Quiet snow

The 12 or so inches that fell during the day yesterday has brought a quiet morning.  The snow plow went through several minutes ago so now there's just the whooshing of Michael's broom on the porch and a whistle or two of the bird that's watching him.  The house still smells of baking and chocolate with a slight aroma of the coffee that's brewing.  Soon we'll be walking to church in the sunshine.

Up and Running

Too much of my life has been spent on the computer this week!  Partly, it was the process of setting up new equipment in place of old, transferring files from old to new, then making it all work (especially my old 2004 version of Quick Books Pro).  Now that almost everything is in place I'm enjoying the speed and agility of our new HP (I could be talking about a sports car!).

Thankfully, I have client work coming in and my creative juices are flowing again.  Before my 2pm appointment this afternoon, however, I have another timely project to address: FRIENDSHIP BREAD - AGAIN!!  I have to do something about all the starter; it seems my friends want the bread but not the starter!  Who can blame them: almost everyone I know works in the real world and can't spend 10 days tending starter.

So, again there will be beautiful baking aroma coming from our kitchen resulting in 8 more cakes - all chocolate and some with "extras".  More later.....

Vista Blues

I'm tired.  Three days of setting up a new computer with a new OS, missing XP, and needing to dust.  But as Michael says: It's all good!

Wine Dinner at Caroline Street Cafe

A lovely evening with dear friends Ed and Vickie.  Naturally, we got to Caroline Street Cafe early for our choice of seats (great ones!).  The room filled up fast but before long, three more couples joined us and it became a party!

Cakes 7 and 8 are in the oven!

I started at 8am this morning (after discovering the leak in the toilet tank in the half-bath right off the kitchen) and am on my way to having this project finished!  Unlike other baking sessions, I have reserved only one starter from each previous starter; I started with 4 and I ended up with 4, but it meant killing a lot of starter by washing it down the drain....am I a serial starter killer??

My mom, Miss Molly, is gone for a few hours, getting her hair done at Emily's.  It's quiet here at her house and I'm enjoying it; mmmmm I smell cake....I must go and check!

Tuesday night at Miss Molly's

Here I am in Maryland at my mom's house....it's late (for us), shortly after 10pm.  I'm getting sleepy and I know my mom is, too, having just arrived back to her home after a 3 week vacation cruise to Australia.  She'll probably be up for a while, though, since two big suitcases are still sitting on her bed to be opened and unpacked.

Soon, I'll be going upstairs to my room to cuddle up with a book that's sure to put me to sleep within a paragraph or two, but it will feel good to know I don't have to be up at a time certain in the morning.

My agenda for the day:  Prepare the 4 packs of Friendship Cake starters that I have been "carting" around with me since I left Fredericksburg on Monday.  The product will be 8 cakes: half chocolate and half vanilla.  It will take most of the morning, if not the day, preparing, baking, and prepping for gifting and/or storage.  THEN, there will be MORE starter being born from these batches which I hope to "gift" along with the cake! I just can't bring myself to kill it!!

Enough, now.  I'm going to bed and will have Friendship Cake dreams for sure.

Miss Molly will be home tonight!

My mother Molly is on the last flight of her Australian cruise vacation.  I'll be picking her up around 6pm at the Richmond International Airport.  She's been gone for 3 weeks traveling with my dad's youngest sister, Dee Dee. Seeing Mom at the airport will be a real treat; I have missed her!

I've been at Liz's and James' house since yesterday morning, playing with Eva and Mimi, eating the marvelous fare James provides and working on the Fit Project with Liz.  She's been a great guinea pig so far and will play a big role in my accomplishing my goal of beautiful clothes that really fit!

A rainy, but lovely day with friends..

Today was a great day for "hunkering down": chilly, rainy, grey, grey grey.  But two couples has big celebrations today:  Tony and Christine celebrated the baptism of their daughter Samantha Grace with a reception at their home this afternoon.  The guest of honor slept through the festivities, but it was delightful to chat, munch and sip with friends and family.

Our dear friends Jim and Margaret invited us to celebrate Jim's retirement with a large and lively bunch at their home.  The food, wine, beer and all sorts of refreshments were abundant in Margaret's beautifully remodeled kitchen.  Shown here are choir members: Peg, Vickie, Jim, Bob, Margaret and Leticia.  Thanks for including us, and, Congratulations, Jim!

