01022010

today's date is a palindrome ... palindromes are too cool ... my house number is a palindrome ... and when the receipt for whatever i've purchased is a palindrome, i think well - it's a palindrome, so it must be okay even if it's for something that i should have left at the store

the quilting on the Other One's quilt is as done as it's gonna get ... i was supposed to finish quilting it yesterday so i would have two days to trim it and get the binding on before the end of the long weekend but then the quilting wouldn't have been finished on 01022010 and what would be the fun in that? but i ran out of sunlight ... anywho ... it is off the frame...that is a tall tree! and it has a twin on the other side

and i don't think it looks too bad ... i quilted the outline of wolves over the wolf stripes and panels, pinecones along the side borders, clouds and trees and an eagle on the top and bottom borders, and snowflakes in the sky and around the paw prints...steppin' out
some of the wolves are looking at each other or leaping...who you lookin' at?
and there are a few who are howling ... by the time i finished with the snowflakes, the sun was down again ... so that will be all for tonight ... there is still a lot of thread snipping to do - there are 72 snowflakes and i didn't cut bobbin threads between them ... i have the binding ready to go - it is a chocolaty brown ...... speaking of chocolate ... i think it is time for another cuppa

love is where you find it

NoJo and Gumdrop have a poster in their home of Found Hearts ... they look for hearts everywhere and both of them ask me to take pictures of the oddest things that have hidden heart shapes

Gumdrop and NoJo also like to drink hot chocolate with lottsa marshmallows before they leave for school on cold winter mornings ... i like the sound that the spoon makes when i stir in the chocolate ... and i like the way the bubbles on the top refract the light with little rainbows...

Gumdrop's chocolate heart
i don't count the marshmallows - i just pour them in till they start to fall off cuz there's no such thing as too many marshmallows in your hotto chocolatto - and i like to hear my grandbabies slurp - sip - sluuuurp the good stuff into their mouths ... and watch their little faces glow when the warm reaches their bellies ... and i think their chocolaty-marshmallow moustaches are too doggone funny...

NoJo's chocolate heart
and sometimes they see hearts in their cups ... cuz love is where you find it


happy new year!!!

note to self

years and years ago my sister bought three identical Sugar Britches baby dolls - one for each of us - dressed in little pink dresses and sporting the Sugar Britches pin ... i packed mine away after i was stabbed by the pin ... Little Nonnie wanted her Sugar Britches baby doll to have a bed to sleep in, so she bought a square basket with a muslin liner and was always planning to crochet a doll-sized blanket, but she never got around to it ... since she doesn't crochet anymore, i decided to put some of those leftover pink and brown blocks together and make a little doll quilt for her...it really isn't wonky - i am always in a hurry when i take pictures ... i swear those pink and brown blocks are multiplying - i think that they are just about gone - and then more of them show up

and take it to her yesterday for christmas ... i didn't put a whole lot of effort into it because Little Nonnie thinks that quilting is a huge waste of resources and can't understand what the big deal is and asks how i can mess up squares and rectangles ... so when she opened the package and said you finally got the hint! ... i thought i had hit the mother lode of quilty gifts for her ... but when she unfolded the little quilt and saw what it was, the expression on her face changed from finally - a gift that i want to oh - swell - how am i gonna re-gift this piece of whatever this is supposed to be? it seems that what she wanted was another tote for her walker ... what she did not want was a doll quilt for a doll that now resides in her dresser drawer (who knew?) ... or a year's supply of PreserVision (registered trademark) because maybe she wants to try a different brand (who knew?) ... or six each of 7 different kinds of cookies - half of which were chocolate in one form or another which she doesn't eat any more because chocolate makes her choke (again, who knew?) ...... and i remember that this woman used to love christmas ... she stayed up in a freezing cold house till the early hours of the morning, sewing pajamas and doll clothes so she'd have something to put under the tree for her family ... she started her christmas baking the day after thanksgiving and didn't stop till christmas eve ... she hosted a christmas breakfast for all of her children, their spouses and her grandchildren every christmas morning till she moved out of our childhood home ... she showed up on our doorstep one christmas with a reindeer antler headband and a flashing red ball on her nose and gifts for everyone in her arms ...... and i think that i will change my memory of yesterday to be not so ... linear.

a song isn't its final note. it's all its notes at once
Jef Mallett

ready ... fire ... aim

the kitchen is as decorated as it ever gets...

