You Can Call Me Gwen

I just can't make myself...

 

...actually use my new kitchen towels.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to use them.

And this is why:

 

 

 

They were all hand-embroidered by my Seester, the one who puts the happy in the Blue-Bar-of-Happiness.

In fact, in order to get the quality she wanted, she even sewed and edged the towels themselves.

I was so surprised when she put them into my hands that I could only squeal with happiness.

And they delight me every single time I look at them.

Could you bear the thought of something splattering or staining these cute little faces?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, how I wish all the peoples of the world could have Seesters like mine!

They are fun, talented, generous, hard-working, interesting, hospitable, beautiful, strong, loving, and a million other good things.

 

 

 

And any day of mine which includes one of them is always the better for it.

Struck Speechless

 

It's nearly done me in to keep my posts in chronological order this month.

And there are some very good reasons.

On December 22, Dear Reader and friend, Annski, had planned to spend a quiet hour or two visiting over a cup of coffee.

Having a million or so things going at once, as I always do during December, I wasn't quite at the 'set a spell' stage when she arrived.

I had the last three or four sheets of sugar cookies going in and out of the oven.

When Annski arrived that day and was ushered into the kitchen, she found herself (quite unexpectedly) smack in the middle of another family tradition.

Decorating sugar cookies around here is usually more like a party than a kitchen task.

We've had as many as three sessions a season; involving more shoots, adopted shoots, friends of shoots, etc, than I can count.

This year I was all by myself.

Until Annski arrived for coffee and made the mistake of telling me she'd never decorated sugar cookies.

Well, we had to fix that, for sure.

 

 

 

She seemed to enjoy the whole process and, because we don't stick to traditional Christmas-themed cookie cutters, she showed me just a bit of what it's like when an artist approaches a project like this.

She turned the little moon-shaped cookies into citrus slices:

 

 

I just loved that.

I got Mrs. Gingerbreadman all puckered up for a kiss from the mister:

 

 

 

(If Me Darlin' Mither saw that ripped hemline on her dress, she wouldn't let her out of the house until she'd stitched that up.)

In the end we had several platters of colorful cookies ready to serve.

 

 

 

But now I need to tell you the rest of the story.

After I got the cookies out of the oven, and before I made the icing and got all the sprinkles out, I really did sit down with Annski to have that promised cup of coffee.

And I'll bet I wasn't two sips in before she started handing me gifts.

The tag on the first package was addressed to 'Naomi', and inside was this perfect little coin purse.

 

 

 

It's in my favorite color scheme, the fabric looks like a Zentangle, and (my goodness) it even has a zipper.

 

 

 

Now, I was just getting over being handed a gift that had been so beautifully handcrafted when Annski handed me another package.

It was addressed to 'Gwen'.

Inside was this:

 

 

 

I lost my breath, my bearings, and my wits for awhile after I opened it.

Isn't it something?

As I began to turn the pages, Annski informed me that all of the contents had come directly from this blog.

She had copied the post wherein I described how I go about drawing my inchies, and she'd put it on the first two pages of the book.

She'd copied the inchies for every month and given them each their own two-page spread.

Here is April - I circled the inchie for the day I first had lunch with my new Dear Reader/friend, Annski.

 

 

 

Remember all the 'Gwinchies' I posted while I was on vacation in August?

She included them in the book, too.

 

 

 

While I was looking - with mouth agape, I'm afraid - at this page, Annski told me something.

She said, "I was working on this book, and wondering what I was going to do about cover design. Then I got to the Gwinchies and realized you'd already taken care of that for me."

 

 

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

What attention to detail!

What an incredible gift!

I felt like I was holding a dream in my hands.

But...

Annski lied.

She probably didn't mean to.

But, it isn't true that every word in the book came directly from this blog.

In fact, my favorite words in this book are the ones that didn't.

 

 

 

I could never come up with a more perfect subtitle/description of what my whole inchie journal is about if I were to spend the remainder of my days trying.

And I don't think I can ever express my gratitude for that, or for this book, in a catalog of any size. 

 

 

There are times when words just won't do. 

Giving and Receiving

 

God gives lavishly.

Our lives are full of His goodness toward us.

Here are a few of the 'goodness' inchies of December.

