A Thankful Review

This year, we spent Thanksgiving at my sister's in-laws in Hoffman Estates. I have had a hard time emotionally in the past week in anticipation of my first holiday without mom. We pretty much have always had Thanksgiving day and Christmas day with mom and dad. The one time we tried to go to Springfield to Chuck's family for Thanksgiving, our van broke down on I-55 and we were towed home. That is only because the job I had at the time allowed me the day and the day after off. With clinical nursing, the chance of having the day before and the day of off are slim to none.
My girls are such traditionalists and even though we were at someone else' house, they provided the table favors, which was always something they did with grandma:
My nephew's wife works for Target headquarters in Minneapolis and she ordered the meal from them. A few of us provided fill ins, and I was skeptical about a non-home cooked meal, but I was very pleasantly surprised as it was delicious and the turkey was probably more moist than if I would have made it. (although the home roasted turkey that Chuck made this week and we brined for two days was delectable)
This is Catie's plate, which was not nearly as full as mine. I made the sweet potatoes, which is a requirement for this celebration. The Ciabatta rolls were from Target and were divine. I've gotta tell you that my plate was much fuller with Red cabbage (a tradition from mom) and green bean casserole. I was so full, and we had two dessert times.My nephew, Peter, lovin' on my sweet potatoes. We made 10 pounds of them this year, and brought just a meal's worth home.
It was also my sister's birthday. All my life, I have felt cheated because my birthday falls two weeks before Christmas. But until this year, I never realized that we have often overlooked her birthday because it always falls in the week of Thanksgiving and every 7 years, on the day. She was actually born on Thanksgiving day and my mom and dad always said it was in the middle of a horrific blizzard. They had at least 15 miles to drive to the hospital.
I made her a fruit pizza and you can't really read it, but wrote in gel icing "Happy Birthday, Beryl" on the top. It sort of mixed in with the glaze I topped it with. Then she opened her gifts. I made her a purse for her birthday and wouldn't you know it, didn't get a picture. Will post as soon as I do.
The whole day was good, even though I missed mom and some elements she always brought to the celebration. My kids missed her too. We never cried about it, but all day, I wanted to be by my mom.
Hope you had a blessed, thankful day.

A very slow transformation

In addition to decorating my blog, (yes, Catie, I think I figured it out) we started decorating for Christmas yesterday, but because Chuck's back is on the fritz, I carried everything up from the basement. Usually, he does all of the carrying and I start decorating. Well, last night, I was beat.... but we did manage to get started, although the house is a disaster and there is still evidence of fall decor everywhere you look.


On the front porch, wreaths and luminaries, mix with corn shocks.
And everywhere, there are boxes waiting to be sorted.

But, at the end of the day, there were areas that were pronounced festive:
The sideboard in the dining room
The top of the dining room hutch, half of our Christmas village.
The piano and the other half of the Christmas village. Catie and Chuck did a wonderful job. Chuck now has the village down to a science and it doesn't take nearly as long as in the past.
While they worked on the village, I did the banister. We purchased all new prelit garland last year and threw out the old stuff, which made it a breeze for me.
Hoping to finish the decorating by the time the girls leave tomorrow, which is a lofty goal as I am working tonight. It's a team effort....
Happy Holidays to you all....my two (maybe more) faithful readers.....

Pics from Candice's show

I was exploring the Internet this morning while cooking for Thanksgiving and found some pictures from Candice's musical on her facebook.
They are just wonderful and capture the feeling of the show so well:
One of her costumes was a slip for "rehearsal". It was modest which I was grateful for...
She was in quite a few ensemble numbers:

One of the cutest was when one of the girls "refused" to sing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" "cold", so one of the guys had to step in.

Because Candice was the siren, and there were several commercials, she did the provocative one, for Eskimo Pies....The whole theater was silent as she slowly described the deliciousness of the frozen treat. The guys on the stage were totally enraptured:
Finally, for us, the show stopper was her solo "My Momma done told Me".
We loved it and so did the audience!!!
Thanks for indulging my bragging rights!!!

