Ketchup!

Mustard! 

That's what we used to say during our hikes in Girl Scouts when we wanted someone to catch up with the group. The front of the group would yell "Ketchup!" and the rear would respond  "Mustard!"
So I guess I am MUSTARD. :)

Let's Ketchup for February. 

Snowmobiling, hooking, stitching, cooking, a wonderful visit with our daughter and a miracle.

For those who may not have heard the news it's still winter... :-/  

We have enjoyed the snow since we got the sled this year. 

And some of the snowfall has been picturesque 

Christmas trees

A Stone's Throw

That Barn

but.... I am ready for spring.

I've enjoyed making some hearty meals this season. I do love my crock-pot Sunday's. :)

I made a chicken tortilla soup. Kickin' good for a winter warm up. 

I tried a new salad, an avocado caprese salad.
I used a cranberry pear balsamic vinegar to make the dressing.
It was heavenly and healthy!

I made my girlfriends recipe for Stuffed Pepper Soup for super bowl.
YUM!

 I will be making this for the pot luck with the Winterport Hookers/Ellingwood Corner Crafters. 

The daughter stopped in with me on the Saturday she was home
and met these lovely ladies and saw their amazing work. 

She loved it!

On one of the subzero weekends I made corn beef and cabbage with leeks and red potatoes. 

Oh my word! Delish....

And while the hubby and daughter were out snowmobiling I made a pot of potato rivulet soup. 

A classic family recipe. 

And got a good fire going so I could warm them on the inside and out.

They had two days of great sledding. 

The first day they hit several local trails around the lake and surrounding towns. The next day they rode to Greenville and back. Those two came through the door grinning and I picked up that the hubby appeared to be hiding something and the daughter shouted from the bathroom as she was hitting the shower....Guess What Mom?! And knew it....they had crossed Moosehead Lake which I asked them not to. They both were giddy about it. I was glad they had a great  and safe time.

A mom got to braid her daughters hair. :)

Suiting up

thumbs up!

Happy trails.....

I got a short ride a couple days later.

I was diligently working on my siren before our daughter came home. 

Here is a glimpse of my progress. 

While she was here she tried her hand at hooking. She worked on the Libby rug. 

So glad she pulled some loops on this one. 

 It really is looking like our Lady Liberty Bell. 

 It was such a wonderful week with our daughter.
Her and I had a pedi together...

...snuggled on the couch watching movies including Disney flicks. She hooked us up with Netflix which opened another can of worms...I am caught on Bates Motel and into the second season of Dexter. Planning on starting House of Cards which I know my husband will enjoy. We hit the LL Bean Outlet and another Maine staple, Reny's before I took her to lunch at Shimbashi's for her birthday. 

We truly enjoyed and absorbed our quality time with her. 

 The animals were happy to see her too! 

The hound snuggled up with her in bed the first morning and when she laid on the floor watching movies. The cat slept with her almost every night. So much love in our hugs, snuggles, laughs and meals. It was a terrific winter retreat. 

A few fun shots of the critters. 

LIBBY

Sassy Hound

Various positions of napping..

snuggle hound

cat and dog nap

built in sleep mask

she thinks she is a dog

baa baa black cat have you any wool...

Cat got your wool? She loves my wool bag...

Watching the chickadees in the bush...

CHEWIE

 On the last day of our daughter's visit my husband and I were headed to work for the day.... The weatherman called for snow showers during the morning commute and unfortunately we were experiencing white out conditions on our drive in and just about eight miles before getting to town we were involved in a major pile up.

It was the scariest thing I have every experienced. 

We share our thanks for all the men and women who volunteer and serve our communities.

They did an amazing job and were there very quickly.
We were very, very fortunate to have only bumps, bruises and a banged up knee (still waiting for an MRI) and saddened with the loss of our truck; but she did her job in keeping us safe.
We are truly grateful that everyone survived and the most seriously injured will be alright.
Someone had commented on the story calling it the Three Mile Miracle.
Indeed. 

 As we said our goodbyes to Big Beulah II...

we were thankful that we found another truck very quickly.

We brought Big Beulah Bell home this past Friday night. 

 I'll end this long, long Ketchup with a picture of an amazing sunset from Thursday night.

Finding comfort and joy in the simple things!

P.J.

Attitude adjustment...

