Oyster Stew

Nothing like a good pot of oyster stew on a cold night.

Joe and I went to NC over the Thanksgiving Holiday to visit the families. We put over 1,200 miles on the new car.

The last stop was in Wilmington to see Mom. After visiting her, we went to Blue Water in Wrightsville Beach to eat seafood. It was yummy. Before we left on Monday, we make a run to Mott's Seafood. We loaded up 3 pounds of shrimp, a lovely piece of grouper, and a pint of oysters.

On Tuesday, Joe and I began the great debate about what goes in oyster stew... we agreed on celery and onions but debated about potatoes. To me, potato soup is made with chipped beef sauteed in butter. Potatoes don't go in oyster stew. Potatoes make a soup, not a stew.

In the end, the cook (me) wins. I didn't hear any complaints when he was slurping it down.

Biscuit

No... it's not a a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon.

She's my buddy. See her smiling at me. Yes, she does smile.

Biscuit loves to sit on the porch with us at night. She looks out over the yard as if she is surveying her kingdom. Yes, she owns that yard.

She also loves to ride in the truck with Joe. If she doesn't get to go ride for two days, she pouts. She loves to go to the hardware store with him. What's better than an old Geezer and his dog.

Yes, I love this dog. (ssshhh, don't tell her I called her a dog.)

My New Car

I owned a 2002 Highlander. It started having some problems. When a car starts to have problems, you have to go through the thought process and inevitable discussion of whether it's worth it to put more money into a 10 year old car. Joe and I don't always see eye-to-eye in those discussions.

In the end, I decided it was time to trade it.

The grandkids call my new car the "magic" car. It has more bells and whistles than I will ever use. It doesn't have a key. It has a push button to start it. I did use the seat heaters this weekend when it was cold and think that they are something that I will use.

I've been very surprised by how much I enjoy the sunroof. I'm a sunshine-kind-of-gal and tend to get gloomy in the winter. Open the sunroof and it's just like sitting on the beach.

Of course, I already have gotten the first ding in the door. Soap box -- why can't people be considerate of other folks cars? They cost as much as a house used to cost. It's not hard to take a little care when opening a door. Thankfully, the person who hit the door was a good simaritan and left a note offering to pay for the repair.

Did I say I love my new car?

Trick-or-Treat

GiGi, at www.charmingstation.com, has the cutest in-the-hoop designs. I just fell in love with these pumpkins. We have several young children in the neighborhood who are just like our grands. I made pumpkin pillows to give them for trick-or-treat. One pillow and one piece of candy.

My Babylock Ellisimo (aka Ellie) broke a couple needles today. So, she's going to have to make a trip to the repair shop as the needle threader and needle cutter no longer work. :-(

When Ellie comes back, I'll have to make a couple more pumpkins for DGD's 4 and 5 in NC.

I love quilt retreats!

I spent last weekend at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, GA with ~30 ladies who share my love of quilting. It was called the Runaway Quilter's Retreat and was sponsored by Sweet Home Quilt Co. in Conyers, GA. Melissa Morrison is the owner of Sweet Home and she sure knows how to put on a party.

We had the option of making an Autumn mystery quilt or a Christmas mystery quil. I opt'd for the Christmas quilt and am quite pleased with the result. I have a 3" red border to add to the quilt top and it will be finished... maybe. I'm toying with the idea of an outer border of random Christmas fabrics to make it a little larger. We'll see how it goes.

I'm off to quilt guild this morning. We're making a Christmas quilt, too. This one will be raggy. Can't wait to spend time with fabric friends!

Love my grandbabies

We took a road trip last Thanksgiving to see my Mom. She's in a nursing home in Wilmington, NC. My brother, my son, my son's four children, and I drove from Winston-Salem to Wilmington and back in one day.

I love all my grandchildren. These are the two little ones (Chloe and Kaitlin) with Mom and brother. This was half-way through the trip. I love the look on Chloe's face. It well describes how I felt at this point in the trip... and we had the return leg in front of us.

I don't think we'll try this as a one day trip again.

Kaitlin will be four next week. Happy Birthday, Kaitlin Jane!

It is hard to believe that my baby grandchild will be four years old. They are growing up so fast.

My Awesome Cutting Table

Top on my wish list for my studio was a cutting table. At the beach, I use the bar in the kitchen. It's so nice to have 6' of space to lay out material, rulers, cutters, etc.

Isn't this awesome?

I may never leave the studio. My cutting table is 7' long. The storage cubbies under the bottom are perfect for storing my stabilizer. (They are actually full now!)

As I am filling up my studio, I am cutting and sorting my scraps into "organized" stacks by size. The cutting table makes it a truly enjoyable task. I have two stacks of 5" square scraps. Sounds like it's almost time to start on a scrappy quilt!