Santa Cookie Plate and Christmas Ornaments

 I decided this morning that I've put off posting long enough.  Things happen and I just can't get in the mood to post... what kind of nonsense is that???  lol  Anyway, I got up this morning at 5:15am and decided I needed to do something besides sit in my chair.

I found this cute dough roller at the Dollar Store the other day for $1.59...lol  I knew it was not going to be "professionally finished"... more like raw wood.  But I love it anyway.  And...a sweet friend of mine brought me some air dry clay a few days ago...sooo ... this morning turned out to be "the" morning.  

I'm sure that if I make a few dozen more Santa Cookie Plates and Christmas ornaments I may get good at keeping the thickness uniform,  but that's definitely not the case today.

I have about 5 pounds of Air Dry Clay around here somewhere..put away where I can "always" find it..just can't find it today..sigh  Or last week or the week before .. or any time I've spent hours looking for it. 

But I am truly enjoying this idea. Last year at Christmas, I dehydrated oranges to hang on my tree.  I will do the same thing this year because I truly loved the stained glass look of them glistening on the tree.  

What I didn't realize when this bright idea struck was...those beautiful little flowers...get clay stuck in them.  Then you spend 1/2 hour with a toothpick and a good light to clean them out! However, I find that it's worth the time.  And.. if you spray it with your Pam cooking spray it doesn't stick.  But.. I'll have to tell you later whether the oily spray caused problems in the drying process...fingers crossed here. 

Now comes the hard part...waiting for them to dry.  I'm sure I'll wait at least 2 days before I start painting them.  I used the screw on lid from my canning jars for the circles.  I just cut the pear (that was supposed to be a bell until I realized I liked the pear) using a sharp paring knife.  And that little bitty thing on the right center is just a blob of clay with my thumbprint in it.  

(Have you ever thought about the fact that we have no idea what our grandparents hands looked like except in memory?)

I'm considering making a set of these for each of our children.  I would like to think that all my grandchildren would have at least one thing that is personal to me...whether it be something hand written, a Christmas ornament, a thumbprint, a book mark, a painting..whatever. 

It's been wonderfully cool here in SW Oklahoma for the past few days.  However...we are still waiting for appreciable rain.  If it doesn't rain soon, I'll have to water the mint and get the rest of it harvested and dried so I'll have winter tea.  I'm not sure how to shut down the sage for winter...harvest it all but a few or just cut the stem down and water it good for the winter... hmm.. must ask Barbara. 

Have a good day today.  Keep your loved ones close and try to spend at least a few minutes today doing exactly what you WANT to do instead of all those things we HAVE to do each day.  Hugs...

Today in My Life.... December 19, 2015

Today is:  Saturday,  December 19, 2015

I woke up this morning:  hot and sweaty with one dog on my left side all snuggled up and the other at my feet all snuggled up.  It's not that I mind all that snuggling, but it sure does get hot regardless how cool it is in the room.. :)

I am hearing:  the click of the pill cutter as my sweet DH is cutting his pills in half to fill his week's worth of pills in his daily container.  Such a mundane thing... but brings to mind how thankful we should be that we can in fact afford the medications we need.

As I look out the window:  I see the brightness of the sun as it squiggles through the blinds and lights up the curtains in bright lines of happiness that the day is new and full of promise.

I am thinking: that December is not a really good time to have surgery..  :(   While I feel much, much better than before I am still not in such good shape that I can spend all day shopping or working on gifts... Christmas may come in January... who knows?   :)

The current book:  is another re-read of the Vince Flynn novel Consent to Kill.  I bought a new Vince Flynn book not long ago (can't think of the name of it right now) and as I read it I was appalled to find that it was definitely not written by him.. the quality of the writing was nowhere near what I was accustomed to and my first thought was of James Patterson and all his ghost writers. So I looked it up.  And felt a bit ashamed of myself when I found that Vince lost his battle with prostate cancer and his Mitch Rapp series was being continued by another writer.  While I do not find the books as good as the originals, I suspect that I will continue to read them.

