Oh, Fudge!

Dale and I finished the fudge!

There's one for each of our three closest neighbors.

We gussied up the red platters with some greenery, silver ball ornaments, a statement ornament, and tied it up with a bow. To protect the fudge from the rain during delivery, we wrapped the platters in clear cellophane.

One of our neighbors doesn't celebrate Christmas, so the statement ornament was a winter berry bush rather than an elf.

In case our neighbors have some dietary restrictions that we don't know about, I made a little sign with a list of ingredients.

We also gave them a copy of the recipe that we used in case they like the fudge and want to make some for themselves.

We love the neighborhood we live in. It's fun and heartwarming to share holiday treats with our lovely neighbors this way.

 

Santa's Workshop - Kitchen Edition

What do you get when you combine candy morsels, walnuts, dried cranberries, and pure vanilla extract

with sweetened condensed milk,

some greenery,

some bright red platters and ornamental decorations?

The start of some fudge rings for special people in our lives.

Dale and I make a good team in the kitchen this holiday season.

Heirloom Afghan

Back in the early 1980s, my mom crocheted afghans as Christmas gifts for me and my sisters. Each design was unique. This is the afghan Mom made for my sister Janet. Several years ago, Janet sent the afghan to my eldest, Jeanne.

This afghan is huge. Each square is about 12" x 12". Here's it's spread out on a king size bed.

I was visiting Jeanne a few months back when I noticed the afghan could use a little help, a little sprucing up. So I brought it to my house ... where it sat. Whoops. 

I wanted to do it justice and not make the damage worse through mishandling it. So I did some research, took a deep breath or two, and started in on the repairs.

I finally decided that I'd give myself a deadline in which to restore it. That was Jeanne's 40th birthday / Thanksgiving Day. 

I found some matching brown yarn to reinforce all the seams and corners where the squares had pulled away from each other. 

Then gave the afghan a good wash.

I took time to bury the many, many thread tails that had come loose on the back.

I bought a new fabric shaver 

and removed about a bazillion pills from both the front and back.

That's an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper the blob is sitting on. Lots and lots of pills. That took some time and patience.

Working on the restoration put me in an interesting headspace. I could remember watching Mom crocheting the squares using the long afghan crochet hook. I'd never seen one used before. Each square is worked in a way that produces a solid grid onto which a cross-stitch design is stitched.

She picked out various patterns to embroider onto the squares. There are two versions of each pattern in the afghan.

The color choices in the blanket are so very Mom. She liked colors that were slightly muted, rather than true bright rainbow colors. 

Taking the time to work with each square helped me feel very close to Mom. 

It helped me feel close to my sister Janet. 

It helped me feel close to Jeanne.

Repairing this afghan felt like a sacred act. My hands, my skill, became a bridge across time.

Needlework literally runs in my blood. Ancestors on both sides of my family earned a living by the work of their hands as tailors and dressmakers.

Now it's my turn to pass the skills on.

Photo Lesson

When the grandkids were visiting for Thanksgiving week, Melody and Annalee spent some time with me in my Studio. They had some questions about my photo cube setup.

So I placed a stepstool in front of the cube so they could reach all the equipment. We talked a little bit about the backdrops and lighting. Five year old Annie especially enjoyed changing the light colors in the backlights. I use an LED light strip that can change to different colors using a remote control. Pink is her favorite!

Then they each picked two backgrounds and a toy to photograph. They both liked the furry pink rug but picked a different "tile" to put up in back. I helped them set up; they took the shot. Here's Melody's picture, using baby Rozy.

Annalee chose Elle. Annie was much more interested in playing with the lights than actually framing the shot and taking the picture, but she got there. 

It was fun to share my Studio this way and teach them a tiny bit about studio photography. Then ... they're off checking out other parts of Mimi and Papa's home.

Tonight's Sunset

Welcome back! It's been a very busy week-and-a-half. The Idaho contingent of the family had a visit for Thanksgiving week. We celebrated two birthdays. I got my annual mammogram and my semi-annual mental health evaluation. Docs say I'm good to go. 

The autumn decorations are almost tucked away in their containers. Yesterday I got a lovely new bed. 

And sciatica. That one's not so fun.

We've had cold and foggy days. Frozen fog, even. The deep frost finally killed off the morning glories in the back yard. We're closing in on the winter solstice, so the sun is setting far to the south.

I'm just about over my exhaustion now, and reached the end of this restful day.

It's finally time to start the Christmas preparations.