December 14:

I told you about some of our abiding friendships, and the dinner party we have each year to celebrate and enjoy them.

There is a preciousness even to the work and preparations for our time together.

 

 
 

 

And, of course, it doesn't hurt a thing when I'm sharing them with Prince Charming.

-------

December 17:

When I set out to have tea with my D'Art group at the home of one of my friends about ten miles from here, I had no idea it would take me two hours to get there.

But I'd never been to her home, and I missed the exit I was supposed to take.

Then I missed the only other exit I could take for the next 20 miles of turnpike.

And then...

When I finished that 40 mile round trip and got back to the exit I should have taken in the first place,  I got very confused, made a wrong turn, and wound up right back on the same turnpike...to drive that 40 mile round trip again.

During those two, long, frustrating (I cried) round trips there were two conversations taking place.

The members of my group called several times to implore me to "come anyway...we're waiting for you".

And I was asking God if there was anything in particular He wanted to say to me, since it was clear to me the plans I had made had been thwarted.

It wasn't until I got into the warm embrace and comforting company of my friends that I realized God was very kindly showing me that He hears and answers prayers.

I had been praying (with some fervor) that He would thwart any plans which would bring harm or evil to someone (in particular) whom I love dearly.

He just wanted me to see how easily He can thwart plans.

And keep thwarting plans.

 

 

 

And, at the end of my thwarted plans was the comfort of God for my body, soul, and spirit.

It is good to belong to Him.

And to His family.

-------

December 19:

My daughter-in-love (who is a gift to our family) paid me the highest compliment she could when she saw the elephant collage I'd made and hung in our home (years ago).

She said, "I want one of those."

I am ashamed of how long it took me to make one for her;  especially when I remember that she picked out the papers months and months ago.

But, judging from her look of delight when she opened this on Christmas morning...

 

 

 

...she's not going to hold it against me that it took so long to get out my scissors...

 

 

 

...and cut out a gift for her.

-------

December 20:

It was one of the delights of my Christmas season this year to enjoy shopping for all my beloved family members.

Because I had to sandwich them in to my work schedule, many of the shopping trips were necessarily short. 

I considered it such a gift to find something I loved, which looked just perfect for someone I love.

 

 

But a much greater gift just to have this someone I love in our family.

-------

December 21:

After working until noon, I came home and grabbed Miss Helping Hands for a foray into the commercial world.

We went to one of our favorite places to buy a book for Little Man.

But it was 2:00 by the time we really got out there and, since neither of us had eaten lunch, we were both getting kind of growly with hunger.

We decided to stop at Braum's for a hamburger.

When we pulled up in front of the store to park, and Miss Helping Hands saw those large, glossy, full-color posters of big, beautiful waffle cones just piled with ice cream...well...

We decided we'd just eat a junior burger and have an ice cream cone, too.

Thing is, Miss Helping Hands had really gotten that ice cream cone in her head bad. 

She ordered it at the same time she ordered her burger.

And I, not having a mind of my own when I am in the presence of such strength, followed by doing the same exact thing.

Now, how are you supposed to eat a hamburger when one hand is quite occupied with holding a rather large waffle cone full of ice cream?

I'm not going to tell you who set their ice cream on a napkin to melt while (sensibly) eating their burger first, or who ate with both hands full of food, taking alternating bites from each.

 

 

 
But I sure wish I had a picture of her doing that.

The Latest Buzz on Yellowjackets

 

 

I did something this year I am not sure I have ever done before.

On December 15, I was shopping with Miss Helping Hands and I bought a Christmas gift right in front of the person who was going to receive it.

I blame it on the unusual pressure I was under at the moment.

It went kind of like this:

"Oh, look at that coat! I love that coat!"

"That really is cute. I'll bet it would look great on you. Why don't you try it on?"

"If I try it on, I will really want it."

"Oh, go on, honey. I'd love to see it on you."

She tried it on.

"Oh, gosh. I really, really want this now. Really."

"Well, I never buy gifts in front of the giftee. That's not very much fun on Christmas morning. Maybe Santa will bring you one."

She carefully (reluctantly? lovingly?) removed the coat.

She (slowly? painfully?) hung it back on the rack.

As we turned to walk away I heard a little mumble...

"It's the only 'small' on the rack. Just sayin' is all."

