Monday, December 7, 2020

Today was a “quilting” day according to my schedule. Although I have a lot of quilts and wall hangings that need to be quilted, I also had three birthday cards that were ready for quilting. I picked the easier of the choices and worked on my cards.

I usually do an envelope finish for the cards and that worked for one of them. One of them had too many seams for me to be able to get a good turning line and one of them had embroidery on it; I had used the batting as stabilizer so it wouldn’t turn without another layer of batting which would make it too thick.

It has been a long time since I did a binding on cards but that’s what I’ve done for those two. As I wait for Dr. Henry’s press briefing I’ll stitch down the bindings. The envelope finish means when I’m done I’m done but there is that extra step on the bound cards.

And speaking of cards I had a horrible feeling today that I had missed someone who should have a Christmas card. I took a look at my labels and yes, one address was missing. Over the last couple of days I was thinking I would send out one more card to a friend so I have the label printed for that one. I had three cards left when I did my larger mailing so all I need to do is get these ones addressed and in the mail.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

I have everything Christmassy in the mail and some of the packages have already reached their destination. Most years I get the main parcels sent and then work on the smaller items. But I put the last of the packages in the mail a couple of days ago so now what?

I’ve worked ahead on my January cards, I’ve cleaned up my sewing space a couple of times, and I’ve dug out some old yarn and am making something for myself just to use it up. I finished decorating inside and just have my snowman to put up outside. I should have done that over the past two days when the sun was shining; now I’ll have to wait for the wind and rain to go away.

I’ve spent some time reading in the afternoons. I have two more books to finish in order to complete my Goodreads challenge. The last book was (and the one I’m reading now is) over 700 pages so when I get to book #50 it will have to be a small one.

I have some baking supplies and I’ve picked out a few recipes. Next up will be something to use up the ricotta cheese we have in the fridge. I will make some mincemeat tarts and I’ve had Nuts and Bolts in my head for the past couple of days. I don’t have everything I need to make them but we don’t have our turkey yet either so there is still time. The last time I made that recipe our oven was on the brink of dying and they didn’t bake very well; we’ve got a new oven now so they should turn out better.

I’ve spend way too much time on the internet. I’ve signed up for a few new newsletters and blogs and today I downloaded six new patterns and sew-alongs. Who knows if I will do any of the projects but it is fun to look.

Saturday, December 5, 2020

For many years Stacia and Deloise have hosted a get-together for all the McKnights and their children and grandchildren. I’ve been lucky enough to attend one of those events and it is lovely to see everyone (from every generation) and catch up on family news.

With Covid in the air, this year could not be an in-house event so Deloise moved it virtual for the wiser generation (as in oldest). Although there were some technical difficulties (we’re wiser but further away from technology) and we weren’t able to see Willa and we only saw Ken for a few minutes it was a lovely event. Many thanks to Deloise for arranging this.

I passed Warren’s series of animal jokes on to Alex. He managed to get the answer to who was missing the meeting but I got him on all the rest!

Friday, December 4, 2020

This is about my usual time to post a journal entry but since I’ve been mainly cleaning, decorating and doing laundry all day I thought I might just skip the day. But as I was clearing up a pile of scraps in my sewing room I heard an odd noise from downstairs or outside or from somewhere not obvious upstairs.

I ignored it for a moment or two but decided I had better investigate. Nothing upstairs or outside my windows but I could tell it was coming from downstairs.

I was about half-way down the stairs when I knew what it was. The sunshine was hitting the Christmas mouse and he was singing! Love that little mouse.