Happy December!

Yep, 'tis the season. 😄

I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely, as well as the weekend afterwards. It was so nice to have The Tim at home the whole time (he may feel otherwise, LOL). We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day, just relaxing and watching the parade, the dog show, and then some other things we had recorded but never gotten around to watching. Because if you can't be a couch potato on Thanksgiving, what is the point??

Friday we were excited because our new chairs were delivered! You may recall that we had saved some money over the course of the last couple of years to buy some new chairs for the room where we watch TV. Well, the weekend before this past one, we went to a place to look, and they were having an early Black Friday sale. We found something we liked, but then ALSO found two chairs we really liked that would replace also-falling part ones in our living room. Because everything was on sale, we could actually afford to get all of it! So last Friday our new living room chairs arrived, and we are so thrilled with them!

They are actually really comfortable, which is really why we even considered buying them. Because even if we don't spend as much time using them, we want all of our furniture to be comfortable - we are not believers in "fancy" furniture being for looks only.

Of course as you can well imagine, the cats also think they are quite comfortable. And being that they are right by the garden window, they are also very popular. 🙄

And I just got a notice this morning that our other purchase is being delivered on Thursday, so all of a sudden, things will be looking pretty different, even before we get out our Christmas decorations!

I will admit that I'm always a little bit sad to see November go, since it's one of my very fave months. But December being so festive makes up for a lot, so that makes me happy. We're even having nice cold weather, which helps it feel like it should (at least in my opinion).

So that's it for the news around here. December should be a busy month, since everyone at our house enjoys all the holiday things. I hope it will be a good month for all of you as well. 

See you next time!

It's Time

IFKYK. 

(This year with our new door!)

Happy December!

 

As the kids say, IFYKYK. 😊

Happy December!

OK everyone, if there's anything that you SWORE you would do in 2022, and you haven't done it yet, I would suggest you get moving, because there are now only 30 days left!

Happy December!

I had decided a while back that I would not get a yarny advent calendar this year, because a) I didn't need one, and b) it was an expense that wasn't necessary. 

But. Early in April, while scrolling through Instagram, I saw a post from Southern Skeins, announcing that the theme for their Advent calendar this year was ... the Rankin-Bass production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Reader, I caved.

Now, I had never heard of Southern Skeins, which of course means nothing to the mysterious and mighty Instagram algorithm, but after checking our their website, etc., I decided that it was legit. And so I pulled out Ye Olde Credit Karde and made the purchase. I was pretty excited about it.

Then of course, months passed and I forgot all about it. Until last Saturday, when I big cushy package arrived for me in the mail. And when I opened it up, I was extra excited because not only are there the skeins of yarn, but the fabric holder is the designs from the show, and means that every year I can use the holder for Christmas-y things! This was the best part of the package to me, to be honest.

So I hung it up on the baker's rack that holds my project bags, works in progress, etc., and just looking at it pleases me. 

Then today, it occurred to me that - guess what, I could open the first little package! The card that came along with the calendar told me that today's color is "Rudolph."

Isn't it perfect? I haven't quite decided what my project for these skeins will be, but so far this yarny Advent calendar has been a win. And the best part is that I'd been having a crappy day today, so remembering I could open one of the packages changed it all. 😊

So I hope that even if your day didn't start well, something happened to make it better for you as well.

CHRISTMASTIME!!!

It all starts today in our house, albeit in a small way.  As you know if you have read this blog for a while, the first decoration that goes up is this cardboard wreath on the door (indoors, obviously).

This wreath is now approximately 43 years old, and though it has some wear and tear, we will likely put it up until it disintegrates.  We bought this wreath for our first apartment door when we lived in married student housing at Notre Dame.  I am guessing we spent about 79 cents on it, as that was the going price for most of the cardboard decorations at G.L. Perry, a "variety" store in South Bend, Indiana that has gone the way of so many little stores in so many towns.  We have a lot of "holiday decor" that originated there for times throughout the year.  😊

Now, you may say to yourself, why would we go out of our way to save this particular item, given all of the times we've moved, and the fact that over the years, we could certainly afford nicer decorations.  Well, I have a tendency - and have had it ever since I was a kid - to take really good care of things that I love, and among our various possessions, I really love Christmas decorations, so this has always been packed away with the same care that everything else has been.  But unlike the rest of the decorations, which live in containers in the basement, this lives in a large, acid-free folder stored upstairs where our stationery-type things live.  So it is easily grab-able on December 1st, and the rule is that Christmastime starts in our house officially when this goes up.

