Around OakMeadows

Quilt top ready for machine quilting. 

I am so thankful that I don’t live in the northern Midwest. The polar vortex has dropped temperatures to unbelievable low temperatures with wind chill factors down to -60 degrees.  It was colder today in Chicago than at the South Pole.  

My Clean the Garage project for today was to clean the windows in the garage. Done. Next week I will clean the garage doors. 

The kittens are so darling. I just love it when they are exhausted from playing and chasing each other and batting things around and then they curl up in my lap and go to sleep. 

I finished the backing for my quilt. I will take it in for machine quilting Saturday. JMM wants me to make a quilt for the king sized bed because the ones that I have now are getting really worn with age. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea at first but I’m thinking that a modified Rail Fence might be doable. I will need to figure the size and the fabric needed.  We shall see. 

Today was a Pajama Day. We didn’t need to go anywhere. Very pleasant day at home—usual, housework, reading, napping with kittens, and made spaghetti for dinner. 

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Letter to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

I believe that our nation has a moral responsibility to protect all children and treat them with decency, regardless of immigration status. The practice of separating children from parents is inhumane. Concealing data about actual numbers is unconscionable. As a taxpayer funding this egregious neglect of duty, I urge you to take full and immediate responsibility for righting this injustice.

Address: Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528 

Thank you note to Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX):

Thank you for opposing a border wall and working to address root causes of current migration trends. 

Address:17721 Rogers Ranch Parkway, Suite 120, San Antonio, TX 78258

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Email to Rep. Pete Olson and Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

The president’s border proposal pits Americans and government workers against our immigrant neighbors. I am asking you to publicly reject his proposal and support three specific things: 1. to end the government shutdown that is hurting so many Americans. 2. to refuse even a single dollar to the president’s wall or a militarized border. 3. to create permanent solutions for DACA and TPS. Thank you.

Thank you note to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA):

Thank you for your determination to prevent the transfer of funds to ICE for the purpose of immigration detention. 

Address: 1904 3rd Ave., Suite 510, Seattle, WA 98101

Favorite Things

I regularly enjoy Dkzody’s Weblog. Yesterday she put up a list of her favorite things. And this got me to thinking about all the things that make me happy. So here are some of my favorites. 

Favorite things (in no particular order):

Cat napping on my lap

Breakfast or lunch at HoP

Beautiful music

My family

Starbucks hot chocolate 

Making the very last payment on something big

Beautiful sunrises and sunsets

The smell of rain on the earth

The sound of rain on leaves

Learning something new and interesting 

Coming home after a trip

Laughing at something really funny

Fresh, crisp, clean sheets

Reading a really good book. Better yet discovering a new author with a whole series of books. 

The sounds of nature when there is no man made sound

Listening to Humankind podcast

The smell of something good baking in the oven

Birds and butterflies, especially identifying a species I’ve never seen before

Finding just the right fabric and pattern for a new quilt 

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Called Senators John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, and Mitch McConnell 

I’m calling to express alarm that more than 1,000 private HUD contracts just expired due to the government shutdown, leaving some of our poorest neighbors vulnerable to eviction. I want you to insist the Majority Leader hold a vote on legislation to reopen the government while continuing border security negotiations.

Thank you note to Mayor Jim Darling:

Thank you for sharing honestly about how a border wall would negatively impact your community. I appreciate your focus on compromise. We very much enjoy our twice yearly visits to the LRGV to see the National Butterfly Center and the many other parks and nature preserves. Thank you. 

Address: 1300 W Houston Ave #220, McAllen, TX 78501

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Thank you note to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt:

Thank you for supporting an end to modern-day debtors’ prisons by questioning counties’ authority to count jail debt as a court cost or fine. These fines disproportionately impact low-income citizens.

Address: Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Supreme Court Building, 207 W. High St., P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Called Rep. Pete Olson and Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

I would like to see the government reopen, but without funding a wall with our tax dollars or disaster relief money, or a “tech wall” that involves surveillance of citizens. I want our nation to respect its laws to provide refuge and asylum to people in need.

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

 Email to Rep. Pete Olson and Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

We support background checks for all gun buyers as a step toward reducing gun violence in this country. Please co-sponsor H.R 8 to help make this happen.

