January

 I do like the quiet of January.  Christmas starts in September, moves over a little bit for Halloween but then elbows right past Thanksgiving so by the time Christmas actually gets here I can be tired. Of it. January calms the noise.  

But therein lies the dilemma.  Do I use the quiet days to clean out the kitchen cupboards?  Do I use the quiet days to sew my little heart out?   Truly, I get better cleaning done when the sun is shining and that doesn't happen much in January, it's pretty gloomy. Lights on in the house gloomy. So use the gloomy days to get the sewing projects done enough to line up for actual quilting?  Prep some for retreat?  Such a dilemma.  

Right now the sewing mojo is working so I'm working with it.   Though I did read on a cooking page somewhere that every January this person cleans out the spices in the cupboard, doesn't toss them out but puts them all in one jar for a unique blend that she uses all the rest of the year on anything.  Sounds intriguing and I just might try it.  One jar as opposed to many that just feels like cleaning out the spices, doesn't it?  And if they were going to be tossed anyway, why not experiment a little? I know some people who think the word experiment is a four letter word, but I do it all the time.  The only problem with experimenting is when you do something and it turns out really good you can't duplicate it. 

    So, I've been putting together some blue snowballs.  All of the corners are a deep navy solid or blend. I don't have a design wall so laid them out on the Thinking Bed just to see if I really liked it or if it was an experiment that didn't work, you know, tossing all those different blues into one jar. I think the dark corners makes it work because the blues are certainly a conglomeration of everything in my stash that was small.  All those little jars!

     I also cut the templates for Adelaide's graduation quilt.  She picked a style off Pinterest, "I want this design, but these flowers and this background."  So I cropped and enlarged the flowers at the library and got her approval on size. Unlike Charlie and Elizabeth's quilts, for this quilt there will be no surprises, she will supervise each step. So yesterday I numbered each flower, numbered each petal and traced and cut them out, putting each flower in it's own zip bag.  

     I have been gathering sunflower golds/yellows/orange batiks and have a small stack but want a few more for variety, shading, etc.  I will also look for some greens.  It will be all batik flowers and leaves and stems on a regular quilt fabric background.  Appliqueing batik onto batik can be hard on the fingers and I mix fabrics ALL of the time.   

      She is only a junior and there is another whole year before she graduates but this gives me time to think and be able to do other things, like snowballs! 

     

New Year

 I do hope your year 2026 is a good one, a better one, a smart one.  Here in the U.S. 2026 can't possibly be worse than 2025....can it?  

Chooky organized two zooms, for her it was NYEve and NYDay, a real marathon.  I am happy I was able to be on for both of them for a few hours before my battery on the iPad died each day. It's so good to catch up with what I now consider my people.  On the first day there were quilters from Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada, the U.S., Germany, Norway and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.   The next day was quieter with a couple of us from the U.S. and Australia.  It was so good to see everyone and I was disappointed to miss others as people came and went throughout the two days. 

We stitched and shared stories and weather, food, plans for this year.  I learned a few things, too.  I learned that when a chicken lays an egg she squawks or clucks or clears her throat or maybe is cheering herself?  I'm a city girl, I didn't know that.  And we in the U.S. are apparently the only ones who refrigerate their eggs.  Betty said the rule of law is to treat them at home the way you got them.  If they were refrigerated then keep them refrigerated.  If not then don't fret, they're ok for even a couple of weeks if the weather isn't too hot.  Here in the U.S. the stores refrigerate eggs so we keep them that way at home.  Who knew?

There were times we all just worked on our projects and no one was talking, we were just together.

This is what I worked on while zooming.

I used my hand crank machine and put the corners on the new set of snowballs.  All will be blue and the corners are all a deep navy so they'll work next to each other with no worry.  There are 56 here!  The pile still left is bigger than this and I'm taking a break from cutting more corner squares right now so this might morph into a bigger quilt than I intended. Or two.  These will measure five inches finished.
 

I also put the binding on this with the cranker machine.  I've never attempted that before and was glad to see it wasn't as hard as I anticipated.  This was a piece from Audrey over at Quilty Folk when she was 'helping' us do one of her fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants quilts. Her style is very unplanned and free cut and I love that but I lost enough track of time that it languished too long so I got it out of the basket, big stitch quilted it and layered it and called it finished after sewing down the binding last night.  She has stopped blogging and turned to IG so I don't catch up with her work as much as I used to.  But I like this, there's something to look at everywhere.

So, fingers crossed, here's hoping here's hoping here's hoping 2026 isn't grotesque. I have to dig deep.

For Real Snow

 This is not us!  But it is still in Michigan!  We had a big storm, up north it was a blizzard that dumped this kind of snow in the city of Marquette, on the shores of Lake Superior, about 7 hours north of me, here in Lowell.  This is why I will never, ever visit the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) in the winter.  Even if you LIKE winter I don't understand this. 

So, Australia friends who are dealing with 100 degree heat, at least you don't have to shovel it. In the U.P. there is nowhere to go but up.  Literally.

Moving on

 Christmas tree is down, ornaments packed away.  I know you're thinking "WHAT??" but since this time of year is filled with traditions, well, it's been a tradition since I was a child that we put the tree up early and take it down the day after Christmas. It's always worked well for us and so the tradition continues. 

We had a very good time with the kids and grands, lots of lunches and pot lucks with friends, gave away well over 700 peppermint patties (there are still a few in the refrigerator.) and so it's time to move on.

I always liked January because there was no frenzy of baking, shopping, cooking, etc. It gets quiet and calm and I like that.

