Twas the Night Before Christmas

Louie is ready for Christmas. He's been helping me in the kitchen and watching for the mailman and delivery trucks. Our mail(wo)man has been giving Louie treats when she sees him outside walking. Now he waits for her and thinks all trucks must be for him. He was watching me make dessert to take to Shannon's for Christmas Eve.
I found him sitting under the table looking up at the finished cookies (made with my mom's old cookie cutters). They have been safely relocated to a higher dog-proof counter. Tough luck, Louie, but maybe there is something in your stocking.
And indeed, the stockings are hung. Left to right, they belong to Meghan, Taplin, Justin, Bridger, LOUIE, Allen, Shannon, Jean, and Nathan. Mine is the one my mom made when I was a child, and my brother had a matching one. Allen's Scrooge stocking is appropriate, don't you think? Nathan -- now how did he end up with the biggest one? Louie has been sniffing the toe of Nathan's. We can't let Louie out of our sight. Thanks to Mr. Pug I've re-wrapped a few more presents from under the tree. Wait until he has little boy toys to steal once Bridger and Taplin are here tomorrow night.

Anticipation

Guess how Allen and I spent Sunday afternoon? We cleaned off the table and the kitchen island, gathered paper, tape, and scissors, and wrapped, wrapped, wrapped. We listened to a Christmas CD that Shannon put together, and we had fun anticipating Christmas. We talked about the years when Shannon and Meghan went to a movie on Christmas Eve so that we had some alone time to hurriedly wrap the Santa gifts. When I was little, we opened presents from Santa on Christmas Eve, but our kids always opened gifts from out of town on Christmas Eve, and Allen and I opened presents from each other and the girls. Santa gifts were opened Christmas morning. This year we will open presents at our house after dinner on Christmas evening after Meghan, Justin, and the boys are here.
I finished a Christmas quilt for the dining room table this week. We'll have nine adults for Christmas lunch -- Nathan's parents, his sister's family from Atlanta, and Uncle Jimmy. Rib roast for dinner. Allen brought home several pounds of deer meat from a friend at his work. I'm not sure how that will be cooked, but it won't be Christmas dinner. I read an autobiographical Truman Capote story to my students last week. He lived in southern Alabama, and he says in the story that they had flapjacks, fried squirrel, and grits for Christmas breakfast. I'll pass on the squirrel.
Aren't they cute? Mwah. Kissing pug salt shakers (a gift from my friend Brenda) are right at home on the border of the new quilt. It's nice to actually see the dining room table where we had accumulated all unwrapped presents. While the stockings are not yet hung by the chimney with care, besides all of wrapping, I managed to take the packages to UPS and they are finally on their way to out of town relatives. Thank goodness school is closed until next year so that I have a bit more time.
The presents are wrapped. (Except for three now, compliments of Louie.) Hmmm. Wonder what's in them! It even feels like Christmas with temperatures this morning in the teens. After nine inches of rain in the last two weeks, the cold and sun are a welcome change. No, Allen, yours is not under the tree. Don't bother looking.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas time is especially precious when you can share time and laughter with friends. This is my Bunco group. We have been getting together once a month, playing bunco, eating, and laughing together for what, going on nine years, I think. We are very official -- Lynne helps us keep a running record of who wins and loses each month, and we have a set rotation of who will host which month. We've had just a few changes of faces, but we are a great group of gals. You know, all of us are married (to our first and only husband), all of us have children (half of us are grandmothers), and all of us work or have worked at Mountain Gap. One tradition is to gather for Christmas Bunco and play Dirty Santa. This year, a cold front was threatening to turn rain to snow, so we met an hour early, ate a wonderful meal of lentil soup and salad prepared by our hostess, Biddie, and then played Dirty Santa. No Bunco this time, which is, I think, a first. Next month, my house...
Louie has had a wonderful week of thievery, walks, and naps while Allen has worked at home. So far, he hasn't bothered the Christmas tree much. Ten days, and he will have two little boys to play with. I can't wait.
Allen and I purchased our Christmas present from us to us last Sunday. We visited the studio of Guadalupe Robinson and came away the proud owners of some of her pottery. She is a friendly, talkative, and talented potter who lives just a few minutes from Shannon's house. We enjoyed visiting and getting to know her a bit, and then came the hardest part, choosing what to take home. Merry Christmas to us!