I am thankful for:  the gift of life at this particular time in history.  Sometimes I think that this may someday be seen as another Dark Ages by the coming historians... We are nothing more than the same people who lived as serfs under kings and lords... working every day and giving away a portion of our earnings to the local lord (or government) for them to spend making love or war at their whim.. As far as I can see not much has changed since the days of Charlemagne.  We are still at war with the Muslims .. or at least with the radical Muslims who kill indiscriminately since.. to them.. anyone not a Muslim is an infidel... We still have diseases that have no cure.  We still have religious charlatans who dupe the masses into filling their coffers with money while they tell the masses that the most normal and natural things are SINful (I do hate that word)... Young men are sent off to fight in wars and come back filled with the terrors they cannot escape.. I can see very little difference in our lives than at other times in our history... EXCEPT.. today we have the ability to learn for ourselves.  Information is everywhere.  Learning to read is the norm.  We take it for granted.  We should not.

Plans:  not many.  I will sew a bit today.  I will work on nalbinding the fingerless glove that I've been working on for a bit... try to get things ready to be mailed on Monday.  Perhaps grocery shopping this afternoon.  But for the most part... no real plans.




Creatively:  not much has happened during the last couple of weeks.  Surgery on the 2nd pretty much stopped everything for a while and I am just now feeling almost up to my old self again.  I did finish the nalbound hat that I was working on.








Then I spent about 10 minutes dyeing this mystery wool.  No idea what I will do with it, but I'm sure something will come to mind.. :)










Well, my feet are cold and I think I'll just mosey on into the living room and put them up in front of the fire.   Haven't done any painting but may actually do that sometime later today.  :)

Have a lovely day..

Rain, Rain... etc...

It has been raining for several days now.   The back yard is a pond again and Sam refuses to go out. Poor little guy...  I was talking to a young lady at the ophthalmologist last week who said her dogs wore shoes when they go out... always had... hmmm  I have to wonder whether that would work for Sam and Katie or not.

We need the rain.. most assuredly... but I find myself in a melancholy mood with all the gray days. And now the time change that says it's only 5:38 in the morning when my body says it's 6:38 and time to get sweet DH up in half an hour. One would think with the passage of time that these hour changes twice a year would get easier.. but no..

My thoughts are turning to Christmas.  Last year I made everyone a family birthday calendar and put photos on them that I thought the family would enjoy.  I can't decide whether I want to do that again this year or not.  Perhaps...

I'm still painting.  Several friends have asked me if I would sell any of my work.. and I have.. but can't really make up my mind about setting up an Etsy or Artfire shop.  I'm not really looking to make a job for myself out of a hobby that I truly enjoy.. :)




This mountain scene is now framed and above the fireplace.  It took a while for me to get it right since DH really had something specific in mind when he requested it.  I'm not sure it's completely right even yet, but he seems to enjoy it and that makes me happy.  :)








This mountain scene is now framed and hangs on the long wall of our bedroom.  I like it much better now that it is framed.. but still find things that I would change a bit if it were not already hanging.  I don't think an art piece is ever really finished... I think you just stop somewhere .. :)

This painting was done from a tutorial by Wilson Bickford.  He has some wonderful video tutorials that are easy to follow and turn out lovely paintings.  He's one of my favorites when it comes to oils.  Of course, mine didn't turn out quite like his, but I love it anyway.  :)

Can you believe it is the first day of November?  I remember thinking on January 1st... we'll blink and the year will be over and it will be Christmas all over again.. lol  It seems the older I get the faster the seasons pass.

My coffee cup is empty, my sweet DH is up and the pups are curled up in their bed waiting for the activity of the day to start.  I guess it's time to do that.. :)  Hope your day is filled with love and laughter.. :)

It's Friday... again...

My sweet DH and I were talking the other day and it seems that every time we turn around it's Friday... I reckon that's what happens when you begin to get old.. :) 

I've spent the last hour looking at photos to see if I can find something to paint.  Today is one of those days that seems to fly by with nothing happening.. lol   My brain is on autopilot and seems to be stuck in neutral.. no decisions made today..  :) 

I was over on YouTube.com the other day and watching a video by the frugal crafter Lindsay Weirich.  She was talking about all the uses for glycerin in the craft room.  One of the uses is for adding glycerin to inexpensive watercolors.  So... I ordered some and have been adding it to my watercolors.  It truly does make a big difference.  

