Bring On November!

I did it.  I worked like a demon in October to get as many outside tasks done in readiness for winter as I could.  Big cleaning jobs inside the house were crossed off my list day by day.  It was all worth the push, 'cause I am really, really going to take some down time in the month of November.  And I started today.

Although the day was gray and damp, hubby and I took a short hike outside for some fresh air and exercise, but otherwise I spent most of the day inside doing just what I wanted to do.

First thing this morning, I curled up on the couch with my latte in front of an open fire and got into the new Rita Mae Brown book I picked up at the library.  Actually, that little adventure wasn't very successful and had to be aborted, because it wasn't long before the words started getting blurry, and I was feeling v-e-r-y sleepy.

So enough of that.  Into my quilt room I went.  Shortly thereafter, I heard Papa Pea in the kitchen cutting up one of our recently harvested apples for a snack.  I trundled out there to have a sample.  Verdict?  Still no taste.  Sigh.  There may or may not have been some cajoling involved, but I volunteered to bake an apple pie to see if the apples were passable to be consumed that way.

I made a Dutch Apple Pie, and at least the appearance was pretty good.  Chicken Mama stopped by to pick up Tucker on her way home just as we were finishing dinner so she joined us for a sample piece.  Both she and her dad thought the pie was quite good.  Me?  Meh.  All I could taste was the crust, cinnamon seasoning in the apples, and the crumb topping.  Oh, well.  Maybe the flavor of the rest of the apples will improve as they  age.  Or  not.

But I did get more time back in my quilt room this afternoon.  Made more progress on the appliqued Christmas wall hanging I started way back . . . when?  The first part of October, I think it was.  I haven't had but a little time to work on it since then, but I made a lot of progress today.

I finished up the second of the four 12" squares that make up the center of the wall hanging.

And I have a good start on prepping the pieces to be appliqued on the third square.  (Ugh, blurry-bad pictures.  I'll try to do a better job next time around.)  So much fun watching the blocks take shape.  I'm really enjoying the whole process.

Okay, back into my quilt room now for another hour before trying to read some more tonight.  This taking time off is really nice, and I could get used to it!