Entrance to the hotel
Our kids had the adjoining room. This is our room.
Park lights from above:
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Our Christmas
We decided to do a different Christmas celebration this year. Instead of partying at home, we decided to stay at a hotel. We liked this alternate plan and might do it again next year.
Entrance to the hotel
Our kids had the adjoining room. This is our room.
Park lights from above:
my Christmas morning hot chocolate
Entrance to the hotel
Our kids had the adjoining room. This is our room.
Park lights from above:
Monday, December 24, 2018
Our Little Tree
Over the years we have had a wide variety of Christmas tree types in our home. For years we used only real trees. In the last ten years or so we have switched to artificial. In "old age" these are so much easier to deal with! Also I like them small so they don't take up so much space, which is at a premium in our living room.
This tree is only a couple of years old. Even artificial ones start to look bedraggled and need to be replaced. The white lights are already attached, then I added the colored lights. I prefer a tree with multitudes of colors. Which sort of person are you: white lights only, one-color only, multiple-colored lights only, or as one news anchor recently announced: colored lights are for outside and white-only lights are for inside?
The decorations we hang on the tree are the most fun part, because there are so many memories associated with them. Way back when we were first married, we had a potted tree (I can't think of its type). It was tiny and weak so could only hold very light-weight ornaments. Some of those we still use are from that shopping trip where I bought the lightest weight ornaments I could find. A few ornaments are from different trips I took to Indian reservations and once to an Alaskan Federation of Natives conference. So I have some "Eskimo boots made by a Tlingit woman" as they were described to me. Tlingit is the tribe from which my husband is descended. The woman who made these married an Eskimo man, so she is familiar with the boots/moccasins of both traditions. I also have a baby wrapped up in a cradle (bought from a Minnesota Ojibwe woman) that could hang in a tree branch.. again, I can't remember the real name for this thing. I must be getting old.
Some are made in Russia. Some are made in Laos. I have some from Czech Republic, but they aren't on my tree this year. I love having ornaments from around the world. Last March when daughter and I visited the UK, I bought an ornament that says "Mind the Gap" but now I can't find it! Frustrating. But I do have a little plaid reindeer that I bought in Scotland.
I have a few ornaments that are sewing and quilting related - some were gifts from my daughter. One is a knitted hat and mittens that our neighbor from way back (about 35 years ago) made. Daughter and I went to visit, and she let us pick any ornament we wanted off her tree. Wasn't that nice of her? We picked the hat and mittens.
Anyway, the memories are fun, and I'm getting old enough now that I feel nostalgic about these old things. I now have a few decorations that I inherited from my mother, so those have even older memories associated with them. At Christmas time I miss my mom.
I hope, if you celebrate Christmas, you will have fun remembering old times and cherishing the new memories you will make this week.
Little Hummel pieces that I inherited from my mom. These are probably older than I am.
This tree is only a couple of years old. Even artificial ones start to look bedraggled and need to be replaced. The white lights are already attached, then I added the colored lights. I prefer a tree with multitudes of colors. Which sort of person are you: white lights only, one-color only, multiple-colored lights only, or as one news anchor recently announced: colored lights are for outside and white-only lights are for inside?
The decorations we hang on the tree are the most fun part, because there are so many memories associated with them. Way back when we were first married, we had a potted tree (I can't think of its type). It was tiny and weak so could only hold very light-weight ornaments. Some of those we still use are from that shopping trip where I bought the lightest weight ornaments I could find. A few ornaments are from different trips I took to Indian reservations and once to an Alaskan Federation of Natives conference. So I have some "Eskimo boots made by a Tlingit woman" as they were described to me. Tlingit is the tribe from which my husband is descended. The woman who made these married an Eskimo man, so she is familiar with the boots/moccasins of both traditions. I also have a baby wrapped up in a cradle (bought from a Minnesota Ojibwe woman) that could hang in a tree branch.. again, I can't remember the real name for this thing. I must be getting old.
Some are made in Russia. Some are made in Laos. I have some from Czech Republic, but they aren't on my tree this year. I love having ornaments from around the world. Last March when daughter and I visited the UK, I bought an ornament that says "Mind the Gap" but now I can't find it! Frustrating. But I do have a little plaid reindeer that I bought in Scotland.