Marilyn's Students start saying Goodbye...

My sister, Marilyn Baker, has been living in Taichung, Taiwan, for almost 25 years, teaching at Providence University.  She's retiring this year and her colleagues and students are starting to bid her farewell.  These pictures were taken yesterday in Chung Hua with her "Chat" class, a course helping adults speak conversational English.  She will not be teaching in Chung Hua next semester.

One of these students is my friend Carol Lee who I met in 2008 when Michael and I were visiting there.  She and her friends put on a lovely party for Marilyn - Thank you, Carol and Rebecca!

Carol (right) presents Farewell Gifts.

A lovely keyring with a cross that has a 4G flash drive inside:  Holy Gigabites!!

Marilyn with Julia, a long standing member of the chat group (7 years).

Left to Right: Lynn, Marilyn, Julia (behind Marilyn), Emily, Andy (behind Emily), Jane (next to Andy), Sonya, Carol and Rebecca.

No TV Dinner...

Our excuse was that we could multi-task by watching TV (our "programs") and eating dinner at the same time.  We've been doing that for years with an occasional break inspired by Lent or Advent.  Well, for the past several days, we've been eating at the dinner table, with candles, then playing cards for an hour, and just having fun talking, drinking wine and seeing who's going to win.  I cannot boast....this is something Liz (Blaire) and James do all the time.  They are excellent role models!

Just before going to bed...

In the three days since I last wrote I''ve caught up on things that have needed attention since putting the Fit Project on top of my list of projects.

The subject of upcoming classes I'll be teaching at JoAnn Fabrics had to be prepared for display at the monthly JoAnn Open House.  Then, all-important client work: a chair and ottoman slipcover that, at this point, is about 1/3 complete.

Since the materials for the next phase of the Fit Project finally arrived in the mail today, I'll have to redouble my efforts to complete my client and teaching responsibilities so I can get started on the fit pattern for my and my daughter.


Now, though, I need to crawl into our toasty bed...brrrrr...

Another snowy day??

We woke up to a dusting of snow which is what we expected.  Around 8:30a, it started to really SNOW!  It's sunny now (at 2:30p) but there's still a 2" accumulation out there....which has been a pleasant surprise!

For those of you praying for little Matthew, our cousin, please continue.  The update I read today (see my profile and the blog I follow named "Furi-Blog" to get details) was good, but it's not over.  Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts for our family.

Had a very informative cello lesson with Rebekah yesterday: left hand index finger (#1) placement is extremely important.  The tips she gave me were invaluable, but it will still take a lot of work to get that planted firmly in my little old brain!

More work done on the "Fit Project".  I'm really enjoying this!

A day trip to Richmond

We made an Epiphany journey to Blaire's and James' house on Wednesday to get some tasks done and have a delicious lunch!

Peg, Eva and Mimi worked on the traditional Epiphany task of taking the Christmas Tree down while Michael and James replaced a light fixture in the kitchen.

After lunch, Blaire helped Peg with her Fit Project Body Graph.

When all the chores were done, a round of Euchre was played and Michael and I discovered we need a lot of practice!

Harps, Slipcovers, Friendship Cake and Cello

In the last 24 hours:

• A beautiful concert at St. Mary Catholic Church by the Rappahannock Harp Ensemble; six lovely harpists with a variety of harps playing Christmas music.  My friends Vickie and Ed joined me, making it an especially delightful evening!
• Back to Little Bug Studio work with a slipcover pinfit appointment this afternoon.
• Baked Chocolate Friendship Cake tonight (thanks, Blaire, for the starter!).  Two cakes are cooling in the kitchen and two batches of starter are beginning their ten day cycle. Cake (and/or starter) anyone??
• I practiced later than usual this evening and have added "Lightly Row" to my repertoire of "Twinkle" and "French Folk Song".  I'm looking forward to my fifth lesson on Thursday with Rebekah Caulk. 

Getting Ready to Open the Book...

I've been reading the first 3 chapters of "Fit for Real People" these last few days. The leggings are coming along: I made two pairs to get myself ready and "psyched"! You can follow my progress at "Learn and Love to Sew".

Happy New Year!

At the home of Ed and Vickie Semiea, we rang in the New Year 2010 in grand style with dear old and new friends, great food and beverage, and a victory for VA Tech!!