As we prepare to hunker down for these ice cold temperatures coming, we were pleasantly surprised at the good sense of the people that operate our county handicap transport system. It's being closed down for the next two days so Steve will not have any driving jobs.
I suppose if there's a real emergency that someone needs to get somewhere, they can contact an ambulance. He is normally transporting wheelchair patients from nursing homes and hospitals back and forth to clinics and doctors and dialysis. The sub-zero wind chills will be down in the 50 to 60 below zero range for Wisconsin. This I am sure is a determining factor to close down the courthouse and thus, Steve's transport driving department. The vehicles that he uses are somewhat old and maybe not capable of handling this cold weather too well. Today he had one idling for almost half an hour to warm up enough before he picked up some residents at the nursing home to bring them to Appleton. We are at 0° but it's 25 below zero wind chill right now even in the sunshine. You got to figure, these poor old folks are coming out of nursing homes that are warm (usually in the 72 to 75 degree range). They just can't tolerate these cold temperatures either. If there would be a break down on the side of the road with Steve's transport vehicle, I am sure Steve would have to call an ambulance to transport them immediately to somewhere warm.
So the next two days
my hubby will be home with me!
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I'm working right now on a pink baby quilt. It's made with the leftover squares from the quilt I posted yesterday. The pink blocks just didn't look right in the big "Winter in Wisconsin" quilt. So I arranged them into a small baby quilt or wall hanging or lap quilt. I have it all sandwiched together with batting and backing.... ready to start the stitching. This is what I will do the next few days.
I recently invested in these little plastic templates and a special machine foot from Westalee. I did a little practice with them, and they are kinda fun! They will allow me to do cute little designs in various portions of the quilt.
I think I will put some little snowflakes or flowers in the larger blocks, and then still do regular quilted stippling in all the other areas. Maybe this evening I will load it up on the frame and get started?
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For lunch today I made up one of my most favorite soups. Cream of potato with ham and shredded carrots. I cheat a little bit though...
I get Steve to peel me up a couple potatoes. I hate peeling potatoes so if he is around, he is conscripted into doing the job. I cut them up into chunks and put them in a pan with water and some chopped onions and shredded carrots. I add some of these dried vegetables from Piggly Wiggly. I just love these in soup.
I simmer them until the potatoes and carrots are tender. I added some chunks of baked ham that I had in the freezer. Then I cheat by adding a couple glug glugs from a jug of milk and then I sprinkle in some instant mashed potato flakes!!! It thickens the soup and makes it creamy rich. I add a little seasoning and some dried parsley.
Tastes like I simmered it all morning long and it really only took me about 15 minutes tops. I made enough that we can have some for lunch tomorrow as well.
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This afternoon I finished off a pair of socks that I have been hand knitting on needles. I started them last week when Linda was visiting. They are thick wool knit with doubled yarn. A long time ago I learned how to knit two socks at the same time on one long circular needle. That way when I change the colors on the socks I change both at the same time and they come out identical.
When knit on a long circular needle, they also both come out the same size. Sometimes when knitting two individual socks at two different times, one sock will be tighter than the other due to a difference in tension while knitting. They say when watching a drama on tv, your stitches get tighter than when you are relaxed while knitting. This way, the socks both come out the same in diameter as well as length. For those knitters who are curious as to the method:
I had made a matching hat a while ago,
and I have a scarf hanging with my coat in the back hall.
Got these socks done just in time for the cold cold weather!
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I noticed something strange this afternoon. While I was knitting, I had Binney by my side but Finnegan was nowhere to be found? I looked and looked for him. I finally found him way upstairs alone laying in the bathroom between the tub and the shower on the floor! He appeared to be sleeping there. I hope he's not getting sick. It was so strange because he and Binney are always glued to each other's sides.
When I called to him, he woke up and perked up and looked alert. I hope he is okay. Otherwise, our vet is only a couple blocks away if we need her.
p.s. he ate supper now at 5pm and is acting fine. Whew!
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As a boring old person here talking about the good old days: we never knew about "wind chills" when I was a kid in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 60s and the 70s. Well, at least the weathermen didn't talk about wind chills. If it was cold out, that didn't matter, we went to school anyhow.
