Goodbye - Hello

   This is a great statement for tonight and tomorrow...Thank you Mr. Eliot.

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~ T. S. Eliot ~


Blessings to you and yours for a Happy New Year.

Shake, Rattle, & Roll

Weather in Indiana is never predicable.  For the kids first day of school in October, they were greeted with tornadoes.  We had snow before Thanksgiving.  Ice which closed school the last day of the 2010 school year.

Still not to be topped, this morning greeted us with an earthquake, http://www.indystar.com/article/20101230/LOCAL/101230007/4-2-magnitude-earthquake-hits-north-central-Indiana?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com.  I was serving breakfast and there was a sound jolt and then a short shaking in the house.  Nothing fell, even in the china cabinet.  The kids slept through everything and LB didn't believe DH when we told him.  He had to confirm it with our guest and the internet.  Talk about a child of the 21st century.

This still won't encourage me to live on the West coast.   Our earthquakes won't have us floating off into the Pacific.  Besides I still don't like their other seasons - fire, drought, and mud slide.

Wonder what we'll enjoy from Mother Nature next year...

And the children were nestled

All snug in their beds, and after I finish the posting, the adults will too.  Why is this note worthy - because for the first time since our arrival in North Manchester, the entire family is sleeping in their own beds with the mattress that goes with each.  YEAH!!!!

Yes the unpacking continues and this weekend major progress was made with more of my sewing area settling in, DH is finding power cords for the ever growing collection of electronics, and the kids are just trying to hide and get out of helping.

Now it is time for me to enjoy a long quiet night with my pillow.....

And it continues

Today we've had another full day of light, spirit encouraging, snow.  Unlike Philadelphia, the plows were out early this afternoon starting the clearing and sanding.

We spent the day in wrapping packages, addressing envelopes, and watching holiday movies.  First round of packages are under the tree.  After the kids are in bed I'll continue the wrapping with packages for them.  I don't dare put those packages under the tree, LB would be too tempted to open packages either right away or when he thought no one was around.

Now the kids are THRILLED because the school district just called letting us know that we have a 2 hour delayed opening.  Neither has said so yet, I'm sure they are each going around with fingers crossed that school will be closed tomorrow.  I however would prefer they get their little tushes on the bus at 9:30 tomorrow morning.  A few errands remain to finish my shopping, while waiting for online orders to show on the porch, which don't need any help.  I also have a big round of sewing to start for the family.  They would be too curious about what I was working on and they would just be in the way as I work.

So as I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord the streets to clean......

Let it snow...

Our place in the snow

"Indiana is so much cooler then Philly...this is a second day of snow and it's not winter yet," states the MM.  Then she HAD to call her bff to make it known.  It's cold, snowing, and we are decorating for Christmas.  Just a perfect way to call in the holiday.





Saturday we headed to the Honeywell Center for Toyland - an afternoon of crafts, snacks, and picture with Santa.  The Honeywell Center is fully decorated so we took advantage and found several spots to take out holiday photos.  These are the ones that didn't make it for the Christmas card, so great having multiple shots to work with this year.



Sunday was the holiday concert by the Manchester Symphony Orchestra.  We missed the first half of the production due to a late check out and early arrival of this weeks guests.  With a whirlwind round of cleaning with participation from everyone, we arrived at intermission and enjoyed the MSO with the chorus from Manchester College performing the Messiah.  James fell asleep during the show, but he NEEDED the nap.  The rest of us enjoyed the music and were impressed by the vocal quality of many of the soloists.

After the concert, we headed to the local Mexican restaurant for DH's birthday dinner a day early but better then on a school night. The evening ended with a lovely meal.   I love their idea of the full celebration for a birthday - whipped cream on the face while wearing a sombrero.  Well it was a weekend full of holiday activity which was enjoyed by all.

Booking through ...

It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A. so …
What authors and books are you most thankful for?

It's been along time since I've participated, I do love so many books but those I'm most thankful for are those that capture the imaginations of my kids.  Currently those are Percy Jackson and the Olympians are taking MM into the adventures of Ancient Greek mythology and anything else related to Ancient Greece.   For this adventure and the joy of watching a child curled up reading any book, I am thankful.