I have a few ornaments that are sewing and quilting related - some were gifts from my daughter. One is a knitted hat and mittens that our neighbor from way back (about 35 years ago) made. Daughter and I went to visit, and she let us pick any ornament we wanted off her tree. Wasn't that nice of her? We picked the hat and mittens.
Anyway, the memories are fun, and I'm getting old enough now that I feel nostalgic about these old things. I now have a few decorations that I inherited from my mother, so those have even older memories associated with them. At Christmas time I miss my mom.
I hope, if you celebrate Christmas, you will have fun remembering old times and cherishing the new memories you will make this week.
Little Hummel pieces that I inherited from my mom. These are probably older than I am.
Monday, January 08, 2018
The Year Begins in Korea...
This year for Christmas my husband and I decided to buy one airline ticket to South Korea. Our daughter jetted off to spend some time with her brother who lives in Korea. They both thought it was a good idea and a good gift. It was for both of them, really. Other than that, they each got a book and a tiny bit of spending money.
Turned out to be an excellent gift which they both enjoyed immensely. They spent a few days in Korea, Daughter seeing Son's neighborhood and where he works and meeting his friends. Then they flew to Naha, Okinawa (Japan) for Christmas. They wanted to go somewhere warm, so they agreed to do this trip within a trip.
Daughter's caption on this photo read: I flew to Korea to see my brother! He looks pleased to see me.
Here's an Okinawa Christmas.
also appreciating the attractive manhole covers:
and the warmth and beauty of the beach:
On Christmas Day they saw Star Wars. It was in English with Japanese subtitles.
Back in Korea, here is a picture of Seoul. You probably know by now that I love to take pictures, and I take a LOT of them. My kids are not like me at all in this regard. This is about all I got to see. But this particular picture is monumental because of its circumstances. Daughter said: Went into Seoul solo while my brother worked. Took a bus, train and the subway all by myself!
They brought in the New Year in the city where Son works. All too soon it was time for Daughter to come back home. Husband and I felt so happy at the great reports we'd heard from them, and this final Facebook post from Daughter:
I can't explain how much this trip has meant to me. How much seeing my brother has meant. All you need to know is that he's amazing, and I'm going to miss him.
We think they're both amazing, and we are very pleased that they had such a magical time together. It was worth every penny.
The treats Daughter brought back for us -- cookies from Okinawa. The purplish ones on the right are sweet potato!
Turned out to be an excellent gift which they both enjoyed immensely. They spent a few days in Korea, Daughter seeing Son's neighborhood and where he works and meeting his friends. Then they flew to Naha, Okinawa (Japan) for Christmas. They wanted to go somewhere warm, so they agreed to do this trip within a trip.
Daughter's caption on this photo read: I flew to Korea to see my brother! He looks pleased to see me.
Here's an Okinawa Christmas.
also appreciating the attractive manhole covers:
and the warmth and beauty of the beach:
On Christmas Day they saw Star Wars. It was in English with Japanese subtitles.
Back in Korea, here is a picture of Seoul. You probably know by now that I love to take pictures, and I take a LOT of them. My kids are not like me at all in this regard. This is about all I got to see. But this particular picture is monumental because of its circumstances. Daughter said: Went into Seoul solo while my brother worked. Took a bus, train and the subway all by myself!
They brought in the New Year in the city where Son works. All too soon it was time for Daughter to come back home. Husband and I felt so happy at the great reports we'd heard from them, and this final Facebook post from Daughter:
I can't explain how much this trip has meant to me. How much seeing my brother has meant. All you need to know is that he's amazing, and I'm going to miss him.
We think they're both amazing, and we are very pleased that they had such a magical time together. It was worth every penny.
The treats Daughter brought back for us -- cookies from Okinawa. The purplish ones on the right are sweet potato!
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Love and Wonder: Why Trump Will Never Enjoy Christmas
A friend shared this essay with me, and it's excellent; I had to share. I hope Mr. Allen doesn't mind.
Love and Wonder - by Neal Allen
Mr. Trump’s job is much harder than you or I can imagine. Yes, he accidentally stumbled into the position of leading the world. But that’s not his toughest job. Acting like a president is a cake walk for Donald J compared to his lifelong, relentless responsibility to hold together his sense of self and pretend to be a man.
