Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Do you believe it? Today is the last day of the year. Not real sad to see this year depart.

Vanessa and her kids came for a visit yesterday. I went out on to the ice and shoveled off a play area. We will see what the warm weather will do to it this weekend. 

Air Fryer?

Carol here ~

Do any of you have an air fryer?

Our daughter, Vanessa, has one. She cooked brussel sprouts in hers for Thanksgiving and french fries for Christmas. Both were yummy!

Now, we are deciding if we “need” one. Our problem is we don’t have a whole lot of counter space and I do not like having a clutter-y counter. We have a closet with shelves behind the door in the bedroom that we keep things in that we don’t use too much ~ my big kitchen aid mixer, the big griddle and the instant pot. If we get an air fryer it would probably go there as well.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Thursday evening. Two days before Christmas. Carol and I had our Christmas with family on the 18th, last Saturday. We went to Vanessa’s house for the tree and a kind of pot luck dinner. Whatever it was called it did the trick. As usual more goodies than needed. It was nice to see everyone. Carol took a nice picture of the grands in front of the tree. 

The girls will spend Christmas with their families, Carol and I will spend it much like any other day. I hope you enjoy your Christmas day no matter how you choose to spend it.

Erin's Ornaments

Carol here ~

Every Christmas our music teacher daughter, Erin, makes origami ornaments for her chorus students and special friends. She uses paper with music notes on it. Every year the ornament is different and they must be modular, meaning multiple pieces of paper.

If a student was in chorus from 6th - 12th grade they would have seven of Erin’s ornaments. Erin’s favorite Christmas memory is when a student that has long graduated sends her a picture of their tree with one of the ornaments on it.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Sunday evening. I awoke this morning to 5” or so of light fluffy snow. The plow guy came before I was fully functioning so the rest of the snow removal was all done by the shovel full and then carried to where it could either stay or be moved again the next time the plow truck is here. 

Merry Christmas To Me!

Carol here ~

Well, I did it. On Wednesday I completed the 8th cycle of chemo treatment for my Multiple Myeloma. If you are new here you can read my original post here.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Tuesday evening. Beautiful chilly day. Walked a little over 6-1/2 miles today staying on the “camp” road. Slippery, so grippers were worn to hopefully not fall down. I didn’t. Good walk. I need to make a little bag to put my grippers in then when I get to the tar road I could take them off and would not be limited to walking on the “camp” road.

So far I have made almost 300 of the 2”x4” flying geese, then I started on 1”x2” geese and the stack of them is growing. 

Quilted and Bound

Carol here ~

The Hunter Star quilt is quilted, bound and ready to gift! Lena was happy to get to work and purred like a kitten!

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Thursday evening. We got our first real snowstorm yesterday. 4-5 inches of fluffy snow. Plow guy came this morning and then I cleaned up what they left. I have an idea that it is going to be a long winter. Kinda wish I could be a bear and hibernate, or at least hide inside where it is warmer. The last couple days walking has been cold. My body is not used to the cold yet, it’s getting there, but not there yet. I can manage to sit inside the house and be cold. Like I said, it’s going to be a long winter. Already walking with grippers on my walking shoes, almost fell a couple times yesterday, so grippers it is. Did I say it’s going to be a long winter.

I have spent the last few days cleaning my way through that bin of fabric I’ve shown you before. 

A Spa Day for Lena

Carol here ~

Since Dan finished up the piecing on the Hunter Star quilt I figured it was time for me to get Lena Longarm up and running to quilt it. It has been months since she has been used so figured she could use a spa treatment before putting her to work.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Sunday evening. You probably thought you were getting Carol, sorry, just me. Nice weekend albeit chilly. Had a fire while I cooked out on the grill. Steak, baked potato and cauliflower was on the menu. This was the time lapse picture I took as I was cooking supper. 

Hunter Star Quilt

Dan here, Thursday night, 32 degrees. Nice and calm, could have been tempted for a fire but I guess those evenings are over for this season. Woke up to snow on the ground with wet snow falling… then it changed to rain. Driveway now covered in slush, maybe tomorrow if it warms above freezing, I’ll clean it up. It’s supposed to warm up after the weekend and rain. Time will tell.

This being Thursday means that I have finished another walk week. If you remember I set a goal for myself to walk 2021 miles during the calendar year.

Bags and Books

Carol here ~

I sewed yesterday! First time I have sat at my sewing machine in months.

I have a couple of small Christmas gifts I want to make so headed up to the quilting loft. First I had to have Dan clean up his stuff as he has encroached into my space a bit.