Sorry Ohio friends

Ok, SORRY Ohio friends!!!! Seems I have been calling friends in Ohio telling them how warm it has been down here in New Mexico. Pay back time has arrived. It has been COLD here!! The last few days have been around "0" with the wind blowing 35-40 miles an hour. I had heat taped the hoses going to the trailer from the ground all the way to where it hooks into the house. NO freeze there.... The lines to the kitchen sink did freeze for one night, running today. We are one of the Lucky, or should I say smart ones, that still has water flowing in the trailer. Most here did not wrap there lines and are frozen tight. I'm sitting here at the computer watching people carrying water from the club house to their rvs while Louise is doing the laundry in our trailer.

We spent yesterday in Las Cruces doing some shopping to prepare a little for the next cold snap. We bought an electric blanket for the bed and some matting to cover the floor in the workshop to try and keep some of the cold down. It has to cold to work out here for a couple of days. I had moved the computer into the front part of the house to stay warm. This morning I am back in the shop working and typing. It had been as low as 37 in the shop, not a pleasant temperature to work in. This morning it'65, the new flooring is working pretty good.

The park had a garden sprinkler freeze and break on Thursday morning, luckily I was at the rock shop so didn't have to get involved in the repairs of that. It flooded the main entrance into the park and froze solid. They had to close off that drive because of the ice. I have not been out there to take a picture of that, sorry, to cold....lol

Now for the continuing saga of our craft work. First is a small ring I just finished. The setting is turquoise that I shaped and then fit into a silver mounting. The steps are, shape the stone, shape and solder the band around the stone, solder the band to a back plate, solder the back plate to the finger band, then set the stone and crimp the silver around the stone to hold it in place. The mounting and is all sterling silver. I hope to be mounting some of the stones we have found in the near future. Stay tuned.....

This ring fits Louise's little finger

Now for louise....

This is my third quilt. I designed it for our daughter Rachel in Ohio. The pattern is called Ohio Stars. The white has sparkles, the green has a tiny leaf pattern, and the red has dark red roses. The back is light mottled green. The stars are quilted in the ditch as are the sashings (green separating lines). The dark red blocks are quilted with Celtic knots, a favorite motif of Rachel's. The knots weren't big enough, so the corners have 4 point stars. In case you're wondering, I tried the pattern with green points and middle squares with white and red backgrounds, but it wouldn't work, so this is the finished product. As with all the quilts, the family symbols are scattered around. I just can't help myself. I love puzzles!

Halfway through our bragging,

Louise and Duane