Emptying a house

Up in MA we were busy emptying a house.  It was a lovely, lovely home, warm, inviting, calm, it felt like a home.  The owner is no longer here on this earth, and decisions had to be made on what to do with her possessions.

And we packed, and lugged, and threw out, and looked at pictures, and moved things, and had memories, and closure.

I was given a quilt the lady of the house picked out, bought the materials, and started for me.  Her daughter finished it, had it quilted, hand-sewed the binding on it, and gave it to me on Saturday.  What a special gift!  I love the colors, and better yet the association with the memories of it.

 The quilting is done with variegated colors, and it was sent out to be quilted.

The designer of the quilting part squared off the flowers to match them to the flowers in the border of the quilt.  I love the colors, they are me!

Thank you, Karen, for finishing it, and

Thank you, Dorothy, for wanting to make a quilt for me and 

choosing it!  

I love it!

M was given one of his mother's quilts - his is the first quilt she ever made, the double wedding ring.  It's just gorgeous.  I put it on the bed tonight, just to sleep under a memory.

It is signed, and matches the colors in the bedroom like it was made for it.  I cannot for a minute imagine starting quilting with the double wedding ring!  And do you see the scalloped edges?  Gorgeous!
And yes, it's signed, and pleased M tremendously to be given it.

To my Anonymous commentor:  Vielen Dank fuer die lieben Worte, ich freue mich sehr darueber!  Und viele liebe Gruesse!

Socks

Does anyone fix socks anymore?  I mean, I learned in elementary school how to.  Yeah, I know, totally little house on the prairie.  But we still had home ec, with mending, sewing, knitting, fixing things, etc.
So, anyway, to get back to the socks, no one fixes them anymore, right?  You just throw them away.

Well, it turns out our tastes got more expensive.  To go hiking in the winter, one wants to stay warm, and buying wool socks is part of staying warm.  They keep you warm, believe me!  But said socks are $10 and up a pair.  And if those socks develop a hole, you think twice about throwing them away.

So I remembered my elementary school skills and mend, see:

Not as pretty as I learned it, but it's fixed.  And no, I can't find sock darning thread in any Walmart anymore, this one is from a kit bought in Germany (probably from Tschibo), years ago.  And the only color left from the kit.  

Sometime soon I'll have to go back to Germany and see if they still make sock mending yarn (or I could google it, but that wouldn't be as much fun).

Weekend?

Back to MA, finish things up.

Next weekend?

MD and visiting with two cute, adorable little ones and their parents.

Enjoy your weekend!

Snow hiking

Yesterday we had snow - about 5 - 6 inches.  After shoveling around the cars in the front, we gave up and asked someone with a plow if he'd come by and plow us out.  Yes, he did.

Rest of the day - not doing much.

Today we had a wonderful surprise, we got a visit from Nicole, Greg, Jackson and Evan.  How cool!  I loved seeing them, loved hugging the boys, chatting, having a cup of coffee.  The were supposed to have gone to her grandfather's 95th birthday party in RI, they tried, but the snow storm yesterday morning made the trip too dangerous and it would have been too long.  

I was so glad to hear they gave up and turned around to go back home, I was worried.

The other family went, albeit the night before.  Smart decision!

We did go for a smallish hike after our visitors left.  To the Hawk Watch again, but not off the road, none of the trails were walked on, and it was too cold to blaze a trail - 27 degrees F.

We did remember to bring some bird food, and after we put it on the ground, we did have a group of birds coming for dinner.  

 Trudging though the snow, but almost there

 can never get enough of the view

 ta-da!  (my hero)

 Mansion in the distance.  So an 1980's thing.... Looks like it's all by itself, which is deceiving.

 Nut hatch?  I don't remember

I think this is a titmouse, but maybe not

(refresher course for birds, I promise to be better)

And for next time I have the red-headed woodpecker, which is gorgeous, but was shy.

Funeral

We had to go to a funeral in Massachusetts on Thursday.  M's mother passed away after she had a car accident last year, seemed to get so much better, and then she seemed to just fade away.

She was a very special lady, and I consider myself lucky to have met her.  

She was well thought of by her neighbors, family and friends.

She was an amazing quilter, and if I ever make just one quilt as nice as one of hers, I will consider myself lucky.

As funerals go, this one was like the one for any close member in my family, everyone comes, celebrates the time together, and celebrates the life of the person that left us.

Truly the bitter-sweet.

Oh, just another weekend

It seems I can't find the time or inclination to post more then once a week.  I've moved most of the things at work all by myself (except for the heavy stuff), and I'm sore.
Saturday we did nothing, just relaxed.  Yesterday a hike on the smallish side - under three miles - but on a new path, again in the Wildcat Ridge woods.  With a beaver pond with two dens along one of the paths.

And I started on my quilt!  I even have a picture:

nine blocks so far.  I still have to cut one strip, add it to the blocks, and then am ready to put the blocks together.  And then the fun will begin!  It's lap size, and hopefully I sewed everything straight enough that it will come together easily.
I love the colors in the quilt, which was one of the reasons I choose it.
Well, I was going to upload more photos, but I have to blowdry my hair, put the soup M made into containers, make the bed, put on make-up, and go to work!
Okay, I decided to make enough time, to show a little bit more about the weekend.
In the woods again:

 Beaver pond, with two dens

Roman ruins?  :-)

 New York City way in the distance, with all the zoom my little camera is able to give

 At Hawk Watch, the view is terrific, no matter the weather

 Obligatory mushrooms, and below my blooming clivia

Yeah, I got to sew a little bit!

Hikes

The last three days we hiked.  The first two, bridging the old and the new year, to the same spot.  We took different routes, and really liked the longer, more scenic, and smaller trail to the Hawk Watch.  Hawk Watch is an overlook, a huge rock, and it is very popular, on New Year's Day it was even crowded.  But lovely, and the crowds come the shorter way, from a parking lot that is nearby.
Yesterday I wanted to go to another park - I'm having a great time discovering new hikes, and new parks.  This one is still only 10 miles away from the house, and seems to be very popular, to go by the well-marked  and well worn trails.  Lots of people out as well.

We had lunch in the woods every day.  Fantastic, and something I was never capable of, I never even liked to bring sandwiches, since I always had a hard time even choosing what to bring.

 On the trail

 Tripod Rock, it really sits on three small rocks, some bizarre leftover from the ice age

 small island with beaver den

 and the trail goes up again!

my hero!

And this was taken with my cell phone, you can see New York City waaayyy in the back.

some cool fungi, taken by M.

Btw, I keep seeing that my blog is being read by people in Slovakia - hello to you, and happy new year!

I'd love to hear from you!

New Year's Day hike

We went hiking to the same spot again today.  The weather was sunny, and  I love the white trail.  The trails are only three miles from the house.  Here are the photos I didn't post yesterday:

 This is already on top of the mountain, a huge rock, where one can see for miles, even NYC in the far distance.

 warming soup for us on top of the rock, with the view before us.

 On the trail

 and in the middle of the winter, still beautiful color, at least in the moss

. 

 Below are my new winter hiking boots, over the ankle, and at the end of two days, they were rubbing my legs  :-(

 My man!

The best for last: