Good Bye 2010

Ahhhhh... 2010, I am not sad to see you go. It has been a tough year for many people. I am so looking forward to starting new again.

I have been carefully cleaning and organizing the past few days so I can start the New Year with a fresh start. The Christmas decorations have been put away for another year. There have been trips to drop off things we don't need to others who may find them new again. The beds have been cleaned, the dog washed and the house dusted and vacuumed. I have a few more cleaning things to do today in hopes of starting off the New Year with a clean slate.

I am not one for New Year's resolutions, but this year I thought I would give it a try. Besides the regular ones of eat right, and exercise, I thought I would add a few new ones.

1. Be kinder to myself. Make a little bit more time for me. Try to treat myself as nice as I would a friend. This will be tough but it will be worth a try.

2. Count the finished projects I have made this year. Many people have a goal about how many they would like to complete, I don't. I think just finding out the actual number without the stress of having to complete a project might be kind of fun.

3. Explore crochet and weaving more. Of course weaving falls into the take time for me category as I have to do it at home, it is not portable. It has been so fun to renew my crochet skills and see all the amazing projects people make. I consider myself to be a knitter, but I realize I can be a knitter, crochet and weaver all at the same time.

4. Blog more often. I got so busy this year that blogging took energy I didn't have. But I love to blog, and I love to read peoples blogs, and I think the lovely people who blog and are so creative are an inspiration.

5. Think thoughts of Gratitude every night before I go to bed. I have been doing this for some time but have lacked a bit of consistency this year. It helps to end the day on a positive note.

6. Post more pictures of Max. Don't you want to squeeze that yummy black nose?

7. Laugh.

Here is hoping you all have a wonderful New Year. Be safe.

Meredith

Happy Eve of New Year's Eve

Happy Eve of New Year's Eve to everyone. I see from reading every one's blogs that their Holidays have been lovely so far. We had a wonderful Christmas and I have been having a very nice and quiet, for the most part week after Christmas. And I have been working with my loom. I received the yarn above from a lovely gift exchange hosted by my knitting group. Although I was unable to attend I still got this lovely yarn. I had the mohair from ages ago and what do we have....a perfect match.

So I set up my loom and have been working on it several hours a day. I watch episodes of Knitting Daily and weave away...... with minimal disruptions from my family I can get a lot done. Doesn't it sound like Heaven?

I use this comb to pack the fibers into alignment. I also use it to comb through all the mohair fibers that want to attach themselves onto everything.

It is really beautiful and so much fun to do. And I might say a nice way to escape your family if you have had too much togetherness because your oldest son has been grounded and you have had a bit too much of him.

I have the Spriggs 7-foot adjustable rectangular loom purchased from Hillcreek Fiber Studio. They also have square and triangular looms. Look them up to see all of their amazing weaving and knitting products. I can't wait to show you how this looks off the loom. have a great day.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends and your families.

May your Holidays be filled with love, family and friendship.

Thank you for sharing your lives, friendship, families and creativity this year. You all have been so lovely and have become a big part of my life.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Be safe and be happy.

A Christmas Grump

Max is not in the Christmas spirit. He is very mad at me in this picture because I put a festive collar on him and God forbid made him take some pictures with his brothers. My furry boy is not fond of the camera and I believe he is telling me off in this picture. Look at those eyes, he is acting very sad and put out! Oh Max.....Mom loves you even if you wouldn't turn your head so I could take a picture of your Christmas collar with jingle bells on it.

A Christmas Tale

I am sure that here in the Morgan household we are like most families across the country and all over the world. How are we so similar you ask? The answer is that I am in charge of 95% of all things Christmas, and my husband is in charge of 5%. I am sure you are getting the gist of this blog post already. I am in charge of getting ideas for presents, shopping, wrapping, shipping, decorating, taking the annual Christmas picture and writing cards. Maybe I should tell you what I am not in charge of.......putting up outside lights (I gave that up a couple of years ago), getting the Christmas tree and putting the lights on it, and shopping for my own present. Oh I forgot my husband cooks Christmas dinner, thank goodness because if I did we would all be ill.

My husband (who I love very much), hired someone to put up the 10 strands of outside Christmas lights this year. Not a bad move as this person has a small child and really needed the money, so that left him with one less task to complete.

I have been working on Christmas for several months. Maybe it was through making a gift or just the unbelievable amount of time it takes to get ideas for people. I have been on the web, looking in stores and catalogs. I have been ordering and checking my list, again and again. I decorated before we left for Thanksgiving and have been shopping almost on a daily basis.

That leaves us with last Monday. Husband goes out to buy a Christmas tree. He comes home with a 6 foot tree, which I have to say is a tiny bit small for my house. He put one strand of lights on and realized we didn't have anymore. Tuesday, I have a Christmas tree with one strand of lights...no change there (husband working till late so I am cutting him some slack). Wednesday, Husband decided he might actually have to go out and buy lights, comes home with 2 boxes of 100 lights and begins to put them on the tree. Here is where I come into the scene......