She's home and the Tindells are all together

After nearly 4 months of separation, the Tindells are reunited (and it feels so goooooood). I drove to O'Hare after work this morning to get Catie, fully expecting horrible rush hour traffic and it took me 20 minutes from Libertyville to the 190 turn-off. How is that possible??? I pulled into the traffic garage for about a 15 minute nap and we connected perfectly.


And then I spotted her:


That's my sweet Catiedid, home from S. Carolina. She was bushed and we both slept about 5 hours today, but oh so good to have her home.
I'm not the only one happy about that:

Daddy is pretty happy to have his photog buddy here.
(Candice is not pleased to have her picture taken right after getting up) I am eager for lots of girly giggly talk, which is constant between the sisters!!!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving....

The frost is on the pumpkin

Last night I was up until midnight, because of 3 projects I really wanted to get done before going to work tonight. Two of them can't be shown yet, as they are gifts and surprises!!!I have been working on this for quite some time, and am glad to say that it is my first official hand appliqued project. I am not please with some of the shapes as the edges are rough, but you don't do great your first time, right? I totally hand quilted the whole thing and love how it looks. It will hang in our guest room as the colors fit right in.
This morning I got up fairly early because I need to nap this afternoon before going back to work tonight. I thought the outside had a funny white glow and sure enough:
Those are my footprints to go and get the paper. That means I have to hone my snow shoveling skills today as my hubby is still home with a bad back.
Soon, we will put the fall decor away and get out the Christmas stuff. Probably this year, we will have help to do it as he is still not strong enough to lift boxes and get on a ladder.
Goodbye, fall....

Our little Tony winner

Yesterday we drove to Holland, Michigan to see Candice in her school's musical. It was "1940's Radio Hour" and Candice was Ginger Brooks, a pin-up girl and the show's siren. She was gorgeous and very, very funny. She sang "My mama done told me", and some of the moves she made were a little embarrassing as I was sitting between my brother-in-law, the pastor and her grandpa, my dad. She did a great job. We couldn't take any pics during the performance because of copyright laws, or in costume, but I think her make-up speaks volumes!!
She reapplied the red lipstick at least 7 times during the show and her dress was red silk and she had red shoes on. Quite the man-slayer. She also chewed gum through the entire show, something she hates. She has never been a gum chewer and really can't even stand it if someone in the room is chewing gum.
We were so glad that my dad could come. The music brought back some wonderful memories for him.
Way to go Candice....we are so proud!!!

Learning new things all the time

I showed my all hand quilted quilt recently, which I didn't use a stencil or pattern for the quilting. I just went inside each hexagon by about 1/4 inch. Well, now I want to branch out a little, so I am using a stencil for hand quilting and couldn't figure out how to mark my quilt. The fabric is pretty busy, but I tried a colored pencil first, but the marking got lost. Then I tried a mechanical pencil, but again, couldn't see the marks and I panicked because I was afraid the marks would show.
Then I remembered that my friend Deb uses Glad Press and Seal to mark quilts for machine quilting, so I was curious to see if it would work on my hand quilted project.
Sure enough, it is a miracle!!! Now, I don't want to show the entire project til it is done, but here is how I am doing so far:

It actually works and sticks and doesn't move. Also, you can mark it and if using the right tool, doesn't smudge off. Micron pens rub off, but a fine tip Sharpie works. This is transforming, I am no longer fearful of hand quilting a pattern.
Can you see the little green lines? I picked green because it was easy to see against the busy fabric.
Here are some finished stitching. Click on the picture and you can see it better. I am pleased with the results so far.

Excitement!!!

This weekend we are heading to Holland, Michigan for Candice's musical. She gets all of her talent from me!!! (ha--that's a joke) Will post pictures afterwards. Dad is coming up and going with us and Beryl and Dan are driving down to come also. Should be a great cheering section for her....