Two weeks ago I decided to put together a cream that might be good for face cream.  A friend of mine is fascinated with the process so I told her I would make some and see what she thought of it. So I put together a recipe using Kukui nut oil, borage oil, Tamanu oil, vitamin E oil and .. believe it or not... Crisco and it is wonderful. Definitely needs tweaking... got too much rose absinthe in it and you can smell it across the room..lol  .. but it is a wonderful skin softener.  I used distilled water with a bit of beeswax with a tiny bit of borax for the emulsifier.   

In case you are wondering about the Crisco... Crisco is made up of soybean oil and palm oil.  The soybean oil is relatively neutral on the skin, but does help your creams hold their consistency.  But the palm oil... a true wonder for the skin.  It's been used for centuries as both an edible food and as a skin moisturizer.  And it's been right there in your kitchen all this time... :)  

The rain has arrived.  Thunder boomers into the night last night.  I haven't looked out to see what's up today, but we are supposed to get this rain into the weekend... and that's a good thing.  Loving the cooler temps.  

I've decided to paint my Christmas cards this year.   With the price of postage going up so much over the last decade or so, Christmas cards seem to be going the way of the dodo bird.  And that's just sad.  

I have no plans whatsoever for accomplishing anything today except to finally be able to spend the day at home and cuddle our puppies.. lol  I may do a marathon watch of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in Sherlock Holmes .. you never know. 

Have a wonderful day today.. :)

Handmade Journal Handy..

Back in 2006 I decided to try my hand at making my own book.  I have since learned that this is not the "exact" way to do it, but I love my little book just the same.

 As I was gathering things to take to the Ingram Art Show I came across this little book and decided to take it with me.  What a wonderful thing that turned out to be!

It occurred to me that several of my relatives that I had not seen in a while were there and this was the perfect time to have them write in my book.

 Signing the poems that they wrote.. ;)  The bird is taken from a photo of Squirt that Aunt Edna sent me..  Didn't quite get it, but the gist is there...lol
 (You may have noticed that the poem is scrambled.  This is to protect their intellectual property.. )

 When I put this book together I wanted to put things that were special to me into it... like this poem written by my Aunt Betty.  I thought I wanted things to be perfect and then somehow they didn't come out as perfect as I thought I wanted them to be.  Now as I look back thru the pages, they are exactly as I wanted them to be.  I would encourage everyone to make their own little book and put in it whatever they find special to themselves in it..

Now I realize it doesn't have to be perfect or perfectly thought out... it just has to be you.  Mine is just a collection of little ditties that I thought were good.  There's a notation that my first great grand daughter was expected.. another for the day that she was born.  Now there will be another notation about my first great grandson that will be born in May.  Another about my oldest son making the Dean's Honor Roll in college.  So many things...

And the opportunity to have my family write in my book was just too good to be true. 

Another good thing from the Ingram Arts and Crafts Show... ;)

Have a wonderful day....

Merry Christmas.. !!!!

Where:  Butterfield Stage Theater, Gainesville, TX

When:  Mid 1990s, somewhere around 8 pm.

For:  Butterfield Stage Players performance of "A Camp Howze Christmas"

Starring:  (among others)  one of my sons

My mom was sitting beside me.  I'm not sure whether she had ever been to a Community Theater before.  She was a little nervous and seemed a little unsure of herself.

The lights dimmed and a spotlight was beamed on the table of a small cafe' scene on stage.  The songs began and she laughed along with me and everyone else as Jim and a couple of his singing buds appeared on stage with WAC uniforms, wigs and stuffed bras that kept falling down..lol  Then there was the jitter bug that she had been sooo good at dancing. (As a child, I loved it when she would hop up from a chair and suddenly begin be-bopping around...lol )

Mom had been a young waitress during the last months of World War II in a tiny little Texas town called Lorenzo.  The scenes were all too real for her as we watched "the home front" replayed through the songs of that period that were so well done by the young singers and actors. 

The lights went way down... a back lit silhouette became visible behind one of the windows high up on the wall.. it became very quiet in the theater and the soft sounds of music began as Jim began to sing...




