I'm Back!

What a Christmas, and it is very hard to believe it has come and gone. Lots of time spent with family with lots of wonderful memories made! Our girl left for home yesterday after being here four days....it's wonderful to have her here for that many days in a row. She has a nasty cold that just won't go away, so I got to pamper her some extra:-)!

Here's my Secret Santa gift that Anne from Norway made me. The cutest vinyl bag with polka dots and rick rack on it......how perfect! She did such a beautiful job making it. Plus a wonderful bundle of fabric and some yummy chocolate that was shaped like a pig!!! Thanks Anne.

Christmas morning was crazy and fun as usual. The kids were here early. The rest of the family arrived early afternoon. It was just just a great family day. My son got a Rock Band game for Christmas. Here's one of my favorite pics. My kids, neice and nephew(a little bit hidden) and grandma playing a gig!! Rock on family!!

Today I plan to start taking Christmas down, a little bit at a time. I won't be back to work till Wednesday so I have some time. Also plan to get lots of quilting done. I have a quilt that needs to be quilted ASAP, so that takes top priority.

Off to do some lurking. I've missed all the blogs and I have lots to catch up on. Hope every ones holiday was a good one. Here's some of my favorite Christmas treasures from years past..............................

See you later alligators!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishing all of you and your families the merriest Christmas ever! Blogging over the last 5 months has been so much fun. I can not believe all the nice people that I have met and all the wonderful blogs I have visited. The creativeness is amazing. Getting to see what everyone is working on is just so inspiring.....have to say I was in a bit of a quilting slump back in August, but not anymore, and I give all the credit to the bloggers!! So a big old THANK YOU!! Doe, thanks for coaxing me in to blogging and learning how to use my digital camera :-)!!!

I was lucky enough to win a drawing from Vicki. Some really wonderful 30's charms. I love 30's and can't wait to get these in to a quilt. Thanks Vicki!

A quick post here. I actually have all my wrapping done. If my daughter is reading this she has probably fainted.......she remembers my all nighter Christmas Eve wrapping events! Mixed up a batch of chocolate trail mix for the neighbors and will get them boxed up and delivered ASAP :-)! The family will all be here tomorrow and I can't wait..one of my favorite days all year. The bonus is Katie will be home till Saturday!!!

Again, Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks so much for enriching my life with all your creativeness!

See you later alligators !!

A whole lot of shakin going on!

Good morning blogging peoples!! Just a little reminder of living in California. A 4.0 earthquake this morning at 4:15 a.m. about 35 miles from here. It sounded a little bit like a train passing through :-)! Think I will be a little slow today, since getting back to sleep wasn't easy!

Promised I would post the Tortilla Soup recipe...don't be put off by the long list of ingredients ..it is WONDERFUL!!!

Tortilla Soup
2 - 49 ounce cans chicken broth
3 frozen chicken breast halves-(cook alone in water for 20 minutes and
chop in small bite size pieces)
3/4 cups uncooked long grain rice
1/2 large yellow onion chopped fine
1 small red bell pepper diced
14 ounce diced tomatoes
8 ounce whole kernel corn
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 clove garlic minced
Tortilla chips
cheddar cheese grated
green onions chopped
2 tablespoons peppercorns and about 3 to 4 tablespoons celery leaves

In a LARGE pot put both cans of chicken broth, uncooked rice, onion and red
bell pepper. Put 2 tablespoons peppercorn and celery leaves in a tea ball and put in the broth. You can also tie it up in some cheese cloth if you don't have a tea ball. Cook for 25 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken that has been cooked, corn all herbs, and 1/2 of the cilantro that you chopped. Simmer again for approximately 20 minutes. Add rest of the cilantro and cook another 5 minutes. Best served in a mug. Crumble a handful of tortilla chips in bottom of mug, sprinkle cheese on top (we like a lot of cheese :-) ), put some chopped green onions on top of the cheese than ladle hot soup on top. YUMMMMMMY!

Look what I found!! I was at Target yesterday finishing up some stocking stuffer shopping and look what ended up in my cart! Just couldn't resist....and 50% off, what a deal! I love TARGET :-)! ........and then a buddy of mine, knowing how much I love stars brought me these ! Love them!! Hope every ones week is going well, and all your Christmas plans are coming together. Later gators!

It's crunch time!!