Blessings for all our gifts

For all the blessings which we received, our lives are enriched.  We are thankful for each friend who has touched our lives and pray those touches continue for years to come.

May your table be filled with family, friends, and good food.

Setting up shop

or home as the case may be....

This piece has graced a wall in my house for years,  but now it truly has found a place in our new family room.  The piece was done by Kathy and I was so happy finding it fit the space so perfectly both in colors and size.  This is also a room guests use, so I hope this continues to bring warmth to all those who come into our home.


Last week I found a box on the front porch which was not expected.  Being in a small town has increased my online ordering for supplies and other things, but this box wasn't from any of my orders.  I opened it to find Lisa sent a beautiful housewarming gift.  Lydia is a wonderful addition to my teapot collection.  This is a shape is one not previously part of my collection.  In addition to the pot are two pouches of tea, Holiday Spice Black Tea and Indian Spiced Chai.  These will be enjoyed during our cold winter nights.

Leaving friends and family behind on the east coast has been hard, but finding a place for each has been wonderful.  One thing we didn't have to leave behind is our Tina.  She didn't come with us on the first trip, but DH did bring her out when he made a special trip out with my best china and glassware about 2 weeks ago.  The kids are especially happy that she's come but I think Ms. Tina and I will return to our quality time while everyone is out of the house.  To welcome her home, we did pick up a new cozy bed for her which she's enjoying.

Blessings to those protecting us

I am so thankful my kids had school today.  Their classes put Veteran's Day into the mix of standard lessons and showing that their time in school is their service to those who protect their ways of life.

As friends serve overseas, I am proud and grateful to all of those who put their dedication to this country above service to self. My prayers for your safe return to family and friends.

Haunting Halloween

Our Mario and MM Kitty enjoyed many Halloween activities this year.  Manchester College held an early Halloween event with crafts, games, and trick or treating. MM went for the evening and had a blast until the last floor of the haunted hall.  That scared her into hysterics and took alot of calming from both Nana on the way home and Mom at home.

Saturday was trick or treating for kids in town.  LB in his full Mario and I went around part of the neighborhood and found fun houses with decorations from simple to very extravagant.  He even survived at stop at the house of Medusa.

MM kitty stayed on the porch with Nana and enjoyed handing out candy to the wide variety of costumed kids that came.  This included many princesses, fairies, a grim riper, and assorted little bees, butterflies, and

Back Home in Indiana

After an uneventful drive, the family is settling into life here in North Manchester.  Sunday was spent unpacking the kitchen and getting clothes sorted so the kids could be registered for school on Monday.

Starting school on Tuesday was a fun send off as the bus stop is just outside our back door.  The bus drivers talked and sorted out one route so both kids are picked up by the same bus.  Gotta love small town features.

If you saw the news reports, Tuesday was not a typical day for the kids.  About 10am we heard a siren for the tornado warning but didn't really think much of it.  We did get nailed with a lot of wind and rain.  In fact the trailer, we brought the first round of boxes and furniture out in, was blown off the parking pad and into the street.  It wasn't in traffic so we waited to move it back. Near 11:30 the siren sounded again as the storm settled down.Mom and DH headed into Wabash to run some errands and found out the Walmart lost part of the roof, power was out for many in the area.

MM and LB had a bigger impression of the storm.  At separate schools their respective classes were sent into the safety shelters during the tornado alert.  For each class their bathrooms were the safety shelters so MM was entertained that the boys were uncomfortable and LB that the  girls in his class were uncomfortable.  For them this was just the adventure to start their times at their new school.

I'm sure we will each have more adventures as we begin life in our small town America....

Time to fess up

As of Friday, my jump into my new life begins with both feet into the puddle.  Leaving the society hasn't been as much of a deal as I thought it would but that is probably due to a friend's note about how all the fun people were gone leaving me the last of the gang to hold on.  It definitely is time to make a change and one came to us over the past year.

