Farm Auction

Saturday we went to a farm auction. The farmer wanted to bid on a grain truck. I went along to entertain him while he stood in the cold until his item came up for bid. I like looking at the old equipment and the faces of the crowd. The auctioneer gets to sit in a booth on the back of a pickup, protected from the weather.
He has a microphone and loudspeaker so everyone can hear his chatter. There is a second man who stands atop the piece of equipment being auctioned and spots the bidders in the crowd. It moved along fairly quickly. To entertain myself, I took pictures. The bright purple silk scarf caught my eye...I wonder if his wife bought it for him. Perhaps she is a quilter, too. We did not buy the truck we came for, but it was a fun afternoon.

Red Wine in Progress

Did I remember to tell you the red wine is fermenting on our kitchen island. It is a beautiful rosy red color. Hopefully it will taste as good as it looks.

I am is search of a pattern and fabric choices for the quilt I promised Diane for Christmas. I haven't found the ah-ha yet.

Tucker is begging for attention, drooling over pretzels as a potential treat. He goes nuts over a dropped ice cube. He is lovable but not very bright.

Spring waiting

I can't wait to have warm days and green fields. It comes so slowly. A day here and there is warm, then it freezes again at night. Someday.

We are watching the coverage of the passage of the health care bill. It is so big, its hard to know what is in it, or to predict the impact it will have. I still think it is a good thing. I don't know what health care will look like as you begin your practices. I know you will be great physicians.

Don't be afraid of the future, just do what you can in your sphere of influence to make the world a better place.

No sewing this week. I am trying to catch up on other things. I finished my part of the project I promised Mom. Three early morning meetings took a bite out of my free time. I scheduled my board exam for the 29th. I decided to just do it. If I need to retake it, I will. Lance's shop is done enough to be used. He still has to make his cupboards and workbench but all the machinery has arrived and is up and running. It is exciting. I will have pictures soon.

Here is another shot of spring from Mom's garden. We had sunshine today instead of fog...hooray! We had a fabric rep at the quilt shop (salesperson) showing us the newest Hoffman fabrics. There were some pretty batik bundles that I think Laura ordered. She also picked a contemporary turquoise and silver winter group. I spent the afternoon trying to recut McKenna Ryan (art quilt) kits. I t was hard because we no longer have all of the original fabrics, so we have to make substitutions. Later, I helped pick out fabric for a baby quilt. Some people have a particular baby in mind, others just like to have one on hand as a gift.

I promised Mom help with a project, so no quilting for me this week. I need help on how to put a photo from iphoto into a document in textedit without the photo being huge. I also need to know how to rearrange the sequence of photos in one event. Sigh. It takes me a long time to do what should be easy.

Tomorrow is a 7 am meeting. I wish we didn't need sleep. I would get so much more done. The farmer has a way of always doing what needs to be done and not getting lost on bunny trails. I love bunny trails more than doing what needs to be done. I'm not really a grown-up on the inside, I just pretend to be.

I'm home

It was a good week visiting with Mom. Diane came down one day and it was nice enough for us to go check out the garden. Mom and Diane have planted all the daffodils and tulips and hyacinths that are coming up. Lance put extra sprinklers into the existing water system last summer.

Mom's vision and hearing are not very good, and she is all muscle with no fat. She still takes pleasure in the people who come by, and uses Wednesday for "her correspondence."

The staff at The Bridge love and admire her for who she is and how gracefully she accepts aging.
She has a new project for me. It should be fun, and a learning experience. I will say no more until it is done. Chris has a website if you want to know more about him. He is into Japanese fly fishing. Check out www.tenkarabum.com. There is an "about me" tab that has his picture as well. He looks very much like my father did once upon a time.

Mom loves her Christmas calendar and has it beside her kitchen table, where she spends much of her time. Sitting with her, I can see a resemblance between Mom and you all. Neat!

Hoar Frost

La-La found me on Facebook last night and said hello. Oh my goodness...who knew? Well, of course you all do. It was a wonderful surprise. I promised her a picture of hoar frost and one of the quilt for Jessica. It has been foggy here all week. The frost builds up on everything. Then, this morning it rained. Now we have a layer of ice on everything. I hear spring is coming, but I remain doubtful. Thank heavens for a bright quilt to work on!

I am leaving tomorrow to visit Mom. I will keep in touch but will leave the computer at home. I did pick up some fabric from the shop for show and tell. I promised my sister a quilt for Christmas, but she has to pick out the fabric and pattern. It will be fun.

Salut

This was the blanket of snow draped over the roof behind the garage. It finally melted enough to break free yesterday. We have had day after day of fog. The white on white is getting old.
Lance has finished with the white wine, and has started on the red. It brings a whole new language into our lives. We sat and drank some last night, and he was pleased and satisfied that he could start by planting the grapes himself and end with a drinkable glass of wine. Cool!

This next week, I will be in Colorado visiting Mom. It always feels odd to step out of one life and back into another one. Perhaps you feel this way when you visit Mom too! Hmmm. I understand.