Happy Boxing Day!

Out front

Without a doubt, this was one of the most unusual Christmases ever.  First, I did something to my back that caused me to bail out of our choir singing, and then it snowed on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day. (On the radio today they said it was the first time ever that it has snowed here for two days in a row!) Today, however, I am once again upright and felt well enough to do my usual Tuesday afternoon at the hospital teaching knitting.  I worked with four moms-to-be who are spending the holidays in the hospital, so who am I to complain? As promised I have some finishes to share:

Booties for a friend's new grand daughter,

several scarves,

a hat,

And a Monster named Louie. (If you've never tried one of Rebecca Danger's monsters, you should, as they are FUN!  Now, I need to get back to the needles.  There are four birthdays coming right up before the end of January, one on the day after tomorrow and two before January 11th. Yikes!

Our Backyard

Still Waiting~~~~~but BUSY!

The past few days have been busy ones, filled with last minute shopping, several projects, baking, an extra long choir practice~all the good things that lead up to Christmas.
Yesterday, I attempted to make something from all these pieces!

Can you even believe this little guy was lurking in all that "mess"?

Way last spring I promised to make this for my young friend's American Girl doll and finally finished it in time for her birthday last week.

This cute pattern is available on Ravelry and knits up pretty fast. It takes a bit of patience to put the pieces together, but I think my little herd was worth the effort!

And then there was the washcloth with the Christmas yarn from Hobby Lobby that I started a while back. (That is really soft cotton yarn, by the way!)

Meanwhile, we are still waiting for a certain plane from Chicago and a certain baby who seems determined to arrive on schedule along with the New Year. We have some serious wrapping to do before then as well as a bit of decorating. Look at these cute ornaments and jewelry we found at the UW hospital this week, all profits to benefit cancer research. "Jewels of Hope" has an online shop at Etsy, too!

Oops! Gotta run and check on my cranberry bread; I think I hear the timer dinging.

PS: If you care to tune in, you can hear our choir on Christmas Eve at 6:30, 8:00, or 9:30 PM (PST). (All services are streamed live.) Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

When my Christmas cactus starts looking like this, we know that the holidays are quickly approaching. This is the first time though, since we received it as a gift from Montsic and Janet a few years ago, that both colors have bloomed at once like they did then! Maybe that means it's going to be an extra special Christmas? Don't know about you, but I've got lots to do before then!

If you're looking for something different and very tasty to serve on Thanksgiving, here's just the thing: Apple-Cranberry Cake on Jules Speaks Gluten Free . Don't be afraid of the gluten free part; you can substitue wheat flour. In fact, I forgot to add the melted butter, and it still got a "thumbs up" from Dick....and me. It's DELICIOUS! (And easy!) We've taken to eating it at breakfast.

Enjoy! And have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's Getting to Look a Lot Like...........

While I was knitting purple hats and helping to plan a very special birthday party, the members of my quilt group were working on 80 Christmas stockings for the local Ronald MacDonald house. I managed to finish these two, not a big contribution, but at least I participated, right?

And then DD#1 requested some new Christmas hats for the GK, so who could refuse? The fourth hat is just in case a certain someone decides to make an early appearance...

More about the certain someone, and the party real soon!

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy this special time with friends and family!
Merry Christmas!

The End of November? Yikes!

December will be here shortly, so it's time to put away the Thanksgiving/fall decorations and get out the Christmas things. But first, I had to show Linda and Gene that we actually used their wild gourds, which were hand delivered by Patti, on our Thanksgiving table. Amazing how the camera picks up the crooked candles which I really thought I'd straightened!
Nifty Gourds

Since yesterday was my sister's birthday, I can finally show my finished mystery Socks which she says fit just fine. I really like this Through the Loops pattern and will probably knit it again in a solid color so the pretty pattern shows up better.
Happy Birthday, Jane!

Yesterday Jill sent a couple of photos of the grandkids using the "city map" quilt that I made a few years back. She said David and Sophia had fun playing on it, and it's always nice to hear that something you've made is being used
"Watch this locomotive go, David."

And even Daniel seems to be enjoying the quilt/map. He sure has gotten a lot stronger these past few weeks!
"I am going to be on the move very soon!"

Snowy Days and Nights!

Snow here in Bellevue and Seattle pretty well shuts everything down. And so it was yesterday when we awoke to snow that continued well into the afternoon. For the first time since we joined choir in 1995, rehearsal was cancelled and rescheduled for tonight. (Luckily we had already changed our tickets for the 5th Avenue performance of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers!) My one day stint of jury duty was also cancelled! And I sure got a lot done with these gifted hours! More snow is predicted for Saturday night and Sunday, so who knows whether we'll actually get to sing our Advent concert. Today we absolutely HAVE to venture out to stock our cupboards for the arrival of Jill and family tomorrow.
Front Yard
Look what the poor little critters have to contend with out back!
More Snow
It seems that every holiday includes a touch of sadness whether it's an illness or the unexpected passing of someone dear to us. Just this past Wednesday we had a phone call from Dick's cousin with the news that Auntie Del had passed away on Tuesday evening. We are so very thankful that we were able to visit her last fall and have fond memories of chatting, driving around, and eating together. Little did we realize that would be our last time together in this lifetime! She is the last of that generation of Shaws and will be terribly missed, but so fondly remembered.
We'll miss you, Auntie Del
Choosing a Christmas tree this year took us all of five minutes as it was absolutely pouring rain. Our Scottish ancestry causes us to look for bargains, and this is what we found: not bad, I think. Every year I like to hang the little orange ornament which, up close, looks rather like an apricot. It has hung on every tree since my childhood and brings back many wonderful memories of long ago Christmases everytime I see it.
Happy Holidays!