Snow, Hiking

Well guess what, it is snowing again in Colorado. Spring is most certainly here with storms that seem to be coming in every third day or so. The grass will be so green by the end of April. Since it is snowing today Mr.P and myself will stay busy in the house. Mr.P has the household bills to pay and the dreaded taxes that are due next week. He hates tax time and I can hardly blame him since I have no idea how to do taxes. Myself, I will work on my machine quilting. I have about half of a quilt done and am loving it. 

Last week end we "the sisters" went on a hike , more like a mud walk. It was fun and we all felt that we had accomplished a major feat. the boots in the back of the car had put on at 4lbs. each boot. not only did we get some exercise but we all came home with rosy checks and noses. Sun and snow in Colorado.

I started knitting a really cute CHICKEN from Blue Sky. I love how it is turning out, but everyone I show it to says" why are you knitting a chicken"? I say why not, she will look so cute on top of the frig. I may even knit her a companion!!

I wish I could figure out how to move these pictures around, like in the middle in-between paragraphs.  Caitlin if you have any advice please email it to me. Anyone any advice.

Winter Just Hanging On

So little snow all winter, a matter of fact the temps. in February/March were anywhere between 50-70's. Now that we are in April what but snow is coming in every three days or so. I love cold weather over hot, but this is getting kinda crazy. I know North Dakota sure wishes summer would roll around. Blizzards in April?

 

I finished the double diamond quilt mystery by Bonnie Hunter. This was a wonderful quilt to make, a bit challenging and lots of sewing. I just love to run fabric through my machine. I think the borders will be in the background colors, of course scrappy look. 

Besides quilting, I started knitting a "chicken" using Brown Sheep blue cotton yarn. Will post a picture when finished. Love the color and texture, stay tuned.

Sister's Weekend

The annual 3 sister's weekend where pie making,knitting, coffee drinking and generally allot of home cooked food is made and eaten. A big change this year was the fact that Caitlin was not here to do the lion share of the cooking. That girl can cook and bake. Caitlin we did our best without you.
This year only 2 pies were made: a granny smith apple and one of the best lemon meringue I have ever made. Mary out did herself with the crust this year, light and flakey, wonderful. For some strange reason I only have a picture of the apple which I might say was delich. Oh and I forgot to mention the we did wear our aprons. Next year I hope we have our aprons with our names embroidered on them....Ellen....
Other than baking and cooking we visited the yarn store, Ellen and Mary had their hair cut, Mary a massage, Eileen went to an estate sale and bought some table clothes then off to the sustainable indoor market, long walks, good conversation over good wine and beer. The big thing we did not do this year was no eating out in restaurants. The Bean Cycle was visited twice for coffee and a pecan bars which as always was delich.

Of course the first spring snow storm decided to rear itself, it was beautiful but made for a slow laid back weekend. What is it about cold and snow that one wants to only find a quilt and lay on the couch watching a movie: the movies we watched ....Italian Job, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Patriot, and 3-10 To Yuma. 

It Has Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I've blogged. Have been working full time, yes that is five days a week and yes it was a killer. However I am very grateful I have a job, a job a like and can do safely and well.
This past week I finished a class on machine quilting and loved it, Charlotte opened a whole new world for me. Hope to have a quilt on the machine early next week. I still have a lot of nieces and nephews to get a quilt to before I get to old and can no loner sew. Plus yes I have allot of fabric to use up. What a job, but some one needs to do it.
We have had a major spring snow storm yesterday. Not as much snow as past storms but it was a needed storm. I managed to get 4 rows of lettuce planted before the snow blew in, can't wait ti see the little plants popping up through the ground.

It is snowing here in the West. I love snow and cold. I was reading Farmers Almanac site and today Feb. 14th is the day crocuses generally will make their first appearance of the season. i will be on the look out for mine since eI planted about 30 bulbs last fall. Besides snow I do enjoy seeing the first signs of Spring. I actually love all the seasons just dislike the heat of summer.
things Love about Winter:

wrapping up in warm quilts that I made
drinking hot coffee
sewing in the sewing room
hand quilting quilts
knitting sweaters
watching snow fall
looking out at a white world
making stew
crawling into a clean bed with a big pillow top
fire place on

Maddie and Squirrels

Hi, how time flies!! It is already Feb.11th. Not alot going on, I continue to try to have several no spend days a week. I manage at least 4-5 no spend days. One day last week I spent 5 dollars on Maddie, a toy that lasted less than 5minutes.

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Last week-end I was in the front yard and noticed a squirrel in the tree . That dang thing did not move the entire time I watched him, so either he was frozen to death( he is gone now, so I doubt that) or he was nervous that he was so exposed without the leaves on the tree that he was just not going to move till the sun went down

It's February

It is February and I just wanted to update on my no spend days.....19/31. Not to bad, we were able to put a couple extra hundred in the savings account. So I guess having no spend days really does help. The areas we did the best in were, only Friday's for eating out, making meals from scratch and planning meals which meant planning shopping trips. That means using a shopping list and sticking to it, no impulse buying.

I finished a pair a socks that I started last year then missed placed and just recently found again. The wool is very soft and I love the color. Over all am pleased with how they turned out. Have done little sewing and need to finish my double diamond quilt and start the quilt for DD Chinese host family. Hope to be visiting her this year some time.