A little bit of this and that of Christmas

                                                                Giving Santa a cookie

                                                            When little Jack first saw Santa


                                                 

                                                              Love these jammies


                              Here are some picture of what the gals have been working on

                                                     
                                   This a typical get together at the country loft rug hooking group
                                    a little bit of this and that.

 Michele just had her beautiful work framed looks great!

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday. The good news it's pretty mild weather and the birds are singing away the bad news is we need rain. If we don't get enough rain we will dry out in the summer and since where I live in southern California there is always a fire danger it's a mixed bag. I have been putting away Christmas and have pictures from our hooking group and miscellaneous pictures of Christmas.Enjoy!

                                                           Little sock Janice made for a family member
                                            We all got some wonderful pomegranate jam from Janice!

                                       Marjorie is using normal yarn for the body of her sheep!
                                        I love the look it gives to her sheep.

                                                                     

                                             Pam's sachets filled with her home grown lavender
                                                                 

                                              Pam made these notebooks for her daughter
                                                   

                                                              A peek into my front room

                                         I love bringing out this Cheri Payne quilt I made at Christmas

                                               The reason for the season.
                                               This was taken at Linda's home.

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Christmas Eve Wishes

                                                                          Wow I did it!
God works in mysterious ways.What can I say but that I have been missing my brothers and have just accepted that I would not see anybody. When what to my surprise I get a call from hubby his truck has broken down and he needs me to call our neighbor since he needs a guy to help get it out of the road. Jeff didn't answer so I called my youngest brother Clint and he came to the rescue.Jack was able to get the truck going and I was able to see my brother who I had not seen since last December.Now I need to get ready to see my daughter and her family and yes I am so thankful and blessed that one of  my Christmas wishes came true.

Have a Merry Christmas Eve!

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Musing on my last weeks

                                                                           A Beauty

Wow where has the time gone! I have been here and there looking for the perfect gift when right in front of my nose is the perfect gift babysitting!
This last week Linda and I headed not to busy shopping centers and Malls but to Julian a darling mountain town about an hour from where I live in Crest. It is about as perfect as you can get. Quaint little buildings in the old mountain town give Julian such a country feel.Julian is famous for their apple pies which is known to have people waiting in line trying to get a slice of pie. The beautiful drive up there is so picturesque with Cuyamaca Lake and dotted cabins on the faded winter mountains and sometimes if were lucky we'll see wild turkeys. The only time I have seen deer is at dusk.It was so pretty and relaxing and best of all I found some  nice presents.

As we left Julian I drove the long way back driving to Santa Ysabel and then thru Ramona. 

I have been trying to do something a little different this year. Find some places where I have driven by a million times and yet not stopped in. Well what can I say we stopped at the old general store in Santa Ysabel its owned by Soho a preservation group in San Diego. It is a redone general store and it was a really interesting. I bought hubby some nice old square nails.(he is not allowed to look at my blog til after Christmas)Most people don't get excited over old nails but call me crazy but that made my day.

I love this old quilt

                                                     Santa Ysabel and Dudley's  which makes the
                                                      best bread.
                                                     

Megan and little Jack were here in Crest part of the week. My daughter thinks poor little Jack is being put to work, But I know he loves it. We worked in the yard which I have been redoing slowly . I would cut the little leafy branches of of Eucalyptus that were trying to grow up again and he would drag then to a spot I had for them.So between helping me load up firewood and dragging branches  Jack took great naps.

The treat of the day which I wish I had my camera out was my neighbor was walking her horse. I asked her if Little Jack could pet him and the sweetest brown horse lifted her head over the fence and let him pet her. It was such a cute picture a very active two and a half year old and Maulie right next to him looking up at the horse. I have an old log so it helped Little Jack be able to pet Ginger Snap. As Ginger Snap went home Jack was yelling "Come back horsey!" I just realized  I have horses pretty close to my home.Ginger Snap lives four houses away and some more horses are three houses away on the other side.I think having a horse rink in our park where people can exercise their horses helps.The weeks before Linda, Anna and I went to Summers  Past Farms. Here are some pictures of ladies taking a Christmas wreath class.

                                 

                                         I am dashing off to finish my Christmas shopping.

              I'll try to take some pictures of my home decorated at Christmas .Hugs Cheri

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Rug hooking my Santa update

Here is a quick glimpse of my black Snowman rug hooking.Little Jack is visiting while Megan goes to the doctor so I have been hooking away while he naps.It's great I am actually able to hook at night while he's visiting these last few days.

My girlfriend Linda's dog Lucille dressed for Christmas

It's raining today and so yesterday I made work fun of course. Little Jack was such a good helper who knew a toddler would enjoy helping his Nana stack wood. We stacked a whole plastic container full of wood for my wood burning stove. Were toasty warm today!Hugs Cheri

                                                                                       

                                   

   
                                                                 
                                                      A Christmas quilt of Linda's

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Christmas at Dee's and a simple sweet memory

 I couldn't sleep this morning. I woke up three in the cold dark morning. Morris wanted out side. I timidly opened the door for a quick moment hoping there was nothing ready to jump out at me.  Hubby is out of town for the day and I am the biggest chicken.So I turned on the television and put it on the Hallmark channel. Maulie my little shitzu had a look on her face like you have got to be kidding.Loyal little dog or not I am not getting up for nothing. The fire had gone out in my blue wood burning stove and I debated whether to start another one or just bundle up so I  reflected on my week in my cold little yellow home.What a good week I had enjoyed! 
I had dropped a  twelve days of Christmas quilt to be quilted which I had been working on forever at Pam's. After a quick drop off I had scurried my suv over to Dee's home.

Once upon a time there was lovely lady with an infectious smile that made her friends lives oh so special. A visit to her home was like a trip back to another time which made Christmas time even more special to anybody that got an invite to visit her. As she opened her big blue door you could feel a blast of friendship from the top of your head to the bottoms of your toes.
 As Dee peered out her door at me. I couldn't help but smile wondering what was Dee's home going to be like at Christmas time.

 One of Dee's daughter had taken up photography.I couldn't believe what a good eye she has for taking pictures!  The sea birds she had taken photo's of really caught your eye.I sat in the comfy chair and browsed thru the photo's and was reminded of what an art it is to capturing a moment.

  As Dee and I sipped on tea and laughed and of course we both talk at once. I thought how grateful I am having good friends that laugh at my stories.

Dee bought this rug but can't remember the artist

 There is nothing as wonderful as ideas and appreciation of your hard work when your making something from scratch. Dee enjoyed how my black hooked snowman is coming out and made me feel really special that day.

As we sipped on tea and I added my milk. Dee commented on how she also added milk to her tea. I told her about my father who had always added milk in his tea and that's where I had acquired that tea habit from. Dee then asked me.Oh was he English? I started to laugh at her comment.

Sometimes we don't see what's right in front of our face. I opened my arms in disbelief and had to laugh. Since I am obviously Hispanic with my shiny dark hair and olive complexion it really made me chuckle.Sharing our lives joys and sorrows with friends that come into our lives is a blessing not all people have.
Christmas has changed over the years loved ones have left us traditions that seem so important to us aren't quite the same with those loved ones gone.Christmas past seems so far away. As we talked about the simple act of making a cup of tea it brought to my heart a happy memory of a Dad I had loved and adored and  there he was sipping the tea with Dee and me still there tucked away in my little Christmas heart.

       

                                                                 

                                                              Dee made this cute snowman!

                                                                     

                                                             You always need a mouse in the house!


           

                                                                                               

   

                     Well the sun came out and my toes are cold and I am going to start a fire Hugs Cheri

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