We are under a BLIZZARD WARNING for the next two days – not a watch, a warning which means it’s a pretty sure thing we’ll be getting a blizzard. Today the wind has switched to the south so the dog door can’t be open and a deep freeze will follow the blizzard. Gotta be sure the barn is locked up as airtight as I can get it.
So with a blizzard looming we all went to the grocery store. The ad came out last night so I thought this would be a good time to go – you know, for the bargains? Does anybody else want to whine about their hometown grocery store? Ours is HyVee and I’ll be glad to name it. Since they took over I have searched for things EVERY SINGLE TIME IVE BEEN IN THE STORE! It’s pretty funny, really – I’m going round and round looking up to read the signs – and so is everyone else! We keep seeing each other every round we make! If beer is on special, wouldn’t it be stocked and in plain sight other than the cases in the cooler? If 7up is on special, wouldn’t they have it? Why is the bread aisle nearly empty? Why is the milk dated today as the expiration date? Enough whining – gotta let my blood pressure go down.
Here are the bullseye blocks that I’ve completed the first round – I need to cut more.
And all the sewing caddies are dusted and back on the shelf! I did break one that I’ll need to glue.
Don’t worry about that toggle bolt – it’s been like that for 10 years.
And all I had to do was bind my Number 9 – it almost felt like cheating! Jo has huge bed quilts she is finishing – I bound a 12″ block – I’m sorry, Jo – more power to you! I just loved looking at the quilts you’ve either started or have already finished. I recognized Kalissa’s Christmas present – would love to do that pattern!
And here’s what I’m going to work on next – cake mix papers! Can you believe I have never done this before? Connie has and since I had a pad of Number 2, I found a pattern and started layering up 10″ squares.
I also sewed up this Big Star quilt in red and white. This pattern is in the online store but it can be found many places – it’s one of those patterns that everybody has done and nobody can lay claim to having the original.
As I was putting sewing caddies back on the shelf I cleaned these two hand carved crochet hooks and admired this very long bladed scissors.
I still have a whole tray of tiny scissors to hang up.
This “leg” pincushion was on the shelf, too, and has several 1920 Red Cross pin buttons. It must be made of silk because it is deteriorating badly.
Yesterday after my dental appointment I went to Sue and Tony’s farm to meet their new puppy, Dougal. You might remember Sue used to work for us as a machine quilter and Tony now services our longarm machine.
Look at how he’s sitting in Sue’s arms – and get a load of those ears!! Could he be much cuter? Love his spotted legs!
I hope I haven’t lost track of the Dirty Dozen pictures – I think I have just two.
After I watched All Creatures Great and Small on Sunday night, I watched Long Song, the story about a sugar plantation in Jamaica at the turn of the century. It’s a short series, only 3 episodes but it deals with slavery and the wealthy plantation family.
So – I’m heading out to the shop to piece a back for my pink and gray quilt so I can get it on the longarm and Kayla can get the pattern in the shop. Let it snow – I can read and sew for days on end! How about you?
Hi Mary, the big star is one of the first quilts I made from an American good housekeeping magazine in the 80,s,so proud of it at the time! Sues dog is beautiful, take care everyone, best wishes from sandy
That puppy is adorable!
Good for you getting all that housework done, sometimes I dust with a can of air, seriously, it works wonders on fabric surfaces. As far as the grocery store, I think they are in cahoots with the meteorologists. I think all of ours rearranged just as the Covid lockdown was announced, no more in and out.
Love your bullseye blocks. I’m back to the flannels. Some of this fabric hasn’t seen the light of day for 20 years.
I’m getting the vaccines shot in about an hour…so exciting
Mary, my friend…so nice to know there is snow elsewhere! Think about 2” added during last night so plowing n blowing are ongoing today. Our total must be near 5’ now…remember having a little snow last 4 Th of July!!!
