More than a month of news... flowers, people and quilts..

It has been awhile since I last posted- longer than I intended to leave my blog- Somehow these last weeks have flown by...At times, I could not sit down to write- my heart was aching for the tragic events that happened in Newtown Connecticut.I have spent many years working with young children. I still can not describe the sadness and grief that took hold of me in mid December as the story of those children and teachers came over the media. We hugged our students and said our prayers and wrote words of condolence to somehow come to terms with the senseless loss of those beautiful little ones and dedicated teachers. Sometimes there are no words... I have been finishing projects and was very busy at school as well as fighting a cold and cough that often arrives just before Christmas break. These beautiful orchids were sent to Bruce and I from my school staff in remembrance of Bruce's mother. They were a stunning arrangement that graced our table for days. We appreciated the thoughtful cards sent by others that were of comfort after her passing.

Bruce brought home these gorgeous red roses with some babies breath for my birthday. It was a quiet birthday but as always, it was marked with a dinner out and something special. This year we went to see a concert - a band called Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. They had some guests with them that included Murray McLauchlan, Matt Anderson, Janiva Magness and Amy Helm( Levon Helm's daughter). It was a great concert - my favorite was Matt Anderson- His voice reminds of the lead singer of the Committments band. He has a great album called Coal Miner's Blues..

A recent photo in Christmas red that my mom took...

And some poinsettia plants that grace our table each Christmas season. We decorated our wedding reception with poinsettia plants as we were married on Boxing Day(December 26) I also received a beautiful plant arrangement that has a poinsettia plant in the middle of it.

My students wrote letters to Santa in late November and one day just before Christmas break, Santa arrived at school with some special presents for each of my students. It is a wonderful afternoon that reminds one of the specialness of the holiday season. There is nothing like the magical experience of Santa Claus as seen through young children's eyes.

Dusty the dog likes to be close by us all the time. Recentl, she got a little too close to one of the roller chairs and ended up with a sore paw. We took her off to the vet to make sure that her foot was alright- which is was but her ears were not so we got some ear medication for her.

Mars didn't want to be left out- she is a senior cat who was having her own health problems. Off we went with her to the vet and came home with some antibiotics for her too.

Here they are sleeping peacefully together- it is a rare occurrance these days. They both a bit of a diva, so it is hard to convince them that they both are equal pets. My money is on Mars- she really does own the house(even if Dusty disagrees with the concept). LOL

Our son Kevin celebrated his 25th birthday in December. This photo was taken awhile back- we often Skype him and I love this photo of him laughing at something that he was sharing with his dad. Happy Birthday Son- We are so proud of you and love you very much.

We spent the first part of this holiday season with my parents. It was lovely to have a few days with them. I hadn't been to see my folks since September so that is quite a long time between visits. It is nice that they have a computer so we can Skype with them too.

Bruce and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary on December 26th. We had a lovely time in the mountains in the summer where this photo was taken. If you get a chance to visit the Canadian Rockies do- it really is a beautiful spot and very majestic. On this day, the temperature was cool and gray. The sun on the rocks is particularly spectacular!

Last year my brother and his wife celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. I thought it was about time for another quilt for them. It took me longer than I would have liked but I was pleased with the finished product. I spent Christmas Eve day quilting and binding the cream and blue quilt as well as the pink pansy quilt below. I don't recommend marathon quilting. A dozen hours later I finished the two quilts. However, I was thrilled to have completed these two quilts.

I will show you the back of this quilt and the labels next time...  The  back is a wonderful pansy fabric that a friend had in her stash. It really makes this quilt. It was a gift for a friend who celebrated a special birthday. Her favorite flowers are pansies and she was thrilled with it. A big Thank You to my friend Linda for being so generous with her stash. It worked perfectly for this quilt.  As you can see, Mars approved of the quilt too.

Today I spent the afternoon quilting- I have now quilted this poinsettia quilt. I hope to trim it and bind it in the next couple of days. It has been a productive holiday and I am not finished yet. I have another quilt that I want to get quilted and I need to make a couple of block of the month blocks. I also need to get some baby quilts made up and there is always some school work to do. I am glad to have these days off to get caught up to myself...LOL I would love to sort some fabric upstairs so that the fabric was better organized. There are too many piles of unsorted fabrics and it makes finding fabric a challenge- a fun one but never the less still a challenge.

I got a package of wonderful fabric bags from Sue that I won in her blog hop giveaway. We use fabric bags for our Christmas stockings at my folks so I know that my mom will love them. Thank you Sue- it was a special prize. Today is the last day of 2012. I hope that 2013 is filled with many good things for you and your loved ones. I would like to wish everyone a year of good health, happiness and prosperity in 2013. Warmest regards, Anna,