Not snow :)

Ok, I know, I've been way more excited about the snow than I need to be, so I figured I'd show you what I've been doing while it's been snowing, well, other than shoveling it. :)

In the Jan/Feb. 2006 issue of Fons & Porter's For the Love of Quilting Magazine they featured the very talented Valori Wells and a quilt pattern of hers called Honeydew. She had used very nice pastely sherbety colors of her own fabrics. Well, I had this tropical, hibiscus fabric that I was looking for a pattern for and this was IT!! :) So, here's how mine turned out. I tweaked it a little from the original pattern. Valorie's quilt had 9 log cabins instead of 16. I also added a little border on top and bottom of little log cabins.

Just a little tidbit of info. Valori's Mom, the wonderful Jean Wells owns the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. They sponsor the Sisters Quilt show on the second Saturday of July. It's so incredibly cool there. There are quilts hanging literally EVERYWHERE! On buildings, trees, fences, wires, inside and outside the shops. Wishin' I was there!! :)

More Snow...duh

Ok, some more, since I'm not getting sick of the snow, although my shoulders hurt now from shoveling....but it was play shoveling, not work shoveling. :)

It pretty much snowed all day yesterday and all night and all day today...it's still snowing! Totally, so far, I think we've gotten around 16-20 inches. The plow came by this morning after Travis and had snowblown the driveway. The huge pile in front was in front of the driveway too, so we had to go dig our way out.

Here's a picture of our neighbor's house. The drifts on some of the roofs are just hanging out so far it's incredible. We've had some fall off the far side of the house and luckily, they haven't fallen on anyone! This one will make a loud thud when it falls.

And, sorry Wende, but what would my blog be without a squirrel in the post?! :) This little guy was so deep in the snow it was so cute. He kept popping his head up then down, then up, then he ran.

Even More snow pictures

Ok, I hope you all are not getting tired of me talking about the weather here, but it's just so exciting to me to have real snow. :) All those years of living in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, we never had THIS much snow all at once. I AM LOVING IT!!! Bring it on clouds!! :)

The weathermen predicted this big storm and I watched online last night as Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago (got most) hogged all the snow. I prayed for it to come up here. A few people said it probably wouldn't get up here. But we woke up this morning to wonderful white stuff.

When Travis opened the garage door to start clearing the driveway this is what we saw! The wind has been blowing along with the snow so it's pretty "drifty".

In the backyard there are spots so deep that they go up to our knees and spots where you can see the little heads of grass. In the frontyard, it is pretty deep all the way across. The plow came by earlier and pushed the snow into the end of the driveway...thanks dude!

Here's my honey starting to shovel the driveway. He says the snow is really heavy and wet underneath. I really (truly, I'm not lying) wish we had another shovel so I could get out there and dig too. I love shoveling snow. But he had to do that part on his own. I started shoveling in front of the trailer after this, but then my friend came over and I HAD TO talk to her. tee hee

Here's Travis AFTER he cleared the driveway. Wow, look at all the snow he cleared, he's a strong guy, you say....

Well, actually, HERE'S how he did it. :) He's a good boy, tho. Now I want to go drive around in our little Snow car, to see what that Baby can do.

Our weather

Well, today is sunny, cool and snowy. This morning I looked out and the sun was in full shine mode and it was snowing. It looked like glitter. It was so beautiful. Our little heat wave is over for a few days as a storm is supposed to be blowing in and dropping more snow. I'm happy about it, but nobody else is. Everyone wants winter to be over. WHY??!!! It's only the end of February. Spring isn't until later. Give me snow!! :) The girls want to go snowboarding, which is an all weekend adventure from here since you actually have to drive several hours to the "mountains". We need more snow for that alone. I love watching the fluffy stuff come down and settle. Maybe this comes from me not actually having to be in it if I don't want to be. My poor husband has to work outside often, and I think that's probably why he wants it to be warmer. But, the CG keeps them outfitted for their unique work places, so I think he'll survive. :) Plus, he has a nice wife at home who will serve him a warm dinner and get him socks for his cold feeties.

Ok, I'm off to sew on another quilt I want to finish, so I can start another long, awaited project compliments of Monica.....you'll see later. :) Keep watching....

More DONE stuff

One day I was bored (stay-at-home mom, home is clean, kids are at school, nothing else to do...I should SEW!). I have projects that I want to do, but wasn't in the mood to start any of them. I wanted to sew, tho. So, I dug through my stuff and found these little Moda fabrics that I had bought years ago. I just cut and sewed and this is what I got.

This little Star quilt is about the size of a placemat. It's scraps from the quilt a couple posts below that I made for my friend who just adopted a baby girl. I figured I should do SOMETHING with the scraps that I couldn't throw away. It's a little boring, but looks good on the table with a picture of my darling family and some glass coasters Anisa made in art class a few years ago. If I decide to move it to a wall, I might add some buttons or something to it to spice it up. :)

Heat Wave

Well, hello! It's almost 50 degrees here in WI in Feb! I have my t-shirt on, and I'm thinking of putting on some shorts. I might even venture into.......flip-flops! :) Monica would be so proud! :) The bad thing about the warm weather is the pretty snow is gone and leaves ugly, dormant grass and plants in it's wake. Also, the snow by the roads is all ugly and dirty by now.

