how not to start your new year

DH and I have made a habit of saving enough of our vacation to take the time between Christmas and New Year's off. We started when DD left home and started dancing professionally. If she can come home for Christmas it is usually that week. This year vacation turned out to be not much of a vacation. Day 1 we made a nice long list of all we planned to do during our week off. Day 2 got up and started on our list. DH got as far as vacuuming the kitchen and then started feeling sick. Runny nose, swollen glands, sneezing and decided he needed to sit down for a while. Yeah sure! He just didn't want to finish vacuuming. I kept going. Took apart the stove and thoroughly cleaned it. Cleaned out the fridge. Wiped down the counter tops and was really feeling good about my progress when guess what I started feeling a little crappy myself. Hmmm, maybe he wasn't just sick of vacuuming. Long story really short no further items were completed from our list. New Years day was spent in the Emergency room where DH received multiple breathing treatments and his breathing wouldn't loosen. They ended up keeping him overnight in the ICU and I went home to try and get some rest to get better myself. He came home yesterday with a diagnosis of asthmatic bronchitis, 4 new medications and feeling enough better to finally get a good night's sleep last night. He woke up feeling enough better to take me to my Dr. today. I came home with a diagnosis of a virus and 3 new medications that made me feel enough better to get some rest this afternoon. Both of us missed our first day back to work of the new year, but are hopefully on the mend.
Now for my wonderful SSCS package. My partner Sandy sent me some beautiful gifts. Love, love, love them. Look at these adorable buttons. Think she might have read my blog and realized how much I like bears? I need to make something special enough to use them. Which probably means I will save them forever.
I have been noticing bags like this on other blogs and have been wanting to make one for myself. Sandy saved me the work. She does beautiful stitchery and I am not that good at it. Huge win for me! I also have this gorgeous stocking for decoration for next Christmas.
I do really love all of my gifts and I am sorry Sandy that I didn't post them earlier. Everything just sort of went on hold around here when we both got so sick. You should see what the house looks like. :-\ Actually, no one should see that.

i'm a grammy ;)

I have a new grandpuppy. Isn't she adorable? I think DD is in love.

it's here!

My SSCS gift arrived this weekend from Sandy in Australia!
I opened my ornament and found this beautiful stitchery. She does really nice work. According to the card everything in the packages is created by Australian designers and uses Australian fabrics. I can't wait until Christmas morning to see what the rest of my packages hold. :D

who am i

This year I have had the toughest time trying to figure out what to make for a SSCS gift for my swap partner. I have read and reread her blog trying to figure out something she would really like. I finally decided to make something I would like and hope for the best.
It made me wonder if what my blog says reflects me. I read through my older posts with an objective eye. Lets see. I live in Maine with unpredictable weather. Check. I own an obscene amount of fabric that I don't seem to be able to use up. Check. I collect teddy bears. Check. My DD is a ballerina. Check. DS is very lovable and breakable . Check and check. Our kitties run our household. Don't they all? check. I have a friend named April who frequently leads me astray. Check. I quilt, especially mini's. Check. I knit. Check. I weave. Check. I try to live green. Check. I love my old house. Check. Yup. Sounds pretty much like me. ;^)

i love fall sunsets

april's birthday

My friend April is my favorite person to give gifts to because her taste is so similar to mine and she always loves what I make her. I didn't post around her birthday which was in ummm April, but I took a picture intending to post. As I was sorting through my photo card I found the picture and decided that everyone was just dying to find out what I made for April's birthday.
This tiny 9 patch wall hanging. Those blocks are 3 inches square so it's not very big. DH, who is usually pretty ambivalent about my quilts, really liked it so I told him I would make one for his office. The 9 patches are finished and the borders cut, but I don't have any more of that red background fabric. I really like the way that the color goes with the red in that vine border. I don't care if it is the same fabric, but I have been on the search for something similar. I have bought a few different reds, but so far nothing I like as well. Not very good for stash busting, but I love red. :-D

now where was i

It has been pointed out that I haven't updated my blog in a little while. Every post seemed so negative that I didn't feel anyone wanted to read all that so I took a little break.
In a nutshell here's what happened while I was out. My dad didn't come through his stroke as well as we thought at first. When first moving back into the assisted living facility he steadily improved for a week. Then things went bad fast. It wasn't long before he needed more care than the assisted living could provide. He was moved into a nursing home in February and then passed away on March 16. His dementia had progressed to a point that he didn't really know where he was and for the last couple of weeks he just slept. He passed away quietly in his sleep and now he's with my mom.
On March 9 I started a new job. Four working days before my dad passed away. It really made me nervous needing time off when I had just started, but I had told my manager the situation during my interview for the job so they weren't surprised. My new job is great, although I am still learning. It is right across the street from my old job so I still see my friends and I already had friends at this company. The software development business in Maine is a small community. ;)
Last week DD came for a visit with her new boyfriend. They have been dancing together for a few years. We liked him and they seem very happy. He is from Cuba and this was his first trip to Maine. We made the rounds: showed him where DD went to high school; he met my sister and family; showed him my parents house; went to Fort Popham; went to Bar Harbor (DD has always loved Bar Harbor); drove up Cadillac Mountain; he tried Maine lobster, Maine shrimp and Maine micro brews. This is a picture from the top of Cadillac mountain. They said they had to take this picture for a friend. Evidently every time this friend travels they take a picture in attitude with the scenery.
I haven't been doing much crafting lately. Between learning my new job, trying to settle my father's estate and keeping the home-front running there hasn't been a lot of extra time. I am still managing the Jo's Little Women at my LQS. I'm slowly completing the patterns. Here is the start of my new little quilt wall. I have 4 others ready to be quilted. I'm really happy. I love Jo's patterns!