(me on the left and friend Sherry Masonova on the right)
We wore two layers of clothes under our thick snowmobile suits.
We wore long johns or thick cable knit fuzzy leotards or "tights" under our jeans.
We wore heavy snowmobile boots with thick felted wool liners and double woolen socks.
We had double knit heavy hats underneath our hoods as well as face masks or multiple layers of a scarf wrapped around our neck and covering our face.
Our hands were protected by thick leather choppers, which were sheepskin lined, along with an extra pair of mittens inside of those as well.
I remember a pair of yellow woolen mittens knit by my great-grandmother Anna Today that had a certain smell when they got wet. That wet wool smell gives me comfort to this day because it makes me think of those yellow mittens.
Cold didn't matter to us.....
(me driving and Shelly Sarafiny Losey and Lori Angus riding)
(brothers Randy driving, then Umpee, friend Jamie Angus and sister Linda Anderson on back)
Do you know what? As soon as school let out? We hopped on our snowmobiles or grabbed our sleds or ice skates while we enjoyed the weather outside.
We didn't have "wind chills" telling us when it was too cold.
If it was the weekend, we would load up the snowmobiles and go into the woods
traveling the trails and stopping to roast hot dogs over a fire.
As I mentioned in my last blog, we got kinda busy over the weekend. One of our granddaughters, Chelsea, age 8, wanted to come and hang with us for the weekend. Sometimes it's nice to take one grandkid at a time, for some special one-on-one time. She had a whole list of ideas of things she wanted to do while she was here for Friday and Saturday nights.
One of the main projects in her little mind was do some sewing, or "needling" as she used to call it. She has learned to sew at the age of 4 with me, sitting on my lap at the treadle machine. Even at that age, she would learn to guide the fabric through the machine, pull out the pins as they get close to the needle, and raise and lower the pressure foot for me.
I had a new pattern to try out, and here is her first successful attempt!!!
It is a fabric box bag----
It is made from a quilted placemat, and a zipper!
Here is the You Tube we learned how to make them from:
She had so much fun making them!
After we did the first bag, it was almost bedtime. She wanted to make more in the morning, so we had to run to Walmart quick to buy a few more zippers. We bought the last four zippers they had in stock in the size we needed. I had a nice stack of almost new placemats from Pa Pfundtner. I was amazed that she was this gung ho to keep going with making more in the morning. She woke up at 6 a.m., soooo eager to get to sewing again! She had all three of these done before breakfast.
Here is the video clip I put on the blog yesterday,
in case you missed it....
I was so proud of her eagerness to create, recycle and make something useful out of something that is found everyday at rummage sales and thrift shops for a quarter. We only had 5 zippers so she could only make 5 bags. I ordered a bulk batch of 50 zippers from online at Walmart for only 50 cents each in multiple colors. Now I will have plenty on hand when she comes back to sew some more.
She made one for her mommy, and one for her Nanny (grandma) in Oklahoma.... and she decided to sell any more that she made. I posted it on Facebook and the third one was immediately spoken for by my internet camping friend Betty out in Oregon! Then she made ONE more after breakfast, just for her little brother, Clayton. Awwwwwww
I posted her project and photos on my two quilting groups on Facebook. She had over 500 likes and comments from one post and over 400 on the other! Here she is laid back on the couch, checking out her fame and notoriety on Facebook on my laptop (and playing Mahjong!)
Her visit wasn't all sewing. She got in some quality cooking time with Granfaddah in the kitchen. She was making waffle batter while he was frying up a pan of bacon. It amazes me how tall she is getting and how helpful she is in the kitchen. From baby on, I would teach the grandkids to cook and help out. I hope those memories carry on long into their grown up years, and pass on to their children and grandchildren as well.
We were starting some banana bread.... and she was so lucky to get a DOUBLE YOLK! We buy farm fresh eggs from a local farmer, and they are sooo much better to eat as well as cook with. Before cracking it, she said she just "knew" it would be a double yolk egg because it was larger than the others in the carton. She was right!
