Dear Husband saw an ad for a sale on some of the Great Courses and decided to buy several of them.  He has very eclectic tastes.  He chose a class on the Hubble telescope, one on Math, two on gardening, one on cooking and a lengthy series on the Dead Sea Scrolls.  This evening we watched the first  4 lectures on the Dead Sea Scrolls.  It’s fascinating, but I think I need to watch the lessons during the morning, or earlier in the evening.  By the time it gets close to bedtime, I find it more difficult to follow some of the points.

I think we may watch the cooking series together.  I find these classes are promoting some discussion between us.  Occasionally, it’s a simple matter of not having heard something, or of having heard it wrong, but more often it’s discussion of a concept that is new to one of us.  I learned a lot of baking technique in my 20s, and then set it aside when a doctor told me to stop baking to make it easier to loose weight.  I tend to be a cook who follows recipes, while DH is more likely to take ingredients that please him and put something together.  He makes something we call “slumgullion,”  (beef chop suey), that is different each time he makes it, and usually very tasty.  I wish he could recreate some of the versions, but he doesn’t work from a recipe, and he doesn’t take notes on what he’s doing.  This course may help us blend our talents.  I may become a free spirit in the kitchen, and DH may be encouraged to keep track of his inventions!

While DH is busy with courses that don’t interest me, I have several classes from Craftsey on how to machine quilt using a regular sewing machine.  I’ve finished one of the courses and started a second.  I plan to go back to the beginning of the second course and start over.  Too much time has passed since I first started it.

And, I have too many quilting projects underway.  I have two baby quilts to quilt for family members, and at least five large quilts cut out and calling to me to finish them.  It’s almost time for Scraps on a Mission to start, and I have two laps quilts underway for them.  I don’t have any difficulty at all finding ways to fill my time.  Don’t you feel sorry for people who are bored, or those who can’t find something that interests them?

Winter has been brutal in my neck of the woods, but not as brutal as places to the east of us.  We have been coping with horrible cold, and even worse wind chill.  Monday, when we had to go to the doctor’s office at 9:00 a.m., the weatherman hoped that we might hit a high of ZERO for the day.  There are two snow storms headed our way which might bring us six more inches of snow.

My youngest sister, Frankie, who lives in Indiana, has had her school closed a record TEN DAYS.  The school will have to go longer than the proposed school year to make up for the lost days. She posted a picture of a drift across their rural road in which a snow plow got stuck.  Another plow was called in to dig it out.

We are staying at home, burrowing in.  I finally tried my hand at sewing sashing on a quilt, and it seems that I can do simple straight sewing now.  Dear Husband is doing a couple of the Great Courses, one on cooking, and another on ten pictures from the Hubble telescope.   I have books, and books on disks to read, a Craftsey quilt class to finish, and I still need plenty of snooze time.  We’ll make a quick trip out on Thursday before the next round of snow comes.

I hope all our friends are safe, and finding ways to stay warm during this terrible weather.  Think “safety” if you must go out!

I’m yet living, but I’ve had a little surgery.  In October I discovered that I had a hernia and made arrangements for surgery last week.  Doc found there were actually TWO hernias during the surgery.  I’m five days into an expected four week recuperation.  Dear Husband is taking exceptional care of me.  I still have some pain, and spend a good portion of the day snoozing.  Today was the first day I felt clear enough to post.

I’ll visit more as I feel better.