Deb sent me some pictures from Reno showing their 8 inches of snow yesterday, so I sent her these pictures showing our normal winter weather...cloudy/rainy with green fields.....

 

James is a super sweet cat, but she is NOT a lap kitty.  Jessie is in my lap any chance she gets (and is my lap now as I type) but James doesn't ever get in my lap.  Last night, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, she jump up and lay in my lap.  I can't say she curled up in my lap - she's a big cat, but then....how can I go to bed???  I can't bump her out when she never wants to sit with me!  AJ was in visiting with me, and he eventually rescued me, picking her up and holding her for a while. 

You spend all sorts of money on toys for your furry friends, and what entertains them the most? A dropped green bean from your groceries.  I never did find the bean after they made off with it either, so maybe it was a snack too??

 

AJ's annual birthday swim wasn't nearly as exciting this year as it has been in the past.  It was chilly, but definitely not cold!  No ice on the diving board to slip on, no pouring rain to walk through....

 

I dug out a sampler quilt I started last year (or maybe the year before - don't judge me!) and decided to finish it up.  The patterns were published in a quilting magazine as an easy way to learn different techniques - with new block patterns available every two months. One of the reasons I stopped on it was because the next set of blocks were applique - not my favorite!  I decided to perceiver!  These are the applique blocks - not all finished, but at least they are started!

 

We were at 28 degrees when I got up on Sunday - I had to break the ice on the chicken's water!  

 

Ripley says "yo" to everyone.....

 

Mom's Christmas Cactus was actually a New Years Cactus this year.  It just started blooming New Year's Eve.

James must like scaring herself.  I tossed a few toys into the new "catnip infused paper bag" that the cats got for Christmas, and she pulls them out one at a time, jumping each time she pulls one out.  Even Allison was giggling at her - a new "thing" for her - go James!!  I love seeing Alli do new things!

 

One of my unfinished projects that got finished in 2023!  I bought the fabric for this when I made all the other aprons for Rhyoji this summer, but didn't make it for myself.  I'm very happy I finally got it done!!!

 

Oh, the challenges of getting anything done around here!  These were the last of the projects for 2023 I was working on - I got Kirby's quilt and the gray quilt finished (except for washing and drying - that's on hold until the dryer is fixed....)  I also got my Christmas quilt top finished and sandwiched up, and the pinwheel quilt top finished and sandwiched.  I had to lock Jessie in my bedroom to do the sandwiching, but she still let herself out.  Everyone had to help me on building the sandwich.....

 

Well, this is not how I wanted to end 2023!  I went to start another load of laundry on Sunday and found that the dryer wasn't heating.  At that point I had a load of towels and a load of regular laundry washed.  Luckily, I have a built in clothes line in the back yard - the pool fence.  (And the neighbors can't see the tacky way I dried my laundry!)  My hearth also has pull-put arms to dry coats on and I used them to dry the towels.  We had intermittent rain during the day, so they were not going to dry outside!  Even the laundry didn't really dry.  I brought everything is and put it in front of the fire.  It was warmer in the house than I liked, but the laundry got dry.  Now to finish the other loads...

 Happy New Year!  Here's hoping that 2024 is filled with fun and adventure! 

I'm not big on making resolutions but I do like to think about things I want to do (not things I want to change!) in the next year.  This year I want to: 

• Get outside more 
• More hiking, 
• more kayaking, 
• more walks with the dogs.  
• I want to travel a bit more
• I have a work trip to Spokane this month, and 
• I am planning a trip back to Kentucky to see Ronna and Georgia to see Margene this summer.
• Try some new quilting techniques.  
• Be braver with my quilting - not just the meander, learn some patterns!
• Try more paper piecing.
• I'd like to learn more DIY things around the house.
• I have an area of the yard that needs to be redone - but I can't decide what I want to do with it yet...the whole yard needs a good cleaning up.
• I want to reorganize my sewing area, making it easier to sew in

Not a bad list to get started with!  

Happy New Year!!