November Wrap-Up

Here it is, the last day of November. The family's been and gone, the turkey's been eaten and all of my Thanksgiving decor has been stashed away until next year. I have swapped out the dishes for my Winter plates in the kitchen and tomorrow, December the first, the true Christmas decorating will begin  here at Chez Goodneedle. I have watched Christmas go up a lot earlier this year, in our neighborhood and all around town, I know that people are at home and are eager to look forward to something brighter than what this year has revealed, for the most part. I have forced myself to hold out until December. I wanted to share this thankfulness turkey that our son and daughter in law had on their table on past Thursday, they hosted our family Thanksgiving meal together. As each family member arrived they could choose a "feather" to write what they were thankful for this year and place it in the turkey's tail. This turkey itself was purchased through an organization that provides meals to the hungry. Win-win! 

This was a portion of our feast, our son did the turkey on his pellet grill; it was spatch-cocked, juicy and perfectly cooked~ absolutely delicious! This entire center island was filled with pies later on. 

The girls read the thankfulness feathers after dinner was done and tried to guess who wrote which one.

The four cousins had a pre-Thanksgiving sleepover here the night before. This was story time before bed, including a dramatic reading of Turk and Runt compliments of Mason and Lucy Ann!

Mason's almost as tall as me now, my daughter sent this (12 yrs. later) pic collage after she returned home, I love it. It's a pure delight seeing him grow into a smart, athletic, kind and caring young man. 

I've dragged out my last year's Amaryllis bulb and am hopeful for reblooming. Time will tell. 

I've kicked off the season with a Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshake, I try to limit myself to one a year. Again, time will tell;😉 in my defense I must say that these are my all time favorites (followed closely by Peach in the summer). 

Speaking of kicking off the season, you all know that I am a huge Home Free fan. This selection, Warmest Winter, the title song from their new album is a wonderful way to do just that. Click to listen, this is A Cappela at its best! You're welcome. 

Little Miss Lynnleigh began her decorating with a Christmas chain before we left her home last week.

I was able to get Lucy Ann's pillow completed; it's now wrapped and ready for Christmas giving. 

Donation quilts done during this past year are rolled and ready for distribution to the needy. I'm already working on next year's. My hope and prayer is that these will bring warmth and a bright spot where they're needed the most. Just like that, November's done! Sadly, no 'books read' list this month, I've been too busy to read enough that's even worth reporting on. Hopefully, there will be a return of dedicated D.E.A.R time in December, fingers crossed. 

Life is Good!

Monday, Wash Day!

You remember the old chore for each day-of-the-week philosophy adhered to by our grandmothers? It was so popular it was even stitched onto dishtowels. Monday is Wash Day. Well, maybe not here. Not today. Last week, also on Monday, our trusty washer konked out. Mr. Goodneedle quickly attended to the problem. Armed with tools to disassemble the machine and a volt-meter in hand to test electrical components he diagnosed the problem as the pump and ordered a replacement. The new pump went in a few days later, all was well; we were back in clean clothes. I was ready to move on. Apparently "old trusty" (we've had this front-loader since 2002) had other ideas! So, this morning, I am doing a humungous load of wet towels; (dishwasher malfunction from last evening-- another story for another day) when I hear a LOUD bang (think gunshot) followed by an ear-piercing squeal, I ran to the laundry room. When I opened the door the room was filled with smoke. I grabbed the power cord and unplugged it. I redirected the fan from drying underneath the dishwasher to redirecting the smoke from the laundry area. Hey, when it rains it pours! I figured it was time to go back to our discussion from last week as to when it would be time to replace rather than repair. But, undaunted, Mr. Goodneedle appeared to ask for a replay of the noises that took down the washer once again. "I wonder if it could be the drive belt?", he asked. "Did the smoke smell like rubber or electrical?" he asked. I didn't know that my sniffer was qualified to differentiate between the two. The back of the washer came off and a broken, shredded drive belt was resurrected from the recesses if the machine.

As luck would have it, we happened to have a spare drive belt! Who has happens to have one of those??  Apparently we do, we're back in business-- once again!

Life is Good!

