Puzzle Time

I love 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles!

 

It took me about two days of mornings and evenings to complete!! I spread out the pieces on the dining room table, get a cup of tea or coffee, my adjustable sewing chair, wool socks for my feet and I'm set! My favorite puzzle styles are still life settings, or a colorful flower garden, or a farmyard scene just not the big panoramic landscapes. Most of my puzzles come from the second hand store but on occasion a family member will gift me with a goodie. This one was from TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart for Christmas over a year ago! I'd been saving it for a snowstorm or rainy day both of which have been pretty scare with the drought conditions we have been experiencing for months now. With the last snowfall on New Year's Eve that was a busy family time and not a puzzle piecing kind of situation. My favorite time to piece a puzzle is on a rainy day, it's also my favorite time to sew. I love to be able to open a window to hear the rain fall and the thunder crash!! I'm pretty driven when it comes to a puzzle about as much as when I get into a good book, I'm always looking for a few minutes here and there to read. Time flies and I get nothing else done, but sometimes that's ok because "me" time matters too and I deserve it !!!! Yeah!! Rrriiight!  Still struggling with that one, but getting better, isn't that why they're called hobbies???!!

 

Frigid cold this morning 12 degrees but slowly climbing, so glad we don't live in North Dakota anymore!! Did my time below zero now I want more balmy temps for winter!

I now know why sunbirds fly south!!!!! ;)

 

 



Sunrise is 7:47

TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart and I are up, with coffee in hand, to watch the sunrise this beautiful Saturday morning!!

Pretty Pretty Pincushions

These are most of the 14 pincushions, some were already gifted when I took the picture,

 I made for Christmas stocking stuffers! In the original pattern they were suppose to be pumpkins with stems and leaves, but I didn't have a good pumpkin orange (I know go figure) in my fabric stash. I don't know how that happened but it's clear to me that I NEED more fabric!!! LOL   I had decided to make a pincushion for DD, daughter-in-law D and our daughter-in-law (to be someday) K. So I just started pulling fabric combos that I liked from my scraps and fat quarters, well the group kept growing and I  couldn't put any of the choices back, so I thought why not sew up all the combos and give them away to my sisters, sister-in-laws and nieces. So that's what I did! (You know while writing this I'm reflecting and seeing a pattern here~~ this is what happens with many of my gifting projects~~ humble beginnings and then I let them blossom and get out of hand)    Note to self - keep control- humph...  like I ever listen to the little voices in my head! Mwuahahahaha     They were fun to sew up and I loved looking through my button collection for the center detail. Most are antique buttons, some were removed from items bought at thrift stores, just for the buttons and others are recent purchases of clearance or sale buttons. The display pins featuring hearts or leaves are from Joann's bought in the notions section in packages of 12 I think, I'm not sure since I open the package shortly after purchase and dump into a decorative tin.  I did end up keeping the first one I made, it's the black one near the upper left side. I placed all the pincushions in a large basket and let the recipient choose! It was fun to see if the person choose the one I sort of made for them with their personality in mind, most did!!

 

Today is also our 36th wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart!

 High school sweethearts, married at 20 between college semesters, so we could start "Loving" on the rest of our lives together!!!

New year, new (Internet) provider!

Oh what a feeling! This speed! It's soo nice. I can feel my blood pressure going back down. Happy happy dance. We switched from Wild Blue to Verizon 4G! I can view tutorials, watch how-to videos, view all the pictures on a blog without refreshing, refreshing, refreshing! I can even waste time like the rest of America on Pinterest!! ;-) Though I will miss taking "Lappy" to coffee shops :-( Now I can just go for the take-out cuppa coffee and continue on with my errands! Look at all the time I'll save!! Or it's more likely I'll use that time to shop JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, or The Quilting Bee! hehe

We've had snow on the ground since New Year's Eve, 6 inches, the hubbs measured! Slowly it's melting ~ all this week it should keep melting as temps are suppose to be in the 40's! Fine with me :) I don't really like all the mud and wet melted snow puddles (in the house!!) that always follows the snow :-(  I'm a warm weather person, not hot, just warm. It's just so much easier to run outside for whatever reason and not have to put on boots, gloves, a hat and a coat! Bah to winter :-p

TheManWhoHoldsMyHeart and I watched Downton Abby tonight on PBS! The hype is right it was really good and we can see ourselves watching more. We'd like to get the earlier episodes on DVD and catch up. Before tonight's season opener there was a special feature on about the current owners of the castle featured in the program and about how much maintenance and money goes into the upkeep of the estate. It's pretty mind boggling, and the rich history of the home was fascinating.

I wanted to post a picture of the pin cushions I made as gifts for Christmas, but for some reason the site is not opening for photo transfer. I'll have to try again tomorrow.