Last night I finished the temperature tree.  Our weather people are very good at prediction and the temperature chart has a few numbers leeway so I went with it.  December in Michigan isn't going to change.  My pattern with this was to save up about two weeks worth of temperatures and sit down for an evening of stitching.  Once I let it go for two months and decided that was too long. I still had to keep track of the temperatures so my mind wasn't off the project.  I fudged the placement of leaves a LOT but it looks good from the curb.

Then I picked up the Liberty of London circles and started to quilt this.  It's been years in the making because I just got bored with it and would put it down for months.  But it's to the point of quilting now and I'll stick to this.  

Hoping your Christmas gave you new memories.

Christmas Past

 Christmas celebrating this year is over and while we are still basking in the lights, it's considerably quieter around here.  Yesterday PH said it felt strange not running around getting things ready for the kids and grands (we still call our 50 year old children "the kids.")  The grands ran around in the woods outdoors, we shared gifts, we had food enough to eat and leftovers to send home, we played card games at night, the grands roasted marshmallows in the fireplace after the adults went to bed. 

 I don't even know how many kinds of cookies I made but I kept just one kind and sent the rest home with everyone. Floor vacuumed, naps taken, it's quiet again.  They are all prepping for their own Christmas and with their in-laws. It always feel like a real silent night after they've gone home but we've worked it out so we have them for the weekend before actual Christmas and that frees them up. We have them overnight and the kids look forward to that.  As Charlie said, "it's how it's supposed to be, it's all part of Christmas." 

  PH and I have done various things on the actual day, in the past sometimes with friends, but the usual is to go to a movie and out for Chinese - the only two things open on Christmas Day.  

They aren't kids anymore, they're all teenagers and beyond (Mike is on the threshold and Charlie past the teen years) and we really can't believe how fast time goes.  One day at a time, I know, but like the saying goes, the days are long, the years are short. 

This was a morning photo after they searched for the pickle on the tree.  

This year Elizabeth found it

I love surprises.  Some people don't but I do.  Surprises say someone was thinking about you and you didn't even know it.  Yesterday this surprise from Jo came in the mail!  I was shocked and honored she was thinking of me and made a card, filled it with this so cute ornament and sent it to me.  Thank you, Jo.  It's hanging on my 'special' tree.

So, as PH and I watch a movie and eat Chinese and bask in our memories of this year, we both hope you have a nice Christmas and holiday whether surrounded or quietly together. 

Chestnuts Roasting

 Granddaughter is home from college for a few weeks and spent her first day home with me making peppermint bark (first time, experiment, I didn't much taste the peppermint but she did) and seafoam candy. 

She loves this and it's really nice handing off the pies at thanksgiving to Adelaide and the candy at Christmas to Elizabeth. They don't need me for anything but the ingredients and conversation during the process.  

Just making memories, just making memories.

This is what happens to all of those chestnuts we talked about a couple of weeks ago. Daughter orders 20 pounds from the u-pick chestnut grove we picked at.  What we picked was daughter's family's own personal stash, then she orders more for the museum's booth during the city's Christmas night at the showboat.

 Elizabeth said she knows how to do it right, meaning it's her job and we all get out of her way.

People smell them cooking and line up for a cup full of free samples, we show the first timers how to peel them, advise them to eat them warm and off they go. One little guy had never tried them and wanted to so I peeled one for him, he ate it and declared it was delicious!  I praised him for taking that "no thank you bite" and his dad was standing there nodding his head.

A "no thank you bite" is a try-it-before-you-say-no-thank-you bite.  We used to tell that to the kids at school when something new was put on their plate.  Now I use the phrase when reading to the first graders and the book is about food. You have to at least try it, then if you don't like it you can say "no thank you" but at least you have to take that bite.  I will never forget the little girl who said, "I tried broccoli no-thank-you-bites 11 times and discovered I like it!"  

But many - most - return to purchase a bag of uncooked chestnuts to take home for themselves. 

Set against the fresh snow the showboat is so pretty at night and Santa was on board for the kids, but it was SO COLD.  

There were carriage rides around the neighborhood.  There were carolers, miniature ponies, free hot dogs, chips, cookies and hot chocolate in addition to the chestnuts. 

And a hand warming fire, which I used, but couldn't get close enough to stick my hands right in there, which I wanted to do badly.  It was very cold but no wind but very cold. 

 

Trees

We always have a real fresh cut Christmas tree. Even at that they are rarely perfect.  Trees shouldn't be perfect but somehow this year ours is.  I smile every time I walk past it and comment at least once a day to PH that this year's tree is the prettiest we've had in a long, long time.  

When you've come home and found your tree laying on the floor, or for years held it up with fish line tied to the curtain rod or placed rocks in the base to hold it up or many other situations, I do appreciate this year's tree.  

Our ornaments vary and are varied.  I've hung spoons and tucked in photos of the grands and invitations to their birthdays and a press pass our son had during a presidential forum and still use the angels our kids made in 3 year old preschool (they are now 49 and 47).  It's a life tree.  It's not matchy or organized or a show stopper, it's ours.

It's cold right now and today we are having snow, rain and rain mixed with snow so all schools are closed because it's not safe for busses and kids.  I can remember only one snowday when I was a kid because we didn't have school busses.  We walked no matter the distance or weather.  Now the schools build into their calendar five snow days.  If they have to take more then they have to make up the time missed. 

In the past six days I've had seven Christmas meet ups with different friends and it's been great fun. Busy but fun.  Believe it or not this is the only photo from one of those meet ups.  This is our retreat group, well, almost. We are losing two because they aren't coming back so the meet up was a nice chance to connect before they go off into the unknown. 

Some of us brought little gifts and this was from Friend Jan. Isn't it darling?  It's hanging on the felt tree I keep in the dining room window.  That tree has my most fragile, special and mostly red ornaments.  I knew immediately upon opening it that this would hang here.