I'VE MOVED ~ You're invited to stop by for a visit

Just a little reminder to visit me at my new blog address:

http://cootiebug2.blogspot.com

If you have my blog listed in your sidebar, please update the address...

If you're a "Follower" you can visit my new blog and click on "Follow This Blog"

I MISS YOU!

THANKS!

Connie the "Cootie Bug"

UH-OH, IT'S BROKEN...

This is NOT what I wanted for Christmas, but.......

this morning I found that my blog COOTIE BUG

is broken, technically speaking...

While I won't delete this blog,

I am setting up a new blog

COOTIE BUG 2

Future posts will be

on the new blog

To visit the new blog,

simply change your settings

to the new URL:

http://cootiebug2.blogspot.com

I hope you will...please.

I wish you, my blog friends and readers, and others who drop by for a visit,

a very Merry Christmas

from me to you.

I don't want to lose you so please, visit me on my new address.

I will be watching for you, my friends.

Blessings,

Connie W

A Visit To Santa

Two little girls paid a visit to Santa Claus...

at a department store...

a long, long time ago...

way back in 1949...

One of the little girls was so very SCARED of Santa...

In those days, little girls wore dresses

and to keep their legs warm they wore wool leggings

that matched their coats.

Me and my big sis

*

I STILL remember this

Indeed I do

The Christmas Violin Concert

Last night my grandchildren

Abby and Owen

performed in the annual

Suzuki violin program Christmas concert.

No flash photography was permitted until after

the concert ended.

Because Owen left early, I wasn't able to

take his picture but The Doc took one of me with Abby.

The concerts are held in a hall that is designed

for great acoustics and parking was no problem.

Even the weather didn't interfere last night.

All the students work very hard all year and it's a pleasure

to see them perform.

Abby, age 10

She began playing at the age of four.

Another Party

I love this time of the year.

One of my friends hosted a luncheon yesterday for

our medical alliance group.

She is a WOW of a cook and the menu was Fantastic.

In spite of a wintry-weather-watch, everyone arrived safely.

Having a cup of hot cider before lunch

Good buddies

Dueling cameras?

Making final preparations

The table all set

Our hostess on the right

The gifts hidden in brown bags

to play "Dirty Santa"

Showing off a gift

We who attended the luncheon yesterday were certainly spoiled.

Our hostess' home was beautifully decorated.

After the outstanding four-course dinner, we played a game.

Everyone brought a "white elephant" which was placed in a brown bag.

We drew numbers and took turns choosing an unopened gift or stealing one

already chosen by another person.

I had three gifts 'stolen' before the game ended.

Instead of having a traditional gift exchange, we donated money to be

given to charity and we each went home with something

different than what we brought.
It was a lot of fun and we unanimously agreed we should do it again next year.

Time With Owen

There are three posts today.

Scroll down to read the others.

****

Within the last few days my grandson Owen has...........

celebrated his 6th birthday........this is his LEGO cake....

He's showing his mom where to cut his piece

lost a front tooth...............

but I don't think a new tooth is ALL he wants for Christmas....

and was sick with a fever and sore throat...
I took him to see THE DOC at his office.

Owen was a good little patient, of course.

Owen missed school and stayed with me Tuesday & Wednesday.

P is for Parties

We were invited to two holiday parties last week.

The first one was Friday night.

There were many people there and everyone

had a fun time.

The hosts' son sang during the entertainment

which followed dinner.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The following night we went to another party.

Another night of food & fun...

The host

~*~*~*~*~*~

And some of our friends who were there..............

*~*~*~*~*~*~

It's fun to take time out of the busy Christmas season to

be with friends.

Thursday Quilters Christmas

Thursday Quilters met last week at my house.

We exchanged gifts and instead of having

our usual brown-bag lunch we had a

pot-luck dinner.

It was so yummy!

My gift bags were all lined up and ready

Bonnie giving Pam her gift

There was some time for stitching

Look at this gorgeous hooked rug ~ a gift from Phyllis

We each received one

If you look closely you'll see a blue & white

miniature sewing machine tied to the ribbon...

I was so excited!

The table is set and ready for dinner

Another Christmas celebrated with quilting friends.

What a very special day!

B is For............

Brrrrrrr............it was a cold 12 degrees here this morning! And we have an O-so-slight dusting of snow on the ground.

Busy............life continues to be b-u-s-y............let's change that to B-U-S-Y!

Buying...........Christmas shopping!

Birthday.............I turned 61 on Wednesday!

