Back to real life...

Back to work tomorrow; off to bed as soon as this is done.

After several weeks of above normal temperatures and below (way below) normal precipitation, it snowed about three inches today, and this coming week we are going into the deep freeze. As of this afternoon, there is a wind chill advisory in place through tomorrow night. The high tomorrow is an incredible five degrees. Slightly warmer Tuesday, but Wednesday's high will be all of two one degrees. Let's not talk about the overnight lows.

This couldn't have happened during the two weeks I was free to stay at home in fuzzy slipper socks and a bathrobe over a sweat suit?

And stay home I did. I filled the car with gas on the first Monday I was home, at $2.23 a gallon. I passed a station this morning that finally showed a price of $1.99 - something I've not seen in years. Glancing down, I realized I'd used less than two gallons of gas over the preceding two weeks. It truly was a stay-cation.

So what did I do? Read, cook, sleep late a few times, nap, read some more, clean, have a craft day, do some sewing, finally rearrange parts of the studio, nap again...there were a couple of big events/discoveries, but nothing I care to share at the moment. The incident with the bird (or bat, but I'm denying that was a possibility) I've already chronicled.

This isn't exactly "what I did on my Christmas vacation", as it was finished the week prior, but I certainly have been enjoying it this past couple of weeks. I'd shared an "in progress' picture of the pillow on Facebook a while ago. It's made of a ten by ten grid of two inch (finished) squares, all the fabric pulled from my stash, including the backing and binding. It will take a while to get it to the proper squishy state; the polyester stuffing in the pillow form is a bit stiff just yet.

The quilt underneath is a Christmas quilt I made about ten years ago. Most of the top was pieced while waiting for the carpet guys to come and install the carpet in the back bedroom at the flat; they didn't get there until four-thirty, and I got most of the quilt top put together that day. The backing is flannel - nice and cozy.

This is where I spent some of the reading/napping time, with the pillow, quilt and a big travel mug of coffee close to hand. The fireplace puts out quite a bit of heat when you sit right next to it. The reading lamp isn't on the optimal side for a right hander, but I can live with it.

Everything is put together for tomorrow. Clothes picked out (and laid out), the totebag loaded (I'd brought my water bottle home for a trip or two through the dishwasher), lunch made and scarf, gloves, coat hood and car scraper located. All that is left is the good night's sleep.

With that - sweet dreams.