Some wonderful eye candy

Last night was Quilt guild, a night I look forward to every month for the inspiration from fellow creators and just a great time. We had a full house last night with almost 90 members in attendance and there was a trunk show from Blue Underground Studios.
Janine Burke, half of the team (her partner, Amy Walsh recently had a baby) presented 70 quilts for us to enjoy and brought many patterns for sale. Their philosophy centers on fabric being the thing that should be focused on in the quilt, more than the pattern, so they center their patterns on getting the top done quickly and using some incredible fabrics. They mostly use Batiks, Kaffe Fosset, Civil War Repros and a line I had never seen before, but just adore, Cherrywood Fabrics. I went on their web site last night, because I just fell in love with this line. They have the look of suede, which I kept commenting to my pal, Deb, and when I went on their site, that is exactly how they describe them.
Some of the beautiful items displayed last night:
I loved this one, called "Athena" ....it reminded me of Greece before I knew the name. They don't put many borders on their quilts because they say it dates the quilts. I kind of like the "whole quilt" concept.
This is blurry, sorry, but do you see how the colors in the quilt on the left pop? It is made with Dupione Silk. I just wanted to feel it.....
This is one of the many she showed with the Cherrywood Fabrics. So rich and soft. I was tempted to buy, but I am restraining at this time.

The rolls are Chambrays, which reminded me of my dad's work shirts and were in a beautiful color wave from dark green to light blue.
Just one of the color waves available for purchase on Cherrywood's site. I may be there soon...

Another project off of the to do list

Yesterday, Chuck and I went back to the pain doctor, and he got another epidural. As of last night, the pain was almost completely gone. He is going to take it easy for the rest of the week and see what Monday brings. I am hoping and praying that he will be out of this misery.

I finished another project yesterday. Hours in doctor's offices affords me time to do hand work and my hand work bag is always full.It's another item from the Jo Morton club that I am in. I am still two projects behind, but really enjoy doing them. This one is called "pick up sticks" and you put your strips in a bag and just pull them out and sew together randomly. I also hand quilted it, which I just love but suffer some consequences.

Without clicking on the picture and making it larger, you probably can't tell that my "receiving" fingers are calloused and scarred. That is because I pierce them when pushing the needle through to the back side of the quilt. As many quilters as there are, there seems to be that many ways to do hand quilting. A sample: no hoop, hoop, fabric taught on hoop, fabric loose on hoop, thimble, no thimble. rocking the needle, rocking the fabric, never need to prick your finger, must prick your finger....I guess the long and short of it is that I have to do what works for me, and right now, suffering for the sake of a finished project is what works!!! Usually, after I finish a hand quilting project, I need to take a break from it to heal, but I have another one that is almost finished that I am obsessed to see to the bitter end....

Still waiting

Chuck is basically the same as when all of this started two weeks ago. He said he doesn't want to be known as the couch slug, but this is his only comfortable position. He went to church yesterday and stood the entire time. Today he did a little self-test and could only sit in a chair for two minutes. I called the pain doctor and they are working him in today, so we are hoping for some progress. He may have the procedure where they inject cement in the disc space. He is really tired of it all and today starts the third week off of work.
I had the Bryant boys here again yesterday and they raked leaves and did some general clean up and then wouldn't take any money. They said it was payback for how good Chuck has been to them. What a gift!!! They also had a ball playing video games with him for an hour or more.
While they were here, I spent about 2 hours on the phone with my sister which was wonderful.

We are truly blessed. God has been so good in giving us a loving family and an incredible family of God.

