A Snowy Trip

This past weekend we made our annual trek to the Sierras for our winter family trip.  Little did we know that we would be there for the largest storm to hit the Sierras in over a decade.  They have had an incredible amount of snow this year so our chains we kept handy and were needed early on the way up.  They never came off.

Although it is always a bit nerve wracking to drive under those conditions, the drive was spectacularly beautiful.  We were scheduled to leave Sunday morning, but we were snowed in after receiving 4-5 feet of fresh snow between Saturday and Sunday.  All roads were closed in and out.  We thought Monday was a no go as well, but they managed to avalanche blast and clear the southbound route by 4 p.m.  It was a very slow go down the mountainside with a CHP caravan and chains, but the drive was phenomenal.  It was just in time as the food supply was dwindling as well as the wine!!!  There were many Donner Party jokes passing about as we checked out the fat content of each person.  lol

The chains came off just as the sun set and we were more than happy for that.  We have for years thought it would be fun to get snowed in up there, but now we can say that we have "been there and done that".  I'm okay with not repeating the thrill.

While we were there we celebrated one of the little one's birthday.  Our daughter made the cutest cupcakes for a hamburger loving little guy.

Today I finally managed to get into the sewing space for a little stitching time.  The Temperature Quilt QAL has been calling my name this year.  I have dutifully keep a record of our temperatures and have caught up to date using a Flying Geese pattern for it.

I'm looking forward to adding some of the oranges and reds as it warms up a bit here.  Right now I seem to be very green!!!

En Provence

My En Provence quilt is now completely pieced.  It has been so much fun cyber stitching along with my little sister (IG alaskanquilter) who lives in Alaska.  She finished hers a day ahead of me!  I always enjoy Bonnie Hunter's Mystery QALs and this one is one of my favorites - even though I am not a purple person.  My biggest problem was finding floor space large enough to photograph it.   The sun shining in the room appears to have taken the bottom corner off, but it is really all there.   I am so pleased with the way it all came together.

We've had storm after storm roll through our area.  It has been really wonderful after so many years without moisture.  The plants and trees are loving it - I am sure!  As well, we have had so many beautiful rainbows.  This one was so pretty, but faded by the time I could grab the camera for a picture. 

Guess it was a bit late to find the pot of gold too.

A New Year

Best laid plans of being a better blogger have gone out the window as quickly as the first two weeks of the new year have passed.  I just keep telling myself that it is living life rather than documenting life.  Sounds good.....right? 

There has been very little sewing going on around here, but I did manage to get a whole day of sewing in on Saturday - a stormy day at the beach.  I started assembling my En Provence quilt top.  There are lots of little pieces, but I am loving the way it is looking.

We've been having such wonderful storms rolling through and delivering us the much needed water that we have missed for the last few years.  One thing about storms is the amazing sunrises or sunsets they provide.  Sometimes you'll get both on the same day.  This was a recent sunset - a photo taken at our daughter's house.

After a stormy day at the beach on Saturday, we woke up to this beautiful sunrise on Sunday morning.

As I have stitched my En Provence, I have been sewing strips together to create blocks for this month's Block Lotto blocks.  There is still plenty of time to create a few if you want to join in on the fun.  I was one of the winners of last month's string blocks so it has been fun receiving the "squishy" envelopes each day.

I'm off to clean house as I've had little ones the last few days.  Stay safe from the nasty weather out there.