T'was the Friday before Christmas - December 20, 2024

...and all through the house, gifts were stashed all over the place.

I've been picking up Christmas loot for the past couple of months.  Since there's not any place in my house that is off-limits to The Grandchildren, I had to do some creative hiding.  In the process, I ended up hiding stuff from myself.

Don't pretend you haven't done this.  

The Husband has gone out Christmas shopping.  Before he left, he went over his list with me.  When he got to The Great-Nephew, I said, "Wait!  I got him a Hot Wheels Car Wash!"  I'd completely forgotten about it.

The hunt started.

When I found it, I discovered that I'd also bought the same toy for the LRB.  

These gifts will probably get both of them in trouble before Christmas Day is over, since they involve water.  But I probably won't be around to witness it, so . . . .   ;)

This morning, I wrapped almost everything I bought.  

Now that The Husband is out of the house for a while, I will wrap his stuff. 

If I can find it.

Announcements - December 19, 2024

1.  I have decided to retire.  Got a meeting with The Chief next week to work out the details.   

2. It is time to "get down to the nut-cuttin'" on Granddaughter #3's quilt.

    All of the 20 pre-stamped blocks are embroidered and ready to be made into a quilt.   I have chosen the quilt-as-you-go method of quilting because I didn't want to fool with frames.)  I chose to do it by hand because I like the feel of a hand-quilted quilt, plus I wanted to do it in my recliner.  

    Ten of the 20 blocks have been made into quilt sandwiches - block, batting, and backing, machine-basted together.  I've ready quilted 8 of the ten sandwich blocks.  Every block has a stamped seam line, 1/2" from the edge of the block. The finished size, assuming I can still sew a straight seam, will be 17" square.  Without sashing or borders, the finished size would be 56" x 73".  These measurements are skimpier than most full bed quilts.  The size could be increased with sashing, but I'm not sure I want any sashing.  Probably will add a border of some sort.

    I will have to sew the blocks together and then sew the borders on it without any seams showing.  Somehow.

    I probably will also have to trim down the batting to reduce bulk in the seams WITHOUT cutting the top or the backing.

    At this stage, it would probably be a good idea to try putting two blocks together to see if I've got the skills to do it!

  

Ewww... - December 17, 2024

Yesterday morning, I unloaded two boxes of records from my car and took them to the kitchen table to begin alphabetizing them.  The boxes have been wet at some point, and one of them collapsed as I was on my way through the living room.  Papers went everywhere.  I gathered them up and proceeded to the kitchen.  

About 1/4 of the way through the first box, I pulled out a folder that was moldy.  I didn't want to even touch it.  The records inside it were stuck together, and as I began to peel them apart, I started sneezing.  It occurred to me that this was probably not helping my cold.  I stopped peeling the pages apart, put them back in the moldy folder, and put them back in the box.  The next folder was moldy, too.

By this time, I'd already sorted a lot of the records into piles on the kitchen table.  I should either put the records back in their original folders or finish alphabetizing them all, but I did not want to proceed, at least not now, while I'm sick, and not on my kitchen table.  I gathered up all the records I'd already sorted, stuffed them back in the box, and took the boxes back to the car.  I will deal with them later, when I feel better, and the weather warms up enough for me to tolerate the cold, nasty workroom.

For the next few hours, I watched some videos about archiving.  It has been two or three weeks since I've checked in with The Boss to see if he's located space for the planned county archive.  At that time, he'd not had any success, so even if I knew everything there is to know about archiving, there's no place for me to get started.  I'm in limbo in that regard.

Mid-afternoon, I started thinking about what to fix for supper and decided to make a meatloaf.  Took some ground beef out of the freezer and put it in the sink to thaw.  It was ready to use by the time I needed to start supper.  The meatloaf came out of the oven just about the time The Husband was due home from work.  It was only when he was about 30 minutes late that I remembered he had a board meeting that night and would not be home for supper.  I also remembered that he had a work trip planned for today and Wednesday and would not be home for supper either of those nights.  

I would not have made a meatloaf just for me.  

When it cooled enough, I wrapped it up, put it in the refrigerator, and made myself some toast for dinner.  When The Husband finally came home, I learned that he'd cancelled the work trip.

At least I won't have to cook tonight.

Under the weather - December 16, 2024

Was it just last week that we went on the road trip across the state?  It seems like weeks ago.  

I came down with a sore throat and a seriously snotty nose while we were away.  I worried that it was strep throat.  Thursday, as we were on our way home, I called my doctor and asked that he call my pharmacy with a prescription for some antibiotics.  We stopped by the pharmacy on our way home and I popped the first pill in the car.  Been taking them faithfully ever since, but I'm not feeling much better.  Can't do anything without having to stop to blow my nose.  I spent most of the weekend reading or quilting in my recliner.  