Our new life starts with a move from Philadelphia to North Manchester.  Okay, you are welcome to ask, "where in the world is North Manchester?"  Well we are heading west, returning to the home county of my dad, Wabash County, Indiana.  Small town USA - here we come.

What will I be doing to keep from running down the street naked --- running a Bed & Breakfast.  That's right, I'm becoming an Innkeeper.  DH bought and existing B&B, where we stay during visits to my grandmother.  The   original owners started their time about 20 years ago and raised their family there, so now we continue the tradition moving out family and running the B&B.  So the Fruitt Basket Inn is becoming the Fruit Basket Inn.

I plan to continue this blog for my knitting, crafting, and other family stuff.  There will also be a blog at www.fruitbasketinn.com.  This site is still under construction.  I hope to have it up before the holidays start, but learning the guests, my menus, and getting the kids through the move and changes may delay some of the features I want to include.

So I may be a bit slow in posting here but promise not to totally abandon my first site.

Still kicking

Although woefully neglected, I have not forgot my blog.  I just haven't been much for writing here.  My plan from last year to write to friends and family has been more successful and more comforting.

The back issues continue, but there is a light trying to peek through.  The past 6 weeks have been wet - aqua therapy twice a week.  Finally some success!  The prior round of PT did help but not with the same results.  In fact I'm doing so well, today I started some new land PT.  Added to this I get to enjoy a stretch with the chiropractor twice a week.  This is a 21st century mechanical rack, but the stretch helps open up my back.  After all these months, it is a relief to find something besides all the medications helping me.


Knitting continues too. I had these partial balls and decided they could be fun to stripe together and this came off.  I liked the peach, purple, tan, lavender, and peach again better then I thought I would.  The mix of microfiber and cotton feels lovely.  I'm not at all sure who this will go to in the end but it will be nice

The summer sweater continues too, but slowly.  Now that fall has swept in, I'm turning to holiday gifts so this won't move along with great focused speed.







My plan tonight was to give warning that I would be absent for the next couple of weeks as we relocating and starting a new life all round.  Since my posting over the past several months has been hit and miss for posting to start with so being lost in moving and setting up new digs might not be noticed.

A sad parting

Last week we said goodbye to one of the girls..

Andromeda, aka Romy, was Ms. Tina (in the background) latest housemate.  They would occasionally hang out in the front window or under the dining room table (here they hid) but typically they held to their territory or enjoyed a good scream and slap around session.

Over the past couple of weeks, we noticed something was wrong with one of the girls, but couldn't figure out switch one.  They are both good at keeping things to themselves.  Well the vet dropped a major bomb on us,  Romy was in kidney failure.  Though she wasn't a snuggle kitten, like Ms. Tina, we all miss out guard kitty.  During my time home this winter and spring, she would take position on our bed each night DH wasn't home.  More recently her protection place was on the floor on my bedside, so whenever I got up she was ready to come along where ever I went.

I hope Romy finds friends in Tess, Garden Kitty, Nocturne, Mr. Mann, and all our other animal friends who are waiting for their 2 legged humans to come back to them.

Don't send out a search party

I haven't fallen off the edge of the world.  Taking a 4th of July blog vacation turned into a 2 month sabbatical from most everything online, expect paying the bills.  If I wasn't paying the bills, you wouldn't be able to read anything from me.  And just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been doing other stuff.

We spent the 4th of July at my parents, enjoyed a live performance of 1776 at Plays in the Park.  It was fun watching MM's response to the show.  Her history program last year was colonial America and now she thinks Ben Franklin and the others are really cool.  LB just loved having time in the park and a picnic dinner before the show.  If you are in Central Jersey during the summer, I recommend taking an evening show in the park.

The last week of July was spent in Western New York with our annual trip to Chautauqua. This year DH, BIL, SIL, and I were treated to a dinner out without the kids.  DH's dad and stepmom offer to take the 4 kids for dinner and ice cream so we could enjoy a dinner together.  It was so fun just having an adult conversation uninterrupted.   I'll post more pics from the week as soon as I get them better sorted.

