A Quiet Day

Christmas is over, and it was just the two of us today. 

We pretty much, just enjoyed the day and each other's company. I didn't work on anything.  I got lost in the shows Patrick and I were watching. Later in the day, I brought out my tablet and played. 

We did go through some patterns for star beaded ornaments and I ordered one from Etsy. It's pretty and I think Katt will like it. Patrick found one but it wasn't on sale anymore, just showed up in Pinterest. So, we weren't so lucky on that. I really liked it too. 

My stomach isn't back to normal, but that's been going on for about a week anyway. I'm trying to get comfortable again. When I do, I will be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Day! 

We had an awesome Christmas. One of the better ones in a long time. We started out with opening Katt's gift to us. We got a Rumba. She's getting us to do more electrical things. lol 

I got a zipper bag from Emily the day before - 

I love it!! I'm going to use it for my embroidery. 

I played a game yesterday and then had to go get mom around 1 pm. I was a little late, but oh well. I searched her suitcase thinking I put the necklace in there. She had cleaned it out, and it wasn't there. I'm still trying to think of where that necklace could be. 

Brought mom to the house. We visited for about 30 minutes and then it was time to eat. We had the best meal! I couldn't believe how EVERYTHING worked out. The food was awesome and even mom ate more than she usually does. We cleaned up, got leftovers for mom and us. It was fun. 

Then we sat and watched a Christmas movie "Father Christmas" that was on Netflix. I'm not the fond of the ones in it, but it was good. 

After the movie, Patrick took mom home. I was going to, but my IBS acted up and I couldn't leave. It's an hour thing. So, while Patrick was gone, I was in pain. lol 

We sat and enjoyed the quiet. No music, no TV. I played my games. Then we called it a night. It was the best Christmas we've had in over 8 years. 

It wasn't my time to enjoy Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Merry Christmas Eve!

This morning, I slept till 9 am. Patrick didn't go golfing like he said he would. So, I slept anyway. 

Got up and got a few things done. Started laundry. I wanted to get some of that done so I didn't have a lot to do after tomorrow. 

We went early to Safeway and everyone one was there! We didn't have to wait too long in line, but it was busy! We picked up a few things that were on sale that we needed. It was one of those things, we decided to get a few things in case this weekend was going to be bad weather. 

Came home and Phil asked to come over. He was trying to figure out how we were going to do Christmas this year. We were hoping to see Emily this year, but that wasn't to be. We did get to see him, and we opened gifts with him.  He got to see his gifts. Emily will get hers tomorrow. She made this really nice zipper bag for my crafts! I LOVE it! I can't wait to start using it. Since I need to get my embroidery organized that will be perfect to use! They also donated to the Chehalis food bank in our name. I love that! 

After he left, we heard from Susan and Dad. Patrick chatted with them and I listened. 

We cleaned up the table and have it set for tomorrow. I will pick mom up around 1 pm. We will have the table all set and ready. 

I didn't do much today, other than get ready for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I love Christmas! Just wish more family was around to enjoy it more. 

Not my day for Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Gone All Day Today

This morning, Patrick went golfing and I slept in. I got up around 8:30 am. Didn't want to get up but needed to. I sat and enjoyed a few hours to myself. 

When Patrick got home, I had an hour before I had to leave. I was scheduled to go to moms and take her to the grocery store. She asked me yesterday to take her to WinCo. So, I left around noon and took her shopping. She got what she had on the list. I told her to look around to see if she needed anything else. She said no, so we were 45 minutes before going to see Bill Keepers. 

I took her home to unload the groceries, which wasn't much. We put away to cold stuff and then we went to visit with Bill. We had an appointment for 2 pm. We arrived about 10 minutes early. It was so good to see "dad" today! I love that guy! He looked good. I haven't seen him in about 3 years. Kim and Jim where there so we had a good hour and some visit. Once that was over, mom looked at Diane's thimbles. She found one that worked for her. It was funny, because Kim saw one, she wanted and it fit on mom's finger. Kim said she was going to take it, for herself. Mom loved it too but told Kim to keep it because it was her mothers. So, mom ended up with the one that fit her.  Then I drove her back home. I tried to tell her I would count my Mondays for her. If she needed anything it would be on the Monday. That way after our meetings, I can take her where she needs to go and then I won't have to worry about it for a week. I don't think she listened to me or she ignored me. 

