Merry Christmas

The love of God was wrapped in swaddling clothes.

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Just a few days before Christmas. Thought I would give you a small tour of my decorations.

This simple little nativity was made by my mom. She made a set for me and my three brothers one year for Christmas. The NOEL figurines were my grandmother's. We (her grandchildren) use to rearrange the NOEL into LEON every Christmas. Drove her crazy.

Our tiny little tree. It is only 6 feet tall but since I am the one who decorates it and I have no children at home to help with the decorations, it is big enough for me. My husband's contribution every year is to set it up on the stand and place it in the house. Here are some of my ornaments. The past few years I have not used the usual ornaments. I have tried a more coordinated look instead of the mixture of ornaments used while my son was growing up.

The snowflakes and the angel on top were crocheted by my mom.
Can you tell that I get very sentimental during Christmas? So many wonderful memories. I love pulling out decorations and recalling the memories.

This year will be a very different Christmas. It will be the first time we have not had our son home on Christmas morning. He won't get home until Dec. 28. We still will have the usual large Christmas breakfast with my father-in-law, and on Christmas eve night, we will celebrate with my husband's family. My family (2 of my brothers and their families) and my son's girlfriend will celebrate on Dec. 30. They wanted to wait on my son and his girlfriend before getting together.

Only three and half more days of school before Christmas break....looking forward to the time off. I'll be busy this week getting some baking done and last minutes gifts together for friends at school. Looking foward to all of it.

Yum, Yum....Biscotti

Isn't it amazing that a simple log of dough with a few dried cranberries can turn into a delightful treat? This is my first attempt to making biscotti and I was very pleased with the results. I think I'll make some of this Holiday Biscotti to give as gifts along with some handmade coasters for Christmas! Yum, Yum!!!

Handmade Christmas Swap - Love It, Love It!

Back in the fall, Beth organized a swap for handmade Christmas gifts. Today I received some the coolest items from my swap partner, Patti. As usual I feel like I received the better end of the swap. In my package I received these:

Patti noticed that I tried to win a set of toile notecards a couple of times and was unsuccessful. So she made some for me. How thoughtful is that?

Then she designed and made this adorable frame.

The mat is knitted...not paper - yarn....amazing. Here is my feeble attempt of photographing the detailed work. Not very focused, is it?

Finally, she sends me 20 origami paper balloons to place over 20 mini lights. I was so excited, I used some mini lights I have on my mantel to see how it looks. Isn't it this sweet? The picture doesn't show how the light glows through the paper. And won't it look great once all 20 are placed over the lights?

Thanks, Patti for the wonderful package and thanks, Beth for organzing this swap. It was so much fun.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Chrismas

Slowly but surely the decorations are coming out and appearing around the house.

Each night this week I have tried to decorate a little instead of waiting to do it all at one time during a weekend. I should have been doing this all along. This is so much better. The wall hanging is one of my first handmade quilts. Every year I tell myself that I should make some more wall hangings to hang over the mantle throughout the year. Haven't acted on that thought yet. The Christmas tree is in the kitchen. It is decorated with kitchen utensils and gingerbread ornaments.

One of my favorite items for Christmas is the my son's stocking.
It was crocheted by my mother right after my son was born 29 years ago. I wish I had the pattern. I would love to be able to crochet some stockings for nieces and nephews who did not receive one from my mother before she passed from this world a few years ago. If anyone out there in blogland happens to recognize this pattern and knows where I could find it, please let me know. Every year the stocking is one of the first items set out during this season and every year as it is hung, a tiny little wrapped present is placed in the toe. As old as my son is, when he comes home and sees the stocking hanging, he will feel the toe to see if that gift is there. I love simple little traditions such as that.

Contest Alert: Once again Jennifer is offering a set of toile notecards for leaving a comment on her blog. Drop by and check out the notecards.
Merry Christmas!

A Snowy Apron and a Captivating Experience

Even though I haven't mentioned it in the last couple of entries, I have been working on some sewing projects. I am in the process of making some Criss Cross Christmas coasters like these. There are several ladies in the front office at school who will receive these as small tokens of appreciation for their help throughout the year.


