GimletBlog

A few images from our multiple snowstorms:

The view up the street

Brr for the birds
(The chickadee in the top photo tried to nibble on that frozen apple,
but didn’t have much luck.)

A good day to stay home

but some of us have to go to work
(We’re especially thankful for the Gimletmobile and its 4WD,
without which we would have been completely stuck!)

A cozy spot

Kittens watching the snowstorm
(There can never be too many kitten pictures on a blog)

IT’S DONE!

Due to the snow and slush, our family holiday party was postponed until Sunday, so even though the final Hardanger project wasn’t completed in time for Christmas Day, it’s ready to be shown off at the party.  Plenty of posts to write and photos to sort through over the next several days:  check back for our Santa visit, a quiet Christmas at home, bragging complete descriptions of all three Hardanger Christmas gifts, and snow, snow, and more snow.

I decided to take a break from the long process of making embroidered Christmas gifts and stitch a quick, small project for myself.  This Norwegian reindeer ornament by Scandinavian Stitches was featured in the 2008 Christmas Ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.  I would have liked to have tried using the recommended Danish Flower Thread, but the snowstorms made a trip to the embroidery shop impossible, so I used DMC floss and 30 count Weeks Dye Works linen.

My finishing skills still leave a lot to be desired but it’s not bad for a first ornament.  Mostly it was gratifying to begin a project in the morning, work leisurely at it through the day, and be able to hang the finished product on the tree just shortly after dinner.  After working long hours every day and night on the last Christmas project (and it’s still not completed!) it was a nice reminder that not all projects take a lot of time and energy.

The JCS Christmas Ornament Issue features several ornaments I’d like to try; obviously I won’t get around to them until after Christmas at this point but once the big project is done I look forward to relaxing with a few small goodies.

In a time-honored holiday tradition among household pets, Nanaimo and Chinook drink deeply from the wassail bowl we have so thoughtfully provided.  What is it about that evergreen-flavored water that they crave?  They probably ask the same question about our eggnog.

The guys haven’t cooperated for a portrait of both of them together on the hearth, so these two photos will have to do.  Chinook hopes Santa will bring him some smoked salmon for Christmas (he’s living up to his name and loves the tidbits snuck to him when The Gimlet isn’t watching) but will settle for any cookie crumbs Santa drops during his visit.  While waiting for Santa’s visit he satisfies his mooching urges by cleaning up after Thing Two’s snacks.

Judging from his size (and he’s only six months old!) you might guess Nanaimo has already polished off Santa’s cookie plate, and perhaps the jolly old elf himself, too.  But unlike Chinook, Nanaimo doesn’t beg for treats.  Nanaimo would like his very own sewing basket for Christmas, filled with balls of perle cotton (#8, please) to knock off the table and bat around the room.   Given his fondness for embroidery, and some of his other holiday escapades, there is some question whether Nanaimo will be on Santa’s “nice” or “naughty” list.

Looking angelic in an effort to butter up Santa, Nanaimo is large enough to play the parts of all the manger animals in our childproof and kittenproof creche.

It wouldn’t be the holidays without dressing up the pets and children!   The kittens looked so handsome in their green velvet jingle ruffs, but it would appear the Things had more fun than the kittens did.  Note the classic limp pose, typical of the Ragdoll breed, especially when being humiliated.

We’ve been snowed in for the past week:  school was cancelled for the last three days of the week and The Gimlet worked from home as well.  It’s not usual for this part of the country to experience temperatures well below freezing, not to mention snowfall, so when it happens the roads and hills become impassable and we find ourselves dealing with an unexpected “staycation” (formerly known as “cabin fever”).

Before the storm the birds were going crazy stocking up on food.  Here’s a flock of bushtits mobbing the suet feeder, and we also managed to get a picture of a flicker (similar to a woodpecker) at one of our seed feeders.  During the summer we saw mostly sparrows and chickadees at the feeders, but once the weather turned cold, the sparrows haven’t been around much.  The chickadees are still frequent visitors, but now we also see plenty of nuthatches, Bewick’s wrens, purple and house finches, bushtits, and dark-eyed juncos.

The lion in winter (a.k.a. Nanaimo) contemplates the snowy scene and the busy bird feeders from his comfy perch indoors by the fire.

It’s been pretty quiet around GimletBlog lately, hasn’t it?  At the end of October I started work on Christmas present #3, and it turned out to be a lot more involved than I expected.  The small fact that the project was about twice the size of the previous two should have been an indicator, but no.   As Christmas drew closer and closer, and other household and holiday tasks piled up, about two weeks ago I slowed down, made the difficult (but obvious) decision not to pursue Christmas present #4 this year, and made time to catch up on everything else.

As the post title indicates, it seems like the whole month of November was spent on the wrong side of half done, but now all that remains is the final steps of cutting and weaving bars — no fillings to slow the work down, thank goodness.  Come Christmas, the recipient will get to see the work-in-progress, and meanwhile I will have been able to wrap presents and bake some cookies.  No guarantees on mailing out cards, though!  After Christmas there will be photos and descriptions of the first two gifts, and hopefully the third will soon follow.

I blogged about this creche slideshow last year but it’s worth sharing again:  BYU Magazine and photographer Bradley Slade present a four-minute series of lovely nativity scenes from around the world, accompanied by Away in a Manger.  Use as a serenity break throughout the month as needed.  Enjoy!