Festivus

Festivus...for the rest of us! Enjoy the pretty tree-I'm making stuff-see you monday.

Thanks to Debra for the Quilt Studio weight challenge in Jan. I'm there...sooooooothere, waddle, waddle.

Maybe I'm just being touchy, but

Why, OH WHY does Blogger Beta have a check box to remember you and you still have to sign in every damn time you do anything???? It's pointless not to mention verrrrry annoying. They may be a free service but it sucks more every day. Rant over...carry on.

WIP wed on Fri

I thought I would post a pic of the blocks that I made the other day when I had no internet connection. Oh! the things you can acomplish when forced to focus. Anyway, these are just lying on the floor in no particular order. It was a good idea to do that today since I saw the need for an extra row and I'm short two blocks which will take no time at all. I ahppen to be a collector of Asian fabrics but my son is a big fan as well. He picked out all of these fabrics himself with the exception of a couple that I needed to make a clear definition between the light and dark. Since he will, no doubt, drag this around and I will probably find it in a ball on the floor-I decided to take my husbands advice and keep it simple stupid(well he didn't say that but I infer)so that I won't go crazy when it gets abused.

I am now at the point of the Christmas cycle when I fear that I have forgotten some impotant thing for someone. Don't know what that is but these things often appear as a blinding flash in the middle of the night. Sitting bolt upright in bed from a dead sleep-that's when my memory apparently engages relly well. Whatever! Why not make a list you may ask? Well it's a part of my DNA-buried deep in the genetic make-up that I'm just not complete unless I'm worrying about some obscure thing.

Yesterday I was on the treadmill watching Elizabeth with Cate Blanchette(great day on AMC-mostly period pieces. I even saw the old Bette Davis Elizabeth )and I suddenly had the most awful problem with my restless leg syndrome. Numby(word?)toes and crampy toes on the left foot. Couldn't find a comfortable position all afternoon and it didn't help me get to sleep any easier. They have meds for this but the meds are a sedative and I think that's the last thing I really need. If anything, I need a good shot of adrenaline to get off my ass and keep moving. So I ,more or less, try to ignore the spasms and pains. Yesterday it was nearly impossible. Hope it's not a thing that happens often.

Well, I'm off to make another couple of blocks, wrap some stuff, figure out dinner plans etc. Hope you have a great day. Do something fun!

a day without a modem, or, how I got a lot done for a change

I totally missed WIP wed. We had a modem that was ancient and needed replacing and so my helpful son, James, took it to the cable co. store yesterday and go a new one. Whatever was wrong is now fixed and, for me at least, the internet is now not closed. Funny thing though, a whole day without connection equals a day that Dee got a lot done for a change. I worked on James' quilt top and nearly got it done. I'm having some issues with blogger(as are many) so I'll post pics at another time. For today, I'm trying to get over a weird sinus thingy(tech term). I don't have a sinus infection or a cold but when I bend forward I almost loose the ability to reamin standing. Really woozy and a little nauseating. I don't do well on most meds- a touchy stomach- but I had to resort to some Sudafed to try and get active enough to stand upright without feeling like I was on the water in a boat, something which normally makes me feel good but not so much right now.

The quilt above is only a pre-printed piece I bought years ago and outline stitched and quickly bound. It's bright and cheerful though so I still hang the thing. Someday I'll get around to making a really pretty Christmas quilt like the ones I've seen on Rian's and Jenny's blogs as well as a number of other blogs. Again, that would be a great thing to do in the new year or even in July. Where did I put that list?

Well here on Long Island it's spring in December. Right now the temps are around 50-60. This must be what it's like to have Christmas in places like California. It's really weird for NY in December. Not complaining, mind you, I just don't know what to wear. It's t-shirt weather all day and then it gets down to 37-40ish at night. You go to sleep wanting the window open a little and in the early morning it's fricken freezing! It's finally happened-I am OLD. I have blogged about my health and the weather.....UGH..sorry. I'll do better tomorrow when, hopefully, the stars are in alignment and blogger is working(heh), and I feel more like Dorothy , who is often a very funny lady.

A more festive approach

these guys came by and ate all the herring salad-thus the look of pale, glass-eyed fishiness.

Really they are a couple of the Santa figures(duh) that I have collected in these past years. One of my most early memories as a child(that ws not horrifying)is that of a very large, real live Herr Christmas who came to my Oma's house when I must have been a toddler in Germany. It is, in fact, one of only two memories I have of that time. He was, of course,huge and had a sack in which he had lumps of coal and twigs for some and gifts of candy for others. I seem to recall that it was chocolate but I think I know this because I was told it, and not from memory. I remember a tree with real candles burning and of course the ubiquitous german spice cookies along with something that you can't get anymore. Little champagne bottles made of chocolate and filled with liquor. You can get some kinds now but not like the ones I remember being imported back then. They were made from a type of chocolate that had a very crispy crunchy texture and with the liquor-they were a festival for the mouth. I think I remember someone telling me that I absconded with a package and slept well that night(tales of things to come)hic!

Anyway I thought that the Santas would make a more festive picture than the hideously pepto-pink herring salad.

I'm waybehind in everything and since I've vowed not to panic anymore(heh)I better get going to the post office, grocery(there's only herring salad left)and bookstore. have fun!

the things we do for love or, eeew... herring salad

I haven't posted for a few days-Christmas got in the way and today my son took the camera to school for his photography class so tomorrow will be a post about the house and decorating. This weekend, my husband, the best husband ever(Hi Honey!) made an annual tradition at our house. I was born in Germany and without going into too much detail-my Grandmother or Oma, was a major influence in my life. Many of her influences were hard to live with while some have become a gift that it took me a while to unwrap. One of the influences is cooking. I grew up with really good German food and much to my dismay, there are many things that I can never duplicate because I never took the time to learn these recipes when it counted. From time to time I see on talented Kristens delightful blog from Germany the occasional recipe or item that she blogs about that makes me have a sharp intake of breath and a real longing for those moments so very long ago. It's a shame that due to circumstances beyond my control, much of what I learned from Oma has been lost to my memory or should I say lack of memory. Stuff like farina dumplings that were (I think )called griesklosse(sp)and a number of spectacular baked things. Anyway, of all things to remember, I remember the foods at Christmas and the wonderful stollen and liebkucken that we always had. I also remember a traditional food that will most certainly die with me. Herring Salad. It's festive....very festive.....and pink from the beets and mayo(I know, I know an aquired taste) Anyway..it requires a lot of chopping. Chopped herring, green apples, pickled beets, onions. Every year my husband makes it for me..mememe all me(cause no one else wants it). It's one of those things that people do for each other out of love and probably a lot like the lutefisk thing in Scandinavian households to which I would add my gag. Except this really is good...and pink. Oh, alright I'm shuttin' up now. Until tomorrow.