It poured rain yesterday and blew from the east at 30-40 mph. Today everything is frozen and the parking lot is solid ice. I warned Rick not to go outside because of falling – he doesn’t walk well in the first place and I sure can’t pick him up off the ground! But he’s outside anyway.
Here are two more Split Squares quilts. First from Jeanie in SW IL.
And this pair of runners from Cynthia S.
This is the mess I’ve been working with making a sample for Connie’s cruise class which you can see a corner of in the background. I will show it to you closeup when she returns from the cruise.
I finished binding Wildflower which I will take a nice picture of when weather permits.
And I’m cutting out Bonnie’s Step 5 for En Provence Mystery Quilt.
Ezra has been here over Christmas – she is a typical golden retriever who wants attention all the time! Give me a terrier instead any day!
I’ve already put away the Christmas tree and most of the decorations. I hope to pick up some discarded live trees in town for the goats.
That’s it – I’m caught up!
Do the goats eat the trees? If they do, isn’t there the danger of them eating an ornament hook that might have been left behind? I’ve heard goats can eat most anything but I’d hate to see one of them get a hook stuck in a throat. Maybe you could get some left over trees that hadn’t gotten sold. Just wondering.
Susan – I think the hardware store has one left they’re keeping for me and otherwise I will carefully look them over. I have done this for years – the goats love the trees – first to eat and then to scratch against. I’ve also read it’s a natural wormer.
Go to Walmart and pick up some Non Slip Snow Grabbers in the shoe department. They are kind of a piece of rubbery stuff. They slip very easily over the toe and heel of your shoe or boot. They have what I would call a rivet (?) driven from the inside and it is rough, raw metal on the bottom which grips the ice. If it is icy, I’m inside, BUT if I had to go out, these would save me from breaking something……. I think they cost about $15, but I don’t remember for sure. I have another kind, too, with spiral metal on the bottom, but they are heck to get on and off.
We stayed inside yesterday and watched movies and the weather thru the window. We got about 6″ of snow in Rapid, but the wind whipped it into nice drifts — over the drifts we still had from last week. The wind went down in the late evening to about 15 mph. Before it was about 60mph. Outside of Rapid got more snow than we did and I-90 was shut down from the Wyoming border to Chamberlain. Our niece in Wall was out of power all last night. It was 48 in the house when they got up this morning. That is on the prairie. Not much to slow down the wind for hundreds of miles.
Oh, go back to the previous post. I listed the first books in the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box. It starts with “Open Season.”
In the meantime before I go out to shovel Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody. Relax, this is winter.
Betty – Rick has several sets of grippers, chains, etc. but he’s a big guy – I think if he’s going down, he’s going down. We heard about the blizzard in the Dakotas and were afraid it would reach us.
“But he’s outside anyway.” Made me laugh! The same thing happens at our house! My husband has Parkinson’s, and poor balance. But I sympathize with him and Rick – it’s hard to have your wife trying all the time to keep you safe.
Dot – you understand, don’t you? I have to call his phone to find out where he is!
Have the BEST New Year EVER. My husband has stage 4 liver Cancer and he tires easy and if over works he has pain. I tell him to NOT over do and then he does and remarks, “I should have listened to you” So do I keep repeating it or just keep my mouth shut. After 47 years you would think one of us would knw what to do. My furgrandson is a golden and couldn’t be more loving but is needy.
Angie – men! Why can’t they see how smart we women are? Ha!
So sorry your hubby is so ill!
Thanks for the book recommendation…just started…had me hooked from the first page!! Thank you!,,
Love the quilts/runners featured!!
Ha!! Love the husband comments!! All alike. I think their job is to worry the wives. 47 years for us tomorrow–36 inches of snow in 24 hours– all roads in Central and Western New York closed on 12/27/69–Quite a day😃😃
Hey, Mary, you can have my 8′ tree about next Sunday or before!!
Becky – your tree won’t fit in my truck tho’. I gotta find shorter ones.
