Merry After Christmas

Anybody out there? I've been gone so long from the blogging world. Anyhow, Christmas was mixed this year. The older I get the more I value being with family rather than the whole present/gifts thing. I guess that comes with age, I don't know. Maybe by the time you pass 50 you have everything and you are on the way to trying to purge yourself of stuff that just clutters up your house and your life...except fabric of course!

I had two lovely luncheons with two different groups of girlfriends and I thoroughly enjoyed being with them. We chose interesting, different-from-usual venues and that just added to the enjoyment.

Two of our children and their lovely families live too far away and this year we didn't spend Christmas together. We used face time to enjoy some time together and let me tell you, that just doesn't cut it. Our other daughter was home for Christmas with her family and it was nice to see them and spend some time however they were sick and couldn't enjoy Christmas the way the might have liked to. They leave soon for the south and won't be back until June. I'll sew lots :-)

So...my tree and my decorations are coming down pretty quickly this year. I'm not sorry to say goodbye to the season this year. I might totally de-clutter the house and repaint during January. I'm thinking something robin's egg blue with a touch of grey. It will give Jim something to do while he waits for the golf courses to reopen.

Here's my completed "Night Before Christmas" quilt. I enjoyed making it so much.

and this is my Whistler Quilt. I had a relaxing week in the mountains visiting my sister-in-law (who doesn't much appreciate that quilting is an art...)

And the blue star quilt, which I began 5 years ago and completed this November. I need to get a proper shot of the quilt before she leaves for the south!

I'm getting together with some special friends in a few weeks for a weekend retreat. I'm not hosting it this year and I'm so looking forward to some solid quilting and visiting. 

My takeaway from Christmas this year is less is more. Fewer decorations, fewer outdoor decorations, not too much baking, not too much eating, and enjoy the simple things and the meaningful things, like enjoying the people you get to celebrate the season with, for whatever time is given...enjoy those you love.

My need-to-do-next-year is this. Cook less. As usual, even though there were only 4 adults and 2 children for Christmas dinner, I cooked enough to feed 5000.  When will I learn?

Talk soon,