This morning as I took down a cardboard turkey decoration to put this one up, The Tim remarked, "Ah the official Changing of the Holidays."  

Sometimes 79 cents is worth more than you think.

December! And Also, Tiny Needle Tuesday!

And just like that, December 1st rolls around!  Whether or not we are ready, it's here.  I for one am happy, since I love this time of year.  I'm not one to wish a year away, like so many people are.  I just like December.  Plus, if you recall, last year around this time soooo many people were saying, "I cannot wait for 2019 to get out of here, bring on 2020!"  Proving that you should be careful what you wish for, no?

Anyway, 24 days until Christmas Day, but it's time to enjoy Christmastime!  And for those of you who do not celebrate, I am not meaning to stuff it down your throat.  I certainly hope that you have a good month, and that if there is a winter holiday that you celebrate, you are looking forward to it as well.  But if you have read this blog for any length of time, you should also not be surprised that I love everything about the holiday season.

Yesterday, I got three of the five things I had on my list for the day accomplished, and they were the three things that to me, were the priorities, so that was a good feeling.  Especially for a Monday.  Even better, though it poured rain for 95% of the day, we managed to get in three walks with Hamlet during times it was not raining, which was beneficial for all of us.

However, what today is really about is Tiny Needle Tuesday, which I have not been able to post about for a bit, because I have been not just in-between projects, but having a hard time deciding what I was in the mood to do next.  But once I realized it was nearly December, I started to poke around, and remembered I had a credit at Stitched Modern due to a package that was damaged in shipping.  So I decided to see what was new (to me at least) there.  I found one that just really spoke to me, and with my credit, I got it for a mere $3.00!

Sunday morning, I got started and it was so much fun to do some cross-stitch again.  This is as far as I made it before stopping (and yes, that is a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer stitchery pouch, thank you for noticing):

I'm sure I could have done most or all of it on Sunday if I'd kept going, but I didn't want to finish it all at once, and just like knitting, I don't like to cross-stitch non-stop, because it makes my hands/wrists/elbows/whatever hurt, and why would I purposely do that??  I'm so happy with it so far, and even though it hasn't been that long between stitchery projects, I forgot how much fun it is to see the image start to look like something. 😊

So, onward with today, which is a day I am at work, so hopefully that will go well, and the work part of the day will pass quickly.  I hope your day turns out to be one that you enjoy.

Dusted and Done

OK, maybe not dusted because I haven't gotten that done yet, but today is the last day of November, and I managed to post every day for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which pleases me.  I enjoy giving myself small challenges, and it makes me happy when it works, since I am the first to admit that a lot of times I lose steam on my challenges/ambitions after a week or so.

I don't know if it's because of being home most of the time, or if I was just more in the mood for it all this year, but unlike other years when I would have a hard time coming up with topics, or even forget altogether, this year it was less daunting.  I will also admit that two things helped: 1) I would try to think the day before about possible topics, and b) I realized that every day didn't need to be a long, involved post about something specific.  That helped a lot.

Of course, you were the ones stuck reading, so who knows how you must have felt about it ... 😏  In any case, thanks for showing up and even leaving comments, I had fun doing this.

Our long holiday weekend was quiet and really enjoyable.  Hamlet responded well to the medicine and the rest the vet recommended, so we're hoping he is on the road back to being his usual self.  I got my hair cut on Saturday morning, which is always a way to feel better for me.  We had a couple of Zoom get-togethers with family and had a good time laughing together.  I started a new cross-stitch project, which is a fun one and will probably go quickly (I probably could have gotten a lot more finished than I did, but put it away at one point to actually try and do something other than just stitch all day.  Plus, now I have working on it some more to enjoy).  We did a lot of just enjoying the time, and that is always my favorite way to spend any weekend.