Really and truly it is. On this Thanksgiving week I am truly thankful for a husband who can fix things; actually, for a husband that will happily and uncomplainingly put fixing things above everything else. We recently lost a dear friend, he died suddenly. I constantly think of his wife and wonder, even out loud, what I would do without my husband. I cannot even imagine. 

Join me. Count your blessings and take your chores one day at a time.

Monday- Wash day.

Tuesday- Ironing day.

Wednesday- Sewing day.

Thursday- Market day.

Friday- Cleaning day.

Saturday- Baking Day.

Sunday- A day of rest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

A GRAND Weekend

Life is Good!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Life is Good!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

November started out as a promising one, my plans for daily sequential thankfulness posts were sadly and profoundly interrupted by the death of my precious mother-in-law. Now here we are, on the last day of November. Time waits for no one, especially this blogger. I will close out the month with one, last catch-up post, one that is punctuated with moments of pure grace; as my life over the past week has been. Please accept my gratitude for all of your kind thoughts and words in response to my last post; indeed, my mother-in-law was a treasure. Last Wednesday, following her memorial service, the family gathered at Mom's home one final time to share food and reflect on her life, "the one that made all of our lives better because she was a part of them", these are my daughter-in-law's words, I couldn't ever describe Mom more appropriately. This photo, left, of Mason, was taken in Mom's back yard that afternoon. This is but one of those God-given moments of grace. For this glorious moment in time, I am grateful.

Mom was an organist. The one thing the grandchildren have always loved, over the years, and now the great-grandchildren after them, is to sit on the organ bench and play; here are three of them doing just that. One last concert, one more grace moment; and a snapshot to cherish the memory.

One more gathering in Mom's living room, the site of every holiday gathering for as long as I can remember. We remain grateful for all who could be with us last week, Mom's loving spirit blessed us and bound us together in affection and appreciation for each other. Those moments of grace kept on happening: free and undeserved gifts manifested in countless blessings, one after another. Thanksgiving happened, it remains a blur, generous amounts of food arrived here and was all skillfully prepared and served, dozens were fed. Slowly, one by one, the leave-taking of each friend and family member happened. Today it's just us again; all too suddenly, November is over. 

We won't be "just us" for very long though. It's time to make new memories: we will have all four grandchildren in two days for a cousins weekend.  I have already begun the preparations for a house building extravaganza. 

There are many activities planned for the little ones, bring on December, we're getting ready for Christmas! Time may fly but I have taken a deep breath, counted my blessings along the way, and with God's help and a grateful heart I am ready to get back in the race. "Run, run, as fast as  you can-- you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!"

Life is Good!

On this, the thirtieth day of November, 

I remain thankful to God for a life

punctuated with moments of pure grace.

Embracing November

Lynnleigh and her long-awaited
 Sanksgiving pillowcase!

It's November; that month that somehow gets the short shrift. Yeah, sure, there's Thanksgiving but that has become sort of a brief pause sandwiched in there between Halloween and Christmas. It's high time to celebrate and embrace the month of November and all that it entails; let's take our sweet time for the next thirty days and not rush the season! Lynnleigh was the one who reminded me a year ago of the importance of this "in between" time: I had made her and her brother, and their cousins, Halloween pillowcases for the month of October. Shortly after that I found some really cute Christmas fabric and was planning another set, for December. Lynnleigh asked her Mommy: "am I getting a pillowcase for Sanksgiving?" By that time it was too late to find turkeys (but I remembered). Originally, I hadn't intended for this to become a pillowcase-of-the-month club, but somehow it morphed into that; the grandchildren love their pillowcases and it's been fun for me too. Don't worry, of course there are more turkeys winging their way to the Capital City right now!

And so, on this first day of November I am going to begin a gratitude list and declare those things for which I am most thankful. Today I give thanks for improved health and appetite for my mother-in-law, she has recently been transferred to a rehabilitation facility; she has significantly improved in the past week, I am deeply grateful for the many, many prayers on her behalf. 

I am thankful, too, for Sanksgiving.

Life is Good!

 

Raking Up

It's been a while since I've posted anything... I'm blaming it on the leaves. However, the batches that I've been raking up have been in the kitchen, not out on the yard! I created a few batches of oak and maple leaves as well as at least a bushel(!) of acorns for our Thanksgiving tables this year... the cookie making adventure continues!

