Chat

Wow, thanks for all your very nice comments about the boy’s boxers! I was quite surprised yesterday when TheFirstChild appeared wearing those pink boxers– I said “Have you been reading my blog?” That was just too coincidental. He said no, but I think he was just trying to prove me wrong! Oh well, I lost the bet — SweetiePie knows him better than I do — I guess it’s a sign that it’s time for her to become his handler and not me LOL!

Now, time for the bunny drawing. I still do things the old fashioned way, so I printed out everyone’s name and put them in a bowl  (some day I’ll learn how to use those random generator thingies!) And the winner is:

Do we need a close-up???

Congratulations Darlene! Come on Down! Send me your address and I’ll get little Bunnyversary in the mail to you.  Thank you so much to all the rest of you for entering — AND for stopping by here to read over the last year.  I’ve really enjoyed getting to know so many of you!
Now, I have a question for all you quilters. Remember this Christmas tree skirt that I made for MeMum? Well, water from the Christmas tree spilled on it and the colors in that *&(^$@@! red fabric ran! I can’t believe it — in the raging debate over whether to pre-shrink fabric, I ALWAYS say pre-shrink to set the colors. And I ALWAYS pre-wash my fabrics, so this really whizzes me off! So, do any of you quilters have some magic elixir to take care of this problem AFTER the fact? MeMum would really like to wash that tree skirt, but now she’s afraid to do it. She’s pretty upset about the whole thing (’cause after all, I’m the MyMomLovesMeBestDaughter ROFLOL) and would really like a solution. I remember reading somewhere along the line about some sort of dye magnet product. Does anyone know anything about it? Does it really work? And will it work after the fabrics are already put together? I’d really appreciate any suggestions any of you might have.

Well, now I’m off to be grumpy the rest of the day — I have to go back to work tomorrow. BooHoo — I know I should be glad I have a job, but I could sure use a few more weeks of vacation! I hope you’re enjoying YOUR day!
XOXO,
Anna

Just a quick note to check in. I’ve had lots of piddly little things to do this week, but I don’t seem to have accomplished much. I’m even afraid to look at my bloglines — I haven’t had time to check it since Tuesday. I hate it when I get behind on reading all of your blogs. I did get the formatting for my blurb book done and got the order shipped off last night. Yay! And I found out that MyDadLovesMeBestSister is making a book for her hubby too. She’s using Shutterfly or Snapfish so it will be a fun experiment to compare her service with blurb.com’s service.

I’m finally going to get some time at home tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get some sewing done. I really need to do a little Christmas decorating. What you see to the right is the sum total of my decorating so far. Pretty pitiful, huh? I couldn’t help myself though. I was shopping in Williams Sonoma last week and decided I should treat myself to festive dish and hand soaps. I thought maybe the peppermint smell would take the drudgery out of doing the dishes for the next month.

Am I the only selfish little shopper out there? Have you had a little extravagant purchase while you’ve been Christmas shopping?

XOXO,
Anna

Happy, Happy Birthday to my old friend/quilty peep Gurney! And you know, that’s “old” as in we’ve known each other for a long time, not “old” as in advanced in age LOL. Poor Gurney, I have the hardest time remembering her birthday — it being the holiday time of year and all. We used to always have our friendship quilt group Christmas get-together (say that 5 times quickly!) right around her birthday and that would help me remember. But now, we don’t have that anymore and since I am getting old (as in advanced in age) it’s really hard for me to remember. Anyway, Gurney, I hope you’ve had the BEST of days!!! A special birthday for you this year — your first as a Grandma (marrying at 10 years of age makes you a very young grandma LOL) and with a second new grandchild on the way, what an exciting year you have ahead. My birthday wish for you is that you and hubby will come to your senses and move back to our fair city — this “see each other twice a year” state of affairs is for the birds. I miss you! My other birthday wish is that I hope you have a headache (in the best way), no matter how you got it LOL!!!

