More of Our Christmas Decor

 These are special Christmas balls.  In Washington, Ron had a patient who was a glass blower, and had a glory hole in his garage.  We spent a Saturday there - Daddy didn't want to go, but we took Elna, and she made a ball.  Ron's and my balls are small - We didn't have the technique quite right, but it was a lot of fun and very exciting.  We took more glass balls home than we made.

 These little "Santa's Dwarfs" have traveled with us.  I first made these guys for a craft fair that we did in Powell - sold lots of them.  These have endured over the years - always looking patient.

 Ron had this paper mache Santa when we married - he seems to be very old.  He has to come out each Christmas.

 The little Santa clinging to the lamp base was a gift from Phyllis Hansen, a dear friend, who left us quite some years ago.  The carved Santa in front was made by a Mr. Nelson, a furniture re-finisher in Olympia, who retired and went to Arizona and picked up wood carving.  The Santa with the tree was painted by Julia in the days when we were doing lots of painting projects.  And, if you enlarge the picture, you can see my collection of Petersen mice in the display case.  Nativity scene on top, Ron's shelf is next, and mine on the bottom.

 Sorry this picture is so dim - These are a few of my nativity sets.  The center figures are corn husk dolls of Mary, Joseph and the baby, the set to the left that you can barely see is  one that I purchased in Jerusalem after I realized that we just couldn't afford the olive wood carved sets in Bethlehem, and the little white set minus shepherds, I bought in Olympia at a clearance sale.  The light is coming in from the windows, so the reflection on the table makes an interesting effect.

 At least you get the drift of the tree - never did get the angel at the top of the tree this year.

 I'm including this picture because the ghost hands at the far edge are mine - so much for taking pictures in front of a reflective window.  This stained glass poinsettia was made by a couple of friends in Mesa during the years we wintered there.

Part of our Christmas Traditions

 Some traditions are new - this Santa and Mrs. Santa (Do they have first names?) usually end up somewhere in our house at this time of year.  A gift from children.

 This is Julia's corner - She and Mike sent holly, and the blue Santa is one that she painted and gave to me for Christmas quite a few years ago.  He is very special

 Dorothy and Sara and their families spoiled us with a lovely centerpiece - In this world of artificial trees and greens, it's nice to actually smell an evergreen bough.

 The Wedgewood onion (another gift from Dorothy and Sara) hangs from our chandelier every Christmas - a perfect reminder of many things in our lives.

And this little Christmas tree always sits under the mirror at the entrance to the living room.  The fired clay Santa has holly in his pack - Many of the little ornaments on the tree came from our stay in Germany    More tomorrow!

Four and Twenty Birds that Are Black

The big apple tree at the corner of our lot and our neighbor's orchard is seldom free of fruit in the winter, because the apples are small and difficult to pick.  However, it does offer food to traveling birds.  This flock settled in to eat the fruit or just rest from their travels.  Couldn't tell what kind they are - it is so cold, and they are all fluffed up.  Enlarge them to see the red apples and the birds - if you are able to identify them, make a comment.  Anyway, the tree is decorated for the holiday season.  Unfortunately, the neighbor's grandson fired up a snowmobile to have fun in our lots, and scared them away.  The tree waits for the next occupants.

Weather - or Not

In the not-too distant past, when I took the pictures in the previous posting, we were heading south over Sardine Canyon between Wellsville and Brigham City.  On our return trip only a day later, this was the change in the landscape.  Of course, the top two pictures are taken from our backyard - there is snow at home, too.  Now, we are just freezing and thankful for a warm home.

Before Winter Really Settled In

All of the family blogs have been languishing the last three weeks - too much else going on.  However, I need to get going again.  Here are a couple of the pictures I took between Logan and Brigham City last month when we went south.  The mountain pass between Wellsville and Brigham City is called "Sardine" most of the time, in local usage, including the newspaper.  However, a few years back, the Logan paper ran a short feature on local mountain passes, and explained that the original Sardine Canyon road went over the mountains farther south, and that the highway we use should be called Wellsville Canyon.  "Should be" gets ignored, and everyone knows what we're talking about when we say "Sardine".

Pictures from Our Trip Down South

 Ron and Ann having a deep discussion about how to make an elk tooth ring.  Not your everyday topic.

Our visit with Dwight and Velna was delightful.  In spite of all the difficulties, a sense of humor still reigns in this household.  And, Dwight has perfected making pulled pork barbecue.  His culinary skills keep growing.  Of course, he still needs some appliances, but I'm sure that will come in time.  I loved seeing the row of marquetry above the balcony doors - a perfect place to keep them out of the sun and still enjoy them.  Dwight's wonderful photography decorates the walls of their home - so good to see them before they head to St. George for the winter.

Great Grandchildren From Afar

Mandy and John are proud parents of Kai - Looks like he is  ready to face the world.
This makes 13 great-grandchildren in all.  We have only seen a few of them in "person", but pictures keep us informed.  (It's a pity to live so far away from the action!)  They are thriving, and we feel that our heritage is continuing.  This little boy will be very loved, just like his brother and two sisters.  Congratulations!

