The Aftermath of Christmas

Skip and I had a wonderful Christmas. We put on the 'Crackling Fireplace' channel on the TV and had breakfast. Then we opened our stockings and gifts. Then we both had a nap.

I prepared dinner for 5 of us - Butterball boneless ball of white and dark meat (highly recommend), scalloped potatoes, rolls, steamed green beans, and Marilyn contributed a sweet potato dish, and cranberry sauce containing fresh cranberry, walnuts, and orange. Somewhere in there I set the table.

Skip took this shot just as we were sitting down to dinner. The festive sparkling wine in the champagne flutes was 'off' so we poured that down the sink. There was lots of wine to make up for it.

Marilyn and her sister, Monika, enjoyed the Irish coffee with dessert.

Everyone was a good sport and wore their gold crowns from the Christmas crackers. It was the first time I'd hauled out the good dishes in years. Last Christmas I was sick and the year before we were at sea on one of my knitting cruises.

Usually it's only Skip and me and sometimes Scooter at Christmas dinner so it was really fun to have additional folks.

The next couple of days I relaxed and have been eating the leftovers. Scooter arrived on the 27th and we exchanged our gifts with him that evening. Yesterday (the 28th) we had a leisurely morning then went to the local mall for lunch at the food court. Then we did a bit of shopping.

I had a gift card from Indigo so I picked up this knitting reference book by Kate Atherley.

There are a lot of good tips in it.

Last night I was up late finishing a little sewing project. My first attempt which I finished at 9pm, wasn't quite right so I started again and finished the second one by midnight. Then I had to set the dining room up for the next day's activities.

Today, I had the gang over for stitching. There were lots of leftover Christmas treats to share. Yum! (all our snow has melted - it's been so mild)

I've been really slack taking pictures of stuff but Jen1 got a good photobomb shot of herself, Shelley, Sue, and me.

Jeanette and Marilyn were on the other side.

I finished this little donkey piece I started last night.

I was stitched with DMC 2 over 2 on a piece of scrap 28 count Monaco cloth. Someone suggested it would look really cute 1 over 1. I may do that at some point.

Since I had the dining room more or less set up for stitching, I offered to have my Monday morning stitching group at my place when disease (possibly the flu) has plagued the home of the person who was going to host. I just added another leaf to the table and moved some things out of there to accommodate the group of 10 or so. Might as well since the house is more or less presentable and still festively decorated.

I'm kind of between projects right now but certainly have enough patterns, fabric, and floss to start a new one.

All Ready for Christmas

Well the shopping and wrapping (gift bagging) is done. Last Christmas was a total bust, I got the flu and was in bed from the 21st to the 26th. The Christmas before we were at sea. This year I wanted to do it up right. I even thought of some good gifts for Skip this year.

Tomorrow I'm cooking for 5. I had to run out at the last minute today and buy some white bread to make the stuffing. There will also be turkey - I bought the Butterball boneless ball of white and dark meat and a couple of legs and thighs. I hope at least a couple of folks like dark meat other than I do. I cooked the scalloped potatoes today so only need to heat them up tomorrow. I always think they taste better re-heated anyway. There will also be flaky dinner rolls. Marilyn is bringing the cranberry and a sweet potato dish. I have yogurt and fresh fruit for dessert plus Christmas pudding, chocolate chip cookies, and two-bite brownies. There should be plenty to eat.

I finally got the sampler mailed to Teresa today. It wasn't going to be picked up from the postal substation until Friday so she won't get it until at least January 6. There are 2 weekends, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day between now and then. I'm really looking forward to her release on January 6. I'm hoping 'Bee Kind' will be one of them and it will be cool to see what else she is releasing.

My old iPad mini needs to be replaced so Skip and I will venture to an Apple store (Fairview? Markdale? Yorkdale? downtown?) when everyone goes back to work and school. I haven't seen the 256GB one for sale either at Costco or BestBuy. I'm also hoping to trade in my car for a new one (2020 Santa Fe).

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and peace and joy to you all.

All Clear

We got great news from Skip's doctor this week that there is no evidence of cancer as a result of his treatment through last summer and fall. This means we can go south again this winter. Yay! We are very relieved. Although his treatment was very painful, it was non-invasive and didn't require surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. He'll have a checkup in June. We are cautiously optimistic he won't have to deal with it again.