Am so disgusted with ATT/Direct TV…they couldn’t come to $ agreement so turned off Jeopardy and an entire local channel! Have number to call n voice some choice words/comments!
What a cute puppy Dougal is…freckles n those alert ears.
Our nearest market is an 80 mile round trip….
Stay cozy!
Mary, I really love the pink and gray quilt. Will that pattern be posted in your store?
Betty K. commented about doing a search for the black and white bullseye I was inquiring about from the last time you did a bullseye sew along. There is one listed in Oct of 2019, but the pictures will not load because it was your old site.
We rarely shop at our local grocery store, why, because they set their prices based on the local property values. We have 5 lakes and 3 rivers within minutes of the village. One river runs through the village. On all of those lakes and much of the rivers are million dollar homes. Add in a major resort less than5 miles away with more million $ homes. We drive 30 miles away to shop. If you are interested in my area google Torch Lake.
We have not received our usual snowfall that we only have a couple of inches on the ground. With the below freezing temperatures we’ve had and sub-zero temps coming our concern is our water freezing.
Hi Gayle, Is that Torch Lake, Michigan? We have friends with a cottage up there. It is beautiful😃
I have the same issue with HyVee. Went in to get a bottle of olive oil. Found the aisle that said “oils”. Found more varieties of oil than I knew existed but no olive oil. Tracked down a teenage employee for help. He showed me that olive oil was by the pasta. When I asked him why he said it was because you use it to make spaghetti. Still shaking my head over that one. He seemed confused when I said I use it for many things. We have a beautiful HyVee here in Mankato but I rarely go there because I can’t ever find anything.
Kate -,thank you!!! I’m so glad I’m not the only one! Their system doesn’t make sense to me!
LOVE Dougal❤️❤️!! What breed is he? So alert in Sue’s arms.
I love Hy Vee for the variety and all of their fresh produce, but I can’t find anything in there, EITHER!! Can’t afford the expense of shopping there too often so I shop at Wal Mart. Actually, I do online shopping at Wal Mart, and they deliver to my car. Been doing that since WAY before the pandemic. Saves me a ton of time because then THEY are the ones searching for exactly what I want. I do have substitutions, sometimes, and things aren’t available other times, but it’s so worth it to me in the time I save!
We’re in a Weather Advisory here in Lincoln, NE, until noon tomorrow. Only expecting about 2” of snow, but ice and high winds are predicted. UGH. Never liked winter all that much because I always had to drive in it when I worked. Love being retired so I don’t have to go out in unless I WANT to. However, since hubby passed, I now have to be responsible for all the snow removal on our 2 lots, which are on a corner, to boot! UGH. Certainly have been getting in my exercise this year. HA! So, stay warm and safe and keep sewing!
We had a nor’easter with 6 inches of snow but blowing wind but I made no knead bread and a pot of vegetable soup and reading Obama’s book and nice and warm and paper piecing a quilt top. So let it snow.
Stay safe
Hi Mary
Got the bullseye quilt pattern I sent to you for! Love the pattern!!!!
Praying for you’re safety during the blizzard for you and all the wonderful animals🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
What kind of dog is that dog with the big ears?
Blessings to you all always🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Bea knight
Love those puppy ears! He’s a sweetheart. I’m in Shell Rock, yeah, I rescheduled dentist appt, sent card and made online donation for a visitation happening tomorrow night that I will not get to. It’s ok, I’d want to hug numerous people who will be there and that can’t happen. I sent a virtual hug with one of my friends who lives much closer. Yes, I can read and sew for a very long time before it will be critical to get out.I also have dog, cat and horse food, the horse also has hay. We are good. My stitching group was talking about how long you could be sick without running out of things to read, (before ebooks) and one said 3 days, one said a couple weeks, I had to admit I could last a year or two. Take care, Be Safe.
I too could last years with the books I have yet to read.
Our sentiments exactly at this horrid HyVee…and the ceiling is paint BLACK…so INVITING too…BUT we just left there and the MOB!!!