"Tis the Last Rose of the Summer…"

In these lovely Indian Summer days after the first hard frosts, it seems like there is always a rose or two bravely blooming on.  This bunch has been especially lovely, helping us not to think about the less-than comfortable days of the cold winter months.  We'll hang onto Fall as long as we can.

From Gold to White - in a Day or So

After some very beautiful days last week, as you can see in the top picture, we woke up Sunday morning to the scene in the next four pictures.  Trying to gear us up for winter, I suppose!  Actually, most of the snow is melting - it had better, because all of the leaves aren't scooped up yet.  People do wax poetic about the wonders of the seasons, but as the years creep along, winter becomes more difficult, even though it is often beautiful.

P.S. Success at Last

Eureka - I called this morning at 8:10 to Ancestry, got a lady who knew what she was doing, and in 10 minutes everything was working!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel in computer land after all.

Ruminations on the Day

     I got up early this morning to see if I could solve a computer problem that took up an afternoon and early evening yesterday.  Since we are subscribers to Ancestry.com, we decided to update our genealogy software to a program called Family Tree Maker, which works with Ancestry.  In fact, if I cash ever get this program up and running, it is supposed to allow me to download our family trees into its pages.  However, the motto must be "no pain, no gain", because that hasn't happened yet.  It took several phone calls to various places to get the program downloaded (my new IMac doesn't have a CD/DVD slot, and I haven't yet purchased the device to attach to play those items), so I had to learn the routine with this new computer to even download and find the program when it was downloaded.  I was finally able to get the program installed, but the next barrier to using it is the little box that tells me that I am not connected to the internet, even though every other program that uses the internet on this computer functions nicely.  I even checked the internet speed, and it far exceeds the required internet speed for the program.  The upshot is that I can't even register the program and get to work.
    To backtrack a little bit, when I called Ancestry about problems, I was told that I would need to go to their source for the program, a company called Nova (I don't remember the rest of the company name So, I did that, and did talk to a person to get the first problem sorted out (the serial number  they had given me to install the program wouldn't work.  Another phone call, another serial number, and that finally worked.  So, after ages, I finally began the installation process - it took over an hour to download the program.
     Voila! There in the dock was the icon for Family Tree Maker.  I thought I was home free.  NOT!  When I clicked on the icon, the program opened, but I was informed that I was not connected to the internet.  I again called Nova, and was put on hold, being informed that "we are receiving an unusually large number of calls and your wait may be longer than 10 minutes."  I just laid the speaker phone on the desk, turned the volume down and waited …and waited…and waited.  Now I really had a problem.  The Seahawks Monday night football game was scheduled to begin at 6:00, (yes, even though we have lived here for 18 years, we are still Seahawks fans), and I had been holding for a while.  However, I now had time invested in getting an answer, so thought I'd just wait a while longer……I was about to give up, the game had begun (about 6:30), when there was no longer the irritating New Age music.  I had flat-lined, because the next voice I heard was that magical voice that says, "If you want to make a call, hang up."  I had been cut off - the phone says that I was on the line for an hour and eight minutes.  What a waste of time.  Exasperation was pretty high. And, to top it all off, the game was a dud, even though Seattle managed to squeak through and win.  Why does St. Louis have their number?  It's like BYU and Utah playing.  Fortunately, my blood pressure was back to normal by bedtime, and I did get some sleep without nightmares.
     This morning, I came downstairs early, thinking I could get an answer early, but I've exceeded office hours, so patience again reigns.  We'll see how the day goes today.  As it is, my $39 investment is just going to waste.  So much for the simplification of life with a computer.
    On with the day.

Quilt Show in Preston

 Last week I was very involved in our local quilt show, called "ThePreston Piecers' Hometown Quilt Show"  We have held the show for the last 9 years in the Larsen-Sant Libratry community room, which isn't very large.  The quilt stands were made by a member and her husband out of PVC pipe, and bean bags were sewn to help stabilize the stands after we had a near disaster when a little boy tried to play dominoes with the quilt stands on one side of the room.  (That was a few years ago.)  The quilt in the middle at the back was a gift to our retiring librarian (30 years of service), with the money for the purchase of fabric, batting, and quilting being given by the Library Staff and Board, and the actual quilt designed and sewn by members of the Preston Piecers Quilt Guild, of which I am a charter member.  We had 62 quilts in all, some king, queen and regular size, and others being wall hangings, table runners, crib quilts, and one miniature (mine).  It is a lot of work to put on a quilt show, but the people who come are very appreciative.

 This is just a portion of my favorite quilt.  It was a very long, narrow wall hanging, designed by a mother-daughter team. Lots of use was made of wool and other fabrics, special buttons (even two mice), and lovely quilting.  It was truly a masterpiece.  I can't remember if it had a name, but if it were mine, I would call it "In The Meadow".

And, I am delighted to see that red work is coming back.  This beautifully embroidered little Sunbonet Sue quilt was really eye catching, and I loved it.  It always amazes me that very ordinary people create such beautiful things.

Road Trip to Soda Springs and Eight Mile

 Heading south from Grace.  Be sure to enlarge these pictures.  Clouds make such wonderful patterns on the fields and hillsides.  We were surprised to see how green everything is.  Fall rains on winter wheat plantings.