Now, I wanted her to have the coat as much or more than she wanted to have that coat.

I caved.

 

 

 

This was, after all, my daughter who, fashion wise, leans toward the classic/conservative end of things, and this was no beautifully understated coat.

You know what?

It did not spoil the fun on Christmas morning.

 

 

 

And though the yellow jacket opened to mixed reviews from brothers and sisters, Miss Helping Hands was very happy.

 

 

 

 

And a smile is the best thing anyone can wear.

Baby Girl's First Christmas

 

If most of our photographs hadn't been water damaged/destroyed by a plumbing problem a few years back, I would have some pictures to go with the little history behind what you're about to see.

When Miss Helping Hands (our first daughter - after FOUR boys) was about to celebrate her first Christmas at three months of age, we bought her a baby doll - Betsy - who was, at the time, bigger than Miss Helping Hands herself.

I made matching Christmas dresses for Miss Helping Hands and Betsy, propped them both up on a little bench in front of the Christmas tree, and took their picture.

And I did the same thing for the next twelve or thirteen Christmases of Miss Helping Hand's life.

It was wonderful to see the changes in our little girl from year to year, and to have Miss Betsy (who's eyes stopped opening by themselves somewhere along the way) in the photos for size perspective and sentimental reasons.

So...

When Baby Girl was about to celebrate her first Christmas, I remembered how nice it was to have those photographs of our own baby girl and I ordered a Bitty Baby for Beegee.

This is what she looked like when she arrived, all soft and sweet...

 

 

 

...and it made me want to "play dollies" again.

I looked through all my baby girl dress patterns, searching for some inspiration for the matching clothes.

And then one day (December 13, to be exact) while I was doing some Christmas shopping, I stumbled upon the sweetest little outfit in just the right size for Baby Girl.

I couldn't help myself.

I bought it.

 

 

 

Then I went to the fabric store to get what I needed to make an outfit just like it for Bitty Baby.

I already had a dolly clothes pattern I had used when our shoots were young, and I figured I could tweak it to make it work.

 

 

On the 18th (I don't know why, but I had a free day!) I got to rev up the sewing machine and have some fun.

 

 

 

But Christmas day was the most fun of all.

 

 

 

Look closely at this photograph: Baby Girl and Bitty Baby have their feet in exactly the same position.

Isn't that fun?

And isn't it fun that Baby Girl's grandmother, who just happens to have some elf stockings of her own, got to get in on the photo shoot (even if we did cut off her head)?

 

 

 

We sure thought it was.

 

 

 

Well...

Some of us did, anyway.

Looking Back

 

Oh, there is so much to 'show and tell'!

I'm going to have to force myself to keep things in order (chronologically speaking) now that the Christmas season is over and all the surprises have surprised the surprisees.

Remember the November inchie line-up?

It was missing the photo and story from November 27.

That's the day I took Little Man to have a very special photo taken.

 

 

 

When we had our first male shoots, Prince Charming's mother gave me some of the photographs from his childhood.

One of them was Prince Charming in a little sailor suit his mother had made.

 

 

When the first two shoots were two and three years old, I made some sailor suits for them; trying to keep them looking as much like the Prince's as available fabrics would allow.

As each of the four boys grew into the suits, I had their photographs taken.

Here is Cable Guy (with my reflection in the glass):

 

 

I cannot begin to say how grateful I am that this photograph was not ruined when we had most of our 30 years worth of family pictures destroyed by water damage.

Nor can I say how happy I am that I hung on to the sailor suits all these years.

Because, on November 27th, I had the Little Man's photograph taken in his Daddy's little sailor suit.

 

 

 

But the Cable Guy didn't know that until Christmas.

Which is when I surprised he and the Prince with a copy of the three of them all framed together.

 

 

 

That big ol' Cable Guy didn't say much when he opened his gift.

But I think he was happy.

Hot Dip

 

I made this dip for Prince Charming's office Christmas party last Monday.

 

 

 

And the Prince made this dip for my office Christmas party last Tuesday.

 

 

 

Yep.

It's that good and that easy.

Black olives, green chiles, chopped tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil and garlic salt.

The person who shared the recipe with me years and years and years ago (I'm feeling old tonight) called it "Hot Dip", but I have no idea why.