I decided that 8 years old was mature enough to help with the electric mixer. Of course, with my close supervision. She was learning how to use the flour sifter as well. My ancient old Sunbeam stand mixer broke last week. Steve wired on a new cord end and it works perfectly again. In this age of disposable appliances, I am glad to keep this one working.
Here is our "never fail" banana bread recipe
from my Auntie Lois.
It makes one very large loaf,
or if you double the recipe,
it can make 3 regular sized loaves,
depending on your pans.
Sometimes we add chocolate chips to some of the loaves.
She spent a lot of time hanging out with our shelties, Finnegan and Binney. Sometimes they are rather shy around people, and hide out upstairs in their beds. But they know, (especially Binney), that Chelsea won't harm them or make sudden movements.
Sunday morning she helped me wrap up this baby quilt. We had a Baby Shower to go to!!! Steve's niece from his side of the family is having a baby boy. She suggested cars and trucks for a theme. Steve helped me pick out the fabric. This is the first flannel quilt I have ever done. I sewed it up two weeks ago, after getting inspiration from one of my online Facebook quilting ladies. (see? Facebook can be a GOOD thing) It came out pretty cute!
Here is the finished quilt that Chelsea helped me
to fold it and box it and giftwrap up.
It was wrapped up along with some special story books. Chelsea picked our family favorite "Brown Bear Brown Bear". Inside the front cover, Chelsea wrote all of the names of all of the little cousins in our family.
Chelsea gathered up her things, packed her suitcase, and her little box bags she made. We headed to the baby shower up in Menasha. It is a rite of passage for young girls to come to baby showers... and see the silly stuff that ladies do to honor the Mom-To-Be. I think you can tell by the pics that our niece Heather loved the quilt!!!
Oh... Steve's Our Old House Project!
Now.... while we were gone to the baby shower, that darling Steveio got VERY busy with an Our Old House Project all on his own. He is a TALL guy... and he has grumbled and mumbled about his old knees and getting up and down from our standard sized toilet. He explored the website for the taller toilets over in Manitowoc at Menards. He had a gift certificate rebate to use up. I said "go for it" while I was gone to the baby shower. I figured by the time I got home, that toilet will be bought, paid for, hauled home 25 miles, and installed before I even drove in the driveway! Yup. I was right!
It fits him comfortably. For me, well, my feet dangle! I have a little footstool I can use if needed or else I will just use the toilet on the main floor! hahaha that one is still the standard height. His N Hers toilets?
Now here is where it gets silly...... the old toilet is standing there in the garage, just wondering what it's demise was going to be.
Trashed?
Set to the curb for someone to take?
Broken into bits and dumped a few pieces at a time
into our local household garbage pickup?
I suggested to Steve that we should put it for FREE on the local Facebook Marketplace of the buy/sell/trade pages. I didn't want to charge anything for a used toilet. It was probably less than 10 years old. It is a nice name brand Kohler, made here in Wisconsin near Sheboygan. He thought I was nuts. Who would come and get a used toilet?
Well, within ONE minute after posting it, a guy named Jeff asked for it. He promised to come right after work at 5 p.m. to get it. I said sure. Well, then the other people started clammoring for this FREE toilet! I marked it "pending pickup" but people kept messaging me! I had SEVENTEEN people actually ask for this free toilet??? Can you believe it? I wrote back to Jeff and said there would be mutiny if he didn't take it for sure. I had people asking to usurp his position and come get it now at 9 am instead of waiting for his first dibs. I had one gal write to complain that her mom spoke up first and I didn't reply??? She sounded angry! I wrote back and looked for her moms message. It hadn't come to me until after 3 pm, so sorry, but she was out of the running. The daughter said her mom was SO disappointed because she had been SO excited about getting it?????
I did tell her that if we decided to swap out the other toilet, I would call her. LOL Seriously!
Then that night, the phone rings. It's a goofy voice asking me:
"I AM CALLIN BOUT DA SHITTER,
I NEED A FREE SHITTER
AN WANNA COME GET IT"
What???
Hahahaha it was my brother calling me from Michigan after seeing the old post from that morning. But he did say he could use a better toilet at his house, so if we do swap out the other toilet.... heh heh, he is gonna have to fight that little old lady who was SO excited about the toilet and is waiting first in line to get it!
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