DESIGN WALL MONDAY

First off Texas weather.  What a weekend! Galen did get the outdoor plants covered and protected.  A few came inside too.  Christmas Cactus, my small Pointsettia and my oregano. Temperatures did get into the teens at night and stayed below freezing during the day.

We dodged a bullet however.  Had close to 2 inches of rain before the temperatures dropped with more forecasted.  Shades of the 2023 ice storm.  We were lucky. It came down as sleet so not much coated our Live Oaks leaves.  We didn’t lose branches and power stayed on. As of this morning, the yard is still white.  Most should melt today.  Considering this is the most moisture since last October we are gratefull. We did have the heater in the birdbath.  The birds were happy about that as well as having full feeders. I think Lady was happy wearing her sweater!

A few of our happy but cold birds at the feeders. A very cold Cardinal, White-throated sparrow. House Finch and  a Blue jay.  We had orange crown warblers and yellow rump warblers in as well.  The feeders were active.

I had been wanting to make  Tom Yum soup.  A spicy Thai soup we enjoy.  That was Saturday’s dinner. And yes, still using my dishes I bought when we lived in Taiwan. They are a lot heavier than the ones you see in a lot of Chinese restaurants here! Quite a few of us brought these back with us!

I dropped off Valentine bandanas to Lady’s groomer and mailed a box to Lisa,  the groomer in California.  Am working on a few more for them- xs size.

In between those I managed to get the Mosaic rows together. Now to get the borders sewn on.

Yesterday morning I walked into the room with the design wall.  The wall is against a window and the sun was shining. The picture below- no artificial light; just the light shining through the window.

And the never ending job– still sorting through things.  Found the container with my Two Rivers quilt pieces.  A pattern by Pat Speth.  I plan on tackling it next.  Need to sort through; some parts are made. Mostly the half square triangles.  Some other pieces cut.  Will check and see just what is needed so I can get back to work on it!

We will keep plants covered through next weekend.  After that it looks to be mostly above freezing at night. We will keep a watch on the forecast.   Today we will stay home.  Roads are still slick and we don’t need to be anywhere.  Actually a lot of places are closed today. Will stay put, there’s plenty to do here.

Hope everyone is safe and warm.  This was a monster of a storm. A lot of friends are digging out after getting  snow over the weekend.  Happy we dont have to do that anymore!

Till next time.

 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

2 weeks have passed since my last post.  And yes, there has been some sewing! Our temperatures have been on a roller coaster ride lately and that will continue.   But so far our winter has been warmer.  I have never had my Thai Basil still growing in January.  Parsley sometimes but never the basil! Basil. And parsley The cages don’t do much in keeping out the leaves from the Live Oaks but the squirrels can’t  dig up the plants! Our feeders in the backyard have been very active this past week; blue jays,  titmice, chicadees, Cardinals and lots of lesser goldfinches.  Yesterday 3 different woodpeckers. Yellowbelly. Ladderback and the Downy.  First time a Ladderback has been in for awhile.  With the weather forecast for the next 10 days we will keep the feeders full and the heater will go into the fountain birdbath for the below freezing temperatures that are forecast! Made Zuppa Toscana one night. The left overs later in the week were good too! And yes I did sew! Dropped off bandanas to the local groomer last week. Lately I have been getting the ones made for Valentines Day. These are small and extra small.  Have the medium size cut hut not sewn yet. And my Mosiac quilt top; the first 4 rows are together. Top half of quilt is done! Will get back to this as soon as the other bandanas are finished. Small steps on the quilting front but progress! A little progress has been made on  sorting as well.  Will be meeting my friend Osie to give her the Mosaic top to quilt the beginning of Feb.  I plan to hand over things for Linus then as well. It’s a start. Have a good last few weeks of January.  I know some of you have been dealing with wintry for several months. So I won’t complain about our little bit of it. Being from PA, having lived outside of Chicago and also St. Paul, MN. I think that was enough of winter for both of us !!!

 

Design Wall Monday!

 poodlegirls  cooking, Daily Happenings, General Sewing, Life at home, Nature, Our Girls, Quilting, Uncategorized  January 5, 2026 1 Minute

I actually do have something on my wall!  I finished putting the blocks up Jordan Fabrics free pattern Mirage.  It’s done with a jelly roll and background fabric.  Now to get it sewn together.  I will be checking every row!  Would much prefer ripping a block or 2 as I sew than seeing a mistake when the top is together! And yes will double check it one more time before I begin!

We brought in the New Year quietly.  Steak dinner.  Lady went to her safe room as soon as someone started setting off the fireworks.   That was about 7:30.  She came out shortly before 7 AM New Year’s Day.