I did a lot of stitching this week and only have 3 elements left to stitch on the 'Heaven and Nature' sampler. Then I'll go over it carefully to finish up any little bits I may have missed and get it sent off to Teresa before year end. I'll also take a tally of how many skeins of each colour are required. Teresa sent me two of each of most colours. I only used one skein of some colours and more than two of two others.

I have really enjoyed stitching it. I was glad I tackled the house in the middle first. It alone took 1.5 skeins of the WDW Brick stitching one thread over 2,  but once it was completed, it was a great reference point for everything else around it. I also stitched it all in hand as I had to work quickly so I 'darned' the stitches (down and up in one stroke) rather than 'stabbing' where the needle is poked down then back up through the fabric in two movements.

Teresa featured a 'sneak peek' I sent her a couple of weeks ago in a previous FlossTube episode. Skip ahead to 15:30 for it.

Teresa posted this photo on Facebook of the 'sneak peek' photo I sent her this week so I guess it's OK for me to post it, too. The pattern will be released at Market in Nashville at the beginning of March. In the meantime, she's going to be releasing the Bee Kind sampler I stitched for her in the fall and a bunch of other patterns on January 6. Stitching shops will be able to order from her then.

The big red thing at the bottom is only a small part of the house in the centre of the sampler. I'm really looking forward to it being released next spring.

Thursday, I did housework like a fiend. Skip's birthday was the next day and I had invited his brother and sister-in-law from 150km out of town to join us at our lovely French restaurant in downtown Whitby. They were invited to spend the night so I had to prepare Scooter's room for them. I also borrowed an air mattress so Scooter would have a place to sleep in my office. Skip didn't know our guests were coming so he was very pleasantly surprised when they showed up. The 5 of us had a great time at dinner. Although Skip is in regular contact with his brother, it had been more than a year since we'd seen them so there was a lot to talk about.

Andy and Nancy ended up driving back home after more after-dinner chatting as the road conditions were clear and dry and freezing precipitation was scheduled to start during the night. I was sad they couldn't stay but glad they got home quickly and safely and Scooter got to sleep in his pristine bedroom after all.
I still have some Christmas shopping to get done. After I post this I'm heading out to do that. Once school is out, traffic will be a challenge so I've got act while I still can do it easily.

Catch you later!

They Matched Up!!!

I finished the outline of the border last night.

I had stitched downward on the right side and along the bottom from the left. I could have painstakingly counted but I was pretty sure they'd meet in the corner.

If I had made a mistake, I really wasn't sure where it would have been. But once I started the diagonal stitches in the corner, I knew I had counted correctly.

Hurrah!!!

Just to give you some perspective, the dotted red square outlines one square inch of the fabric. At 40 threads per inch and stitching over two, that's 20 stitches per inch.

I can see the finish line.

This morning Scooter and I went to see the Mr. Rogers movie. It was very sweet and certainly makes one want to be a nicer person.

We are hurtling towards Christmas. Final preparations are being made for Christmas dinner  here for 5. There are some fun things planned in the meantime and after Christmas I'm having my stitching 'peeps' over for an entire day of stitching.

One more week 'til the holidays!

Birthday Surprise

Last week I did a lot of housework, which is not typical for me. I usually manage the really obvious things like floors and dust bunnies, etc. but I had to do a really good cleaning of Scooter's bedroom as we were expecting overnight guests. I put a new mattress cover and flannel sheets (not new - somewhat pilly, in fact), vacuumed thoroughly, washed the windows, and shampooed parts of the carpet that looked dirty.

I had invited Skip's brother, Andy, and his wife, Nancy, to come as a surprise for Skip's birthday and a nice dinner at one of Skip's favourite restaurants, Nice Bistro. Scooter was also arriving for the weekend and I needed a place for him to sleep so I borrowed an air mattress so he could sleep on it in my office.

Andy and Nancy showed up (they live about 1.5h from here) on schedule and indeed surprised Skip who had just woken from his nap. Then Scooter arrived. The 5 of us thoroughly enjoyed the French cuisine and convivial conversation back at our place. I now realize I didn't get any pics of Skip's historic 75th birthday but we all felt great being able to honour him and have him spend the evening with his favourite loved ones in the whole world.

Because really crappy weather was forecast for overnight, our guests decided to drive home while road conditions were good - a full moon with no precipitation or clouds. I was relieved to get their text that they had arrived home safely by 10pm.

Scooter got to sleep in his pristine room and I didn't have to inflate an air mattress for him.

