By Golly I Did It

For a couple of years now I've been mentally circling the wagons trying to figure out how to mount the stained glass in front of existing indoor windows. They used to hang from hooks outdoors on a frame but this didn't work too well because of high winds so I searched for a way to hang them inside.

You know how it is sometimes when a simple task slowly becomes monumental?

Last night I had that eureka moment--of course I know how to hang them.

I had on hand some hooks meant for light fixtures,drilled some holes above the windows, inserted the hooks snugly and now the little beauties are fastened in place.

Actually they're not that pretty but I bought them at an auction years ago and I'm sentimentally attached to them. They're simple and sturdy and just meant for staring through the glass to daydream.

Here's the one in the sewing room



And here's the one in the family room. See, you can still spot winter out there but the color makes it much more appealing.



While I was at it, I tidied up my fabric stash in the sewing room.



This is the first landscape I ever made, entirely out of fabric. It calls for tiny scraps of fabric to stitch together, no mean feat when you have stubby fingers like mine.



This turned out to be a productive snowy Sunday after all.

The Party's Over

The birthday party has come and gone after a week's delay.

They were invited to bring along the dog so that meant stashing the cats away in case it wasn't a friendly merger.

Here is the birthday girl looking as beautiful as the day she married my lucky son. That's her middle child beside her.



The cake was a success. This marks the rare occcasion when I make something completely from scratch and that should take care of the urge for quite some time.



So, now that the party is over and the house is back to normal I'll return to my premature spring cleaning and finish turning out drawers and closets.

The orchids pretty well take care of themselves and seem to love the weather and I love them so we are the best of friends.

So This Is Winter

I really liked the fall-like weather lasting through most of December and into January. Eventually though, winter caught up with us and it zeroed in on the day I was preparing to hold a special party for my daughter by marriage, Miss Lorrie.

That girl got cheated for years because she was born into a family who celebrated the Ukrainian New Year falling two days after she was born, so she was lucky if she saw a birthday cake.

This was going to be a birthday-only celebration,and hats with with "Happy New Year" emblazoned on them were firmly excluded.

I found a great slow cooker recipe for a loin of pork heavily laced with barbecue spices mixed with jellied cranberry sauce. Oven roasted mini potatoes, fresh green beans with toasted filberts, a killer home-made coleslaw and a fabulous Black Forest birthday cake. A feast.

However the morning of the big day the snow fell, the ice pellets fell and it wasn't a time to seriously consider driving anywhere, especially when there is a puppy left at home who has to go out to pee every four hours or less.

We postponed until next Sunday. I called in the troops up the block to slide down the icy street and come eat what was already cooked but I froze the custard/cherries filling along with the cake and they were a demonstrably sad about that.

I feel a bit like Miss Faversham as the table sits pristine with only visits from the cats who like to curl up for a nap around a place setting.
Until I discover them.


At least there aren't any mice.