Randomly, Before Christmas...

I am soooooooo far behind that I may see myself coming AND going. 

I just got my Christmas cards out. On the Solstice. Normally, they're out the first part of December, though I have been known to do New Year's cards when it's really a rough year. 

What's Done...

Christmas Ornaments 2018 are DONE. The ones that need to be mailed have been mailed. The remainder are ready to go for Christmas Eve. 

I will need to order more - I'm just a few short, and what I did was "organize" them into each kid. Each kid now has a bag of his or her ornaments. That's how I found that I was a few short. I thought I'd planned it out, but there you go. 

I've bookmarked the page for the plaster ornaments, because they're not available in town. I'll be tripping my fingers through that site after Christmas. Not that I expect a sale. Honestly, each one costs no more than $2.00. 

I don't like to think of these as "cheap gifts," though. I put a lot of time into them. The paint, glitter, finishing, etc. It's something. I'm not patting myself on the back, but I am going to recognize all of us who are Makers. 

We often don't get the recognition - and it's our own fault. "Oh, it wasn't much. I just made it."

Enough. Say it loud and proud because even though it's now "a thing" (thanks, Pinterest) for everyone to "make things," I'm talking about us non-Pinterest people who just kind of go about our lives and do things by hand because we love the process, love the end product, and want our families to know we care enough to do it for them. 


Next up? God's fiddliest cookies are done. 

I seriously do not know how many of these were in the two batches we did. I taught Kid #2 how to do these, but we ran into an unexpected dilemma in the making of the dough. I noticed it on Friday night (funny - this was actually LAST Friday). Hubby had purchased groceries, and I'd asked him to get me a couple tubs of cottage cheese. 

I wasn't specific enough. This recipe calls for FULL FAT cottage cheese, and my Granny preferred Dean's. 

He got me unsalted low-fat. Thank God that it was low-fat at least. Unsalted cottage cheese, by the way?

Nasty. 

Kid #2 said I should have called him and he'd have picked up the right stuff, but by then, I'd had one batch of dough done and I didn't want the discrepancy to be obvious. 

And it is obvious - to me, at least - that they're very different from last year. 

First off, the dough WAS HORRIBLE to work with. It was too stiff. Full-fat cottage cheese is more liquid; I think I could've added a splash of half-and-half to give it more fat, but I wasn't going to tinker with it this close to Christmas. They're not nearly as brown as last year's cookies. Again - fat. 

It's Christmas. Time to eat fat. It's ok. 

A few cookie trays have gone out already. 

Guitar teacher: Check. 

Eye doctor: Check.

Dentist: Check. 

My boss: Check. 

Yoga Students: Check.

Still getting rave reviews, and for what it's worth, the Brown Butter Salted Caramel cookies are a resounding "Yeah, baby!!" So I guess I'll keep them in the rotation. 

Funny enough, my yoga students left the M & M cookies. I appreciated the one student who wasn't shy about taking some home. That's why I brought them - the last class I was teaching for the week, I brought those gold + red gift bags and told them: divvy them up! 

Lights have been added. Hubby added colored LED lights to the lilac bushes. He was a bit frustrated with the lights (which he tested, and knew that they worked) crapping out on half the bush. So he added a couple more strings. 

I like it. They're still a little scraggly looking, but the bushes themselves are young yet. Only about 6 - 7 years old. He keeps them about 6' high and keeps the suckers trimmed off so that they're nicely shaped and give us a beautiful entry to the front yard. 


That, plus a wreath? That's about all we accomplished this year. At least on the outside. 

The tree is up. This is an early picture -- there are actually ornaments on it, and the presents are all around it. 

The Nativity set is up.  We have several variations and this is the one Hubby chose this year. 

I suspect it's the one he could most easily find... 

Oh, I actually wrapped packages!! And they don't (totally) look like a 5-year old did them look pretty good, if I do say so myself. You have to understand: Gift bags were made for people like me. I cannot usually wrap a box. 

I'm admitting it. Yes, I can knit socks and I can bake anything, and I can even knit lace, but I cannot wrap a box. But tonight, I managed. 

My Nightly Cuppa...

I love a cup of chamomile tea at night. It's a ritual and I enjoy it. But I was using mugs that were about 12 ounces. 

I have a 60-year old bladder. It's not appreciative of 12 ounces of ANY fluid right before bed. And it gets back at me by waking me at 2:30 or 3 a.m. Usually on the days I have to be up at 5 a.m. 

But as I rummaged around looking for something, I found my snowman mug. I got this about 20-ish years ago? It's about 8 ounces, which is perfect. 

I also am working on that expensive probiotic. In water. It seriously tastes like I'm drinking yeast. 

I have never drunk yeast, mind you. But the powder + water has a distinctly "yeast-ish" taste. Yum. 

All I have in my mind is "Those 950 billion bacteria are repopulating your gut..." so I may as well just chug the stuff down. As long as I do that by mid-afternoon, I won't be awakened by that either!

Things Left Undone...

I'm almost done with the Terribly Simple Shawl. If I can get it done and bound off by tomorrow, I will seriously wear it to my friend's yarn shop. I'll block it later!

I had a knot in the yarn, which bugs me. And it was by the Kfb - the knit front and back which makes the "lacy" edge. Not like I could hide it. 

It's acres and acres of garter stitch, and boy does that show you who's boss of your knitting. 

I have one stitch that's a little wonky, but I didn't notice it till I was about 8-ish rows past. Not frogging. 

Much like the Grapevine Lace scarf? I'll live with it. 

It seems more blue in this photo, but to me, the greens really pop. It's on a 24" circular, so I honestly have no idea how wide it's going to be when I'm done. 

I can tell you it's getting heavy. It should keep me nice and toasty. 

If we ever get winter. 

It's the Solstice today. And it's just barely below freezing. It's 31* outside to be exact. Winter hasn't hit us. 

Makes me think winter will be "left undone." Which worries me. 

Will it hit in March? Will it not hit at all? Has our climate reached a tipping point here in this weird "winterless bubble" that we've been in recently? This stuff keeps me awake all night. 

My Mom requested Pecan Tassies. Those are, at this moment, left undone. They will be done - probably Saturday night or Sunday. I've got to deliver them on Monday, so I'll be getting skippy on those tomorrow. 

Presents still to be wrapped. Not too many. Just have to get one batch put together. 

Random Picture...

All those cable channels and nothing on TV. So I hit up PBS. You can always find something. I understand one of the British channels has a burning Yule Log with Christmas music on. That may be our Tuesday thing. 

I went with Julia Child - the old half-hour programs. 

This is Julia whipping egg whites by hand. She's got a 10" copper bowl and a 5" whisk. I looked it up. A 10" copper bowl in the French style will set you back about $100. 

There's one at Home Depot for $27.00. I'm pretty sure it's not French. 

I have not found a whisk of the diameter she has - that's where the 5" comes from. There's a 24" whisk selling for about $30 on some restaurant supply website, but if you're going to beat egg whites by hand - and I've done it once or twice - you need a big bulb on the end of your whisk. It's not the length; it's the girth. 

She was huffing and puffing. But really? With the right equipment, it took about 90 seconds to get to soft peaks. 

What's on your list? What's been accomplished? What's left undone? 

And you know what? If it's undone and it's not going to cause immediate harm? It's ok to be undone. Christmas is going to happen whether you like it or not. Breathe into it. Enjoy the Solstice - it gets lighter from here on out.