Hello February!

 January seemed to go on forever! I'm hoping February will be kinder. Steph tries to come in for my birthday, and this year Dan is coming with her. Weather permitting. 

 I love these calendars! Steph did this years, so she, Manda, Heather and I all have the same calendar. That and the family chat on whatsapp make us all feel closer, even with Steph and Dan, Manda and Ben and kids being 3000 miles away.

I've finished the body of Sally 2.0, and I'm working on the tail. Then all that will be left will be her expression.

 

The  look on the star's face is what I'm aiming for. I'm thinking 3 strands of embroidery floss. 

Lunch with Frank and Charlotte today is Applebee's. I'm thinking chicken tenders and a house salad. I'd bought a package of frozen smash burgers from Walmart grocery, and we made them on the George Forman grill last night, with fries in the air fryer. The burgers came out really well, and I'll get them again. We each had one with cheese, and I was teasing Ralph that 30 years ago he'd have had at least 2, possibly 3.  

January is on the way out the door!

 Has it been January forever? It sure seems like it,  and I'm glad to see it gone.

 This is our current fireplace. It was wood burning when we bought the house, and years ago we had it converted to gas. It's been rarely used for a couple of reasons. When it's on, it makes the rest of the house colder. And Ralph would have me move everything ten feet away for fear of burning the house down. I love the mantle, it's got Valentine Gnomes on it and some birds.

So I contacted Reilly, who is engaged to one of my many great nephews, and works in The Fireplace Store, to see if we can convert it again, to electric this time. She sent me some brochures.

 I like this look. I would not change my brick, but I like the insert, so I just texted her pix with measurements. The process isn't mission critical, to quote Ralph, but I'd like to get it going.

I made more progress on Sally 2.0 last night, and hope to finish her today or tomorrow so I can get working on the Valentine's Day wreath. 

And I downloaded a couple of Melt the Ice hat patterns, so that may be the next crochet project.  

 

 

Brrrr

 It was  5 this morning, and now it's up to 12! Yikes! A good day to stay in. I just placed a Walmart grocery order to be delivered thi afternoon. 

Sally 2.0 is moving along. I'm watching Murder in a Small Town on Hulu while crocheting. 

I can't even watch any of the news shows, I'm so filled with rage at what the Melon Felon is doing to this country. This whole ice (they don't deserve to be capitalized) is so upsetting and maddening. I hope I live long enough to see the modern version of the Nuremberg Trials. From the newest "officer" right up to the Melon Felon, they need to be in jail forever for murder. And kudos to Bruce Springsteen for his new anthem. Like Ohio by CSN&Y after the Kent State shootings, only worse.

 

Deep breaths. Back to crafts. I got this kit from Shabby Fabrics, a store in Idaho that I buy a lot from. Yesterday I cut the strips, using my new stripology ruler. Did them all in a flash! 

A Finish!

 Yesterday I finished binding the tree skirt, and made the ties and attached them. So it's done!

 Despite the less than great directions, I'm very happy with how it turned out, and Steph loves it. I've been putting daily progress pics up on our family chat. 

We had a nice lunch out at Amy's Omelette House with Ken and Arlene, longtime friends. The omelette's there use like 5 eggs, and I'll get at least 3 meals from mine. The home fries are well seasons, and a huge quantity. Ralph weighed what we brought home, and it was about 1.5 pounds!

The crocheting of Sally 2.0 is progressing well. I forgot to take a pic of her last night.  

So cold out!

 It was 9 when I got up! Now it's up to 14, and Ralph and neighbor Dave are out playing with snowblowers.

Samantha said Boone loves the snow! Since she was born during a blizzard, I'm not surprised! 

 

I ordered these adorable pens for my WA state grandchildren. They love getting bonus gifts.

 A new cross stitch chart by my favorite designer that I'm considering.

 Tree skirt is "quilted"- more like the layers sewn together along the strip lines, and trimmed, today will be get binding ready.

And I ripped Sally Snake all the way back to her head, and restarted crocheting her. 

Aftermath

 We got a lot. Like 1-12 inches! The plow guy Ralph hired sent people to shovel the steps and walk, but still hasn't showed to plow. Ralph did go out with the snowblower for a while.

 Out the front window. 

 I don't know what possessed me to combine curved quilting safety pins, and regular large safety pins in a container. After I pin basted the tree skirt, I seperated them out into two containers.

It's pin basted and ready for some sewing!

 

Sigh. I ended up ripping out rows and rows and rows, because she wasn't a consistant tube, she had thinner and thicker spots. I think it was because I stopped each row and added a chain to change colors. So I'm ripping back to the head and restarting her. It should go fast because The colors are all there in one long piece of yarn.

Snow!

It's snowing really hard,  big fluffy flakes. Ralph cleared the back steps with a leaf blower so the feral cats could get to their food. They are holed up in the garage with their heated mats. 

Yikes, cold much?

 

I have about 15 more rows to do on Sally to reach Boone's six month birthday.

 Sally will be way taller than Boone!

 Backing fabric for the tree skirt. The fabric is pretty, but the lines are not straight, which won't matter as a backing.

 All laid out! Today's task is to pin with quilting pins. I'm going to quilt her on the Skyline 6, just following the lines. Steph and Dan get in late on February 11, so I'm well within my timeline.