well I didn't post on New year's day.  Oh well!  They said we would probably have a white Christmas---- we didn't.  we did get a snow on new year's day----------- they didn't even mention a possible snow.  Today it is very cold, but we have a warm fire going.  David & Duane filled up the wood rack yesterday.  Andy brought over kindling a few days ago. They really take good care of us.

I found a very simple quilt pattern that I would like to play with the border idea as a pillowcase type quilt.

I know it is cold and windy, but Oscar, my little dog, and I took our early morning walk at 6:45 am.  It was just light enough to see.  The wind was swirling everywhere and there were snowflakes in the air. It brought out the puppy in Oscar as he frolicked and chased the snowflakes trying to catch one.  I admit it brought out the child in me as I ran and laughed with him. Such a simple joy, but what a way to start the day.  

When we got back to the house, I built up a nice fire for A.J.  He is cold most of the time, but he is trying to get better.  He even sipped a little coffee this morning.

Then I did my favorite thing for the first snow.  I took off my shoes and socks and walked barefoot in the snow.  It's O.K. I know I am crazy, but I have done this since I was quite young and it makes me tough enough to face the winter.

May life bring you some simple joys.    Love, Franny

quotes

-- Age -- 1) “Age is not important, unless you’re cheese.” < Helen Hayes, American Actress, 1900-1993 > 2) “We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” < Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886 >   -- Ambition -- “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.” < Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 1835-1910 >   -- Boldness -- “Whatever you do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” < Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832 >   -- Bragging -- “If you done it, it ain’t bragging.” < Walt Whitman, American Poet, 1819-1892 >   -- Character -- “One can attain everything in solitude, except character.” < Stendahl, Pseudonym of French Author Marie-Henri Beyle, 1783-1842 >   -- Courage -- 1) “He who loses wealth, loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; But he who loses his courage loses all.” < Miguel de Cervantes, creator of Don Quixote, 1547-1616 > 2) “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” < Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 1835-1910 >   -- Creativity -- “Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” < James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891 >   -- Credit -- “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” < Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States, 1884-1972 >   -- Curiosity -- “Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.” < Samuel Johnson, English Author, 1709-1784 >   -- Destiny -- “Destiny is not matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.” < William Jennings Bryan, American Lawyer and Politician, 1860-1925 >   -- Diplomat -- “A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.” < Robert Frost, American Poet, 1874-1963 >   -- Education -- “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.” < Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 >   -- Fear -- “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” < Marie Curie, Physicist, First Woman to win the Noble Prize (Physics in 1903)  (Chemistry in 1911), 1867-1934 >   -- Friendship -- “True friendship is like sound health;The value of it is seldom known until it be lost.” < Charles Caleb Colton, English Clergyman, 1780-1832 >   -- Guidance -- “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.” < Jane Austen, English Novelist, 1775-1817 >   -- Happiness -- 1) “Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, But which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” < Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804-1864 > 2) “It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, that gives happiness.” < Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, 1743-1826 > 3) “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  < Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, 1809-1864 > 4) “Happiness consists in activity. It is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.” < Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., 1809-1894 >   -- Helping Others -- “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” < Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882 >   -- Home -- “A home is not a home unless it contains food for the mind as well as the body.” < Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 >   -- Insight -- “A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” < Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., 1809-1894 >   -- Investment -- “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”  < Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 >

-- Judgment -- “We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” < Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882 >   -- Key to Happiness -- 1) “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” <Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965 > Physician and Theologian, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1952 2) “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see that one which has been opened for us.” < Helen Keller, 1880-1968 >   -- Hope -- “… remember to the last, that while there is life there is hope.” < Charles Dickens, English Novelist, 1812-1870 > -- I Shall Not Live in Vain -- “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin into his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”  < Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886 >   -- Last Year’s Words -- “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” < T. S. Eliot, Poet, 1888-1965 >   -- Learning -- “Learning is not attained by chance, It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence” < Abigail Adams, to her son John Quincy Adams, May 8, 1780 >   -- Lies -- “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” < Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 1835-1910 >   -- Love -- “A life without love is like a year without summer.” < Swedish Proverb >   -- Net Worth -- “Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from our good ones..” < Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 >   -- Prejudice -- “It is never too late to give up our prejudices.” < Henry David Thoreau, American Author, 1817-1862 >   -- Speech -- “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” < Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 >   -- Struggle -- “Without struggle, there is no progress.” < Frederick Douglass, 1818-1895 >   -- The Future -- “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time” < Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, 1809-1864 >   -- Time -- “In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.” < Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 >   -- Today -- “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.” < Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, 1809-1864 >   -- Treating People -- “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, And you help them to become what they are capable of being.” < Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832 >   -- Truth -- “When in doubt, tell the truth.” < Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemons), 1835-1910 >   -- Trust -- “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” < Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832 >   -- Usefulness -- “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” < Charles Dickens, English Novelist, 1812-1870 >   -- What Matters -- “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. < Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832 >   -- Wisdom -- “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” < Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemons), 1835-1910 >   -- Women as Peers -- “The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.” < Susan B. Anthony, 1820-1906 >