It’s Christmas, so let’s be charitable. Let’s pretend for a moment that we’re all perfect when you get down to it, even Mr. Trump. We’ve generally lost touch with that perfection, especially when it belongs to someone else, but it’s there, probably smirking from the back of your closet in the pages of your high school yearbook.
For you or me, when life gets gritty and disappointing, we have a couple of readymade tools to give us relief, analgesic patches for the backbreaking job of life. Let’s call them love and wonder. Love is what gets me past my resentment when my boss ignores my brilliant solution. Wonder is what reminds me that there’s more to life than assembling an Ikea Billy bookcase. Love is our relationship panacea. Wonder is our worldliness panacea.
Love and wonder provide, at the very least, respite from everyday suffering. They make it all worthwhile, right? With love and wonder in hand, the search for meaning can be set aside for a while. Love can help me feel all right despite another drama descending on me. Wonder can be the feeling of living in a big, glorious world even if it’s Poughkeepsie.
For people like Mr. Trump, love and wonder aren’t available. His ilk inhabit an alternate universe filed under several names, but my favorite is pathological narcissist. This isn’t the usual petty feeling that I’m at the center of the universe, which I am. Pathological narcissism is life encased in a lead suit, the kind that even kryptonite can’t penetrate.
Imagine being blind to the majesty of an ocean or mountain, or never noticing the vitality of an infant's grip.
Imagine not throwing your head back and laughing at the time the toilet paper trailed behind you like a bridal train. Or feeling the soft satisfaction when you noticed for the first time that your new titanium alloy knee stopped throbbing.
For the pathological narcissist, it’s never time to drop your guard or care to be gentle. It’s hard like a rock and hard like hard work. Always.
As a president who ignores the social values of fair play and compassion, Mr. Trump deserves our resistance. As a human being who has never known the love and wonder that arise from fair play and suffering, he deserves our compassion. He didn’t ask to be a monster. He is responsible for his social actions; he is not responsible for how he came to suffer the way he does. Compassion is the form of love that arises in the presence of suffering. Mr. Trump suffers in ways that you or I cannot imagine. He suffers from the lack of respite from his own suffering.
Men like Donald J try to fill the empty hole (the persistent emptiness that substitutes for the soul of love and wonder) with one or more of three culturally defined masculine values: fame, power and money. While he has achieved prominence in all three, the weird thing is that he has done so in the most false ways possible. He is possibly the worst narcissist ever to reach the public stage.
• His money is built on debt and bankruptcy. He has never been accepted by the alpha moneymakers as one of them. They play by different rules, in which the game is already rigged legally in their favor.
• His fame is built on being famous for being famous. He has never been accepted by the Hollywood elite. They expect a little bit of hard work and talent.
• His power is the insecurity-revealing belligerence of the autocrat and sexual predator. He cheated and lied his way to the top, and has no idea how to wield power within a normalized political system. He has to demand to be accepted. Otherwise, he correctly predicts, he will be laughed at and condemned.
So as he doggedly fills the three holes, only to watch them empty out through the bottom, a kind of lazy Sisyphus repeating a vacuous task, he doesn’t even get the satisfaction of periodic pats on the back. He's a false alpha who has managed to insert himself into a milieu of real alphas. He is the narcissist’s narcissist.
Leadership is tough enough on a person when they’re capable of compassion. The everyday leader feels the isolation and distance created by looking at other people as useful objects.
Donald J doesn’t notice that distance; he hasn’t experienced what it’s like to occasionally merge with another object or feeling or presence and become something else that is bigger. He always feels isolated, but he doesn’t know it because he has nothing to compare it to.
So why on earth was Donald J. Trump born into this world and forced to live such a grim, cold, loveless, heartless, mean life? This is the same question that usually is presented as: Why would God take the life of a child? Only we don’t think of Donald J as a child of God, but a mature, responsible adult who is expected to obey the standard ethical codes, including wiping the pee off the toilet seat. But just as we show contempt for the entire stranger who preceded us into the public restroom, we make the mistake of applying the judgment of our political norms and political ideals to the entire person of Donald J. Trump or his sniveling bootlicker Paul Ryan, and conveniently ignore their participation in God’s unity.
