January's Rushing Past

January's rushing past as fast as the swollen creek after Monday's heavy rains! I'm considering using this top picture for reference for one of my water illustrations for my 2011 calendar. Finally finished one of J skating on the river, in a month or two, may go back and add some finishing touches, like scruff marks from skates.

J,D and I took a walk a little ways up the creek beyond our home yesterday, and I was reminded how lovely it is. The sound of water erases any nagging thoughts filling one's mind. I should try and make an effort to take a little time out now and then to go sit by the creek! Now is a great time of year because it's not buggy or muggy!

Last week, my Dad, brother and I attended an evaluation of my Mom's progress in a nursing home facility. She's receiving excellent care, but it's so hard to realize that she may not become strong enough to return home any time soon. It's especially hard on my Dad, who visits her faithfully, everyday. The hardest part is dealing with her repeated pleas and demands for a ride home. I plan on visiting her today. I've boxed up some portions of soup and spaghetti to drop off at Dad's place, too.

We took R back to New Paltz on Saturday. On our return trip, we stopped briefly to sample the mountain air overlooking the town. Invigorating! D and J are toying with the idea of rock climbing someday! Not me! I like standing on solid ground!

Hung twenty of my calendar Quilts at General Hospital last week, too, but had to take down seven, due to fire regulations (Only one quilt allowed per panel) They are on exhibit through the end of February. Then they will be folded and stashed away in my sewing room, until another gust of gumption sweeps over me to get them on display somewhere!


I always liked this scene. Mom took this photo of one of our kittens near a porch step, teapot filled with hens and chicks. To complete the image, I just added the butterfly.

January's Greetings

New Year's greetings to all! I hope everyone's year contains bountiful blessings! We've experienced cold temperatures recently, great for skating on the river, which my youngest took advantage of while the ice was clear of snow. My kids also enjoyed their Christmas quilts, and we've finally got them tied and back on their beds.Our computer/piano/dining area looks huge without the Christmas tree dominating most of the room!









We attended a family party at Charles Decker's home, where my Grandma was born (as well as Charlie).


My Mom suffered a mild heart attack recently, although we didn't know it until she'd been hospitalized for a series of falls. She's in rehabilitation at a nursing home now and receiving excellent care, but the transition's been hard for all of us to adjust to, especially my father, who talks of when she returns home. Right now, we are truly abiding by the motto, "One day at a time".

I celebrated my birthday with friends and family.



Last Friday, I had a one night art show at the JAC gallery, sharing the night with one of my all-time favorite bands, The Susquehanna String Band, who put on an excellent performance in the Town Hall Theater. I was able to squeeze all twenty of my calendar quilts into the gallery! Each quilt represented one calendar year, containing a dozen of my Farmhouse greetings' illustrations per wallhanging.My best friend, Raurie, surprised me by showing up!






Stay warm!

Glad Tidings

Today's the fourth Sunday in Advent! This month's flown past us like "leaves in a wild hurricane fly". I've been busy with a couple drawing commissions, and piecing together quilts, decorating, baking (mostly cinnamon rolls) etc, etc. My niece, Kathy, from Texas, spent two nights with us last week, between business meetings in the state. We crammed a lot into her short stay, including a visit to my parents' home, making gingerbread cookies and dinner with the whole family at the Whole in the Wall in Binghamton.
Best wishes for a Great Christmas Season and a Healthy New Year to all, filled with many daily blessings!


Aunt May's wheelbarrow.


Aunt Sherry's wheelbarrow.



Celebrating Mom's Birthday


Thanksgiving Football!


Feast


BU Quilt Show


Afton Christmas parade


First SNOW Day


Mom and Dad's tree


D cutting our tree


E and me


K with Grandparents

Mid November

Well, it's almost mid November already! Finished planting a few bulbs for Spring, mainly crocus and tulips. (I'm hoping squirrels, chipmunks and mice don't read my blog so they won't go searching for a tasty treat). J was elated Yankees added another Series' win to their record. D, J and I enjoyed a walk around the lake at Cole park last Sunday. We are enjoying a relatively sunny week and a pause in the chilly temperatures. Tomorrow, I'm delivering train calendars to four of my Pennsylvania Aunts. I think it will be a nice day for a mini road trip!







This is Starbuck, my grandkitty.

NaMoWriMo November

Hope you have a sunny November! I signed up for NAMOWRIMO again this year (to help you write on a daily basis the great novel that lurks in each of us) but haven't participated yet. We are supposed to write about 1,700 words a day in order to reach the goal of 50,000 words by month's end. Maybe I should concentrate my efforts on blogging more? I wonder if it'd be within the rules to rewrite a previous attempt? Just checked-rules state it must be all new writing! NaMoNoNo! I do enjoy receiving NaMoWriMo's encouraging emails by published writers!

Pumpkins and Posies

Halloween is almost here! My favorite part of Halloween is porch pumpkins! My kids gathered on the porch Sunday to carve a few faces. J even used a power saw to carve through the thick skin of his pumpkin.











It's also the season for tabletop bouquets!

Cousins

Had a nice visit with cousins from Alaska this week!They are retired now and do a great deal of traveling. Their last visit was in 2005. My brother, Gary, came down to visit for a few hours, too.



Last week we had our first dusting of snow.

Quilts and Quotes

Went to a nice quilt show in Oxford with three friends on Monday. We enjoyed seeing all the creations, and had a fine lunch, too! I really liked this quilt of golden autumn leaves someone made for their college bound son!

Yesterday had my first oil change for my Elantra. The dealership also quoted me a price of $340 to replace my shattered rear view mirror, which I accidentally broke two weeks ago on a tree in my own driveway (which I've successfully navigated around for thirty years, but crunched in my haste to provide the local convenience store with $5 of needed nickels. Don't worry, the tree is fine!). I really just wanted the glass replaced and not the whole unit, but evidently big business is out to make as much profit as possible and operates under the motto, "Replace, not fix". Of course, these days power-adjustable rear view mirrors aren't simply bolted on with three screws... to make a long story short, I decided to see if I could find a mirror at an auto store to superglue over the old one.

Imagine my delight when I passed a family-owned plate glass business as I was wending my way through town from one side of the river to the other and saw two homemade signs out front that advertised, "We repair rear view mirrors!" Saleeby and Son- what a great place! They made a pattern on cardboard, traced it onto a thick, copper-backed mirror, deftly cut it out by scribing the glass and knocking away the excess, ground down the sharp edges, applied adhesive and attached it to my car! All this, plus lively chatter in a genuine workshop environment, with every inch covered with tools, old calendars, frames, etc. for a modest $30.24- 10% of what the dealership asked for, plus I got to watch and be amazed by real craftsmanship.(They have been in business since 1923). I'm tempted to smash the passenger side mirror so I can go back again!(Just kidding).

Tonight I finished making an Autumn-inspired quilt to spruce up the bed upstairs, since my Alaskan cousins may be visiting next week. That's more fun than dusting cobwebs and changing sheets, what I really should be doing!

Sneak Peek Preview

Pat Stone, editor of GreenPrints, a gardener's quarterly filled with illustrations and stories, approved my Winter assignment, shown here. Whew! Now if you want to find out what this illustrates, you'll have to wait until the Winter issue hits the shelves!