merry merrys

 whether you were naughty

or nice

i hope you have a wonderful hoilday season.

cheers!

popping memories

has everyone gotten all they're holiday shopping done? have you been able to get all the decorating done? i'm actually glad to say that i'm done with both of those things. i, of course, have not, as yet, gotten any presents wrapped and under our wee tree. it's too tempting and too dangerous for the wee folk of the house. they have a hard time keeping their little hands off the ornaments and other holiday decorations. i know if i put presents out now they would be having small fits to open them and see what was inside.

for some reason the other morning i begin to think of past christmases. in particular when we lived in monterey, ca. the area in which we lived and i grew up had a large italian influence. there were many large multi-generational italian families. it was wonderful. around the beginning of december i would start to hear certain school mates talk about cookie night. being 11 years old, i wasn't quite sure what this was, but i was greatly intrigued. i soon learned that many italian mothers and grandmothers would gather together on one night and spend the whole night baking cookies. they literally would bake the entire night. it always sound like such fun, such camaraderie. i imagined these older women dressed in their mourning weaves, yes many of them wore black all the time, with aprons on, mixing and measuring and baking like crazy. all the while exchanging the latest family gossip, nibbling on treats and drinking coffee (or stronger stuff). after preparing all these cookies they would exchange a certain amount with each other and make packages up for the less fortune family members to give as a holiday gift. as i grew up i would still hear of these magical baking nights but never was invited to attend. funny how certain memories just sort of pop in your head.

cheers!

it took me long enough

well i finally finished a project i started some time ago. don't you love when you accomplish something like that? i do.
i started a project in november of 2009. on my old blog, the tink-n-frog i showed this picture:

this pattern was knocking around in my brain and just begged to be drafted out. i got the pattern this far and had even gotten a great deal of the wee creature sewn together before it went into hibernation. i kept running across this project and wanted to finish it. since it was meant for a christmas decoration, i thought this would be the perfect time to complete him. and i'm so glad to show you him today.

our middle son has named this wee fellow Stewart

he's a very clever and dapper fellow. i had originally planned on just having him visit for Christmas, but as long as it took the dear fellow to arrive i think he will probably stay on for some time. of course he will have to be fitted with a change of clothes as the time passes. i mean he would not want to be seen in his christmas vest all year long.

after seeing him, and naming him, the middle wee one has decided that he would like to have his own wee mouse. this of course means that i need to make one for the youngest wee one as well. you know in my free time. (grin)

cheers!