Sometimes I wish Christ had reminded us not to render unto Caesar anything that isn’t Caesar’s. I think it’s implied, but this tougher meaning is hidden in the positive. Object to Trump’s actions; that’s part of being in the political world. Hold him up to ethical and normative standards; those are Caesar’s world, and they’re relevant to nationhood and social survival. Be appalled at the greed and Social Darwinism that has descended on us. But also remember that Donald Trump isn’t having a very good Christmas. He never has and never will. As humans, that should be troubling. The rest of us, no matter our tribulations, have known what it’s like to be bolstered and immersed in love and wonder, which are, after all, the true architects of the day and birth we celebrate.
Love and Wonder - by Neal Allen
Mr. Trump’s job is much harder than you or I can imagine. Yes, he accidentally stumbled into the position of leading the world. But that’s not his toughest job. Acting like a president is a cake walk for Donald J compared to his lifelong, relentless responsibility to hold together his sense of self and pretend to be a man.
It’s Christmas, so let’s be charitable. Let’s pretend for a moment that we’re all perfect when you get down to it, even Mr. Trump. We’ve generally lost touch with that perfection, especially when it belongs to someone else, but it’s there, probably smirking from the back of your closet in the pages of your high school yearbook.
For you or me, when life gets gritty and disappointing, we have a couple of readymade tools to give us relief, analgesic patches for the backbreaking job of life. Let’s call them love and wonder. Love is what gets me past my resentment when my boss ignores my brilliant solution. Wonder is what reminds me that there’s more to life than assembling an Ikea Billy bookcase. Love is our relationship panacea. Wonder is our worldliness panacea.
Love and wonder provide, at the very least, respite from everyday suffering. They make it all worthwhile, right? With love and wonder in hand, the search for meaning can be set aside for a while. Love can help me feel all right despite another drama descending on me. Wonder can be the feeling of living in a big, glorious world even if it’s Poughkeepsie.
For people like Mr. Trump, love and wonder aren’t available. His ilk inhabit an alternate universe filed under several names, but my favorite is pathological narcissist. This isn’t the usual petty feeling that I’m at the center of the universe, which I am. Pathological narcissism is life encased in a lead suit, the kind that even kryptonite can’t penetrate.
Imagine being blind to the majesty of an ocean or mountain, or never noticing the vitality of an infant's grip.
Imagine not throwing your head back and laughing at the time the toilet paper trailed behind you like a bridal train. Or feeling the soft satisfaction when you noticed for the first time that your new titanium alloy knee stopped throbbing.
For the pathological narcissist, it’s never time to drop your guard or care to be gentle. It’s hard like a rock and hard like hard work. Always.
As a president who ignores the social values of fair play and compassion, Mr. Trump deserves our resistance. As a human being who has never known the love and wonder that arise from fair play and suffering, he deserves our compassion. He didn’t ask to be a monster. He is responsible for his social actions; he is not responsible for how he came to suffer the way he does. Compassion is the form of love that arises in the presence of suffering. Mr. Trump suffers in ways that you or I cannot imagine. He suffers from the lack of respite from his own suffering.
Men like Donald J try to fill the empty hole (the persistent emptiness that substitutes for the soul of love and wonder) with one or more of three culturally defined masculine values: fame, power and money. While he has achieved prominence in all three, the weird thing is that he has done so in the most false ways possible. He is possibly the worst narcissist ever to reach the public stage.
• His money is built on debt and bankruptcy. He has never been accepted by the alpha moneymakers as one of them. They play by different rules, in which the game is already rigged legally in their favor.
• His fame is built on being famous for being famous. He has never been accepted by the Hollywood elite. They expect a little bit of hard work and talent.
• His power is the insecurity-revealing belligerence of the autocrat and sexual predator. He cheated and lied his way to the top, and has no idea how to wield power within a normalized political system. He has to demand to be accepted. Otherwise, he correctly predicts, he will be laughed at and condemned.
So as he doggedly fills the three holes, only to watch them empty out through the bottom, a kind of lazy Sisyphus repeating a vacuous task, he doesn’t even get the satisfaction of periodic pats on the back. He's a false alpha who has managed to insert himself into a milieu of real alphas. He is the narcissist’s narcissist.