Christmas Decorations and Elephant Cookies

It takes lots of time and energy to decorate for Christmas, but once I'm finished and the boxes are put away, it is nice to sit back and enjoy the house. Frosty, the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul! These snowmen have been around as long as I can remember. If I have the story right, my mother made these Papier-mâché fellows for my brother when he was little. I am guessing she made them in the 1950s. I think they maybe had hats at one point, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I love them and have them sitting at the top of the stairs. We'll see how long that lasts, but Louie hasn't discovered them yet, or he has and isn't interested.
This nativity set was a gift to me from John and Mary the first year we were married. They brought it back from a trip to the Holy Land. Last year, Bridger arranged and rearranged the people, carefully naming each one and telling me his version of the Christmas story. Then we would have to go to the next room and see the next nativity set and do it all over again. I cannot wait until he is here for Christmas this year. I don't think Taplin will be interested in them yet this year, but he will love the lights on the tree.
And it is a tall tree! We have had this one for six years, and when Allen moans about putting it up, I remind him that for many years, he went with the girls and cut down a tree this big, hauled it a long mile or two, got it into the truck, heaved it into the house, wrestled with a heavy trunk, and finally got it up. The big fresh trees would drink water like crazy, and then they would start to shed. One day, we probably won't have a twelve foot tree, but it is fun for now. I remember that when I was little, we had a real tree in the snowy mountain tree stand that my mom and dad made. There was a stable in front for the nativity. Now that set is in our dining room.
We have lots of Santas that I love, but these three are my quilt Santas. The one in the middle is from John and Mary two years ago. The tall one on the left is by the same artist, Jim Shore, and we got him in Nashville on our weekend trip to the flea market with Shannon and Nathan in October. That same day, Allen surprised me with the Santa on the right. I saw him at the street festival of wood carvers in Franklin, and when I walked on with Shannon, he went back and got him for me. He is a special fellow. When it is time to put the Santas away, he may stay in my quilt room to maintain the Christmas spirit through the year.
We have had a wonderful stretch of excellent weekends. We've especially had fun with our Crimson Tide football parties with Shannon, Nathan, and their friends. Yesterday, we enjoyed the day even though the Florida Gators won. The elephant cookies were a big hit. I don't think Allen even got to eat one before they were gone. I got the cookie cutter at the Country Living Fair back in September, and I followed their recipe. It is definitely a keeper recipe. I haven't made cookies in a long time, but I had fun in the kitchen yesterday making wings and party food and sugar cookies. I guess we can have one more football party for the Sugar Bowl.

Shannon tagged me - favorite movies

Shannon tagged me. I have to list my favorite five movies. That is pretty hard. However,
I picked fun films I like watching even though I've seen them before. Nothing serious here.

My Cousin Vinny
Down Periscope
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Major League
You've Got Mail

So, Dawn, you've been tagged.

Another Quilt Project

New quilt finished!I am calling this one Heartland. I found the pattern and most of the batik in Denver, although the backing came from Franklin, TN. I got the idea for using this pattern and the colors flying cross country to Colorado this summer. I guess it's easy to figure out that the pattern is reminiscent of crop circles. A friend at school suggested the name Heartland after I told her of my inspiration for the quilt.
Here are two Colorado quilts hung on the balcony rail.
Next in line is finishing the quilting on this Christmas quilt. I actually made the top last year, but I ran into a few snags quilting it and ended up un-sewing the quilting and putting it aside. I got it out this week, and maybe it will be finished in the next few days.

Thanksgiving Weekend

The neighbors on the corner have the best tree - a ginko - and the leaves in the fall turn a brilliant yellow each year. After our first really cold night, they all seem to fall in one day, signaling the end of warm fall days and the onset of more winter-like weather and short days. I noticed that they raked yesterday, so the golden carpet is gone for another year.
Thursday morning, I got up in time to make the traditional pumpkin pies and my mother's recipe of twice baked potatoes. I haven't cooked Thanksgiving dinner in three years, and I guess I may not for a long time. Our new tradition is to go to Greg and Ruth's for dinner along with Nathan and Shannon, his Aunt Dale and his cousin Len and cousin Ricky and his wife and baby girl. We had a lovely day (even though I was under the weather with a nagging virus).
I think the pies turned out perfectly this year. I think there is one piece left.
Louie has been celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday as well. He finds leaves we have dragged in on our shoes and carries them around. He doesn't try to eat them, I don't think, he just likes to have them. It has been gloomy and wet for a couple of days, so he has had a ready supply. What a goof.
And here is Louie, once again celebrating an Alabama win. 36-0. Sweet. Louie loves football days with a house full of people all watching TV with him. Actually, although he will watch a bit of the game, his favorite shows this weekend have been dog competitions. Seriously, he sees the dogs and gets very excited. The best place for him to watch is from our bed so that he doesn't jump at the screen when he focuses and sees the dog.

