Quilts by Friends

It's February and I still haven't cooked all the pumpkins...but they keep cool in my bedroom. The quilt on my bed was made for me by Anne Gardner. She and I both taught English at Black River High School. Actually, she's still there. This was her practice quilt so I only had to purchase the material.

Now that I'm retired and Sue Ianni finally retired, we've had more time to hang out together. Sue loves quilting so I asked if she would repair the quilt Anne had made for me. That discussion led to this quilt. Again, all I had to do was go with Sue to pick out and pay for the fabric.

Have you done a double take? Get me in a fabric store and I can get lost in the colors. I couldn't make up my mind which combination I liked better, so Sue made a double sided quilt...same pattern, but a different color combination on each side. This is supposedly the top and the yellow is the bottom. It doesn't make any difference to me...whichever suits my mood at the moment becomes the top. Later, this spring, it will hang in a quilting show. I sleep with the work of talented friends!

Let it SNOW

This picture of the pug pen shows the pile of snow that slides off the roof in a small snow storm. Without a roof a pug could be under that pile! (The railing in the foreground isn't under the roof.)

This is outside my bedroom door. It's the snow that created the pile outside the pug pen in the picture above. Notice that the tree branches are actually resting on the dog run line. There are only a couple of inches of snow on top of the retaining wall.

I got tired of spraying 70% rubbing alcohol on aphids, but I couldn't bring myself to throw away the orchids that were blooming.

It wasn't until Valentine's Day, February 14th, that we got an old-fashioned, real snow storm. Fortunately, the bird feeders were filled the afternoon before... This is what I saw out of my nook windows in the morning. There's the retaining wall with a lot more snow on top, and this storm is only half over. The white metal fencing keeps any pug I put on the dog run line from wrapping around and around the bird feeder post and also the tree. I have yet to meet a dog that unwraps itself! 

Sitting on my desk are signs of spring. Those are seeds left from last summer and the list of what seeds I want to order for this spring. The old-fashioned school bell was my mother's and the sable brushes were my dad's. The owl was carved by a friend from decades ago with whom I sadly lost touch. The shell is a reminder of  Long Island, NY and the ceramic scene I picked up when I visited Holland many years ago. Lots of good memories. The plastic stem of small flowers is leftover from filling in the window boxes of my doll house this past summer. I keep thinking I'll find something to use it for.

   Griff went out first thing to shovel the path. Then the plow arrived...

Twenty-four hours later it was still snowing. We had over 2 feet of fluff on the ground. Jake discovered that pugs can't always get through snow. He was silly enough to try going down the deck steps, then had trouble even turning around to fight his way back. I thought I might have to rescue him, but he struggled mightily and made it. Then he was a lot more content to stay indoors.

Christmas 2013

Twas two nights before Christmas and all on the chair...No pug was seen stirring; they hadn't a care...

left to right:  Kimora, Asia, and Jake

Then Ursula arrived with her mom and dad. That night Santa set out a big red sack loaded with Ursula's presents...and the next morning was filled with surprises! (ignore the date...my camera is slightly off)

and this was my reaction...delighted surprise...when I saw the gift was my favorite soap, Savon d'Alepp

There always has to be a bit of silliness, a really stupid toy, and this year it's Rudolph's nose.

Have we created enough mess yet?

Proof that Santa did a great job.

Not having much snow actually made for better sledding. Gregg didn't have to pack down a track to get the sled moving fast...

Jake got into the action...he latched onto Gregg's boot while the sled was moving and Gregg had to shake Jake off. After that we kept Jake in the house and the sledders were able to get further down the hill... Meanwhile, William watches from a distance.

Ursula joined her dad

taking a small detour through the gazebo

Gregg and Ursula kept trying out different sleds...we have more than I realized

Ursula is off to visit friends and once again Google has decided to add twinkles to my photograph...

 

Ursula was also glad that "the girls" were still here and hadn't found a permanent family yet. It takes longer to find a family for a bonded pair, but at Thanksgiving we couldn't be sure they would still be around for Christmas. Three in a chair is a crowd, but they didn't mind having a fourth!