Seedlings

I finally got my seeds in dirt.  I couldn't be happier.

 taken with iPhone

The boys and I did an experiment to see what birds are eating in our feeders.  They recognized the sunflower seeds, of course, but not the rest.  The results so far are in the cups behind the seeding tray.  Only one sunflower seed sprouted and the boys are diligent about watering and watching.  It'll be fun when they all flower.

~R

Christmas Stockings

My sister asked for one thing for her birthday, a stocking for the baby.
Apparently, many years ago, I made one for my nephew who is now 17.  I have absolutely no recollection of making a stocking except for the detail of the “T” hanging off the end of the cuff.  That rings a bell.  The rest..not so much. 
His was crocheted.  I’ve all but forgotten how to crochet anything more complicated than single and double stitches.  Seeing a picture of the old stocking does nothing for my memory, so the baby’s stocking had to be knitted.  I waffled back and forth on designs and after several false starts decided on a simple pattern of my own design.  The yarn in my stash played a part in that decision as well.  I wish I had had more of the green. 
So I knitted and knitted and finally came up with this.

But because the yarn I used wasn’t that thick and I used a bigger needle to knit this, I decided to try felting.  As is, the stocking is limp and holey, although I think the lettering turned out nicely.
Here is my first ever attempt at felting.

This phone pic does not do it justice.  The picture is blurry due to low lighting, but the stocking is fuzzy.  The lettering is not quite as nice as before the felting process, but the stocking has weight to it and feels more like it can handle all the Christmas goodies my sister will place in it next year. 
And hopefully, it’ll last as long as his big brother’s has lasted.
~R

It's December!

It's become my own little tradition to post the birthdays of my fellow December Birthday Buddies (some links may no longer work and I'm not gonna fix it) and rather than recycle that old post for the third year in a row, I'll just give a little link. Go wish everyone a Happy Happy Day.

In other news, I really dislike those pre-made gingerbread house kits. But I bought one anyway because the boys have already made do with my Lazy Mom's Gingerbread houses. Not only are the pre-made ones not quite right, it is quite impossible for 9 and 5 year old boys to create what is shown on the box. Lucky for us, my boys are more interested in how much icing and candy they can sneak into their mouths than the actual outcome. Even still, their house is super sweet.

Let the countdown to Christmas begin.

~R

I ruined my surprise party.

Leave it to me.

My sister can't keep a secret.  A few weeks ago, we were out shopping and she kept mentioning that I had plans for December 12th.  Eventually, it became too much for her to hold in and she spilled the beans.  Apparently, she thought the big 4-0 was a big deal and she had gotten phone numbers of my friends and was planning a surprise birthday dinner, including inviting our mother and my mother-in-law.

In my defense, I've never made a huge deal over my birthday.  And the closer I get to a hundred, the less of a deal I want to make of it.  So I told her this and after much hashing back and forth, she decided we would just have a family get together.

Two weeks later, I told her that I didn't want to make my MIL and her mother drive down here for a few hours for an event that wasn't a big deal to me anyway.  Not to mention, my sister planned for us to get massages and the in-laws don't like massages.  So now the BIG party is down to my little family, my sister, nephew and our mother.

For the massages, I recommend a girl I know who is a massage therapist and that I've seen for over a year.  With my neck and lower back problems, I just don't trust the ones in the salons.  Turns out the girl I use is not available that weekend and suggests her assistant.  As if.

So now, we are down to a tiny family party and no massages.  We are all heading up to my mothers the weekend after my birthday for our Christmas celebration, so I convince my sister that having Mom drive all the way down here by herself doesn't make sense since we'll be seeing her the next weekend.

Now there is no party.  Just the way I like it.

~R