Illustration Friday – holiday

I thought this weeks topic was a little overkill. I know it is the holiday season but … Oh well, I tried to comply. I was going to have mice dancing around a fire with a turkey carcass in the background, but really didn’t want to think about a turkey carcass. Happy New Year to all. Oh I dusted off my watercolor stuff and put away my kids color pencils. It was time I try a different medium! Illustraton Friday is a website dedicated to providing a word to illustrate every week. Check it out at http://www.illustrationfriday.com

On the 5th day or is it 4th

All I want for christmas is a new season of 24…hhhmmmm,hhhmmmm,hmmmmm,  yup that is me humming. I may be the last person to hear this but I am just bursting at the seams knowing that January 15th it starts again…4 HOUR SEASON PREMIERE!!!!!! I do love that show, I’ve missed it so. This santa was given to me by my Aunt Elly. She is very special to me, so that is why I keep this very unique “simply santa”. He is very soft and furry and handmade.

Illustration Friday – imagine

Sometimes I think this is what my husband imagines I do all day! Imagine if I did. Illustration Friday is a website dedicated to providing a weekly word to illustrate and then post. Check it out at http://www.illustrationfriday.com

On the 10th day

I may be a little screwed up on my days…but here’s a santa nonetheless. He is small, ceramic and yes, old. Happy friday to all.

Illustration Friday – surprise

I usually get up and go to the gym very early in the morning. I try to get there by 5am, when they open. During this time of year it is still very dark and cold and the house is sleeping and quiet. But I am always on the lookout for something or someone that might be lurking around the dark corners…. Illustration Friday is a website dedicated to providing a weekly word to illustrate and then post. Check it out at http://www.illustrationfriday.com

On the 11th day….

We celebrate a special christmas with my mother-in-law a week before the actual christmas. I was told to bring cookies. Now I don’t know if she has read my post but this one hurts. I love my mother-in-law. She is a very warm, giving, extremely hardworking person. She and I are unique in our own rights, but very similar as well. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her but if I find out she is asking me to bring cookies because she read my post then there will have to be revenge…just you wait. Hee hee hee On the flip side though, I did make cookies yesterday. My daughter was having a friend over and it was more difficult to make them than to go buy them. So in the holiday spirit of giving myself more to do than necessary, I took pics of my cookie making. Just to prove I did it. Yup, chocolate chip. Just couldn’t mess with making anything else. On the 11th day…. This santa was given to me by said mother-in-law who wants me to actually make cookies for christmas. He looks like a wilderness santa which is exactly where they live. She gave him to me quite a few years ago. It may have been before we were married now that I think about it. I like his face which you can’t really see because of his beard. He’s a keeper! and so is she. But beware….

On the 12th day of….

Well as I promised here’s a santa…he’s a candle and I treasure this one dearly. He is very old. He reminds me of days of when I was a child and we had big christmas’s at my grandmothers house with all my cousins. I suppose I may have seen him there when I was little and that is where I get these feelings. These are truly christmas feelings, remembering family and happy times. Merry Christmas to all my cousins, whom all live far away now. On the crafty side, I actually sat and made some buttons yesterday. I have sewn them on a birthday present. This is a beach cover up thing for a 4 year old.  Here’s the button pic. Here’s the full shot. Thinking about the beach, when there’s nuttin but snow out there, is nice.

Not so secret Santas

In the past few years a collection of Santas has started in our house. A while back my grandmother moved out of her house and downsized. I was lucky enough to get a lot of her decorations, which included an assortment of santas. To help keep me in the holiday spirit I will probably post some of these on the days leading up to Christmas. Especially since I can’t post any of my craftiness due to my elfiness. Anyway, I received this santa as a gift recently and he makes me happy. This other santa, is absolutely beautiful, and was a gift last year for my birthday. He’s all felt. I can say I felt santa. I didn’t make it though, so I can’t say I felted up santa. Whew, I need to work on the jokes.

Remembering Spring

Earlier today it was snowing, and I did manage to shovel the driveway and walk. Now it is raining. The snow is disappearing. I thought I would share some of the pictures I took of my garden early last spring. I am kind of proud of this, but I don’t have any pictures of what I had to work with to get it looking like this!!! All of this rain, and snow will do wonders for this shady garden.

Boxed or Baked

Recently there was a cookie swap in our neighborhood. Now I am fairly new to this neighborhood, so I may not have been invited if they knew me better. Me, serving up some bricks. In all honesty, I couldn’t have made it anyway, with another obligation, but the fear of making cookies for others, meaning other than my family, made my knees quiver. Someone said – just go buy cookies for heaven’s sake! Well, I believe that this event is all about the “homemade” cookie. Now the best cookies I’ve ever made were chocolate chip – but there was a stipulation to this swap, NO CHOC. CHIP. I used to belong to one of those huge wholesale stores – and often bought this big tub of choc. chip cookie dough. My daughter would have her playdates and the sweet smell of homemade cookies would fill the air when friends arrived. Well, to say they are homemade when asked would be cheating. My son recently had a birthday, and I made a cake. I was undoubtly asked “is this homemade?” While shoving a piece of cake in my trap, I was able to spit out mmmhhh. Take it or leave it. What do you say to the BOXED CAKE MIX? You are using your own eggs, oil, water, milk and whether you follow the directions of stir for 50 strokes, 2 minutes, beat till thick…whatever, there is a “do it yourself” aspect to the boxed mixes. Now I have made cookies in the past, as gifts. I know they were not the most delicious things ever eaten. And this year I have decided to make cookies for teachers gifts (what was I thinking, right?) Well, my wallet is thinking and this year we need to cut back a bit. But above all, the homemade cookie is a gift made with care, time and consideration. So I vow to march into the kitchen, full of positive cooking thinking, take my time and bake on. Okay, mom would be proud I am sporting the apron, and my fuzzy pink slippers, but a whisk? That’s sunday morning breakfast. Not off to a good start.