August brought two big 0 events to the family.  On the 8th, I ventured into my 4th decade.  WOW, I am totally amazed to be saying now I'm 40.  With the new life coming online later this year, my new career will also be my mid-life crisis event.

Friday was another big 0 - MM is now 10.  All I could say to DH after her birthday dinner was "where did all the time go?" and "how did she make it to 10?"  More photos of the decade baby later too.  Getting her ears pierced was the top of the birthday wish list so that was our to-do list item for last week.  In six weeks, I'll start hiding my earrings since she keeps commenting on those she thinks would be fun to wear.

I'm still knitting.  With my mom's help, I hope to finish one project which is a hangover from last year's scarf project over Labor Day weekend.  This is a addition to our annual uniform production line.

My sweater is proceeding nicely and should be ready for 4th of July 2011.  Scarf project 2010 continues though without the self demanding production schedule.  And it also continues to use more of the stash hiding in the closet at my parents.  Daddy appreciates anyone who removes skeins from his house even if they don't knit, crochet or anything else.

Next posting promises some pics of our summer fun and other adventures.

Flour flury

After an afternoon nap for all the gang, me included, I headed into the kitchen to test some recipes and mixes in prep for my next life.

Yes its nearly hot as hades, but I put the oven on and finished several items. With the help of MM, we produced a loaf of beer bread, peanut butter cookies, walnut chocolate chip cookies, butterbrikle scones, and dried fruit scones.  The bread and peanut butter cookies are from scratch, while the others had starts from mixes.  It was so much fun having MM help read the recipes, measure ingredients and lick the beaters was a wonderful time.  It brought back many memories of cooking with my Nana during my summer visits and Grandpa's complaints that it was too hot to heat the house by turning on the oven.  Nana generally settled him and we made whatever treat I asked for and later we all enjoyed it.

The biggest test today wasn't getting so many pans through the oven without burning anything, but my plan for the next round. Half of the cookie and scone batches went into the freezer for later baking.  In my next life having items ready for the oven will save me major amounts of time so the family is my current testing ground.  All the results earned two thumbs up from LB, MM, and DH.  I especially like the dried fruit scones .

New project

And it isn't a scarf.

The yarn is an organic cotton and recycled soda bottle blend I picked up at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival a couple of years ago from Little Barn.  I was intrigued by the fiber mix and loved the color.  I also knew exactly what I wanted to make, well sort of, it had to be a sleeveless sweater perfect for wearing on the 4th of July.

Last fall I found the pattern, a fitted tank from Blue Sky Alpacas.  The long ribbed bottom is neat and this will be great for work or my next life.

So here are the first 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the front or back, they each start out the same.

Your a Grand Old Flag

And may you for ever wave.

Flag Day 2010

Being in Philadelphia, you have to venture to the Betsy Ross House at least once and especially for Flag Day.  June 12-13 was the third annual Flag Fest which provided an even bigger reason to tour the house and enjoy all that was available to watch, hear, and see.

Heading to 2nd and Arch for the start ensured we would have plenty of time and hopefully not melt, and we were right.  With Arch Street closed between 2nd and 3rd, a city street fair gave time to stroll down the street to see the vendors including Physick House, Clay Studio, and Laurel Hill Cemetery.  Spending quality time with clay was just what LB wanted to do, and he would still be there today if we hadn't pulled him away to something else.

On the courtyard outside brought a variety of entertainment  including a unit from Fralinger String Band, 

Give and Take Jugglers, and the Boy Scouts.  With the jugglers, LB found that he was just the right person for the moment.  This was the start of his segment which ended with him being juggled.  I was laughing too hard to get a clear picture of that feat.

    








The Boy Scouts from Roxbourgh brought the quiet respect to retiring many American flags with a burning ceremony.  They also encouraged everyone there to participate with a flag to add to the flames.  The ashes from this burning were laid near Betsy Ross' grave.    I haven't participated in a flag burning since I was at Girl Scout camp.  This was much more significant then anything I had previously been a part of.

