It's almost over....

The holidays are winding down......It's been nice to have a few days to just sleep until I wake up (without any alarm!), and spend some time sewing and relaxing.

I enjoyed an all-afternoon sew at Leah's quilting store, with my dear friends and daughter Karen......We really enjoyed the extended time to just relax and create and see what each other was working on, etc.

(You gotta watch that red-head on the left, however......she tends to liven up the party in unexpected ways!!)

Today I should have worked a lot more than I did, but Michael and I went to look at kitchen cabinets, counters, floors, etc., instead. We know its time to update our kitchen, and we've put it off as long as we can. The cabinets are worn down to bare wood, the drawers are all broken and have been repaired, the sprayer in the sink doesn't spray, the faucet has a leak in the shaft, the sink is rusting out, the microwave is tempermental and the microwave handle is gone, the stove doesn't light without matches, and the dishwasher doesn't work.

None of those items really bother me (except maybe the worn, dirty cabinets), and the possibility of the sink relocating itself in the cupboard underneath itself.....but its time. First quarter next year maybe....if we can get our act together and pick everything out.

So we looked around a bit today. Then we stopped at the Joanne's on the way home and got some foam. We've noticed that Nikki (one of the dogs, short for Monique) has had a great deal of trouble with her right hip/leg lately, and we thought a new foam bed might help. It could be used on the floor, or in the crate she sometimes snoozes in.

The saleslady at Joanne's said the best thing to cut it with was an electric slicer!















She was right! I trimmed it a bit, and then I put some old scraps together in a checkerboard pattern and quilted the checkerboard top to two layers of batting.















Then I made a boxy envelope with more scraps, with a simple opening in the back to allow us to put the foam pad inside.






























We got the foam at half price and the scraps were "free" so I thought it was a pretty frugal solution to making one of our resident "older ladies" more comfortable. Seems like only yesterday Laurie latched onto her and persuaded Michael to let her keep her.....but its been about 11 years! I think she likes it!














Goodbye to 2007!








Here's to a great 2008!!