Tea Time

Happy New Year! It is such fun to goof off during the holidays. The past day or so I've been using up my precious scraps of Cascade 220 Superwash Paints Yarn making a tea mitten for my new Brown Betty tea pot. Colors: Juniper Berries and Celtic which are mixes of blue-greens and greens, are perfect for a cheery morning cuppa.

Antique buttons from my dear friend Moke's Aunt Helen's button stash were the perfect finishing touch.

With such a charming way to start the day, who could resist? I hope to host many friends for tea in the coming year.

Why You Didn't Get a Christmas Present From Me

This year we knew Christmas was going to be tight because of the house that didn't rent when we left Virginia. But I realized that soon enough to make a lot of presents. The first one I made in August. Here are all the things I made. And even though I made more than I've ever made for Christmas before, I didn't get anything made for anyone outside the family, with the exception of the two pairs of fingerless gloves my friend Shikila from Bible study paid me to make. I even neglected my letter writing. If you didn't hear from me, here's why: see the culmination of my Christmas knitting below.

 Socks for Mumsy

Matching Fingerless Gloves

Kaleidoscope fingerless gloves for Shikila's daughter

Cafe Au Lait fingerless gloves for Shikila

Little Sister socks

Big Sister Socks

Arm warmers for the Pres

Cousin Anne's fingerless gloves

Dad's socks

And finally, a hat for the Pres. 

Phew! That's a lot of work, including the painting and story for Fidget. It was a good year. Happily, I received Christmas money and my favorite online shop, Yarn.com, is having a sale. So I will have to set my sights higher for next Christmas. And maybe if I start now, I can keep up with my letter writing too- so watch your mailbox. And happy new year!

Joy Along the Way

Christmas greetings to those near and far! The season is going too quickly for my liking this year. Fidget and I returned from our quick trip to Virginia delivering and varnishing paintings. Now we are both sick. Ahhhh! But there's so much to do...

This is just the time to stop and think about what Christmas is all about. Time for a walk along shore, admiring gardens and bowers along the way, finding broken pottery and pretty shells and remembering that Jesus came at Christmas time not to give us an unending list of things to scurry around doing; but to rest in Him, and His finished work when He died on the cross and rose again for our sins. 

May your Christmas be truly merry- not just the day, but may you have joy in your heart and anticipation in the days that lead up to it. If the question is of squeezing one more thing in or having time to relax with a cup of tea and meditate on God's wonders, I hope you will do the latter. May God bless you as you seek Him amidst the bustle of the season.

Work in Progress

Here's a quick view of Sakonnet, the house boat my clients lived on for the first 15 years of their marriage. Since I painted their house this spring, this will complete their collection. I am eager to finish and deliver it to them in Norfolk. Fidget and I don't have any gifts to bring but we hope to deliver Christmas spirit aplenty.

It is such a blessing that I have gotten to do this painting. The photo wasn't sent to me until I had completely given up on receiving it. I had so wanted to earn Christmas money this fall. With this and the painting of our neighbor Christie's niece Avery, there is plenty of money for gifts and to help with the mortgage for River's Edge, which remains vacant. God is good!