Now... once these get cleaned out I am on to snowmen and Christmas cookies next! I've been diffusing a blend of essential oils in the studio this weekend: "Holiday Joy" (orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and fir) it has definitely put me in a Christmas frame of mind, it smells heavenly in here. Now that the Thanksgiving dishes have been put away I've begun sewing some gifts for friends; I'll share a teeny-tiny peek:

Life is Good!

Catching Up

I took the last quilting stitches in Gregory's quilt early Thanksgiving morning, I pulled a stool up alongside the front while I worked so that  Mason could sit and observe the process for a little while. It was a satisfying start to an otherwise busy day!  With all the prep work and hand washing of dishes afterwards, Thanksgiving is the only day that I completely run out of dishtowels and the bottom of that drawer is fully visible; I can make up an entire washer-load of only dish towels one day a year! That's where I've been. All the dishes are done now and safely stored back in the cupboards; just in time to switch them out next Saturday to my Christmas/Winter dishes! I refuse to begin until December! The Christmas tree lots sprung up, seemingly overnight, on Wednesday last week. I won't pitch myself headfirst into Christmas until I can sit back and catch my breath from Thanksgiving. The good news is I'm ready for binding on this one and the quilt and the big boy bed will be delivered together... soon! I have named this one: "Do You See What I See: Fish, A Frog, and a Floating Dog".

Detail shots (above and below): "F,F, and a FD"
It is quilted in the sashing and inner border with NiteLite thread.
There's lots of fun things to search for and find on this quilt.

I spent yesterday catching up on this month's block from the Bless This House class, block #8.
I decided to personalize this one with a year and an initial, ditching the assigned flowers in the center.
I agonized over the decision of which year to put in the heart... the year I began or the year I hope to finish!  I've got my work cut out for me now, I've committed to a time frame!

All eight blocks arranged on the design wall.
Each block measures 16", the next block is a four blossom Christmas Rose;
a long, triple, landscape panel spans the top before the final borders are added.
Life is Good!

Thanksgiving 2012

I am so thankful for family. We were blessed yesterday with a house full of abundant,
delicious food and happy activity all day long. Memories to cherish forever.
Life is Good!

Keeping It In Perspective

We're all counting our blessings and tallying up the things that we're the most thankful for this time of year. I have a few unassigned quilts done; albeit sans binding, but done for the most part, and hanging in the studio closet. I had mentioned to Quiltkeemosabe when we were on a recent retreat that I would like to stock my linen closet with quilts, as I finish them, and have a ready supply, for gifting, as specific situations arise. I was thinking of beginning this quilt-closet "project" after the holidays, in January of next year. To that end, I cleaned out the linen closet on Wednesday, freeing up shelf space for the quilts-to-be! Fast forward to Thursday. After dinner was done, and the family was still seated around the dining room table, I took Hannes outside for a quick walk around the yard. I encountered my next door neighbor (and their multitude of dinner guests) tromping in the woods alongside our driveway. We exchanged holiday greetings and then, suddenly somber, he asked when the last time was that I had spoken with his wife. He explained that her cancer was back and that she was scheduled for major surgery next week. My heart broke for them. Yes, I am thankful and counting my blessings; but suddenly the perspective has shifted. My "project" for next year has been jump-started and one of those unassigned quilts now has an owner, as soon as I can get the binding whipped down! Please join me in prayer for healing and comfort to all of those with serious health issues, especially during this weekend and throughout the Christmas season.

Life is Good!

*Photo credit: Google Images

May Your...

...Thanksgiving be as fun and delicious

as a box full of Turkey cookies!

What are you thankful for today?

Life is Good!

Endearing and Enduring

Endearing and enduring are not the names of these babies, but rather the moments that will remain from these past few days. Think of this photo (left) as an update from one (below) taken earlier this summer! Yes, long after the turkey left-overs are a distant memory and the platters are put away, it's these endearing moments that will remain. This morning, as I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast I looked up to see this sight; my Dad reading a book to Mason, I don't know which one was enjoying story time more.

One more moment to treasure...

Life is Good!