Day of rest . . .

It has been a busy couple weeks - or maybe months - so today is a day of rest - and I mean absolute rest. A totally, lazy day of doing nothing - unless writing this counts and it doesn't.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." - John Lubbock

My Christmas Cactus is blooming again - I love it when that time of year rolls around. It blooms heavy between now and Christmas and then keeps on until about the end of March. The original plant belonged to my grandmother whom I never knew as she passed long before I was born. Her plant was at my aunt's for years and one of my cousins started these over the years for all of the cousins who wanted one.

The new carpet is in. It is a very neutral light sand color pretty close to what shows here without any hint of pink. I have never lived in a house long enough to replace carpet before so I didn't realize just how much work it is to get ready. We packed up all three rooms - living room, dining room, and family room - and stored that stuff out of the way. The piano movers came to move the piano and then had to come back to move it back. The big stuff like couches, chairs, china closet (empty), etc were moved and put back by the carpet guys. All of the packed stuff isn't back yet - looks much better without all of that clutter so that inspires me to really get serious about thinning things out.

The old carpet was an off white berber and it has been 18 years since we had it installed. It was installed when I moved here from Denver before Bob and I got married. Bob had "bachelor remnants" that he used before Carol arrived on the scene. We loved the berber, but with this we are asking ourselves why we waited so long. That is a good sign. One thing for sure, if this carpet last 18 years, we will not be here when it is replaced.

Quick report . . .

What happened to this wonderful week? Here is a quick report of great events and I will add pictures later . . . too busy to capture all of the fun.

The carpeting was all installed by Tuesday end of day. It is much nicer than I had even thought possible. I haven't taken any pictures that were worthy of posting, but I will try to do that. The roofers worked through Wednesday - lots of pounding - but didn't work yesterday or today. That is good and bad - the quiet is good - the cold and snow might beat them to the finish line and that is bad.

Our turkey day was perfect. I roasted the turkey in the new gas oven on convection. Amazing. It was done perfectly - brown all over with a crispy outside and very moist inside. Normally I roast turkey in a bag so this was a first for me. We had lots of family here and a great day - of course we all ate too much - but what else should we do. There is so much to be thankful for and the best part was the blessing given by Weston who is 6. Perfect!

Today the garage doors were changed out and they look nice. My good friend, Betty, and I went to lunch (salad) and to a large craft show at the fairgrounds. I learned about "shirret" - a combination of crochet and shirred strips of upcycled wool that makes a gorgeous rug. I also saw some beautiful redone vintage jewelry. I only bought a couple things.

This morning, I realized I needed to cancel a wonderful workshop I had registered to take the end of January. It was for a two day retreat with the Art and Stitch developers at Sharon Schamber's studio in Payson, AZ. It is a long story, but it is not going to work out for me. They have a long wait list so it did not cause any problems - except to me. To "dry my tears" I ordered an iPad. More on that later.

Crazy day . . .

The roofers are going full force now. They are shoveling off the old shake shingles and getting ready for the new ones. They should be done by the end of next week. Bob came out of one of the "throne rooms" today remembering that there is a skylight in there and they were taking the shingles off on that section. Oh, my - glad it wasn't me!

Then the piano movers came and moved my piano. They are good - and quick. It is now resting on its side in the "round room" in the bedroom part of the house. It will stay there - out of the way - until Wednesday morning.

The carpet layers came next with lots of carpet and pad and got started. The "old guy" bent over with the drill is my Bob adding some screws to the subfloor once they removed the old carpet and pad. He said he thought there was a couple places he wanted to tighten up. Bob built the house himself so he likes to make sure it is tight.

And then I had a great lunch with my good neighbor and friend in town. We had a lively discussion about everything - always good.

Also, I actually got in a bit of studio time.

An "ah-ha" . . .

How is it that I can live so long and stay so stupid? Do you ever feel that way? I have an amazing "ah-ha" these past few days. It is about truth - what is a person's truth? Can truth be situational? Sometimes people are raised to say whatever is needed to survive . . . to fit the situation. I just now realized that no matter what anyone says (even a parent) it might be their truth at that time, but it doesn't have to be mine. I am the holder of my own truth. How did it take me this long to figure that out? I feel sad, but strong.

"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." Albert Einstein

Vegetable day . . .

It was a day to be a vegetable - cozy in the chair - fixing some computer stuff - reading - catching up on phone calls with friends and family. We had about 8 inches of new snow overnight.

I had hoped to be in the studio, but this is the day the roofing company started putting on the new shingles. They left ours go (with a nice financial incentive) until cold weather as we have shake shingles. It is a new roof thanks to the hail storm of June 2010. The insurance company and the roofing company negotiated most of the summer and then the roofing company wanted to get as many asphalt roofs done in warm weather as possible.

