Friday, January 12, 2018

Into the Routine

It's been back to the routine this week with my ESL classes starting up again. The weather was wet and gloomy and Monday's attendance was a little low, as I expected. These classes are totally volunteer for both students and teachers and many of these refugees are from warm climates, so going out into the cold is difficult. Tack onto that cold and flu has hit our area hard and the result is low attendance, I just view it as an opportunity to give more attention to those who do come.

Then on Wednesday the sun came out! And that was the birthday shopping and lunch day with my granddaughter Ilse who turned 10. She wanted shoes and once again we had great luck finding some cute ones at Ross, She's at the difficult stage of needing a woman's size shoe, but still being a girl. Thank God for ballet flats! :)  Ilse will also be starting a beginning sewing class soon, so her mom gave her a shopping list for the class. My daughter is not a seamstress at all, her husband runs the sewing machine if needed. So we had fun looking at the fabric at Hobby Lobby, then going to Craft Warehouse for the fat quarters - they have a superior selection. We ended the morning with lunch at Red Robin where Ilse surprised me by eating her adult size hamburger, two servings of fries, and a little birthday sundae at the end. She is long and lean, and I think she's going into another growth spurt!

My stitching project, Promise of Spring, is coming along. Here's my progress as of yesterday:


If I'd been putting in the same amount of stitching time as last fall, I'd be done. It really does stitch up pretty fast. So with divisional football on this weekend, I should get pretty close to a finish.

And speaking of football - how about that college championship game between Alabama and Georgia!! Living here in the Pacific NW, I'm not a fan of the SEC, but that was a great game!

I've gone off watching much Youtube/Flosstube. It's so much to try to keep up with so I'm not even trying. Now I just watch a little bit of this and that every now and then. I do enjoy listening to Fiber Talk though. Gary and Christine put out two podcasts each week, Sunday is usually an interview and Wednesday is catch-up talk between the two of them. Really great listening!

Well, it's time to get going. Have a great weekend, my friends. And to those of you in the Midwest - stay warm!!

11 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

Glad you are getting back into the routine of things, Von! Your stitch piece is looking good and I really like the fabric you are stitching it on. It sounds like you had a wonderful shopping and lunch date with the birthday girl. Have a wonderful weekend!

Pamela said...

Promise of Spring is so pretty. The fabric is perfect!

Barb said...

That winter project is so pretty. I love the color of the linen. It sounds like you had a wonderful day with your grand daughter.Our grandson is 12 now and that is such an in between age. Too old to be a little boy and to young to be a teenager. I tell him that this age will pass.

diamondc said...

Hi Von: How exciting your granddaughter is learning to sew.
Love the new design.

Blessings
Catherine

Mary said...

Von, Such an enjoyable BD celebration with your granddaughter. How nice to hear that she is interested in sewing. Another fan of your linen color choice!! Have an enjoyable weekend. Mary

viv said...

Love your new start...I'm still trying to get back into a routine. Hugs to you and yours.

Julie said...

Your birthday treat sounds perfect, shoe shopping, stash shopping and lunch .... fabulous.
Lovely stitching, such a pretty design.

RJ said...

Sounds like a wonderful day for you and your granddaughter Von. I think that would be so much fun to do.

I love your new stitch and I agree it is such a lovely linen you have chosen.

That was a fabulous championship game. We live in an SEC town and I know we are not popular around the rest of the country but we do put out good teams.

Glad you are back to stitching. I always love your projects. RJ@stitchingfriendsforever

Clare-Aimetu said...

The New Year usually brings back routine - I'm sure it will continue into spring, as will your stitching

Rachel said...

Sounds like a wonderful time with Ilse, so exciting that she's learning to sew! Lovely stitching progress too.:)

Brigitte said...

I love your winter project, Von. Such a great fabric you chose for it, just perfect.
It must have been another great birthday shopping day for you and Ilse.