I'm feeling like I have Christmas under control, so today I decided I needed to get serious about my samples for Road To California. I am making a sample using Oak Leaves and Reel using the Flannel Flinders pattern. I really like that pattern. I've made it with hearts and stars and this one will have leaves. All of the four patch blocks are done, the plain blocks are cut out, next will be the 9 patch blocks. The strips are all ready to go and are packed up in my basket to take to work. If we aren't busy tomorrow, hopefully I will have a chance to get the 9 patches done! It feels good to have a project going.

Yesterday I met my friend Lani at Quilt N Things in Montrose, then lunch and shopping at our favorite country store, Country Classics. Love this place. They have a wonderful selection of vintage looking Christmas and all kinds of wonderful furniture pieces and accessories. The shop is decorated as cute as can be. We asked to take pictures inside, but they would rather we didn't do that so here's their store front. You can click on the picture for a bigger view! I had to have this barn star, it fits perfectly above this window I have. I had a nail there forever. I couldn't believe
when I hung it up how well it fit! Then there were these really cute dish towels and a fun Merry Christmas sign.........but my very favorite thing was this tree runner that Lani made for me.
Definitely felt like winter today. Nice and cold and a good day to make a pot of soup. A friend gave me a really great recipe for Tortilla
Soup. We wait all year for the cold weather to come, just so we can make this soup. You crunch a bunch of tortilla chips in the bottom of your bowl, put cheese on top of the chips and then pour the hot soup over the top......yummy, and enough left over to last a few days!

Off to do some lurking and then get to bed. Hope everyone has a great week. See you later alligators!

I got mail!

My Secret Santa gift arrived today....all the way from Norway from Anne Heidi!! The package had a little rip in it so I could tell that it was wrapped ......I just had to set it free. Ok, I just had to see the wrapping close up and personal and squish it and touch it! I don't know if I can
wait till Christmas! Thank you Anne.

Not much new to report on. I've gotten a little more shopping done, and tomorrow I will be out bright and early to hopefully get close to being done!
We will decorate the live tree and get some baking done, or some dipping of the
pretzel sticks thanks to Sharon's tutorial :-)!

Seems like forever since I've worked on a quilt.....think that's something I will put on my to do list for the next few days...good for the soul!

See you later alligators!

Houston we have a problem........and the WINNER is

I am up early at the crack of dawn to pick the winner and...............................my computer will not power up. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! It has never done this before, and pleasssssssse not today of all days. So I go about my business hoping that it will eventually work, and FINALLY, it does. Way to give me a heart attack :-)!!

So without further adue here we go. I enlisted the help of my trusty buddy Checkers (I know I ripped this idea off from someone else----but it was so clever I had to do it). He immediately grabs an entry ...... he can't wait to see who the winner is....hey Checkers you have to let go of it!!! He can't resist the baby carrots.......and the winner is
Jeanne of luv2stitch blog fame!

Jeanne I will email you and as soon as I get your address I will get the quilt in the mail to you. Thanks to everyone for playing along, and again it's wonderful to meet so many new bloggers!

I love these windmills, mainly because it means I'm about 30 minutes away from seeing my daughter! We

had the best day ever. Great lunch and then SHOPPING! We got a great deal on a wool coat for her. Then it was off to the Nutcracker. It was so much fun to see all the moms with their little girls all dressed up in their beautiful Christmas dresses and to remember how not that long ago that was us. My girl was only 3 years old when I took her to her first Nutcracker and I think after the first act she fell asleep, but it was a tradition that we carried on for several years until we moved. For my birthday this year that was her gift for me.....nice to start the tradition again. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter who now has truly turned in to my best friend. The day was spent with lots of laughing and sharing of what is going on in our lives........I think she knows me better than I know myself :-)! I am so proud of the woman she has become! I love you gobbie girl!

Later alligators!!

Happy Day!

I am getting ready to leave for a full day of shopping and seeing The Nutcracker with my daughter. Yeah!!! I have been looking forward to this day for a few weeks. Nothing better than the girls out spending daddy's money :-)! Of course there will be some eating yummy goodies along the way.

Last day to sign up for the quilt giveaway. I can't wait to see who wins. The box is ready, the quilt is tucked inside, only the drawing of the name to do! Good luck to everyone who entered my drawing and thanks for stopping by my blog. Now I have a HUGE list of some wonderful new blogs.

