I did it!

I got these little babies off the needles and grafted last night. Now I just need to wrap them up and all my Christmas gifting is done! I just have baking left to do, which I will tackle tomorrow.

Now as to the details of the socks. Nothing fancy – my usual vanillas, letting the yarn do all the work. As to the yarn… I don’t know what it is. I got a full (or nearly full) ball of it at a thrift store. I think it might be Regia – it feels a lot like Regia. But it could be something like Opal. Regardless, it’s pretty, and I wish I has more to make a pair for myself!

On Monday, I booked the day off work to go visit someone very special.

Long time readers will recognize that lady to the left of me, as my best friend Samantha. We met when I was 12 and she moved to my town. She was a year older, but we rode the same school bus. And she basically punched me and harassed me every day on those bus rides until I agreed to be her friend (it took about a week and several bruises, but we’ve remained besties ever since – despite the fact that moved away just a year later. In fact, we haven’t lived closer than 40 minutes to each other since – we are now almost 2 hours apart) .

As I just turned 44, you can do the math and realize that means we’ve been friends for more than three decades. We usually see each other a couple times a year (in a good year), but of course, chat daily through text.

Well – last month, Samantha was diagnosed with breast cancer. It wasn’t a huge surprise, she’s been getting mammograms yearly since she turned 40 because there’s a history of in her family. But nobody, not even the doctors really expected it to happen in her 40s. Anyway, prognosis is good so far. She had surgery last week and is waiting to hear on further treatment (they will do radiation, but they are still deciding if chemo is needed too).

She’s off work for a while, so it was the perfect time to head down to her place for a visit. She’s doing very well after the surgery…

Her beagle, Calibre, is keeping a very close watch over her. It was a really nice visit – we sat and chatted and chatted and chatted, realizing it’s the first time we’ve gotten together without the husbands around in a very long time (at least 3-4 years). It was nice to have some strictly girl time.

Unfortunately, the visit was only a few hours, as the weather was turning and the route home was under a snow squall warning. So I hit the road before it good too bad. In fact, I got home just at it really ramped up.

But it was a great visit, and we both agreed we shouldn’t wait for something as crappy as cancer to get together. In fact, we already have plans for January (weather-permitting, of course!)

You spoke, and I listened. Many of you kindly explained that the mug rug pattern I had was so big because it was meant to accommodate a mug AND a snack! (What I was thinking of is a coaster, lol!)

And I really liked that idea. So I went ahead and finished up a few more at the 8 inch size (because the pieces were already cut)

Then I went and got some mugs, some fancy teas, some shortbreads, and a few candy canes

And put them all in a pretty little gift box with a mug rug on top. There’s a box for each of the post office ladies, and one for the lovely lady who runs the convenience store in town, who we also see on a weekly basis.

And just because… I have three of the six inch version completed and tucked away.

No plans for them yet, but I’m sure they will come in handy eventually!

I am happy to report, that after several evenings of work

I got all 10 placemats bound and finished. There are only five here, because that’s all the fits on our dining room table, but we have another folding table we will put up for Christmas dinner to accommodate all our guests.

I got a couple black tablecloths to cover both tables. I know black isn’t really a traditional Christmas colour, but I think it looks really nice with placemats

Here’s a closer look at them.

There are five of each design, and I love them both! Hopefully they will be used at Christmas for many years to come.

Yesterday, Dave and I were on a road trip… headed down to Long Point.

Long time readers will recall that Dave’s uncle has a cottage there, and for many years, Dave and I would often spend `New Years down there. This year, his uncle was having a Christmas party at the legion in Port Rowan, the town just north of the point.

But before we headed to the party, I drove Dave and down to the beach.

Both of us have grown up on and around the shores of three of the Great Lakes (Erie, Ontario and Huron) – and we both miss them a little, living where we are now.

It may seem odd, but my favourite time to be at the beach is in winter. Mostly because it’s completely devoid of people.

There’s a beauty to the desolation that I just love.

The water was fairly calm (for Lake Erie, which can change moods in a heart beat), and there were some beautiful patterns in the sand left by a previous storm.

And when you turn from the water, the sand banks with their towering trees are just as beautiful. There were some very large pieces of drift wood I wanted to bring home for the garden, but they were too heavy. (Ok – they were basically still trees, but so soft and smooth!).

But I did find some other beach treasures…

A couple good-sized freshwater oyster shells, and a pretty rock. Because you can never have too many pretty rocks

I’ve been buying plants again….

After my birthday dinner, we stopped into Home Depot since we were in the area. While Dave was poking around the lightbulb aisle, I snuck over to the house plants.

And I snapped up this pretty pink Anthurium. I don’t feel at all guilty about it because it’s to replace my previous pink Anthurium which died this summer. My white and red ones are doing well, but the pink one just wasn’t as robust I guess.

And then…. over by the Christmas cactus…

I found a Hellebore!!!! You may recall, Hellebores are early spring woodland plants. They were selling these in pots as “Christmas Belles” or “Christmas Roses”. And it was 1/3 of the price that I’ve seen Hellebores at.

You can bet this one is getting planted out in the Woodland garden as soon as it’s warm enough to work the soil come Spring!

And last (which I got a couple of weeks ago) I got an Amaryllis.

I got it planted late, so it won’t bloom in time for Christmas. You can see the new shoot is just starting to poke up. But that’s okay – it’s something to look forward to in the new year.

How much is that Lemmy in the window?
The one with the gingery tail
How much is that Lemmy in the window?
I do hope that Lemmy’s for sale….*

*Not for sale a the moment, but he will be free to a good home soon if he doesn’t stop looking for trouble every second of every day….

Last Saturday, Dave and I were headed out to a Performance shop in a town called Blenheim, about an hour south of us. I knew our path would take us by something I’ve wanted to share with you all for a while, so I made sure I brought my camera and long lens around.

You can see it from the main road, but I pulled off on a little side dirt road to park out of the way.

And when you turn from the road, you see…

That, way up in that ENORMOUS tree, is a bald eagle’s nest. Dave pointed it out to me in the spring. While it’s still visible when the leaves are on the tree, it REALLY stands out now when the branches are bare.

And my friend, the pictures don’t do it justice, because it is just massive…

It’s just breath taking. But even more exciting, as we were driving up, Dave noted something else in the tree. Two somethings to be exact.

Do you see them to the right? Here’s a closer look.

How lucky to get the pair “at home”. I certainly wasn’t expecting that when I put the camera in the truck.

The tree overlooks the Sydenham river, and these two were on a branch directly overhanging the water. Perhaps watching for a bit of breakfast to swim by?

Aren’t they just beautiful??? I understand why the United States has adopted them as its symbol. They really are majestic.

The female should be bigger, but these guys look pretty close in size so I can’t tell.

My long lens was just barely strong enough to get somewhat decent pics. I’m going to look into getting something a little stronger… because apparently come summer, you can sometimes catch the babies fledging!!!

As soon as my brother’s socks were off the needles, I cast a pair on for his wife.

I have a gift card for my sister-in-law already, but I’d like to tuck a pair of socks in with it if I can. I have until the 22nd to finish this pair. They are just anklets, so I should be able to do it. But of course, I’ve got to finish all that binding first….

The biggest accomplishment of the weekend was sandwiching, quilting, and binding the Christmas placemats. Well – the binding is on – I still have to sew it all down. That’s going to be my task for the next few evenings.

Except for this evening – it’s my birthday (44th) and Dave is taking me out for a late dinner. Binding can start tomorrow. Besides, Burton isn’t ready to give up his comfy spot yet.