Thoughts of a Grasshopper

Now that we are in place that actually experiences cold weather, I am happy to make soups, stews and chili.  We actually had a couple of pipes freeze one night a week or so ago.  I had been running the taps at night but I fell asleep in the family room and never made it to bed.  My husband didn't think about it when he went.  Oddly, I expected it that the frozen pipes would have been in the storage room but it was the pipes running above the ceiling in the downstairs kitchen.  Our house has 2 kitchens, but only 1 stove.  I use that kitchen as my stamping/sewing room. I digress . . . I haven't made this chili in at least 5 years.  The last time I made it we lived in New Mexico and I came across the recipe in a Southern Living magazine.  I called my husband at work around lunch time and told him we were having this chili, salad and bread for dinner.  It worked, he made the effort to get home at a reasonable time. :) Smoky Chicken Chi...

Last spring I somehow came across Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice.  I saw that the instructions would soon come down and I downloaded them.  I ended up buying one of her books for the previous mystery quilt, which I also liked.  I made a mental note to do the mystery quilt this year. In October she posted the paint chips to use a guide for the colors of the material.  I was at Lowe's that day getting the colors.  I started buying material that weekend.  It was really hard to find the blue/aqua color and I didn't buy all that I needed.  It wasn't until I was doing the first clue that I realized I still needed 1/2 a yd.  I wrote on the paint chips how much material I bought of each color at what store.  I took pictures with the fabric and the receipt (or something that tied it to that store) so I could easily know where to go to if I wanted more of a material. Here's the thing, the first clue is posted the day after T...