Mel's Own Place

Hey everyone, I'm still around! In the mean time, I have taken a few photos of what I've been working on for Christmas presents. I don't want to show too much until I've sent off all the packages, but here's a sneak peak!

Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you a beautiful gift from Ruthie and her husband, Dan. While at Ruthie's blog, I had seen a post of some wonderful jars of pickled jalepenos. Ruthie's husband bottles his own to get the right texture and crunch. Well, I commented on how my husband would love the peppers and Ruthie quickly replied that she and her husband would be happy to send me a bottle!! I was excited and took her up on the offer! Well, when the peppers arrived, I was stunned at the pretty pickled peppers and their rich colors! They got a lot of red peppers in their harvest this year, so the bottle was a 'Christmas mix' of reds and greens. My husband is so excited to use them on his meats, but we have to wait one more month until they've set the recommended 3 months. Dan has it all down to a science! Ruthie also sent a cottage block to swap! It's got darling stockings trimming the windows . . . how cute is that?? I love it and added it to the design wall where it can be at 'home' with the others! Since my computer is down, I don't have my normal list of blog friend's emails. One of the lost ones is Ruthie's, so I hope she will find out about this post and see that we've received the pepper package perfectly and that we are very THANKFUL that she and her husband shared their bounty.

OK, I'll post what I can for now, my computer has never been so enaccessable and it's driving me crazy!! My final for class is trapped in there somewhere and so are some pictures I wanted to share with you, but until my hubby can fix it, this post will have to do. My birthday was Sunday and I was able to sew for three whole days!! (I can't show you what I've been sewing . . . it's for Christmas!) My hubby and son let me be all alone for most of the weekend! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them dearly, but I was in heaven with all the time to myself! I had to go buy a new iron and board cover and counted them as a couple of my presents! Only a quilter would be excited to get an iron for a birthday present! Oh, and don't worry, I won't iron ANYTHING but quilting fabric with it! Sunday we went to my parent's house for a yummy Lasagna dinner!! My mom makes the best lasagna - really, I promise! We had my very favorite thing in the whole world for desert, CHOCOLATE CAKE!! Nothing fancy, just CHOCOLATE CAKE! OK, ok, there were 35 candles on the cake, I decided not to be shy or embarrassed about the number because every one of them account for many wonderful times in my life! My parents gave me a 2 year subscription to a quilting magazine and a digital scrapbook program; Memory Mixer. I've been eyeing the program for a few months now and can't wait to fiddle with it! My sister (no blog) gave me some yummy truffles and some darling 'spoke weights' for basket weaving. As you lay out your spokes (reed) for creating a base for your basket, you need something to hold them down. I've been using small pieces of wood, but these are SOOO CUTE! and I think they will work much better! *I wish my computer would let me in to post a picture!!* As a tradition, we lit the candles, yes REAL candles on my parent's Christmas tree. Our family comes from Germany/Switzerland so as homage to our ancestors who put candles on their trees, we have them on our tree as well. I really can't explain how beautiful it is to see the tree lit with only the candles. We only light them on special occasions, my birthday, my dad's birthday, Christmas eve and Christmas day. My dad puts on Johnny Mathis singing Silent Night and it is so peaceful and calming! Here are some of my favorite ornaments on the tree: I made this tree skirt a few years ago. It's a Thimbleberries pattern and fabric. I liked the pattern because of it's square shape. My friend Jen (no blog) left this charming package for me to find on my porch. I love Willow figurines, they seem to be able to portray relationships so well. Marta (no blog) who is the owner of the shop I quilt at, gave me a beautiful assortment of Kaufman fat quarters and a Thimbleberries book; My Best. She also took me to the movie; Four Christmases. I'm not usually one for cheesy Christmas themed movies, but this one was truly funny! Another fun Christmas time movie in my opinion is Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz - Jack Black too! My sister-in-law, Lori has been a super help to me this week!! She has had Urban over to play with her son, Scotty twice this week! This has allowed me lots of time to sew and work on my final! I'm a lucky gal to have such great friends and family!! Tomorrow is basket weaving day, I'll try to remember to take pictures and upload them from a healthier computer than mine has been!