blizzards

I am so happy to be stuck at home today!

While it's doing this outside...

(photo taken indoors looking out our front windows)



I'm inside doing this...

b

decisions and a screwdriver

Hang quilt rack - check

I've had this quilt rack for too many years to remember...

When we moved out of our last house I stored it safely until I found a spot for it here.

Mr. b hung it in the spare bedroom and it looks great with one of my quilts on it.
I also finally reached a decision on two other pictures...
 one I've had for a couple of years and the other is fairly new.
It's time to stop my procrastinating!  b

Florida

Anyone ever wonder where Santa goes after Christmas?

I think I figured it out...

Florida!

Sunshine and sandy beaches, he's earned it.

We're hoping to run into him down there at the end of April. b

handmade

I took this year off from making handmade gifts for Christmas.

I did so many last year and I'm not always sure the recipients of my handmade things are as excited about receiving them as I am about making and gifting them. I, however, love receiving handmade items.

I did make the gran-girlies these Sesame Street pillowcases.

I'm excited that the holidays are over and I can settle into winter with new knitting and sewing projects.

b

Christmas past

Christmas 2010 is already another Christmas Past,

and another great memory.

Bear with me and let me share...

We bought our twin granddaughters a drawing easel. Cecelia proceeded to draw...

and Tressa used her hammer to make a few design alterations.

Handmade gifts are always the greatest! From daughter knit and pearl.

Our son's family know how much Mr. b loves his popcorn.

I got Mr. b this carrom board set. He played it for hours on end as a young boy.

I received this large cast iron pot from Santa.

I think he's hoping for a big pot of beef stew?

Also from Mr. b., it's a treat to receive beautiful things that someone else handstitched.

Hot chocolate to enjoy the rest of the winter.

You would have to see these marshmallows to understand how large they are.

Of course the greatest gift of all is sharing time together with our family.

It is so rare that we can all be together at the same time.  b

Christmas surprises...

It's Christmas morning here at our house and I'm enjoying a little quiet before the rush of the day begins. It was a fun day here yesterday with daughter knit and pearl and her finance officer. My mother also stopped by and then a little later my sister and her husband. This gift got the laugh of the day...

Evidently it was one of the last gifts wrapped and a box just couldn't be found anywhere. It shows great ingenuity don't you think? It contained a very lovely fleece top for our daughter from her boyfriend. And after she opened it her dogs got their water dish back, ha.
I think the surprise gift of the evening went to Mr. b from our daughter. It was a bag of fireworks. Mr. b loves his fireworks! Have you ever witnessed fireworks over the snow? It's a treat on a cold night.
Another fun gift was the bag of marshmallows I received with a large box of hot chocolate mixs. These marshmallows are huge! I love having a little hot chocolate with my marshmallows.

Now to get my day started. Gosh I hope I don't eat too much again today...b

Christmas Eve

I guess Christmas is finally here...

The daughter and her fiance arrived last night, they had to drive through some very snowy weather.

It will be a beautiful white Christmas here in South Dakota.

Tomorrow we will get up early and all head east to son's home, it will be fun to witness our two-year-old granddaughters excitement over Christmas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas
 and a wonderful New Year...b

Christmas is comin'

Christmas can't be far away...



Our favorite scatter mix is made,

the fruitcake is in the oven

and Mr. b just went out to stir the apricot brandies as we wait for it to freeze.

Yup, Christmas can't be far away.  b

Proof Positive

Did you get up in the wee hours to check out the solstice lunar eclipse?

Let me tell you...standing outside in your pajamas can only be described as exhilarating!

This is the 10 p.m. moon...



The 3 a.m. moon...

My pictures aren't blog worthy but just proof positive that I actually witnessed it.

I was a little disappointed, a harvest moon is by far more spectacular.

This mornings 7 a.m. moon shot, it was so pretty between the trees.

Needless to say,

 today I have my camera manual at work to study before the next moon show. b

Let it snow...

This seems to be the order of business today...

Four inches of fresh snow this morning.

My feet and hands are cold and wet from all the shoveling,

but it's great!

The thermometer says 32 degrees.

I think conditions are just about perfect for building a snowman.  b



A third place finish...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Our little electric fireplace comes in at third place.

Mr. b has always said NO to a real fireplace, too much work!

And just not feasible to add a gas fireplace to our home at this point.

So when we bought a new television we didn't know what to do with the space below it in our large entertainment center...so we thought, " How about about an electric fireplace?"

He built the oak surround and I applied the stain and varnish, it's not an exact match but it definitely gets a yellow ribbon in my book...b

carolers

Fa La La...

It's Friday!

Have a perfect weekend...b



How is your Christmas going by now?

Are you frazzled, frizzled and frayed yet?

Relaxing in bed last night I realized I haven't started a grocery shopping list yet,

or for that matter a menu either!

I'm doing well to plan one day ahead. Almost asleep I asked Mr. b if he could pick up a beef bone for vegetable soup in the morning. Five minutes later I say "Oh, and a cabbage, please."

The wheels never get a rest do they?

Can you believe these clementines all the way from Spain!

So good, and reasonably priced...

This is on my work calendar today...

God gave us grandchildren as a reward for growing old. He also knew how happy we could be to see our children learn the hard way what we suffered through with them. -Art Linkletter

Funny isn't it? Now everyone slow down and enjoy this wonderful season...

I'm going to.  b

Santa's elves

Oh My!

I've been as busy today as one of Santa's elves -

I've got the stockings made...

and yes, they're extra large for lots of presents.

I knit them in Grinch colors!

And I have the first coat of stain on the fireplace.

No kidding! Santa made me a fireplace.

It will need a couple coats of varnish

before I can hang the stockings by the chimney with care.  

Yes, I'll be posting a picture as soon as I'm finished.   b

spuds

Potato bag made by mom...

so cute!



Thanks Mom! Love this fabric she used.

Camouflaged spuds, you know in case we get into a spud war... b

Once upon a time...

With young grandchildren in the picture this year I decided to dig out some of the old ornaments to decorate our little dining room Christmas tree the way we always decorated when our children were young and before theme trees were popular.

The Mickey Mouse ornament we bought from our first visit to Disney Land and the sailboat from San Francisco is from the same trip. There's a santa painted from the Plant & Plaster Barn my parents operated in the 1980's. The little boy and girl have our kid's name on them. The lineman was given to Mr. b in the day he was actually climbing telephone poles and the baseball santa for all the years he played ball. There's little Hallmark ornaments from my years working in a Hallmark shop.

 Our daughter liked pigs and now so does one of our granddaughters.

It was fun stringing popcorn again, although I missed a certain young girl's help.

Here's to memories...b

postponed

Bad news this morning...

Breakfast with Santa was cancelled.

Well, so was the birthday luncheon my sister had planned for my mother who will be turning 80 on Monday.

But tomorrow is another day..

and maybe the sun will come out and the snow will stop blowing around.

Of course I love a good snowstorm or blizzard.

Now who was silly enough to venture outdoors today for these photos?

That would be me of course.

Would someone please put a coat on that birdbath boy! b

packages

"Don't you just love when your purchase

comes out of the store looking great?"

shopping overload

   Today I have a shopping hangover. We took ourselves to the city yesterday Christmas shopping. I don't know what ever made us think we could complete our shopping in one day?
   Of course a day in Sioux Falls calls for lunch at a good restaurant. Our meals at Olive Garden were delicious. I had this lasagna classico with chicken & gnocchi soup. I saved some for lunch today!

   Today I'll have to inventory purchases and hope we came close to being done.

                                                    Yes! What's this I ask?

Santa could you please make a note of this...

It seems Mr. b. snuck in a little present to himself. He loves the Mezzetta stuffed olives from World Market.

I think he forgot the house rule of no purchases for yourself between Nov. 1 and Dec. 25.

 Santa probably won't mind too much.    b



observations



"Don't you wish tea smelled half as good as coffee?"

b

Monday mornings

   A good Monday to everyone!

   This is where I go first thing Monday mornings and everyday four days a week. It's just a small building on a small main street in a small town. Can it be possible I've been here 7 years already?



Come on in...

My desk and computer area...

These are the old newspaper archives. I love looking through the 100 year old papers.

Computers and digital cameras make the newspaper business so much

easier than when these old relics were used...

This huge piece is a paper cutter, don't get your fingers under there!

                                                photography equipment, this is an enlarger

old lead letters, can you just imagine putting a whole paper together with these little pieces!

Now you know where my home away from home is...

Can I write you up a subscription or an ad?  b

another weeks end

Why do weekends have to go by so quickly?

It was a relaxing two days for us.

We did a little Christmas shopping yesterday,

and today we mostly just layed around...

It's nice to be able to relax and enjoy the Christmas decorations

and lights. Would you believe we just finished off our

Thanksgiving leftovers? We ate what we could and treated

all the neighbor cats with the rest.

Tis the season you know... b

You are invited...

Tomorrow is National Cookie Day.

Won't you come over...

and share a sugar cookie with me?

We'll talk about the good times we've shared together.

I'll show you pictures of my adorable granddaughters.

I'll tell you how excited we are about our daughters wedding next year.

I'll give you a tour of our home all decked out for the holidays.

We'll eat too many cookies!  b

A santa for Thursday

I have a small santa collection from my santa phase.

Thank heaven I came to my senses when I ran out of room to display them.

This one looks great displayed with an old violin I bought at auction years ago.

(I also love old musical instruments, but hate auctions!)

I was determined to have the violin and wouldn't leave without it.
Wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to play it?
Ah, music to my ears... b

December wishes

December 1? Wow!

Another year almost over.

December is a wonderful time...

 and I'm going to enjoy every minute of this last month of 2010.

Woke up to this wonderous winter scene out our window this morning.

Isn't it snow globe like? And look closely at the ornament...

I'm in the snow globe!

Happy December friends...b