Allen and I have much to be thankful for. We are blessed with health, our careers, our friends, our family -- especially Meghan and Shannon and our sons-in-law and our wonderful grandchildren, and our home. Our hearts are full.

Just a Little Project

I finished this little mini-quilt last night. It is totally handsewn, a first for me. I hand pieced it, hand appliqued it, hand quilted it, and then put the binding on by hand. I have no clue how people do intricate bed-size quilts by hand. This is just about 10 x 12 inches, and although I had fun making it, I don't see me ever hand quilting a big one! On to the next project, I guess. Maybe something for Christmas.

Lots to Celebrate

Louie celebrates his pug life on a daily basis! He really does bask in all of the attention he gets when we are both home. His idea of a perfect day is walk, eat, pester his people while they try to read the paper, rest on the people bed, steal stuff, walk and visit the neighborhood dogs, sit on one lap, sit on another (he's on my lap while I'm typing this), walk, sit on a lap, play with toys, eat, walk, chew a chew, and go to bed to rest up for the next day of dogdom. Louie has quite the life.
Saturday was a picture perfect day. We celebrated our thirty-third anniversary with a drive up to Fayetteville, Tennessee to their Host of Christmas Past weekend. The trees are unusually vibrant this year. We always miss the midwest fall colors in Missouri, but not this year.
This holly tree makes it obvious that we are heading toward the Christmas season already. We did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping at the Ten Thousand Village sale, and we browsed a couple of antique stores, but then it was time to get home for the Alabama-LSU rivalry game. Roll Tide! We had another win to celebrate after a nail-biter of a game. No school today due to Veterans Day. Novemeber is a great month for days off. Last week, school was closed on Election Day (and what a celebration that evening!!), this week for Veterans Day, then three days off Thanksgiving week. Allen's busy working at home, but I am celebrating my day off with some sewing projects. Last year, Shannon gave me this fun book for Christmas, and I decided to put together the little "Bluebird of Happiness" Christmas ornament like the little stuffed guys on the cover. Louie's helping. The big project underway is layering the quilt top I've finished and starting the quilting on it.

Louie's Halloween

Friday night on Halloween, and Louie is dressed and ready for trick or treaters. He had his choice of Louie the devil dog or Louie the skeleton, and I think he chose the skeleton because of his successful dieting. He is about 23 pounds, big for a pug, but just right for him. He doesn't mind the costume, but he's not so sure about the hood.After a meager handful of trick or treaters, Louie is dead to the world on my lap. Such a sweet boy.Roll Tide, Louie! We certainly enjoyed watching the game Saturday with Shannon and Nathan and their friends Josh and Chris. We fixed shrimp that we got in Gulf Shores over fall break -- shrimp casserole, peel and eat, and a new recipe for shrimp soup. Louie, Louie, where are you? After everyone went home, we were thrilled to stay up to watch Texas Tech beat Texas. Alabama is #1 for the first time since 1980. Louie thought the extra lap time was a winner.

We had an absolutely perfect October weekend. Friday night, Shannon and Nathan and Allen and I headed up to Nashville in a rented van (so there would be plenty of room for bringing home treasure). After a good night's rest, we were ready to hit the Nashville Flea Market at the state fairgrounds. We bought plenty -- a new quilted Jim Shore Santa for me, an old Coke sign for Nathan and Shannon, some pocket knives for Allen, and assorted other little goodies. Fun day, beautiful weather, lots and lots of walking. After lunch and libation, we hit the square in Franklin so that I could get the backing for the quilt I'm about to finish. Much to our delight, we hit the carver's festival -- wood carvers as well as pumpkin carvers. Allen surprised me by buying a second quilted Santa, this time a hand carved piece. Love it.
Saturday night, we sat in our hotel room and cheered on the Tide. Wow! Eight in a row, and they even showed up the second half to play the entire game. It was kind of fun being in Tennessee to watch Tennessee lose. Roll Tide! Sunday, we had a slow start, but eventually we headed towards Huntsville. We stopped at the Dog Days Flea Market in Ardmore, and look what Shannon found. No, she did not buy one. Nor did we buy one of the tiny pug puppies that were for sale. IF we got another, we would get one from Louie's breeder, but one pug is a lot of pug. We missed him this weekend.
We bought home a huge bowl full of apples with the idea that we will dry them. That's a good project for Halloween week. It's chilly this morning, and it feels like it's almost November. Oh well, back to work today.

