A “different” Thanksgiving

Our trip to Seattle was delayed one day because of some heavy snow throughout the northwest. Sure is pretty tho.

After checking the road conditions on 4 different routes that we could take, we picked the one that looked the safest. So, we started out around 10am on Wednesday and drove through some picturesque towns like this one.

The roads conditions were packed snow and ice and we were doing just fine until……… a car travelling next to us in the same direction lost control and hit us.

Now, it doesn’t look that bad, does it? Well, the impact must have done something to the axel because we had no steering control. Called a tow truck and were towed to the nearest Honda dealership. Well, guess what? They don’t do body work at that dealership and were going to refer us to the local yocal’s body shop. Our tow truck driver took Mr. CnW aside and told him we might want to think about taking it someplace else if we wanted to see our car anytime soon.

He then offered to tow us back to Bend. At that point, after dealing with what seemed like hours on the phone with our insurance company, AAA, etc, we just said “YES”! We realized that if the car were to be repaired 3 hours from our home, we’d still have to go get it and then drive back home when it got fixed. With this unpredictable weather, we opted to take the car home.

Everyone we were going to Seattle to visit was pretty upset that we weren’t going to be there for Thanksgiving, and so were we, but it was a decision that just seemed best for us at the time.

So, about 3pm, we started the journey in the tow truck back to Bend. But first, we had to stop so “Don” could get some paperwork at his house and feed the horses!!!

We had 2 other stops along the way so that Don could “buy some chapstick”, and “buy a calculator” to figure out how much we were going to owe him. (guess he didn’t do too well in arithmetic). Along the way, he told us about every accident that he’s responded to in his 65 years on every inch of the highway. Very reassuring, let me tell you!

So, after dropping the car at the body shop and getting a rental car in Bend, it was now about 9pm. We had no food in the house since we weren’t going to be home, so we had to stop at the grocery store. Turkey was out of the question, and neither one of us really cared too much about what we were going to have, so we decided on spaghetti and meatballs and crab bisque soup.

We were very lonesome for our family.

And pouted about it.

But we talked about how thankful we were that no one was hurt and we were safe and sound. Now that deserves a toast!

Cheers!

Hope your Thanksgiving was a bit less “different”.

Hugs, Anne

Tortellini Soup

Disclaimer: I am not trying to be Pioneer Woman! I’ve decided it must take her all day to fix dinner for her family what with staging all the photos. Good grief!

Anyway, here goes…

(I’ll give you the recipe at the end).

Chop up some carrots, onions and zucchini.

Throw them all in a stock pot with some garlic and olive oil.

Cook until tender and then add stewed tomatoes, broth, Italian flat leaf parsley, fresh basil, and baby spinach.

Now let it simmer awhile.

About an hour before you are ready to eat, add frozen tortellini.

And, on a day like this…

Nothing tastes better.

Recipe:

2 T olive oil

4 small cloves garlic

3 cups quartered mushrooms ( I didn’t add them because I don’t like them!)

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped carrots

2 cups chopped zucchini

4 cans (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes

4 cups chicken or veggie broth

4 T chopped fresh basil

4 T chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

8 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and drained

1 package frozen Tortellini

In large stock pot, cook onions, carrots, zucchini and garlic in olive oil until just tender.

Add remaining ingredients (except tortellini) and stir to combine. Cover and let simmer a few hours.

About 1 hour before you are ready to eat, add tortellini to soup mixture.

Sprinkle with some fresh parmesan cheese, serve with salad and bread and you’ve got a yummy winter meal.

Hope you’ll try it. It’s a meal everyone seems to enjoy.

PS… Don’t tell your family, but it’s an old Weight Watcher recipe!

Hugs, Anne

An Emma-ism

Phone call from Emma – age 4

Emma:   “Grammy, I’m going to buy you a Christmas present.”

Grammy:  “You are?  How nice.  Are you going to use the money in your piggy bank?”

Emma:  “NO (she said emphatically), I’m going to use the money in Momma’s piggy bank!”

Out of the mouths of babes.

On another note…. Our house closed yesterday!

We decided to drive to the new lot.  (just to see if it was still there…LOL).  When we got there, the permit box was put in.  

That was very exciting. It means that things are moving right along!

I’m making tortellini soup right now.   I’ll post the recipe for you tomorrow.    It’s so yummy!

Till then…Anne

A finish

Now that the house has sold, I can mess up my sewing room again.   I always thought I wanted a nice and tidy room but I now know that I work better in chaos.    

I hadn’t realized that it had been over a year since I last worked on my Wool Garden block of the month.  And…I only had one more block to go.   So, I got busy this week and finally finished it. 

My friend, Nadine, had changed the border and I really liked what she did, so I borrowed her template for the scallops and now it’s done!   

It sure feels good to get back on track!

Fall Quilt Market

I told you I’d be back.  Thanks to all of you who stopped by to say “hi”.  It means a lot that you didn’t give up on me. 

