Winter Stories and a Blog Hop

Hayley at Mrs Pickle`s Garden is  hosting The Quilting Secrets Blog Hop December 31st through January 6. This is a great idea!

Six quilters will share secrets that make their quilting experience easier and more fun. I could use a few time saving secrets and tips.
More Hops are on my sidebar. Participating in Hops more than advances my skills. The fellowship and sharing among other quilters is amazing. It`s nice to stretch yourself once in a while!
Cold here now. Temperatures are in the 20`s at night, two nights there was no heat. We`re all set up now.  When we first moved here we lived in our tent camper. It was a big Coleman, shower and everyting but no  heater. It was an option we did not choose, bad move. We moved from `Vegas to the high desert not realizing how cold the winter nights are. We had plenty of blankets, 3 cats and a big Samoyed.  The cats slept in our beds and everybody benefited. When my son was cold the Samoyed was like a huge furry blanket. We would tell him to put on the dog and he did, literally! A win, win. Cooking warmed the tent in the morning. I baked bread and cookies in one of those Coleman ovens you use on top of the stove burner. It worked great. 
 The desert cold is nothing like we experienced  in Colorado. We were camped on the Uncompaghre Plateau, on the western slope. 13 below zero the first night.  We slept in a double sleeping bag with our clothes folded in the bottom of the bag. Jack (hubby) cooked breakfast outside and the eggs froze before he could get them past the tent door. haha! Sometime I will tell you about our experience with ball lightening at  11,000 feet. Now THAT`s a story!   Have a great day my friends! Cathy