Winding down the year

As the school year comes to the end, tests, parties and trips keep kids busy.

The school trip this year was to Medieval Times for an afternoon of food games and tournament.  Actually for school trips there is a brief introduction to the world of jousting and chivalry.  I chaperoned for MM's class and had to keep  tabs on MM and one of her friends.

LB cruised through the day with two buddies, one dad, and one granddad.  Needless to say there were plenty of  parental units along so none had too many children to keep track of during the day.

Making more fun - MM's group stood to support the Yellow night while LB's group supported the blue night.  These were two of the six nights jousting for the honor of tournament champion.  Neither of our knights won the tournament but a good time was had by all.

If you can enjoy a time of suspended reality, watch beautiful animals, and enjoy a simple meal; a round at Medieval Times can be fun for an entire family.

National Train Day

Saturday the kids and I headed to 30th Street station for the 2010 National Train Day, on the El of course.  Amtrak scheduled a full day of exhibits, demonstrations, tours, and just fun for families looking at yesterday, today, and tomorrow of train travel.

MM and LB love riding the train, whether the El into Center City, New Jersey Transit into NYC, or Amtrak to Washington DC.   Seeing how people dressed for travel in days gone by was an eye opener for my kids who love their jeans and t-shirts.





After a quick lunch, we headed into the Amtrak information area seeing representatives of the Amtrak K-9 unit, the new ecological initiatives, and regional attractions.  The kids found the activity center and added to our collection of coloring pages, collectors cards, and anything neat which they could get for free.

Throughout the terminal were costumed interpreters from the mid to late 1800s.  MM was fascinated by the dresses.  She decided that wearing 3 to 4 layers of clothes including hoops, gloves, and hats, was more then she wanted to do every day.  As we were heading home after several hours, we met a strolling musician with his concertina.  Though he seemed to be heading off for a break, he was very willing to play a short piece.  I'm not sure which child was more fascinated by the instrument and its music.


This was a nice start to an otherwise quiet family focused Mother's Day weekend.  With everyone contributing to the purchase, last month we finished our holiday gifting with a Wii.  This is the first video gaming system to be of any interest to me.  To date everyone has played at least one game which required getting their backside off the couch.  Typically Mother's Day gifts are hand made items, flowers, and cards but this year DH found Wii Fit Plus, which I really wanted.  Of course who was the first person on the balance board - you know it - DH.  He was testing the equipment and software, I know.  I did get a round of Free Step accomplished with more steps in the same amount of time.   Let the fun continue....

Road Rage

Two weeks down and I haven't run screaming from the building.  I may  however have a massive mid-drive hissy fit one of these days.  I thought the bouncing around on the city streets in my neighborhood was bad, but the streets in Center City are exponentially worse.

Cobblestones are supposed to be bone rattling and jarring, but it's nothing compared to several other streets on my daily travels.  Between the sinking manholes, poorly patched potholes, and uneven roadways; it would not be good for me to run into any member of the streets department.

I drive Pine Street daily.  Earlier this year was yet another round of road carving, this time for Fios.  Then turning down Third Street a series of bad potholes patches, rebuilding portions of road way from explosions, or all around uneven intersections is worse.  Emergencies will always happen, but for other subterranean projects, there should be a requirement that all other players with presents underground be notified.  All projects within a 2 to 5 year timetable should be scheduled so the roadway could be opened up and then fully resurfaced for the benefit of those who live or work on the street.

Since I can't change the roads, the mission to find the smoothest roads in Philly continues.  I'm not optimistic in finding an ideal route in the near future.

Projects continue

I am working more on potential gifts with stash yarn from mom.  This collection of purples will be a wonderful stripe scarf but doesn't have a designated recipient yet.  I love the texture of the Nobo with the smoothness of the cottons.


This happy face greeted me at my desk.  Many thanks to Mrs. B for the one acknowledgement of my return.  Gotta love all that support.