Be back soon................Please come back!

Cranberry Salad - And how I make it

For those of you who asked for my Cranberry Salad recipe, here it is.

I will include the details of how I make it

that were not included in the actual recipe.

******

CRANBERRY SALAD

*

INGREDIENTS:

*

Raspberry Jello ~ either 1 large box or 2 small boxes

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups boiling water

*

1 package cranberries

1 can crushed pineapple, drained (do not use fresh)

1 red apple, chopped

1 small orange with rind

Pecans (or walnuts, your choice) as much as you like

***

Prepare the Jello with the sugar and boiling water.

Stir until it's all dissolved.

Allow to cool and semi-thicken before adding the fruit.

I mix it in a heat-proof bowl and then when it's cool enough

I pour it into a large clear glass serving bowl.

*

I chop the apple finely with a knife.

*

I use a food processor to grind the orange

and the cranberries together.

I trim the membrane off the orange and remove any seeds

but I leave the rind.

*

I use chopped pecans, at least 1/2 cup.

*

I drain the pineapple and I use the entire can, any size will do.

I use a big can.

*

When the Jello is semi-thick, I add all the fruit & nuts and stir well,

scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is all mixed.

I then cover the bowl and refrigerate it until it is firmly set.

I like to make it the day before so it is really firm.

*

My mom got the recipe from a member of a home ec club

several years ago. It has been one of our family's

favorite dishes and a tradition for a long time.

*

I've had it prepared by a friend who used cranberry Jello and it was

also very good but I still use raspberry.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day was spent with our families.

My son invited us to join them for the noon meal which my son prepared.

He loves to cook. Here he is hard at work.

Peeling potatoes...

The turkey...it was Excellent

Owen and his other grandpa who had the job of

carving the turkey

My contribution to the dinner ~ Cranberry Salad

Abby & Owen ~ hamming it up for the camera

Owen demonstrating one of his light sabers...

which he calls a "light saver"

He LOVED this photo of it in action.

A game of Sorry...he won, as usual

***

The Doc and I are not Black Friday shoppers so we're hanging around the house today.

His daughter and her family are here visiting us for a couple of days.

If her boys are willing, I will have them help me decorate a Christmas tree

in preparation for Thursday Quilters which I hostess next week.

Sharing Thanksgiving Day with family is the best.

I am so thankful for our families and for all my blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Brenda's Birthday Plus Show & Tell

While today is another busy one (what's new, right?)

with Thanksgiving being tomorrow,

and some cooking and some cleaning to be done,

I wanted to take a little break from that

and post the pictures of the

goodies I bought from Angela at the quilt show.

A Cute Raggedy Annie

Pincushions and a painted spool

The book was from another booth at the quilt show.

It has patterns for quilts using jelly rolls.

***

* * * * * * * * *

BRENDA

Last week The Doc and I had lunch with his office staff

to celebrate his nurse Brenda's birthday.

We gave her a basket like the one

that we gave to Kim for her birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENDA

Busy, Busy

This is one of those times when everything happens at once. Family members sick with vomiting and the yuck, grandchildren who've needed babysitting, some online Christmas shopping to get done, a husband wanting to make a weekend trip to Kentucky...which means I have errands to get done this afternoon...and the list goes on. I was wanting to post photos of the goodies I bought from Angela at the quilt show last week but haven't had time so that will come later. The list of blog posts to be read is growing larger but will also have to wait. And then, next week looks even busier...so with that in mind, I will say adieu and promise to return asap. Wishing you all a happy weekend.

Quilt Show Photos

While the quilt show was not a really large venue, we felt it was just right and we did enjoy it. There were quilts displayed at one end of the convention center and the vendor mall was at the other end. We did our shopping first, took a break for coffee and a snack, and then looked at the quilts. A blogger-friend from Indiana was there vending so we took time to visit and shop there. We met a year ago at the Grouseland Quilt Show in Vincennes. Angela and her sisters are talented and their work shows it.

* * *

The link to Angela's blog The Country Cellar is here.

Angela (seated) and her sister Penny

The above photos are of Angela and Penny's booth.

* * * * * * * * * *

These are a few of my favorite quilts that were being displayed.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Please visit again!

Destination, Quilt Show

Every day this week I have awakened early for no reason. Not so this morning though, I was sleeping so soundly when the alarm went off. Today I have a reason to be up early. A friend is picking me up and we're going to a quilt show in Bloomington, IN. I will have my camera with me and if it's permitted, I'll return with some pictures. Who knows, maybe I'll run into some Indiana bloggers there too.

