TNT: Did She or Didn't She?

 

Before I answer that question let me show you how the Christmas Quaker is looking right now. I've only been working on that honeycomb section and it will be finished before I pack it away again. I'm getting close.

The Santa ornament finally has a Santa or at least part of him. You can see where his deer is now too. I hated working on the first Santa in this series but I got into this little guy for some reason. 

All three of my holiday stitching projects have been a pleasure to pick up this year. I'm going to look back at this Christmas as the one where I got to sit and stitch while listening to my audio book almost every afternoon. Sometimes there was even snow involved. I've got a few rows finished and a bit of holly started on the pudding. It's going to be hard to pack this away but I do have a camel waiting. 

So did I toss the sprinkles or did I retrieve them for the second time? I went and got them, gave them a good cleaning since they had been in the trash all afternoon and sealed them up in a bag with a tag that says "replace me". Sentimental fool that I am, I wasn't ready to let go of Christmas Past. 

Ghosts of Christmas Past

 

I needed a Forensic cleanup crew to tackle my kitchen when I was done with the cookies. What a mess I made. 

I only make small batches but it doesn't matter. The clean up is always epic. We've got sugar cookies, jam thumbprints, magic cookie bars and a new one for me-Hermits. Whoever suggested them, thank you. They are my new favorite. They were quick to go together and used up all of my leftover fruitcake/plum pudding odds and ends. 

Confession: I've been using the same sprinkles for almost 30 years. The kids all lived at home back then. Google says they can last forever as long as they aren't visibly degrading. This was the first year I think I saw some odd clumping so out they went. I felt so sad. It was ridiculous but it felt like throwing all my Christmas pasts away. I actually dug them out of the trash once, thought better of it and let them go. Now I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to keep them until next year when I can replace them. I might feel better about it then. I better go get them out again. Trash day is tomorrow.

Happy Solstice!

 

I hope to be marking the darkest day of the year with a cookie making extravaganza. After I pulled everything out, I quickly realized my mistake at letting The Mister set up two puzzles on the dining room table. It's going to be a tight squeeze.

I was in rest and recovery mode yesterday so not much got accomplished but I did get the toe finished on the stocking. That green line under the candles is part of the waste yarn I have to pick out to put the heel. I need a clear head to be doing that and it might not be today. I'm always shocked at how much it takes out of me to wrangle a couple of Grands for a few days. 

And...Miss 1995 Holiday Barbie has been freed from her box. She spent 30 years imprisoned in plastic, poor old thing. She looks awfully happy among her new friends. I'm glad I could help. 

Home Again

 

My Advent socks were on the go for the past few days. There's no chance at all they are going to be done by the 24th but they might be done by the end of the month. 

I got the bug to make myself another bulky weight hat so I took that along for the ride too. Look what I found. A knot. Knit Picks again. Is it just me? 

Before I left I had ordered even more Brava in different colors for even more hats and it was waiting for me on the doorstep. Unlike another package I had received it had been put in a place that hadn't gotten rained on. 

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It's been raining non stop here and while we were gone I got the notification that this had arrived and been left out front. It was out in the open on a table. The box was soaked to the point of coming apart. My heart sank when I saw it but happily, my newest Barbie was dry inside. I know I said I wasn't going to buy anymore holiday Barbies but I also told myself that if I found a vintage one that was under $20 with free shipping I just might consider it. Well, here she is. She is a Hallmark edition from 1995 representing holiday traditions from 1910. Whew, that's a mouthful and she really is pretty in person. Photos don't do her justice.

Unexpected Journey

 

Daughter's MIL who is their usual babysitter had an event come up that she wanted to attend for the next two days so we got called on once again to fill in. We got to put together Grinch puzzles and...

...read lots of books when we weren't chasing the little one around. He's fast. 

I did get a belated birthday party out of it all. Pizza and bundt cake for a hard two days work. We'll be home tonight and I'll most likely be on the couch for the weekend-hopefully with enough strength left to finish my Advent stocking. 

'Tis the Season...

 

....for gifts. Yesterday The Mister and I resurrected an old holiday tradition dating way back before the pandemic made shopping no fun. We pick a store and we take turns going in for 30 minutes to buy each other gifts with a dollar limit of around $50. Back in the day it used to be Target but this year we went to our tiny new Marshall's. I came out with this bag of goodies for him. He came out with a similar one for me. For the past few years neither of us had anything to unwrap Christmas morning and I didn't want to do that again.

Those aren't the only gifts in the house. It seems that we've been keeping the mailman very busy. My sister sent me this. It's diamond art that she spent the summer working on. Isn't that the cutest snowman? The best thing is that I can keep it out all winter because I'm pretty sure it's celebrating Valentine's Day as well. I love it. 

Sandflies very generously sent me a package of holiday coffee. The bags are so pretty you almost hate to use them up. There's nothing better to wake up to on Christmas morning than the smell of this spiced coffee. 

We got a giant box yesterday from our son's in-laws. It's a tower of chocolate. Is there a better kind of tower?

I also got this lovely card from Karen in Wisconsin who included a recipe and a note explaining this was a family favorite from 1985. It's a recipe for a pecan cake and weirdly enough, The Mister has been talking about wanting something made with pecans for a few days now. I'll have to give this a try. 

Karen, I have a recipe just like that one. It's my family favorite and I've been making it since 1984 which is documented by the newspaper's date. I kept the whole section so I wouldn't lose it. There's a lot of recipes out there for banana bread but I love the story that went along with it. It's about how her mom left out the vanilla when she handed down the recipe causing the daughter to question her own baking skills for years. I love a good story with a recipe and I can tell you this is some good banana bread. I just made three loaves of it and one is already gone. 

And...a big thank you for all the birthday and well wishes. My cold didn't appear after all but a migraine did probably from the cold night air while I was out horse watching. It was short lived, thank goodness and I am right as rain right now. I also want to thank everyone who sent me book titles about pandas and turtles. This is the first one to show up and it's a lovely little book with the most amazing illustrations. I know the Grand is going to love it. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

The naughty Felici's in the Buddy colorway are done. They seem to have survived the knot drama but they are still not going in the gift box. I don't trust my skills at weaving in. It's always an ugly wound.

The socks formerly known as Advent socks are getting their heels turned. I think the Advent thing only works if you are using the mini skein option for heels and toes. The Christmas stocking is approaching its end. I confess to hating knitting with this sport weight yarn and on this 16 inch size 2 needle. I'm going back to the Stroll and the tiny 10 inch needle next year. 

Riddari's second sleeve is this big now and mad woman that I am, I cast on a bulky knit hat for myself with a skein of Brava I had in the stash. I made one in gray a few years ago and it's my go to hat when it's really cold out. What I wanted was a red one to match a red sweater that I wear a lot but while I'm waiting for that yarn to show up, this pink will have to scratch that itch. 

And....I did get to see the Clydesdale team make its way down the boardwalk and through the town last night. There wasn't much birthday whoopti-doing though since I felt like I was coming down with my first cold since retiring in 2011. Back at home, a hot cup of tea and a small slice of ice cream cake made it all a bit better. I've got to hit the ground running for the rest of the week so I better be better in the morning.