 On the road to Eight Mile.  In places, the road isn't very wide.

Another picture of the scenery on the way south from Grace to Preston.  This has always been one of my favorite drives.  The red vine maples have about done their bit, depending on the altitude, but the yellow aspen and other deciduous trees are in full glory right now.

Hand Quilting the Quilt

In 1994, I began appliquéing a Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  Blocks accumulated sporadically over the next five years, and finally I finished them, and sewed the quilt top.  By that time, we were going to Mesa for the winters, so the unfinished quilt went with me.  I marked the quilt, basted it, and began hand-quiilting it on a stand that was rectangular, looking a little bit like a card table, with the outside being removable, so that you could make the top smooth and fairly taut to quilt on it.  I worked on the quilt a little bit each winter, hauling it back and forth from Preston to Mesa.  When we finally sold the place in 2005 or 6 (?), because we were tired of the move every six months, I was about half done, but I folded the unfinished quilt and put it on a shelf in the sewing room.  This summer, I made a list of unfinished quilting projects, and this one was fourth on the list, so down it came.  Niece Cheryl had told me about a special lap hoop made by Barnetts, so I searched on line and found the site for the sale of these wonderful hoops - mine uses a beanbag bottom, so that it shifts around comfortably on my lap.  And I manage to get one or two blocks done each week, so perhaps I'll finish it by Christmas.  Then, there will only be another 36 unfinished projects for me to complete.

A local friend and writer for the Preston paper, asked me if I was doing any hand quilting, and when I said that I was, she asked if she could come and take pictures of the process for the article she was writing for the paper about our upcoming quilt show in October.  As  you can see by the pictures, my strongest digit is my thumb, so that is often the "pusher" of the needle.  I wear a thimble on both my thumb and my middle finger, and I love these thimbles, because they are so comfortable, and have such deep holes.  Anyway, there you have it - worn and spotted hands still performing a pleasant activity.

This 'n That

Fall came with a bang - first a light frost in mid-September, then a light snow on Dorothy's birthday, the 24th.  (Snowed in Riverton, Wyoming on the day that she was born, too.)  Then we had rain, rain, clouds, rain, with a bit of sunshine dotted in between.  Yesterday was glorious, so what did we do?  Took the new iMac and its external hard drive to Logan for a technician to figure out why I keep getting a warning sign about not properly ejecting the hard drive when the computer goes to sleep.  We didn't have much else to do, so we went downtown to the book stores.  The last one we went to was the used book store, called "Books of Yesteryear".  The store used to be quite well organized, with computer inventory for the thousands and thousands of books, which they also sold on the internet.  However, a bank is taking over the building, so the book store must go.  And, the basement, which used to have many books in it, had to be emptied.  So books were carried upstairs and put in piles all over the floor in inconvenient places.  The place was a nightmare.  Every one who cherishes and buys lots of books should go to that store.  I've heard of people being cured of desiring certain foods by eating too much - this store now makes me feel like I want to give books away, not acquire new ones.
Anyway, to make a long story short, we finally went back to the Apple store, after almost 3 hours, to find out that the problem is not solved.  I think I will treat it like the little highlighted sign on our car dashboard, which has had diagnostic work several times, but still shows up.  Just a wasted 5 hours on a glorious day.  Do you say, "That's life in the computer world?"

A new computer always presents a challenge.  This one operates on Wi-fi.  After I set it up, I could receive e-mail, and had access to the internet, but couldn't send e-mails.  I was all geared up for a long and lengthy round of phone calls - first to the internet provider who tried to solve the problem for over an hour, then to the Apple technician, who tried for about an hour and a half, and then back to the internet people.  Finally, after wasting big-time hours, I reached a technician who was familiar with the Mac, and could tell me in a few concise steps where my settings were incorrect, and voila - success.  Now I can get down to the business that the computer is intended for - as soon as I get a new program for genealogy.  There is always some new learning curve to experience in this computer world.

Ingenious Apple Cider Press.

 This receptacle is above the garbage disposal, which grinds up the apples.  (It is a chicken feeder pan.)

 The new garbage disposal is very strong, and the ground-up apples go into a bucket.

 This separate frame holds the reinforced bucket (with holes).  A jack is used as the press, and reinforced hardwood circles keep the jack from buckling.

Don't ask me the rest of the process.  Ron understood it very well.  Brig and Linda have raised many apple trees on their property, and wanted to make cider.  However, the cost of an apple cider press is very expensive, so they found these items on sale, built the frames for them, and last year, froze many bottles of cider.  I guess this is an example of the saying, "Where there is a will, there is a way."

Trip Time

 Our almost-two-week trip began as we went north through Idaho towards Dillon, Montana.  For quite a few miles, we watched an interesting cross made by the jet contrails in the sky.  I couldn't tell by looking at my camera whether I was capturing the cross or not, but it was there - good reason to download pictures onto the computer and get a good look at them.

 This is the view of Lake Chelan from our balcony.  This was a beautiful spot, and we enjoyed a little quiet time before the evening's get-together of Ron's U of Wash. Dental School alumni's 50th reunion.