sledding

 

South Dakota winters provided lots of fun times

 for my siblings and I growing up.

When we couldn't find a hill to sled down...

dad hitched up the toboggan to the back of the car and away we went.

 

When I was 13-years-old we moved to a place that had plenty of hills

and we lived right at the bottom of a steep one.

We got enough speed up from the top of that hill

 to get us up the next small incline

where we turned the corner and flew down several more blocks.

 

 

It was a long trek back to the top of the hill we started on...

over half a mile.

 

All the snow we have on the ground today

 got me thinking a sled ride would be a lot of fun again.

 

************************

 

Sigh...I better stay in where it's warm (and safe)

 and keep working on Christmas blocks.

 

 

It's looking like it might be a lap quilt.

 

~b

 

 

 

 

 



hobby

Can one have too many hobbies?

I don't think so.

 

 

But if I thought you could...

I might have.

Maybe if my days had more hours in them

I wouldn't think so.

But then again I probably would just find another one.

 

If you don't have a hobby...

find one!

It just may get you by on your worst days.

 

~b

 

 



tucked in

 

Our footprints always follow us on days when it's been snowing.

They always show us where we've been,

But never where we're going.

-Winnie-the-Pooh-

 

 

10 inches of new snow overnight!

 

It's going to take some serious snow blowing...

tomorrow.

 

We have been tucked in all day

and are right now waiting for some good ol' comfort food

(goulash) to finish cooking for our supper.

 

~b



making it real

 Do we all agree

we could use an extra month of Christmas?

 

 

Three more quilt squares of Christmas fabric...

 

 

We have our traditional Christmas snack mix in the oven

and Christmas cards started on the dining room table...

that make things real at our house.

 

~b

 



feelings

Sunday I was feeling a denim bag...

 

 

...this one is large enough to be a project bag.

A knitting bag in my case.

 

 

I really don't need another knitting bag

so this one will be for sale.

 

I love the vintage print I lined it with...

 

 

Today I may be feeling a warm wool hat.

 

We have 4 inches on new snow on the ground

which helps the Christmas feeling that I was beginning to lose.

 

~b

 

 



bag of blocks

 

Mr. b put together three of these "bag of blocks"

 in his workshop recently.

 

 

He cut the blocks in various shapes and then sanded them.

 They are the odds and ends from other projects.

 

He then screen printed a canvas bag to store the blocks in.

 

 

 

 

Good job Santa!

 

~b



"Ulf"

 

I like Scandinavian Christmas decorating.
Red and white, all the clean lines.
This year I have been seeing a lot of elf dolls in magazines.

 

 

Scandinavian elves are referred to as gnomes, tomtes and nisse.

 

They are mythological creatures from Scandinavian folklore typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is described as being no taller than three feet and wearing a conical or knit cap in red. They are Swedish and Norwegian versions of Santa Claus.

 

Of course, I just had to have one for myself.
Which involved a lot of time looking for a pattern.
Searching for a pattern from another country is not that easy.

 

 

"Ulf" the elf.

 

I made my elf in the Tilda doll style.

 

 

I say goofy but cute.

 

 

 

Now, "Get to work Ulf!

Christmas is coming!"

 

~b

 



new from my sweatshop

Headed to market on horseback.

 

 

I love this bag...

the shape, the cowboys, the recycled denim.

The button I chose for it!

 

 

It is definitely one of a kind.

 

~b

 



A little Christmas...

 

I dug out all my Christmas prints last week

to do a few blocks for another project...

It is Christmas after all.

 

 

I'm still doing a little decorating...

love that Butter-Nut Coffee can

 daughter knit and pearl retrieved from an old farm pile.

 

~b

click your heels

I must have clicked my heels together three times

when I was telling my daughter I would like to have a

Christmas throw because...

 

 

...three days later this beautiful Christmas lap quilt

arrived in our mailbox from her.

 

 

There was also an assortment of tea bags in the box.

She knows me so well.

 

 

I love it...

and thank you so much!

