Starting to Decorate for Christmas

This year, the Christmas decorations are coming out very slowly.  The kitchen is almost done. My snowman collection is on display on the wall shelf.   Over the years. the kids have made some, I've bought others, and still others were gifts.

As my parents went through their big move to a new house, they gave us their hutch (over 40 years old) and their kitchen table and chairs.  It all fit in quite nicely in our kitchen.  The hutch is "decorated" for Christmas, except for the nativity scene that will go in the center space between the radio and silver chest.  I'll be getting that out this weekend.

A close up of my Hummel Christmas angels.  These were all Christmas gifts from my parents.  The olive wood nativity was hand carved by Christians in Bethlehem.  Each fall, a representative brings their carvings to our church to sell to help enable the Christians to stay in Bethlehem when tourism has slowly been decreasing.

My little Hummel boy with the bunnies is surrounded by little bunnies that came in boxes of Red Rose tea.  He is joined by my 2 Christmas Boyds figurines.

Did you notice my rose/pink walls?  We've decided that color scheme and wallpaper border are due for replacement.  More than 15 years is enough!  We are hoping to repaint the kitchen between Christmas and New Year's, if all goes well.

The 11 Month Afghan!

I bought the yarn (Lion Brand Vanna's Choice) for this afghan on January 1st, 2009.  I started working on it that day. Each stripe is 2 rows of double crochet.  I worked on it off an on all year, with a long pause in the summer.  I finally finished it the week before Thanksgiving!  I am enjoying it as an extra layer to sleep under when W. decides to turn on the ceiling fan!

Some New Fuzzy Friends

A few weeks ago, on a sunny, warm November afternoon, I took a lunch break to visit the Savage Mill mall.  There are several shops I really like to browse in:  Bearing Gifts, And Sew It Goes,  Lucy and Ethel's, and The Polish Pottery Mart.  There are always so many things to see and enjoy, but I don't always make a purchase when I visit.  Just getting out of the office and seeing something different can be a real treat during a tough week. 

On my last visit, I found a special little bear.  She is an Angel bear with a pine halo, and country style wings and a necklace with her name:  Faith.  She will join my Christmas bears for the next few weeks.  Rather than hibernating after Christmas, I think I'm going to see if I can remove her halo and wings and make them a seasonal costume so that I can enjoy her year round.

Today, a new friend arrived.  His name is Benjamin.  He is a pogo from The Pogoshop on Etsy.  He was made from an upcycled beige lambswool sweater and is stuffed with bamboo fiberfill.  I think he'd like to go out and play in the woods, but since it is cold and rainy outside, he's happy to stay inside and visit. 

Benjamin brought his own special heather green wool sleepsack to cuddle into for nice cozy naps:

Sometimes...

It feels good to take a break and just let go of life's busy-ness.  Keeping up with what is happening in the world can be tiring.  What could be better than a nap on your best pal's bed in a warm spot of sunshine?

From a Retired Gail Wilson kit

After recovering from our trips, jury duty and the back to school rush (which isn't really over quite yet), I decided to ease back into making things.  I choose a little kit from my stash of Gail Wilson kits to get back into sewing.  I made this little dolly last Sunday, and her pantaloons, dress, and apron were accomplished in little bits of time stolen throughout the week.  She's about 3 1/4" tall.  Isn't she a fantastic little doll's doll?  Raggedy Ann better watch out, her dolly is likely to be snatched by the Hittys if they see her!

A Little Amigurumi

Catching up on blogging now that things have settled down after Nationals in South Bend, IN, and our trip to Shands and Walt Disney World.  Here's a little amigurumi cupcake that I made for my mother's birthday.  She can use it as a pincushion.  

I also made this cute little bunny.  Isn't he sweet?  I have a thing for bunnies.  Both  patterns came from the book:  Amigurumi World.  

Will We Get a Big Crop This Year?

I took the picture above of our tomato  plants on June 20th, but didn't get to post it.  Today, I noticed that the tips of the plants are higher than our neighbor's 6' privacy fence!  These plants are covered with little flowers and I could count at least 6 tomatoes.  I have never had such healthy, robust plants.  I guess ordering early, planting them when they arrived, using the red plastic "sheet mulch", a lot of rain (we often forget or don't have time to water), and liberal tomato food applications could be paying off.  My fear?  The tomato cages are  only half the height of the plants!  I hope they are crowded enough that they migh support each other? I planted 4 plants in a tiny area because it has been a while since we've had much luck with our tomato plants.  If they all live and produce, I have no idea how we will get to the fruit!  We'll have to wait and see what happens!