Leadership is tough enough on a person when they’re capable of compassion. The everyday leader feels the isolation and distance created by looking at other people as useful objects.
Donald J doesn’t notice that distance; he hasn’t experienced what it’s like to occasionally merge with another object or feeling or presence and become something else that is bigger. He always feels isolated, but he doesn’t know it because he has nothing to compare it to.
So why on earth was Donald J. Trump born into this world and forced to live such a grim, cold, loveless, heartless, mean life? This is the same question that usually is presented as: Why would God take the life of a child? Only we don’t think of Donald J as a child of God, but a mature, responsible adult who is expected to obey the standard ethical codes, including wiping the pee off the toilet seat. But just as we show contempt for the entire stranger who preceded us into the public restroom, we make the mistake of applying the judgment of our political norms and political ideals to the entire person of Donald J. Trump or his sniveling bootlicker Paul Ryan, and conveniently ignore their participation in God’s unity.
Sometimes I wish Christ had reminded us not to render unto Caesar anything that isn’t Caesar’s. I think it’s implied, but this tougher meaning is hidden in the positive. Object to Trump’s actions; that’s part of being in the political world. Hold him up to ethical and normative standards; those are Caesar’s world, and they’re relevant to nationhood and social survival. Be appalled at the greed and Social Darwinism that has descended on us. But also remember that Donald Trump isn’t having a very good Christmas. He never has and never will. As humans, that should be troubling. The rest of us, no matter our tribulations, have known what it’s like to be bolstered and immersed in love and wonder, which are, after all, the true architects of the day and birth we celebrate.
Friday, December 22, 2017
It's Almost Christmas!
Merry Christmas, good readers! This year Husband and I are having a very quiet Christmas. It has its perks, but it's also a little sad. The reason is, our son lives in South Korea, and for Christmas we sent our daughter there to visit over Christmas. We are so happy they will be together and he won't be alone on Christmas as he has been several times in Korea. But it means our own Christmas will be a little lonely and quiet. Of course, that has its good points, too. We enjoy being home-bodies and love the quiet and slow pace. So.. all in all, we're looking forward to all of it, especially hearing from our kids and how they are celebrating together in Asia.
Bonus came here a couple days ago, and I gave him his Christmas presents: a shirt, books, and this car. He enjoyed the car quite a bit. It was fun to watch him maneuver around on it. He is the sweetest little boy. I just love having him around! I'm so lucky to be his Bonus Grandma.
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful day. Also, have a very happy new year! We have many things to look forward to in 2018.
Christmas tree at my niece's house
Bonus came here a couple days ago, and I gave him his Christmas presents: a shirt, books, and this car. He enjoyed the car quite a bit. It was fun to watch him maneuver around on it. He is the sweetest little boy. I just love having him around! I'm so lucky to be his Bonus Grandma.
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful day. Also, have a very happy new year! We have many things to look forward to in 2018.
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Finished One Year, Started Another
I have been absent from my blog for a long time! Wow.. Christmas and New Years have come and gone. Did you miss me?? We had a quiet, fun Christmas with our adult kids here on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day hubby and I took a little trip to northern Minnesota for 4 days. We visited a couple of state parks. We had never seen these parks in the winter season. They were beautiful!!! And waves on Lake Superior were huge. We also toured the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, MN. Very nice. I'd like to see it again in the summer time.
New Years was also quiet. We stayed home and played Monopoly the card game. I like it better than the board game.
Then I have been sewing whenever possible. This is a gift I made for a coworker. It's a secret-santa type of thing. I hope she liked it. She doesn't know who gave it to her, so I will never know what she thought! (She got a little Christmas candy with it.)
This is the back and next photo is the front.
I finished a quilt for our new great-nephew. We will have a family gathering soon when I will give it to him. The owl is for him, too. He has a bedroom decorated with owls, apparently.
I made a quilt top on New Year's Day, using some jelly-roll-wannabe fabric that I had to trim (still had the selvage on it). I wasn't thrilled with the fabric, so I just made a quick one to get it over with. That's the purple one below. Then I put bindings on the blue and the green ones. I'm calling them 2016 finishes, because it wasn't their fault that I dawdled so long on the bindings. The purple one is my first technical quilt top of 2017.