I also completed an apron out of some snowflake material. The pattern did not have the patchwork on the pocket. That is my attempt of trying to be creative. I do not know if you can tell but I also sewed three little buttons on the patchwork. My husband offered to model...maybe I should have taken him up on the offer.


Yesterday I had a very interesting experience. Next year our school will move into a new building. My principal and I spent all day at a state prison picking out furniture for the school. Yes, I said prison. It turns out the state prison has a program where prisoners build and upholster furniture for state government. Office furniture, library furniture, tables, etc. I must say they do beautiful work but it was strange being there. When we entered the property, I assumed we would have to stop at a gate, show our identfication to a guard before proceeding to our destination. Nope, we drove straight through the gate because there was no guard on duty. We found out later that the only time a guard is at the gate is when there is going to be an execution. There is more security at airports than at this prison. Creepy feeling. As we drove around this huge place trying to find where we were to go, fences with razor sharp wire coiled on top surrounded the perimeters of buildings, pastures and warehouses. According the directions, we were to turn at a gas station. Everything was so dull and drab, we never saw the gas station. Creepy feeling. Prisoners were everywhere and I don't think I saw a single guard or anyone who resembled a guard the entire time we were there. Creepy feeling.

A Perfect Football Weekend

U...S...C....GO COCKS!
Friday night our local high school won the upper state championship and will play for the state championship next friday in Columbia.....Go Eagles! And today USC beat Clemson.....WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEKEND OF FOOTBALL!!!!!! It has been 4 long years since we beat Clemson and an even longer 10 years since we beat Clemson at Clemson. Wish I could have been there.

Speaking of a perfect weekend, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time off. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family, went to the movies twice - Deck the Halls and Casino Royale, attended high school football game, went shopping, ate at the Mellow Mushroom (yum, yum), cooked and baked (cookies and candy), talked on the phone with my Atlanta, Ga brother and an uncle (lives in Arizona) whom I haven't talk to in several months, and did a little sewing and a little, itty, bitty bit of knitting. Haven't taken the time to photo anything I worked on. The only thing that would have made the weekend better would be if my son was able to come home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent all day cooking and baking and I think I am ready for tomorrow. Whew! There will be seven of us sitting at the table. Just wish my son could be here. Hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends.

Before/After and a Quick Trip

I have just returned from a trip to Hilton Head, SC. It has been many, many years since I have been there. I wish I could say that I was on vacation but I wasn't. It was a conference on testing. I drove down on Sunday and returned on Tuesday. It was a nice break from school and a very good and informative conference. I am always so impressed with educators I meet at conferences - so creative and talented. So much is learned in the conversations held between the attendees.
The weather was beautiful as I traveled down I26 and while I was there.

(The beach picture was taken with my phone. The day it was taken was a clear day - not hazy like it appears.)

I completed the brown felted bag. This is the before picture:

Here is the after picture:

I added a felted flower. I used this pattern.

Can't believe that this time next week, I'll be preparing a Thanksgiving meal. I need to begin making my shopping list and deciding exactly what I want to prepare. I also need to begin planning the baking I want to do for Christmas. One new recipe I want to try is Candied Citrus Rinds. I was given some last Christmas and loved them. Today a colleague brought Oreo Truffles to school. They, also, will be on my "To Make" list. I love this time of the year.

Piddling The Day Away

Hope everyone voted today....I did and I have thoroughly enjoyed having the day off. It has been a rainy day so other than going out to vote, I have had a wonderful day piddling around the house. "Piddling" now there is a word that I use all the time but never in the true meaning. To piddle means to spend time in a wasteful, trifling way. I piddle like my grandfather use to when I was growing up. When he piddled, it meant he would do a little of this and a little of that, small jobs around the house. You know....the many little things that build up, need to be done, have been ignored or pushed aside. So that is how I spent my day. I picked up around the house, found homes for plants that spend their summers outside but now need a spot inside, cleaned out the magazines accummulating under the coffee table, and I've baked a brown sugar pound cake, and icebox cookies. The cookies are in the freezer. I haven't baked them yet. But as you can tell, I have already sampled the cake. It was a new recipe...yum, yum!


