The Little Red Hen

Cold

Did I tell you it got cold?

 

My fingers were so cold yesterday while I was working that I put a thermometer on my cutting table to satisfy my curiosity. Yep. 55 degrees. Inside. The joys of an old house on a cold and windy day.

It does make it good for storing our yummy gift of Florida sunshine until we eat it.

note: B lit the boiler last night and the house is warmer today now that we are burning corn!

An Author

Guess What!!!

The people at Lulu chose my calendar to be included in a selection of calendars that they submitted to Amazon!

I feel so official now. They are fixing up an "author page" for me over there. Woo hoo. Here's the link to the calendar.

Oh, and that pencil photo is the April photo in the calendar.

Patterns from Nature

P and I cleared out all of the waxed leaves to make room for our Christmas decorations. Before tossing them in the compost I traced some to use as embroidery patterns.

A Year on the Farm with The Little Red Hen

Last year I made a calendar that I gave to friends and family. I wanted to publish one that I could share with all of you but I wasn't 100 percent happy with last year's calendar so I didn't offer it to you. This year I tried again and am thrilled with the result. The print quality and paper are much better than last year. It was hard to narrow down to just one photo from each month. All of the photos were taken here on our property. Some months required a family vote. But here it is:

2010 - A Year on the Farm with The Little Red Hen

You can get yours for $15.99 by clicking the Lulu button below.

Lulu is offering a 10% discount if you enter the code "HUMBUG" at checkout! The discount is good until the end of the year!

Thoughtful Sunday

"Create your own Christmas from what is right here.

With boxes and crayons and cake-baking gear.

Get out your toolbox, there are toys to be built.

Cut up old clothes, stitch a colorful quilt."

Angel Pig and the Hidden Christmas, Jan Waldron and David McPhail, 1997

Decking the Halls

Decorating for the Holidays is always a trip down memory lane for me. I love getting out the decorations that we haven't seen since January and recalling the history behind them.

These old favorites always make me smile. The one on the left made by M in third grade and the one on the right made my B with leftover plaster from a home renovation project. I love how they are like family so, different yet still alike.

 

This girl with the roses around her dress is another favorite. When I was young we had three of them on our dining room table. My sisters and I each had one at our place to admire during meals. We thought they were so very special. I hated to split them up at first but now I am happy that we each have one at our homes.

 

These deer belonged to my mother. We did not have them when we were young, she thrifted them after we left home. They do remind me of my mother's love of Christmas and her favorite quote from Santa, "It is better to give."

 

Holiday decorating brings new opportunities for memory making each year. The kids and I enjoy making decorations and I enjoy picking up a few "new" items like these during the year.

 

Yes, the holidays are a time to remember, share, and pass on the family traditions.

Gratitude

I am grateful for the skill and ability to make things and family and friends who appreciate handmade gifts.

Family At Home

I love times when we are all at home without a lot of planned activities. We had almost a full week over Thanksgiving holiday with both boys at home. Homework was finished early and there was a lot of time for games and activities. The boys showed a renewed interest in origami.

They both belonged to the origami club in elementary and middle school. The club met once a week and they learned how to make a lot of projects.

I had recently gotten out a few of our simple origami books for P. We did a few of those together. D and M, however, found some interesting projects online. Oh, the joys of a faster internet connection. I love the way they challenged and encouraged each other.

The project on the far right has a tiny, black, origami crane trapped inside. The red one on the left is made from one  piece of paper where the orange and green one on the right is the same shape made with origami units.

I always think of December as a crafty time when I like to make gifts for family and friends. While creating I think about the person the gift is for and what they mean to me. It is fun to remember people in this way. This year P and I have started a few projects together. I like to see her excitement in thinking about loved relatives and close friends. To me the spirit of the holiday season lies in making something (or thinking of something) that will make the recipient smile.

I think with these projects we are off to a good start on the crafty holiday spirit that I remember from my own childhood.

Also in the spirit of enjoying the season I will be taking a holiday theme photo a day. You can see more from others in the Christmas Countdown 2009 flickr pool.  Here is the first:

I know it is still fall but I'll probably not be taking many more fallish photos. I enjoyed fall much more than usual this year because I was out taking pictures. Have a look at them here.

Words

I finished the last blocks in my 8two8 swap this weekend. Sarah requested word blocks from everyone. We were each to sew our name and three words from a list she provided. I chose bird, care, and home as my words.

I had never tried free piecing letters before. It was much easier than I thought it would be! It was even FUN. I sketched out the words before starting and then cut strips of the letter fabric and built up from there.

 
Thanks for the challenge Sarah!

Thoughtful Sunday

"Think left and think right

 and think low and think high.

Oh, the THINKS you can think up if only you try."

Oh, the THINKS You can Think!, Dr. Seuss, 1975