A moment of holiday cheer

 Coming home from Cameron this afternoon, I had stopped at the store and was walking to my car, when I heard loud, Mexican Christmas music. 

Along came a semi, decorated with Christmas lights wrapped all around the cab & trailer & 2 big speakers propped up on the side mirrors.  They were pumping out the Christmas tunes.  

I hopped in my car and gave them a beep beep and they right away responded with a few air horn blasts.  It was such a surprise, and quite delightful.  I saw them again as I got closer to home, as they were driving far below to speed limit, headed North.  I am not sure the 'going-home-from-work folks' appreciated their entertainment as much as I did.

I was thinking that this was a totally random couple of dudes doing something silly, and that made me smile.  I was thinking, 'there's the spirit of Christmas driving down the road'.

But then , as I headed towards RL, I was reminded that it was the downtown holiday parade night, and that is where the Christmas semitruck was headed, not so random.  Owell, I had a few moments of wonderment.

🎄

A friend on Facebook commented on this little story of mine 

"It is always fun to see others enjoying the season..it can make your day!"

He nailed it.

Sewing room

 I'm trying to have the perfect sewing room, especially now that I have the fanciest sewing machine of my life. 

Today,  I moved my design wall (plastic table cloth hung on wall, felt side out) into the sewing room.  Now,  it is right behind my sewing chair.  I'm finding this to be very convenient and I was a little weary of it hanging in the kitchen / entry way hallway. The next step is to organize all the fabric and notions that I have accumulated.

I'm still working on the Halloween Dresden Neighborhood project.  I'm getting closer to the next step. 

I took a beauty shot of Barley sitting on my lap.   Earlier in the day, I caught her sleeping on my sewing chair and she was not interested in moving.  Whatta life.

Barley is celebrating 15 years on the throne. She is royalty in this castle. 

December is upon us.

Decorating

 It's nice to get some lights up now that winter has brought the longer nights. 

Tonight, I hung stars on the windows and put my Christmas tree up on the shelf.  It is a start.  I'll be adding more lights to the tree and a few more decorations around the house. 

Barley approves.

Ruby Anna

The Luck JV team traveled to Unity on Thursdsy night.  It was a very windy drive over and back, but the Luck team won,  so all worth it. 

It will be hard for me to see Ruby play very often at Luck due to the double header scheduling of gyms at Luck,  so I'm glad I got to see this W!

 Go Cardinals!

More Zoom Sewing

 Today I joined the Wednesday afternoon sewing group on Zoom.  I worked on my Dresden Neighborhood while listening to a blow by blow explanation on how to make Lefse, a discussion about making a quilt out of the bibs that runners wear and other general sewing chit-chat.  At the end of the Zoom Call, I was invited to join a Monday morning Zoom sewing group.  Friendly women, many in Northern Wisconsin,  but several in Arizona.  It's a good reason to get in the sewing room, and it is enjoyable.

I'm half-way done with the embellishment phase of this project.  It is fun to create the scenes and figure out how to use the little figurines that I cut out.  This project will really take life once the roofs, trees & hats are added, but we are several big steps away from that phase. 

I have an idea about adding a string of mini orange lights to this project when it's done,  much more to come.

🎃

Today,  I ran errands and dropped off 2 big bags of clothing at St. Vincent DePaul's Thrift Shop here in Rice Lake.  I have more to give,  but it felt good to clear the first load.  I miss the convenience of home pickups by charities like we had in Colorado.  I wonder if they still do that?

☮️

Zoom Sewing

 Covid left behind a few new uses of technology that are worth keeping.  Zoom is one of those.  I've been keeping up with my best friends by playing Bridge on line while we Zoom so we can chat.  We started playing & chatting during the lock down, and we are still going. 

A quilt shop in Upper Michigan, The Fabric Patch, started Zoom sewing classes during lockdown and they have expanded into Zoom quilt retreats and live online sales.   Every Wednesday, they close their brick & mortar business, and spend the afternoon on Facebook live. 

Tuesday night, I took a Zoom class from the Fabric Patch. The class was called Dresden Neighborhood.  

It was a 3 hour class,  promising near completion of the project.  Ha! 🤣🤣

Here is the pattern example. 

There were other choices too, a Christmas village or a Valentine town. I went with Halloween.

I bought their kit of fabric for the class.

Once I had my buildings sized, it was time for appliqué & embellishments.

This will take some time.  It's fun.  I'm making it up as I go. 

One of the fabrics had images of crows, spides, bats, pumpkins, etc. Last night I backed that fabric with underwonder and cut out a pile of little figurines.  

Each building will have some kind of windows, doors, fences,  etc.  I'll use the little figures as well. Slow and putsy, but so cute.

There are 20 blades in this Dresden plate village, I have 3 done. 

I'm finding that this is a nice way for me to learn how to use my new sewing machine as I try new decorative stitches and explore the cool features of the Husqvarna. 

I'll update as my village takes shape. Roofs & hats will really bring it to life.

Life is good. 

Jordyn & Mitch

 Great niece Jordyn married her high school sweetheart in September of 2023.

Here are a few photos from the wedding day that I copied from Facebook.  I wasn't invited to the wedding.  It looks like it was a fun,  outdoor wedding with lots of family and friends. 

Jackson,  Jake, Dana, Erin, Charli, Milli, Wynni, Bryce, Mike, Cordell, Kaija, Glenn, Kathy, Mitch & Jordyn, Krista, Mark, Breanna, Kory, Payton, Rusty, Alaina, Linsey, Vinny, Desmond, Lucy, Michelle, Alyxis, Andy
The whole family, only missing Dakota.

At quilt camp this fall,  I sewed up four placemats to give to the newlyweds. They have a fall theme.  I found some cute hedgehog paper napkins to send along. 

Jens. 7th grade basketball

 I went over to Luck on Thursday afternoon, to watch Jens play basketball.

He's a good player and plays with passion. I predict this team of his will do very well as they get older. 

I took notice of how many of Jens' family members showed up to watch him play basketball. Dad & Mom Kyle & Heather, Grandma Lois, Greataunts Lois & Wanda, Greatuncle Harold, Aunt Jessica, sisters Ruby & Stella, bother Gage, cousins Noah, Alec, Ashlyn, Hans, & Walker.  

It's fun sitting on the bleachers with family. 

Here are a few photos of Jens in action. 

 

The Tuesday before,  I watched Jens play on the live stream and I kept his stats.

I had him for 10 points (2 three pointers), 2 steals, 4 assists, and 3 fouls.

 The future is bright. 

Go Cardinals! 

♥️🏀

Owen as The Sheriff

 Last weekend, the drama club at Luck School put on a play called The Man From Alamada.  It was written by the students and teachers and performed by a cast of drama club actors and actresses.

Great nephew Owen had the part of  the County Sheriff.  His dialog was short, to the point and very well timed for a good laugh.

Photo by Seth-david Mack, posted on Facebook

Photo by Seth-david Mack, posted on Facebook

The play was quirky and fun and very entertaining.  The students that I spoke to in the receiving line all said that they had a lot of fun performing.  It showed.

I met Aunt Lois & great niece Megan there.  Kyle hosted us for a nightcap after the performance.

It was a fun evening in Luck.