Since I wrote last, my mother-in-law had a stroke. She was very ill, and I thought she was going to die. I was still in raw recovery stage from my own mother's death and didn't know if I could take another death in the family. Luckily she has bounced back once again. She's very tough! She's not home yet, but she is doing really well. Her 87th birthday was on Monday. And.. I'm not feeling quite as raw any more in my recovery from the loss of my mom (sad, but not as raw). Here are my parents-in-law. FIL will be 97 next month!
I am going to update my tab of Quilts Made in 2016 and hopefully have that done in the next few minutes. I don't feel like I was as prolific this year as other years. Maybe 2017 will be a productive year.
I'm thinking of going to the Women's March on Jan. 21, but locally, not in DC. Anyone else going?
New Years was also quiet. We stayed home and played Monopoly the card game. I like it better than the board game.
Then I have been sewing whenever possible. This is a gift I made for a coworker. It's a secret-santa type of thing. I hope she liked it. She doesn't know who gave it to her, so I will never know what she thought! (She got a little Christmas candy with it.)
This is the back and next photo is the front.
I finished a quilt for our new great-nephew. We will have a family gathering soon when I will give it to him. The owl is for him, too. He has a bedroom decorated with owls, apparently.
I made a quilt top on New Year's Day, using some jelly-roll-wannabe fabric that I had to trim (still had the selvage on it). I wasn't thrilled with the fabric, so I just made a quick one to get it over with. That's the purple one below. Then I put bindings on the blue and the green ones. I'm calling them 2016 finishes, because it wasn't their fault that I dawdled so long on the bindings. The purple one is my first technical quilt top of 2017.
Since I wrote last, my mother-in-law had a stroke. She was very ill, and I thought she was going to die. I was still in raw recovery stage from my own mother's death and didn't know if I could take another death in the family. Luckily she has bounced back once again. She's very tough! She's not home yet, but she is doing really well. Her 87th birthday was on Monday. And.. I'm not feeling quite as raw any more in my recovery from the loss of my mom (sad, but not as raw). Here are my parents-in-law. FIL will be 97 next month!
I am going to update my tab of Quilts Made in 2016 and hopefully have that done in the next few minutes. I don't feel like I was as prolific this year as other years. Maybe 2017 will be a productive year.
I'm thinking of going to the Women's March on Jan. 21, but locally, not in DC. Anyone else going?
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Christmas Joy
[Reminder: to see my sidebar, trying scrolling all the way down to the bottom, after my recent posts]
We had a fun Christmas Eve at our daughter's house. Here she is with her fam. Their tree was beautiful (a real one). We had a delicious dinner, opened gifts, played a game, had a lot of fun.
Last year I gave M some fabric, and we looked over patterns and agreed on one for his quilt... this year I managed to get the quilt top done but not yet quilted. He likes the quilt! (Whew!)
Christmas Day we slept in, opened gifts between the two of us, then hopped in the car and took off to visit my side of the family. I enjoyed watching the little and medium kids opening their gifts. (Great-nieces and great-nephews are growing up fast, they're not all little kids any more.) We found out our niece is expecting her third child in July 2016! Yay!
examining his Star Wars light that changes colors
(he seemed to like it)
such nice little cuties.. daddy had to hold little wiggly boy in place.
I gave my sister a quilt. She was quite surprised. She and I made these blocks together several years ago. Then they sat in a pile at my house. I decided to make them into a quilt for her. It was fun to surprise her!
A selfie that managed to cut off most of my self. I call it one of the best shots of me ever taken. And finally... SNOW! Christmas Day wasn't white, but it is now. We got about 4 inches. It's so pretty!
Happy New Year, everyone.
We had a fun Christmas Eve at our daughter's house. Here she is with her fam. Their tree was beautiful (a real one). We had a delicious dinner, opened gifts, played a game, had a lot of fun.
Last year I gave M some fabric, and we looked over patterns and agreed on one for his quilt... this year I managed to get the quilt top done but not yet quilted. He likes the quilt! (Whew!)
Christmas Day we slept in, opened gifts between the two of us, then hopped in the car and took off to visit my side of the family. I enjoyed watching the little and medium kids opening their gifts. (Great-nieces and great-nephews are growing up fast, they're not all little kids any more.) We found out our niece is expecting her third child in July 2016! Yay!
