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Our cold winter weather has turned to pouring rain and the snow is all but washed away.  The lake is getting filled and the forest is being revived.

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1.  The hushed silence of falling snow
2.  German potato salad
3.  Nick got a job offer that he's pleased about

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1.  An owl hooting right above me in the aspens when I went out to fill the feeders first thing this morning
2.  Banana pancakes
3.  Long hair

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1.  A bleak wintery day, perfect for staying in and sewing
2.  A new cutter blade to go with my new mat, it's like I've gone to heaven!
3. Stacey enjoyed her baby shower

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1.  My new cutting mat arrived -- what a luxury!
2.  Successful resolution with Joanne's dead car battery
3.  Applique birds coming along nicely

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1.  Tiny chipmunks at the feeder
2.  New shoes
3.  Leftover chicken for supper -- an easy night in the kitchen

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1.  I accidently slept in late this morning -- felt good!
2.  Hot strong coffee and quiet concentration
3.  I have everything I could possibly need

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1.  Good trip to the market, things there are getting back to normal after the onslaught of holiday tourists
2.  Lunch at the lake
3.  I have my calendar in order for the next month or so, looking forward to my time

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1.  A warm shower easing my arthritis aches
2.  Finding time to read my new books from Christmas
3.  We're getting a good winter storm with plenty of snow, much needed for the forest and lake

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1.  My cough/cold is very much improved
2.  Dave has a new job offer that he's considering
3.  A few minutes more of daylight in the afternoons

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Nancy Pelosi

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1.  I'm off to a good start with new quilting plans
2.  Temps above freezing today, so some of the ice can begin to melt
3.  Bowls of hot chili and slabs of cornbread, a perfect winter supper
4.  Orion high above the trees

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1.  New calendars -- I especially like the quilty one hanging over my desk
2.  Cedar-sage soap
3.  Big Bear's float in the Rose Parade
4.  Lentil soup and nesselrode pie
5.  Holiday décor is down and the house is back to normal
6.  The tourists are leaving and the valley will be calm and quiet again

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1.  Record-breaking cold today, and we got to stay home and be cozy
2.  Enzo is doing well with potty training!
3.  I'm looking forward to my To-Do project list for the new year

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1.  New snow overnight -- a lovely white Christmas
2.  Hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps
3.  It's a Wonderful Life

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Delivering Christmas cookies to their neighbors

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I woke up this morning with the most wonderful sense of MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Not just for holiday preparations, but for life in general.  Hard to explain -- just a feeling of not seeking anything more, but rather living in this moment and being satisfied.  Nothing more is needed.

Acceptance, closure, peace ...

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And so the Shortest Day came and the year died

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, revelling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,

This Shortest Day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And now so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day

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Enjoyed sitting outside at dusk with mulled wine watching the stars come out.

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1.  Nick and Stacey's move went well, and they're delighted with their new house
2.  I finished lots of stuff on my to-do list today: mailing cards, sewing pillowcases, wrapping, menu plans and grocery list …
3.  Bright moonlight

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1.  Nick and Stacey closed escrow on their new house!
2.  Delivered quilts and diapers to Doves
3.  Pizza and Monday Night Football

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1.  Last night's chapter in our annual cavalcade of holiday movies: A Charlie Brown Christmas and Scrooge, A Christmas Carol.  We've seen these both so many times we can recite them word for word!
2.  Did a few quick errands, and the stores weren't too crazy
3.  Tamales for supper -- Las Posadas

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1.  Baked Christmas cookies and marzipan bread today -- yum!
2.  Received a nice surprise dividend check from a life insurance policy of Mother's that we didn't even know she'd had
3.  The cloudy skies cleared, and we were able to do some Geminid meteor watching

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1.  I saw a big bright meteor first thing this morning!
2.  Happy hour in the sunshine on the front porch
3.  Arancini for St. Lucia Day

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1.  A pair of Clark's Nutcrackers at the feeder this morning -- an infrequent sighting
2.  Packages arriving daily
3.  Popcorn

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1.  I've been sleeping well recently, and waking up feeling rested and comfortable
2.  Cinnamon toast
3.  Christmas lights twinkling up and down the road

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1.  A gray moody wintery day -- felt soothing and quiet
2.  A Starbuck's Juniper Latte while out shopping … it was *interesting*
3.  Monday Night Football and warm-from-the-oven chocolate ship cookies

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1.  The pleasant hours we've spent watching the birds and critters at the feeders
2.  Making good progress planning and prepping my bird applique blocks
3.  A cheerful dinner at Sizzler

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1.  Our snow removal plows do a good job of keeping the valley safe
2.  Two coyotes right outside the windows this morning, one with a mouse tail dangling out of his mouth -- yum, breakfast!
3.  Potato soup and rye bread for lunch -- definitely in 'winter' mode here

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1.  Got my amaryllis bulb planted
2.  Tasty dinner - pork tenderloin plus apple pie
3.  A sleety wintery cozy stay-at-home day

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1.  Good mail today -- both my book order and the Quiltfolk calendar arrived, and also this month's Food Network magazine
2.  My cute yard rabbits
3.  An especially nice lunch at BJ's

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1.  I packed up this Christmas quilt and mailed it off to Nick and Stacey -- a touch of holiday spirit for their new home.  I made it last year, before we knew we were looking forward to a girl, and now I think the pink Christmas quilt was meant to be for them!

