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Winter Lights at the North Carolina Arboretum was stunning. So many lights, incorporated so well into the arboretum features.
Somehow, two of the ones I loved were on the quiet side. The tree was inside one of the buildings and had twigs painted white and added to the evergreen. Of course, I might have liked it because Sarah cut and painted the twigs but I think I really liked it because of the contrast of the white with the dark green.
It's been a wonderfully warm day here. I did get the yard mowed and the vines cut off the iron railings. And then I couldn't resist winding the lights around the railing because there just CAN'T be another day like this for outside decorating.
Happily, my shopping today was simple. The fabric store for some bits of fabric for alterations I'm doing. The local ice cream shop just because it's the day before Thanksgiving and it's such a happy place, the kind of place out-of-town people just have to visit when they are home for a holiday. There were extra donuts and Thanksgiving cakes. Bags with orders waiting to be picked up. Cars pulling up at the drive-through for ice cream. Just happiness.
This year I was lucky enough to go back to Asheville's Grove Park Inn and their gingerbread house competition. Here are a couple of the houses for you, Joanne, I know you love them.
This one was the grand champion, displayed behind glass. The shadow is probably me taking the picture.
In the lobby was a faux gingerbread house, where they sold this Oskar Blues Ol' Snap Fireplace Ale. Among other things. Very luscious small pour, with alcohol content around 9%.
We found unoccupied rocking chairs around one of the huge fireplaces to sit and enjoy it. Lovely.
It was such a nice day, weather-wise, holding off turning colder until the next day. Wonderful afternoon. Thanks, Sarah and Winnie.
Another Christmas gift, a Tall Christmas Tree (76"), paper pieced from A Very Special Collection. It took me a very long time, although a friend just finished one in a few days. Did I mention that she's my hero? This is my second tree, the tissue paper patterns come two to a package. The patterns come in several sizes, with this one being the biggest, of course.
What a rainy afternoon. I think I missed my window for the last lawn mowing on Monday, when the weather was still reasonably warm and dry. I'll still mow, of course, but it may be pretty cold when I do. Before that happens, I need to go to the gas station for about a quarter of a gallon to gas to finish up the season.
Next week I will trim back the clematis and other vines on my railings so I can put up the Christmas lights. It's hard to believe that they haven't frozen yet.
'Tis the season for not talking a lot about where this little quilt is going. The pattern is a disappearing nine-patch, although it's hard to tell that. The fabric is Moda, but I can't remember the name of the design collection.
A week from today, I plan to be doing a lot of decorating and wrapping. I had a closet that badly needed to be cleaned out and now it's a wonderful place for storing gifts.
I was so dismayed at myself for holding on to various things in that closet. Like the two pillows that came with my sofa. I've had that sofa for 12 years now, never liked those pillows, never used them. I don't even like the sofa any more and keep a slip cover on it. Why did I think I needed to keep those pillows? It's especially discouraging to have things like that which actually came in the moving truck when I moved here.
Because it's the season, I'm making a double batch of cookies tonight. Some for now, some to freeze for Christmas. When I make the Thanksgiving applesauce, the same thing will happen. Did I mention that I love my freezer?
I'll be doing a quilt as you go class later, and this is the sample. It's from Quilt-As-You-Go by Gudrun Erla. The picture in the book was pale pinks and greens, but I like dots.
Aaron and I went to see The Peanuts Movie on Saturday and we both enjoyed it. It was very nicely done, blending some of the original comics and themes with 3D characters. Our favorite line was there: I am NOT your Sweet Babboo.
Last time we went to this theater I didn't have any quarters for video games and I promised him "next time." I don't think he remembered, but I did.
My daughter Stephanie and I had an afternoon beer sampler (maybe 2) and good bar food at 50W in Newtown, Ohio. And all the beers were great. A new local favorite.
It's a day to be happy. Aaron had his annual eye exam at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center and the news was good. So grateful for the doctors at Children's and for preschool vision screening. For his parents who patched him as much as he could tolerate, made sure he wore his glasses every day, and tracked down those glasses at least three times a week in unlikely places. At age eight, his vision with glasses is 20/20 in each eye, and it could have been so different.
His dream is to be a baseball player, and if that happens I hope he is an advocate for early screening. If that doesn't happen, I still hope he is an advocate.
The turkey quilt. An Anita Goodesign in the hoop project. Sort of like the paint by number that I enjoyed as a kid.
As I recall, it took quite awhile to do all those hoopings, but it was so fun to do.
I got up early this morning and went out to vote for our new governor and a few other selections. There were four poll workers, no voters except for me. I was voter # 20.
Yesterday was an all-day annual work event at a nice hotel. I had such a good time and the day flew by. I enjoy seeing the employees from the other stores and hearing about new techniques and notions. Today, I'll be in the store, and I'm looking forward to that too.
At the end of the day, my bosses took us out to eat and it was lovely to have a glass of wine and just sit still and enjoy a meal.
