Holiday Beginnings

We informally kicked off the Christmas season this weekend with a visit to a couple of local Christmas bazaars. I missed all of them last year, so this year I was determined to get to a few.

We started at the lovely Trinity Anglican church; I just love the building itself. Their knitting club always has a good selection of things for sale, for extremely good prices. As I was buying some hats for the kids, I asked if anyone taught crochet. The woman behind the table was good enough to give me her number, and said I could sit in on their knitting club in January and someone could teach me. I'm hoping the timing works out, because I have been dying to learn crochet for quite some time now. Actually I have the basics, but I need the odd instruction here and there from a real person.

I picked up the kitschy Christmas brooch from the jewelry table. I decided that I'm going to wear my brooches on my coat, otherwise they're just looking pretty in my closet.

The two knit animals came from a second bazaar held in another town. We went up there and coincidentally happened on their Santa Claus parade. A happy bonus for two little ones not crazy about bazaars just yet!

I picked up these books at the book stall. The one on the top right is exactly what we had for readers when I was in grade one. I have been looking for such a book for a long time. The pictures in it and the animal stories book are fabulous.

When we got home we put up some Christmas decorations. We will probably put the tree up next weekend.

I also got a big item out of my "Inbox": I finished my quilt!

It's not bed sized, and it's bigger than a lap quilt. It's just right for having on the couch to warm up with. I machine quilted this one because I wanted it finished sooner rather than later.

I call it my Rx for Gloomy Days because the colors are so bright.

For the backing I used this floral I found at Value Village. Now I can snuggle underneath a riot of flowers whenever I need to.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Contest Entry

I decided to enter the Gift of Stitching cross stitch challenge. Totally not something I ever do. However, this time I thought it might get my stitchy fingers going, and if nothing else, I would end up with a completed project. When I saw the design I knew I wanted to make an ornament, and in Christmas colors. I used some Carrie Creations floss I bought last year, called Peppermint; my own hand-dyed evenweave in a bright minty hue; and some red and white stripey beads I bought at the market in Castillon a few years ago. I have been itching to use those ever since!

I wanted to incorporate as much sewing as I could (instead of glue), so I laced the fabric over a juice can lid; stitched it to the backing piece, and sewed the candy cane trim on. I think my finishing stitching could use a little work, but you have to start somewhere don't you?

That's about all I accomplished today, creativity wise. Both kids are in school today so I'm having a hard time deciding on how to use my free time. I think the next hour is going to be spent looking at these:

Have a blissful day!

Sweet Morning Work

My Favorite Boy and I have been very productive today. We've been measuring:

...and mixing:

...and shaping:

...to come up with these cute little hedgehog cookies, as seen in Country Woman magazine. I think it was the Sept./Oct. issue. After a taste-sample, they were declared the "best cookies ever". Such comments are always welcome in my kitchen, until the next good thing comes out of the oven!

It was so nice and sunny in our kitchen we didn't stop there. We made some yummy granola

bars, and spread them with left-over melted chocolate. These have a bit more substance than the ones full of rice cereal you buy at the store.

In an attempt to use up some lemons left-over from our bout with 'flu, I made some lemon bars. I really love these, and I only wish I had enough eggs to make a double batch of filling to put over the top. They are so lemon-y and butter-y. Whoever thinks you can use margarine instead is just out to lunch in my opinion!

It was a nice way to spend the morning, my Favorite Boy and I. We will be stocked up on sweets for a few days anyway.

It's a good thing I had this for lunch.

Have a nice day!

Flu World

We certainly got more than we bargained for on Halloween. Mr. Crafty World, Our Favorite Boy and Girl, all came down with 'flu. Is it the dreaded H1N1? I couldn't tell you. They all felt lousy, lousy, lousy. Apparently 99.3% of 'flu cases in our area are H1N1, so that's a good indicator. It kind of takes the pressure off of whether or not to get "the shot", once it becomes available to us again.

For some reason I have escaped the illness, which is totally bizarre as I've been around all three sick people for over a week. Our Favorite Girl even coughed right into my mouth accidentally when we were about to have a hug. The only thing I can think of is that I must have some kind of immunity to it. I don't feel great, but I don't feel like I have 'flu. I did a little bit of internet research, and it turns out the 'flu strain that went around in 1987/88 was a strain of H1N1. I remember having that 'flu, and how sick I was. So, maybe that's why I'm not flat out on my back right now.

While not sick, I am exhausted because I haven't had a full night's sleep in a week, and I'm worried about my kids. I had to take them back to the doctor today, because they are not getting better, and I seriously thought I was going to lose it. It would have been one of those embarrassing, weepy kind of melt downs; all because I was so relieved we only had to wait 10 minutes to see a doctor. Anyway, thankfully that didn't happen, and we procured some antibiotics for the kids so hopefully this will cure what ails them on top of this 'flu virus.

Needless to say there has not been much craftiness going on in my world. I managed to make two Christmas cards and some tags in the space of 2 hours yesterday. Before I got too tired I made the kids some comfy loungy pants, because I knew they would be spending a lot of time on the couch. Last night I had a go at Hardanger, so stay tuned for that because it's turning out well so far.

The weather has warmed up considerably, which is nice considering we had our first snowfall just a few days ago. The kids will most likely be home for this next week as well, so it would be nice if we could get a few short walks in. Everything looks better once you have had some fresh air.

Until next time, stay well!