The Keurig and the Chicken

Carol here ~ 

This is my chicken pincushion.  I have had this little guy at least twenty-five years.  He has been stripped of his pins and needles because he moved from the quilting loft to the kitchen for a new job.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

What a pain in the butt snow storm. Was forecast to get 6”- 12” of snow followed by a thin coating of rain. Not really what I saw. By the time I went outside Thursday morning, there was about 5” of snow but the bottom 1” was slush. Heavy slush. As I shoveled the shovel contents would splat upon impact with the ground. I did manage to get the snow/slush off most of the blacktop. I think I can safely say winter has arrived in Maine.

I finished the quilt top currently known as #6 for 2023. If you remember the last time I rambled at you it was on the floor in the studio. For the main block I again used four 5” 

4-Patch blocks to create a 10” finished block. For the sashing strip, turned to my Corner Pop II. I wanted the stars to pop out a little more.  I like the way it turned out.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Sunday evening from the studio. It has started to snow and the forecast is for 6 - 10 inches by the time it ends on Monday. You guessed it, time will tell.

Carol and I went for a walk on snowshoes out on the pond Sunday afternoon. 

Dinner & A Movie

Carol here ~ 

It was actually a movie and an early supper because we went to the matinee showing.  We haven't been to the movies in YEARS!  Who knew they now had heated reclining seats?  Fancy!

We went to see "A Man Called Otto" starring Tom Hanks.  Another amazing performance by Tom Hanks and also his son, Truman Hanks who plays the younger version of Otto.

It is based on the book "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman, one of my all time favorite reads.  

You can see the official trailer here.  Highly recommend!

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Well, we are just over half way through January and still almost no snow. It has not been real cold either. The water is running in the brook from Mud Pond into Green Pond almost as quickly as in the Spring. We can see almost daily the water line work it’s way farther up the beach. Most days the water entering from Mud Pond causes the edge of the ice - beach line to break and shift. Fun to watch, until it isn’t. Kind of like the saying, “It’s all fun and games until someone’s wiener falls in the fire”. If water runs over the retaining wall, well, I have no idea what happens at that point. This time I’ll say, hopefully time won’t tell.

Quilts & Storage

Carol here ~ 

We spent yesterday afternoon organizing quilts and putting them in the new storage cubbies we recently had made.

They held more than I thought they would, 27 in all. We put in several of our show quilts, all of the Rona collection and a couple others.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Not much happening here on the pond. It has snowed most of the day, it has amounted to about an inch and a half. I don’t think that we are supposed to get much anyway. It doesn’t really seem like winter with so little snow. At least it has not been terribly cold either.

It gets hot in the evenings (all the time really) up in our sewing studio. It is common for me to open the window towards the pond and stick my head out to cool off. While doing so I like to see if I can see anything on the pond. The other night I looked out and saw tracks where something had entered the beach going between us and the neighbors. I said to myself, dang I missed it. I knew it was me because I recognized my voice. Went back to sewing and looked out again a little later and saw more tracks all over the pond about 30’ from shore. When I checked the next day I could see where deer had been walking around on the pond and also munching out on some of the neighbor’s trees. I’m not a big fan of the deer, there are way too many of them with fewer people hunting them than in the past. Their numbers just increase the numbers of the coyotes. I hear them hunting fairly often as I sit out by the fire during warm weather.

A New Retreat

Carol here ~ 

Our friend Michelle Hiatt of Sew On The Go is announcing a new retreat in June ~ Spring Quilt Camp in Rangeley, Maine, Friday June 2nd ~ Tuesday, June 6th.  

Here is what she says about it ~

Have you seen Maine in June? Join me for a fabulous retreat in the beautiful mountains of Maine! Rangeley is in the Lakes Region and is just stunning! The large and spacious Kennebago Ballroom will become our classroom/studio for five days. Tons of time for sewing and relaxing. Spend relaxing evenings with new found friends on the front porch of the Rangeley Inn or down by the pond!

Special project for this retreat only:

* Day at the Lake Quilt Mystery - Exclusive Quilt Mystery for Spring Quilt Camp (see inspiration photo)

* Or UFO from a previous event with Michelle

**Quilt Retreat Includes:**4 nights lodging, 4 Breakfasts (Thursday-Sunday), 3 lunches (Thursday-Saturday), 4 dinners (Wednesday-Saturday), sewing room and quilt instruction at Rangeley Inn, Rangeley, ME

Retreat limited to 20 people - So reserve now! Sewing Machine rentals are available. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Well, we got enough snow to say it snowed, not much more though. Little did I know when I bought my snowblower that I would jinx the season regarding snowfall. There is a very small amount in the forecast for the end of this week. I guess time will tell.

The carpenter came back on Friday and built doors and created a small cupboard over the Murphy beds/design walls. 

He got one coat of paint applied and will be back this week to put the second coat on to call it complete. He only has one small project left on his list to do here. That is to build a small outside storage closet to replace a cheap plastic one we bought. Hopefully that will be the end at least for now.

A Misbehavin' Lena

Carol here ~ 

After two weekends with no power and another weekend of feeling crappy I finally got the quilt that we are doing for our friend Michelle loaded onto Lena Longarm.  

I used the pattern NIGHTLIGHT by Urban Elementz.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

We made it through the weekend without loosing our power. That is a good thing. 

Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2023 is kind and gentle to all of us. 

I am feeling more like myself every day. I no longer seem to have the stamina or desire to do a lot of projects any more. I guess maybe I need to accept this as my new normal. I really don’t want to do that. 

The weather has been uncommonly warm, I even had a fire on the last day of 2022. I was burning up some of the blowdown from the past wind storms. That could be a continual process if you are like me and like the look of nice neat surroundings.

I gave up out on the pond. I removed four wheelbarrow loads off the pond and burnt them. I hardly made a dent in the quantity of them out there. After the warm weather and the rain I don’t really know if I completely trust the pond right now.

This is what the pond looked like earlier today, New Year’s Day.