I heard a small sound and looked at Mom.  There was a tiny tear falling down her cheek. 

Today In My Life... December 24, 2010

Today is:  Friday, December 24, 2010

I got up this morning:  feeling a little down.  It's Christmas Eve and none of the kids are able to come home.  It forces me to remind myself of all those holidays... when my children were growing up or I was unable to get time off on the holidays or there was a  lack of money for long trips... and the tons of other reasons that my Mom or Dad had to spend their holidays without us there.  It's true... we never understand or appreciate our parents until we are parents.. and in similar circumstances.  ;o)

As I look out the window:  the flock of crows that greet us every morning by doing a fly-by of our window have not shown up yet.  In fact, none of our morning greeters.. sparrows, wrens, chickadees... have shown up.  Wonder if they are hiding out in preparation for the cold front moving through.  Supposed to get really cold (at least for us..lol.. don't point, Phillip!)  ;o)  

I am hearing:  my sweet DH in the shower.  He (and I) have loved that shower that our sons put in for us.  Really will miss all the wonderful memories that have come with this house.. ;o(

I am thinking:  that perhaps I feel a little like Monte Walsh.   We went to McDonald's yesterday morning and had  breakfast.  Someone had left the Herald Democrat  newspaper on the table.  It's about 1/2 as wide as it used to be, has about 1/10th the number of pages and reminds me more and more of the very old newspapers of the Wild West that had no pictures.  And now with the e-readers, I'm afraid the same will be happening with "real" books.  I'm afraid the world as we know it is changing much too rapidly for me......

I am thankful for:   magic markers and corn cob ink pens.. ;o)

Creatively:   thankful for Joe Camilleri of Mangiare .  Wonderful chef who unselfishly publishes on his blog some of the most mouth watering recipes imaginable.. woo hoo!

Just a thought:  Colors... like friends.. beautiful each to itself.  Colors.. beautiful in a mish mash of random shapes... each close and making each other shine!

 

Today In My Life ... December 22, 2010

Today is:  Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I got up this morning:  and it seemed quite cool.. not terrible, but cool enough that I went and found a toboggan cap as I sat here surfing the net and waiting for sweet DH to get up.  Found some socks, wrapped up in my fuzzy robe... never realizing that in the heat of the "blazing 70° " of yesterday I completely turn off the heater... as in "OFF"!  and never thought to turn it back on... hmmmph

As I look out the window:  the sun is just rising with just a hint of pink on the horizon. The trees look a little forlorn with their bare, dark limbs slightly swaying against the steel of this morning's sky.

I am hearing:  the patter of coffee cup against coffee pot as DH finds another cuppa.. ;o)

I am thinking:  very little of any consequence this morning.  My brain is doing that ADHD thing and there are so many to choose from it's just not worth spending the time deciding.. lol

I am thankful for:  all the ups and downs in my life ... like everyone else... that lead us to become the persons we are.  However... some days I think I might like to be "just a little bit" of someone else.. ;o)

The one thing I learned this week:  is that I love the idea of a dream catcher.  I would love to think that all the bad thoughts and dreams would become enmeshed in a web before they made it to my dreams.. ;o)


Reading:  but still mostly not.  Seem to be in a reading, creative, hand craft dip.  Hmmm... what's up with that?

Creative news:  Linda B. over at Chloe's Place   is back after a very busy absence.  So happy to see her blog busy again.  She has the most wonderful ideas and lovely crazy quilt embroidery.

Not much else happening during the holiday season.  Seem to be very busy with the details of building the house.... I suppose those decisions could be deemed creative.. ;o)

Am crocheting the edging on my Pi shawl.  Seems just could not figure out how to do the cast on  and knit back for the knitted edging that I really wanted to do.  Anyway, here's how it's coming along...
It's laid out on top of a large crocheted afghan and the pink of that distracts a bit, but if I ever get it finished I'll make sure I take a really good pic.. ;o)

Plans for the rest of the week:  It's the Christmas holidays.. what else is there to say.. ;o)

A picture thought: 

 




Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company.  ~Author Unknown








Merry Christmas, everyone!

