Wonderful Christmas

I had to scramble to decorate since Jackie, Justin, and the boys came down for Christmas...as did Paisley and the new grandpuppy.  This is Fred, a Soft Coated Wheaton terrier.  

He did surprisingly well, since he had barely adjusted to his new home before making the trip down to visit for Christmas.  

It was good to be all together Christmas day, since Dale wasn't up to making the trip to Colorado.  The day after Christmas we got the predicted snow.

 It continued on Sunday, though the kids were able to make it back to Colorado.  The trip took much longer than usual.  We had a hasty birthday celebration for the boys' 5th birthday (how is that possible) before they left...sporting new Star Wars bathrobes.

  

Cordial recipe

Friends from the quilting forum were more interested in the cordial recipe than making the cording for the labels!  LOL!

So here is the recipe:

Honey Peach Cordial

8-10 pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, diced (about 6 quarts)

6 cups water

5 cups honey

2 pieces cinnamon stick (3 inches each)

1 whole nutmeg

2 tablespoons juniper berries

2 teaspoon whole cloves

2 teaspoons whole allspice

* 8 cups Scotch whisky

* Brandy, rum, or whiskey other than Scotch can be substituted.

1. Heat peaches and water in large saucepan to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 1 hour. Strain through fine mesh sieve, pressing with back of spoon to extract liquid. (About 8 cups nectar.)

2. Return nectar to saucepan. Stir in honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, juniper berries, cloves, and allspice. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer covered, 30 minutes. Strain, discard spices. Stir in scotch.

3. Pour into sterilized clear glass bottles. Cover tightly. Let stand in cool, dark, dry area 2 weeks. Sediment will sink to bottoms of bottles. Decant clear liquid, discard sediment. (I use the “sludge” to brush on cakes or cook down to make a filling.) Clean bottles. (I use Grolsch bottles with new rubber rings which you can get in a beer making equipment store.) Fill with cordial. Cordial can be used immediately but improves in clarity and flavor if stored 2 months before using.

 *****

I've more frequently made it with apricots rather than peaches, and some have substituted mango for the peaches.  My personal preference is to use Seagram's Seven which makes a very smooth tasting cordial.

One time I processed the fruit by cooking it and running it through a food processor for cordial making later--was up my daughter's in Colorado with the fruit and brought that home to finish making it.  BIG MISTAKE.  I never was able to strain out the fruit, and even after several years, I still have a gallon bottle of mostly "sludge" that I use to soak other fruit in or brush on cakes.  It was very disappointing to waste all that liquor!

 I finished up two quilts for Tove and got them sent off on Saturday.  

She is a prolific quilter.  I have one of my own that needs finishing this week! 

Holiday kitchen

I've been busy, busy in the kitchen.  I bottled a half dozen Grolsch bottles of apricot cordial.  Of course I had to do some taste testing to make sure the product was worthy of gifting. 

I made three batches of scone mix before I ran out of a key ingredient and a double recipe of lemon curd.  I baked some this morning which Pat and I will deliver to Dr. Kaufman's office along with a stack of quilts.

 

Of course I also had to sample the scones and lemon curd to make sure they were up to par.  Hey, it's a difficult job but someone has to be in charge of quality control! 

I made the cording for the labels on the cordial using Jude Hill's wonderfully addicting instructions.  I love to use all the little bits of fabric we trim.   

Enough for delivery...

I finished two more quilts.  Pat put these together from old swap blocks she had.  

 Quilting with variegated thread helped give the muslin a little more interest.

 

She also had a wider backing, so I was able to load them consecutively on one long backing.  I love getting two quilts done at a time!  

 

The amazing sunrises and sunsets continued just about all week, until yesterday when totally gray skies decided to rain and snow on us.  The snow continues and it is a winter wonderland outside.   

I just swept a path to the studio to turn the heat on and feed the kitties.  In less than half an hour, it's covered again.  As always I'm thankful for the moisture...and a warm, dry house, with plenty of food, and no need to go anywhere.  Let it snow!

Another gorgeous morning!

The sunrises just keep on getting better, and YAY! I finally got my camera reset, and am able to get clear pictures.  

Seems I needed to put it back on "superfine" and now I'm not getting the grainy pictures I was getting which was so disappointing!

 These are 360 degrees of the sunrise from our back yard, and I haven't done any editing of the pictures!  I just couldn't stop taking pictures.

And I did finish a quilt.  Another beauty from Tove.  Thanks again, my very productive friend! 

 

Winter sunrises

It's been cold in the early mornings, usually in the teens!  Thankfully though, we've had lots of sunshine to warm the house.

This morning was another of those spectacular sunrises, which mostly I just watch not bothering to record it with the camera.  They change so quickly.

Everything had a pink cast to it.  I love the play of light.  