Our meal on New Year’s day was  pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes.  We may be living in the South now but stick with our PA tradition for our good luck meal.

We have slowly started taking down our Christmas decorations.  The lighted animals that we had at our both entry doors were the first to go. Tree skirts and stuffed animals were next.  This week the tree and the outside net lights.  Always sad when this happens but it’s time!

Our weather has been unreasonably warm.  70’s with an 80 or 2 thrown in for good measure!

We did go to Lake Granger yesterday.  A few more birds sat for pictures! The first picture is a Crested Cacara, also called a Nexican Eagle.  When we moved here 27 years ago we rarely saw them this far North!  Now they are a common sight.  The second bird is an American Pipit.  Must have been 30 in the one field.

The Burrowing Owl did make an appearance. Sat long enough so Galen could get a few pictures. Love these little guys!

 

Tilly and Tiki never really cared for carrots.  Lady expects them!  She finally let me get a picture or two with a carrot when holding it in her mouth.  She is comical!

That pretty much does it for us. Enjoy the week  and whatever it holds for you.  Me- purging sewing supplies and hopefully some sewing as well!

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As We Close Out 2025!

 poodlegirls  cooking, Daily Happenings, Life at home, Nature, Uncategorized  December 29, 2025 1 Minute

Only a few more days left this year!  Seems like it just started.  Did I get everything done I had hoped too?  No, but then that is a given.   I don’t bother with making lists of what I want to get accomplished.   Lists rarely work for me unless they are short term ones!

December is always a hard month for me having lost both on my parents.  Mom 23 years ago and Dad 10 years ago. Galen is good at getting our tree up and decorated.  We only put out a few other things.  Christmas table runners and table cloths.  The house looked like Christmas.

My parents are buried at Indiantowngap National Cemetery.   We donate to Wreaths of America. Have one placed on their headstone plus donate for several others.  This is the 1st year they didn’t have enough wreaths! That is sad. Did get a picture of Dad’s.

We had friends over for Christmas dinner and then again the Saturday after Christmas. Didn’t want to waste a halfway cleaned up house!  They wouldn’t have cared if it hadn’t been tho!

We did have a nice surprise on Christmas day.  Got a message from a neighbor. A flock of White Pelicans landed on our small lake!  They were still there when Galen went down with his camera. He said it was a flock of 16 or more.

No sewing this month. Not even dog bandanas!  Did manage a little more purging of fabrics, but still more to do.  My design wall hasn’t changed.  Maybe January!!!!!

There are several New Year day quilt alongs. Just maybe I will participate.  Dinner is planned for that day- pork, saurkraurt and mashed potatoes!  Hard leaving the PA Dutch roots behind!

Hope everyone has a safe ending to 2025 and a very Happy New Year. 

 

First Week of December

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving Day.  Galen worked on some outdoor decorations.

Front entry

Thinking back to past Thanksgivings; in 1988 we spent Thanksgiving week getting ready to move to Taiwan.  Galen accepted a transfer with 3M.  Supposed to be 3 to 5 years.  In 1998 we were packing out of our home in Taiwan to move to Texas!  Yes, our 3 to 5 turned into 10!  1n 1993 he took a regional job with 3M.  A lot more traveling involved. 3 of our 4 transfers were in November! Now our Thanksgivings are a lot less frantic!!

Galen’s camera is now working again.  Somehow when he had taken the camera in earlier the settings got changed. We went out one morning to Granger.

Love the lake

Osprey

We are finally getting cooler temperatures; much cooler!  Had to turn on the heat and put the heavier quilt on our bed.  Lady’s coat is available if needed.  Sunny and cool is good, but cloudy and cool- the house feels damp. We even have a few nights forecasted in the 30’s but not freezing. The birds are quite active at our feeders. Especially the finches.  The Downey Woodpecker is in every day too.

With the cooler weather now it’s good soup weather.  Some of my canned ham and bean soup last night.  I think sometime this week we will have some PA. Dutch chicken pot pie.  Haven’t made it for a little while.  Good comfort meal!

Still making bandanas.  A few more Mickey Mouse Christmas ones for Lady’s groomer and started on some for after the holidays,

102 made in November!

With all the bandanas being made I have a very full container of cut off corners.  I need to sort through, organize by the 3 sizes and start thinking of a project! Have a few ideas, see what I end up making.

Cut offs from bandanas.

We hope to get our tree up this week.  That means I need to finish getting my sewing stuff out of the living room.  It’s been a place to sort, toss and organize!

That about takes care of things here.  Busy getting ready for Christmas and getting things done inside and outside the house!

 poodlegirls  cooking, Daily Happenings, General Sewing, Life at home, Nature, Our Girls, Travels, Uncategorized Leave a comment  December 1, 2025 1 Minute