2.  Peppermint soap

3.  Peppermint schnapps 

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Aaah, look who's being cute again today!

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1.  New calendar pages -- how did December get here so soon?
2.  Holiday home decorating has commenced!
3.  Kicking off the month with Elf and popcorn!

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1.  Outside Christmas lights and decor done today, ahead of our big storm coming in tomorrow.  We usually get everything up the day after Thanksgiving, but couldn't because of the window replacement project yesterday.
2.  Lunch at the beach
3.  Nick and Stacey have movers scheduled for Dec 19

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1.  Orange marmalade
2.  An uninterrupted day working in my sewing room
3.  Window replacement project complete!

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1.  A very frosty morning!
2.  House is discombobulated -- window replacement tomorrow
3.  I'm getting so close to being done with quilty UFOs, I can start some awesome new projects soon

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1.  Got all the autumn décor put away, and I'll be ready to start decorating for Christmas later this week
2.  Finishing up leftovers
3.  Glowing moonlight

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What a difference a year makes!

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1.  A big accident out at the stop sign -- at least one car totaled, probably two -- but amazingly no one was badly injured
2.  The house is ready for Enzo and Lucci!
3.  The full moon

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• LEO

Trust that you can feel confident and competent with a skill or task without qualification. Sure, theres always room for improvement with anything, but it's likely that you recently worked very hard at mastering something that seemed impossible at first. You've earned your delight.

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Making MORE applesauce today -- the house smells lovely and fruity!

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1.  Venus was brilliant this morning
2.  Nice chat with Nick
3.  OUTSTANDING game on Monday Night Football!

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november 18

cloudy, dark and windy.

Walking by flashlight

at six in the morning,

my circle of light on the gravel

swinging side to side,

coyote, raccoon, field mouse, sparrow,

each watching from darkness

this man with the moon on a leash.

WINTER MORNING WALKS 

 TED KOOSER

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1.  Coyotes howling and answering all across the valley this morning, a real symphony!
2.  Last picking of apples for the season -- five more buckets full! We have as many as we possibly need, so the rest will stay on the trees to feed the birds and critters over the winter
3.  Enjoyed going to the Performing Arts Center this evening to see "Wait Until Dark"

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1.  Morning wildlife:  an owl hooting right outside just before daylight, a coyote loping purposefully along the fence, three squirrels at once munching on sunflower seeds at the feeder 

2.  We've been enjoying a big kettle of pasta fagioli for lunch this week, hearty and savory now that the weather has turned cold

3.  It's fun to do some pretend window shopping -- holiday mail order catalogs arriving daily 

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Nick and Stacey's baby!

Granddaughter, arriving in February :)

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1.  The wind has died down
2.  I got so much accomplished in my workroom today!
3.  Very much enjoyed seeing Bohemian Rhapsody

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1.  FINALLY back in business with my big Singer machine, since the beginning of October!  Getting things like that resolved is challenging here in the middle of noplace :)
2.  Laughing with Tony -- after more than 40 years together, we know each other's punch lines!
3.  November dusk falling in the grove across the road

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WWI flying aces on Veterans Day

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1.  Pecan pancakes
2.  We baked frissenes and the house is scented with anise.
3.  The glittering stars

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1.  Enjoyed fresh-from-the-oven donuts and coffee at the new shop on Moonridge Road
2.  Starting to plan holiday décor and activities :)
3.  Appreciating my warm cozy sweatshirt this cold evening

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1.  The silence and solitude of early morning
2.  New orange-clove soap
3.  Getting very cold overnight now -- they started snowmaking at the resorts

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1.  The musty aroma of fallen leaves.
2.  Birdseed on sale at Butchers Block, and we go through a lot of it!
3.  Feather pillows and bright quilts -- I've been sleeping well

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While yesterday's election results weren't quite as much as I had hoped for, they are more than enough to stem the tide of evil and corruption that's been drowning this nation for the past two years.  Checks and balances are now in place once again.  To be sure, healing and rebuilding will take place exceedingly slowly, but at least the direction has been reversed.  

Today I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned, and for the triumph of the power of good over evil. 

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Election Day

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Hope

Lessons I've been trying to learn and embrace during this abominable era in our nation's history:

1.  Have patience and faith in our society's institutions: depend on democracy, the rule of law, the Constitution.

2.  Have compassion for those who feel the need to act with hatred and ugliness.  Try to understand why they need to conduct themselves that way, and try to perhaps see how I might be instrumental in helping them experience a different version of their lives.

3.  Understand who my friends and allies are.  Be forgiving.  Share love and kindness.  Be humble and generous.

4.  Dig deep and know my own heart and soul … discover what I believe and why; what I might be willing to consider for compromise, and where I need to draw my line and say no.  Maintain personal sense of honor and self-respect.

5.  Paz y amor

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1.  Last dark morning!  Clocks turn back an hour tonight!
2.  Freshly baked rye bread
3.  First load of leaves raked

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1.  Cross-stitching in the sunroom
2.  We really enjoyed sandwiches from Jersey Mike's
3.  A peaceful evening -- early to bed

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1.  Orion is back!  I love the winter constellations :)
2.  My new glasses are excellent
3.  Halloween décor and kids' toys put away -- the house is calm again

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Best Halloween I've had since I was in grade school!!

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Enzo likes his desk

Lucci likes to eat

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