I remember the old record - I was stringing for a local paper and had an interview that afternoon.  When I went to leave the interview, there was a big red puddle under my brand new Cougar.  The seal on the power steering pump and burst in the cold and I was stuck 5 miles from town.  Because of the intense cold no local tow company was available to get to me before the next day.  Finally the Mercury dealer in Geneseo said he could get it my 5:00 PM  - it was now only about 2:00 PM.  Thankfully the business I was doing the story on was owned by a friend and she agreed to keep the keys and give them to the driver when he came and her business partner - who was leaving then - took me home.  I got the car back about 3 days later and never had any more trouble. Kept it for over 20 year.

Polar Vortex

Today is the day of the polar vortex in my neck of the woods.  Right now the temperature is -13 F and it is noon.  This morning it was -23 F and by tonight it is supposed to be -31 F.  With the wind chills right now it feels like -36 F and we are under a wind chill warning.  I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon but it was cancelled and rescheduled.  That is the second time this season that has happened - two different doctors - once for a snow storm and now for the deadly cold.  Every thing is closed from schools to libraries, from churches to court houses.  And there is not mail delivery - and worse all the quilt shops are closed!!  of course I wasn't planning on going out to shop anyway.

This is the view from my front window.  Hubby got the snow blown out yesterday before the really brutal cold it, and the road commissioner did an amazing job plowing and rocking the road (we are a township road and get no salt) but it is still snow covered and icy and there is a hill to go up in either direction.  This in no way can possibly show the cold.

I'm spending the day on my computer, Then I'm going down to work on my Fun On The Farm quilt by Eleanor Burns ( on facebook) and maybe a couple of other projects I have in the works.

Reading is another good option for the day,

So far this month I've read:

Divine Intervention by Hope Callagahan
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
The Race by Clive Cussler
Promise not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krantz

The only new author to me is Kerry Greenwood - her Pharyne Fisher Mysteries.  I watched them on Net-flicks and then my sister told me about the books - I loved it and am looking forward to the next one.

Well, I'm off to do some sewing and hopefully stay warm for the day.

The Holidays are over

The holidays are finally over and I can take a deep relaxing breath for the first time in months.  I have no more Christmas presents to make or wrap.  I have no more breads to bake or dishes to cook for a Holiday dinner.  Now I can sit and sew quietly for my new great-grand baby girl due in May.  I am so very excited for this to happen and am praying for a beautiful, healthy girl.

I've already made her one set of a bib and burp cloth.  There will be a couple of more in the mix.  I'd like to make the traditional Pugsley/Doutt Poncho for babies for her, and of course she will be getting the baby quilt.  I have it started. 

Most of this has to be completed by March 4th as I go in for a knee replacement surgery that day and I have no idea how long I will be unable to go up and down the stairs to work in my quilt studio.  But I'm not going to worry about that now  I'm going keep my chin up and my attitude positive. 

I'm not making new year resolutions this year - just too frustrating to not keep them.  So I'm going to attempt to do my CALM Meditations most days - 3 out of 5 to begin with.  I want to post 3 really good shots every week on my 365 account.  Hopefully it will get me in the mood to do more.  After my surgery I want to get back to my letter-boxing.  Maybe finding at least one a week.   And I have to help plan at least one road trip this spring - and maybe one in the late summer or early fall.

Next time I will be posting my "award winning" cinnamon roll recipe - Bread machine version - so keep your eyes pealed for that.

August Has Been Cancelled

I really wish I could permanently cancel August!!  The last 3 Augusts have been really bad for my husband and I.  In 2016 he had to have open heart surgery and a by-pass.  In 2017 I had surgery for lung cancer and this August I had Cataract surgery in both eyes.  The good news is we both survived the surgeries and I CAN SEE!!  I didn't realize how bad my eyesight had gotten until I had the second surgery.  What a blessing eyesight is!

Even with the eyesight problem and the surgeries I did get a lot done.  We started a new quilt for Lydia Circle at the church.  I had to get the pattern done before the first surgery so my cohort could do her lesson plan.  It is a really pretty quilt - a log cabin variation that ends up with curves when you assemble it.  I haven't done the second month's pattern yet so I don't have a completed block. 

