............................February Schnibbles

Today is the last day of February.  Do you know what that means?  Tomorrow is the Parade of Schnibbles.  Yeah!!!!  I always love seeing all of the different looks that can be acquired from quilters using the same pattern, but different fabrics.  My choice for this month's Schnibble is Nature's Notebook, an April Cornell fabric.  I haven't done the quilting yet as I am thinking that those open areas are calling for some special design.  I will have to decide what I am going to do with it before I tackle it.

Sunday Best Schnibble pattern.

Friday was my dear mother's 87th birthday.  We celebrated by going out for dinner and then back to her house for birthday cake.  My siblings and their spouses all went as well so it was a fabulous evening of laughter and good times.  This was a much better birthday for her than last years when she was in and out of the hospital with a septic hip.  We keep calling her our "Energiz*er Bunny" with the way she keeps on going with never a complaint.  What an inspiration she has been to all of us.   Unfortunately, I left my camera at her house with the pictures on it so will just share her birthday postcard I made her.

We have enjoyed yet more beneficial rain in our area and everything is really starting to pop out in the garden.  We are able to enjoy fresh citrus most of the year, but this time of the year sees some of my favorite - the blood oranges and the tangerines.  Even the tortoises have made an appearance this past week, out from their winter hibernation.

Please join me for a little stroll around the yard.

Moisture ladden spider webs everywhere.

In the Red Maple....

On the ground.

Citrus trees covered with fruit.

Stone fruit bursting with blossoms.

Blood oranges ready to be picked.

Valencia oranges - full of juice.

Blood oranges - so red and juicy too.

California Iris

Alstromeria

Raphiolepsis, ready to pop.

Lavender blooming in the pots.

Enjoy your week ahead.

...........Snow Vacation

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Holland and her husband.  Things have definitely improved for them.  Holland is now home from the hospital and doing pretty well.  She does have a large brace that she must wear for eight weeks which severely limits her movements, but there appears to be no permanent damage.

They also now have some help at home which is something that Holland badly needed even before the terrible fall.  She is such an incredibly strong woman and was so hesitant to acknowledge that she needed any help at all.  Hospice has been called in and has proven invaluable in assiting her in the needs of her husband, both physically and emotionally.

Meanwhile, I looked at my blog and realized it has been awhile since I last posted.  Trust me, I have not been lounging on the sofa eating chocolates all this time.  However, that does sound like a great idea since the Olympics are on so much of the day.

The sewing room has seen a lot of activity which always makes me happy.  Most of the work has been filling embroidery logo orders for the local pony club, but I did manage to assemble two quilting projects.  One is for this month's Schnibble project (which I haven't photographed yet) and the other was for a Valentine's table topper.  The hand embroidered heart blocks were from a design at Kviltstina earlier this month.

Last Thursday we took off with our whole family for our annual trip to the snow.  We love the area that we visit as it is quite family oriented with skiing as well as sledding for the younger ones.  The weather was perfect and there was lots of snow for everyone to enjoy.  We rent three condominiums in the same building and everyone shares the meals so the workload is light.  Evenings are filled with games and just "hanging out" with the family.  Memories are made each year and it is always so much fun to have everyone together for four days.

We've experienced some not so good memories over the years as well.  There was one year when one son broke both ankles on a ski jump.  Another year there was a split chin from sledding and then there was the year that our son broke his back and was transported by plane back to Santa Barbara for back surgery.  The good memories far outweigh the bad which is a blessing. 

I know that many of you would probably prefer to NOT see any snow pictures, but we enjoy being able to "visit" the snow and then return home to our warmer temperatures.  You can just pass through the photos if you have had your fill of the white stuff.

The sledders!!

The chair lift up to join the skiers for lunch at the lodge.

The skiers!!!

The view from the top of the lift.  The large flat white area is a frozen lake and our condos are right behind the lake.

The guys played poker in the evenings.

A little Pictureka game.

Popcorn and a movie for some.

Mah Jongg for the gals.

I thought I'd like to buy this house that was for sale.  Let's see....if I win ten lotteries I may be able to do it as it is up for sale for $20 million.  It is right next door to the condos that we rent so I figured it would be the perfect location.  We should all fit in the 16,000 square feet.  What do you think?  Maybe I can turn it into a B&B.

It is hard to imagine that it will soon be March..  I am sure that the onset of spring is good news to so many of you.  I just hope that all of this snow will not now cause flooding issues across the country.  I am looking forward to the orioles returning and the emergence of the spring bulbs.  How about you?

For Those of You

An update today on Holland....... Although she has fractured four vertebrae, none are displaced.  They feel that the numbness was caused by a spinal cord "shock" and her feelings are slowly returning.  There has been no swelling overnight which is wonderful news as it appears that she will fully recover use of her arms and legs.  The recovery road will be long, but with the good news received today it will make life much easier on all of them. 

I know all of your prayers were heard and welcomed.  Thank you so very much.  Please continue to keep them in your prayers and I will update you if anything changes.

.....who are prayer warriors, your help is needed for a friend and a neighbor to our son.  While riding her horse last evening, Holland was pitched a la Christopher Reeves style and landed on her head.   She was wearing her helmet, but has fractured four vertebrae in her neck.  There is numbness in her body, but she is feeling pain stimulation so we are holding out hope that she will not be paralyzed.  We will hopefully know more later today.