Today it is supposed to pour rain all day long (it's already started, but fortunately Hamlet and I got our morning walk in before any drops), so I made sure to keep the things that are definitely inside activities to at least start today.  I want to pay the bills (ugh), wrap a few gifts to have them ready to mail, and clean up some small messes I've made (putting things away that I piled up on a chair, etc.).  I'm also going to pull out the Christmas cards so that I can get going on them this week.  I am determined that this year of all years, I'll send some cards.*  I think even people who may not normally care if they receive them will enjoy it this year, since at least in theory they haven't had as many chances to communicate with others as much.

I'm not sure if you'll hear from me quite as much in December, but as you know if you have read this blog for a while, it is one of my most favorite times, so there's a better than good chance I'll be here more often than not.  

I hope the last day of November is a good one for you, and that we all have something to enjoy this week, when December shows up whether we are ready or not!

*if your lifetime dream is to receive a card from me, feel free to send me your address at: thekittyknitterATverizonDOTnet.  I love to send and receive cards!

Ready or Not ...

It's that time of year!

And December Is Beginning

Well, we've arrived.  Today is December, which means that 2016 only has a few weeks left.

It's also Think Write Thursday, and today, Carole and Kat have given us the topic "Hello, December."

******

Hello, December ~ I hope you know how glad I am to see you, but also how bittersweet you are to me.

I love it when you show up, because Christmastime is one of my favorite times of all.  Unlike most people I know, I don't find the season stressful or annoying.  Rather, I look forward to the decorations, the music, the feeling of anticipation, and the fun of making or buying gifts for people.

I love it when you are cold, because to me, December is supposed to be cold.  I love that you are dark, because it makes the lights of the season and the idea of the Winter Solstice seem more special and beautiful.  I wish you would be at least a little bit snowy, but that seems to be something only in my childhood memories most of the time now.

I think you like showing up and making people pay attention.  Even those who do not celebrate any holiday realize that it might be time to wrap up some plans, and/or start thinking ahead to what will be next.  It's hard to travel through December and not notice something!

Then again, I think of my mother's birthday on December 2, and how we would ease into Christmastime between Thanksgiving and then, and then afterwards, it was full speed ahead.  I remember what fun it would be to make sure that she had a birthday, and not a Christmas/birthday combination.

My father LOVED Christmastime, and is most likely the person who passed that love on to me.  He'd be so busy with decorations, and cooking, and wrapping gifts.  And he'd always ask us if we didn't think he sounded just like Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby when he'd sing Christmas carols (the answer, in cas.e you are wondering, was always "no").

All the Christmases we would all be together, in one place all at once, having so much fun celebrating and catching up with each other, and all of the nieces and nephews having a chance to get to know each other and having such fun waiting for Santa.

And most recently of all, my favorite recent tradition on Christmas Eve.  Since The Tim always has to work, I'd put Dug's reindeer antlers and jingle bell collar on him, and we would take a Christmas Eve afternoon walk through Rittenhouse Square.  People couldn't help but smile, and some people would want to take his picture, or have their picture taken with him.  He loved the attention.  And I always told him that if he made people smile, even just for a minute, he'd given them one of the best Christmas presents ever.  It's gonna be really hard this year when that won't be able to happen.

But you know what?  It will be OK, because a good Christmas is about love.  And even if it can't be the same as it always was, or recently was, your memories make it sweeter.  You still have the love for those not here, and you can't lose that, any time of year.

So December, thanks for showing up, especially this year, which has been a tough one.  And I'm counting on you to make it worth going through the rest of it.  I have The Tim, Jetsam, Pip, and Milo ... and this year, Jack, who has no idea what December or Christmas or Santa or even sadness is!   Let's make the most of it, so that by the time 2017 pushes it's way in, we'll be able to say that you gave us a good ending, and we did the best with what we had.

