Mug Rugs

 My friend Wanda thought of a fun plan for our quilt group Christmas exchange. 

Each of us would make 4 mug rugs and bring them to our Christmas party in brown paper lunch bags. Then we would all choose 4 different bags and open up 4 surprise mug rugs.

If you haven't heard of mug rugs before, they are like a coaster or a small place mat. Just the right size for a drink and a small snack.

Here are the ones I made.   A tea pot.

A chicken.

A baby chick.

And a regular quilt block.

I quilted them by machine.

 Actually, the original plan was to have this exchange last Christmas...but our meetings were canceled because of the pandemic.

So to be truthful, I have had nearly 2 years to complete these mug rugs but I work better with an approaching deadline so I started and finished these in the past month!

The patterns all came from this book "Farm Girl Vintage".  I am planning to make the quilt shown on the cover when I get around to it.

 So, I'm ready for our party. In a few days, I'll  show you the Mug Rugs I get from the exchange!

Storm and strong winds

 Overnight storms...wind, rain, hail, then a wake-up tornado warning coming over the cell phone.

I decided to go to the basement but my husband stayed in bed, despite me telling him that the warning means a tornado has actually been reported in the area.

The cat went downstairs with me and we hung out, cold and uncomfortable, about 25 minutes until the warning was over. 

In the morning we woke up to see some large trees broken off at the trunks.

Whoa!

Two trees snapped off...both Sassafras.  This one broke just inches away from the shed but fell at such an angle that the shed wasn't touched.

This one snapped off and landed upright beside the oak tee...held standing in place by tangled branches.

Fortunately, no damage to our new-ish swing either.

A lot of limbs ripped off a cedar tree too.

A few more broken branches on near by trees.

So no real damage, just the job of getting the fallen parts cleaned up (Oh, Sasquatch?)

Later we heard the sad news that another area in Kentucky was in the path of a tornado with a lot of damage to homes and tragically...the loss of many lives.

Warm weather

December is off to a good start with some nice warm days.  High temperature around 65 degrees today. 

I did some digging and rearranging in a flower bed then sat on the back porch to sew and just enjoy the weather.

Of course Puss didn't want me to do all that relaxing alone...

Later, I planted these tulip bulbs in two flower pots that I'll move by the back door in the spring.

I see that Lonnie likes them. He has written "BEAUTIFUL" across the center of the package.

I hope they do bloom this beautifully!

Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving Dinner was almost ready on time! Everything was cooked and the Sasquatch and my brother, John, helped me get it on the table. We sat down to eat just a few minutes past one.

I like to eat early so we can squeeze in a second meal before bed time.

Lonnie took a photo of us at the table. That's me on the left (eyes closed of course) then my Dad, Uncle, and younger Brother. 

The Sasquatch was next but you know how elusive they are when it comes to photos.  Lonnie not pictured since he was taking the photo. 

You can see my wrecked kitchen in the background.

Last year was the first time I cut up the turkey before bringing it to the table.  Now I won't ever do it any other way.

I sort of miss having the whole turkey in the center of the table but this way is so much easier than trying to hack chunks off the turkey at the table...with it sliding off the platter and spinning around to give everyone a view through its rear portal to all that weirdness on the inside.

I tried a different recipe for mashed potatoes that involves cream cheese (don't tell Lonnie - he somehow thinks cream cheese is fattening). It was okay but I will just go back to my regular way of doing them next time.

We also had stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn. Trader Joes cranberry orange sauce, green beans, broccoli with cheese and Pillsbury crescent rolls. 

I had made a pecan pie and a coconut pie and my Dad brought a caramel apple crumb pie.

The  next day I made a batch of turkey salad for the Sasquatch. I have found that many people haven't heard of this but it's like chicken salad. The Sasquatch likes his with chopped pickles and mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper.

I made another batch for Lonnie and myself but instead of pickles I added celery and apples and turmeric. Lonnie said he liked the version I made for the Sasquatch better.

Then on Saturday, I simmered the turkey legs and wing sections and put the broth and meat into the freezer to be made into soup later on.

The rest of the bones and skin was thrown out for the crows, but the black vultures showed up to help with the clean up.

I like to make a few notes after the meal each year to remind me what changes to make next time. 

For instance, I had been dividing the gravy into two aluminum gravy boats (one on each end of the table) but the Sasquatch noted that the gravy gets cold quickly in the metal...so I switched to one big bowl of gravy with a ladle - much better.

 

 My main problem is... making too large of quantities. 

I think I acquired that habit back when my sons were in high school and groceries disappeared very quickly.    

It seems to be a hard habit to break!

red maple

 Our Red Maple is hanging on to its colorful leaves for a long time this year.

I took this photo from inside the house.

And this photo outside with the sun shining on it.

Let's see...I planted this tree in 2000. First it was a bit closer to the house and I dug it up a couple of years later and moved it here. Glad I did but maybe it's too close to the driveway now But if it gets any bigger I can do a little pruning on that side.

Deer have never bothered this tree so I thought I was safe in planting 3 more small ones in the side yard.  Nope, those were chomped off by either a deer or a rabbit. 

It didn't kill them and now they're trying to develop a main stem again. I will be putting up some netting around them to discourage deer and rabbits.

fall color

 This view of the field beside our house has really changed over the last few years.

In all the time we have lived here it has been bush hogged regularly and sometimes hay rolled and collected there. 

The owners had it in some sort of conservation program and I assume one of the rules was to keep it from becoming over grown.   But that's over now.

I used to enjoy the view of the sun hitting the trees at the far end of the field. 

This photo from 2014...

Now it's pretty in a different way...with all the new growth and different colors and textures.

Especially on this day with the sun coming through under dark cloudy skies.

What will it look like in a few more years?

On a different subject...I have stepped up the pace on hand sewing this Tumbling Blocks quilt top. I have been working on it off and on for years but now I want to get 'er done.

It's a good take along project because it's sewn one block at a time then one strip at a time.

It's what I have been taking to sew on quilt group evenings. I don't have to lug my sewing machine and it makes it easier to get more talking to others done too...since I can hear better without the noise of the machine!

the answer is 33

 This is a little embarrassing but funny too.

The Sasquatch signed up for some online surveys that paid off with big discounts on certain products.

He knows I wear only "Crocs" shoes now, so he chose to do their survey then asked if I'd like to use his discount.  Well sure!

It was a heck of a deal so I picked out 3 pair (he only got one pair) and placed the order. I liked all 3 pairs when they arrived but when I put them away I noticed that I was running out of room for shoes.

I wondered how many I really did have...so got them all out to count...

So the answer is 33.

 But whoops, I forgot about a pair of boots down in the front closet plus a really old pair that I wear for yard work. Oh yeah and a pair of old flip flops.

So make that 36!

The cat and I stared at each other wide-eyed with surprise!

Actually there are some duplicates in the collection.  The ones I wear a lot get worn smooth at the heels and get relegated for only doing yard work...so I have replacements ready.

Yep, I need to lay off the shoe shopping for the next 10 or 12 years!

P.S.  Don't tell Lonnie! Shhhh!