ME: "Uh.... I don't think you can put lights with a white cord on a green Christmas tree."

Husband: "Really...does it really matter?"

Me: "Yes I think it does....."

Husband: "They don't have anymore lights at Target!"

Me: "Well you might have to go somewhere else like Walgreens, CVS, Home Depot, or Lowes"

Husband: "S*#t."

My thoughts exactly.

Scarves

I have a confession. I did not make the Queen Anne's Lace Scarf correctly. And I might add I did not make it correctly many, many times. The green scarf located on top is closer to the pattern then I have made it so far. As I have said many times I am a crochet novice. And apparently that has never been more obvious than the making of 8 scarves, incorrectly. So instead of coming down on myself too terribly bad, I have decided that I have indeed made up a new pattern. I am calling it the Falling Leaf Scarf. It is similar to the Queen Anne's but doesn't hook the two flowers together. Ahh mistakes........ as long as you make the same mistake continuously it might end up okay!

Here are several of the scarves taking a little bath. What a fun bunch of colors in my bathroom sink. I don't bathe all of my scarves, just the ones I want to lie a little bit flatter.

My newest scarf in the initial stages. I think I am getting the hang of this one. Maybe I need some crochet classes as I seem a bit dense with the directions.

I did find the directions for this lovely Christmas tree on http://theroyalsisters.blogspot.com. So many wonderful blogs, post beautiful patterns, for which I am very thankful.

Christmas II

Yes, I am supposed to be cleaning right now for my husbands office party at my house in......4 hours, but what do I want to do, post Christmas pictures!!!!! I know I am nuts. A very simple bouquet for my table. I am trying to get in the Christmas spirit, can you tell?

I lovely little wooden Santa who hangs on my cabinet all year long. I can't put him away.

Everyone needs a yarn ball Santa don't they?

Just inside my front door is this lovely hall tree all decked out for the Holidays. I have had this stuffed Santa since my kids were itty bitty. The golf clubs on the left were my Grandfathers. He taught my Father how to golf with them. My Grandfather made them. The case is the original.

Okay, I better get back to cleaning for a group of people I barely know. Happy Saturday.

Christmas

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the Morgan household. I am so glad Santa is getting a lot of Christmas knitting done because I am not. Don't you love his sweater? As I do not have any knitting or crocheting to show you I thought I would show you a few Christmas pictures.

I love Christmas, but it seems the last few years I have been in a bit of a Christmas funk. My kids are older so Christmas isn't near as much fum. I remember how a few very simple toys were almost overwhelming to them. Now they have almost everything and I have to search for something special. I have been trying to simplify things the last few years and try to purchase less. My youngest wants an Apple laptop this year. I don't think that falls under the, "Simple" category. I tried to explain that to him and told him we just aren't going that route this year. Now keep in mind he doesn't need an Apple laptop for any real reason. As I was cruising through Facebook last evening I saw his status, "Christmas Sucks!". Well some days I would have to agree.

I am trying to catch my breath still from a very, very busy Autumn. My Mother was ill and still continues to be a concern. My Father isn't really that far behind her. My kids take up a huge amount of energy and of course being teenagers, some days they just suck the life right out of me. I have been a bit under the weather lately and seem to be having a difficult time getting completely well. All this on top of a very busy shopping and decorating season has me a bit in the dumps lately. I am glad my Christmas cactus is feeling in the holiday spirit, showing off all of her finery. Isn't she lovely?

What do you do to help yourself out of a Christmas funk?

Gracie's House

This Thanksgiving was very, very special. Gracie, my Mother-In-Law had Thanksgiving in her home for the last time. We had 31 family and friends there to celebrate. Thanksgiving has always been Gracie's favorite Holiday. My Brother-In-Law and his family do not celebrate Christmas and Easter, with all the holiday presents and decorating. Until recently they would not even acknowledge birthdays, but they always had Thanksgiving with the family. As their beliefs have softened, and their children have grown and started families of their own, Thanksgiving still has remained the time that the Morgan family has gathered. We always fly up for the extended weekend and join in all the fun. It is my children's favorite holiday as they get to see all their family, especially their cousins.

Gracie is 92 years young. She is an amazing person in every way. After Thanksgiving this year she packed up her house and is moving into a independent living apartment. It is so tough for her. She has lived in this big, beautiful house for 61 years. She has raised her children, nursed her father and husband here. She has lived alone for 30 years and remained amazingly active. This house has been her friend during dark cold winters, and bloomed again every spring. Grace has weathered many storms in this house, made thousands of meals for her family and friends, and laughed a thousand laughs in this house.

I feel sad for Gracie even if this is the best decision. I have a feeling that the house feels so very sad, too. Gracie has been the heart and soul of this house for so long. She wanted to die here, and I can't blame her. This will always be known as the Morgan's house. And I don't think it will ever be the same without Gracie living in it.