 

~b



life

 

When life hands you too many bananas...

make banana bread.

 

~b



Let it snow...

...and it did.

10"-12" of fluffy snow on the ground this morning.

 

 

Lots of cancellations today.

No School Today!

Remember loving that as a kid?

 

 

We played outside absolutely all day long.

Our snow forts were the best!

 

 

I stayed inside today working on little projects...

 

 

I love me some Modge Podge therapy...

a phrase coined by my sister.

It really is therapeutic.

 

~b

 



winter storm

With a winter storm on it's way

I'm looking for a new knitting project.

 

 

I finished this cable cowl this weekend.

Whew! It sat in my knitting basket a long time.

 

These Outlander Clan Cuff boot toppers worked up fast

despite having to make two of them.

Do you watch the  TV series Outlander?

I love it.

 

Now...I must get our Christmas tree up.

 

~b

 

 

 



Ball

We have really been enjoying this screen printing business/hobby.

 

 

Mr. b was a photo lab specialist in the Army.

It was good field, a safe field to be in

 while the Vietnam War was winding down.

 

 

There are similarities between photo developing and screen printing.

 

We are hoping these dish towels and tote bags are marketable.

 

~b

 



thankful

While I was making dressing

 and thinking about it being just the two of us this year for Thanksgiving...

I thought back to my most memorable Thanksgiving.

 

As newlyweds and with Mr. b in the army we had just moved to New Jersey for his AIT training.

That is where we spent our first Thanksgiving together.

Service pay was pretty meager ($300 a month) and we hadn't proportioned our money very well.

With Thanksgiving at the end of the month

we found ourselves broke and with only a can of chicken noodle soup on our shelf.

 

Bradley Beach, New Jersey, 1972

 

I was terribly homesick anyway

 and finding myself so far from home on this holiday really made me blue.

 

After we shared our soup we headed to the shore (one block away)

where we discovered life was pretty darn good anyway.

 

That was many Thanksgivings ago and every one since has been good.

 

I am thankful for my family today.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from snowy South Dakota...

 

~b

 

 



farm living

Welcome to the farm!

Three more blocks for my Farm Girl Vintage Quilt.



farm fresh flower block

feed and seed block

 mama hen block

 

Isn't Mama Hen sweet?

She's happy to be a chicken this week

and not a turkey.

 

~b

 



thrilled

I love a new project...

the learning and challenge of it.

 

 

Burlap pillows...aren't they fun?

Mr. b screen printed the reindeer pillow.

He is doing a great job.

 

 

We make a good team.

 

 

The other two were logos cut from the same coffee burlap bags.

 

~b

 



snow what?

We woke up to snow this morning...

and I love snow!

Could it have anything to do with the fact

 that I was born in Alaska?

 

 

Snow also means the Christmas music is turned up 

while I sew Christmas projects.

These burlap socks turned out as cute as can be.

Mr. b screen printed "Let it Snow" on four of them for me.

Screen printing is his newest hobby

which will coincide with some of my projects perfectly.

 

 

These socks and more can be purchased at the

Prairie Preservationist in

Huron, SD.

 

~b



aprons

A new apron for the holidays...

 

 

the perfect gift for a hostess don't you think?

 

 

This one shipped out of my little sewing sweatshop this morning.

 

 

It's a vintage pattern and fabric for a vintage girl.

I love that rick rack trim!

 

~b

 

 



life

 

 

A Life Well Lived

How will we be judged...

When our journey through life is o'er

And we stand before our maker

At the foot of heaven's door?

 

Will the gold and silver we possess

Be added to our score

Or will our shabby coat lead us

To be halted at the Door?

I believe a loving God

Will welcome all that lived... -

Beatrice Boyle

 

 

It was a difficult week as Mr. b and his brother and sister

buried their mother. She was 95 years old which meant it

was definitely a celebration of a life well lived.

 

~b

 

My vet...

 

1972 basic training

Fort Leonard Wood Military Training

Thank you Mr b.

 

~b