Winter

I've decided that winter is a cold and cruel reminder of just how old and out of shape I really am. The snow started again Saturday morning. I shoveled and then decided to take some pictures before returning to hibernation. Then of course this would be repeated throughout the day only minus the picture taking.

It will be off to work this morning and then home for a quiet and uneventful New Years eve where I fall asleep long before the stroke of midnight. See you all next year.

Have a heart

After glazing these old fashioned sour cream cake donuts the other day at work, I couldn't help but notice that one in particular had a heart. Now that's donut love.

And that's a wrap

I was a bit surprised on Tuesday when I looked out the window and saw that my neighbor already had their tree down and out at the curb. I guess they were done with the whole Christmas thing.

Mine will most likely come down either New Years day or the day after. How long do you leave your tree up?

Second verse, same as the first

I'm not only tired of this song, I'm tired on the whole darn album. Enough of the snow already. I started my day yesterday brushing snow off my vehicle and after work I brushed more snow. This morning I will do it again. We won't even talk about the bitter cold and the shoveling.

Ok so it might look pretty in pictures but that's as far as it goes

Removed a bit of color cast and added a quote. I should have lightened it up a little more.

Back to the real world

It's going to be tough going to work this morning and getting back to reality. Since I left work on Sunday I've been nothing but lazy. Just sort of hanging around. Oh and eating.

Not even sure when it started snowing exactly but it started and didn't stop. The city of Erie, last I heard, got a record breaking 53 inches and they declared a snow emergency. I don't live in the city but I do live in Erie county. While we got a good amount of snow (and it's continueing to fall as I type this) it wasn't quite as much as the city.

Once I got home from work on Sunday afternoon, I did not leave my house until it was time to leave for work this morning. I had considered going out to see what I could find at all the after Christmas sales but decided it really wasn't worth it.

The reason for the season

What child is this who lays to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping.

Wishing you all joy, hope and peace this holiday season. Merry Christmas.

Happy Christmas Eve

Yesterday morning started out cold, gray and rainy. By mid morning it started turning over to snow. This is the wet heavy stuff that sticks to everything

So I might not be overflowing with holly jolly Christmas joy but my house does look a bit festive.

Left is a hand made ornament. I made several of these many years ago.
Right is an ornament that someone gave me but I forget who and my kitchen window with cookie cutters lined up the bottom window

Left is the steps lined with my snowmen. Some of them are really showing their age and may need to be put in permanant storage. The right is one of my kitchen chairs that sits of to the side since I have 6 chairs and only 4 around my table.

I look forward to getting work done today and then spending the evening hanging out chillin.

Happy Christmas eve

It's almost here

Yesterday was a busy day at work and tomorrow will be another just like it. So today I will be enjoying my day off and looking forward to Monday and Tuesday with absolutely nothing to do.

I hope all of you enjoyed your gifts yesterday. Since I forgot what I had gotten some of you, it was fun to see what was in your package when you opened it. Look, there's nothing left under the tree. I'm glad all of you picked up your gifts.

Gifts for blog pals.

Since it's almost Christmas and I know that some of you are going to be very busy in the next couple of days I wanted to give you all the gifts that I got you.

First let me say how much each and every one of you means to me. I so appreciate your visits and comments. Even though I've never met any of you face to face I feel like I've formed a bond with so many of you.

So for this post I'm giving you all virtual gifts.

I stole this picture from snappygoat.com

Dig through those gifts and find yours and then tell everyone in the comment section what I got you. Keep in mind that I spared no expense on these gifts and the only concern I had was that it be something you really wanted or needed.

Go ahead, tear into that paper and tell us what you got.

Oh and to those of you who won't be around the next few days, have a very Merry Christmas

Angels we have heard on high

Another old Christmas decoration that was a gift from my brother and his wife many many many years ago.

She's a fiber optic tree topper. I don't use her on my tree because I found it too difficult to get her to stay up there but she does sit out every year and she still works

1. Angels we have heard on high
   Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
   And the mountains in reply
   Echoing their joyous strains.
   • Refrain:
     Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
     Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
   Why your joyous strains prolong?
   What the gladsome tidings be
   Which inspire your heav’nly song?
3. Come to Bethlehem and see
   Him Whose birth the angels sing;
   Come, adore on bended knee,
   Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
4. See Him in a manger laid,
   Whom the choirs of angels praise;
   Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
   While our hearts in love we raise.

Caroling

Why is it that no one goes caroling any more? Not that I really want to have to open my door to a bunch of strangers standing on my lawn singing but I'm curious as to why the tradition died out.

Any way, the reason for the title isn't because I have the urge to go sing off key on someone's doorstep. It's because of another Christmas decoration I have had for a lot of years. I'm pretty sure these have been around for at least 20 years.

In a way they are a bit creepy looking but yet I still like them.

Not a creature was stirring....

...except for this mouse.

This is another sock creation. He's made with a smaller sock so he's about half the size of the snowmen. The tree he's standing next to was made by me a couple years ago. I used a cardboard cone and glued on looped burlap.

I just love this guy. He's totally adorable right down to his little yarn tail which you can't see in this picture but you can in the one above. His arms are also yarn and his nose is a white pom pom.

And of course I had to make another greeting with his picture

Oh and in case you were wondering, all these photos were made possible with the help of my technical advisor who watches over me while I work

Father Christmas

Another decoration that always gets out each year. This one was made by my brother and sister-in-law. Since it has the date on it I can even remember exactly what year they gave it to me.