Quilting class

Yesterday, I took a class at my neighborhood shop. It's something I should actually do at least once or twice per year. I get to learn from the experts or professionals. This class was on machine quilting, which I have attempted on my own with inspiration from Celia and Kathy, but have been very afraid, because everything ends up looking like crap. Meandering or stippling has come more easily as I have done quite a few items lately, but now I am ready to take the next step.
Here is my practice sandwich:I started just meandering or stippling with Aurofil 50 wt, then switched to silk. I was very happy with the results, then switched to flowers, feathers, and other shapes. I still need a lot of practice, but Lynn gave me so much more confidence. She said I was more advanced. I think that was just a way to boost my ego, because she wants to push me in that direction. I learned about threads, needles, machine settings, etc. I feel like I can do some of the 9 projects that are hanging in the closet.
Chuck is still pretty much flat. We are calling the pain doctor again tomorrow, because I don't think another week of laying on the couch is in his best interest. He is sleeping much of the time and not eating much. He has lost about 10 pounds which was needed, but not in this way.
Today is our annual meeting at church and he is being voted in as an Overseer, so he really wants to go, but doesn't know how long he can tolerate sitting.

The space where I create

Thought since it is rainy and cold, I would work on some Christmas gifts today for a few hours before I have to nap. It is warm and cozy in the basement and when I get in the zone, I like to put on some beautiful music to work by. Today, I put on the Opera channel and listened to parts of La Boheme and a Mozart opera that they said he worked on while also writing "The Magic Flute".
Here's a tour:
This is my sewing table, with the cutting table to the left of it. I recently moved the baker's rack from the kitchen to this space and it houses my current projects, and all of my books and magazines. The white round thing on the table I just ordered from The Pampered Chef and it holds most of my tools, scissors, etc. The bulliten board I just hung up this past Sunday and that is where I hang my smaller rulers and pics of the fam.
To the left of my sewing space is my scrapbooking space. This cupboard holds some tools, idea books and photos.This is my scrapbooking table. The multi-colored drawers to the left hold my stamps and the narrow drawers hold stamp pads. To the right, I have markers, punch tools and cards. Laying out on top are my Christmas stamps because I am getting ready for a creative party here in December.

Now, this is really bold of me to show what is behind closed doors. This is where I keep my "stash". I used to organize my fabric by color, but am moving away from that and now going more with theme. The items on the hangers are quilts awaiting quilting. Don't know if I am going to try it myself or take them to the long armer. The two sewing machines on the floor are for the girls.
In addition to housing my overflow craft and sewing items, this closet has games, old toys and gift wrap. As you can see, the bins are starting to get larger as these three are "Christmas and Novelty", "pinks and reds", and "Thimbleberries". I have two irons, but one of them has a serious incontinence problem.
Lastly, I have a large bin on the floor that holds all of the left over and new batting and large pieces of fabric.
Hope you enjoyed a peek into my space....

It's a wait and see

Chuck and I just returned from the "pain" doctor and he doesn't that a herniated disc is his problem. He said there is a lot of swelling at a certain area which is causing the nerve pain, muscle spasms, etc. He injected it twice and the second time hit the nerve. He is a little better, but is off of work at least until the 24th.
Keep praying for him.

Frustration...

Last night, while taking the guys home that did some yard work for us, I was about 10 blocks from the house, when the lights went out again. They live a good 20 minutes from us, and I rushed the best I could to get home, but lo and behold, I was pulled over. I gave him my sob story (minus tears, because Chuck says that when women cry, it is an automatic ticket) He was very sympathetic and didn't ticket me. So the van went back to the dealer today.
Chuck has an epidural injection today. Hopefully he will get some relief.
More to come...

Brrrrrr......

It's gotten so cold in the past few days. You could feel the temperature drop on Friday. Today is really a wintry day with steely gray skies and snow....yes, snow on the 9th of November!!!
The temp on the bottom is the outside temperature. I guess it's time to break out the winter coats.Chuck is still laid up, so I hired two brothers from church to do some yard work and pre-winter stuff for us. They are raking today and putting some of the outside things away for us.
Chuck continues in terrible pain and we will have to wait and see what the next steps are in the coming week.
Because of his situation, I taught adult Sunday School today. I was extremely nervous and still can't get enough moisture in my mouth, but I am told it went well. It is different leading a combined men and women's class rather than my small group.
Keep warm...we have another fire raging.