To make matters worse, Holland is also the primary caregiver to her husband who is extremely ill with lung and brain cancer.  My heart is breaking for both of them and any prayers would be greatly appreciated by them.

A Little Getaway

When I look at the date for my last blog entry I am amazed at how quickly the time has passed.  It's not like I haven't been doing anything, but it still surprises me.

For all of you who have been buried under feet of snow and bitter cold weather, my heart goes out to you.  The only advantage I can see to it is that it has allowed many of you time locked up inside with time to sew or be productive.  Let's hope you have kept your power!

In California, we have had productive rains which is very good for us.  We are currently at 124% of our average rainfall which is just what we needed after our years long drought.  A few more really good storms would be a welcome sight, but we are in for a stretch of drying out right now.

I always love the rainbows after the storms.

  

So.....what have I been up to the last few weeks? 

A little gardening.....mostly weeding after the rains, but some fun picking too.  The Birds of Paradise and Lavendar always make a pretty arrangement.

A couple of days of babysitting grandsons.  They loved a trip to the park to play and feed the ever hungry ducks. 

 

Jury duty, of which I have no photos.  I did not get selected, thankfully!


A nice trip to Florida - pleasure for me and business for my DH.  I always enjoy meeting up with fellow blogger, Midlife Mom, during this yearly trip.  We find ourselves chatting away for several days and catching up on everything under the sun.  Unfortunately, MM caught some sort of bug the second day and we did not get our yearly fix.  The poor thing was feeling just terrible and missed out on all of the fun things there are to do where we stay.  Her very sweet hubby brought me a PIF gift from her sickbed.  It was a Moda Butterfly Garden Jelly Roll.  I signed up for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along and am looking forward to having a grand time creating a wonderful autumn colored quilt with it.

These are some of the pictures from the resort.  Hopefully, it will make some of you "feel" a little warmer.

The partial view from our room.

The fishing village where everyone shops.

The marina.

There were some REALLY nice vessels docked.

We did not see any of these for real!!!

I loved the cute mailboxes.......

This is the local Humane Society mailbox.

The flowers are always gorgeous growing on trees and out of rocks.

Sunrise on the last morning.   This is for you, L, since you left the hotel looooong before sunrise.  I loved watching the sun come up each morning on our patio.  Watching the sun rise over the Atlantic and set over the Pacific on the same day----what a world we live in!!!!!!

Lastly, another Siggy arrived in my mailbox this week.  I love the hand stitched little doll in the center.

Tuesday's Thoughts and Schnibbles Completed

It seems impossible that January is rapidly coming to a close.  It is, however, fun to know that the Parade of Schnibbles will be taking place in just six more days and then we will be introduced to our February pattern.  My Schnibble is finished and ready for the show.  I managed to quilt it and put the binding on this week.

Since we had a week of rainy weather I was taking advantage of staying home and sewing.  I always love it when I can string a few days together with no commitments and no reason to leave the house. 

I completed my 101 Modern Siggy Exchange blocks, except for signing all of them.

In the process I managed to accumulate 202 HSTs and now need to figure out what I will do with them.  I am sure they will make a great wall hanging or table topper of some sort.

I have finished my first four Pineapple Blocks using all 1 1/2 inch scraps.  I am liking the look that is forming from the design.  Some of the blocks that I have seen have been stunning.  There are so many color variations that you can do with this block and each one is striking.

The embroidery machine has also been busy while I have been sewing away.  I had a large order of shirts to do and it is always nice to finish them and get them back to where they belong.  Sorry, but I forgot to take pictures of them.  They were for our local pony club so they had horses on them.  Sorry Midlife Mom.  You would have like to see them, I'm sure.

One last project I finished was for a BFF block swap with Em.  This is an interesting project as we each do four blocks per month - two of the same design.  Then we swap the two with our partner and at the end of the year we will have twenty four matching blocks each.  Our color theme is blue and yellow.  I will post a picture of my blocks after Em receives hers. 

We have more rain forecast for today so I am looking forward to spending more time sewing.  The rains that we had last week made for some beautiful sights around our part of the world.  DH and I took a drive on Saturday to check out our local streams and mountains.

I love the look of the raindrops through the morning light in the garden.

 

The surf has been absolutely huge which has been a dream for our family of surfers.   It doesn't look too big in these pictures, but it was running at about 15 feet.

Since the storm was also cold, the mountains received snow at the lower elevations.

Of course we had to try this road, but it was closed a little further up the road from here and I can understand why.  The snow was about 8" deep when we turnded around.  We had 4WD and we would not attempt it beoyond a certain point.  This road actually goes past the Mich*ael Jackson Ranch. 

The streams were so full that they were running over the road.

These falls will normally have just a trickle coming over them and they were the prettiest that we have ever seen.  It was definitely worth the hike in to see them. 

Someone offered to take a picture of the two of us....wasn't that nice of them?  I don't know why the picture has little polka dots all over it.

Finally....since you have all heard of California Happy Cows I thought you would enjoy a picture of them.  What do you think?  Do they live up to your expectation?