One thing I haven't done today but plan to do in just a few minutes is knit. I am working on a brown felted bag for me.

And I am trying to finish a Lucy Bag for my son's girlfriend. I have been working on this bag since this June.

I need to knit a few more inches in the body and then work on the strap. I don't know why it is taking me so long. During the summer, wool just didn't seem to be the right fiber to be working with. I've got to get it completed and mailed to her soon. I need to know it isn't sitting around waiting on me anymore. I need to have that feeling of accommplishment before it becomes that feeling of dread.

I have mentioned before how great this community of bloggers is. I am so humbled at how thoughtful you ladies are. Recently I participated in a Pink and Brown swap organzed by Mary Ann. Was I surprised to find a box full of pink and brown items sitting on my porch yesterday? She sent them to me because my swap partner was late in getting her pack to me. Mary Ann, you're the best! Thanks!!!

Contest alert: Notepad is being given away. Check out Jennifer's site.

Knit Mitt Kit Swap

I am participating in a swap over at swap-bot. The task is to send a pattern, yarn and materials needed to complete a pair of mittens plus a small project hand made bag. It sounds like fun.

The Questionnaire:
Are you allergic to any fibers? no
What are your favorite colors? greens and blue
Are you a new mitt knitter? yes, excited about the possibility
How long have you been knitting mittens? very small amount of time
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? both
What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn? not picky but love soft yarns
Where do you usually knit mittens? in my favorite chair
How do you usually carry/store small projects? in a hand sewn small bag
What are your favorite mitten patterns? haven't had enough experience to know
What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques? same as above
What new techniques would you like to try? any
What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens? bamboo
What are some of your favorite yarns? wools, alpaca
What yarn do you totally covet? anything that I can't find in my town - there aren't any yarn stores in my town - just a walmart and hancock
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? bamboo - circles
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? not crazy about anything made with peanut butter
What’s your favorite animal? don't own a pet but I do feed the birds outside my backdoor
Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts? warm mittens
If you were a color what color would you be? green - shades a spring
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? anything natural...even rocks
Do you have a wishlist? no
Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? I am looking forward to this swap

SPOT - Society of The Preservation of Thanksgiving

Have you noticed that as of Nov. 1, Christmas commercials have started on television? I had just made that comment to my husband when I came across SPOT. I love Thanksgiving....the time with family, turkey, dressing, cranberries, sweet potato pie, etc. I love finding new recipes and preparing them for Thanksgiving dinner. I love that this month reminds me to be thankful.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! Psalms 118:1

Blog Contest

Check out these toile notecards. If you leave a comment, you could be the winner of these. Aren't the nice?

Back from Philly

It was such a nice trip to Philadelphia. Especially spending 4 days with my son and his girlfriend. (She is a first year ObGyn resident in Philly too...different hospital from my son) Flying was quite the experience both going and returning home. On thursday morning we arrived at the airport to discover the flight had changed from leaving at 8:40am to 11:00am. So I sat and knitted while my husband read (Thirteen Moon by Charles Frazier). I started the felted boxes found in the Mason Dixon book. I completed the medium size box while waiting to board the plane but then realized I didn't have anyway to cut the yarn. (I didn't bring scissors because I was not expecting to have time to do that much knitting prior to boarding and I knew I might not able to bring them on the plane.) Then on Sunday, we had a layover in Cincinnati which lasted longer than it was suppose to. We loaded the plane, sat for a half hour before leaving the concourse, lined up for take off, got out of line prior to take off due to mechanical problems. After another hour and half, the plane took us back to the concourse. We had to go to a different gate and wait again while the airlines located a different plane for us. Long story short....6 hours later we finally headed home. It was very late by the time I laid my head on my pillow in my bed Sunday evening.

I enjoyed seeing and experiencing somewhat what life is like for S (my son) and E (son's girlfriend).
Walking is one of the main means of transportation. (E and S are leading us down an alley of homes that once were occupied by Irish.) Parking seems to be an issue for those with cars. We walked everywhere. It was amazing how every few blocks the neighborhoods would change - Italian, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor - such diversity.

