My grandchildren, Mia and Milo, arrived last night just in time for supper. Here the are having breakfast this morning:

Miles was not quite awake!

While they ate, I made the brine for the turkey:

I didn’t get a pic of the nude turkey going into the brine, but suffice it to say, it is not a pretty picture!

We took Maggie for a walk – forgot the camera.

Just found out that Steph has pics of our walk here.

Then I made two pies for tomorrow (pumpkin streusel and chocolate pecan):

While the kids got in some play time.

After lunch we went to the Snoopy museum:

Then we went to Healdsburg, the hometown of list mom, Diane. I was inspired to buy some great stuff for M & M at Scout, our favorite children’s store. Then we took a break at a cafe for drinks and cookies:

Oh, oh! Somebody conked out!

Instead of eating out, we opted for pizza at home.

I had time, while the oven was hot, to roast tomatoes and red onions which will be combined with green beans tomorrow.

A lovely day!

I am taking a break from my schedule to post the soup recipe for Dale Ann and anyone else who is interested. First I just want to say that Sue Benner is my heroine. She not only shared a contract with me, she also shared an initial agreement that she uses for commission work, which explains the process.

Here is the Spinach Tortellini Soup which we also call Christmas Soup because of the colors and I often serve it on Christmas Eve.

• Two quarts of chicken or vegetable broth
• two tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 2 14 1/2 ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 1 5-ounce package fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 package fresh cheese tortellinis
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pan. Add garlic, onion and oregano. Saute until garlic is golden but not burned. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes. Longer simmering will intensify the flavor. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add tortellinis and cook until pasta is nearly done. Add spinach and basil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Adjust seasoning.

Serves 8

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Today is Miles’ fourth birthday!! We will celebrate with cake and presents when he comes this week. Here is one of my favorite pics of him taken 2 years ago at the pumpkin patch. He is wearing a sweater that I made for Mia and then got passed to him.

What did I do this week-end? I cleaned the guest bedrooms and put clean linens on the beds. This entails moving a bunch of my stuff back into the studio and in to closets. I have this tendency to just toss stuff into one of the guest rooms and tell myself I will deal with it later.

I called Andrea and begged her to fit me in for a trim. I am letting my hair grow out a bit, but it was getting a little shaggy around the edges.

Then I started some new postcards. See below.

Steve and I went to see "Shop Girl". This is  a fabulous movie. Claire Danes is just wonderful. She made me cry (which is easy to do), but if  you have ever lived with or known a young woman who suffers from depression, you will understand why I cried. The ending was happy so I left smiling!

The Rev. Karen and I have been corresponding regarding the commission to do a liturgical piece for the University of South Alabama Wesley Foundation’s new building. It will be 7 and half feet wide and probably 7 – 8 ft high. I am spending a lot of time daydreaming about the design, the logistics of  creating it and feeling so blessed to be asked to submit a design. I am reaching out to anyone I know who has done commissions to educate myself regarding pricing, contracts, etc. So if you are in that category, please share information with me.

Here are the postcards that I finished this week-end for the Puddletown Pre-School in Portland:
Two landscapes: The top is a wholecloth silk piece. The bottom is a spring vineyard.

Here is another pear and another rice bowl, done in Japanese textiles.

For these, I photoshopped a pic of Milo and Mia with their umbrellas. You can see the original here:

Here is my plan for getting through the rest of the week:

Have to work at SDA office tomorrow. After dinner, I will make out my shopping list for the week and finish updating the SDA website.

Tuesday, I have to go in and have a fasting blood test – 4 tubes! – for my breast cancer follow-up and my quarterly cholesterol check. then Meet with Fr. Matt. I will then go shopping for food!! After that I will finish spiffing up the house. Not much sense in doing a lot of cleaning with the kiddos coming!! I will make spinach tortellini soup for supper with Steph, Jack, Mia and Milo (can’t wait)!

Wednesday, Steph and I will do early prep work, baking, etc. for Thanksgiving and we will go to the Charles Schulz Museum to see the Snoopy Quilts. Wednesday night, Grandpa Steve will take us out to dinner. (A tradition, I love.)

Thursday, we will put on the great feast!

Friday, we will pack up the left-overs and go to the beach.

Saturday, everyone will leave – boohoo!

It has been sooo long since I have spent some time creating fabric postcards. My grandson, Milo’s, pre-school is having their annual art show and sale. This year I thought I would whip up some of these little gems for the show. Here are tonight’s offerings:

I found out today that my self portrait done for the Quilting Arts challenge was selected to travel with 74 others next year. I don’t know yet if it will be in the magazine. My understanding is that they selected 50 for the issue. I’m happy either way!! DebR’s was selected also. We hope ours hang out together!!

Speaking of DebR, she asked me to post a pic of my new red Dansko clogs:

I just posted them on her Frappr map, also.

Look at this neat little pink ribbon pin:

Members of the Heart String Guild in Philly make and sell them as a breast cancer fundraiser. They had them at AQT. Margo who works for AQT bought mine for me. Wasn’t that thoughtful!! By the way, Lonni Rossi is a member of this guild.

I finally unpacked from Tahoe today and got my studio back in order. I even quilted a baby quilt for the guild’s community quilt program tonight. We have our program meeting tomorrow. Julie Silbur of San Francisco is doing an Antique’s Road Show for us – appraising pre-1950’s quilts.