This morning Skip went to his regular Tai Chi class (he's been practicing it for over 40 years but recently found a local group that he really, really enjoys), Scooter slept in, so I spent the morning stitching.

I'm sooooooo close to getting the two ends of the border to meet up. Pray for me.

I've checked it vertically by running the needle across and it's good. I just haven't checked it horizontally yet. Fingers are crossed. If it was my own piece, I'd wing it and fudge any mistakes. But this is a model and has to be perfect as stitchers will refer to it when stitching their piece. So far, I have only made very minor counting errors - all of which have been easily fixed. I've been watching Flosstube videos while I stitch and will go back to them and the stitching after I post this. I hope to get the two ends connected in my next stitching session.

There has been a call for teachers for a nearby fibre festival that will take place next June. Proposals close the week after Christmas so I have to decide if I even want to get revved up to teach a class and if so, what topic I'd teach. I asked some of my knitting 'peeps' what they think would be a good topic and a few have been suggested: kitchener stitch, different types of sock heels, anchoring and cutting a steek, grafting knit and purl stitches (like ribbing, for example), reading your knitting and adjusting for gauge. etc. Again, I'm not sure I want to get all fired up to teach again. I already turned down an opportunity to teach on one of the Crystal cruises for 2020. Who knows? Maybe I'll get my teaching mojo back.

I'm sorry I can't show you more of the 'Heaven and Nature' sampler I'm stitching. Just know it's a big project and my Monday morning stitchers believe the chart will be a big seller for Teresa. She's going to be releasing a lot of charts over the next few months. It's going to be very exciting to see my name as stitcher on some of them.

I'm Still Here!

Hi Blog Friends,

This past month has been very busy and any spare moments I've been stitching on the very large "Heaven and Nature" sampler that I've been working on for Teresa Kogut. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of December and with a couple more stitching days, I should make that deadline. She wants to release it with the other 3 and several other charts at Market (fibre arts trade show) in Nashville in early March.

I got the tree up relatively early this year and did some decorating around the house.

At the end of November, Poppy, Barb, and I went to St. Thomas ON (20 min south of London ON) to see Arne and Carlos who were at the event sponsored by The Little Red Mitten. We got up bright and early so we could shop at Stitch-It Central at their new location on Hamilton Rd in London. We used to stop in to shop when they were in Ingersoll, just 5 min. off the 401 but their new location is brighter and fills the vacuum created when Thread and Eye closed last year.

We then visited another quilt shop not worthy of mention and dropped Barb off at her class in St. Thomas. Poppy and I then ventured back up to the 401, then Exeter Rd to shop at Len's Mill Store near the corner of Exeter Rd and White Oak Rd. We then decided we needed a wee nap so we drove back to St. Thomas to check into our hotel. We were assigned adjoining rooms (I probably requested them when I booked it a while back) so it was almost like having a suite. The beds were the most comfortable hotel beds we'd ever slept in.

After picking up Barb, Jen rolled in to join us after her stitching day in Sarnia visiting a long-time friend. We went to Bella Jack's for a delicious Mexican dinner. Then back to the hotel for show and tell - the purchases we had all made this far.

The next morning we arose to an ice storm so we chipped off our vehicles and headed to the beautiful, renovated, historic train station for Arne and Carlos' talk. We got there early to get a good seat for the 10am event only to learn it had been rescheduled for 11am but their website hadn't reflected that. Grrr - we were not amused. We then learned that it was going to be further delayed due to a busload of knitters from the Toronto guild being stuck in traffic on the 401. At that point we decided to go shopping at the yarn show and out for a snack at Timmies. When we got back, we got a good table inside the venue. Before the Toronto bus arrived, Arne and Carlos introduced themselves and signed autographs and agreed to photos.

I had brought my Norwegian Arne and Carlos Advent Calendar for them to sign.

Carlos was very intrigued about how I had the calendar (I had purchased it in Bergen, Norway when we were there a couple of years ago) and even took a photo of one of the recipes in it. I believe it was the Lussekatter (Saffron Buns) recipe which appeared in their latest video podcast. They actually record the episodes well in advance - usually 16 on a weekend four times a year so this recipe wasn't the exact one they used but it was almost identical to the one they did for the podcast.

Their presentation was very entertaining. They talked about how they got into the knitwear design business and how their book about Christmas Balls catapulted them into fame - especially in Scandinavia. When we were in Norway, we even saw their lines of wine in a liquor store. The boxes have images of their knitting projects.

