Things wot I Made Then Ate: coffee latte w/Kahlúa & banana

Things wot I Made Then Ate: coffee latte w/Kahlúa & banana

Sounds yummy. Good drink for New Years Eve.

Fall Inspired Quilt Swap

Finished:

Where in the world...

It's interesting and kind of exciting to check your sitemeter and see who's been visiting your blog. I've had hihts from Turkey, Jerusalem, Gloucestershire - all by mistake, probably but still... one can hope someone will be interested enough to comment and stick around. It's interesting how some people just will not comment on blogs, not just this one but any. I am a regular reader of Althouse and occasionally leave a comment - a lame comment but still - and she has probably hundreds of thousands of readers but it's the same 10-20 commenters all the time. It's a unique group, a very erudite, literate, articulate group and I'm either brave or sublimely stupid to leave comments but I can't resist. I'm generally ignored which is fine, but I get why blogs are so popular. It provides people with an outlet for their frustrations, and is a place where you can be heard, even if you are ignored.

This blogging is a strange phenomina. Wonder where it will be an 10 years?

In case you wondered...

Here's a closeup of the quilt I'm making for the fall inspired quilt challenge, which I'm not linking, because i'm too lazy and I already linked in a previous post. Link is on the side bar, too, so I don't need to link here. I hope this thing turns our all reight. I have this nightmare that the person who gets it will hate it and blog about hating it, linking to my blog and i will be inundated with cruel and humiliating comments. I should stick to the traditional. I am not now and never have been an artiste.

See that pile of blue/white scraps at the bottom (once again, too laszy to readjust the photos). Really not into bloggin just at the moment.

Well, here is an example of what I've been doing with them. Making small quilts. About four so far.

Here's one or two:

Here's the apron I talked about in a previous post. I love the fabric but my pattern drafting skills need honing:

Last but not least, fabulous challah french toast casserole. Yum. I could eat this all day. In fact I usually do eat it all day when I make it. It's delicious with syrup and butter, just like the French toast you fix in a frying pan. You can put the butter you saved not frying it on top and then smother with syrup or preserves. About the most wonderful breakfast-comfort food I can think of.

This morning our director provided breakfast for the admin staff and a few other scraggly folks (like me) who don't fit in anywhere else. The spread included bagels, muffins, pastry, donuts, fruit. I managed to limit myself to a bagel and one of those entirely empty caloried small white sugar donuts. Oh how I lurve donuts and coffee. I drank three cups and under the influence of mammoth quantities of caffeine, regaled the group with stories of my depraved relatives who reside in Miami, need I say more?

Oh: I did go to the gym yesterday (40 minutes on the treadmill/bike, weights) and tonight (40 minutes on the treadmill, a few weights).

I will go to the gym today. I will go to the gym today. I will go to the gym....

Debra Spincic

If I'm the first person to nominate Debra for this award, I'll be amazed.

I don't know anyone who works harder at her art than Debra, or anyone who is more creative.

Not only that, she is the most amazingly generous and thoughtful person I've ever known.

Debra leads the way and inspires the rest of us to contribute to causes such as Quilts of Valor for injured servicemen, quilts for a local homeless women's shelter, Homeless Teen Quilts, quilts for the Teen Pregnancy Program at a local high school (you can click the link on the sidebar to see the posts).

I wanted to nominate her for this blog award for her leadership and inspiration to others, as well as her generosity with her time and resouces. When she's done with one service project, she goes looking for another one.

And on top of all that, she's incredibly optimistic, forward thinking, and supportive of other quilters' efforts at not just quilting but.. blogging.

(Debra might be my last and only blog reader. I hope to meet her in person at the Houston Quilt Festival one of these days and thank her for sticking with me.)

Thanks, Debra, for helping to bring out the best in us quilters!

Yet Another Tempting Quilt Project

Quilting ADD strikes again. This utterly charming quilt project found me and is calling my name. On the other hand, all the UFOs upstairs in the Quilting Closet are saying "No! Stop!"

Wonder who will win this battle.

