#334 Gate's are Hung

Jack had a friend come over and they hung the gates yesterday. One step closer to being completed. Jack now has to install the hydraulics and the keypad. Then he will add the lights and hopefully, all will work just the way he plans.

#333 Catching my Breath...Literally...

If you look closely, you'll see where I actually caught my breath on "film"!

#330-332 Oops!

Okay, once again it is proven that I cannot count backwards! Somehow, I messed up and it is actually Day #332 of the 365 I am attempting to do for this blog. This means just 33 more entries and I'm done! Whoo Whoo!!

Today is going to be a day to cut into some fabric. Zoe is going to be 7 years old next month. Her birthday party will actually be a tea party. She is going to invite a few of her girlfriends to do what anyone does at a tea party! Laugh, giggle and have fun.

The fabric comes in because I cannot make her party so I'm going to make something for her party.

This is fabric I'm going to use to make a Chirstmas dress for Zoe. The gold in it shimmers. I figure she can wear it for un-Christmas days as well.

This is fabric I'm going to make little quilted purses/bags for each of the girls at Zoe's party. They can carry their tea cups home in them.
This is fabric I'm going to make a table cloth from and Danette can

use it to go with the theme of the party instead of a paper table cloth!

#329 The 3-Week-12-Hour Bread Recipe

Jack and his recipes. It all began with a newspaper....Sourdough Starter...only takes 3 weeks to "start". Okay...I did that and the waiting was not fun. Finally, I was able to bake my sourdough bread yesterday. All I can say is it is a good thing I started early in the morning!
(Yes, I'd neglected to read the recipe before I began.) The FIRST rising of the dough ONLY took 8 hours. OMG! Then 2 hours. Then 1 hour. Then bake it for another hour.
So late at night, the entire house smelled of fresh bread baking. Mmmmmm, I think I like that better than apple pie.
This morning, here are the loaves. One is loaded with kalamata olives. The only real problem I had with the entire process is it calls for regular flour and not whole wheat flour. So I actually purchased some unbleached, (I never could understand Clorox in flour), all purpose flour just for this bread.
The photo doesn't show how HUGE these loaves turned out, but trust me, they are large. The next time, I'm going to make four rounds instead.

#328 Thankful Thanksgiving

When you awaken to something like this, it is a given that you are thankful! And I truly am.

I'm thankful for my mom. She is the best of the best.

I'm thankful for Jack for continuing to bear patience with me.

I'm thankful for Danette and Kari and their precious families - they fill my life.

I'm thankful for Ina; a better sister does not exist.

I'm thankful for my entire family, somehow, as weird as we all are, we come together when the times call for the gatherings.

I'm thankful for Jack's family and for the caring heart of his sister, Jan.

I'm thankful for my friends: Sandy, Judy, Eileen, Kim, Vicki, Sharon, Carol, Janice, Lori, Carmen and Jan.

I'm thankful for the sweet young friends I have who have passed through the SCMS and through my life, namely Kate, Kaytee, Gerald, Brooklyn and Kristin.

I'm thankful for my newly found friends/family in Virginia and North Carolina.

I'm thankful for my job.

Lastly, I'm thankful for the solitude that today is going to bring Jack and me. We are on our mountaintop home alone today and yet, we are surrounded by love and beauty no matter what direction we look. (Okay, unless I'm looking in the mirror!) We are fortunate to say the least and wealthy beyond measure.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
(Sorry if I got a little mushy...it was the sunrise that did it to me!)

#326 & #327 One Thing Leads to Many Others....

Why is it that one projects ALWAYS leads to more complicated projects? ... or at least, more expensive project$ ?

Remember the fantastic river rock gate posts Jack designed and built? Then the professional wrought iron gates Jack designed and built? And all the electrical work he masterminded so the gates would have a key pad, intercom and a camera (optional) to open the gates to whomever presses the call button?

Silly me, I thought we would be ready to hang those professional gates on those lovely posts and all systems would be "GO" soon.

nah!

See that pipe in the forefront? That is where the key pad was supposed to be but Jack decided the road was too steep at that location and folks would spin out when they started up again. So we had to have the road raised and leveled "somewhat".

Which meant hiring Bill to run the cat and the roller thing that flattens the road.And hire the dump truck and buy the loads and loads and loads of rock needed to raise the road.
At least Jack comes cheap....all it took to keep him happy was a homemade apple pie!