Have a good day. I plan to!

Yesterday's Photos

While I showed quilts at the meeting yesterday, one of my friends took some photos

so I could share a few of them on my blog.

~ * ~ * ~

The first picture is of the first quilt I made.

It is a THIMBLEBERRIES pattern by

LYNETTE JENSEN.

I think it is called

Birds and Blooms.

I signed up for the class at QUILTS 'N BLOOM in 1999.

It was a great quilt for learning

both piecing and applique.

I machine pieced and hand quilted it.

The photo below shows a quilt almost like the first one.

I made it a few years ago using a fall theme.

For the applique I substituted leaves and pumpkins

and a crow replaced the bluebird.

I machine pieced it and quilted it on my longarm.

OOPS ~ it's upside down

The quilt above is the first

STACK & WHACK

quilt that I made.

It is from the pattern book by

BETHANY REYNOLDS.

*

JUDY LAQUIDARA

taught me and others

how to make this quilt

at a retreat a few years ago.

Some of us who were there went shopping

for our fabric and pattern book at

Hancock's of Paducah.

Judy quilted it for me.

Above is another THIMBLEBERRIES

pattern by LYNETTE JENSEN.

It is called

Thimbleberries Village

and was a block-of-the-month from

The Village Mercantile

a few years ago.

~ * ~ * ~

I hope you enjoyed a sample of the trunk show.

It was fun sharing my quilts with the group, none of whom are quilters.

Looking For A Magazine

I'm looking for this issue:

Australian Homespun

The Gardening Issue

If you have one

and

would like to swap,

please email me.

* * *

Yesterday the cleaning lady (me) cleaned my house.

Today there's no cleaning...I have a meeting

with the physicians' spouses group.

*

For the program they asked me to do

a trunk show of my quilts

so I loaded them into my SUV

and made a salad for the pot-luck lunch.

I wish it wasn't raining.

I put all the quilts

in plastic trash bags to keep them dry.

I didn't make any notes because I can

talk about quilts for hours without them.

Betcha' you can too...

*

Thanks for your visit to my blog.

Have a great day!

Stitching to Share

Happy Friday to everyone.

I hope that you are having a great day or evening wherever you are.

* * *

When I went to Thursday Quilters yesterday

I forgot to check my camera batteries.

After taking a few snaps they

gave out so there are only two

pictures to share.

This pretty small quilt

belongs to Phyllis.

I love pink & brown quilts

and at one time I hoped to make

a bed quilt in these colors.

Perhaps I will...

someday.

The applique blocks are Pam's.

As soon as I saw them

my mind jumped to making

something in applique

using Aunt Grace fabrics.

I love to do hand applique.

* * *

The project I stitched on was

the Grandmother Flower Garden

that I started in 2004.

I call it my nursing home quilt

because I figure by the time I finish it I'll be in one.

I cut out the hexagons using an acrylic template and

then I draw a pencil line on the pieces,

stitching the pieces together using silk thread.

It is a slow process.

We made our plans for next month's get-together which will be at my house.

We will have a covered dish lunch and a gift exchange.

It is always so much fun and I can't wait.
I plan to have my Christmas decorations up by then.

It won't be long so I better get busy.

Finding Lower Prices Is Nice

Here in the Midwest we're having another beautiful day weather-wise but it's not going to last much longer. The forecasters tell us to expect rain and storms possibly tomorrow.

I found this princess costume on the bargain clearance rack after Halloween and yesterday took it to my granddaughter who is into the princess thing. Immediately she began to undress and wore the costume until bedtime. It was easy to make this little girl very happy.

Lily

Over the weekend The Doc bought gas for his SUV and this was the price. It has gone down even more since Saturday. I heard on the TV local news that in some places it was even a smidgen below $2 but I haven't seen that price here myself. Are you finding similar prices in your area?

* * *

Tomorrow is Thursday Quilters so I'll try to have a quilty post next time.

Wishing you a beautiful day wherever you are.

Today We Vote

Today Americans may exercise their privilege to vote...

I will vote...

EXERCISE YOUR PRIVILEGE

VOTE

A Very Special Day With Very Special People

Thursday was a hoppin' day around here. It started out with meeting The Doc and his office personnel for lunch to celebrate one of their birthdays.

KIM with the basket we gave her

~*~

Kim is one fantastic person...and a dear friend...

She has been employed in The Doc's office

for many, many years...

