Deer Visitors

These pictures were taken this morning from inside the house. Our owl was also here, in the redbud tree that overhangs the deck.

My Family Holiday Gathering

I treated everyone to lunch at the Hometown Buffet, then to our house for Scrabble, looking at old pictures and video games. I finally got Alyssa, Nick and Tim's quilts to them - Chrissy and Cody got theirs long ago.

Christmas Eve

My reliable "holiday" cactus is blooming for Christmas - it also blooms at Easter and Thanksgiving. I put up the medium size tree this year in the upstairs living room, Christmas slipped up on me pretty fast this year. At UUFD we had a very lovely service on Christmas eve - lots of music, carols and a dance followed by treats brought by everyone.

Snow!

We got a beautiful sparkly fluffy snowfall starting on Saturday evening. Lots of visitors came to our bird buffet.

Happy Winter Solstice!

I had just finished decorating the tree and was looking out the winter and there on a branch nearby was our owl visitor looking at us. (double click on the picture to get a close-up view)

More pictures from Sunday

Kline Gathering Dec. 20,2009

 

 

 

 

Dad hosted his annual holiday dinner today. We ate at Jack's Cafe and then to the house at the farm for the afternoon. It started snowing during the day.

New Kitchen Window

We got a "garden" window put into the kitchen: a badly needed space for plants, the only east window in the house. The plants are happy, and it brightens up the kitchen.

Old Kitchen Window

 

Here is the window as it was before the new one was put in.

Sunday Afternoon with Grandkids

 

I took Alyssa, Nick and Tim to the Christmas teas at the Millikin Homestead and the Oglesby Mansion. We ate lunch at Panera's and went to the library.

Chocolate Charms done!

I have a finished project - Chocolate Charms, made with 2 charm packs of the Moda Chocolate collection that I had bought from a vendor at our QuiltFest in 2008. I got the pattern from Janesville,WI shop on our DQG bus trip July 28, 2009. It was for a table runner, but I doubled the center to make a lap quilt. Bought the border fabric from Stitch and Sew in Arthur,Il on Oct. 19. Finished on Nov. 26.

Owl in Our yard

 

This is a big barred owl that was sitting in our tree yesterday morning.