Where did everyone go?!?

There seems to be a decided lack of new posts out in blogland, myself included. It's as if we all crawled into a hole and pulled the hole in after us. Maybe we are all hibernating until Spring arrives, or maybe winter life gets so boring, it's not worth talking about (well, except maybe to whine!)

So, this is what's been going on at my little place in the country.

The weather has been weird. (My grandmother always told me that if I had nothing else to talk about in polite company, I could also comment on the weather!) Yesterday it rained all day and was 61 degrees. Last night we had a high wind warning (up to 70 mile an hour gusts) and by the time we took the dogs out for the last time, the temperature had dropped to 32. My garden doesn't know what to make of it all, but it is hanging in there! {Update: The weather man says that tomorrow we will wake up to sleet, freezing rain and bad visibility. And it was so pretty today!}

Stud Muffin got a new job! I was getting concerned that he was getting bored out here in super rural land, and he needed something to do other than distract me from what I needed to do. The people who built our home called and wanted to know if he was interested in working for them as a salesman. We believe so strongly in the quality of their product, that he said yes. So, for the last week, he has been heading off to work and as soon as he is out of sight, I do the Happy Dance! Then I jump up and down on the bed, until I'm tired and need a nap. After that, I get productive and make like a housewife, cleaning (wipe those shocked looks off of your faces!) and making home cooked meals. Oh, and Stud Muffin sold a house on his fourth day!

I found another treasure while out running errands:

Sorry about the sun glare!

This quilt isn't in very good shape, but I'm going to pick apart the blocks and use the good ones for something else.

The mailman brought me some goodies! Not long ago I won a gift certificate from Sew, Mama, Sew! and I used it to get this pattern,



and these fabrics:

Look at those cute gnomes!

The pattern was more complicated than I expected but I think I could do better now that I've made it once. The purse has lots of pockets, including a zippered one. This will be good for when I don't want to take my big purse with me, say to the farmer's market in one of my pillowcase totes. Since I was test driving the pattern, I used fabric and notions that I already had on hand. A little stash busting, if you will!



Interesting accordian construction for credit cards.

The mailman also brought the first of my garden seed orders, these from Seeds of Change.



I have another order coming from Rare Seeds, with a number of heirloom varieties of tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. Since buying a greenhouse isn't in the cards (or the checkbook) right now, I am rigging a growing station in my studio. I am using some spare garage storage racks and have hung some florescent shop lights to stand in for grow lights. I will have pictures of the setup after I have more of the seeds planted in their little peat pots.

But I guess that will have to wait for another time. I have a few more WIP (works in progress) that I hope to complete soon. And then I will share them with you!