from my window

We are back at it after a wonderfully busy holiday week. As I sit at my window, catching up on work and outlining a few new projects, the yard is covered with fallen leaves; an unexpected gift from a short wind storm earlier in the week. The scene is peaceful and sublime, a sharp contrast to last weeks activities. There’s a roaring fire, pushing back winter’s chill and Dakota is sacked out on his bed. Not much company for a working girl, but at least he’s quiet. Days like this give me a chance to reflect on all that we are able to do and all I have to be thankful for – sometimes even more so than I acknowledge in the moment.

I spent a few days working on my latest quilt. It’s a small farm scene (no surprise), about 40”x40”, a practice quilt for new skills like piecing triangles, blanket stitching and hand-quilting. Much to my surprise the triangles actually came out with all points meeting. My neighbor laughed at my proud accomplishment when I told her. She’s a seasoned quilter, but can still enjoy the enthusiasm of a beginner.

Her husband delivered the piece of plywood I asked him to cut for my next project. But, that’s a surprise so I’ll write about it later. I’m very handy with power tools, but this particular project need some precision sawing that my hand-held circular saw and my shaky hand wouldn’t be able to pull off.

Thank God for good, generous, handy neighbors.

Normally I steer clear of holiday weekend shopping,but we braved the mall on Saturday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The crowd was manageable. I guess all the 4:00am shoppers had gone home for a nap. We didn't buy anything, just enjoyed the decorations and sighed with contentment that we were long past this materialistic ritual.

On Wednesday I found a vintage trailer that I was interested in buying, so Sunday I drove north to check it out. No luck though, the owner wasn’t interested in negotiating and I thought the price was high for all the work that needed to be done. No loss though, the drive was beautiful and clear, and it was nice to get out-of-town, if only for a few hours. As for the trailer thing – I’ll keep looking.

Well – dinner’s ready, so I’ve gotta run. Hope all of you had a happy and thankful holiday!