This Is Not Normal (Sutherlin, OR)

We have snow!  Not a lot.  Around 2-3 inches.  We are being told this is not a normal winter for this area.  I get the feeling that just about every state in the lower 48 has unusual winter weather except for Florida.  I'm glad we did not end up in the ice storm.  I have been through several ice storms and I am quite happy to miss the latest one.  It's bad enough having ice on the inside of our windows every morning.

Yesterday, I spent the day watching big fat fluffy flakes float down from the sky while working on some quilt projects and drinking lots of hot tea.

 I went out several times to walk in the falling snow and to take pictures.

I should get warmer gloves.  My poor fingers were icy red by the time I finished each walk.

The cats were begging to go outside. We let them out and it did not take them long before their feet got cold and their bellies were filled with ice clumps.  They did not stay out for very long.

Hitch - I go with you?

Of course, they forgot how they did not like the snow yesterday, so Dan took them out again today.  Dusty and Squirrel were out for about five minutes before they begged to go back inside.  Hitch decided to do a little more exploring before the cold got to him which surprised us.  He doesn't like the cold and often begs to go inside if it is too cold outside.  If it is a heatwave, Hitch will spend the day outside in the sun while I try to coax him into the shade so I don't get heat stroke.

Dusty - What is this cold stuff?

I had to go up the hill where I have seen a couple of holly bushes.  An excellent time to get some photos of the bushes with all this snow.  Talk about looking looking like Christmas!  I have more photos, but I think I'll save them for the next posting so I can add more of a festive feel to the blog.

There was a group of Robins eating berries while I was taking pictures.  This one popped up while I was taking a shot of the berries.  He was probably eyeing the berries I was taking photos.  Then he realized that I was standing there and took off before I could get a better shot of him.  He looks like he has had quite a few berries!

On The Cutting Board

What a great time to pull out that big bag of scraps and get some sewing done.  Dusty thought he could help with my pile of scraps.  Yea, he wasn't much help, other than adding more wrinkles and hiding some pieces.  He did look cute sitting there.

I'm back to working on my wonky log cabin blocks using the paper foundation patterns.  I keep way too many small pieces of scraps and this pattern is a great way to use them up.  I like to use two color combinations per block.

For following blocks, I am using pink/reds with purples on one block and orange/browns with yellows on the second block.  I love watching this block grow.  The best part is not having to measure and cut before sewing.  I just need to make sure each piece is big enough to cover its area.  It looks a mess when I first start out.

As the block progresses, it starts to take shape.

Ta Da!  Five new blocks and a small dent in my pile of scraps.  I need to make a whoooole bunch of these to get that scrap bag to shrink in size.

I'm off to do some more scrappy blocks...

Happy Quilting!