Now see the pipe? It is getting closer to what we need.

So Jack and Bill are back at it again today. I'll take a photo when it is up to the level they feel is just right for not spinning out.

Then the gates can be hung on the next un-rainy day...which is going to be awhile because the storm is due to hit on Thanksgiving....tomorrow!

Let's see....then it's rewiring for the keypad because all the wires were cut to match the shorter pipe. It does give Jack something to do other than cut down trees. And I do not want him cutting down trees, climbing on the roof, climbing tall ladders, etc.... but one thing at a time. (I think I have the roof one pretty much guaranteed except for chimney sweeping times.)

#325 Scoping Christmas Trees

If I were the type of person who doesn't mind cutting down a tree to drag into the house and decorate with memories and pretty baubles, I think this would be the tree I'd want to cut. It is such a "Charlie Brown" kind of tree.

What first caught my eye was the rain drops lingering in the needles.

They glistened like crystals.I have a history of NOT cutting a tree on my behalf so years ago, I gave away all my Christmas ornaments and decorations. I figure if anyone wants to celebrate Christmas at our house, and decorations are important, they can bring their own.
I'll put on my invitations BYOD.

#324 Sourdough Starter

You are looking down into a one gallon jar of sourdough starter. It's been growing for a couple of weeks now and I'm anxious to try it out. I think it will be ready by the end of the week. I know, what the heck am I going to do with a huge jar of starter, especially when a recipe only takes 1/2 a cup?! I may just have to be one of those people who share/cram starter down all my friends' throats/mailboxes!!!

#323 Doing my bit for the economy.

I don't think there is much I could add to my arsenal of cold remedies. Remind you, that I also have homemade chicken noodle soup enough to outlast this cold! Our local pharmacy must know me by sight now, which is okay. I'd hate the thought of having to drive more than 5 minutes to a drug store, so I'll support the locals whenever possible; even though the prices are much too high. I just want to feel better. I have much more to do than to spend my days on the couch watching episodes of "Gilmore girls"... (although I am enjoying them immensely)!

This really is quite absurd because I'm the one who normally chases my colds away with echinacea , zinc and Vit C plus lots of water. It didn't work this time.

#321-322 Sick Days

Okay, I'm home sick with a nasty cold. Nice, toasty fire going and homemade chicken noodle soup in the fridge, compliments of Chef Jack!

I was at the kitchen sink and saw this young pileated woodpecker hunting for bugs and berries. I took these photos through double paned glass so they are a bit foggy, not to mention it was nasty outdoors as well.

(Hey, Mom! I'm glad to see you still remember how to make comments on my blog...I've missed your little remarks! I love you!)

#320 The COOL thing about a hot fire...

...is the fact that laundry can still be hung in the winter time!

I had to use my clothes dryer a couple of weeks ago and I HATED it! The laundry was soft and wimpy and full of static. (I know, they make dryer sheets for that!) Then I walked outside and watched the electric meter spin around like a whirlwind until I turned the dryer off. That one appliance really draws a ton of electricity.

One more reason to love my hot fire in the wood burning stove.

#319 Cattle

I love it when I go to get my mail and the cattle are just across the road. They have 400 acres to roam so I only get to see them up close now and then. This was one of those days. I love how they have their thick, curly coats for winter.

#318 Wall of Fog

We woke up to find a wall of fog that just about reached our house. As the morning wears on, it will lift and possibly reach us....I won't know because I'M OFF TO WORK...right down in that fog!

#317 Never Enough

If my grandmothers were to come back to earth and saw my fabric stash, I think they'd both faint. I have two other cupboards similar to this one. I need to sew, sew, sew and use up this fabric. Strangely, I'll start my projects with my fabrics in mind but sure enough, I will find I need just the right NEW fabric to add to the quilt.

I'm just wondering when I'll ever have enough fabric.

#316 Gilmore girls

I love the t.v. show "Gilmore girls". I don't know what channel they originally aired on, nor do I know where they show today, but....my BFF, Elieen, let me borrow her COMPLETE SET of the show series. OMG, I am in hog heaven.
I can watch or listen to the episode as I cut fabric and sew, glancing at my computer now and again. The only thing is I never dreamed there would be so many shows! 6 discs in each box and I don't know how many shows on a disc. All I know is that I'm in for some good listening.

#315 Weird Weather

This is yesterday - it was snowing but not enough to stick around.