Quilt Games & Sayings
Quilt Games  | Quilt Sayings

Grandma has compiled a list of Quilt Games you can use at your next party or quilting get-together. You’ll notice that many of them are adaptations of games you’re already familiar with! A list of Quilt Sayings is also included that you can use in your quilting projects! Award prizes or points for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place when playing these fun, quilt related games.

	Threaders:  Each team choose one person to thread needles. Needles are threaded into the same spool. How many needles can be threaded in two minutes?
	Under the Big Top:  Each group receives a batch of blocks that are already trimmed to 12-1/2”. They will sew them three across and four down into a top. First group done, wins.
	Still Crazy:  One member from each group sews foundation crazy squares. One with the most blocks made after one hour wins.
	All Shook Up:  Each team must unscramble quilt block names. Most quilt block names unscrambled wins.
	Rotary Race:  Each team will choose one person to cut strips—fabric is provided and strips are to be cut at 2”. Person will cut for five minutes. Inaccurate strips will be disqualified. Strips will be used for making rail fence and other blocks. Team with the most blocks done accurately wins.
	Sew and Slice:  Three members from each team works to sew strips from the rotary race (above) into sets of four, then cut apart into 6-1/2” units. When time is up, the team with most units sewn wins.
	Hidden Picture:  Each team member gets a picture of a quilt with tons of blocks—they must find the name of the blocks in the least amount of time. Person with the most names wins.
	Pack a Sewing Basket:  All groups play—the group lasting the longest wins. Name an item in a sewing basket, next person says that item, plus a new one. When a person can’t remember, they drop out.
	Thimble Relay:  Each team picks 4 members to form a relay team. The object is to walk with a spoon containing a thimble without dropping the thimble.
	Don’t Say That!  Each person will be given a safety pin on entering the room. The object is to end up with the most pins. You get pins by catching another person saying the forbidden word—pick something that is hard to avoid like quilt or rotary. When someone catches you saying the word, you have to give up your pin. Award points for three people with the highest number of pins at the end of the day.
	Color Challenge:  Each team matches colors with descriptions. The team with the most correct answers wins!
	Scavenger Hunt:  Make a list of several items that participants can search for in their purse, sewing basket, bag or other belongings. Make as many as possible sewing related. Person who finds the most number of items wins!
	Magazine Quilting:  Each team is given a magazine, poster board, scissors, glue stick and marker. Using provided supplies they will create a quilt for judging. You can decide on themes if you wish. Judging can include Best of Show, Judges Choice, Best Interpretation of theme, etc. Make ribbons to hand to wins.

75 Extraordinary Uses for Baking Soda

Baking soda is a chemical compound that appears as a fine powder. It releases bubbles of carbon dioxide when it interacts with an acid and a liquid. It’s most commonly used in baking, where it acts as a leavening agent. The following are 75 other uses for baking soda aside from making muffins soft and fluffy.
Health Uses
1. Use it as an antacid.
2. Use it as underarm deodorant by applying it with a powder puff.


3. Mix half a teaspoon with peroxide paste and use it as toothpaste.
4. Use it as a face and body scrub.
5. Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.
6. Relieve skin itch from insect bites and pain from sunburn.
7. Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water.
8. Put two tablespoons in your baby’s bathwater to help relieve diaper rash.
9. Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.
10. Take a baking soda bath to relieve skin irritations.
11. Heartburn? Take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one-half glass of water.
12. Freshen your mouth by gargling half a teaspoon of baking soda mixed water.

13. Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.
14. Use it to relieve bee stings.
15. Use it to relieve windburns.
16. Apply it on jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.
17. Unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.
In the Home

18. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase.
19. Put out small fires on rugs, upholstery, clothing, and wood.
20. Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.
21. Sprinkle it on your ashtrays to reduce bad odor and prevent smoldering.
22. Sprinkle it on your slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to eliminate foul odor.
23. Turn baking soda into modeling clay by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.
24. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.
25. Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain.
26. Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.
27. Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor.
28. Freshen the air by mixing baking soda with your favorite perfumed bath salts. Put the mixture in small sachet bags.
29. Restore stiff brushes by boiling them in a solution of 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and a cup of baking soda.
30. Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.
31. Scatter baking soda around flowerbeds to prevent rabbits from eating your veggies.
32. Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.
33. Sprinkle it onto your cat’s litter box to absorb the bad odor.
34. Sprinkle it on your pet’s comb or brush to deodorize their fur and skin.
In Cooking
35. Use it as a substitute for baking powder by mixing with it with cream of tartar or vinegar.
36. Wash fruits and vegetables with it.

37. When boiling a chicken, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Feathers will come off easier, and the flesh will be clean and white.
38. Soak dried beans to a baking soda solution to make them more digestible.
39. Remove the distinctive taste of wild game by soaking it in a baking soda solution.
40. Make a sports drink by mixing it with boiled water, salt, and Kool-Aid.
41. Remove the fishy smell from your fillets by soaking the raw fish in a baking soda solution for an hour inside the fridge.
42. Make fluffier omelets by adding half a teaspoon of baking soda for every three eggs used.

43. Reduce the acid content of your tomato-based recipes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda.
Cleaning Purposes
44. Add a cup to the toilet, leave it for an hour, and then flush. It will clean the toilet and absorb the odor.

45. Use it to scrub sinks, showers, plastic and porcelain tubs
46. Spray it on walls, mirrors, and countertops.
47. Add a spoonful to your dishwasher to make scrubbing dishes easier.
48. Remove grease from pots and pans.
49. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture by sprinkling baking soda over the fabric and gently brushing it. Leave it for an hour or overnight, then vacuum.
50. Boost your laundry detergent’s cleaning power by sprinkling a handful on dirty clothes.
51. Combine it with water to make a paste for polishing stainless steel and chrome.
52. Remove scratches and crayon marks from vinyl floors and walls.
53. Clean your shoes with it.

54. Clean garbage cans with it.
55. Use it to wash diapers.
56. Clean the fridge with it.
57. Soak brushes and combs in a baking soda solution.
58. Mix it with water to wash food and drink containers.
59. Put three tablespoons of baking soda to a quart of warm water, then use the mixture to wash marble-topped furniture.
60. Absorb it with a damp sponge, then clean Formica countertops with the sponge.
61. Use it to get rid of stale odors from cooling containers and thermos bottles.
62. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution, then rinse.
63. Combine with hot water to clean baby bottles.
64. Sprinkle it on barbecue grills, then rinse it off.
65. Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.
66. Remove burned-on food from a pan by soaking it in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes before washing.
67. Clean your ashtrays with a baking soda solution.
68. Keep your drains clean by putting four tablespoons of baking soda in them each week. Flush it down with hot water.
69. Clean your shower curtains by soaking them in baking soda and water.
70. Put it on a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.
71. Use it to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from a toaster. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp rug, then use the rug to clean the toaster.
72. Use it to clean your retainers and dentures.

73. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, and used it to scrub enameled cast iron and stainless steel.
74. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water, and use it to clean the inside part of an oven.
75. Use it to unclog gas stoves.
The most amazing thing about baking soda is that it’s very cheap. You can do all these things for a very small cost. Baking soda is truly a miracle product, whether it’s used for baking or not.

Do you really get to old to fall in love with love?

I saw a group of grannies on the news this morning camping out: waiting to see the latest vampire love story.
They were a lot younger than I am, but I get it.

This is not my type of movie, however I do get the idea of falling in love with love.  This is where most fantasies come form, not real or physical love, but just the flutter in the heart.  We all feel young at heart, no matter what age we are.