There’s been pitifully little crafting or holiday merry making going on around here. I feel like I’m in things-that-must-be-accomplished limbo and I can’t get on to the fun of holiday prep until they’re done. We spent ALL day on Saturday in leaf hell. We raked and mowed until we were half frozen. About 30 minutes before we would have been done, mother nature decided it would be fun to have a little snow storm. We tried to work our way through it for about 15 minutes, but once the snow started to accumulate, we abandoned ship. Have you ever mowed your lawn in the snow? Yeah, I’m sure you’re smarter than we are. Anyway, we got close enough to being done and now the leaves are just waiting to be picked up. In the meantime, I fully expect the wind to come along and blow them back all over the yard again. I figure abundant and troublesome leaves are mother nature’s way of making you thrilled that winter is here. It works for me — I do love winter!

And then on Sunday, I worked on a blurb book for a gift.  What a lot of work that’s turning out to be.  Their tools are fantastic, I’m just having a hard time figuring how I want the book laid out.  Anyway, since there’s no real fun stuff to post about (not counting Gurney’s birthday), I’ll recommend some fun stuff of others:

• The Scottish Lamb has found a really fun knitter’s advent calendar.
• Like many of you, we’ve had the tradition of giving the children an ornament each year with the intention of sending them of into their adult lives with a collection of Christmas ornaments. I LOVE this fabulous ornament box and may have to think about making some after the holidays. This is the year I’ll separate TheFirstChild’s ornaments from ours so that he and SweetiePie can take them off into their new life together and they’ll need a fun container to accompany them. {Sniff}{Sniff}
• How cute is this hat??? I love it!  Stay tuned, he promises to post a pattern when he gets time.

Nighty-Night!
XOXO,
Anna

Just popped in to say I’ve been busy sewing, cooking, cleaning and playing while I’ve been off work this week. Highlights include:

A YUMMY Sunday Dinner — Filet of Beef Bourguignonne thoughtfully provided by Ina Garten. I LURVE Ina — it was awesome, you should try it if you like Beef Burgundy.

Dinner followed up by Black and Whites Cookies. When the Quilty Peeps and I were in NYC, we loved the Black and White cookies that they’re famous for and Junie promptly came home and found the recipe here. They’re surprisingly like the real thing — Thanks Junie!

SweetiePie, MeMum and I went to Waynesville, Ohio today for a little Christmas shopping. Waynesville is full of antique shops and more importantly The Fabric Shack. Holy Cow — I could move in there! They have a great selection of fabric. If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio, Waynesville is more than worth the visit. In one antique shop, I saw a blue and white Christmas tree that I really liked. (And because you bloggers have corrupted me, I just happened to have my camera with me.)

Those little blue bulbs are old flash bulbs that have been “spent”. The whole tree (a 6 – 7 ft. tree?) was covered with these little bulbs. Where on earth did they find so many of them? I don’t know what era they’re from, but it hasn’t been any recent decade! Each little bulb had wire wrapped around its neck to make a hanger. I think this is a really cute idea and would also be fun with the colored old-fashioned Christmas bulbs.

Up tomorrow: Pies! Pumpkin, Pecan, and Apple. Hope you’re having a great week!

XOXO,
Anna

Thank you so much for all your sympathy regarding my lasagne faux pas. It appears I’m not alone with my memory problems LOL! I had a few requests for the recipe, so I’ve posted it in my recipe section — you can find it here.

I’m very excited — today was my last day of work until Monday, November 26th. WooHoo – a 10-day break! I’m hoping to make the best use of my time and fill my days with cleaning, sewing, baking, and shopping. NOT in that order. Must get started on Christmas sewing and shopping. And I’m really hoping to have a day where I can sit down at the computer and go through some pictures. I’m pretty good at taking the time to take pictures, but I don’t take the time to get them printed and I’m several events behind. MeMum has been so good to keep albums for the kids over the years, and she’s been requesting copies of my pictures for the last year. Must Do That, but it won’t be easy — whenever I sit down at the computer, your blogs call me!

If the mail service will cooperate, I’ll soon have a few sewing items to show you. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Pictured: SweetiePie and TheFirstChild enjoying a pretty fall day.