Merry Christmas

Wishing you the best of everything this Day has to offer - Rejoice that He is born, and hold all your family close.

Cranberry Hootycreeks

I tried these for the first time about 5 years ago, and now my kids refuse to come for Christmas unless I have several batches ready. Insanely good!!!
(and the litle kids giggle when they say the name)

Cranberry Hootycreeks
makes 32 cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS:1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Add the ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. 3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

The Un-Christmas Quilt

Have you ever made a quilt you dislike for someone you DO like? Well, here's my current one:

I've been calling it the Anti-Christmas quilt - look a bit closer:

Not your typical Christamas fabric, eh?
My DS#2, (who lives a lifestyle I can't understand) asked me last week - "I don't supposed you're giving me a quilt for Christmas? You haven't made me a quilt since I was 2"
Dang.
Guess I better give the gift card to someone else and get my fanny in gear!!
So I pulled out this dreadful tattoo fabric I found last year and whipped up the magic 9-patch. Call it a combination of no time, and knowing what kind of trials lay ahead for this quilt, it had to be quick and easy. But not look like it. I only had 2 yards of the tattoo stuff, and ran short on the borders, can you tell?? LOL That's how funny creative ideas are born. I pieced out the borders and made the body kind of cross into the border and viola! All I have left is 1 strip 2 x 42 and four trims of 1x6. GONE!!!! Whoo-oo! Now, I have to whip this puppy back into the machine and quilt the daylights out of it and wrap it.
Later on I'll find my recipe for the Best Cookie in the free world, and post that for you - "Cranberry Hootycreeks"

4 Season Doll Quilt Swap

I've been thinking about my 4 Season swap quilt for awhile, trying to trust that an idea would come up and hit me upside the head. And so it did yesterday - right in the middle of a strategy meeting with our medical director! So last night, quick like a bunny, I roughed out my plan.

I want to put appliques of winter things in the setting squares, like the skates or snowmen or big snowflakes, something like that. These fabrics sure say 'WINTER' to me - can you see the sleet in the lighter fabric? Pretty - very icy.

Now I have another idea floating around -- I might just knock that one out today because I am home sick. That's right, Christmas, work trauma, deadlines, etc etc so probably being sick will make it all better??? Aaarrgghhh!!!!

Peter Fonda selling his chopper?

You must see this!!!! SOOO funny!

Aging boomers Unite!

Tea Parties and Surprises!

Our mini group has an annual Christmas Tea Party, featuring delicate little sandwiches and finger-nibblers and of course tea! Hats are required, as are lifted pinkies, and there's always a great Show and Tell. Last night was The Night and as usual was a delightful evening.

Chari and Evette at table, the most willing to have their pictures taken. Actually I did take more pictures but I'm still on the lower end of my new toys learning curve, and I'm very unhappy so far with my results.

Judy is making this beauty for the daughter of a friend; pictures on every block of stages of her life thru high school graduation. Very striking! The she showed us her latest in her adventures in machine quilting, awesome! You should be able to click and see these amazing feathered hearts she did FREEHAND - no marking beyond just the heart outline.

Finally, I'm quite sure these are the first daffodils in the Western Hemisphere - can you believe this??? They're 2 inches tall now - amazing. Poor confused little things!

Finally, on the work front, in the midst of our moving nightmare, 2 of the patient care techs have quit. While I won't be sad to see this particular pair go, it makes it incredibly difficult for the rest of us, and will upset the patients even more. Pretty lousy behavior. I took our social worker and dietitian over to our new clinic yesterday, and it takes all of 35 minutes to drive; they were happily surprised, being prepared to drive an hour, so their outlook on the move has brightened considerably which sure helps mine! It's nice to have folks on board when there's something yucky but unavoidable to do. Just make the best and GET ON WITH IT!!!

Let the Christmas Crazies Begin!