The leather thimbles that I ordered before we left on our trip arrived while we were away.  By the time we got home, I'd punctured most of my fingers (sometimes with the dull end of the needle!).  The middle finger on my left hand - the "underneath hand" - is absolutely mangled, for I can't make any progress wearing a thimble or a pad on that finger.  I need to feel the needle coming through the back side of the quilt block to make sure it pierces all of the layers.  There are a few specks of blood on the back side of some of the blocks.

Still, the quilting is coming along, sore fingers notwithstanding.  Since I've had so much "down time" - in the car, in the hotel lobby, in the recliner - I've made good progress.  Almost finished the 7th block (out of 20) last night.  But it's back to work this week, so my progress will likely decline.  

There are four boxes of records in the back of my car, waiting to be alphabetized.  

I really, really do not want to work on them today.

But I probably will.

Dollywood - December 13, 2024

We're back, safe and somewhat sound, from The Husband's work trip to east Tennessee.  I say "somewhat" sound because I came down with a cold and a sore throat while we were there.

The meeting was supposed to occur in Ashville, NC, but - well, the flood.  The organizers were able to book last-minute accommodations at the HeartSong lodge at Dollywood.  It was a nice place, beautifully decorated for Christmas.  It was easy to get there.  The staff was friendly and helpful.  There was live music (a soloist) in the lobby every night that we were there.  The restaurant food was good.  No complaints at all, except that our room wasn't comfortable for sitting (there were nicer suites that had sitting room).  I spent a lot of time in the lobby lounge, working on my quilt blocks beside the windows, which faced a big patio with fire pits.

We got free passes to Dollywood for Tuesday.  Of course, The Husband was in meetings all day, and there was a group dinner that night, so we'd planned to go to Dollywood after dinner.  However, it was raining and nobody wanted to go.  Wednesday morning, while I was sewing by the windows, it started snowing.  It didn't stick - the high temperature on Tuesday was 70 - but it was nice to watch it falling.  After lunch, I ran into one of the other wives who said the lodge would give us a raincheck on our tickets, so when the conference finally ended Wednesday afternoon, The Husband and I bundled up and took the shuttle to the park.  It was all lit up.  Some of the rides were operating, but it was too cold for this old broad to be on a rollercoaster.  We walked around, listened to a choir sing Christmas hymns in front of an old-timey church building, hit a few shops (I so wanted a Dolly bobblehead for my "heroes" collection, but there was none to be found), and got frozen to the bone.  The place was a maze in the dark, and we finally had to ask for directions to the exit.  Thank goodness there was a hotel shuttle, warm and waiting, in the lot outside the gates. 

We hit the road early and got home in time to go to Granddaughter #2's Christmas concert.  The band started with "Sleigh Ride," and it gave me chills that had nothing to do with cold (the gym was an OVEN).

Dolly, if this gets back to you, make us a bobblehead.  The kid version of you in a coat of many colors would be awesome.  :)

'

I'm packed and ready to hit the road.  In my tote bag (which stays within reach in the car) are watercolor painting supplies, several quilt blocks, and a Kindle.  Good to go.  Waiting on The Husband

Yesterday, I went across the road to see if I could help with the renovation work.  Before I could get involved in anything, the Little Rotten Baby waylaid me, pushing a tiny shopping cart filled with tiny porcelain dolls.  "Grandmama, will you play dolls with me?"  I said I'd play for a minute.

There's no furniture in the house yet.  She asked, "Can you sit on the floor?"  I told her I could probably get down but might need help getting back up.  She said, "It's easy, Grandmama!" and flopped herself down on the floor then sprang back up to her feet to demonstrate.  I managed to sit, and asked her what game we were going to play with these dolls.

There were 12 of them, one for each month, dressed to the nines.  I'd given the girls these dolls a couple of years ago after we cleaned out Aunt M's apartment after her death.  At some point, prior to the LRB's memory, her mama had boxed them up for storage, and she'd found them again while packing to move.  The LRB was enthralled with them.  Her favorite was a dark-haired beauty, bejeweled and decked out in a frilly red dress.

The game was to line the dolls up on the floor, cover your eyes, and try to pick your favorite out of the bunch.  The LRB cheated like a big dog, peeking beneath her hand.  At one point, I tricked her by swapping the doll she was reaching for with another doll.  She pulled the same trick on me when it was my turn.

Rotten kid.  ;)

Road trip tomorrow, going all the way across the state.  There are dozens of things that I should be doing that are more important than writing this post.  But here I am.

In my defense, I'm all but packed for the trip.  Two days in the passenger seat and two days at the hotel don't require much of a wardrobe.  The catch is that there's a big dinner one night, and folks break out their party clothes for that, so I have to take something besides jeans and t-shirts so as not to embarrass The Husband.  ;)

I'm taking a couple of blocks to quilt during the drive.  The weather is going to be cold and yucky, and the town is going to be a madhouse to drive in, so I probably won't leave the hotel unless it's necessary.  I'm taking blank Christmas cards and watercolor supplies for the days I'm trapped in the room.

Son #2 is across the road, working on floors.  I should go help him.