(he seemed to like it)
I gave my sister a quilt. She was quite surprised. She and I made these blocks together several years ago. Then they sat in a pile at my house. I decided to make them into a quilt for her. It was fun to surprise her!
A selfie that managed to cut off most of my self. I call it one of the best shots of me ever taken. And finally... SNOW! Christmas Day wasn't white, but it is now. We got about 4 inches. It's so pretty!
Happy New Year, everyone.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Christmas is Coming!
Last night our daughter invited us to her house for Christmas Eve.. I was thrilled, because I thought we were hosting, and hosting gives me big stress moments. Now I get to have a stress-free Christmas! Hooray! We'll be attending another celebration on Christmas Day, so I'm not hosting that, either.
I realized recently that I haven't been very chatty here at my blog lately. I can't even remember what I would normally have chatted with you about! I have been making a couple of Christmas gifts, so I can't show them to you yet. I have had some fun times sewing with friends, keeping myself busy and out of trouble with tasks at church, reading, helping out a friend in need, and occasionally working.
Why haven't you been chatting with us, Carol?? We've missed you!
We have no snow on the ground, and it has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota. I actually envy the people who have received some beautiful Christmas snow, but... must admit that life is much easier without it! I could get used to this winter ease. I'm still wearing my fall jacket that is not quite tough enough for the super cold temperatures, and is lightweight enough to feel comfy and no big bulk while sitting in the car. I have only had to wear boots one day. I have not shoveled one flake of snow. Driving has been a breeze. Is this why people become snow birds?? I may have to give that some thought.
I have been thinking a lot about people who are in need. How easy it is for us who are blessed to forget what life is like for them. This year I bought a gift card as a Christmas gift, and the clerk who sold it to me was awed at the amount I put on the card. She got all dreamy about what she could do if anyone gave her a gift card holding that amount. I almost feel like getting another one and delivering it to her anonymously.
And another person, the friend in need I mentioned above, is pregnant and homeless. I have been helping her find housing, and trying to help her get re-connected with services that can help her. Believe me, that is not easy. All the rules and the ins and outs can be so confusing. A person needs an advocate to wade through all that stuff. I'm feeling extra empathetic for all the homeless people out there who have no one really watching out for them. How lonely and hopeless that must feel.
So in this happy Christmas season, let's all vow to be aware of those around us and remember to share our bounty. Even a small gift can make a big difference: a cup of hot chocolate for the bell-ringer, a bus card for someone who has a hard time getting around on low income, a ride to a doctor appointment, a gift of your time and friendship if you don't have money to share.
Merry Christmas to all!
I realized recently that I haven't been very chatty here at my blog lately. I can't even remember what I would normally have chatted with you about! I have been making a couple of Christmas gifts, so I can't show them to you yet. I have had some fun times sewing with friends, keeping myself busy and out of trouble with tasks at church, reading, helping out a friend in need, and occasionally working.
We have no snow on the ground, and it has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota. I actually envy the people who have received some beautiful Christmas snow, but... must admit that life is much easier without it! I could get used to this winter ease. I'm still wearing my fall jacket that is not quite tough enough for the super cold temperatures, and is lightweight enough to feel comfy and no big bulk while sitting in the car. I have only had to wear boots one day. I have not shoveled one flake of snow. Driving has been a breeze. Is this why people become snow birds?? I may have to give that some thought.
I have been thinking a lot about people who are in need. How easy it is for us who are blessed to forget what life is like for them. This year I bought a gift card as a Christmas gift, and the clerk who sold it to me was awed at the amount I put on the card. She got all dreamy about what she could do if anyone gave her a gift card holding that amount. I almost feel like getting another one and delivering it to her anonymously.
And another person, the friend in need I mentioned above, is pregnant and homeless. I have been helping her find housing, and trying to help her get re-connected with services that can help her. Believe me, that is not easy. All the rules and the ins and outs can be so confusing. A person needs an advocate to wade through all that stuff. I'm feeling extra empathetic for all the homeless people out there who have no one really watching out for them. How lonely and hopeless that must feel.
