I Like Thursday #9 - the Hot and Cold Edition

Last week, we took a short trip to Arizona to visit my mom.  It was beautiful down there - mid 60s during the day - a nice change from Colorado in December!

Our predicted temperature for Saturday is 4 degrees...with lows below zero.  I don't even want to think about wind chill.

                                                     

So, last week, we enjoyed lots of walks in the Arizona warmth.  Since the neighborhoods around my mom's house were all decorated for Christmas, we had to go out each night and take a look at the lights.  People decorate a little differently for Christmas in Arizona.

Since the Little Penguin Family loves birds, we are always on the lookout for them, and there are lots of birdwatching opportunities in Arizona.

My husband took this photo right out my mom's dining room window, at her hummingbird feeder.

We found lots of water birds at the Riparian Reserve in Gilbert, AZ.  At one pond, there were all kinds of these birds (I think this one is a Stilt) in the water, hunting for food, and their reflections made a fun picture!

When we returned from our trip, I was signed up to do this -

Yes, I am a bell-ringer!  I started volunteering to ring the bell for the Salvation Army last year after I retired. Several other retired teachers that I know were doing it, and I thought, "Why not?!"  I like the Salvation Army because all of the money they receive stays in the community where it was donated.  Plus, you see lots of interesting things as you stand out in front of the grocery store.  This time, some handicapped kids from our local school district stopped by with cookies and hot cocoa for us.  What a sweet surprise!

Did I look a little cold in that photo?  I was!  So, I had to come home and have my favorite lunch -

And I must have it in my favorite Campbell's Soup mug, too!

I am so lucky to have such generous quilty friends!  In the mail last week, there was a package from Cynthia from Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  I had commented on how much I liked this quilt that she had made, and she sent me some scraps from it!

Coffee, combined with fabric, and words!  Lots of favorite things all rolled into one!  Thanks, again, Cynthia!

And, finally, I thought I'd share the book I'm reading right now.

I've enjoyed Sandra Dallas' books for a long time, and this one is turning out to be a good one.  It's about the life of a midwife in a small mining town in Colorado in the 1800s.  Sandra's characters are always quilters, so woven in among the rest of the story are bits about quilts and quilting that always fascinate me. Sandra tackles some tough topics (this midwife is accused of murder), but her writing always keeps me reading!

As always, I hope you are having a great week!  Check more "I like" posts over at Not Afraid of Color.