A Little Sewing

I made this pillow yesterday afternoon.

Not the embroidery.  That would have been a truly superhuman feat to have done the embroidery and sewn the pillow all in one afternoon.  Hannah did the embroidery from her own design.  She is an embroiderer extraordinaire!  It was a gift for Christmas last year (as in 2014. . .) and I promptly decided I wanted to make a pillow from it and promptly went out and bought the materials.  I not so promptly put it all together yesterday.  Not that I didn't do any sewing in the past year.  I did, but just not this.  Other things keep taking priority.

So anyway, here it is in all its glory.  The quote from Jane Austen reads, "They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for nature early in life." 

Bonus pic~

Mist on the pond last week

The Ice Storm That Wasn't

The mega gigantic ice storm that was supposed to hit Thursday night fizzled.  We twice had a little ice overnight that melted in the morning.  Missouri was closed on Friday, so I got a day at home I wasn't counting on, which was much appreciated, but which turns out was unnecessary.  I don't mind, though.  I've been running on all cylinders since the beginning of December and an extra-long weekend was just what I needed.

Around my house since Christmas~

The amaryllis is finished, but the paperwhites are coming on.  I meant to plant these in time for them to be blooming about now, but note the above paragraph. . .  I love to have flowers blooming indoors at this time of year!

We had a cold snap right after Christmas and got a little snow.  The woods and the pond are beautiful this time of year!  (Not that I was actually outside when I took this.  Brrrrr!)

Dave is now the proud owner of a canjo.  

Hannah surprised by the camera~

Spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's 😊

                   

This tree is five or six years old, we think, and it's blooming for the first time!  It's either a lime or lemon tree.  I guess we'll find out when the fruit appears. . .

                           

Christmas

Today is already the seventh day of Christmas!  We try to observe the entire twelve days, so the tree and other decorations will stay up through January 5, I am still listening to Christmas music, and there are Christmas goodies floating around.

I try to time the planting of my amaryllis so it's blooming on Christmas Day, but this year I missed by five days.  Regardless, that gorgeous red is such a welcome burst of color at this time of year.

My 86-year-old mother has been paring down her Christmas decorations and parceling them out amongst her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  She gave me this sleigh and reindeer a few weeks ago, which I remember from my earliest childhood.  Even the presents are old.  I'm so happy to have it!

The grandkids decorated wooden Christmas trees in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  It was a two-step process: paint the trees one week and add glitter, pompoms, and shiny snowflakes the next.  Hannah is my trusty sidekick and is always willing to lend a hand.

The nave of our church was even more beautiful than usual Christmas morning!  

Photo Credit:  Dave

I didn't take many photos Christmas Day (too busy!) but here's one of the table I snapped in a hurry~

We are unabashedly Lutheran.  Read about the symbolism of Luther's rose here.

Advent

A glimpse of Advent happenings at our house~


Advent is all about preparation.  This week I've been preparing by baking Christmas cookies.  Here, shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate and pecans or chocolate and sprinkles (for the kids!)~

It snowed last week and the pond froze over.

The grandgirls spent the night and helped us decorate the tree~

Hannah took them outside to play in the last of the snow.  I stayed inside and took this through the kitchen window where I could keep an eye on the baking cookies. :)

Catching Up

So much going on!  All of it good (thank you, Lord!), but it definitely keeps me hopping!  A brief recap~

The mixed herb jar was a belated birthday gift from my sister.  I don't have anything
like it and I love it!

This year's fruitcake.  This is Dave's favorite Christmas treat.

This year's Advent wreath

This year's first snow
Photo credit:  Elizabeth

This Week

Autumn has finally arrived.  After unusually warm weather for weeks, it turned cold on Friday and has stayed cold.  We've even had a couple frosts.  That means my flowers are no more.  I'm always a bit sad when that happens but also a teeny bit relieved.  No more weeds!

This is the last flower from the garden.  Zinnias are so hardy, and this little one hung on through the frost, but I picked it and put it in one of the Belleek vases Dave gave me for my birthday.  So sweet!

It did this today~

So Dave did this~ 

The first fire of the season!  It drove the cold and damp away!

I have made good progress with the Christmas shopping already.  Every year I tell myself I'm going to get ahead, but I've never managed it.  I'm pretty pleased with what I've accomplished this year so far.  Today, I started wrapping~

                               

In other news, the girls and I made these turkeys~

They look rather Picasso-esqe, don't you think?

Catching Up

Hey, y'all!  Sorry to be AWOL the past few weeks.  Travel.  Events.  People.  Dave and I went to the Just and Sinner conference in Illinois a few weeks ago, held at the church Dave previously pastored.  We reconnected with lots of old friends and made new ones, too.  We stayed through Sunday morning, which gave Dave the opportunity to promote Wittenberg Door and build prayer and financial support.

That Sunday morning was Reformation Sunday, an important day in the Lutheran church!  Three pastors and a future seminarian officiated.  Dave is on the far right; Pr. Cooper is second from the left.

The following Monday was actual Reformation Day, also known as Halloween.  These two adorable trick-or-treaters dropped by for a treat from Grandma and Grandpa.

This fall has been unusually warm and dry, which I think led to a not very colorful autumn.  It's been beautiful in other ways, so I won't try not to complain.

Lichen on an old tree stump in our yard

My birthday was last week and we all gathered at one of my favorite restaurants, Cheddars.  All of us, that is, except Hannah, who had a cold and was not feeling very how (as Eeyore puts it).  The pictures I took were terrible (bad lighting!), but trust me, we had a good time! Then we went to my daughter's house for cake, ice cream, and presents.  Arane was so excited that it was my birthday! :)

                                           

Dave and Hannah brought me these lovely flowers.  I love fresh flowers.  The little vases are a gift from Dave, honest to goodness Belleek.  He knows my weakness for fine china!  Aren't they darling?  I have Four other pieces of Belleek, all with the traditional shamrock design except one, which has a pansy motif~ also very pretty. 

There's lots more I could say, but I'll save it for another time.  Thanks for visiting!