Louie's Relaxing October Weekend

Louie and his people had a relaxing weekend. Saturday morning, and Louie has no big plans for the day, other than to....
...other than to get dressed and watch the Alabama game...
and take a nap on Jean's leg.I spent quite a bit of time working on a new batik quilt this weekend. I am trying out a different technique. Making curved seams is new for me. The little blocks are more challenging than the big ones. I have all eighty of the big ones finished.
There's Louie, keeping me company. Such a silly, silly pug.

Oh well, Fall Break is coming to an end

What a wonderful end to our fall break -- a trip to the Botanical Garden to see the Scarecrow Trail. Friday morning, Allen and I both took our cameras, and we had a warm autumn stroll through the park. This tree face lurks in the Enchanted Forrest.
These two gourd-headed scarecrows were playing spin the bottle...
and these two were obviously getting married. Saturday afternoon, we went to a real live wedding and then finished the evening watching football with Shannon and Nathan and some of their friends. Louie had the best time. He was sure that the room full of people were there just to visit him. He had fun, and so did his people.
This morning, we headed up to the Huntsville Farmer's Market to get some pumpkins. We met Shannon there, and the hardest part was deciding which ones to take home.
Aren't these the best looking tomatoes? They must be good since the sign said they are from Ethridge, Tennessee. We've visited the Amish community there, but it has been some years. That's a good idea for a road trip in the near future. Fall break might be over, but we try to find time for something fun most weekends. Hmmm. Wonder what our next mini-adventure is. Louie wants to go along, no doubt.

No, it can't already be Friday of Fall Break!

I know it's been a bit longer than usual between blog entries, but I was on a secret mission. I wanted to surprise both Shannon and Meghan with Halloween quilts, so that is what I was spending my time working on. For a couple of weeks, I spent most free minutes in the sewing room working with these two pieces. The witch wallhanging isn't very big, but I really enjoyed picking the fabrics from my Halloween stash and putting this together. I try some skill that is new to me on each quilt that I do. This one included more freemotion quilting (which you can't see in the picture anyway) than I've done before.
This quilt, named Spiders and Stars, now lives in Daphne with Meghan. Happy Birthday a few weeks early, Meghan. It is abaout 6o" x 84", and that is the biggest quilt I have ever machine quilted. Don't look too closely, because it is anything but perfect. However, it's quilted. I had fun with the fabric and the pattern. The method for putting together the double pinwheels in the middle block was pretty slick. Fall break is wonderful. After starting school the first week in August, I was more than ready for a break. Last Saturday, the first day of vacation, was a fun day. We went to Shannon's church for their bicentennial celebration. We especially enjoyed the cemetary tour lead by Greg Miller, Nathan's dad. He is a fine storyteller, and he knows his history of the church and the area. Check out the Huntsville Times article! Then when we got home, Allen and I enjoyed watching the Crimson Tide win. Not a pretty win, but a win. The best part of the vacation has to be seeing our grandsons. Look at Taplin -- he is five and a half months old, and he is almost ready to crawl. This is the perfect age! He smiles all of the time, he wakes up happy, he loves to eat, he grabs for toys and watches everything, and he makes lots of loud (and low) baby babbling. Such a love.
Bridger is great. He's a challenge for his mom and dad these days, but that is what you'd expect from a not quite three year old. Bridger loves books and puzzles, and he knows all of his letters and their sounds. He talks and talks, and he has a stubborn streak. Wonder where he gets that. Hmmm. Tuesday, we drove down to Gulf Shores - in the rain, through some road flooding - to meet Carol and Mike Gaines and see their new, beautiful cottage. Bridger conned Carol into reading a half-dozen books before we headed to the Hangout for lunch. They introduced us to Billy's Seafood, and Bridger had a wonderful time playing with the piles of oyster shells. Taplin is ready for Halloween in Bridger's elephant outfit. He is a bundle. We love his big, brown eyes.Here's Spiderman, the cowyboy. Bridger likes to dress up, but he hasn't decided what to be for trick or treating quite yet. We read Halloween books over and over and over. No disquising these shrimp. We picked up several pounds at Billy's Seafood and put them on ice to bring home. They are long gone now. We had them for dinner last night with Shannon and Nathan, along with my cornbread. We haven't eaten the snapper fillets yet, but we will today. Is that you, Louie? This is not much of a stretch, because about half the time, Louie really is the devil-dog. He can get into more trouble in five minutes than one can imagine. He spent several days at the kennel while we were gone, but now he's home and happily hunting trouble.