They now have a couple of lines of Regia sock yarn and travel all over the world giving workshops. They've also published several books on knitting and Scandianvian tradition and lifestyle. They had been away from home since September 24 - touring all over North America - back and forth over the Canadian/US border and wouldn't be back home until December 10. That is a LONG time to be away from home. They are pretty sick of heavy North American cuisine.

Another topic they discussed was how they obtained an abandoned train station (for free) and made it their home. Most of their episodes are filmed there so any who have beheld them have seen lots in interior and exterior views. 

They had to cut their talk short because they were scheduled to teach another class in the afternoon so we started for home. The weather conditions got worse and worse as we approached the GTA but we got Barb dropped off and I made it home by 5pm. Poppy had left her car at my place so was able to just get in and head home. Jen drove home on her own.

It was such a fun weekend, we are investigating alternative lodgings for our guild retreat. There had been so many complaints about the food the last few times we went that it was time to find somewhere else. We're now looking at a lodge near Rice Lake for our spring retreat.

Back at home, I've had the usual flurry of activities. One of our Christmas traditions is to attend the annual THEE (Tyrone, Hampton, Enniskillen, and Enfield) farmer's tractor parade.

Santa always drives the last tractor but he went by so fast we didn't get a shot of him this year. Skip loved that most of the tractors were John Deere.

After the parade, Alexa, Skip, and I enjoyed Mexican food at Mexico Lindo in Whitby.

Zumba is over but Christmas festivities have started. Shelley hosted a lovely Christmas potluck luncheon for some of the retired ladies from my old school. Then last Saturday night, Skip and I ventured into Scarborough to attend a Christmas handbell concert. A gal I knew from sorority days in university posted the notice on Facebook and we thought it would be fun to go - and perhaps make it a Christmas tradition - since we no longer support our town band (politics once again raised its ugly head).

Debi let me try one of the handbells.

Debi also plays the oboe and has recently picked it up after a 40+ year layoff since highschool. 

Others who attended that we knew were Margie and Bruce Alexander and Lorna. It was a lovely concert and also featured Caitlin McCaughey, a very gifted professional singer. 

Geri, Margie, Lorna, and Debi

Last Wednesday, Barb, Jeanette, Marilyn, Yvonne, and I attended the Christmas Market in the Distillery District. It was a chilly day but we all dressed in layers. It was lots of fun strolling around and doing some shopping. I bought a German Christmas candle thing with the twirling angels that hit little bells as they go around. It's powered by the heat from the little candles. I also bought these awesome extreme ear muffs. They keep both sides of my head warm - perfect for outdoor events.

After she was finished work, Poppy met us for dinner at the Hotpot Restaurant near Church and Front Sts. Then we all headed for home on the GO.

Geri, Jen1, Barb, Poppy, and Jeanette. (Marilyn was across from me).

That brings us to this week. Monday was our regular stitching morning. It had been cancelled last Monday becasuse of the bad weather. Joanne Minnis gave us all project bags that she had made. I continued to stitch on the Kogut project.

We had a small group out on Tuesday night at our spinning/knitting/crochet group. Jen4 has invited us to her place next Thursday for some fun and festivities. 

Yesterday was Scooter's 26th birthday and he'll be coming out to Whitby later this afternoon. It's Skip's 75th birthday today so we'll be celebrating by taking him out to a very nice local French Restaurant - Nice Bistro (Nice - like the city in France).  It's French French so should be a very tasteful and cosmopolitan evening.

Thanks to those of you who have been messaging me - wondering if everything is OK here. Yes, we are fine. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to spend some of the winter in south Texas. Skip's having a visit with his dermatologist next week so we'll know more then. Our hope is that he's done with needing any more treatment but if he does, we should be able to take it with us when we go south. At least that's the current plan.

I have been very interested in the impeachment hearings south of the border and am glad they are getting on with things quickly. Then we still have to hear about the election for another year. It never seems to end.

That pretty much brings us up to date. Once I get the "Heaven and Nature" sampler done for Teresa, I'll be back to blogging regularly. Thanks for hanging in there with me. In the meantime, I encourage you to watch some YouTube video podcasts. Here are some I recommend:

Arne and Carlos

Fruity Knitting

Creative Whims by Teresa Kogut

The Real Housewives of Cross Stitch - Priscilla and Chelsea

Kitten Stitcher

Saltbox Stitcher

Ginger Gerald Stitcher

Happy Holidays to you all!!