Going Maverick!

No!  Not Sarah Palin!  It's skiing at Maverick Mountain - the White Thunder!  I am really grateful for lunch yesterday with Karolin Loendorf (!) and Dee Boka up at the ski hill.  I knew I had to come back for skiing today.  It wasn't a sunshine day, but every other detail was perfect:  not a breath of wind, temperature at about 30 degrees and no lift line.  (Well, that last one isn't totally true since it is Saturday which is Little Skier Day so there were a few kids going up and down - but Saturday is the ONLY day that has lift lines.)  We are so lucky.

 This is where I spent the afternoon - exactly 7 minutes from our back door.  Wow.  Are we blessed or what!  I took this photo from our back porch.

 This is the view down the valley from one of the runs at the top of the mountain.  2100 feet vertical rise - a really awesome, although small, ski area.  And the lift ticket is $30 per day!  Amazing.

 If you clicked on this picture and knew exactly where to look (!!!) you could see our house!  I can look out our kitchen window and see skiers on the hill - seriously!  Without binoculars.

 Sawtooth Mountain stands out in the view from this run.

Off-loading from the lift at the top of the mountain the view to the west is of the Bitterroot Mountains.  The skiing today was so fabulous that I think might actually turn into a real ski bum!  And not a rock anywhere!!  See you on the slopes!

Fifteen Years!

Is it possible?

Yes.  We've been here now for FIFTEEN YEARS!  So we decided to celebrate this anniversary with a new washer and dryer.  Boring?  Not really.  We have a really good reason - an exciting reason.  The Gang is coming for a week of "winter play" in March and the washer was beginning to sound as though it might not withstand the assault of laundry every day for EIGHT Gang kids, so we decided we did not want to risk disaster while they are here.  Fred came yesterday to install these.  (Sorry, Jenny.  They are standard capacity - but they're new!)  Too bad they aren't red!!!  That would have zipped up my laundry days.  (Actually, I thought they were going to be white - imagine my surprise.)

A Quiltmaker's Assistant!

 Every quiltmaker needs an assistant. . . .

 especially one who likes scissors. . . .

 is in the middle of everything and is very innocent!  Just look at him!  Who?  Me?  I'm helping - I'm keeping this quilt from blowing away.

 OK.  My four basket blocks are done - quilt buddies, you can come and get them! They're all different.  First come, first choice!

WOW.  Would you look at that.  Six finished quilts with binding now attached.  These will now be my evening work in turning the binding and hand stitching it on the back.  WOW.  The rest is easy.  What a good feeling!

Winter Woman Work!

(What I do in my "work room" is not work!)

 This is what the porch with my wood supply looked like yesterday.  I knew I had enough wood for this morning, but that was absolutely it.  So like it or not (!!), that was my "work" for the day - bringing up wood.  Walt had it totally loaded for me before he left, so it actually lasted quite awhile.

So I spent about an hour (I can't carry as much with each load as Walt can so it took me a lot longer) and got the porch loaded up again.  It will probably last 7 or 8 days.  I don't mind the work - I LOVE having the fireplace - nothing better than heat from a fireplace - I can spend (waste!) a lot of time sitting on the hearth warming up my backside watching the sky out the window!  Winter is wonderful.

Snow Day for a Winter Woman

It started snowing this morning and about four inches accumulated.  It was beautiful.  I love snow days.  Of course, that means it's a soup day, so I put on a pot of beans that I cooked for several hours and then added some shredded chicken, shrimp and kielbasa - delish!

 FINALLY.  This quilt top is done.  It has been a nightmare.  A monstrosity.  It has been on my work table for almost a year, but I have finally finished it.  I worked on it last night till late, cause I couldn't stand the thought of getting up this morning and still have it lying there waiting for me.  I will never again do a Thimbleberries project.  But I kinda like it now that it's done.

 This is what I worked on today.  I had four of these basket blocks to assemble and am now appliquing the handle on each block.  I have the flowers and dragons ready to apply as soon as the handles are done.  This I like!  A lot.

My next project is stacked up here - seven quilts that are totally finished except for the binding around the edges.  Tomorrow.  Can hardly wait to have these done and then I can start on something new!  What a great snow day this has been!