my little scandinavian girl - i didn't get her out till after the 12th for the past few years cuz the little advent angel kept sliding back down to the 1st ... this year it didn't hold on the other half, either
i'm going for understatement
i'd like to say that i thought of this nifty embroidered towel - but Target beat me to it ... and i baked a few of these...hey - your peanut butter is in my chocolate!
whoa -your chocolate is in my peanut butter!
peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses ... i baked tea cakes and lime meltaways, too ... and made dough for pizelles - but they're not gonna get done before tomorrow ... neither are the strombolis ... nor the cabbage pockets ...
and the living room is as lit as it's gonna get...and Auntia thought that those peppermint lights were something we could live without a couple of years ago ... now she's the peppermintanalia collector
here's Auntia baking cookies ...stand up straight!
i was supposed to get an apron made for her with hunky christmas guys...that's better! isn't she just the cutest baby girl?!? bless her heart!
but i didn't get that done, either...she's got the whole world in her hands
and LuLu has learned to play the chimes ... that' s the space christmas tree behind her...
maybe i'll take you on a tour sometime ... but for now ... christmas decorating and baking and wrapping and posting is as done as it's gonna get

happy christmas!

groan ... tell me it isn't that time already

every year at about this time, my sister sends me my yearly dementia test ... i dunno if she's afraid that i may be on the down side of mental acuity or if she is afraid that i will take her down that slippery slope with me...

it's the time of year to take your annual senior citizen test ... exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles ... as we grow older, it is important to stay mentally alert ... if you don't use it - you lose it ... here is a private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence ... take the test presented here to determine if you are losing it or not ... relax ... clear your mind ... and begin...

YOUR YEARLY DEMENTIA TEST

1. what do you put in a toaster?

answer: bread ... if you said 'toast' give up now and go do something else ... try to not hurt yourself ... if you said 'bread' go to question 2

2. say 'silk' five times ... now spell 'silk' ... what do cows drink?

answer: cows drink water ... if you said 'milk' don't attempt the next question ... your brain is overly stressed and may even overheat ... content yourself with reading appropriate literature, such as Good Housekeeping ... however, if you answered 'water' then proceed to question 3

3. if a red house is made from red bricks, and a blue house is made from blue bricks, and a pink house is made from pink bricks, and a black house is made from black bricks ... what is a greenhouse made from?

answer: a greenhouse is made from glass ... if you answered 'green bricks' why are you still reading these?!? if you answered 'glass' proceed to question 4

4. it's 25 years ago and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany ... if you recall, Germany was politically divided at that time into East Germany and West Germany ... anywho ... during the flight, two engines fail ... the pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure ... unfortunately, the last engine fails before he can do so and the plane crashes smack in the middle of 'no man's land' between East Germany and West Germany ... where would you bury the survivors? East Germany? West Germany? or no man's land?

answer: you don't bury survivors ... if you said anything else, you're a dunce and you must stop ... if you said 'you don't bury survivors' proceed to the next question

5. without using a calculator - you are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales ... in London, 17 people get on the bus ... in Reading, 6 people get off the bus and nine people get on ... in Swindon, four people get off and 6 people get on ... in Cardiff, 11 people get off and sixteen people get on ... in Swansea, three people get off and 5 people get on ... in Carmathen, 6 people get off and 3 people get on ... you then arrive at Milford Haven ... what was the name of the bus driver?

answer: oh for crying out loud! don't you remember your own name? it was YOU!

so ... what was your score?

the first time i took this test, i didn't get past the first question ... and i still think that there is more than one correct answer - waffles, bagels, pop tarts, toaster strudel - to name a few

as for the second question - baby cows drink milk and baby cows are cows, right?

and number three - greenhouses are not made just from glass - there are plastic greenhouses, too ... and who ever heard of pink bricks? i've heard of peach bricks and terracotta bricks, but pink?!?

as for number four - what kind of airplane has three engines? i've seen airplanes with one or two engines and with four engines, but i've never seen an airplane with three engines ... although i have seen starships with three nacelles

and the fifth question is just not even fair - how am i supposed to know the answer when i've never been to Britain? i was more worried about getting lost and counting passengers than who was driving the bus

but i've taken this test a whole lotta times now ... and i know all of the right answers - even if they are wrong

'twas seven nights before christmas

and all through the house
a creature was stirring
and it was a mouse...

now it's a dead mouse
that trap was sure handy
baited with peanut butter
and chocolate chip candy

he went for a sniff
and a nibble or two
then snap, crackle, pop
his story was through

if we had a kitty
we wouldn't need traps
but cats make us sneeze
and scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch

so ... good bye, little mouse
but before you go
tell all your friends
to stay out in the snow

note#1: one mouse was killed in the writing of this poem
note#2: animal control does not rescue mice that aren't on the endangered list - i know this from experience
note #3: animal control doesn't rescue skunks, either ... they shoot skunks ... i know this from experience, too

yo ... Santa!

i heard that youse are lookin' for a list from me of what i might want...

so do me this favor

i won't forget it

ask your friends in the neighborhood about me

they'll tell you i know how to return a favor

tell your friends at the Jolly Jabber i don't want a lot ... just enough to wet my beak

it's not personal, Santa

it's strictly business

so

i'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse ...

leave the fat quarters

take the cannoli

xoxo.

dianne