Today In My Life... Saturday, 12/18/2010

Today is:  Saturday, 12/18/2010


I got up this morning: and wondered how my sweet DH can sleep with all the accumulated accouterments that I now have on my side of the bed.  I guess the lack of my snoring all night must make up for the lack of stretching room.. ;o)  I hope so anyway!

As I look out the window:  I realize the shades are still drawn and the vision of Christmas lights I see so clearly stems from times past when my mom and her husband spent days putting lovely lights all around the house (as did every other house on their block)... and then the wait began.  The wait for the shining eyes, glowing cheeks and laughter as each child in turn was awestruck with all the glittering wonder of the Season. 

I am hearing:  the clock that was made with such care by my sweet DH as it chimes softly the 3/4 hour...telling me that it will soon be 6:00am...

I am thinking:  that it doesn't really matter how many classes you take, professors you listen to, interviews you take part in, spend your days working with... you will never understand a geriatric patient and their thought processes until you are one.

I am thankful for:  old things that are stashed away gathering dust and cobwebs.  The old glasses that allow you to see while that "forever" period passes and new ones are made... the old mouse that still works when the new one dies... the old keyboard that may not be so "ergonomic", but still fits the fingers like comfortable old shoes.

The one thing I learned this week:  isn't just one.. ;o)  But the one that I remember as of this moment is that shea butter is a wonderful thing.  I bought some a couple of years ago..along with many other ingredients...to make my own hand creams.  I did make the hand cream and now have all these ingredients left over.  Shea butter..on it's own.. slathered over the back of very dry hands at night makes a huge difference when you wake up in the morning.  Mine is a tad old and the smell may not be wonderful, but the hands are clapping "thank you"... ;o)

Reading:  but mostly not... I just cannot seem to find a new author that I really like.  I will think I've found one and then it just fades away.  Back to reading David Baldacci's  "The Camel Club"  for the fourteenth (at least) time...

Creativity news: continues to be centered around the Pi shawl I am attempting to make and the most enjoyable friends that are growing into the Red River Fiber Arts group.

The Pi shawl is coming along, but I'm afraid I won't have enough of the New Zealand wool yarn to make it as large as I wanted to make it.  I suppose I could spin  up some Romney in a natural color that would match, but haven't decided yet.  I have started to take it off the knitting needles using a crochet stitch.  Considering doing a very large crochet edging to add another 4" or so to each side... that would add 8 inches to the diameter.  Will see about that..  

Red River Fiber Arts group... see the smiles on the faces and all that food on the table... there is nothing more to add...lol   (Except the secret of the pounds gained... ;o)  What a wonderful, talented and fun group of ladies.







Plans for the rest of the week:  ... hmm.. there's not much week left.  Today is laundry day and will certainly include .. ta da... "the mopping of the floors"....that sounds like it should be some kind of mystic holiday... ;o/ 

A picture thought:  

When you leave a place, leave a small piece of your joy behind as seeds of contentment for the next persons who live there.



Christmas is almost here and regardless what it's called or how much rigmarole is presented by the press... Christmas is a personal thing for each family... they can't change any of that.  ;o)  So have the happiest of times during this Season.  ;o)

Today in My Life... 12/13/2010

Today in my life:   December 13, 2010


I got up this morning:  a little slowly and resentfully.  Between being cold and waking up way too early (2am) ... I was just not in the mood..  But the robe is furry, the socks are wool and the coffee is wonderful.. so all is good.  :o)

I am hearing:  my sweet DH swishing his coffee around his mouth... just like I do.  Something about that swish... just makes it taste better all around. ;o)

As I look out the window:   I see only darkness.  Between the time change and season change, that lovely warm sunrise that we see through the office window comes later and later each day.  Looking forward to another equinox and the changes that will bring.

My one thing I learned this week:   is that when recommendations are made by the doctor, there is usually a really good reason.  Ages back, the Dr. said I needed to sleep with my head raised... just could not see that happening until this week.  My sweet DH bought me a wedge for the bed and guess what... amazing... no more snoring and a massive decrease in heartburn.  But never let it be said that I act on such recommendations in a timely manner.. my reputation would be destroyed...lol

Reading...or current book... or ??? :   I just cannot seem to read more than 2 pages at night without my eyes closing.  Guess my "book" books will just have to take all year to read.  But as for the magazines... ah hah... I've read all my Spin Off magazines at least 4 times this week. I love the part that compares spinning for crochet as opposed to spinning for knitting.  There is a difference. 

