Thanksgiving with Family

Time has flown by, and so did a Thanksgiving visit from our Kansas City family. Between preparation for their too-short five-day stay, and returning our house to normal post-visit, more than a week has passed quickly!

My sewing room undergoes a big changeover whenever more than two people come to visit. Granddaughter Celina slept here.

I was happy to make up the air mattress with my recently-finished Cascade quilt. 

And I was more than thrilled when she said "yes" to my question, "Would you like this quilt?"

I even managed to whip up a label, sew it on, and happily send the quilt back to Kansas City with our daughter, for Celina to get the next time she returns home from college.

They drove here, traveling with their ten-pound dog Milson. We all liked having him around.

We played a lot during their short visit: Boccé ball, shuffleboard, swimming, archery, UNO, geography, Clue, Catapult, a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, and chess. Nine year-old Aesa is definitely the family game-player, and game-winner!

Not surprisingly, it's golf carting that everyone most enjoys. We used both our two-passenger cart, and a rented four-passenger cart during their visit. 

Since Celina turns 21 years-old on Monday, and Tay and Aesa had October and November birthdays, we shared birthday/welcome-to-Nana-and-Bapa's presents. For some reason, we decided to pull out "touchdown Santa," a family favorite Christmas piece that hasn't seen use since living in Iowa. 

While Santa presided, gift-opening was just like Christmas!

This is when I gifted zippered snack bags to the kids. I love making these!

A couple months ago, I asked which candies were favorites, bought them, saved the bag contents, turned them into fabric-lined zippered bags, and refilled them with the candies. 

In case you missed my earlier blog post about these, you can find video tutorials on Youtube, like this one. To make mine, I use glossy fusible vinyl from JoAnn Fabrics.

We're glad the weather cooperated during their visit, so we could enjoy sunshine days. I know they all thought it would be difficult to return home. For Celina, that was going back to college in cold Colorado!

Tay, daughter Jill, and Aesa

I've completed three audiobooks since my last blog post.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman is a story about three children whose parents have forbidden them to do many things, including wear black or use an Ouija board. From experience, their mother knows the power of magic - how it can hurt and kill people, even those she loves. She wants to prevent their involvement in magic, however, the kids being to discover their undeniable, innate abilities. During a visit to their aunt's home, they learn what they're capable of. I thought this was a strange story, but perhaps my impression is such because, to me, stories about magic aren't believable. Well, other than the old TV show "Bewitched." :-)

Linda's score: 2.8/5.0

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a sad look into the conditions of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942. When Lale, a Slovakian Jew, is delivered by cattle car to the camp, he discovers what he must do to remain alive, while trying to help other prisoners. Becoming the camp tattooist - carving permanent numbers into the skin of new camp arrivals - puts him in a highly visible position, but one where he can collect information and ask for more. He meets Gita, the woman of his dreams when he tattoos a number on her arm, and together they vow to survive and make a life for themselves after the war.

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0


If you're interest in a book about books, then I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel is the book for you. Anne is an author herself, and a fanatical reader who delves into the why's of reading - what we learn, how we choose books to read, where we go to get our books, and who should and should not be recommending titles to you, or anyone else! (ME!!) This is a short read, but packed with mentions about books you might want to add to your reading list, so keep a pen and paper handy for jotting down titles!

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

Are you doing any online shopping over this Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend? I didn't miss the chance to buy some needed quilt backing fabrics, and a couple reproduction pieces to finish one of my grandmother's quilt tops. I sure don't need to be making more quilts, so I treated myself to some knit fabrics for leggings and tops - clothes for myself. We'll see how long it takes until I return to quiltmaking! Linda