Nikki's Quilt

One advantage of staying up all hours of the day and the night is that I'm getting some sewing done at long last! I finished the lap quilt for our granddaughter.

She chose the fabrics from my stash, so this is totally her. Can you tell that she is eighteen years old? I like the way everything came together, though I did have my doubts at times. :)

I've called to tell her it's ready. I can't wait to see her reaction when she sees it complete.

We have a beautiful sunny day here today. Hope yours is nice, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Terror in Chickenland!

Saturday night (or I should say early Sunday morning) Mr. Sweetie Pie and I were awakened to a horrible noise out in Chicken Manor. There were the most awful screams and squawks you could imagine. We went out with flashlights to see what on earth had happened.

We have a length of round wooden pole (a closet pole actually) that is the chicken roost. It had fallen and they were sure it was the end of the world. Remember Chicken Little? There they were, sleeping peacefully, and suddenly the roost just fell out from under them. You can see how they would be frightened!

Anyway, we put the pole back in place, soothed their little feathers and we all went to sleep. :)

Last night I was thinking about this incident and it struck me that we all are a lot like those chickens at times. Sometimes it just seems that our world has fallen apart, and we cry and terror seems about to overwhelm us. Then our loving Heavenly Father comes and wraps His arms of love around us, calms us, and if we'll let Him, walks with us through the problem.

Isn't it good to know that we're not alone when trouble comes!

Have a great evening.

Hugs and kisses, and lots of love,

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope you've all had a wonderful day, enjoyed your family and honored Him whose birthday we celebrate.

We've had a quiet day today. Our Christmas celebration takes place on Christmas Eve. Our little family gathers for dinner, gifts and a lot of fun and silliness.

Our son and daughter in law gave us this flower arrangement last night. Isn't it pretty!

Dinner was good!



Now maybe we can get some work done around here!

Have a great night.

Hugs and kisses,

Recipe for Friendship

I am FINALLY pretty well moved into my new sewing room. I LOVE it! (Note the view of Chicken Manor.)








By the way, I am listening to the most entertaining book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . My local library has a "ebranch" where I can check out audiobooks and download them onto my mp3 player. I can then listen to a book while I am sewing. That could be part of the reason I stayed up so late last night/this morning. :)





Here is a quote from the book, a woman from Guernsey talking to a girl about her prize-winning essay about being afraid of chickens: "I'd like to read it, too, chickens being the reason I fell off a henhouse roof. They chased me there. How they all came at me with their razor lips and back-to-back eyeballs. People don't know how chickens can turn on you, but they can, just like mad dogs."

I had to laugh! Chickens can turn on you, but it was the "razor lips" part that got me.

As long as you are very slow and deliberate in your movements, chickens are fine. But if you make too sudden a move, they panic. There is a real basis in fact for "Chicken Little"!

Last night I started sewing nine-patches together from Mary Engelbreit's Recipe for Friendship charm packs.

I don't know exactly why, but looking at these little squares just makes me smile.

Then I added a row to the bottom of the nine-patches.

These steaming cups of coffee make me smile, too.

And the vintage children with their toys and donkeys.

And most especially the sock monkeys!

Happy, happy!

Have a great day.

Hugs and kisses,

My Old Faithful Friend and a New Quilt

I opened a can of tomatoes this morning for a pot of chili that is now simmering on the stove, and noticed that I needed to clean my can opener and sharpen its blade.

I don't know how many of you have ever seen a can opener like this.

I've had it for a LONG time! :) I've bought far too many electric can openers over the years and ended up throwing every one of them away as they died. :(

But this old friend has stayed faithfully waiting on the wall, ready for use, all those years. I did finally realize that this is the only one I need.

And, I have almost finished this litle lap quilt for my other sister. I have a little boo boo in the binding that I need to take care of and it will be ready to go off in the mail.

Isn't it funny for some of you up north to see fig leaves still green in December!

And as always, flowers just make me happy.

That's why I have African violets on my kitchen windowsill

And as a bonus, I have Christmas cacti blooming on the outside ledge!

As a double bonus, our daughter gets to come home from the hospital on Friday!!!

Life is good!

Hugs and kisses,

It's Beginning to Look More Like Christmas Around Here

We finally got the Christmas tree finished last night!

And a few other things here and there.

It just makes me happy to see Christmas decorations.

Have a great day!

Hugs and kisses,

Life Goes On (Spinach, Cheese, Rice and Brownies)

I've sent my little Pilgrim couple off to rest until next Thanksgiving and filled my basket with Christmas goodies instead.

For lunch today we had baked chicken and this Spinach Rice Casserole.



It is one of my favorites and really good.

The recipe is from this old Farm Journal Cookbook. I've had it for years, and as you can see, it's had a lot of use.

Can you tell by looking at these pages that I've made this recipe a LOT?

Sure was good!

Then, this afternoon I made some brownies. I made them on a big cookie sheet instead of the normal pan, because I wanted to make them smaller this time.

The ones with the neat edges I cut with a pizza cutter after I had made a mess on the others. :)
I sprinkled granulated sugar on another cookie sheet and transferred the cut brownie bites to that.

What? There are a few missing? Really? Hmmm........

Imagine that!

Have a great evening!

Hugs and kisses,

Cold Weather Surprise

Okay, so it's been a really cold day here today. Really cold, especially for Houston. It was in the mid-thirties when I woke up this morning and it only got colder as the day progressed.

So, it seemed like a good day for soup.

And berry/peach cobbler. Yummy!

We have been trying to get our Christmas tree decorated tonight, and when we took a break to look outside - we got quite a surprise.........SNOW!!!

That doesn't happen often here.

Have a great night!

Hugs and kisses,

Of Lemons and Hospital Visits

Honestly. Have you ever seen a bigger lemon?

My neighbor gave me some of these lemons off her sister's tree. We have been the thankful recipient of some of these before. They have a little different taste than the ones you can buy in the grocery store, but still oh, so good.

And great in a cup of hot tea (if you remember to cut very small pieces).

That's some of my yearly fruit cake I'm about to enjoy along with that tea. I made some small loaves to send out with our Christmas boxes.

I spent the afternoon with our older daughter getting her checked back into the hospital. She's already had a line inserted and is getting yet another round of IV antibiotics. Another infection has flared up in her lungs (or maybe it's still the same one, she never did really bounce back after that last one), and she's hoping to get it whipped in time for her to carry out the rest of her Christmas plans.

At least it's really pretty in the hospital right now. They've decorated all over the place.

Even in the cafeteria.

And the lobby is beautiful.

To top it off, they have a man playing Christmas carols on a grand piano just off the lobby.

If you have to be in the hospital, at least it's nice to be there when they've got it looking so pretty. And everyone seems to be in a holiday mood, too! :)

Enjoy your evening!

Hugs,