Wayback Wednesday: February 11, 2026

 

I saw this on Pinterest:

What the heck are they talking about?  

I have that thermostat in my house.

If you want to go wayback, remember these light switches:

My paternal grandparents had these switches and I was always fascinated by them.  Who can resist a button?

Othe things I have:

Yes I have one of these and it still cuts paper really well.  My great-grandparents used it in the family drug store in Centralia.  I think they made pill container labels with the paper cutter.

***

I'm writing this on Tuesday and Lucky is literally barking the window while a light snow falls.

I think Lucky has had enough.

Happily, we are going to get a small amount of warmer weather...even as high as 37 degrees Farenheit!

A big change from our temps of 0-19 degrees!

I hope the weather is good for you too!

Have a great day!

Two Finishes

 

Life has been chaotic.

I have three patients these days.

My mother told my brother she was having chest pains but then refused to go to the ER.  Long story short, I got her to a cardiologist and she is "an extremely healthy senior."  So that is one problem out of the way.

My brother has been in a lot of pain.  He has osteoporosis and two years ago broke a bone in his back by doing nothing...seriously.  Anyway, this past week he was also in terrible pain and I was afraid he broke another bone in his back.  He's slightly better.  He needs an x-ray again but is being stubborn.

And of course, my husband has another episode of costochondritis, an inflammation around the rib cage.  He was moving furniture in his man cave and then went out to shovel--even though we hire a younger man to do that.  So he is a mess and just has to take it easy again.

I sew whenever I have a moment to breathe.  Since all three of my patients can be frustrating with their stubborness, I keep repeating this to myself:

ANYWAY...I have two finishes to share this week.

Nora's quilt for her second birthday (yesterday was her party).

Also a new ladder quilt, the sewing themed quilt as you go hexie piece:

I have two more quilts to bind and am working on that now.

What are you working on?

Have a safe and happy day!

Wayback Wednesday: February 4, 2026

 

Most of you remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop.  My brother and I thought she was hilarious but we mostly knew her from her record albums we checked out of the library.

Lucky likes Lamb Chop too.  He has a 2 foot Lamb Chop that he plays with nightly.  So much so that I recently ordered a new Lamb Chop because the old one was dingy and had much stuffing removed by a little black dog.

I forgot how loyal dogs are--even to their toy friends.

Lucky loves playing with the new Lamb Chop but his old buddy is still his favorite.

My favorite show was Mighty Mouse.  I'm not even sure what I loved about that cartoon but I can still sing, "Here I come to save the day!  Mighty Mouse is on his way!"

We didn't have a color tv or cable when I was growing up.  My parents got both of those things after I had grown-up.  My grandfather did have a color tv and we got in trouble if we sat too close, did you?

What were you favorite tv shows when you were a kid?

Have a safe and happy day!

Bless the Beasts...

 

How are you doing?

I've been talking to neighbors who have animals and asking them if their dogs are eating more these days.  Why yes they are!  I'm seeing this with Lucky.  He normally eats around noon although I put his food down at breakfast.  Now he eats as soon as I put anything down.  

I looked it up and multiple sources relay that dogs need 2-3 times more than normal in cold winter.  This is especially true for Lucky--and dogs like him who are active.  Lucky is walked different times during the day.  The temperatures have barely been above 0 degrees Farenheit so it makes sense he is hungrier.

One of the downsides of town life is the thick amount of salt when we walk.  There's still a lot of ice out there too.  Lucky's paws are getting rough to the feel and I just re-ordered another tin of Bag Balm. 

Our groomer Jessa had recommended it years ago and we've put it on all our dogs paws (none of them would wear booties).

A robin has moved into our Beauty Berry bush.  He or she is there everyday and yesterday chased a bunch of sparrows away.  I'm glad.  Many of our robins remain here in the winter.  Often we see flocks of them together at the park and learned years ago that they did that to stay warm and find food together.

Many robins die in the winter of starvation and/or cold.  One article suggested that the birds can lose 10 percent of their body weight just to keep warm in a single night.  So we have been feeding birds but the squirrels steal most of the seeds.  I'm glad the robin has moved here and is happily eating the berries.

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Groundhog Day

 

Happy Groundhog's Day!

It's my mom's birthday today and my hubby and I have arranged for a bunch of relatives to meet us at her favorite restaurant.  I even ordered a corsage for her which I hope she likes.

My mom's having some cardiac problems and my sister-aunt Kathy has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  Kathy has surgery to remove the thyroid and lymphnoids later this week.  There are other ailments (knees, ribs, etc) but not as pressing as mom's and Kathy's.   Today should be a good day for a bunch of us to see each other and hopefully make each other laugh.

How are you spending Groundhog's Day?  Do you believe the predictions on this day?

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday

 49 days until Spring!

I woke up this morning with a decision about my garden:  I would not grow vegetables.  I must have been dreaming about garden plans.  Apparently the soundtrack to this dream must have been Arlo Guthrie's song "Alice's Restaurant" because that has been going through my head as well.

Anyway since I lack real flowers, here are some textile ones to start the weekend:

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Scrap Blocks

On my last blog post, I mentioned that I was working on two pieces right now.  One is a orphan block/scrap quilt.

When I local sewing shop decided to move and only focus on machine repairs, all the fabric and kits went on sale.  I bought a bunch of little bags of Thangles kits--not because I wanted to make HSTs but I just liked the 1930s fabrics.  Honestly, I prefer making HSTs the old fashioned way.  After years of moving the little baggies, I ended up making 4-patches.  Then the 4-patches sat around here until I had a big basket of 1930s scraps.

By December, I had decided I must do something with them.  And if I could also use the Kona Snow that's been living here for years, that would be great too!

I didn't count anything just cut the 3.75 squares to go into the blocks and let it at that.  I was hoping to get a lap quilt and maybe even a baby quilt out of the blocks.  The blocks came out to 7 inches square and that can make a nice quilt.

On Tuesday, I told Beth I had finished the blocks.  "So how many blocks did you get?" she asked.  And then burst into laughter when I told her--159.

After my post on Tuesday Sue commented that she has boxes of 1.5 inch blocks she's cut through the years.  Sue's mission is to sew at least five 9-patches a day.  This is a really honorable quest and I wonder how many blocks she will get.  

I found this idea online:

For some reason this reminds me of a Florence Peto quilt you can see an adaptation here.  

Sue doesn't know what she will make with the 9 patches but it is honorable work and I can't wait to find out how many blocks she got from her boxes!  Sue is one of the best quilters I know and whatever she makes will be fantastic!

Have a safe and happy day!