Creativity news:  Have finally begun to spread the wings a little bit with my knitting.  Began another Pi shawl using the New Zealand wool hand spun that I did earlier in the year. It started out the same as the other shawl, but for this one I added a very simple (yo k2tog) row followed by 2 rows of stockinette.  These 3 rows repeated make a lovely shawl.  (Got the idea from Pat Blankenship of Confessions of a Fiber Enthusiast.. ;o)  Thanks, Pat. )

Plans for the rest of the week:   Seems no matter how hard I try, I cannot make my hair stop growing.  That means another trip to the beauty shop for the buzz of the shears.  A pot luck Christmas (almost..;o)  dinner with the girls at the RRFA... can't wait for that!   And as for plans for today... wishing daughter Bev the happiest birthday ever... !


And here's a thought:  One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.  Don't clean it up too quickly.  ~Andy Rooney

It's Been a While....

Hello everyone... It's been a while. I got totally caught up in Facebook and being able to talk almost instantly with my family that ... well... you could say that I grew addicted...lol Anyway, hopefully the new is about off it and things will get back to normal. ;o)

We had our first snow last month...very unusual for this time of year. I don't mind the snow or bad weather as long as I don't have to go out in it..

Christmas was good... Sons in from Arizona and daughter and her family in from Oklahoma for a bit... Another bit of wonderment.. Her oldest son was married over the holidays. On the 30th. Wow! Doesn't seem possible. Just yesterday I was sitting in the nursery in Kentucky and feeding him a bottle... Congratulations again, Will and Savannah...





Will and Steven are two of the four grandsons that we have in the military. Steven ( in the dress uniform) will be leaving before long for Afghanistan. Will will finish training and will then head for Iraq. May the world soon regain some sanity.......

It's Holiday Time...or How to Make Cranberry Relish...

I was talking with my daughter this morning. This is what she wants for Christmas... ;o)

Cranberry Orange Relish

Gather ingredients...

1 pkg. fresh cranberries
1 medium orange
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 cup sugar

Because I wanted to can this batch, I placed 3
half pint jars in water to cover and the lids in water and placed both on the stove to bring to a boil. There is no need to boil the screw caps since they will not be in contact with the food or the lip of the jar. (If you have never canned fresh fruit, I would suggest you go here to learn how to do home canning.)








Wash the cranberries and pick out any soft or bad ones. Pick the stems. Wash the orange with a veggie wash. Place the cinnamon in a medium saucepan. I used navel oranges so I cut the pithy ends off my orange. Cut the orange into quarters. Place 1/2 the orange and 1/2 the cranberries into a blender or food processor and grind. Empty into your saucepan and repeat with the other half. Add the sugar and stir to mix well.









Place on medium heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, the jars have been boiling and sterilizing while relish has been prepared.








Using a pair of tongs, pick up one jar and pour the water out. Sit as closely to your cooking relish as possible and using a metal spoon ladle the relish into the sterilized jars. Try not to get any on the lip of the jar as this will stop the lid from sealing. If you do get some on the lip, use a damp cloth to wipe the rim of the jar. Using tongs, dip a lid out of the boiling water and place on jar. Place the screw cap on the jar and tighten just finger tip tight...not screwed on hard.






Since I know these will be used within the next 2 weeks, I placed these back in the same boiling water for a 10 minute boiling hot water bath. If I wanted to keep these for a year, I would use a much bigger hot water bath pan and the water MUST cover the jars at least an inch. The hot water bath is make sure the heat inside the center of the jar reaches high enough temperature and maintains it long enough to kill any lingering bacteria.






After the 10 minute hot water bath the relish is removed from the hot water using the tongs and is wiped with a clean dishtowel. They are placed on a clean dishtowel to cool for several hours or overnight. The lids should pop and form a suction. When pressed in the center the lids should not give any... If it does move up or down when pressed, then the seal has not sealed well enough and you should place in the refrigerator and use within a week or so.