DH and I are up early and trekking over to ST. Joseph's to get our second third TB test read - long story about #2 - so that we can volunteer on Dec. 25th with the B'Nai Brith Pinch Hitters. We are assigned to St. Joseph's Hospital from 7 to 11 am on Christmas Day. Getting the TB tests has taken longer that then number of hours we will be volunteering. But it is worth it and the hospital staff are extremely grateful. Plus, we get a T-shirt.

Stressful times at work what with yet more budget cuts and we are barely covering bases as it is. Will have to get very creative this year.

Sometime this week I will post pictures of a couple of doll quilt tops I whipped together on Sunday, about an hour before we left to hear the Irish Tenors at the Cobb Energy Pavilion. What a wonderful, low-key evening, and what a generous gift from my brother and his wife. They treated me and the two girls, plus four other friends to an evening of soothing, nostalgic Irish and Christmas music. This trio's voices are fabulous. I must be getting old, to find such stuff entertaining. Well, there's a lot to be said for it.

I will post pictures (calm down, legions of readers) - I thin it's hilarious that i have an entire day to quilt and find inspiration in the last free hour I have in the day.

Happy Hanukkah!

Grease! Oh, the humanity!

No latkes for doggie.

Lighting all three menorahs.

Music Menorah -

Second Crazy Night

It's the second crazy night of Chanukkah and I'm cooking up a bunch of latkes soon, when DD#1 gets home. I'm fixing my famous Dreidl cake (don't get excited: yellow cake with chocolate frosting in the shape of a dreidl). We'll light our new menorahs.

Tomorrow night my brother is treating us to an evening at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre to hear the Irish Tenors, in concert with the Cobb Symphony Orchestra. I've never been there so I'm looking forward to a nice evening of good music.

Chag Samaech, ya'll.

In spite of another year without pay raises, the library staff donated enough money to purchase eleven bikes and helmets for needy kids this Christmas!

My little quilt for the fall-inspired challenge is ready for quilting:

This fabric has been hiding in my stash for a long time. I think it would make a terrific apron - just screams for red ric-rac don't you think?

I found these dolls at my sister-in-law's this weekend. They were made by her piano teacher, Margherita Menaboni who was the sister of Athos Menaboni, a bird artist. J. is 50 years old, so these dolls were probably made in the 1960's.

They are made of felt with a wire armature. There is a tiny bandana in the boatman's pocket; the fingers on the hands are defined. The faces are embroidered.

As you can see, they are pretty dirty. If you have any ideas on how to clean them, I'd love to hear them. Not sure if the felt is wool or synthetic. J. doesn't know.

At the end of the day.....

(a post after -- as in, in the tradition of, -- Althouse)

Let's have some wine...

And consider the detritus of the feast...

<

At the High Museum

Not Worthy?

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I signed up for and began attending classes in various Jewish subjects - spirituality, history, Torah - for the purpose of becoming more informed and more knowledgeable. Wednesday we were told it was "not appropriate" for us to continue attending these classes since our conversion had been with a Reform rabbi. We could continue if we were interested in going through an Orthodox conversion - something that, at this point in my life is not possible. The upheaval would land me in the poorhouse. I knew the Orthodox did not accept Reform conversions. I did not know that extended to sitting in a classroom for the purpose of learning more about Judaism and studying Torah.

We's been attending for about six weeks. Our name is a dead giveaway that something is going on - it's not one that you would typically associate as being Jewish. But neither are Gordon, Stewart, Smith, Grant - any number of "typical goyim" surnames -- and I know "real" Jews with those names. But the question was never raised (for all they knew, I was married to a non-Jew but a "real" Jew myself). My daughter, however, was questioned about 2 weeks ago and of course, she was honest about our conversion. I guess that's what initiated this expulsion.

Talk about wandering in the desert.

I liken it to how some people might freak out upon discovering someone they've liked for a long time is gay. When they didn't know, it didn't matter.

It's not the first time a door has been slammed in my face and probably won't be the last. I respect their beliefs, and if this is the way it is, so be it. It's kind of hurtful that we sat there for all this time believing we were welcome, only to be politely shown the door.

It's been hard in recent years for us to find a congregation we felt comfortable in for many reasons. So I guess it's back to wandering until we get to the Promised Land!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving - we did! Too much food, including banana pudding and faux Tiramisu!

Is this what Dog Heaven is like?