Stopped at Panda for some food and then at Cesear's Pizza for Patrick. Brought the food home, ate and then we headed to the casino. My stomach was in pain! I think there is something in Chow Mein that I can't handle. Having IBS doesn't help either. I usually got veggies but wasn't thinking. I will make sure I don't get Chow Mein anymore. I had the same problem with Safeway's. 

We played for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. It was fun and we came out even. So, we did good. Patrick didn't want to stay long, so we came home. Now we are good till at least Sunday. It's the holidays, so we won't be going out during that time. They have drawings and prizes but we won't do that. We did that years ago and it was awful! We couldn't find a game we liked to play to play on. 

Now it's nighttime and I'm done! Fried and cooked! I'm heading to bed. I wish at times I could have had time for Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Embroidery At Moms Today

This morning, Patrick was off golfing, and I was headed to moms. I needed to make a couple stops on the way, and then I was at moms by 9:45 am.  I was the first to get there. We chatted a bit and then Geralyn arrived. After her was Georgie. 

We had a good visit. Both Geralyn and I were working on her project. She was asking about how I would do the bee she needed to do. We chatted about that. Then I was showing her my round robin stuff. I had the three right there. I decided to work on one of them. 

This one was next on the list to do. I did the border and I'm working on putting the "buds" on the tree. About halfway there. I had the light green and then I needed to go bold. It's supposed to be like clown or circus colors. I know there is a lot of yellow, green, and orange. I will find some red and add that as well. Maybe my salmonberries will have the red. That will go in that area. I will need to think of another border to fill in the top line. It goes a long way. I may look for some lace or something. I haven't decided yet. 

Afterwards, mom needed some help, so I helped her with finding bindings for the quilts she has. Then I helped her with some stuff on the computer. Once she was happy, I told her I would be by tomorrow to take her to the store and to Bill's for the silver thimble. It's a wait and see thing. I will need to go over around noon because our appointment with Bill is at 2 pm. Knowing mom it will be an hour in the store for groceries. 

Now that she's not driving, I will have to find a way to help her. I may tell her I can help her after everyone leaves on Mondays. We can go shopping or do what she needs done. That way I'm not having to go over every other day for her. This puts a crimp in my life! I have enough stuff going on and now that she's not driving, I'm the only one around that can help her. Brother Patrick made sure he wasn't living close to her to have to do this for her. I've been doing this for over 20 years with her. Now, I'm having to do more than I really care to or want to. If we were close, it would be another story. Her pride and joy is Patrick and Christine who living in Vancouver now. Sometimes I wish she would move down there so he can care for her. I know, I'm selfish, but after 20 years, I deserve to be. 

It's been a pretty good day, I enjoyed working on my embroidery which made me Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Two Busy Days!

Yesterday was the day we were collecting money for the Borst Park lighting show. I picked up some chicken at Safeway and then headed over there by 4 pm. Once that was done, we ate before getting ready for the cars to arrive. We ended up with 523 cars going through for the show. We got our donation check and will get another one later, after they figure out how much of the "keep donation" goes to our group. We had a blast. There was 6 of us and we handled it perfectly. 

Today, was our tea "date" with Sandy, Sandy, Geraline and me. We had an awesome time. Must have chatted up a storm because we were the last ones to leave. It was so much fun! The "tea treats" were really good as well. This was our second year going. We will go again next year, with just the 4 of us. It works out better that way. 

 We arrived with the chocolate on the teacup and the menu in the envelope. I think Sandy II took the menu home. lol 

I brought home some of the deserts that were there on the top. It was so good! We couldn't eat it all! But I did bring some home for Patrick. Since I had enough. 