Thank you note to Sen. Jon Tester:

Thank you for demanding answers from the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs for their 13-day delay in announcing the disappearance of a Native teen. Thank you for caring. 

Address: 2900 4th Ave N, Suite 201, Billings, MT 59101

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

 Sent letters to Joan Huffman and Phil Stephenson:

I’m concerned about the harmful impact of school lunch debt. Some districts have policies that deny food or humiliate students in front of their peers. I’d like Texas to follow New Mexico’s model and pass the Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights. Thank you.

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Called Rep. Pete Olson and Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

I would like to see the government reopen, but without funding a wall with our tax dollars or disaster relief money, or a “tech wall” that involves surveillance of citizens. I want our nation to respect its laws to provide refuge and asylum to people in need. 

Thank you note to Julia Ainsley:

Thank you for your article fact-checking the administration’s false and exaggerated claims about the number of known terrorists stopped at the southern border. 

Address: NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10112

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

It seems that in my 71 years on this earth, my education has been sorely lacking in many aspects of our criminal justice system.  This book has been my primer. I am so glad that this book came to my attention as I will find a way to help the Equal Justice Initiative. Kudos to Bryan Stevenson. 

February Menu

February Menu

1. Out

2. Bacon Sandwiches, Oven Fries

3. Slow Cooker Farmhouse Chicken-Corn Chowder

4. Baked Cod/Salmon, Potatoes, Salad

5. Chicken-Sausage Casserole

6. Steak, GMP, GB

7. Leftovers 

8. Out

9. Macaroni and Cheese, Corn, Salad 

10. Schwan’s 

11. Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Veggie Tray

12. Oven BBQ Chicken, Beans, Coleslaw 

13. Roast and Veg

14. Leftovers 

15. Out

16. Scrambled Eggs, Canadian Bacon, Toast

17. Slow Cooker Beef Noodle Soup

18. Baked Fish, GMP, Salad 

19. Chicken Tenders, Carrots/Thyme, Rice Pilaf

20. Pizza

21. Leftovers 

22. Out

23. CB Hash, CSC, Salad

24. Schwan’s 

25. Fried Shrimp, FF, Coleslaw 

26. Chicken and Veg

27. Spaghetti and Meatballs 

28. Leftovers 

Around OakMeadows— Quilt + Animals

Around OakMeadows

Yesterday DD and Lucy came over to visit. We baked JMM’s German Chocolate Birthday Cake. So much trouble but sooooo good. Before she came, JMM and I made Chicken Noodle Soup in the Slow Cooker. So about 3 we had soup and cake.  

Today is very gray and overcast. Not cold and even the milkweed plants are leafing out. This is not good since there will probably be a freeze or two before winter is over.  

The kittens are really growing. They are both just beautiful.  Buster is definitely the dominant one. He reminds me of Bandit in his self assurance. Iris is smaller and sweeter but she will not let me pick her up.  Henry, the adult black cat, is mostly disgusted with our decision to get kittens. He mostly avoids contact with them but he does come and sleep with me several hours every night. Angie is baffled by Buster’s swiping at her. He does it just for the heck of it. Speaking of Angie, she is going to the groomer on Thursday. 

JMM has gone to pick up my blue and yellow One Way quilt. It is going to DSIL.  I have the fabric for the borders for my next quilt cut out and maybe I can get the top finished this week. I think my next quilt will be a Nine-Patch. 

The government shutdown over the wall along the border with Mexico is going on 3 weeks now. DD is having to work without getting paid as she is deemed essential. I’ve told her that I have savings that we can use to tide her over while this nightmare goes on. We assume that when it is over, she will get back pay. 

I had to spend some time on the phone with Fidelity as they have messed up my MRD withdrawal for the third time and considering this is just the first of January, it is amazing they could make that many screwups in such a short period of time. I have learned to watch them like a hawk as it is my retirement money that we are talking about. 

Enough Already!

In the last month we have spent:

     Roof  $3000

     Electrician $500

     Window Replacement $400

     Garbage Disposal $300

Enough already!!

On the good news side:

     My quilt top is looking very good. Should have it finished this week. 

     I am reading a really good book, The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

     I used the Christmas ham bone to make the most delicious Bean Soup. We had it yesterday with toasted sourdough bread.  

     My kittens are just darling and I get so much pleasure watching them.