Post Holiday Blues

I'm home, safe and sound. Miss Molly was well looked after while I was away and Miss Annie was so glad to see me last night. So much to waking up to blue skies and an endless day of "whatever". It's back to the grey NW, frosty rooftops and scraping the car windows!
Christmas Eve was my moms birthday and we always had a little party. We continue the tradition with friends and here is my Dad and his past neighbor Christine. We had an evening full of laughter, stories, good food and a few cocktails. She's in her early 70's and Dad is 78! I was the D.D. for the seniors!

Now onto quilty things. I started this redwork last Christmas at Dads and finished it this year at Dads. It called for red buttons, but when I went to JoAnn, I saw these crystal buttons and liked how they looked. The crocheted snowflakes are ones my mom made years ago. Dad had nothing up for Christmas, so I dug out a few things and brightened up his place.

I took my Joy of Life applique and made great headway.  Here are the blocks I've finished, with the exception of a few circles on some of the pieces.

The dragonfly seems a bit weak but once it's all together I hope it works. 

I did this block on the plane home, but didn't realize I had to put stems into the V's of the little outside hearts.  At least I only got 3 of them stitched down before realizing this. :-0 Total count, 5 1/2 blocks completed and 2 1/2 left to go.

Here was my first attempt at this butterfly.  I thought I could live with it like this.

but knew that the few minutes it would take to un sew and re sew the right top wing would be worth it.  So here is the final version.  Now I see it's tail is a bit off, but I can live with that!

Dad and I had a great visit. We spent an afternoon at the horse races in Phoenix. Dad has his horse in AZ, but it's still being trained at a farm, it will be shipped over to the track next week and will hopefully race by late Feb. We cooked pizza one night, entertained on the 24th, drove around town looking at all the lights one evening, and we prepared a meal for 10, (it was just us two) on Christmas day. We went out for Mexican the last night, as we were on turkey overload. My sisters and I surprised Dad with housekeeping services while he winters in AZ, he seemed quite receptive to the idea. Whew!, as he is set in his ways at this stage of life!
We also saw Les Mis and although I had not seen the Broadway show or read the book, I totally loved it. Dad had read the book so he knew the story. Aside from having a crappy cold, the trip was fabulous.

Here's Dad on Saturday morning, making a turkey sandwich for my carry on. I told him Dads are never to old to pack their daughters lunch. With a big hug and a few words, I was off to the airport line ups.

I hope you all came away from this season with great memories and stories that will be shared for years to come.

Sharon