Got home around 4 pm and let Debbie know. She came over to work on the quilt she was giving to her daughter for Christmas. We worked on adding a few quilting stitches to the quilt. It took us about 3 hours to get that done. She used my Juki sewing machine that is for quilting. It worked out great. I may end up changing to that machine to sew. I will try it later and see how it sews for me. 

So, I think that counts for being Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Got Started Early Today

This morning, Patrick went to Safeway and moms. He went to help mom move her clothes from the dresser to the spare room. She's getting a new bedroom set, a little at a time. 

While Patrick was gone, I boiled potatoes to make the family Lefsa recipe. I noticed our recipe is a little different from what is out there. I think mom and dad added to their recipe over the years, but I had the one I got from mom back in the 1970's. 

When Patrick got home, he helped me with cooking the Lefsa. I found that I didn't have the right rolling board or even the sleeve that goes over the rolling pins. BUT since this was my first time, I did what I could with what I have. 

They turned out right. BUT I didn't have them in a "perfect circle" as we are supposed to do. I will give some to mom and Phil tomorrow. I will probably take some to our embroidery meeting on Monday as well. I love Lefsa but realized I don't eat a lot of it and neither does Patrick. lol 

Then it was about 2 pm. So, I relaxed, put my earbuds in and listened to my books while Patrick watched a show I didn't care for. I was playing my Seeker's Note game. It was fun. 

The rest of the day was pretty much sitting and enjoying myself. I have a busy schedule tomorrow and Sunday, so I really didn't feel like doing anything else. I will do the star bread sometime this weekend. I don't think I have time tomorrow or Sunday now that I think of it. May make it on Tuesday then. 

I definitely wasn't may day for Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Finishing A Few Things Today

Today, I was lazy all morning. I was waiting for the phone call from QOV. We needed to chat about things I needed for the NAMS program. I enjoyed my chat with Kathy. She understood where I was coming from and what I was doing. 

Then I goofed around for a bit while doing laundry. Once the Seahawks game started, I started to get a few things done. 

 First, I finished the first of two blocks for the baby quilt. Not the best picture, but I wasn't in the best spot. I was too lazy to get up and get a better photo. 

Once this was done, I moved to get one of my Round Robin pieces done. I researched the books of flowers to use on the embroidery piece. 

After I finished this, I felt better. Two projects done! Thank goodness. I was getting tired of being behind. 

I found this pattern for the Salmonberry flower. I had fun working on this. BUT I had to practice it a few times to see what looked better. It's bullion stitches and then floss wrapped around the bullions to fill in the center. Easier than I thought. I just had to figure out how to divide it into five pieces. 

I will work on the next two pieces and try to get all three out in the mail for the next person in the round robin. 

At least I got myself to get my butt up and work on something! I am just Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Productive Day - Sort Of

 This morning, Patrick was up way before me. He was going to go golfing, but the weather was still rainy and windy. So, he was watching the news. 

I was up and found the water was off. Patrick had to go check on the well. Then he called our systems "people" and they found that the motor was buried out. So, after 8 hours of no water, they fixed the problem. I needed to get my accounting updated, so I balanced the checkbook, and then wanted to add some income in there. EXCEPT I got a message asking me if I wanted to do something, like clear my "fix" and said yes. It wiped out the enter accounting back to 2024!! So, I was cussing when Patrick came to see what was up. I hadn't backed it up since 2023, so that didn't help at all! Patrick looked for an "undo" button on what I did - and NOPE wasn't there. 

SO, I ended up getting the bank records Patrick printed out each year. We had our meeting in September, so the good news was that he had all the information up to Sept. Which meant I still needed to record it all back in. I did the billing for next year, and thank goodness, I had who owed till the end of the year. My deposits where the problem because I didn't have who made what deposit. Thank goodness for those billing statements! We were able to get the bookkeeping back where it was. I have backed up the program twice now. I'm thankful I keep my records in the checkbook updated! If I didn't have that and relied completely on the computer, I would be in deep, deep trouble. 