Thanks for showing up. I plan to enjoy you as much as I possibly can,  'cause I look forward to seeing you every year,  And regardless of what else has been happening, I'm not willing to give up on that.

On to the Next Important Thing

You may or may not recall that I had signed up for a swap that Kim was hosting.  I love swaps, but have learned that most of them are kinda difficult for me, in that a lot of time you are supposed to knit something for your recipient, and being a slow knitter, that can become stressful.   However, this particular swap was low-key, and though it included something you made, it did not have to be something major.

Anyway, to review, it was called the TIS swap:

T = a tablet of some kind (hopefully not generic) for writing lists, notes, etc.

I =  initial - something related to the person's initials

S = seasonal, meaning fall, winter, Christmastime, Thanksgiving - you get it, right?

I received an amazing package from my secret swap partner, Alyssa.

Upper left corner: an owl notebook!  Yay owls, I love them!  Thumbs up on the T portion ...

Middle:  CHOCOLATE!  Good chocolate, many kinds, some of which is already long gone.  :-)  Thumbs up on the I portion (using the initial of my last name for this one).

Bottom:  A painting that she did just for me!  Of a CHRISTMAS tree, no less!!!  Super thumbs up on S for Seasonal.

Oh this is just a collection of wonderful things, wouldn't you agree?  And to receive it when the holiday season was just getting underway was even better, as it was just another little happy push in that direction.  Alyssa said she is a reader of my blog, which makes me happy, since I have been a reader of hers as well.  What a wonderful swap - Kim, it was a great idea, thank you!

Also - A CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!!

(now in a frame and on display ... also, straight, not as it appears in the photo that makes it look crooked ...)

Aly, thank you so very much, I loved everything in my package, and appreciate the time you put into making this for me.

I truly do love Christmastime, but I know you are not surprised to learn that if you have read this blog for more than five minutes.

16 DAYS until CHRISTMAS DAY!!

Christmastime Traditions

It's time for Ten on Tuesday again, and this week the topic is:

10  Cultural Traditions You Observe For the Holidays

My background - as you may have guessed - is Irish American, and when my grandparents came here, the idea at the time was to become as American as possible, so you didn't "stick out."  Especially if you were Irish, which was not considered a good thing.  As a result, a lot of the Irish traditions were put aside, so that they could celebrate American Christmas.

However, in the spirit of things, Carole has said that if we do not have a lot of ethnic traditions of our own, we should list 10 Traditions You Observe For The Holidays.  That is what I am going to do, listing a mishmash of family traditions, as well as ones that The Tim and I have created for our own little family.

1.  The definition of Christmastime.  We observe Christmastime beginning December 1 through January 6.  This is something that I have done since childhood.  My mother's birthday was December 2, so we didn't put up any decorations until after that, but we could play Christmas music starting December 1.  And the last day of Christmastime is January 6, the Epiphany, when the Wise Men arrived at the manger.  Decorations never even think of being put away before then.

2.  Christmas Eve.  This has always been a big deal in my family.  It's kind of the ultimate day of anticipation and preparation.  The Tim usually has to work on Christmas Eve, and doesn't usually get home until 7:00 pm or so.  I spend the day doing any last-minute preparations around the house, and making our dinner for that evening, Christmas Eve risotto.  If it's not pouring rain, I like to go out for a little while and walk around enjoying the hustle and bustle.  Once he gets home, we have our dinner, then put on our pjs and watch "It's a Wonderful Life," while having a gin and tonic, then put the gifts under the tree, fill the stockings, and sit in the dark by just the Christmas tree lights until it's time to go to bed.

3.  Christmas Eve Risotto.  A few years back, The Tim found the recipe, and we always have it on Christmas Eve because it has broccoli rabe and red peppers in it - thus red and green!

4.  Baby Jesus gets placed into the manger.  At midnight, our baby Jesus gets placed into the manger, after all of us kiss him and say "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus."

5.  "It's a Wonderful Life."  This must be watched on Christmas Eve, while having a gin and tonic, and you must be wearing your pajamas.