Monday was my first day back at work since Feb 1st.  I'm on light durty and reduced hours for the next several weeks.  The back injury is still going through it's changes with therapy and pain management, but it was pleasant to be out of the house for more then doctor's appointments or therapy for a change.   Of course therapy and appointments also continue, so by the time the kids are in bed I'm wiped out.    Tomorrow continues the fun for week 2.

Treats for me

For years I've looked through cooking store, restaurant suppliers, and even thrift shops for a 12 cup muffin pan similar to those I inherited from my Nana.  She gave me two Worthmore aluminum 6 cup muffin pans which are perfection.  The pans are pressed aluminum so there is no seam between the cup and the pan top.

Since finding my ideal wasn't happening, I worked with what was available to keep the muffins and cupcakes rolling out the kitchen.  Cleaning the crude out of the ridge is just a pain, but I never thought I would find my idea pan again.



Recently after some well wasted time on ebay,  I found an auction for exactly what I've been searching for - a Worthmore 12 cup standard size muffin pan.  The same seller had a mini muffin pan also of molded aluminum by

 Looking further through the seller's items I found a set of aluminum measuring spoons and an ice cream spoon.  Nana's kitchen held spoons like these too.

Nana's kitchen held so many wonderful, practical, and high quality tools.  I got so many when they sold the house and moved.  At the time I was still in school and wasn't didn't know what the future held so there were many items I didn't ask for that I wish now I had.  So, I search the auction sites and second hand shops for those illusive pieces that I now want.

This time, I placed my bids and won.  Yesterday the postman left a package at the door.  I was so excited because I just love getting packages.  These are just wonderful and will be much used and enjoyed.

An afternoon well spent....

Since February 1, life has been so different from anything I ever planned.  That slip on ice outside the office resulted in  being out of the office since February 2.  First diagnosed as a back sprain, then a pinched nerve showed up with physical therapy. Continued numbness in my leg led to a MRI, and the results moved me to the orthopedist and then an epidural just before Easter.  Now physical therapy continues as does the numbness in my leg, though it is getting  better ever so slowly.  Seems the epidural is helping but more to come after my next ortho appointment.

Being frustrated with this situation pushed me this weekend to trying to do a more normal weekend's worth of activity.  Tomorrow will show if this was a good idea or not.

MM had a birthday party this afternoon, which DH willingly took her to (he uses the time for computer work), so LB and I focused on cleaning up the last parts of his room.  LB isn't a dirty child, just a cluttered and messy one.  Putting things back in tubs or drawers is not his strong suit.  While he put away the piles of stuff at the end of his bed, I helped sort the every present Lego blocks.  He started this a couple of weeks ago but then building interrupted.

In the end, he decided to sort the bricks by color with a couple of drawers for the more unique pieces.  Once all the blocks were sorted, we worked together to labels the drawers.  After showing him how to use my label maker, he went to town typing out labels and I put them on the correct drawers.



While the sorting and labeling progressed, I had a batch of granola in the oven.  With bags of assorted nuts and dried fruits left from making Passover charoset and being out of granola, I saw this afternoon as the perfect time to make a batch of my own.  King Arthur Flour must have read my mind because a email earlier this week came with a recipe for crunchy granola.

I tweaked it a bit for the nuts and fruit in my pantry; apricots, dates, raisins, walnuts, cashews, almonds, and pumpkin seeds.  The end result is just wonderful and tasty.  It also fills my new storage container perfectly.

Growing up my Nana made granola which was wonderful, and always in a jar on the kitchen counter.  She didn't add the dried fruit as Grandpa wasn't big on this in his cereal.  I loved helping mix the ingredients in her biggest bowl and helping spread them on the baking sheets.  Next time I'll have to get MM and LB to help out, then they might enjoy eating it.

One to grow on...

Even though it's been along time since posting, I have been knitting.  After finishing Bubbie's hearts, I moved into my first non-scarf project - a baby blanket.  The baby receipent for this blanket is a new little boy at church.

Even though he was thoughtful and told his parents he was coming, I'm never too trusting of ultrasound results.  I picked up this waterfall color since it was wonderful for either a boy or girl.  Being for a baby, I love Lion Brand Homespun for it's comfy, cozy hand and it's wash-ability.