All I know is, it's delicious, it still tastes good when you have to use hot-house tomatoes in the middle of winter, and, omigoodness-if-you-could-just-use-some-of-the-green-chiles-we-had-roasted-in-New-Mexico-last-summer you might not be able to stop eating it.

You may not be able to stop eating it even if you use store-bought canned green chiles, which is what the recipe calls for, and which were perfectly-fine-until-we-used-some-of-the-green-chiles-we-had-roasted-in-New-Mexico-last-summer.

Still.

I think you should make some and eat some and share some with your friends or other people you love.

Here's the recipe:

Gwendolyn's Hot Dip

1 can pitted black olives, finely chopped

1 small can green chiles, finely chopped

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with whatever sounds good. Like, maybe, a spoon.

Yum.

Yum.

Yummers.

Movers and Shakers

 

...and pinchers and peekers.

Some people just never grow up.

I still have kids (and a husband) who will rattle, shake, and squeeze the Christmas gifts if no one is looking.

So this year, everything that would fit was wrapped in a shoe box when Miss Helping Hands and I spent a little time in Santa's workshop on Thursday.

 

 

And on Saturday morning I spent a little time making some special gift tags.

 

 

 

I just numbered the gifts and made a secret list with names next to the numbers.

 

 

 

So secret, in fact, that today even I don't know where it is.

The Gift of Abiding Friendships

 

I spent some time Tuesday and Wednesday preparing for one of our favorite evenings of the year.

Dennis and I made Mama Police's lasagna (I should give you that great recipe some day).

I baked six loaves of Italian herb bread (some for eating, some for giving), and pulled some of the summer's pesto from the deep freeze.

We made a big green salad and homemade Italian dressing.

I piped some delicate little chocolate snowflakes...

 

 

 

...using for a template some images I'd printed out and placed under waxed paper .

 

 

 

I made a batch of white chocolate mousse, spooned it into dessert cups over a layer of caramel sauce, and added some snowflakes and red sprinkles.

 

 

 

I got out the wine glass charms I'd made using earring hoops, alphabet beads and ribbon.

 

 

 

I set up a few candles, and around them I piled up some fresh greens and the little pinecones my friend brought me from Colorado.

 

 

 

I set the table for guests...

 

 

 

...and put the little woodland elves to use as place cards/favors.

 

 

 

But our friends supplied the love and laughter and fellowship.

And our God supplied the friends.

It's a Wonderful Life

 

It really is.

On December 11 our wonderful life included seeing a live musical production based on the movie by that name .

The folks down at First Baptist Church in OKC did an excellent job...they've got some incredible singing talent in the congregation.

And the musical stays true to the story.

 

 

 

"Look, Daddy! Teacher says, "Every time a bell rings an angel gets it's wings".

-------

On December 10 I finished the little Hello Kitty ornament I was making for my friend.

 

 

It's hanging on her tree meow.

-------

On December 11 my wonderfully full life caught up with me.

After church, lunch, and working the Sunday crossword (in red and green ink because those were the only working pens in the drawer and, ho ho ho, 'tis the season)...

 

 

 

...I took a nice long nap.

 

 

 

It was awesome.

"Tiddlelump"

 

I.

Drew.

Seven.

Inchies.

Last night.

And one more today.

I am all caught up now.

I'm going to bask in that, because I don't think it will last long.

Reaching back to last Thursday, December 10, here is the inchie to represent the book club meeting wherein we discussed the book The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread.

 

 

The main character's little red wagon (a Crimson Streak) features largely in the story of  his long and adventurous walk across the city of Cleveland.

The young boy encounters one unexpected difficulty after another during his trek, and after each stop to overcome an obstacle, the narrative of the journey resumes with the word "tiddlelump; the sound of the wagon's wheels as the boy presses onward.

During our discussion, Beeg Seester said she was quite taken with that simple "tiddlelump".

And we talked about pressing on through our own adversities.

We're moving forward...tiddlelump.

We become ill.

Tiddlelump.

The washing machine floods the house.

Tiddlelump.

A friend betrays us.

Tiddlelump.

We lose our job.

Tiddlelump.

We press on.

These are temporary things.

And we're heading for eternity with Christ.

Tiddlelump.

...like Christmas.

 

Oh, my.