6.  "The Night Before Christmas" - we always read this aloud on Christmas Eve.

7.  Turnips and holly.  At least one turnip hollowed out to hold a lit candle, and with a sprig of holly next to it must be in one window of the house, so that the Holy Family will know where to stop if they need shelter.  (And don't worry, the candle does not stay lit after we go to bed!)

8.  A too-small dish for the cranberry sauce at Christmas dinner.  This goes for Thanksgiving too, but the cranberry sauce for dinner must be in a dish that is too small.  This is something that we always did growing up, and I found out as an adult that it was just because when my parents were first married, they didn't have a dish large enough for the cranberry sauce!

9.  Holiday cheeseball.  As long as I can remember, my mother would make holiday cheeseball, and for whatever reason, it should only be made between December 22 and 24.  (I have a feeling that this is a case of when she would finally get to it, but I still do it then.)

10.  Kielbasa.  My father's sister married a man from Poland, and they always had a big party on Christmas Eve, which was also my aunt's birthday.  They always had kielbasa, so my father would always fix some for us at our house as well.  Now we make vegetarian kielbasa at Christmastime.  (I will admit that "real" kielbasa is the only meat I actually ever miss, and only at Christmastime ...)

There are other things we do, and that I have always done, but these are the things that came to mind first.  As I said, some are family things, and some we have created ourselves.  They make the whole Christmastime experience better, if you ask me!

Snow!

For the past few days, the meteorologists on the TV and the radio have said that a storm was coming.  But each and every one of them said that in Philadelphia, we might get a few flurries or a coating, but it would be mostly the never-popular "wintry mix" and would turn to rain overnight.  

So far, it's more than 4 inches.  

Usually, they spend days warning us that we could get A MILLION INCHES OF SNOW (yes, I'm exaggerating ...), and then it barely rains.  They seemed to have missed out on something for today's forecast - even this morning when I left to go to Rosie's for my shift, they were saying it would just be wet, and it was already snowing pretty hard then.

Of course, I hope no one is injured or worse as a result of the snow, and I'm not looking forward to skating to work tomorrow in what will likely be icy conditions, since it is supposed to turn to sleet and freezing rain overnight (and I.do.not.like.ice!) ...

But you know what?  It's December, it's snowing, and there are 17 days until Christmas.

I may be the only one who feels this way, but I like it.  :-)

Here We Go!

Today whether you like it or not (and I LOVE IT!), is the first of December, meaning that Christmastime has officially started, at least in our house.  Thanksgiving got some extra time this year to kick things off, but now it's getting serious.

This year, I am completely scattered for whatever reason, and have not knit a single gift, though there is one thing I'm hoping can become just that.  However, since I started late, I'm not going to worry about it.  And who knows, there may be a hat or mittens or something else small in someone's future.  I'm just going to see if the spirit moves me, so to speak.

The Tim did pull the boxes o' stuff out of the basement the other day, and today we opened up the holiday mugs, glasses, and that kind of thing, as well as the Christmas linens (you know, tablecloths and such).  Those are always first in our house.  I don't know if it's because they are easiest, or if for both of us it just makes sense.  I know growing up, we got started on Christmastime once the calendar showed December, but since my mom's birthday was December 2, the heavy duty decorating started after that.  It's probably just something that has stuck with me.

Jetsam, Pip, and Dug all thinks it's very interesting, of course.  Milo isn't quite sure what to think of it.  I'm sure that will change once boxes open and there are shiny, small, hanging things to investigate.  This may be a minimal decor holiday, unless he can be convinced that Santa really does care about his behavior!

Tomorrow, I'm teaching a Basic Sock Class at Rosie's, and I have four students signed up, so I'm kind of excited about that.  I just hope that I can convince them that it's not going to seem easy or maybe even worthwhile at first.  I know when I first learned, I sort of wondered what I'd gotten myself into, but now socks are one of my constant things on the needles.  Will I be able to create new sock knitters?  I sure hope so!

That's it for now.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and for those who celebrate, I hope your Christmas spirit is starting!