Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas to all and a safe and successful 2016.

We gathered today for Christmas dinner, only eight, five were out of country/state etc! I made what has become our traditional meal for the day, Crown Roast of Pork, asparagus, roasted garnet yams and Monkey bread. There were homemade cinnamon buns for starters while dinner cooked and a yam cheesecake for dessert and about enough leftovers for DH and me tomorrow night so that worked out well.

Poor Button dog found all this Christmas activity just a bit too much and decided to take a nap on top of a pile of Matthew's quilts that he had stacked up on the couch.

By about 4:30 everyone had moved onto the next activity, so after I cleaned up the kitchen I decided to work on the Allietare quilt mystery clue 4. Clue 5 is due out and I wanted to get a little more done on #3. Here is how my four clues are looking, I am using dark blue instead of black and the blue stars are my grey.

None are completed with the required number but I have made a good start. The past weeks have been very busy as most others experience this time of year and we are off to Boston Sunday so I am not sure what will be accomplished sewing wise the next couple of weeks. I often get sewing in when niece has to go into the office, it's a good way to occupy myself. After a run to the gym I hope to sew on it again tomorrow.

I am linking up with Bonnie's weekly "link up party"

Usually the final Bonnie Hunter mystery clue comes out at New Year and we will be in MA- where the weather is warmer than Arizona, LOL! I had planned to take all my winter woolies but I may not need them at all.

In The Snowy, Snowy Mountains

This past week we had two good snowstorms always a positive sign for winter, and DH skied a couple of days at Telluride Ski Center. A lot of the snow had melted due to a temporary day or two warm up,  and this is how things looked Friday morning

On Friday night we drove into Montrose to attend the Nutcracker performance and on the way encountered a deer in a rather unfortunate way! Minimal damage to the vehicle but the doe was not so blessed, scared me, it was our first such and hopefully only experience.
Snow began drifting in as we returned up the mountain and by morning we woke to a few inches accumulation.

Temperature stayed down all day as the snow continued,

so I decided we should brew up a pot of gluwein!

 One pot led to another and we stayed quite cozy!

 The third clue had been released the day before for Bonnie's Allietare Mystery and it was prime sewing time. I had about half the clue done then ran out of one of the fabrics, just didn't bring enough with me.

 I am enjoying my little travel machine the Bernina 240, nice and compact and lighter weight than the larger Pfaff.
The snow continued overnight and there was probably 6-7" this morning, I took this series of photos early as the sun was coming through, makes some really interesting pictures.

  The snow plough had already been around by the time we were packed up and ready to leave at about 9:30 am, and the temperature was still in the teens.

 Just pulling away from the house.

 It was slow going the first couple of ours until we came down closer to Dolores when the roads were dry.

A fairytale winter wonderland, beautiful and treacherous for the uninitiated or overconfident, none of which DH is having grown up in Boston area. I am so glad, most Aussies have little exposure to these conditions and I do not like to drive on snowy roads!

Snow Surprise!

Last evening we were down in the town of Ridgway for the "Noel Night" hanging out with the locals for a couple of hours at Colorado Boy Brewery. This is their "snowman" rather unique right?

When we came back up the mountain last night there was no indication of more snow but this morning we awoke to about three more inches and still coming down gently!

 Here is where I sit to sew, terrible view right, LOL?!

Currently I am working on this little quilt, a nice size for a baby and gender neutral,  nice to have one on hand. It's a kit I purchased online from fabriccafe.com.

 This is a cute flannel quilt perfect for a boy baby I think, very quick and easy, as you can see I am staying occupied up here on the mountain.

  Tomorrow I will go stay with my friend Gale on the farm for a few days, DH can drop me there after church in Montrose.  I think he may go skiing in Telluride Monday, there is no skiing for me especially since I just found out I have to get double knee joint replacement!