So today they started - now there was about 8 inches of new snow there, but they cleared all of that and even shoveled the decks afterwards. And then the pounding began - of course they started on the garage and my studio is on the second floor over the garage - way too noisy to get creative.

Tomorrow is the big football rivalry game - Montana State plays Montana - here and it is going to be a high of 18 degrees with wind chills below zero and more new snow. Not for me! My son is going with Bob in my place.

The picture is from Walker who was here yesterday. He has taken over my rocking chair and has his favorite Cow and Monkey with him, a package of fruit chews and is watching Little Einsteins - his favorite. He is 2 and a half, so independent and so much fun.

Wednesday evening . . .

We had a great day yesterday - a good visit with Bob's sister and hubby in Missoula before heading home. The roads weren't too bad and it was good to get home.

The guys came to put in the tile backsplash in the kitchen, back kitchen and little bathroom. Here is a picture of it in the back kitchen. It has a decorator inset in the main kitchen with some glass tile, but I will share more pictures once they come back and finish the grout and I get better pictures. The tile has a metallic glaze so it is hard to get a good picture.

I did get up to do some quilting. I am working on a wallhanging for a good friend and customer and enjoying the work. I have a wonderful quilt shop sample up next so I am anxious to get to it.

The little guys came out at noon and stayed until this evening and it was good to wee them. It had been a couple weeks since they have been here so it is always a fun time. Weston is mesmerized by spiders and today we found out that most spiders have 8 eyes. He is anxious to get back to his kindergarten class tomorrow to share that little tidbit.

On our way home . . .

We left at 6:30 this morning from the downtown area of Portland. So sad to leave - so sad to leave - those wonderful two people we love so much. It was a wonderful three days!

Of course there was rain - lots of it as we drove through the Columbia River Gorge. And then the rain stopped near The Dalles and the wind blew - hard - until Spokane. Then the wind stopped just east of Spokane and the snow began. We drove over Lookout Pass between Idaho and Montana and the roads were "somethin' else". Snow and ice covered the road, no chains were yet required for towing units as they climbed and the semi's were starting to stack up helter skelter on the road and off just like toy trucks. Whew - so glad we got through and then did the slip and slide down the Montana side of the pass.

We stopped here in Missoula for the night and then on toward home tomorrow after a quick visit with Bob's sister and hubby to see their new house.

I am anxious to get home - lots of ideas for creation.

Cool and raining . . .

This morning there was almost some sunshine (just lighter cloud cover really), so I took out for a walk to capture some of the gorgeous colors right around where Roy lives. These pictures were taken right across the street from where Roy and Meagan live. I am so impressed with what Mother Nature does with color - knocks me over every time.

Then we went out to a great breakfast place called "Genie's". It was the best breakfast - I always like a traditional egg, potato, toast, bacon kind of breakfast. This was the best. The eggs were perfect and the bacon was thick and crisp with just a hint of chewy. The potatoes were red potato chunks from the oven and the toast was sprouted wheat. I loved every bite, but had to leave a little behind as it was way more than I could eat. If you are ever in Portland and want a fantastic breakfast place, try this one. Just get there before 10 on weekends if you don't want to wait too long. We didn't have to wait at 9:30, but when we left an hour later, the were lots and lots of folks waiting for a table. It is an easy, relaxed environment. This picture is of Roy and Meagan with Meagan being silly - she is a fun little girl with lots of creative spirit.

After breakfast we did some window shopping and actual shopping in the Sellwood area just south of where Roy lives. We really enjoyed this fun shop with pieces by various artists.

Later we went to the movie "Puss In Boots" - good flick. Meagan had already seen it, but wanted to be sure we saw it with her so she enjoyed it a second time.

Tomorrow morning we leave this beautiful city and head back to the snow country. It has been a short trip - but one of the best.

Fun in Portland . . .

We have been in Portland, OR the past couple days. It has been a really quick trip to visit with our son, Roy and granddaughter, Meagan. Yesterday we took in the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville. It was amazing! Of course the "Spruce Goose" is there, but that is just one of the wonderful planes - old and new - as well as space craft - beautifully displayed with excellent documentation. It was a great day.

Today we did a little shopping - Toys R Us, Globe Lighting and Ikea. And then we had to go to lunch out at one of Meagan's favorite places for her milkshake with jelly worms. Tomorrow it is a movie and another favorite meal out.

We have just one more day here and then we head for home. We took a couple days to get here - stopped in Missoula on our way for lunch with Bob's sister as it was her birthday and then we had a great dinner out with friends in Spokane where we spent the night.

The colors are gorgeous here - lots of leaves falling in all colors. It has rained almost continuously since we arrived.

It is always good to get away.