Sunday Around The House

Still doing blog posts from my phone. At least I know it can work this way. While Steveio is cooking breakfast, I thought I would do a blog post.

We woke up to frosty cold below zero temps, and its only going to get worse... The winds are going to kick up and make it unbearable.

 I walked around the house snapping a few pics out the windows in case anyone wants to see a bit of Wisconsin Winter.


For those of you who wish to shiver a bit with Steveio, here's his winter work around the house...



Snowblowing is a never-ending task in the area we live in. We are close to Lake Michigan, so we get some "lake effect" snow. Today it seems like it just keeps falling.


 I know this is taken through the window screen on the outer layer of storm windows so you can see the grid of the screen material. But this is the view out of my bedroom window each morning out to the street in front of our home.

Our windows have outer storms , then the old fashioned wooden windows, and then an inside layer of plexiglass that snaps onto the frame from the inside. At first we thought the plexiglass panels were dumb when we bought the house, but they really help on the heat bill and air leaks. Steve would like to replace all our windows with new ones...ACK! I won't agree. What we have are nice, old fashioned, and fits the house style. Our heating gas portion of our bill last month was under $140 for the month, and some of that is the hot water heater and meter charge. That is a LOT less than our last house, which was newer, more insulated, and had new windows.

So. There.

(Steveio and I have a running disagreement on the windows, so I will get my licks in here, on the blog, where he doesn't read). LOL!

This pic is peeking through the frosty glass on the back storm door, leading to the shaker porch on the second story rear side if the house. Just look at that poor frozen motorhome out there!

In my guest bedroom, i am keeping 8 pots of coleus plants growing.

Some are blooming, even in the middle of winter?

I have kept this same strain of coleus going since the 1990's. The first plant came from my friend Connie. I keep breaking off shoots, stick them in water till they grow roots, and plant them in dirt.

I share them with friends and try to spread them all over.

In the summer, I plant them all outdoors where they grow big and lush and full.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on my newest quilt. I know I blogged about starting on this quilt before, but I will post about how I started it again.

I bought this book and template from Nancy's Notions. With it you can make 7 different pattern blocks. By sewing together long strips of fabric in groups of threes, the template helps you cut out perfect rectangles to arrange into block patterns.

  

I sew the blocks together on my 100 year old Singer treadle sewing machine

 (thanks to Paula Stuplich who gave it to me)

  

Sitting in the sunshine, facing south, helps to clear my head of the winter doldrums... Soft music playing, two doggers dozing on the floor next to me, and the gentle clickety clickety of the treadle machine. Here is the first block.

Finnegan helped me arrange some blocks and let me know the best design. LOL....

Soon I had 10 of the 20 blocks together with some checkerboard sashing to compliment the blocks. Later today I will do the other half.

I am trying to make all of my intersections and points come together neatly. I might add some smaller complimentary blocks along the top and bottom edges to make it just a bit longer. I think I have enough scraps to do that... We will see.

 

So best to get off this computer and back to the sewing machine. 

(on edit..added later)

 

 

 And here is a tiny bit of our snow for you to enjoy.

 

I shouldn't complain so much about our weather, it is kinda pretty....