A little edit and I've got a Christmas greeting for all of you

In the village

Just a couple more things from my Christmas village. Both of these were added this year.

Look Sandra, another dog. That's two dogs in my village. To be fair I probably should find a cat too

A couple old friends

I'm sure I've shown these in past years around this time but it's kind of a tradition to take new pictures of old friends every year after they come out of storage.

I bought this guy at a craft show ages ago. He has a hanger on the back of him but I prefer to let him sit in a chair

I made this sweet girl probably more than 20 years ago. The pattern I purchased was for a girl and boy. She took me forever and I never did get around to making the gingerbread boy

They've been around a while

I have quite a few ornaments that were made in the last century. These were all painted ages ago. I don't even remember how long ago I did them

Growing a beard

No, I'm not growing a beard. Although those pesky chin hairs that have started popping up could turn in to one I suppose. 

Monday I had an appointment in Erie so after I was done I stopped at Hobby Lobby and picked up some fake fur for my gnomes.

This one is my favorite so far. I added some cute little jingle bells to the top of his hat and some glitter pom poms to the cuff. 

I love the fake fur beard.

Here he is standing next to one I made with the other material for the beard. The old stuff is ok but I think the fake fur looks much better. The other stuff is certainly way cheaper though

Changing it up a bit

I almost didn't post today. When I left work yesterday it was 21 degrees and snowing. I was freezing, achy, tired and I had a headace. Thankfully after a short nap and dinner I felt a little better. How many more days until spring?

Since we're in the deep freeze, I'll show you another snowman I made on Monday. I did this one a little different. Instead of a scarf this one is wearing a sweater and carrying a broom.

I like the way this one turned out and it's sitting on my coffee table. I think this one shall be mine.

The village

A few years back I bought some of those little houses for creating a Christmas village. I've added a piece here and there. It gets set up on top of my fake fireplace. If it gets much bigger I may have to move it.

The village people singing Christmas carols in front of the church

The newstand is a new addition this year

Every village needs an antique shop

There's more I could show you but I didn't want to load the post up with too many pictures. Now I'm looking forward to after Christmas sales so I can hopefully find some new additions at 50% off

It's a start

Saturday I finally found enough ambition to pull out some of the decorations and decorate the tree. Not only did I decorate the tree in the living room but I put up a little one in the man cave too.

The living room tree. Not the most elaborate looking tree ever but it will do

The man cave tree is only 4' and all the decorations are ones that Wade's kids made for him a long time ago.

Aside from the two tree I pulled out a few other things too. There is still  another whole box to go through but I ran out of enthusiasm.

Nose job

Since I had all the stuff out from making the sock gnomes, I thought I would make some more of the sock snowmen.

I repeated last years version of using an orange toothpick for the nose but for some reason I just didn't like it this year. The nose is just way too skinny.

I decided that this little cutie needed a nose job. But I couldn't think of what to use instead. Then it hit me. I had scraps of orange felt and some orange embroidery floss. I decided to see if I could make something that might slightly resemble a carrot. I rolled a small square of felt into a sort of cone shape and then wrapped it with some floss to hold it. Then I made a little knot and slid it over the toothpick that was already there.

I think this snowman looks much better now with his brand new nose.

After I got done getting the pictures ready for this post I did a little playing.

Gift giving

I have always been bad at gift giving. It's not that I don't like to give them, I'm just not very good at picking them out. Even when I come up with what I think is a great idea something goes wrong. It is either not available or totally out of my price range.

Then there are the people that I just plain don't know what to get them. They have everything they need or they're very particular and difficult to buy for.

At this point I'm wondering where exactly I was planning on going with this post and I really have no clue. This would be a good time to insert a picture that I took from Snappygoat.com and did a little edit to.

What would you consider the perfect gift to receive from a friend or coworker?

Never a dull moment

It's good to have people around who can make you laugh with their silly antics. There's one such girl at work.

Yesterday I was sitting in the break room when all of a sudden Jess comes over and strikes a pose wearing a couple of decorations hanging off her apron

Wade had a doctor's appointment after I got out of work to get his staples removed so I didn't have much time to come up with a blog post. I'm sure Jess won't mind me using her picture.

At least someone is festive

It's nice to know that while I sit here with an unadorned Christmas tree in my living room and no other decorations out, others aren't following my lead.

There's a house on the next road over that usually decorates quite a bit. The view of their house is a straight shot from my back door. I took a picture the other night after they set this all up

Making joy

This video is 7 minutes long but you'll be amazed at what she makes. Starting with just plastic bottles and aluminum foil. Simply amazing

A home for a gnome

I saw a youtube video for a sock gnome and fell in love with it. I had to make one for myself. I had some of the stuff on hand but had to go out to try and find a couple other things. I wanted the faux fur for the beard but couldn't find it at the store I was at so I substituted  a furry looking kind of material.

My first attempt didn't turn out so well. I did this without going back and rewatching the video.
What did I do wrong? Well first of all I made his nose too small. Second I cut the sock for his hat and I should have used the whole sock so that there would be a cuff on his hat.

Second attempt. I like this one much better but I still would prefer to have the faux fur for the beard. I think it would look a lot nicer. Or even if I could find the stuff she used in the video.

Oops. I guess I should have picked off all the little white pieces from his beard before I took the picture.

Here's one more showing the two side by side.

And finally here's the youtube video that I watched in case you would like to know how to make one yourself.. There's actually quite a few different ones. In the video she used a foam cone for inside the hat but I cheated and made a cone out of cardstock