The Weather in Early Spring is Crazy

After living in the desert climate of Las Vegas valley for the past 24 years my husband and I are rather amazed by the differences in the weather of Southern Utah at 5800 ft. in the spring time. One day we get 9 inches of wet snow and everything is a Currier and Ivies print. It’s really beautiful, but horrible to drive in. Twenty-four hours later the snow is almost all gone!

We wanted to plant a dogwood tree in our yard, but the lady at the local nursery explained that the tree gets too confused by the weather and doesn’t do well here. The weather warms ups, the tree buds out, and then it freezes and/or snows and kills the new growth. I finally understand. So instead we planted a dogwood bush, a variation which does much better but still has the white blossoms.  [This is our Juniper tree that has the bird feeders--the local McDonald's of the Thistle Seed.]

When we want a change of pace, or want to thaw out we drive down to St. George, 45 miles south and 2500 ft. lower to warmer temperatures, and visit Costco and Barnes and Noble. About 15 miles south of our house the altitude starts dropping and the snows start disappearing. It’s really quite amazing what a difference a few miles make.

A few weeks ago we had two birthdays in the family. Jordan , Dustin and Erin’s youngest daughter turned one, and Carlee, our youngest turned one year older.

Carlee and Tom celebrated with a weekend in San Diego minus children. Sleeping late and visiting the aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, headed the list of activities for the weekend. In the meantime Katie Jane had an “unbirthday” day at Winner School. Tom’s been enjoying the above average snow pack in the mountains for his Friday ski day. (Those four day work weeks for Utah state employees are something to be envied.) Jack at age 7 is pretty accomplished on skis too. Check out this video that Tom posted:

Jordan and invited guests had a special cup cake party with the birthday gal really getting into it with frosting everywhere. She’s taking her first steps so what she’s not getting into now, she soon will be. She’s a really cutie, but then I’m biased.

This past month Dustin with the help of Grandpa Bobbie, made Paige’s Park became a reality. Paige loves to play outside. Now if we can only teach her to leave the woodchip outside in the yard.

Updating a Cutting Table

My daughter-in-law, Erin, gave me an interesting book for either my birthday or Mother’s Day while we were in the planning stages of the Cedar City house. The book was Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space, Sewing Room Makeovers for Any Space and Any Budget by Lois L. Hallock, Martingale & Company, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478, 2005. It really had some good ideas, and I actually read it completely. While the book was aimed at fitting a sewing room to the needs of its user, a lot of the principles of lighting, space utilization, shelving, etc. could be used in setting up other craft rooms.

I paid close attention to the sections on adequate lighting and electrical outlets. That input helped in making suggestions to the builder when it came to designing my craft room. I wished I’d followed through with more outlets in the rest of the house every time I vacuum.

In the craft room there are 6 cam lights in the ceiling, plus lights in the ceiling fan. I’ve added Ott lights for addition light in specialized areas, like the ironing area, by the sewing machines, and weaving loom. The basement tends to be darker, and as I get older I like lots of light to get rid of the shadows. The craft room outlets are set up on two separate circuits so there is less chance of blowing of a fuse while in the middle of a project.

One of the other sections of the book that caught my attention was the adjusting of tables, counters, ironing boards and sewing machines tables to the height of the user to prevent strain and backaches.


The sewing machine table could be modified by using an adjustable chair, which is what I did using an office chair on rollers. So not only does it go up and down to the correct height, but it will move around on the concrete floor in my craft room.

However my cutting table is a folding table like the ones that used to be used in cafeterias. I like it better than the newer plastic tables now sold at Costco. The plastic tables’ tops aren’t as stable for cutting fabric with a rotary cutter as the older plywood or fiberboard table tops. But my table was too low to use as a cutting table, and I wanted to be able to move the table around in the room. I’d read in Studio magazine by Interweave Press that several crafts people like things in their craft rooms to be on wheels so that they can be more easily shifted around. So I’d been slowly collecting plastic storage drawers sets on rollers to fit under my cutting table for more efficient storage using those coupons from Michael’s and Joanne’s. Now my goal was to come up with “something” that would raise the level of the cutting table and make it easily moveable at the same time.

I came up with the idea of stacking blocks of wood with rollers attached to the bottom of the stack. The top block would have a hole to fit the table leg in, but snug enough so it would stay on. The stack would be wide enough for the wheels to be screwed onto the bottom of the stack.


I got a drill press for last Christmas and finally got it set up in the new workroom in the basement. It worked really well for this project. I have to admit Bob helped drill the holes for the table legs, but I did the rest of the project. The idea worked and the cutting table is just about the perfect height. I was able to pick up a nice stool at Ross’s just in time for Christmas projects.





Here is how the craft room looks today, crowded, and messy, but working out pretty well.

Winter in Cedar City

[Family and Friends Friday]


Winter in Cedar City could probably be summed up in one word: cold. But that sounds pretty harsh. It is cold, but it’s also sunny and unbelievably beautiful with snow on the surrounding mountains. The sunrises and sunsets are pretty awesome.

It’s true we do enjoy our shopping trips south to Costco in St. George, UT. What a difference 45 minutes south and 2500 ft. lower in elevation can make in the temperatures.

We’ve found that if you have the right clothing the cold doesn’t bother a person as much, and staying in the sunshine helps. Cedar City hasn’t really gotten that much snow this season and what it has gotten usually has melted before too long. In the surrounding mountain that is another story, the skiing at nearby Brian Head Mt. has been pretty good this year with 62 inches of snow.


Our largest snowfall, about 8-10 inches, arrived over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course Bob and I were spending the holiday with our grandchildren in Las Vegas where it was a bit warmer. On Sunday we were fine driving home north on Interstate 15 until we were about 15 miles south of our turnoff. We were on Black Ridge where the elevation increased and the rain changed to snow and we hit fog. Needless to say, the last leg of the trip was a white knuckle ride. The traffic slowed to stop and go in both lanes, and we saw 3 cars and a semi in the ditch. There was ice on the highway under the snow and it was slippery, as the people in the ditch could tell you. Once we got off at our exit, we were able to breath easier and travel better. When we got home we learned that the Interstate conditions were like that all the way north to Salt Lake City, normally a 3 ½ to 4 hour drive. Who knows how long it took those people driving in blizzard conditions. And guess what? Monday was a beautiful, sunny day! It was just a great day to shovel out your driveway,

That following week it was sunny almost all week and by the weekend the snow was almost all gone! We had a brown Christmas Eve, but it did snow over the holidays, just a few inches. However it’s been so cold that the snow has been slow to melt and it’s been rather pretty. I’ve decided I’d rather have a snow covering than all that brown ground.


We spent about 4 days at Christmas with Carlee’s family in Salt Lake City. How the red headed rascals have grown. Jack is 7 and Katie Jane is now 4. We spent a day in Cedar City to recharge and then spent 5 days in Henderson with Dustin’s family, helping them move over New Year’s. Their blondes are growing like weeds too. Paige will be 3 in February, and Jordan will be 1 in March.





Back in Cedar City to start 2011, we’re back doing volunteer work. I’m the Toy Lady at the Catholic Thrift Shoppe, and Bob is the Dishwasher one day a week at the Senior Center. Bob has joined a rock hound group that goes out on field trips once a month searching out interesting rocks in the area. While I’m searching out other weavers in the area so I have someone to talk fibers with. So far I’ve found about 5 other weavers. Now we’re going to work on getting together.