I've gone on a mug rug kick - using up some of the scraps that are laying around the quilting room.  This one is for my chair side table for the fall - or at least for September.

I'm also into making drawstring bags.  This one was made to carry all the crazy eye drops and assorted things I needed for my surgery.  They would also be great as gift bags as they could be made in any size you want - they are cheap and quick.  I'll post the pattern as soon as I get it transcribed.

My reading list for August was extensive and varied - when you realize I couldn't see well after my first surgery.

Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler
A Skeleton in God's Closet by Paul L Maier
Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich
Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flowers
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
Gone Gull by Donna Andrews
The Girl on the Train by Paula Harkins
Waves of Deception by Hope Callaghan

There are some old favorites like Clive Cussler, Donna Andrews, Hope Callaghan, and Janet Evanovich.  There there are some new ones like Sara Gruen - Wow I was impressed - very good book.  Paula Harkins was also a surprise - good mystery - even I was shocked at the ending and I usually have them figured out by chapter 2!!  Paul L Maier was a very interesting author - I had the mystery figured out - but how he got you there was great.  He has another couple of books with the same characters so I may try them also.

Looking forward to September and some cooler and hopefully dryer weather.  It's only the 9th and we have already had like 6 inches of rain.  The farmers are having fits because the crop won't dry down well if there is too much rain.  It is dry and sunny today but the ditches are still full of rainwater. 

Chicken Gumbo Soup

Chicken Gumbo Soup

I found a recipe for Chicken Gumbo Soup years ago and lost it and then found it in my files a few weeks ago.  I've always used Chicken Gumbo Soup to make my version of Sloppy Joe's,  but found out I'm terribly sensitive to MSG so could no longer use canned soup.  The Organic soups didn't include Gumbo Soup and they just didn't have the flavor I wanted.  So I took the old recipe and reworked it for my family.

Chicken Gumbo Soup

Servings 10

1 whole chicken

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 - 3/4 cup carrots, sliced thin

4 cups diced tomatoes or tomato juice

3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice - Not Instant

3 quarts of chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 cups fresh or frozen okra
2-3 tablespoons broth base (*see note)

Place chicken in a large kettle or stock pot, cover with water.  Bring to a boil and turn down to medium/low heat and simmer until done.  Remove chicken and allow to cool.  Set the broth aside to use in the soup.  When chicken is cool, remove from the bones and chop.

Strain the broth and measure.  If you don't have enough broth, add a little water and a little extra broth base.

Add the onion, celery, carrots and tomatoes bay leaf and bring to a boil - add rice and turn the heat to medium.  Cook until the rice is done - about 20 minutes - stirring occasionally.

Add okra and chicken.  Simmer until okra is well cooked.  I like to simmer mine for several house.

It is great in recipes or as a main course for dinner.

*Note:  I prefer Orrington Farms Broth Base, it is organic and has no MSG or unpronounceable ingredients,  and it has wonderful flavor.

It's a new world!!

Well, It will be a new world for me soon.  So many things are happening.  I had to have cataract surgery a week ago Tuesday - and another one next Tuesday.  Seeing is a bit difficult right now - but surprisingly - out of my left eye - I can see pretty well - which only makes the right eye seem worse!!  By this time next week I will have a bright new world. 

I have finally completed a couple of things.  After my disaster last year, not a lot got done.  But the other day I made a pattern for and made a vinyl lined bag for when I am able to return to water aerobics. 

I still need to make a couple of drawstring bags to put in it for my shower gel and sundry things - just procrastinating on that. 

I also just finished a quilt.  I quilted it on my domestic machine in a version of quilt as you go that I worked out myself. 

I've called it Stars on the Prairie.  It started life as a BOM but there were some things I didn't care for so I redid them to my liking.  It is 90" x 90".  I know it will be gifted to someone, I just don't know who yet.

Working on the pattern for our Lydia Circle Guilds new BOM for this year.  Have the quilt designed, just need to get the first month's pattern together.  It's called Life's Journey. 

Well I need to get some things accomplished so be ready for my eye surgery next week.