Randomday on a Snowy Saturday

It has been cold this past week: chapped lips, cracked dry skin and dried-out sinuses cold, 14 degrees in the mornings. It reminds me of what Ohio winters were like growing up, and what a wimp I've become that I'm not used to it anymore. But in the Northwest, when it gets this cold it usually is clear - no precipitation. Don't ask me why. For whatever reason, most of our snow happens in the 29-32 degree range, and that of course raises the odds of freezing rain when it warms up just slightly above that. So I'm looking out at a road covered with powdery snow and some churches have already cancelled for tomorrow. The children have already had 3 or 4 snow days and Tertia is looking at a lengthened school year. Quarta has spent the day baking cut-out sugar cookies for the Last Noel, scheduled for next Friday (the 13th!)

 Here are four flannel baby quilts that I finished back in November, busting some flannel stash.

 They are made in 2 layers only, no batting, and I back them with flannel and use the inside-out stitch-around way of avoiding having to bind them.

 They're quilted with an allover meander quilting and I don't sweat the puckers.

They're just about the perfect weight and flexibility for swaddling a baby or becoming a "blankie" for a toddler. My mother-in-law gave several similar ones to me when Daniel was born and they were all loved to death.

It would be a great day for soup... unfortunately I made this soup back in November and it's all used up. It's another variation of my standard Pumpkin/greens/potato soup. This time I put a fair amount of rosemary in with the onions and garlic, and it was a batch of mixed greens... I can't remember the other specific details because I waited too long to blog it! But it is a great base for healthy vegetable soup... lots of vitamins in the pumpkin and greens, and you can substitute something less carb-y for the potatoes if you are so inclined. Anyway, we finished up the black bean soup last night and I guess we won't have soup tonight unless Quarta decides to make it instead of pizza. 

Muffball is seated by my side on the sofa arm, distracted by the chirping of the cold little chickadees outside the window. She has managed to keep the long-term flea collar on since I put it on her with such great trauma last month. She is a much sweeter kitty when the fleas are under control, and the vet is a distant memory.

I have not made a lot of progress on the En Provence mystery quilt, but I have finished about 4 blocks this week. I feel like I've made a great deal of progress tidying up the kitchen, though. I am following the Declutter 365 plan so far. I also need to get a little more serious about helathy eating and exercise. I have been doing yoga routines a little with Tertia... she is so hyper-flexible and has such short limbs that she is good at some things, like touching the floor and imitating a pretzel, but she has lots of trouble and gets the giggles on poses that require fine balance and great muscle strength. Tertia getting the giggles is one of the big payoffs of doing yoga with her.

That's all I have for randomday: back to get some more piecing done while Star Trek is on in the background.