I think I am addicted to making my own felt ornament patterns now.

Oh, my.

It's hard to stop.

Especially when Google makes finding images of just about everything so very easy.

One of my best all-grown-up friends has a real thing for Hello Kitty, and an on-line search for images yielded lots of choices.

But I chose this one for my pattern because it's cheery and my friend also has a thing for flowers just like this one on Kitty's head.

 

 

After I printed it, I just traced around the different parts to make individual pattern pieces, and then around the whole thing to make the pattern for the back.

 

 

 

I cut all the pieces from felt, stitched them together - stuffing the various parts as I did - and was super happy with the results.

And then I decided that adding sequins would make it more festive and give a little extra sparkle and shine from the lights on the tree.

 

 

 

This afternoon, while I was finishing attaching the sequins, the Little Man came up to my work table (on break from playing living-room soccer with Poppa) and discovered my little embroidery scissors.

"Cut, cut."

"Oh, you want to cut?"

He grabbed the closest paper he could find (I let him) and we told him he could cut, but he'd have to sit down.

He just dropped to his knees.

 

 

 And for the next half hour he worked very, very intently on grooming Hello Kitty.

 

 

 

He was as pleased with his work as I was with mine.

If my friend is half as happy with her Hello Kitty as the two of us were with ours, well...

That'll be like Christmas.

...to look a lot like...

 

It must be Christmas time; I went to the mm...the mmm...the mmma...the mmaaa...the mall.

Years ago, when the shoots were little, I said I had "mallitis" as an excuse not to take them there.

Unfortunately, Miss Helping Hands wasn't old enough to know there was no such disease and she became very worried about her mother's health.

I feel badly about that.

But I really do despise and avoid the mall.

So, I'm not sure how it happened (and I think it was my idea) that the Prince and I decided to spend last Saturday morning Christmas shopping at the mall with Beeg Seester and Bro.

And we had a really good time.

We spent a LONG time in Pottery Barn; where the Prince and I gave serious consideration to some  furniture.

Then we went to Journey's shoe store to buy a pair of Converse for someone on my gift list.

I like unusual footwear, but I don't really know how these shoes for moi got into the bag.

 

 

Really.

 I don't.

 

 

 

And only the Prince knows how that See's candy bag wound up among our packages.

-------

On Sunday, the Prince and I spent a patch of time wiring new lights into several of the little artificial trees we have in this place.

Ordinarily, I would say that job is anything but pleasant (it's certainly put me right out of fellowship many times in the past) and certainly not worthy of being a joyful, inchie sort of thing.

 

 

 

But, being in it together seems to add sweetness to everything.

-------

On Monday, we made the decision to purchase the wool area rug we'd seen at Pier One during our Saturday shopping adventure.

Dennis picked it up on his way home from work and, after dinner and a few chores, we moved the furniture and laid the rug in place.

It's colors are perfect, and the warmth and quietness it adds to the family room are lovely.

In other words...

 

 

 

...it's nothing like the inchie.

-------

On Tuesday, I stopped at Me Darlin' Mither's place after work to decorate her tree.

And start a kitchen fire.

 

 

 

Mither had some lunch cooking for me on the stove top, and I got a little too close to the flames while I was dishing it onto a paper plate.

I thought I'd blown out the fire, but when it suddenly started sending up smoke again, I had to take my lunch plate outside to keep from setting off the smoke detector.

Never a dull moment. 

 

"It's beginning...

 

December 1 brought me an unexpected little block of time with my friend, Able Baker Dana.

We only squeezed a short visit into the day, but we always manage to get into something when we're together.

We got to talking about our Christmas traditions (baking traditions in particular) and I told her about the massive amounts of molasses sugar cookies I bake (I use 50/50 butter/shortening) and give away each year (because certain friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family are oh-so-disappointed if they don't get their annual allotment).

She said she'd been on the receiving end last year and the cookies had disappeared waaay too fast.

So we made plans to get together and make a whole bunch this year.

We didn't have time to bake that day, so we spent the rest of our time making the little holly decorations for the cookie gift bags.

I usually buy an inexpensive garland or bunch of 'silk' holly, cut the leaves off, and use florist tape to wrap them together with some artificial berries.