This week brought in a preview of the summer, but I hope to have this finished up to be used for some of the cool spring evenings yet to come.

"I thought this was for me not some baby.  At least it won't be living here, I've enough enough trouble with the ones living here already."

Love for Bubbie

This is the latest project on my needles - the last IOU from the holidays.   Thankfully Bubbie is our wonderfully patient Jewish grandma.

Using the Double Seed Stitch Heart chart from Knitting Stitches, by Mary Webb, the four hearts are for each of Bubbie's grands - genetic and chosen.
Since Bubbie doesn't like fluffy, fuzzy, or heavy weight scarf, so I used Lion Brand cotton yarn in purple and lavender.



This was the first time I used a charted  pattern.  I find them so easy to understand, easier than directions.  I am so happy with my end result.

Winter comfort food

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." - Edith Sitwell

More snow for us means the kids are home and I have to cook something for lunch and dinner.  King Arthur Flour Co. sent a recipe for baked macaroni and cheese a couple of months ago and I decided it just had to come out of my oven.  


As the back problems continue, I drafted MM to grate the cheese.  She did a great job and added the secret ingredient.  After stirring and mixing, we have this lovely pan for the oven.

A round in the oven brought this wonderful warmth for the table which was quickly enjoyed by all.  The entire family agrees this recipe is a keeper.  

knitting round round

These are pieces for one of two scarves I didn't finish in time for Christmas/Hanukkah but the recipient did get another gift.

Now I can knit in the round - 22 stitches round and round and round. This first tube of three is complete except for weaving the ends.  Help from my mom is needed for that finishing touch.

Being laid up with back spams has kept me home and away from my sewing machine, so now the second tube is in process.  Since this is still a gift, shifted to birthday from Christmas, the last tube will remain a secret until the project is finished.

Warm fuzzies

and flowers from DH this year for Valentine's Day. Even better then that he took the shopping list for Trader Joe's and picked up everything on the list while the kids and I were at church.

What a lovely surprise to come home and have one task off the to do list.

Snow bound

Here all the world is white and windy.

Back to back storms each over 20 inches leaves little room for any color other than white out our windows. The magnolia tree is covered, but has lost two branches over night due to the heavy snow and wind.

Once we can get back in the front yard we will have pre-spring planting to clear up.

DH and the kids are enjoying the shoveling, playing, and snowball toss. Laid up with back spasms, I'm keeping to the enjoyment of watching from the windows and thus the screened photo above.

2010 resolution

I'm not one for making resolutions because like many others, they don't keep beyond a couple of months. For 2010 I decided to focus on one thing - simplifying my life.

During my Louisville trip, I decided this is the year to redefine my wardrobe focusing on color. Mores specifically four colors; black, white, browns, and red. With that focus, yesterday I cleared out the closet and drawers. It feels great clearing out things I haven't worn for several seasons, or kept around for when I find that perfect coordinate.

These three bags head to Goodwill next week and that is good for many others.

2010 already productive

So far January has been good to me and finished projects.

New Years Day I spent predominantly infront of my sewing machine. I achieved from cutting to finished item a bag to hold Mom's swift.

Discovered as I put the swift into the bag that it was opening up, so I added two straps.

Created without a pattern, I like how this came out and so does Mom.

Mom was also in need of a new bathrobe. After Christmas we visited Joann's and picked out the wonderfully cozy fleece and a pattern.

This week I was able to finish the hem and sleeves, so that part of Christmas is actually done.

I succeeded in getting around 15 scarves finished for holiday gifts. The craziness of the holidays got in the way of pictures, but I assure you they were lovely.

With this success, I picked up where I left off in scarf creation. Traveling this past weekend enabled me to finish these two. The right one is tagged for a church friend. I used two balls of Watercolors. Too bad the color doesn't come through, it's a very pretty lavendar with other pastels mixed in.

The right one will join the bag for later gifting.

Now back to the table and cutting out the next project for more fun at my sewing machine.