I am leaving a little early to do some pre Christmas shopping before I see my girl. She's working till 11:00 because she needs to feed her critters! A woman's work is never done.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! See you later alligators! PS: Thanks for all the congratulations on the grandma thing!

I'm going to be a grandma!

The most exciting news ever....we are going to be grandparents for the very first time! We just found out this evening and we could not be any happier or excited, and my daughter is going to be an Auntie. My son and his wife were just beaming when they told us. They are going to be wonderful parents. I'm sure I will drive everyone crazy at work tomorrow! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Grandma Cheryl......I just love the sound of that :-)! Let the baby quilt making begin.

Then more good news for our family. My mother-in-law is a 11 year breast cancer survivor and she just had her yearly check and she is still cancer free, so some more exciting news!

And then when I check my email tonight I found out that I had won 30's charm squares from Vickie!! I'm starting to think I might want to go buy a lottery ticket or something! This will be a busy fun week. Tuesday I will be doing a happy dance, because I will be spending the day Christmas shopping (might have to do some grandma and auntie shopping) with my daughter and then she got us tickets to see the Nutcracker. I can't wait. Wednesday morning bright and early I will be drawing for the Christmas quilt raffle. I have the names all ready to go, but there is still time to enter.

I have gotten a little more decorating done. Fun to pull out things that you have kind of forgotten about. The box the snowman is sitting on goes with the feather tree...the drawers have cute little primitive ornaments in them and you decorate the tree to count down the days till Christmas, all sitting on top of the quilt Carol gave me.
I am feeling very grateful for all the good news. Life can just change so quickly, and we all have to deal with the ups and downs. Having family and friends to share it all with makes it that much more wonderful! Happy second week of December. Later gators :-)!

It's Raining, It's Pouring................

Rain again, and boy do we need it! It's so nice and cold, and yes my trees are still changing colors! Amazing. Usually by December they are bear naked, but this year they just are holding on to their leaves.

Spent yesterday and today decorating. As I told my friend Carol, it looks like Christmas has exploded here! My friend is here helping me again, but now she just poses......I've created a monster :-)! It was nice, when she was done posing she gave Santa a bath.

Tonight we are doing one of our late night sew-ins, and the world famous ball of cheese is already wrapped in the fridge and ready to go! Honestly, I can really make something besides that.

Only 5 more days till the drawing for the Christmas quilt. I'll be up early Wednesday and have it all boxed and ready to go as soon as I here from the winner! Later alligators!!

Hello!

Good morning bloggers:-)! Just a reminder.....one more week till the drawing for the Christmas quilt pictured here. This has been so much fun.....fun to find so many new blogs and to be more inspired but what everyone is working on. There are some amazing crafters out there! And again, thanks for all the nice comments.

Not much new to report here. Still getting decorations out slowly but surely. I will be off for 4 days, so I plan to be finished soon. Holiday parties starting this weekend, meeting some friends for shopping and lunch Saturday (our annual Xmas get-together). Also, my helper Blitzen will be here again. My kids are snowboarding at Tahoe, so she will be here to help with the holiday decorating....pictures to follow :-)!

The Monday quilt group has been at it again and I thought I would share photos of what they have been up to.

This one belongs to Jennifer...she is now retried and pumping out quilts like crazy. I am so jealous!!!

The quilt here belong to Delores. She flipped the corners over to show what she has going on on the

back!

Here is Claudia's quilt show!

and some back art for the quilt on the left...........

Great job ladies, wonderful. Again, JEALOUS!!! Wish I had gotten more quilts done! Hope your week is going well, and that everyone is getting all their projects done! Later alligators :-)!!!!!

It's starting to look like Christmas around here!

Only 9 days left till the drawing. I can't wait to see who wins!! I appreciate all the well wishes and fun comments. I am feeling so much better, must be all the blog love :-)! I'm off the pain pills and still happy to be giving the quilt away, so no one can blame the medication anymore!! I will pick the winner at the break of dawn on December 12. If you would like to be included in the fun, just leave a comment. Thanks Sharon for helping me to spread the word!!!!!

What a great weekend. Yesterday was a work day for me. Doe and Sharon came by for a visit. We don't see much of Doe, she is working way too much. Lots of gabbing and laughing of course. Sharon brought me the most yum, yum, yummy cookies (and look at the cute bowl)!! Dark chocolate stars with white sprinkles, oh my word. The box of cookies was rather large, but have to say now there are only a handful left....I see a trip to Trader Joe's in my future.