It is always fun to see your collections, Mary. I like it when people give their location so I know what weather is coming to Ohio! I have so many Country Threads books and patterns. I like to see if I have one of the patterns you are making😃. One year, I bought a collection of different patterns. I found them this week so I am going to try to make some of them. Fun to plan.
We are expecting very cold weather on Sunday and Monday. I hope you and Rick and all the pets stay safe and warm through the blizzard!!
We are fortunate in DM that we have a variety of grocery stores. I was a Dahls shopper till they closed, now I go to Fareway. Best meat department!
Stay safe in the next few days. I watch my grandson, Elliott, so we can snuggle in and just play. He’s a year and a half. Working on a new quilt for his baby sister coming Feb 22. So excited!
Diana in DM – I usually drive the extra 20 minutes to Fareway in Clear Lake but today I didn’t want to take the time – plus HyVee had some good things on their ad. Too bad I couldn’t find them. Should have just thrown the ad away when it came and shopped at Fareway.
Mary, I have had the same problem with our Hy-Vee! They quite often will not have the items in their ad. One day I was so frustrated, that I asked a staff what the deal was. Her answer was that the ads are for all the Hy-Vee stores and the smaller ones do not carry everything the bigger Hy-Vee stores do, so if your Hy-Vee is a smaller one, that’s why we can’t find everything that is in their ad. I would think they could print different ads for the different size stores!
I don’t go out to shop, the darling hubby does it all. Yesterday he came home without plain coleslaw, 4 cans of beets and French cut green beans—-a certain brand was on special, and the frozen broccoli that was on sale. These were all listed in the ad—and it was the first morning of that ad. Really???, sadly it wasn’t HyVee but the other major grocer in Iowa.
It must be going to be an awful wind to turn those 2-3 inches of snow. We need snow to cover the fields and add some moisture…but not a raging blinding blizzard.
Ok, I groused about the grocery. But I found a new pretty blue container for the sewing room. Finish Dishwasher tabs has a cut off label…So the container will look pretty with whatever in it. I need to lock up a permanent marker….I was making a memory bear for a client, and because of the design on the shirt front, Ineeded to alter…I thought I grabbed the preferred in the sewing room and marked that shirt heartily…that was fine, but I had the pattern turned the wrong direction. I did make a save. Teddy now has a heart!🥰. I’m not sure why I wrote so much….must be the season !
I hear you, I can read and sew all day too – but…Today I made some sourdough bread because it would raise in the sunny window! I am trying to get quilting things done as I will get my new puppy the first week of March and there won’t be much sewing for quite awhile I think! Penny will have big ears like Dougal but she will be MUCH smaller!! Just finished a project that I bought a number of years ago so that’s one down! Will only start something small so I can get it done by the end of the month! I did a ”Cake mix” projects once, kind of fun but then there is getting the paper off. Love the big star! Hope that the snow doesn’t get too high!!
I’ll admit we went thru the rearranging of the grocery store shelves maybe two years ago and it is quite mind boggling. Have to re-orient your thinking —like the can pumpkin is now with the baking items ( I think) not where we used to find it. We don’t like change!!
Charles City is lucky to have two grocery stores – Fareway and Hy-Vee. We shop at both grocery stores. Hy-Vee has a much bigger selection of groceries than Fareway but Fareway does have a good meat department. I’ve been shopping at both stores for over 20 years so I know these stores like the back of my hand. If I need something special Hy-Vee will have it for me in two days. No complaints about Hy-Vee from me. I’m in WI this week and we’re supposed to have the same storm as Iowa. No worries -I have lots of new projects to start.😁
I’ve been wishing for a blizzard the last few years and all we get is a little snow and it’s usually gone in a day. Nothing is cozier than being in a nice, warm house quilting or reading or doing any handwork and watching the snow come down. Stay warm and safe.
