Christmas Morning and all is Still…..

We’ve been having a wonderful Christmas, and I wanted to peek in just to wish you all the Merriest!

The best part by far is having Jason, Kim & Jeff here, and watching them interact with each other! How did my little boys grow into such wonderful young men? And Kim? She is the daughter I always longed for, and I’m so glad and grateful for the life that she and Jason are sharing together. My heart just about swells to bursting when I think of it. At this moment “All is Calm, All is Bright”…in my world.

I’ve spent MUCH time with my feet up the past couple of days doing lots of THIS:

I’ve started the 3rd row of fans, working my way toward the center. Dealing with these tiny pieces and their seam allowance is kind of slow going….can’t load as many stitches on to my needle when going through them, but when I hit the open areas on the white…AHHHH! If you look close, you can see that I’m using my little wheel marker ((I think it’s a Fons& Porter one)) with the yellow chalk to mark my lines. Yes….this one I AM using a stencil because it’s a very formal quilt, and I wanted large even fans, something I can’t do when free-handing them.

Kim is so sweet, she said she loves this quilt the best and can she have it? You know, that is the way straight to my heart, when someone wants a quilt that badly to ask for it! BUT --- I told her it would probably be on my deathbed as it will most likely take me that long to finish it! Never the less, she WILL get it --- some day. :c)

I’ve gone far enough now toward the center and away from the outside edge that I’m planning on giving my poked up underfinger a break today…I’m going to trim the excess batting and backing and put the binding on. That is going to help protect the raw edges of the border fabric, and it won’t interfere with my hoop as I continue to quilt inward. And it will look A LOT better. Those edges are raggedy!

We went out for Christmas Eve dinner at our fave Japanese place last night --- we called ahead to find out how long they were staying open! ((Learned this lesson last year when we had no kitchen, and all we could find open on the holiday was the Chinese Buffet! )) We made it in time, and really enjoyed the evening. Pardon the grainy iphone pic, but it was a spur of the moment capture.

Jason and Dave were nuts enough to go golfing yesterday when it was only 35 degrees out! Kim and I occupied ourselves inside, and then went to the store to grab the last of what we need food-wise, and we ended up making the yummiest fruit salad for dinner tonight! SO EASY!

Yogurt Ambrosia

2 c. sm curd low fat cottage cheese

1 sm package sugar free lemon jello (dry)

17 oz can mandarin oranges

1 c halved, seedless red grapes

1 c light lemon yogurt

2 c mini marshmallows

8 oz can pineapple tidbits (I think my can was bigger than this, I put the whole thing in anyway!)

1 c flaked coconut

Mix and cover. Chill for 2-24 hours. Makes A LOT! (but we ate some for a snack last night just to test it out and it was so good!)

Merry Christmas Whiskers & Wishes from Oscar and the Hunter Clan to you, wherever you are!