And I always use black and white check ribbon, since it's very homey (and it's been my signature 'design' since back in the eighties when I wore my checkered Vans).

 

 

 

On Wednesday, our baking day arrived and, boy, did we make it count.

Between the two of us, we made and packaged about 500 molasses sugar cookies (I thought I heard my oven sigh when we finally turned it off).

At the end of the day...

 

 

 

 

...a veritable sea of cookie packages graced the table.

 

 

 

And though it was nice to do the baking together, and it is so very nice to have these all ready to give, it's actually the side-note to the day together which I'll remember.

Smack in the middle of all that baking, Beeg Seester came over with her grandshoot, and Able Baker Dana and I stopped and made a batch of stuffed jalapenos.

And the three of us girls sat at the table and had jalapeno poppers for lunch.

In the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, for no special occasion.

And that little lunch together became a lovely private surprise party.

And a very special occasion after all.

Making Peace With Christmas

 

 

I grew up feeling a little 'conflicted' about Christmas (along with most 'special days', actually).

Me Darlin' Mither had lovely memories of her childhood Christmases - mostly related to the Christmas Eve service in the Lutheran church she attended - and always enjoyed the whole season.

Daddy was orphaned early in his life and had no such deposits in his memory bank; he seemed to truly despise setting one day above another.

How's a little kid supposed to process such things?

It's taken a long time, but I'm beginning to enjoy the holiday season.

I've found effective ways to manage my split personality.

Last Friday, when I dressed for our office Christmas luncheon, I broke out my favorite December leg wear.

 

 

 

These tights make me feel happy, and they seem to make other people happy, too (I hear a lot of whispering and giggles as I pass other people on the street or in the stores...I'm sure it's sheer delight; I'm sure they couldn't be laughing at me).

But when people begin to accuse me of being a little carried away with Christmas cheer and all that, I just tell them I have other feelings about the season, too.

And when I show them...

 

 

...they laugh really loudly.

 

 

Ho, ho, ho.

Arrrghh.

The Inchie Project 2010 - November

 

Every month of my life looks so different from the one before it.

 

 
 

The unchanging element is the lovingkindness of God.

I am grateful.

The Other Elves

If it's December 2, and you have your Christmas tree, and it has lights on it, and you have all the ornaments still sitting in the boxes because you don't like to decorate the tree...

How nice is it when two of your all-grown-up shoots call and say they'd like to come over and do it for you?

It's an eleven on a scale of 1 - 10.

And if it's the same two shoots who, when they were just seven and ten years old, put a peppermint and a little note inside one of the ornaments, which they have opened and looked at together every Christmas since ...

 

 

 

And if you get to make cookies for them and sit on the sofa watching them, talking with them, and taking pictures of them...

 

 

 

Well...

There just aren't any numbers big enough for that.

Elves!

 

I can't remember the last time I was so completely happy with something I made.

When I finished my little woodland elves this morning (see the how-to here) and set them up to take this picture...

 

 

I found myself thinking...

"If these were any cuter I would go mad and bite myself."

December wandered into November.

 

I'm going to finish up the posts which include November inchies, but I'm noticing that they look like they belong to December.

November 26

 Miss Helping Hands and I ran a few errands (after the Black Friday frenzy hours), and she was kind enough to go to Hobby Lobby with me (believe it or not, I do not like to go to Hobby Lobby, so I am always glad when I can go with a friend).

I don't think I found anything I was looking for, but for some reason (she made me) I broke down and bought that set of Martha Stewart glitter I've had on my wish list (gotta love the 40% off coupons).

And once I had the glitter, I remembered something  beautiful I'd seen in a Living magazine,  so I pulled it up online and showed it to Miss Helping Hands.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when she said, "We should make some".

She...who hates arts and crafts.

I wasn't about to let that pass.

We got out the glue, paintbrushes, and a box of miscellaneous seashells I had in my studio.

And we sat down at the card table and passed a couple of peaceful hours together.

At first...

 

 

 

...we weren't sure how much glue to apply, so some of the shell showed through.

We were more liberal as we went on, and we got some pretty nice coverage.

 

 

We really loved the way these kinds of shells looked, but we only had a few of them (and most of them had been 'donated' by Prince Charming).

 

 

 

When we started to do the non-ridged shells...

