ho, ho, hum kind of day

My day started with the best of intentions, as I lay abed thinking about the storm we were getting. I wouldn't be going anywhere today. On my list was Christmas pudding and finishing the machine quilting on my baby quilt. This is what my  kitchen window looked like this morning.

After spending the day in the car yesterday, I was feeling fatigued and foggy brained at breakfast. While trying to clear my head, I put out a few of my Santas that I have made and collected over the years..

The Christmas pudding  recipe was given to me by a friend last year, and I knew it was easy enough to do despite my foggy brain. It is a very simple steamed pudding that I put into tin cans which go into a covered pot on top of the stove. Apparently they have changed the bottoms on some cans. Usually I take the can opener to the bottom once cooked and simply push the loaf out. However, the opener wouldn't work on these ones, so I had to coax them out the top. As you can see one broke.

There will still be lots for Christmas and now I will just have to eat the bits I cut off to straighten it out  to-night at dinner time . Perhaps a little ice cream will do in lieu of the sauce I usually make for Christmas dinner. It is a simple, light, molasses pudding with whole cranberries in it. I like it in place of my traditional recipe which I find is much too rich. My scanner was giving me problems today too. If anyone really wants the recipe just ask and I'll type it up
When it started to clear this afternoon the female downy wood pecker was back at the feeder.

I managed to get the main part of the quilt done and started on the borders after  lunch. I chose to do circles to mimic the polka dots. I realized when I finally got the first side done that it would take some time. Perhaps I should have chosen a looser simpler design. That idea became reality when I realized that I had caught up t he backing for about 10 inches. Well, normally it's not too hard to pick it apart and re do the section but, with the circles I had gone round them a couple of times. I will have to pick apart the whole section or it will look terrible. I'm tempted to pick it all out but I'm already more than half way around.

My other project is also in the midst of change. I did sit with my cup of tea and pick the first borders off. Now I'm auditioning 2 more. I really think I'll go with the one on the top. It was my first choice.

I'd like to get at it, however, my sewing machine is all set up for machine quilting; I guess I'm just going to have to sit and start picking out the stitches. I'm thinking positive! It's not about what gets finished, right? I need to sit quietly with the seam ripper, the quilt in my lap, and relax.