Making Merry

Found these cute glasses at Sam's. They come as a set. I am thinking they will be cute with not just drinks but dips or soaps or M&M's in them.

We waited until sweet daughter came home from college to trim our tree. I made a big pot of potato soup and set out some treats. It was so fun to share time as a family, I cherish our time together now as I know as the kids get older we may not have as many chances to be together like this, just the 4 of us.

Or should I say the 6 of us, can't forget Wrigley and Kodi!

I finally mastered the spritz cookie press this year! I made 10 dozen cookies, 7 of which I brought to an annual cookie exchange. It is always a pain to make that many cookies but so nice to have a wide variety of goodies to set out during the holidays.

One of my traditions is to make chocolate covered cherries (dear hubby's favorite) each year. I make them the weekend the boys go deer hunting and let them set up for a couple weeks before serving. You will see those on the top dish. This is one of my favorite serving pieces. My dad gave this 3 tier spode server to me one year for Christmas. I always think of him when I get it out and put cookies on it.

I made peppermint bark this year, first time I have tried it. Found out that you really need to follow the recipe and not double it. I thought thicker would be better, wrong, it needs to be thin to stick together when you break it up. Some of the peices broke apart, in this picture there is a piece that held together and it was yummy. Ok, now off to the treadmill!!!!

Sweater surgery and other crafy things

I love the way this beanie turned out for dear Son, it is based on a 1940's pattern for a watch cap. I had to knit it over about 3 times though because I was having a hard time getting the correct length. He likes it and it will keep him warm.

I did a gutsy thing with my heather hoodie sweater. You may remember this from last year about this time. Well, I never liked the hood on it. The hood was over sized and made the whole sweater hang wrong. So I took a scissors and cut it, then unraveled it and re-knitted it to have a collar instead of a hood. I had to do this when I was with my sweet Iowa City friend as I needed moral support for this sweater surgery. Now I need to block the collar and sew on the buttons. Need to do this before Christmas as I think it is the perfect Christmas sweater.

Here is some of my handspun. It is a color way called Haunted Vineyard. It is out of polworth sheep. I love it, soft and snugly. I got 237 yards out of 4 ounces, it is worsted weight. What does this all mean to you non-knitters? It means I have enough yarn for a hat or mitts but not much more than that. I think it will be a hat.

I am trying to make homemade vanilla this year. Basically you take vodka and vanilla beans, put them together and let it sit for a month or too. More on the results in a future blog post.

Birth month

I celebrated a big "0" birthday this year. So rather than celebrate for just one day I celebrated for pretty much a whole month. I went to Des Moines to see the Zach Brown Band concert with some girlfriends that I have been friends with since I was a child.

It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed shopping in East Village, followed by a nice dinner at Star bar and then the concert. We had pit tickets and although the view was great the next time I go to a concert I will make sure I have a place to sit.

The following weekend I went to DSM again with my husband and kids and enjoyed a great time watching Wicked. We joined my sister and brother-in-law and brother and SIL for a yummy dinner out at The Latin King restaurant. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so don't have any pictures from that fun day.

Finally dear hubby, son and daughter surprised me with a cake and candles. What a month, I think that should hold me for another 10 years until the next big "0".

Parent weekend with Boo

Dear Hubby and I went to parent weekend for Sweet College girl last weekend. We enjoyed a great lunch at Victories and then we went to the football game. It was cold and they were loosing so we didn't last the entire game.

We hit the dorms, played some pool and sweet college girl showed us around. We enjoyed a fun Chinese food dinner with several of her friends before we headed back to our hotel.

The hotel had peacocks in the lobby.

Sunday morning we checked out the volga recreation area which is state run. We were so pleased and impressed with the area. It was clean, mowed throughout, restrooms were modern/clean and the roads were brand new.

I will never tire of the hills of Eastern Iowa. When Dear Hubby first showed me this part of Iowa I would not believe my eyes. The bluffs, cliffs and wildlife areas are amazing. The Iowa DNR should be proud of this area. Why can't all of Iowa parks be this nice?

Wrigley missed us so much, I actually almost felt guilty about leaving him. Look at this face, do you blame me!?!

birthday fun

Dear Son turned 17 last week. Wow, my baby is 17!!!

The only thing he wanted was a silly video game that happened to come out on his birthday. We ordered it early and had it delivered on time. His favorite present and it comes with string attached such as great grades and a clean room.

He asked for home made spaghetti and meatballs with cheery cheese cake for dessert. I used Ina Garten's recipe for the cheesecake and it turned out so good!

on and off my needles

Sweet College girl asked for knitted cable fingerless mitts before she went away to college. These lovely Alpaca fingerless mitts took me until the first of November to complete. I love them, I love the yarn and I heard a squeal twice from sweet college girl. Once when she received them and once when she told her friends about them. Sooooo, I think the 2 month's time knitting them was worth it.

I completed this short sleeved top. So here is what I think, no matter what, horizontal stripes are "NO"!

Autumn in Iowa - my favorite season of the year

My favorite time to live in Iowa is the Fall. I just love every day of Fall. I love the sunny warm days, the sunny cool days and yes, even the rainy cold days. What follows Fall is my least favorite season, starting about January 2nd.

This year I have new fun, the fun of driving through Iowa to pick up sweet College girl during her breaks. There are 4 quilt shops that are on the beaten path to Fayette and probably 7 off the beaten path! I just love small town shops and especially enjoy little finds to decorate my house.

There is a cute garden store/ nursery / gifts/ foods place just north of Oelwin. I love stopping there!

My favorite stop of all is in Independence. It is the Little Red Schoolhouse, which also has another store attached. Just cute nicknack's, great coffee, candles and jewelery. If you are ever within 100 miles of Independence you NEED to visit, trust me on this!

Another favorite of driving around NE Iowa is the barn quilts.

and barn flags. Really makes me want to figure out how to move out of the city, raise chickens and grow a big garden. Can I do it? Not sure because I love the mall and delivery pizza.

Fayette is a cool little town, so small a college kid can't get in trouble, right?

I really enjoy sweet college girls visits. We always have fun shopping, getting hair done and catching up on life. Well, at least as much as she wants to share!

Now that is scary, I don't even need make up!

We watched a lot of football this season. Dear Son played in every Varsity and every JV game. Guess he got his money's worth! Only one small injury. Thank God for watching over him! I worry the entire game about him getting hurt.

Homecoming brought a lot of fun. The cheerleaders decorated our door, the team was in the parade and the game was kicked off with fireworks! I apologize about the lack of quality in night pictures with my camera.

number 81!

The school has recognized the firefighters since 2001. I remember that game as I had just gotten back from a wild trip home from Boston on 9-11.

Fireworks were blasting as the team ran on to the field into a banner of balloons.
The cheerleaders and team managers are Prairie are awesome!

Dear son before the homecoming dance. Look how tall he is!

my front porch, I sewed the scarecrow out of the panel a long time ago.

maple in the backyard is a show off!

Hydrangea's win the show off contest!

Finishing off the weekend with Butternut Squash soup, thanks niece Laura for the recipe

Thank you for letting me share this blog with you!