GimletBlog

Christmas came and went so fast this year, as did the rest of the holiday vacation. Now Thing One’s Court of Honor is fast approaching (as are the houseguests), so we’d better bring the blog up to date before we are hopelessly behind.

At Santa’s annual pre-Christmas visit, Thing Two walked up to Santa and announced, “I used to be afraid of you but I’m not any more!” followed by:

“Santa is big … “

“Santa is very big … “

“I’m going to stay with Mommy.”

We did manage to get him to sit on Santa’s lap.  His time with St. Nick is best described as  “cautious”.

After Santa left and he was describing his visit to the grandGimlets, he told them Santa was eleven feet tall.

Christmas Eve festivities were held chez Gimlet, with the traditional holiday crustacean (Dungeness crab).  There were also a few hjortebakkels left, although since it has been several years since we last made any, their numbers had decreased considerably over the course of the month.

Just before Christmas we were able to pick up Thing One’s Eagle certificate and awards. (One of the advantages to living in the city is that the scout office is a relatively quick trip from home.)  While we were at the Scout Shop looking over all the goodies in the Eagle aisle, another mother nudged her new Boy Scout and Cub Scout sons and pointed out Thing One.  (“Look at that boy.  He’s a brand new Eagle Scout!”)  The younger boys watched him from an awed distance as we made our purchases.  Not so long ago we were the ones watching the soon-to-be and new Eagle Scouts, wondering what Thing One’s trail to Eagle would be like, and how he would reach that goal.

After Christmas preparations for the Court of Honor shifted into high gear.  We had found an online card design shop which we had hoped to use to make the invitations, but discovered that they were closed for the holidays and wouldn’t take new orders in time for our mailing deadline.  However, Costco was luckily offering a sale on photo cards, with a blank template option among their choices, so Your Humble Narrator dusted off her armchair graphic design skills and put together an invitation that looks as good as the online shop’s products, if she dares say so herself.  With the savings from that part of the project we splurged on Eagle Scout stamps from Zazzle.  Not necessary, but a fun extra touch.

The Court of Honor slide show has been a lot of fun to make, and we hope family and friends enjoy it too.  Sorting through pictures brought up many memories of campouts, hikes, and other activities with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  But to harp on a familiar theme, our children grow up so quickly!  There are events for which we wish we had taken more pictures, but we’re thankful for all the pictures that we have, and we’re especially glad that somebody (was it Uncle C?  We can’t remember.) had the presence of mind to record a little something which will appear at the beginning of the slide show.  (How’s that for a teaser?)

We hope to see many of you at the Court of Honor, and a report on the party and family reunion will follow once we’ve recovered.

We interrupt the month’s postings of Christmas carols to bring you the following announcement:  Thing One passed his Board of Review tonight, and is now an Eagle Scout!

Congratulations, Thing One!

A Court of Honor is planned for next month, more details to be announced later.  We hope that many of Thing One’s family and friends will be able to join him in January to celebrate this great achievement!

December, the final wallpaper in the series, is now available for download from Solitary Elegance.    We conclude our tour through 1809 with the Tyrolese walking dress (on the right).  Her companion, an evening dress from 1812, is seated on the left.  The background is designed from pieces of an elaborate 1811 set of pearl jewelry for full dress.   An 1816 embroidery pattern decorates the holiday message from Pride and Prejudice.

The wallpapers aren’t specifically dated to 2009, so I hope you will continue to use and enjoy them.  Many thanks for all the kind comments and support throughout the year!

Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks are due to the wonderful, hard-working volunteers and donors who made Thing One’s Eagle project possible.  He couldn’t have done it without you.  Thanks to Gary Ard, Eric and Linda Carlson, and Ralph Richards for their donations, and our friends from BSA Cub Pack 144, BSA Troops 125, 175, 180, and 186 for spending a wet, cold November Saturday restoring part of the Duwamish riverbank for native plants and salmon.  Together you logged in 174 hours of service.  Way to go!

See a photo album for Thing One’s project in the Gimlet Gallery.

November 21 was my Eagle project. It was removing white poplar from a site at the Duwamish River in West Seattle, and then laying down cardboard and mulch to keep it from growing back. We started at 9:00 am and ended at 2:30 pm. About forty volunteers came from several different groups:  the Sound Stewards of the People for Puget Sound (the community organization that approved my project);  former Cub Scouts from my pack who are now in other Boy Scout troops in the neighborhood; my scout troop; and other members of my church, friends, and family.  Some people had to leave early and some came late, but those who came late replaced those who left early so it worked out well.

| …continue reading Thing One’s Eagle Project: Got ‘er done!