Saturday night my sons dog spent the night. The kids had a fancy, smancy dinner to go to for his work. Today I decided to get a little Christmas decorating done, or should I say start decorating. I am so behind. Nice that I had such a good helper! If Santa needs a backup reindeer I know who he can call! I can't beleive how she sat still

for the picture! I'm thinkin she was liking those antlers.

My Christmas salt and pepper collection from my kids and friends. I love them all, but I definitely need a bigger shelf there are a lot more in the cupboard.

Our artificial tree is about 13 years old. You know, one of those that you put together branch, by branch .....by the time I get the lights on it's an all day job. Today I decided to get a new prelit tree. I love it. It was up in a jiffy. I probably won't get the decorations on till my day off, but it sure looks pretty

all lit up! Thursday I will venture in to the Christmas closet and see if I can get the job done next weekend.

Hope that you all have a great week! Thanks so much for

stopping by my blog! Later gators.

Anyone in the mood for a drawing???

First off, I am finally feeling like my normal self (ok Sharon I can hear you snickering from here)! I worked a part day Monday, and part day Tuesday and I came home and felt absolutely horrible. Put my PJ's on and basically laid on the couch till today. Tuesday I decided I had enough of those pain pills and stopped taking them. I was doing such fuzzy thinking it was scary. Plain old Aleve seems to do just fine and today I am almost feeling perky. I am even thinking tomorrow morning I'm going to drag out a little Xmas spirit.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes. I know that's what did the trick. My bloggy friends have been so wonderful. I've been thinking of doing a drawing. I haven't had my 100th post yet....gee, I think I'm only at 37, but I've decided just because everyone is so darn nice that's a good enough reason to do a drawing.So here goes! This was a class I taught at the quilt shop about 8 years ago. It was a mystery quilt. The fabrics are all Hoffmans with the gold metallic in it that was so popular then, and a creamy gold background. It measures 46 X 65 and is quilted with metallic thread. After hanging in the shop I folded it up and tucked it inside a pillowcase and put it in my mom's hope chest and promptly forgot about it!

Back to the drawing! If anyone is interested in winning this quilt all you have to do is give me a comment and I will enter your name in the drawing. I will pick the winner the morning of December 12, so I can get it in the mail in time for Christmas!

Not much more to report on since I have just been laying around and being a slug! Here's a photo I took this evening from my sewing room window --- the sunset was so pretty!

Also thought I would do an update on my son and daughter in laws dog....see she can sit still, but boy does she have an attitude in this picture :-)!!!!!!

Lastly, Sharon's friend Kris is new to blogging and if you have a chance hop on over and give her a BIG bloggy hello....she's got a really cute blog. Well enough of my blabbering.........see you later gators :-)!!!

I Love My Girls!

We had a bit of a scare the day before Saturday. My mother in law was taken to the hospital with what she thought were problems with her heart. Two years ago Thanksgiving she was hospitalized with a heart attack and she thought it was the same thing again. Turns out it was a problem with some medication that had been recently prescribed to her. We are all very grateful that she is OK and at home resting. They did a complete workup of her heart and everything looks wonderful, which is very good news to hear.

Here's my girls....... They were wonderful. They grated, they chopped, they stirred, they rolled, they baked and if it wasn't for them our day would have been pretty food less! The best helpers ever, and I told them they did such a good job next year they can take it away! Girls I so much appreciate the two of you. It made it easy for me not to worry. Of course dad did his thing with the bird on the barbi.......ymmmmmmmmy! Very tender! Everyone pitched in with the dishes. My son was even drying the china. And knowing that John's mom was feeling better, made the day perfect.

The kids decided they wanted to take a picture for their Christmas cards this year with their dog Bailey. As you can see she is a bit of a wiggle worm. Think we will have try another time :-)!

I am still really sore, but making progress. I'm going to try a half day a work tomorrow and see how that goes. After not doing much for a week I'm hoping it will feel good to be a little busy, we'll see. Thought I would give you the recipe for the pumpkin cookies my girl made. She got it from Allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

2 cups shortening

2 cups white sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all purpose flour

6 tablespoons butter

8 tablespoons milk

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup packed brown sugar

Cream shortening, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at

350 degrees.

To make frosting: cook butter, milk, and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Spread over warm

cookies. These are very soft, cake like cookies.