I just laughed out loud when I saw Dougals ears. What a darling puppy and so unusual! Wondering if he is a Heinz or a named kind of dog? He is just so cute.
Love seeing your collections and your shelf looks very spiffy.
I am working on a small sampler quilt that will have lots of little 4 inch blocks around the larger center block with applique. It is taking me a long time because my sciatica is bothering me and I can’t sit in my chair very long. Winter seems to bring on my aches and pains.
Thanks for reminding me about All Creatures Great and Small. We are recording it and I forgot all about it this week. We will watch it tonight.
Hi Sue, a couple years ago I complained to my doctor about sitting to log bothered me. Had a x-ray done and they said I had a unremarkable hip. They sent me to physical therapy for 6 weeks and it did help a lot. I was able to take trips without squirming all the time. Worth asking about. The exercises were very easy to do at home.
Hi Rita…I have been thinking about doing Chair Yoga. I need to find a good one on Y Tube and watch and do. I don’t know why I avoid exercise so much. And, Chair Yoga isn’t taxing. Anyone else ever do it?
An unremarkable hip??? Is that really a proper term? I’d like to know, because I have a problem hip that makes me squirm.
I, too, have a hip problem that can give me shooting pains with NO warning. Then I read that sitting on something soft could help because it is caused by a nerve getting caught between a couple “hard places.” So, I folded pieces of polar fleece about 3-4″ deep and put them on my kitchen chair. Then I got really busy and forgot about it. Awhile later I realized there were NO pains! That’s been at least 2 years ago. Definitely worth a try?
In NW Iowa we aren’t in The blizzard warning just the wind and a wintry mix and yes…the COLD. Our car is just serviced, so maybe we should escape!! Ha. Stay safe and warm
I love everything about your number 9 and wonder if you know what pattern it is? I see in your 1-31-21 post that it was a quilt from Gladys that just needed binding but, no other information. It’s beautiful.
Connie R – it’s a traditional pattern but came from American Patchwork and Quilting about 20-25 years ago. I no longer have the pattern.
I’ll go through my old copies and I may come across it. If not, the colors alone are inspiration for a new quilt. Thanks for your reply pointing me in the right direction!
Connie R – if you have all the issues, look in the first year –
You gave hubby and me a good laugh with your comments about HyVee. Our HyVee is a smaller store and we have to drive 35 miles away to a larger store if/when we want items in their ad. And they don’t carry the flavors of yogurt I like. We get the Mankato paper and the ad there is often different than the one we get with local Shopper. So we try carry an ad with us as they will honor prices from Mankato ad if we can produce the ad. I’ve reached the point where I seldom go into the store because I get so frustrated with their crowded aisles and searching for sale items. And people wonder why we don’t shop locally.
Jane Boyer – Amen!
We just got threw a blizzard, about a foot of snow, just getting dug out. I’m lucky to have young neighbors to shovel & plow me out. Hopefully I can get groceries tomorrow because we are supposed to get more snow this weekend. Using instacart at Wegmans for second time, it’s safer & easier for now!
Oh I just love the puppy! Those ears and the alert face. Love the polka dots and black head.
I hope you stay safe and warm during the blizzard. And the animals too.
I always hate when they change the grocery store around. They do ours about every two years. And when they advertise something and you can’t find it.
Your colors are so bright for your quilt Mary…. you seem to like leaning that way lately, aren’t you? I think we are all craving spring colors with this bout of winter that hit now.
I am one of the strange ones who does enjoy grocery shopping and I can get in and out of any Wegmans store here in a jiffy. I love their fresh produce that lasts longer than other stores. They usually don’t do ads where you have to find sale items so that makes it easier and I like that if I need just milk, they have a special case inside the doors to grab it and go. It’s a wake up call when we travel south of us in our RV and shop for fresh foods in other name stores. We realize how lucky we are to have good stores home. I don’t buy prepared foods cause of the high cost but I realize it’s convenient so I make my own.