And this is my girlfriend's photo - taken 2 days ago NORTHEAST of us. Waaaaay up in Washington state. Now don't you think it should be the other way around?

Here Jan is showing off all her sunshine. She was evidently doing this in shorts last week! Go figure.

#314 Fog in the Woods

Our mornings have turned cold with fog. I loved the way this oak tree stood out in our tall evergreens.

As long as I had the camera with me, I snapped one of our pond.

#313 A Keeper! (Both the recipe & the hubby)

For years I have complained about no one baking me a HOMEMADE birthday cake. Today is my birthday. I got home from work yesterday and smelled something cooking in the kitchen. I yelled out, "It doesnt' smell like birthday cake to me!"

Jack was cooking dinner and had onions going in a skillet. So he made dinner and the evening passed as usual.

This morning I got up...took my sweet time upstairs messing around with just about everything I touched. Then I came downstairs and yelled out, "It smells like matches burning!" Jack replied he had lit a fire.

Again, I took my time getting into the kitchen. FINALLY, the phone rang and I entered the kitchen to find a THREE LAYER birthday cake and voltive candles lit!

Jack had made the cake yesterday. The onions were to cover the smells of the cake. It is a spice cake with chopped prunes and cream cheese frosting.

He has never baked before. He found a recipe in the newspaper and went with it. Evidently he had to call Kari for help then a neighbor for another tip.

I know it isn't just the fact that he made the cake for me, or the fact that I had cake for breakfast...but this was the best cake EVER!

So the recipe is a keeper and Jack needs to be cloned. He amazes me.

He even took photos to "chronicle" his first baking attempt! (Maybe I can get him to go back to France if I promise him some classes in French cooking!)

MMMmmmmm
As I was eating it, he informed me that there are 450 calories in a serving and 16 servings to the cake! Guess I'll be walking today!

#312 More of the show...

When you spend an entire year working on quilts to go into a show, it stands to reason that you could post photos of that show for a week or more! Not to mention I was one of the co-chairwomen of the show this year. No one wanted to chair the event and I'd done it for too many years to count, three others had done it for a couple of years so we decided to join forces and split up the work. It paid off. We not only had a great show, but we found a chairman and co-chairman for next year's show!

This was one of my favorites. Quilter Fran always makes something fun.

Quilter Mary took her granddaughter's favorite pants and put them into a quilt. How fun is that?! Then named it Miranda's Pants.

We all made beautiful quilted purses this year and filled them with all sorts of goodies. This is a shot of the raffle table. Nope...I didn't win a thing but a lot of other people sure took home the prizes.

Found Quiche Photos

Okay, I told y'all the quiche was pretty. I had dumped the photos in the wrong folder so I went in search of them and here they are! Mom, I promise to send the recipe ASAP.

#310-311 The making of a quilt show

This years Art Quilt Challenge was based on a book called "Under the Stars". It was about a local pioneer. Here are the six quilts. Mine is the upper left.

Josh's quilt.

Kai's quilt.

More photos to follow......I'm off to work!

#309 Quilt Show - Finally Here!

This is how the show begins....an empty gymnasium.

This is how it ends up. Full of quilts, fabric, demonstrations, vendors, and good food. It is weekend that I just hate to see end.
The Material Girls of Shady Cove, Oregon are incredible women. Tomorrow I'll post some photos of the quilts we donate to the hospital and the raffle baskets we make to raise money for the nonprofit of the year that we select. I might just also share my stash I bought... not that I needed any more fabric...but I'm addicted.

#308 Mmmmm Mmmmm Good

Well, Cussword!! I had two of the most beautiful photos of a quiche I made and somehow, I deleted them. DUH!

Just imagine a golden brown quiche here.....MMmmm. It was so good, I can't wait to make the recipe again. And when I do, I'll SAVE the photos before deleting them from my camera.

Anyway, I made it from a recipe in the newspaper. (Yes, we still have a newspaper in our town.) I made it thinking we would be arriving home late on Friday from the set up of our quilt show and it would be easy to heat up. I was right. It was just as tasty the 2nd night as the night I made it.

#307 Ready to show...

This wall hanging is called Sheer Bliss...its how I feel when I am in my sewing room working with fabrics.

This is my art quilt based on a book called "Under the Stars" about a local pioneer. We had a challenge in our guild to do a quilt based on the book. There were five of us who ended up finishing a wallhanging. I can't wait to see the others.