 

 

 

...we weren't nearly as happy with the results.

Then we realized that the round ones actually look like Christmas bulbs, and we decided to have a little fun.

 

 

 

 

There is still a pile of unfinished shells/ornaments on my workdesk.

 

 

 

You know, glitter has a tendancy to kind of go everywhere.

And it has some real staying power.

Just a minute ago, when Prince Charming walked by, I saw something sparkling on the back of his head.

I kid you not.

-------

(Let's skip the 27th so we don't spoil someone's Christmas.)

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November 29

I came home from work with a terrible backache and told Prince Charming that if he wanted to decorate the house for Christmas (he's kind of like Clark Griswold in regard to Christmas), I would be happy to lay on the sofa with my feet up and supervise.

Know what he said?

"Really? You promise you will lay there and relax and not get up and try to help?"

(I pause here and realize, again, that I do not deserve - but am very grateful for - that man.)

He really did get out the decorations, remove pictures, dust furniture, and begin the decorating.

He looked at photos from last year so he could get things just right.

He put the little snowmen in their winter home.

 

 
 

He is a very, very, very...

 

 

 

...kind man.

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November 30

This year, for the very first time in our thirty-one years of marriage, the Prince and I were alone and together when we bought our Christmas tree.

I was fighting morning sickness (all day long) during our first Christmas together, and the rest, as they say...

 

 

 

...is history.

Let's talk turkey.

 

I'm rather late about it, but I wanted to tell you that this year for Thanksgiving we 'brined' our turkey for the very first time.

It was...

 

 

...absolutely wonderful!

It made all the difference in the world.

It was the first time I've ever eaten a piece of roasted turkey breast that was juicy; really truly juicy.

We used the brine recipe from Pioneer Woman , but we cut down on the salt just a bit because we weren't using a fresh turkey.

It's an extra step, but I never want to roast an unbrined (?) turkey again.

And because there were two turkeys and a ham on the dinner table, and only 11 people around it, we had lots of leftovers.

Which meant that Miss Helping Hands and I could make my favorite pot pie for lunch on Sunday before she returned to school.

Me Darlin' Mither clipped this recipe from a magazine years and years ago.

It's actually a recipe for individual "Savory Southern Chicken Pies", but we just make one regular size pie.

 

Savory Southern Chicken Pie

8 ounces bulk pork sausage

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk

2 cups cubed cooked chicken (or turkey)

1 10 oz package frozen peas

1 recipe savory pastry

In saucepan, brown sausage; drain on paper toweling. Pour out fat. In same saucepan, melt butter. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly; cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, sausage and peas; heat through. Place in pie shell, cover with top crust and slit crust near center. Bake in 425 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes.

Savory Pastry

* I make my usual pastry crust, but add 2 teaspoons of celery seed and 1 teaspoon of paprika to the dry ingredients before mixing.

If you're roasting turkey (or have leftover chicken) anytime soon, try this.

 

 

 

I think you'll like it.

It's cold out there. Wear your red winter coat and take your Thermos.

 

Here's to finished projects!

I told you I had to skip the November 21 inchie in my last post because it was gift related.

Well, I finished the project and gave the gift away last night, so now I can show you the inchie.

 

 

 

My Beeg Seester and I love to see the sweet things made by Alicia Paulsen over on her blog Posie Gets Cozy.

We fell in love with the felt ornaments she designed this year; especially the Red Winter Coat.

So...I made my first-ever PayPal transaction and bought the downloadable pattern.

Here is my (first?) Red Winter Coat ornament:

 

 

Seester loves it.

And I do, too.

But after I cut out the little pieces of felt and started working on this ornament, my brain started roaring down the little highway I call "Why Couldn't I".

Why couldn't I make some ornament patterns of my own?

Patterns of things that have some special meaning to me, or to one of my beloved peeps.

Take the famous Frank Hussey coffee thermos, for instance.

Why couldn't I just print off a picture of that Thermos and cut it up to use as a pattern?

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm, it looks pretty good, but a little 'flat'.

Why couldn't I add a little 'highlight'?

 

 

 

Much better.

Now, why couldn't I just stitch it all up and add an ornament hanger?

 

 

 

No reason.

Except some day I should probably cook a meal, do the laundry, and get some sleep again.

Some day.