Cut off the top 2 or 3 feet and maybe it’ll work?
Your weather makes me glad I live in Texas! It has reached into the low 80’s today and record warm for Christmas. Of course, even for us this is unusually warm. I live in the country and it seems the wind is always blowing. 17mph yesterday, not 30-40! Goodness! Stay warm!
Paula – read Kathy’s comment about the wind damage at her place. Ours was mild compared to hers!
All of the quilts are beautiful. Here in SW Minn. we had winds about 65 MPH on Christmas Day night. Our “horse trailer” (we use it to haul dairy cows and calves) turned completely over. It looks kind of funny with the wheels pointing to the sky. The feed truck driver asked if it was a new way to change tires. We think it is frozen to the ground, so it will have to stay that way for a while. The top of the 65 foot silo blew off and the silo unloader is hanging over the edge of the silo. It was to windy to do any repairs today. (Mon.) As we ate Christmas dinner, we watched the rain and even thunder. If it would have been snow, it would have been 10 inches. Everything is slush on top of ice. The good news: the Christmas dinner was very good. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, nut pudding, cranberries, peppermint ice cream and cookies. Hungary?
Kathy – we knew the winds were even worse in your area – and you even had damage! Ugh! Christmas Day was a miserable rainy windy day!
Kathy – what is nut pudding?? Sounds interesting!
I don’t know about that terrier thing. I just got a rescue dog and she is part terrier and she is sure
wreaking my house. 2 rooms carpeting ruined 1 table leg chewed and a cushion on an old chair.
They said she was about 2 but acts more like a puppy. Ugh. Never had a terrier and probably be my
last.
Sandy – sounds like you’ve got a ball of energy –hang
Sandy – sorry – hang in there because it will get better but running outside would wear him out, I think. Bored dogs are destructive dogs – can you get him more outside activity?
And here I was concerned about the low of 39 degrees in California! The frost has damaged my potted plants on the patio and some of my geranium “shrubs,” but otherwise we are doing well once it warms up during the day. I do pray that all of those in extreme cold, snowy climates will be safe, warm and finding lots of inside work. I love the quilts that you display and may make an attempt to start a simple pattern for my first quilting project.
I MARVEL at the energy you have….how do you do it all?!? I just love all your projects and activities….thanks for including us in your life! Happy and Healthy and Peaceful New Year to you and yours, Mary!
Wow! The Kathy with the severe wind damage has my sympathy! That’s close to hurricane wind speed.
Yes, the wind was horrible and I had to take my poor little dog out. Thank goodness no damages, but it drives one nuts. Hope you had a nice Christmas Mary.
Love your men comments..Wayne and I were together 27 years and not a day went by that he didn’t act like a 12 year old. He’s been gone 3 years and I still fondly remember so of his goofy antics.
Happy New year!!
Love your Wildflower quilt!!! Where can I get the pattern? I live in eastern SD and the Christmas weather was the strangest EVER!!! Horrible winds with lots of rain that couldn’t be absorbed into the ground because it was frozen! Sad how many households in the northern part of the state are still without electricity 🙁 So enjoy your posts!
I’d love to share a photo of my recently completed Be Merry quilt. How can I do that?
Marcia – the only way I know how to do it is for you to send me the photo by email and I will post it. My email is marye@ncn.net
I finally bought my book! Now I can join all of you in make my this beautiful charm square quilt . Which collection? So many choices 🙂 Happy New Year to all of you, my quilting friends !
Mary,
you are the LEAST lazy person ever! If I had just a smidgeon (is that a real word?) of your energy, I think I could conquer the world – or at least my messy sewing table 🙂
Best wishes for a fun, peaceful and healthy 2017 for you and Rick and those you hold most dear, which should cover the state of Iowa at least. Truly, Happy New Year!!
Just wanted to tell you, I have just now finished reading the whole month of Dec. I missed daily reading but enjoy your blog so much. Just wanted you to know I am still here. Paula in KY