Well, 2 of the Seasons' parties are behind me now, **big sigh**. The one I have always looked forward to and always had the most fun at was last night, my DH's old squad party. If you ever get an invite to a cops party, GO. If you don't get an invite, find a cop and BEG. I'm tellin' ya, they party the hardest and have the most fun. The gift exchange begins with gag/white elephant or "good stuff", nothing expensive. Each gift can be stolen by someone else 2 times, then it's dead, and that leads to the most raucous time you can imagine. Some of the gifts are a little, ummmm, questionable, and that makes for even more hilarity. My face always hurts for a week from laughing, and we're both hoarse. (And just a little bit hungover, but it's deserved) My lip is a bit draggy today tho, because my handmade gift of placemats and coasters was tossed aside by the newest guy, a kid that looks way too young to be a cop. I hope he re-gifts it to someone who will like it. Oh, pictures? Ummmmm...sorry, didn't take any. Of the placemat/coaster set, nor of the party - cameras are not allowed at the parties. Can you say EVIDENCE? LOL -- there'll be none of that. I have been playing with my new toy tho. This is my first "overlay" image - layering one image on top of another:

Fun, but as my DS pointed out, this one is just a little creepy. He suggests that the younger kids might be a bit freaked out by Santa staring out from the depths of the tree, especially this Santa which is a bit odd anyway. LOL -- hey, it's a new trick! OK, I've also taken 99 pictures of Cuervo, who put up with 2 of them then curled up and went into active "IGNORE" mode. He's not asleep -- by a long shot.

He's telling me - "Not one more, Sista - you got enough. Yaaawwwnnn -- I can't hear you, can't see you and I can't open my eyes, See? I'm sleeping - GO AWAY!" Can you tell he's squeezing his eyes shut like a little kid faking sleep? LMAO!!!

Moving Day at work is now just 3 weeks away, and the stress is building. I'm in for some 7-day weeks, and lots of 15 hour days. Our patients are scared, angry and upset and no one can blame them; all we can do is be supportive and positive. I arranged to have a barbershop quartet come in to sing for the patients, and yesterday got a call from the manager of the group telling me there would be no charge! NONE. Can you say, "Spirit of Christmas?" **VVBS**

Early Christmas!

Omigoshomigoshomigosh!!!
Hunny and I went out to dinner tonight and he presented me with my Christmas present! I protested, he insisted, so I opened it up. Omigoshomigoshomigosh!!!


See, once upon a time in a land far far away, I was a "real" photographer, meaning I made money with it. I had my own darkroom and slew of cameras and lenses and lights that I packed around in a huge impressive aluminum case and even had an assistant. My favorite camera was a 2-ton Nikon professional model with NOTHING automatic. In the intervening years, the photography fell by the wayside, the wonderful old Nikon suffered an grievous accident and I never had it repaired. For the last few years I've had a little "PhD" digital camera that takes adequate snapshots but allows for zero control or interesting effects or any of the other neat tricks photobugs love. (For those who don't know, PhD stands for "Push here, Dummy", or a very simple to use camera) So as these things inevitably will, the lust for creative control came creeping back and I've been drooling over friends cameras, researching online and picking the brains of people who know things. Hunny is a lifelong cop, investigative by nature and training, and nothing gets past him so he's been asking me some leading questions. Hey, I raised 3 kids and not much gets past me either! I suspected he was going somewhere with his line of questioning!! Sure enough, he did it. And he did it right. Have I mentioned I'm crazy about that guy? We make each other nutz and we're polar opposites, but he's my guy and knows all the soft spots and he loves to tickle me. Oh yea - he says he thought about getting me an HQ16 Handiquilter, but won't do it because he believes the only way to go is the high road, and that means a Gammill with a Statler Stitcher. Honest -- he said that. But realistically that's not a perfect plan for me now. Maybe later, hee hee. Meantime, I have a manual to read and some serious FUN to be had!! I only have 20 days to master this before our 5 kids, 3 kids-in-law, 2 significant others and 10 grands come all at once to party at Gram and Gramps house and get their portraits done by Grams!!! Yeaaa!!!