So in this happy Christmas season, let's all vow to be aware of those around us and remember to share our bounty. Even a small gift can make a big difference: a cup of hot chocolate for the bell-ringer, a bus card for someone who has a hard time getting around on low income, a ride to a doctor appointment, a gift of your time and friendship if you don't have money to share.
Merry Christmas to all!
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
A Quilt, and Other Random News
I finished this quilt recently.. it was made for a challenge at my local guild. We pulled a color crayon out of a bag and used that color, along with white, black, and gray, and tones of the color we chose.
I got yellow. I used pieces I made in a class: brayer printing, gel print, silk screen, and then improvisational piecing (sort of) and applique. I call this quilt "Pages in a Coloring Book."
We showed our quilts at the December meeting, but I didn't have a camera. I love seeing challenge quilts. There are always some that amaze me.
Random news #1: I don't know what's wrong with my blog. Can you see the sidebar? I can't (although I can see it in "preview" mode). It still shows in the layout, as if it should be there, but doesn't show in real life. I recently upgraded to Windows 10. I'm hoping it's that, and that the blog will sort itself out eventually.
Random news #2: December 13 would have been my dad's 100th birthday. It's hard to believe... he has been gone almost 14 years now. That is even harder to believe. My mom will be 95 in a couple months.
Random news #3: We have our tree up, decorated, gifts wrapped, and cards in the mail. Now all we need to do is clean our house and plan a Christmas dinner menu. How are you doing for Christmas prep, or did you enjoy your Hanukkah celebration, or is this time of year just any old time like normal days? (It's that way for my son who is working in Korea... no special days off at Christmas time which is odd for him, but normal for them.)
Happy Holidays!
I got yellow. I used pieces I made in a class: brayer printing, gel print, silk screen, and then improvisational piecing (sort of) and applique. I call this quilt "Pages in a Coloring Book."
We showed our quilts at the December meeting, but I didn't have a camera. I love seeing challenge quilts. There are always some that amaze me.
Random news #1: I don't know what's wrong with my blog. Can you see the sidebar? I can't (although I can see it in "preview" mode). It still shows in the layout, as if it should be there, but doesn't show in real life. I recently upgraded to Windows 10. I'm hoping it's that, and that the blog will sort itself out eventually.
Random news #2: December 13 would have been my dad's 100th birthday. It's hard to believe... he has been gone almost 14 years now. That is even harder to believe. My mom will be 95 in a couple months.
Random news #3: We have our tree up, decorated, gifts wrapped, and cards in the mail. Now all we need to do is clean our house and plan a Christmas dinner menu. How are you doing for Christmas prep, or did you enjoy your Hanukkah celebration, or is this time of year just any old time like normal days? (It's that way for my son who is working in Korea... no special days off at Christmas time which is odd for him, but normal for them.)
Happy Holidays!
Thursday, January 01, 2015
Looking Back to Christmas 2014
We had a bittersweet Christmas this year, with some sad and some happy moments. My favorite uncle died, and his memorial service was on the same day as the other side of our family had its Christmas party. It was a lovely service, and I felt uplifted. Then on to the Christmas party which we arrived to late, but better late than never, eh?
We played a fun family trivia game, masterfully created by my BIL, and filled up on good food and cookies.
Christmas Eve morning we went to my niece's house to visit briefly and meet, for the first time, our great-niece who came up from Florida. Photos show my nephew and his daughter, and then her cousins, two of my other great-niece,great-nephews (she loved the puzzle we gave her).
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We played a fun family trivia game, masterfully created by my BIL, and filled up on good food and cookies.
Christmas Eve morning we went to my niece's house to visit briefly and meet, for the first time, our great-niece who came up from Florida. Photos show my nephew and his daughter, and then her cousins, two of my other great-niece,great-nephews (she loved the puzzle we gave her).
That evening we enjoyed a lovely Christmas celebration at our DD and faux-SIL's new house (they moved in two weeks prior). We had to visit with Son via Skype as he is in Korea. We miss him! But thank goodness for Skype.
Christmas Day: a quiet day at home with husband and me. I made coffee cake for breakfast and served it on my mom's china, which we just received from her after her move into assisted living. It was nice to not have a hectic Christmas Day!
I was going to chat a little more, but I'm having trouble with the HTML code on this thing; weird stuff is happening, so I'll stop for now. Happy New Year!!!
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