The animals seem to be happy tho. The squirrels can find all their hidden peanuts and seeds. I saw a squirrel resting in the tree earlier, basking in the sun. He looked very happy.

It is nice to get the vehicles washed and have them stay clean for a little while, instead of icky covered with salt. We're hoping to get back to WA without too much rust! Well, I'm going to go sew, instead of basking in the UV rays. Hope you all are enjoying your weather! :)

It's here!!

Ok, my potholder(z) came today! I looked outside and the mail lady had already come, so I ran out to check and NOTHING! I was bummed, because I thought it would be here today. So I run my errands, pick up the kids and come home and there's a box at the door! Silly Me! It came FedEx! :) So, my new pal Michelle made this adorable little potholder and finger holders to match. PLUS, little coin purses and smelly erasers for us chicks. I will hang the pot/finger holders in my chicken room, because if you'll notice she embroidered chicks on the potholder. It will go nicely in my chicken/sewing/guest room :)

In Case You Were Wondering

I've had to explain how we get 3 vehicles into our 1 car garage. Well, I finally got around to taking a picture of it. If you look closely, you can see the little corner of the truck's canopy in the back. Chuck (the truck) is parked sideways back there. And of course, there's Baby and Foxy in front. It takes a little care to get them in there, but we manage, and it's so nice to have them all in there when it's 0 degrees outside! :)

Some craftiness

Well, as you can see from my sidebar, I am involved in a potholder swap. My dear friend Monica got this whole thing started and organized. My swap partner was Michelle. I made the blue chick for Michelle since I figure blue goes with almost everything. :) Since Monica did so much work and organizing I wanted to make her one too. And since she loves cherry stuff, the cherry chick is hers. :) I can't wait to get mine from Michelle. Fun, fun, fun!!



Another quilt I finished is one for my sweet friend Judith whose dream has finally come true. Her and her husband just adopted a precious little girl. We're having an online shower for her. I just love the colors of this quilt. The pattern is an Atkinson Designs pattern called Lucky Stars. It is such a great pattern. It goes together quickly and the points are perfect on all the stars. :)

I'm finishing up another quilt HOPEFULLY today, so I'll post that later. Quilty, chickeny hugs to all!

Our weekend visitor

We had little Miss Tango visiting us this weekend. She's a little hamster from Anisa's biology class, and she also belongs to one of Nisa's friends. She is a SPAZ! We let her run around the house and just watched her. We think she got in about 5 hamster miles in just one night.

She stayed in Anisa's room, so the first night Tango kept my kid awake with all her noises, but the second night was ok.

Isn't she just so cute?! :)


This is her cleaning herself. She kept very clean while she was here. She reminds me of Sara who would take 5 showers a day if we let her!

Frigid Cold Day

Well, the kids are snuggled in their warm, cozy beds. It's 7:19 a.m. By now, they should be awake, already have breakfast in their tummies and on their way to beautifulness so they can go to school (actually, Anisa throws her clothes on, puts her hair in a ponytail and is ready....Sara takes FOREVER to get beautified). This morning is different. I have gotten an early email from a dear friend who notified me that school is closed. Why? Well, they say it's because of the dangerously cold temps......right now it's -10 with a windchill of -30. Yea, it's cold outside, but I'm still not quite sure why they cancelled school. I mean, the middle and high school kids don't go out for recess and the little kiddos have had indoor recess recently because of the cold. Oh well. Whatever. My girls will be thrilled when they wake up.

So, I plan to get some sewing done today. I'll be posting pictures of my latest finished project probably later this morning or early afternoon. I need to make a fabric run to our little quilt shop in town. My friend and I plan to go swimming at the Y in a little while. I really need to get the house clean and some laundry done. Fun, fun. I hope you all are having a wonderful week, even tho it just started. It's getting off to a fun start here in WI! :)

Baby, it's COLD outside

Ok, this is DEFINITELY not a complaint, just a tale of the weather here in Sturgeon Bay. It's been cold, many of you know from my older posts. I'm LOVING the snow. I'm enjoying the cold weather, since I HATE, HATE, HATE the heat. Today is downright frigid! Even the snowflakes won't come out! Right now, it's -3 degrees with a windchill of about -21. I don't mind since I'm in my warm, cozy house.

I feel sorry for all my wildlife friends. The bunnies, squirrels, foxes (we saw one running across the highway tonight), deer and the birds. I hope they're all tucked away in their dens, holes and nests. Now, I realize animals can usually deal with this. They get thicker fur and feathers. I just don't like them to have to be in the freezing cold. I told Travis we should put up little tents in the tree off the branches. I was only half kidding. Could you just see all the little canvas triangles in the trees?! :) tee hee

The air is cold, but what really gets you is the wind. And since I don't like to wear lots of clothing, I've been cold lately. I am usually warm, but a sweatshirt in this kind of wind just doesn't cut it. I guess I'll have to break out my coat. Darn! I might even have to wear...GASP..gloves! Oh well. I might just get into my flannel pants and t-shirt, and get under a quilt. Now that sounds like an EXCELLENT plan. :)