Grandpa Peterson Makes Headlines

Dave's Dad has been involved with the Old-Time Fiddlers for a long time and has some very good friends. They play at nursing homes and convelescent centers around Skagit Valley. They made the cover of the this magazine a couple weeks ago and he sent it to us. I think it's pretty cool. There is even a picture in the article of Mom Peterson sitting at a table at one of the gatherings, so I know it was taken a while ago. Not a very big picture so I didn't try to scan it. The guy in the back of this picture, Morey and his wife Rita were at the hospital every day to visit Mom in her last days. They have been great friends to Dad and Mom. For those of you who don't know him, he's the one in the middle with the ever-present toothpick in his mouth.

Snow Pics update

This was after I unincumbered him from the snow, but he has a little residue left on his nose. What happened to my flowerbed? Before the snow we actually had daffodils popping through.

Think anyone will want to play in the playground? Strangely enough, the kids around here are just not getting "into" the snow. Haven't seen even one snowman! Maybe I'll just have to go and make my own.

Snow, snow, snow

No pictures because it's 12:20 am and people would be sure that I was a little wacko if they saw me outside right now with my camera. As it was, there was one guy walking by that was headed out of the community that thought so, but then again, he was up and walking at midnight too, but he wasn't carrying a broom. We've had about 6 inches of snowfall in the last few hours for a total of about a foot today. I went to bed and I was thinking about our inflatables and the ones with motors, and was worried that the weight of the snow would stop them and ruin them. So I got up and went out and rescued Mr. Snowman, the Teddy Bear, the Teeter Totter and snowglobes. Mr. Snowman was all bent over, and the globes were listing heavily to the side. Santa and the Reindeer were still teeter tottering. The carousel globe was smashed flat and the carousel couldn't move. It's not snowing right now so they should be good for the night now. I guess I can sleep peacefully now.

Snow

I get the mayor's updates and this morning he said that the Lea Hill area was the hardest hit in the city. Granted, there is only a couple inches at best, but for Auburn, so I've heard, this is notable.

Candy

One of the most fun things about having my Mom living next to me for 16 years was making chocolates for Christmas gifts. We would go through countless pounds of candy melts and home-made fondant, and tons of laughter and talking while doing it. It is just one of the precious memories I have of her. We even did them one year was she was legally blind, and that was quite an adventure! Last year was first time I made any since loosing her in 2003. I did a few pounds with my friends Foy and Debbie in Lake Stevens, and it was fun, but it didn't come any where near what Mom and I did.

So, I am back at it again. Not on the scale of what Mom and I did, and not nearly the fun, but I have enjoyed it. I bought 13 pounds of melts and have made 4 batches of fondant wth the two bags of jelly filling I bought at the candy store. I just finished the five pound bag of milk chocolate tonight and will start the dark chocolate tomorrow. Tonight it was just the "painted" ones, which obviously goes a lot slower, but are very rewarding. I think my favorites tonight are the little snowmen and Christmas trees. I painted the details on them after they were done.
When Clyle comes in and asks if I have any "mistakes" it reminds me of how Christy would come in and always look for our mistakes. We never let the kids eat any of them unless there was some flaw in them. Even after five years, I still miss Mom. But tonight seeing these little candies it makes me feel like she's not that far away.

Cards

A few of the cards that I did tonight using that beautiful paper I bought in Florida, some rub-ons an die cuts. Very simple yet I like them. No stamping on any of them.

Christmas Decorating

Not really great pictures, but I think we are finally done with our Christmas decorations. Can anyone say "carried away?" Our new additions this year are the santa-reindeer teeter totter and the carousel. Both purchased at discounts. We also added the candy canes, which was kind of a bummer. We bought the first four sets (thinking that would be enough) at Liquidation World at a terrific discount, but found out it wasn't enough, and went back the next night, only to find out that they were all gone. When we came out to the car, the battery was totally dead. We walked a mile to Schucks and bought another battery. The candy canes were originally from Kmart, so last night we headed to Kent for the nearest store. Unfortunately they were not on sale, but now we have enough to go all the way around. Our first inflatable was the giant snowman, then we came across the first snow globe at Prospectors liquidators a couple years ago. Then came the Let It Snow snow globe. Last year after Christmas sale yielded the Santa and Snowman snowglobe. We thought we were all done until one of the residents was driving passed today while I was putting up the icycle lights and told us that Lowe's had a 50% off sale so Dave got his teeter totter.

It took me two day to do the indoor tree. I thought I had a pretty well done last night, but today as I was starting to sort out what was left to go back in to storage (or St. Vincent's), I found all kinds of other stuff to go on it, and now it is loaded and looks very pretty. I will do a picture of it later. I think at any rate, we made up for all those years that we didn't decorate.