You ought to see how fast she can type/keyboard...

She's F-A-S-T!

And she is a precious Christian

She's the mom of two lovely daughters

And the wife of a dear Christian man who's a firefighter

KIM has a blog and here's the link

***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM

*****

TOMOKO ~ My dear and special friend

~*~

Tomoko and I met at the local quilt shop several years ago.

The shop is owned by our friend, Kathy.

A few years later I organized our little quilting group

THURSDAY QUILTERS

and

Tomoko was one of the members

until she moved away...

TOMOKO is an excellent quilter

She hand stitches nearly all of her quilts

and also hand quilts them and they are beautiful.

I had just returned home from the birthday lunch for Kim

when my phone rang...

I didn't recognize the number on the Caller ID

and I almost didn't answer, but...

I did...and it was TOMOKO!

She was back in town for only a few hours

and asked if she could come visit me!!!

OF COURSE I SAID "YES - COME RIGHT OVER!"

and she did...

We had a too-short but very-special visit and

all-too-soon she had to leave...

TOMOKO, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT!!!

OWEN & ABBY

as

HARRY POTTER & HERMIONE

~*~

Well, Tomoko had just left and my doorbell rang again...

I saw shadowy figures through my door...

It was OWEN & ABBY all dressed up in costumes

for the town Halloween Parade

and they stopped to Trick-or-Treat

They went to the parade and were chosen

as some of the winners in one of the categories

and their picture was in the newspaper the next day

~*~

Congratulations, OWEN & ABBY!!!

~***~***~

What I thought would be an ordinary Thursday ended up full of nice surprises.

Isn't it wonderful to have days like that!

Lucky Me!

HALLOWEEN BOO TO YOU

BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

FROM

COOTIE BUG & THE DOC

Meet My Heroes ~ Super-Endodontist & Sidekicks

As if you were out there, waiting, with baited breath,

to read all about my next root canal,

I'm here to give you the scoop.
I am more-than-ecstatic to report that I had the

best-ever root canal one could hope for.

NOT that anyone would ever HOPE for a root canal...

Do they?

Surely not!

Oh, right, back to the story................

I entered the office with...

Well, let's just say, F-E-A-R...

When there to greet me with her smile and friendliness

was none other than

MARLA!

Marla was so nice to me..

we chatted about blogs...

I asked if I could take her picture

to put on my blog

and she said "Yes"

AND THEN...

CARRIE came to take me back to the treatment room...

She asked how I was...

and she got me all prepped,

AND THEN...

Who arrived but my wonderful ENDODONTIST

He's THE MAN who fixed my tooth,

not only yesterday,

but on two other occasions too,

the last one was five weeks ago...

remember?

Meet DR. GRAFE!

He's the smiling, relaxed one...

He, being a good-natured kind of guy,

and a good sport, as you can see,

was happy to oblige my unusual request

to have a photo op,

right there in his office

In fact, he told me that NOBODY has

requested photos before

Imagine that...

Moving on...

DR. GRAFE & CARRIE have me right where they want me...

Just kidding!

Can you say Arrgggghhhhh?

I CAN...

(well I'm thinking it, anyway)

So DR. GRAFE and CARRIE

did their thing and

we posed for a few more photos,

taken by the In-House-Photographer, uh, I mean

Another Dental Assistant,

KRISTI

(no photos of Kristi because where I was sitting, I wasn't
taking any photos)

***Now, the last photo above will have to also serve as my scary face

for the Halloween season...

I mean...this is as scary as I plan to get for a while...

I'm just sayin'

So, let's hear a big round of applause for my special

SUPER-HEROES-O-DAY

DR. GRAFE, CARRIE, MARLA, & KRISTI!

for not only making me all better, but also for their kind participation in my special

Halloween production, Live and Personal

Some people will go to any length

to have the scariest post,

and Folks,

this is as good as it gets,

here on blog COOTIE BUG

Now go write something really scary on your blog! Do it!

Oh My, I've Been BOO-ed

My friend Niki

BOO-ed me on her blog PUMPKIN COUNTRY

...and now

it's my turn to BOO somebody

Let's see...

WHO SHOULD I BOO?

How about...

Valerie

Vickie E

Kim

Mary Lou

Heidi @ http://blog.heidikaisand.com/

(sorry, but linking to her name didn't work)

Jeanne

Sharon

Now, it's your turn to pick up your BOO-card and display it on your blog

This is my second post today so please scroll on down
to read the other one! Thank-U