This recipe can be used (without the cinnamon) as a fresh relish and requires NO Cooking... if you want to make it the day of or the day before it is eaten. To keep for any length of time it should be cooked and/or canned.

If you try this, please use caution since you will be dealing with very hot, boiling liquids.

I do so love this stuff..lol This is the second batch I have made since before Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy this little tute... Daughter mine... ;o)

Today in My Life... November 30, 2009

Today: November 30, 2009

I got up this morning: very early. It's still cold, but if I turn up the heat it bothers my sweet DH and he gets in a frightful mood... lol And besides..if it were very cold I would just put on socks and dig out that wonderful huge shawl that I love to wear in the winter. It's going to be a lovely, clear day today, but am already missing all the green leaves on the trees...

I am hearing: him move around, turn on the faucet and click down the hall. ;o)

The current book is: Four Blind Mice by James Patterson. I'm not sure I can finish it this time around (already read it at 3 times...) Seem to be needing to try some other genre than the murder mystery... just can't find anything that will hold my attention..sigh

Creating: I have done several things since the last time I posted... The quilt is finished.

This is my very first bedsized quilt. It is a queen and I found it not difficult at all. But then it was an easy one..lol But now I have the confidence to continue on to one that is more difficult.

Another of the small pastels that I do in the evenings...

Knitted two scarves from my handspun Merino. Both used Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf Pattern...

The other scarf is exactly the same knitting pattern, but is a deeper burgundy than this one. Love this pattern.. simple, pretty and warm. Drapes well...

I found a free pattern on Ravelry for a men's cowl that I wanted to do for one of my sons who feels he wouldn't use a scarf very much, so I did it. I used my handspun Merino lamb..... It's my first try at doing cables and found they were not nearly the ogre stitch I thought they would be. Finished it, bound off, wove in loose ends and found that in at least 2 places I had dropped stitches off the ends of the double point needles that I used... Terribly disappointed. I tried to pick them up with crochet hooks and succeeded in one place, but cannot seem to succeed in the other one. This may get frogged and redone with another set of needles. Anyway, the small needles that were called for in the pattern seem to be too small for this yarn... the cowl is very stiff and if it shrinks at all will be too small for him... hmmm

Family news: Daughter Bev and her husband Kent were here for a couple of days over the holiday. Kent had to pop in just overnight due to work schedule, but was terrific to get to see them.

My diet: took a couple of days off while they were here. I made some luscious cranberry/orange relish and canned it... Could eat my weight in that stuff...lol

May have to buy more cranberries and make enough to last all year... ;o)

The coming of daughter and son in law was all the excuse I needed to make banana bread.. ;o) Made a large loaf and then 4 small loaves.

Yum... Yum...

Have to add in here that I have lost 30 pounds, so felt that perhaps it would be ok to backslide for a day or two. Am truly happy about the loss and will have no problem getting back to business...lol However..that is said with a serious caveat... this is once a year holiday season with fruit cake and eggnog..lol.. and I will have both before this is over... ;o)

Looking forward to: Christmas... ;o) Will be putting up my tree this year after not putting it up last year. The holidays just are not the holidays without some kind of decoration and that makes it all too depressing.... instead of happy....

Just a thought: Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself - and thus make yourself indispensable. ... Andrew Gide

Is It The Flu?

This was the main part of our Christmas this year... DH came down with it first about 4 days ago and then yesterday mine really made itself felt. Needless to say, we are disappointed that the son that has just moved to Arizona could not come by while he is back home packing up...but like he said..."I really don't think I would like a spiking fever about Alamagordo.." He is going back today with a U Haul filled with the rest of their furniture.

The meadow looks barren and dreary with the leaves all gone. It was a nice 50+ degree day yesterday and is supposed to be again today. The sun did not come out all day, just remained on the cloudy side.

On a "sweeter" note..grin This tin was packed full of wonderful sugar cookies when it arrived a few days ago. Christmas package from son and DDIL in Michigan. We kept telling ourselves we really shouldn't eat these sweets... hmmm... looks like it really worked, doesn't it? ...lol