Janice McC

Good evening. Just an exceptionally gentle reminder to be careful when bringing up the wins and/or losses in this past election. Expressing sadness over the damage to familial bonds over an election is understandable but touting one’s win or bemoaning another’s loss crosses into politics. I hope we can remain neutral here. We are a group of 14 individual women, all with strong opinions, not all the same. Let’s keep this a politics-free zone.

Thank you.

terriamn

Janice do you use a special program or app to reduce the picture size?

Hubby called his sister tonight and asked if they wanted to join us for dinner and they were free. We had a very nice dinner and enjoyable time visiting with them. They have lived here in South Texas for 15 years and are much more knowledgable about how things work and don’t work here. It’s always fun listening to them. His BIL will say something and then his sister will say “ Dennis you know that isn’t how it happened” and give her version. His BIL just grins and says well it might be more like she is saying. Hard for me not to burst out laughing. Love them dearly

WMUTeach

SBG, I will be praying for your family. I am glad that your daughter is politically interested but putting politics before the joy of family is difficult to understand and it hurts. It hurts more than our feelings it damages everyone who would be at the table.

My Thanksgiving plans are still unsettled. I was invited to my nephews home for the BIG friendly family feast that is fun, rich in food and traditions and just glorious. I would go there in a hot minute, but.............my daughter never makes plans until the last moment and I don't want to cause a family rift over where I eat turkey and pie. This happens every year and without fail she will ask me for dinner like it is a big burden for her to celebrate the holiday with her mother. (I will cease whining now.) I can't host because of space and my cat. My son-in-law and one grandson are allergic to kitty and are too miserable to stay and enjoy a meal.

At the very least I will dash to my nephew's for dessert and the family after dinner chatter. I may just have to initiate the conversation with my daughter.

It is a dark and stormy night here with 40 degree temps and rain. Burrrrrr!

Janice McC

Good morning. Terriamn, nobody makes me laugh the way family can. My sister used to make me laugh the hardest of all. I miss her. Sigh.

My Thanksgiving shopping list is in the works. It keeps growing as I think “Ooh, maybe we should have…”. I must stop that as I’m making more work for hubby and me. Don’t know that I’ve ever told you that DH does the vast majority of cooking now. Aren’t I lucky? He enjoys it so we split up a lot of the chores for the big meal and it’s so much easier. Looks like we’ll be only be 8 this year so we’ll just fit in my small dining room. Sometimes we overflow into the kitchen or living room as the need presents itself but not this year. Our KS DS will be making our dessert this year, peanut butter pie. Super simple and everyone loves it. He also likes to cook some.

Two more packages are set to arrive Friday. Then there’s just a few left. I hope to get them out fast this round. We’ll see. They’re due a week from today so please ship no later than Monday to ensure a timely delivery.

That’s it for now. Back to my shopping list.

Janice McC

Terriamn, I use the "resize and skew" button in MS Paint to shrink photos. I right click on the large photo, "open with Paint", then take a guess as to what percentage to shrink the photo. If it's a large one, say 3 MB, I'll change the percentage from 100 percent to 15 percent of the original and the result will often be a good size to work with. If it's a 600 kb photo, I'll shrink it by changing the percentage to say 30 percent, and it will usually be a good size. Then I save it and it will replace the large photo with the smaller one. It's a bit of trial and error at first but I'm shooting for under 200 kb. I can also change by number of pixels but I keep it simple with the percentage button. Hope that helps. There are lots of free programs online that will work much the same way if you don't have Paint. Just do a search and you'll find one.

WMUTeach, it's uncomfortable when plans aren't known in advance, at least for me it is. Hope your daughter makes her decision soon so you can make your plans.

WMUTeach

Checked on the progress of my package and it is still due to arrive on Friday! Yea, love it when the system works.

Another lovely rainy, gray day. My favorites by the way. All grays and browns outside with the warm glow of yellow toned light from the lamps leaving a homey warm feeling in each room. Yes, I love candle light too. But it is beyond me how folks sewed by candle light. Now with older eyes, I understand why stitchers are so often pictured sitting by a window. Still basking in my gloomy day ... with the lights on.

terriamn

It is 65 here this AM, but we will see some of the walkers in their parkas. Work out great for me then I can have a cup of coffee then go for my walk. So far I have only made it a half a mile and had to talk myself into each and every painful step. But it will get better.

WMUT my second daughter sounds just like yours but it affects the 12 of us. Luckily it is only Christmas now but boy she is the last to give me gift ideas, arrives late and first to leave. As much as I say I won’t let her upset me she does a darn good job of it of course I feel bad that she aggravates the heck out of me while I still love her to death

terriamn

Hubby figured out a way to shrink my pictures. This is the table runner I made my sister. I’m thinking of going with my 2.5” squares instead of the 3” they suggest

sewbizgirl

Very cute table runner, Terri!

All these Thanksgiving plans sound great, y'all.... We will have a quiet one at home, which is probably just what we need after all this family drama.

Glad the block packages are coming in! Soon we'll be making quilts.

Janice McC

Love the table runner! Perfectly cheery for the autumn. TFS.