I've been taking a pottery/mosaic class, and finished the top to my little table using a lot of "findings."  I'm happy with how it turned out and am going to do another project.  The pottery pieces are awaiting their turn in the kiln. 

Our lemon tree has ripening fruit.  It's so fun to watch.  

I finished knitting myself a hat.  It should keep my ears warm on our walks, although usually we wait until it warms up a bit before walking. 

 

For the love of lefse...

We had a taste of winter early in the week.  I didn't think we'd get the predicted snow, but sure enough, an hour ahead of the prediction it started snowing.

I love it.  Of course I don't have to drive anywhere in it.  The kitties enjoyed it as well--after it stopped snowing and the sun came out.  This was their first snowstorm!

I got a quilt finished.  Another one from Tove, for Dr. Kaufman. 

I hadn't made lefse in a long while.  I used golden potatoes that came from the San Luis valley, purchased at Costco.  I also used a couple of russets that I had.

And wow, they really worked well.  I still had to eat a few that broke apart transferring it to the griddle--it's a tough job, but someone has to do it!  ;-)

Not so productive...

I made a top myself!  I still prefer quilting and binding to piecing...but once in a while the mood strikes me.

I used leftover half-square triangles from Pat A.'s quilt and put together this kid quilt.  I'll take it with me to Brazil for my cousin's great-grandson if I end up going soon.  If not, it will just go in the bank of quilts for Dr. Kaufman. 

I quilted this beautiful quilt for Pat for her guest room.  She is finally getting some quilts done for her house!  

I made a bowl too.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm trying to come up with ideas to make things with leftover batting.  This one used selvages wrapped over cotton clothesline. 

I piece together bigger pieces of batting and use them on other quilts, but I'm filling up another bag of strips less than six-inches wide.  I'm always trolling the internet looking for creative ideas! 

A very rainy day!

It rained pretty much all day yesterday, off and on.  Thankfully, it was a gentle rain most of the time that had a chance to soak in, and not the destructive sort of storms that seem to be plaguing other parts of the country.

At one point, the raindrops hanging from our trumpet vine looked like little jewels

Tove sent me another batch of donation quilts, including this large large, totally finished beauty.  Thanks Tove! 

This quilt was for Pat A.  Friends sent blocks in, and Pat put the top together.  I quilted it with wool batting, hopefully making it light but keeping her warm on her next trip to chemo!   

I'm still here albeit with one foot on the way to Brazil to deal with my dad.  I'm sure things will happen as they should.  Life is just giving me another opportunity to learn p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e! 
 

Getting a new stack started...

I got a couple of quilts finished for Dr. Kaufman.  Both of these from Tove.  

 Pat added another black, and then green border to this Van Gogh quilt, also from Tove.


I had an early birthday celebration for Pat, while she had a friend visiting from Phoenix.  I made her a "studio spirit" which was inspired by one I saw at Fiber Arts Fiesta in May.  

 

Busy couple of weeks...

I finished the Eclipse quilt, on the day of the lunar eclipse!  It will be raffled off for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), and I'm hoping to get information on where to buy tickets!

I also finished this lovely quilt for Tove.

 My days have been filled with trying to figure out things for my nearly 90-year-old father.  Finally after a lot of communication, he has said that he wants to come back to the U.S. to live.  He can no longer sustain his living situation in Brazil.  I'm just waiting for him to get his passport in order and then I will be going to Brazil to bring him back here.   


 

Have a half dozen done for next delivery...

First I actually pieced a quilt.  There was a block drive for a friend that requested a block that had been on my to do list for some time.  The instructions were on this video from Missouri Star Quilt Co.

I made this quilt which is already on its way to Colorado as a baby gift.  The father is a John Deere tractor fan so I backed it with a John Deere flannel print. 

I also made this little taggie from a picture online.  

I got a couple more quilts finished for Dr. Kaufman.  This first one Pat got off ebay and features large flowers appliqued onto flour sacks.

It was pretty heavy so I backed it with flannel and no batting.  This next is from Tove, and I still have quite a few more of hers left to quilt. Thanks again! 

 Pat finished putting together the eclipse quilt on our last sew day, and I finished the quilting and binding on the actual day of the lunar eclipse. 

This is going to go to JDRF for a raffle fundraiser. 

A couple more...

I've got a new stack with four quilts already for Dr. Kaufman.  I love this scrappy tumblers quilt which was quite large, requiring two people to hold up.

I added borders to this one to grow it a little.  Tove sent the leftover fabrics, and I had a nice print that featured writing about the seashore which worked as well.  Both of these from Tove. 

The sunrises and sunsets have been awesome.  

This beautiful sunset Lindsay captured on her phone on our drive home from Tucumcari.  We were driving west and got to enjoy the changing show for a long while.