Stay safe and hope the blizzard isn’t too bad. Last night our tv beeped with a winter weather advisory and I thought I was in some nuclear war. Haven’t heard that noise on our tv! Must be people don’t prepare and need to be warned.
Reading all the comments about snow, blizzards, and freezing weather makes me grateful to live near the Texas Gulf Coast. On the down side, no snow days to stay in and sew.
The dog is absolutely beautiful !! Looks like an Australian Cattle dog. My hair dresser has two of them. Mary, I love your squares so far! I am still cutting out mine. Will start sewing today! Loved the two dirty dozens, very nice!
No snow here in SC to speak of, just lots of rain and cold weather with frost. Maybe we will see some of the white stuff this year! Hoping all of you that are getting the snow, stay safe and warm.
As far as the grocery store that is local to us, ours is Food Lion and when they run a sale ad, we go and SOMETIMES can find the things, but what makes me mad is if they do not have what is on sale or the truck did not come in, they will not issue a raincheck. I think that is unfair. If they advertise a sale item and do not have it, I think they should issue a raincheck and honor their sales paper. PERIOD!!!
Brenda in SC – yes, Dougal is border collie and blue healer. He will be so smart! No rain checks? Very unfair of your grocery store!
Happy Sewing Day! I have good memories of blizzards, including a fresh pot of soup and all the family at home, as even stores were closed up in the worst of it. We don’t get blizzards in the area I live in now, the only one I can think of was 43 years ago.
We have enjoyed walking through Hy-Vee when in Iowa. They were bigger stores. We found they carried many more products than what we are used to finding in Kroger. I know sometimes it’s difficult to find things in a small town store, but I can still hear my mother saying: you’ve got to shop local or you may no longer have that option. We see that in many of our small towns and bigger towns that no longer have clothing stores, fabric stores, and sometimes not even a grocery store. Even before a 1 or 2 inch snow, we notice the bread and milk aisle is quite bare.
Again, Happy Sewing!
Mary, Our local very large Hy-Vee is far from my favorite. After trying to shop there twice, I gave up. My little local store will stock the things I ask for so why ever change?
The weather service said we will be very cold probably up until valentines day. Oh well, stay home & sew.
I understand ,well —- understand your frustration not the way they shelve things. In walmart, I needed an appliance light. Wouldn’t you think they would be with lightbulbs? Nope 2 isles over. The stores were so busy yesterday. The warning sent everyone to town. I would not have done but had to get another blood test. They can’t seem to get the blood thinner meds set right. I am working on another bear made from Tom’s shirts. Cleaned on different areas of my sewing room .Does anyone move things around in your sewing room. I moved my sewing tables just seems good to change things around once in a while. The next thing is sorting and refolding all my fabrics. Stay warm. judy in lowa.
I forgot to mention I listen to audio books while I sew, cook and clean. I have Bridges overdrive through my local library. I am listening to Lilian Jackson Braun , Bailey Cates and Anne Perry books
as they are available.
Judy in Iowa.
It seems that every time I grocery shop at Walmart things are rearranged and I have to search for what I want. Two weeks ago I had to grocery shop because I was out of almost everything. I decided that I didn’t want to walk all around Walmart for hours looking for what I needed. This past summer our Walmart added a shopping service for groceries and I decided to try it. It was great. I picked the time for picking up my groceries, parked in one of the numbered spots, someone brought my groceries out and put them in my car. How great is that. Love it.
So sorry to hear about your problems finding things in HyVee. We have 2 HyVee stores in Quincy, IL, and they’re the only place I like to shop for groceries. People are helpful and friendly. I’ve been shopping there for years. Maybe yours will improve. Hope so! Stay out of the blizzard!
I agree with you on shopping at Hyvee. I think they have a marketing strategy that if you have to walk around looking for everything you will buy more than what you need.
Lynn / you’re probably right about HyVee but it’s not gonna work with me – I’m going to Fareway instead