...for my IPad.

Ever since the most recent upgrade to my pad it has been cranky and uncooperative. Pages do not load completely and it has been a challenge just read and comment on your blogs much less for me to post. It has put me in a sour mood as this is supposed to be fun and relaxing; instead it has been very frustrating.

I have been keeping busy with work, snow and riding the sled but I have been making progress on my Siren, Granny Square afghan and the Basset rug.

And getting ready for our daughter 's visit this week! She was to arrive this afternoon but her flight was canceled yesterday. She was able to get her flight rescheduled for tomorrow so all is good. Things happen for a reason....I was hit with a terrible sinus headache yesterday that just took me out. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch. I tried napping it off before I finally broke down and took some sinus decongestant. Why do I do that to myself, you would think I enjoy pain. I still feel off today but my head no longer feels like it is in a vice grip. So it's a good thing I have an extra day before she gets here because I never made it to the grocery store and I need to vacuum and shine the wood floors (which will last about a minute, this time of year).

I planned to stop by the Winterport Hookers on Saturday, as I need to pick something up, so I want to introduce Sydney to these wonderful ladies and show her their lovely projects. She really digs the rug hooking; something she says she could imagine herself doing someday. She never took to cross stitching. She tried it but it just didn't grab her. I think it would be awesome if she found an interest in this creative handwork. I will have to be sure to let her pull some loops on the Basset Rug while she is here.

We have several yummy meals planned and movies to watch snuggled in front of the fire; some serious mother daughter cozy time is on the agenda. Hubby has a couple of sledding outings planned for her. She is really excited about going out on the snowmobile; her first time too!

So I am still out here and trying to keep up with your posts. I see I have a couple more new followers; welcome to Porcupine Needle. Sorry to disappoint with a lack of posting of late. I have had some cool snow pictures and scrumptious meals that I wanted to share but my sanity was a priority. Hehehe.

Keep on stitching and hooking.
P.J.

Hooking turned Stitching weekend.

I was supposed to be attending a Hook In on Saturday. I signed up for this event in October, received two confirmation emails and paid my registration fee before the deadline....but due to unclear communications I found out last week that I was only on the alternate list. I was quite surprised and disappointed when I got the LIST email from the hostess and my name was alllllll the wayyyyyy at the bottom as the fourth alternate. I sent a very polite email to express my surprise and provided the chain of confirmation emails from the administrator that said nothing about being on the alternate list. Know what really burned my biscuits.....there were folks on this list that had not yet paid the registration fee and it was past the deadline. I received a polite apology for the misunderstanding and a promise to let me know should someone cancel. Come Wednesday I asked to be removed from the list as at this point in the week I had made other plans. I was just disappointed as I was going with the Winterport ladies I hook with. Oh well. I will see them this Saturday!

Sooooo, I spent the weekend with my GF stitchin' and 'you know what'. 

I worked on my lovely siren from Plum Street Sampler. 

Hope to get a few more stitches in today.

I hit the road early on Sunday to head home to be ahead of the nasty freezing rain predicted for our area. I was home just before 9AM and had convinced the hubby to go sledding. Its a good thing we did; the blowing rain last night washed most of the snow away!! He had gone out with his buddy on Saturday. We headed out for breakfast and where ever the trail took us. We had a gas station breakfast in Dexter and decided to keep going. We hit Dover by lunch time and turned around to head home. We had some freezing rain on the return ride and the trail was starting to get choppy. It was so much fun; I really enjoyed it.

Dexter, Maine

Ice fishing on Lake Wassookeag, Dexter

Headed North after stopping for breakfast and gas

Snowmobiles across Lake Wassoogkeag

Trail in Dover heads to Greenville

Pit Stop in Dover before heading home

Sebasticook Lake, Newport, Maine

We made it home by 1:30; in time to put Hamburger Soup in the crockpot, 

start a fire and snuggle in for the game. 

I was rooting for Green Bay but was impressed with the Seahawks turn around and win.

Congrats to the Seahawks fans!

Today I plan to get some things organized along with my regular puttering around and WILL get some stitches in. Maybe I should stitch for an hour and then putter. Yea, that sounds like a plan.

May this day remind us that each day we should strive for peace among us all.

"Peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, 

but a means by which we arrive at that goal." 

- Martin Luther King Jr.