Well, another Quilt Market has come and gone.  Sometimes it feels like a blur.  This year even more so because it was just Anne and me there handling the duties.   I didn’t get very many pictures because we never really got a chance to get out of the booth.   Here are some pictures of the booth and the quilts of Bunny Hill.

Anne’s newest fabric collection is called Lily and Will II and it is done in the most luscious colors of aqua and yellow.

While I haven’t been sewing for myself much, I did make these quilts for Anne. This first one is called “Cape Cod Baby”. 

Next up… “B is for Baby”

And… “The More the Merrier”

I also did all the machine applique on “The Night before Christmas”.  Cute new Block of the Month, huh?

I also made another color variation of “The More the Merrier” for the Moda booth.   I got so tickled seeing it displayed there.  Wow….I made a quilt that’s hanging at Moda!  That’s Bob, Lissa, and Diane.  Bob and Diane are married Moda reps who I met when I worked at Sew Many Quilts here in Bend.   Lissa is the genius Marketing Director for Moda.  They are all so cute!

Look who our next door neighbor was. Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs!!!  I’d say we were in good company, wouldn’t you?  Her booth won 1st place for a single booth.   I wish you could have seen her laying on the floor during set up, with her nail gun putting the walls together for the booth.  Barb was only there the opening day.  She had to go back to work.  Boo Hiss work!

Our neighbors on the other side were the hilarious Barb and Mary of “Me and my Sister” designs.  We had so much fun with them.

Our section was loaded with such talented designers like Laurie and Polly of Minnick and Simpson.

Kate Spain with her new line of fabric, “Central Park”.  Check out the darling plates on the table.  They are made using Kate’s designs and sold at Crate and Barrel.  She also designs greeting cards that are sold at Target.  Quite a talented young lady.  And…she’s as nice as she is talented.

Another special and talented designer is Deb Strain.   I’m always excited to see what new paper products she’s come out with.

Check out Jan Patek with her friend and helper Jenny.   They were having such a good time.   You would have thought it was Halloween or something! LOL

More pictures of her booth.   These are all so “my” style.   I wanted to move in.

This is Sandy Klop of “American Jane”.  I’ve known her since my California days.  She’s the best!

And here’s Kathy Schmitz with her wonderful stitchery designs.   I met her for the first time at Spring Market and she’s the kind of person who makes you feel like you’ve known her your whole life.  Such a sweetie.

And, winner of 2nd place, single booth, was Karla Eisenach of “Sweetwater”.  This was the first time I had met her but one night when we went to dinner with her I discovered that she used to be the brains behind “Farmyard Creations” quilts and doll patterns.  I was so excited because I think I still have all her patterns!  From Farmyard Creations, she went into scrapbook paper design with her daughters and now with Moda and fabric designs.  A very creative family there!

Then…anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Lynn Hagmeier’s Kansas Troubles fabric and patterns.   Her booth always feels like home to me.   This year was no exception with her new  “Perennials”  fabric.   I picked up a fat pack at Sample Spree and it’s just as wonderful as all her other lines.  

It was so good to see Mary (Mary’s Cottage Quilts) along with her friend, Val.  They are always such fun.  Don’t you just love Mary’s smile?   And her quilts too, of course.

And, last but not least, I quickly grabbed my camera when I walked past Buggy Barn’s newest creation.   The quilt is called “Farm Fresh” and I just fell in love with it.  

So, that’s it for another Quilt Market.  It’s so much work but so much fun.  So much creativity under one roof. It never ceases to amaze me!

On another note, Linda is having a giveaway.   It’s an Accuquilt GO!   Go on over there and enter to win.   Those little machines were huge at Market.  

So, if you made it to the end…congratulations.    Whew…this blogging thing is tiring.  Just Kidding. 

See ya later.

Hi

Remember me?    Sorry I’ve been gone so long.   Had a bit of a rough year but things are looking up and I’m ready to take you on a journey.   

 

First of all, I have to thank all of you that checked up on me the last few months.  You’ll never know how much that meant to me.  Things were chaotic around here and I just didn’t have anything to blog about.   Well, I did…but you probably wouldn’t have been interested in my super clean house and my complete meltdowns.    That was due to the fact that we put our house on the market in March and it finally sold a few weeks ago.  

This is all a good thing.   We decided to stay in Bend and downsize and after looking at a million (at least) re-sale houses, we decided to build exactly what we want.  

Funny thing.  The house is pretty much a smaller version of our current house.   The whole design process with the architect was so much fun.  We both thought it would be stressful, but so far, so good.   The plans will go to the city for permits next week and we might be able to break ground the first part of December.   The best part of it all?  The buyers have agreed to let us rent back until next May when, hopefully, construction will be completed! 

Here’s the lot and view.

See the mountains?  That’s what I will look at from my sewing room!   Yippee.   

So, I’ll be taking you on the home building journey.  We’ll be there the day they break ground and all the days thereafter.

Next up:  pictures of Quilt Market.   And after that, I’ll show you pictures from the past 8 months or so.