Life is good

This past week I drove down to Coleman again to go with Leo to a doctor's appointment.  The doctors are following up on his 6 month appointments.  He had a GREAT report from all of them. He had a CAT scan and an MRI and they didn't find any cancer cells.  He will continue to have these scans every 6 months for about 5 years.  That wears on him, but we both loved the good news.   

I arrived Monday evening after leaving from Kingsley where I volunteered for the afternoon.  Leo has become quite a cook in his new house and had some leftover pork roast and some homemade bread for me.  I think he enjoys cooking much more in his own home and he really likes have a gas stove instead of the electric one he had at the apartment.  He has even cooked for friends a couple times, hosting a Super Bowl party for Braden and Denise and then making spaghetti for Braden this past week.  I am glad that he is back in the community with family around him.  

After dinner we settled down to watch an episode of Jeopardy but didn't make it to Final Jeopardy because we lost power.  We sat around a little while with his one candle burning but I finally decided I might just as well go to bed.  Even with the power out it was beautiful outside.  When you live in town you forget how much moonlight and the snow light the night sky.  The power went on a couple of hours later but I was fast asleep.  

 In the morning the local wildlife greeted me when I woke up.  These deer were right in the front yard, not paying much attention to us at all.  He has quite a herd that come by on a regular basis.  The often bed down in the pine trees around his house.  It is a very peaceful place.

 This one was getting a little suspicious but not bothered enough to run away.  They just strolled around trying to find some food.

 After the deer, the turkeys came by for a visit.  This was quite a group of turkeys.  I really don't know what you call a group of turkeys but the too strolled through the front yard and off in to the woods.

 Friday night was then night of our Quilt Show here in town.  I made cookies to take as refreshments.  That was fun because I have been avoiding baking for almost a year since cookies are NOT on our diet.  We had a very good turnout to the opening reception.  The red and black piece the second from the right is one of my pieces.

 In this display the tree is my other piece.  They are for sale but I am not optimistic about making any money on them.  It was just fun and good for my ego to have something in a show.  I was among some very good professionals in this show. Some of the quilts were Art Quilts and some of them were more traditional quilts.  I like doing both kinds but am loving the new Art Quilts which allow for more creativity.

 This whimsical piece was one of my favorite Art Quilts.  This coming Saturday I am taking a class at a local quilt shop that will help me create some pieces that are more whimsical and am looking forward to learning some tips on how to put colors and shapes together.

 Sunday I went to the Traverse City Indoor Folk Festival to listen to my friend MaryAnne and her daughter sing.  Both the quilt show and the Folk Festival were held at what we locals call the Old State Hospital buildings.  A developer has taken some old building and turned them into shops and offices,.  It is an interesting place to visit.

MaryAnne has been my friend for many years.  She was a music teacher in Kingsley and we have been great friends for many years.

Bud is getting better.  I think he had a very light case of Shingles and he caught it early.  That 'self diagnosis' was important to getting treatment early.  He was able to go to work all last week and the medication he is taking for the pain is working.

We have been trying to work our way (a little late) through the Oscar nominated movies.  When the nominations came out I don't think we had seen any of them.  Several weeks ago we saw Philomena  which was very good.  This past weekend we saw two movies that were in town, Nebraska which was interesting and touching; and American Hustle which was equally interesting but not at all touching.  Now that they have 10 movies nominated we have a long way to go to catch all of them.  From the previews of some of them I think we will skip at least The Wolf of Wall Street.

I am done!!  I've got no more.  But as you see, life IS good here.