Someone (I can't remember her name) I met on a fabric swap from the Philadelphia area mentioned to me that I should visit fabric row while visiting S. It was great. It consisted of about 3 blocks both sides of the street of nothing but fabric and trim stores. I bought some really neat buttons that resemble stones and a couple of yards of fabric. I wish I could have spent more time going through each store but there is only so much one can squeeze into 4 days.

When I returned home, I had a pink and brown swap package waiting for me. Deb did a fantastic job with the gifts...paper, pen, notepad, cloth, notecards, magnets, ribbons, stickers...all pink and brown. and each individually wrapped. Thanks, Deb....it was well worth the wait.

Right before I left for my trip, I mailed my International Tote Exchange to my partner, Jackie in England. Boy, was I surprised that she received it in less than a week. I'm not experienced with mailing to other countries...had no clue how long it would take. Here is a picture of the felted bag I send Jackie.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Can't wait until Thursday....I get to see my son after almost 5 months. That is the longest time I have gone without seeing his gorgeous face since the day he was born 29 years ago. My husband and I are flying up to Pennsylvania and visit through the weekend. Our son is a first year resident in emergency medicine. I am anxious to see where he is living and how his life has changed since moving to a large city. I am also curious to see how his time pans out in this big city. The four years he was at Vanderbilt, I prayed that he would hear God's whisper as to where he should be as a resident. I am believing God placed him in this place for a purpose even though it is so far away and we would not be able to see him as often as we did when he was in Nashville.

I have been working on a few items. My fall tablerunner/cover with pumpkins is slowly coming together. I began the quilting this afternoon.

I also started a baby quilt after being inspired by Happy Things. She had several posts in her blog a week or so ago on making a baby quilt. Here is what I have done so far.

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet....

Temperatures have dropped, the leaves are changing. All are signs that Halloween will soon be here. I always loved Halloween. As a child I can remember running around our neighborhood going door to door with either my brothers or friends with our pillowcases (our trick or treat bags), dumping the candy on the bed to sort the candy and then critiquing which neighbors gave out the best candy . Once my older brother knocked on a neighbor's door and was pleasantly surprised to find that his treat was a watermelon. Apparently they had run out of candy. Without a second thought he rolled it home all by himself. I can still hear my father's laughter as he watched my brother rolling the large green watermelon down the street.

Last night my husband had to work late so we had to forego the high school football game. (We won - Go Eagles!) I started straightening up my fabrics and came across some Halloween fabric I purchased several years ago. So instead of completing the original task, I sat down and made two trick or treat bags for my niece's children.

These are a lot cuter than pillowcases of years past.

I have mentioned several times that I live in a town that doesn't have much to offer when it comes to looking for yarn and fabric. I am always so envious of the yarns and fabrics I see on other blogs. I also am a person who prefers to look/touch the yarns and fabric before purchasing. But I decided the other night that I would try ordering fabric online. My order from Fat Quarter Shop arrived this morning. I purchased some 5 X 5 squares in pastel pinks, blues, and yellows. I hope to make a patchwork chenile baby quilt using this tutorial from Happy Things.

Happy Fall Ya'll - The Taters Have Been Dug

I love sweet potatoes and the time for digging up taters has arrived. This is just a few of the potatoes I have bought for this fall and winter.
There is a locate farm where I buy these every year. They taste so much better than those bought in the grocery store....sweet potatoe souffle, sweet potatoe pie, baked sweet potatoes, candied sweet potatoes....love these taters!

I received my International Tote Exchange bag from Laurie on friday. It is a very generous sized tote in brown with gold and green stripes. She also sewed a leather strap on it. Very nice gift. Inside the bag were some note cards, post its and a very nice set of knitting markers. Thanks Laurie. If you look closely in the picture of the tote, you can see a picture of my son....the doctor. I sure do miss him. He is a first year resident in emergency medicine in Philadelphia. My husband and I will be visiting him in a couple of weeks. We haven't seen him since June and I do miss him.

Projects completed this week:

A baby bib, and several tissue holders.