Once all that was fixed, I pulled out the dogs that I need to have appliqued and finished for the baby quilt. 

I love my lightbox. I was able to get the second dog ready to applique, then I can do the embroidery. I know I need to do the round robins but I'm holding off on that right now. One thing at a time. 

I used the back basting method. I like it. I will work on this after the other one is done. Sophie wasn't happy I was working on this. She kept licking and pushing my hand to pay attention to here. I was able to get it done though. 

I marked the areas where I needed to work on the outlining. I worked on some of it tonight. I can finish this tomorrow if I put my mind to it. I'm getting farther on this. Once it's done, I will take it to moms, and she can add it to the other blocks. 

I decided to call it done for the day. Too much was going on today! It's called, - What A DAY! 

At least I was able to find time for Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

 

Physical Therapy And Moms

 Today, I had PT at 3 pm. So, first thing today, I cleaned. I got the kitchen cleaned and in order, vacuumed the house, and worked on laundry. 

Then I went out for a walk. Once all that was done, Patrick came home from golfing. I played on my tablet for a bit and then had to head over to the church to pick up 3 quilts that were ready. Once all that was done, I headed to moms. Dropped the 3 quilts off with her and Debbie's quilt to see what we could do. Mom was going to bind the 3 quilts and try to see if hand quilting would work on the quilt. 

Then we played with some of her blocks. 

We had this at first, then started to move blocks around. 

Didn't like what we had, so moved more blocks around. We tried again for 2 more trys. 

Then ended up with this. it was a process that take time. But we were able to get this far. Mom started pinning the blocks together in rows so she would know how to sew them together. It's a start and it's another quilt that will be done. 

I headed to PT for my last appointment. We pretty much chatted about my progress and he's sending a report to my primary doctor as well as my sports medicine doctor. I'm not crazy about the sports medical doctor. He just wasn't much help. 

Stopped and got chicken at Safeway. A guy next to me asked if "you have breasts" and the gal answered, yes, I do. We broke out laughing and the poor guy was more shocked than anything. He didn't laugh and he acted as if he didn't get it. We did. Then he pointed to the chicken and said, I meant this. She just laughed and said, "I know what you meant," still laughing. 

Came home and it was late. So, I didn't pull anything out to work on. I will try and do that later this week. I really do need to get moving on what I have! 

At least I can say, I was with mom who was Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Spent The Day At The Casino

This morning, I was up and moving around. Patrick asked when we should leave for the casino. Told him around 10 am would be good. 

We stopped and got moms prescription at Walgreen's. I hate going in there! I have to wait FOREVER for them to ask what I want. I ran into a friend of moms, and they asked about her.  Then they told me he does wood working and asked if I would like one of his pieces. Said sure. Then he took me out to the car and gave me the only piece he had out there. It's really nice. It's signed on the back, and it was done in 2019. He loves doing the work and give them away. We stopped and dropped off the prescription at moms. Then we headed to Lucky Eagle. 

I wanted to get the dishes that were a gift from them to me. I signed in and got the ticket. I was a little worried because I had to wait till 2 pm to get it. We had the choice of the pie plate with lid and carry case or the baking set of 2 square dishes with lid and carry case. I wanted the 2 square dishes. 

So, we played, and played, and played. We didn't spend all the money we took to play with. We came home with half, but we played a good 6 hours. There were a couple times I thought, "ok, we're done," but then one of us would win $150 to keep going. I was okay with that. We love to play. Hate it when we don't get to play long, but today we were able to. We enjoyed it. That's all that matters. Plus, we really don't do much of anything else. 

Came home around 6:30 pm. We ate at the casino and got some more candy bars for Patrick. When our card gets our food at half price, it's not bad to sit and eat there before coming home when we have played that long. 

I wasn't anywhere close to Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!