Christmas Time

I haven't been blogging much lately because life has been busy.  David's mom is at Hospice, so that has been our main focus lately.  Add in the holidays, and the blog gets put on the back burner. 

I can't believe another Christmas has passed, they seem to go by so quickly.  We had a good one though!

Santa came!

He brought the kids some really good stuff.  Devin got a poster of the General Lee.  He has been watching The Dukes of Hazzard at his mom's house. 

Kylee got a new doll, so now her other doll has a friend.

Kylee got a sewing machine!  And Devin got a really cool Snap Circuits set.

Santa also brought Devin two new Nerf guns, so now he and David can have Nerf battles. How awesome for me. 

Chilli the cat spends most of her time in the basement (because that's where the pellet stove is), but she decided to grace us with her presence as we opened the presents (like my homonym?).  It was a Christmas miracle.

Kylee got a kick out of the chocolate "coal" in her stocking.

Buford and Elmer both got new bones.  They're rope toys with cow hooves attached.  They love them.

I knitted Kylee a mitten and cowl set. I love the yarn (Karaoke).

And Devin finally got a needle felting kit! He has been begging to try needle felting for a while now.  He's so excited to try it. 

I didn't take a picture of our meal, but I did get a chance to snap a picture of the ham.  This was the first ham we cooked from our pig.  It was really good.

I got some really great presents too.  I'll have to take pictures of them and blog about them another day.  I hope you all had a great Christmas too!

What She Said

My sister and I think alike usually (except when cilantro is involved), and I wanted to share her recent blog about the event that occured in Connecticut last week.  I agree with her completely.  You can see her post here, at her blog, The Stockpot. 

Christmas Elves

We've spotted a couple of Christmas elves at our house!

New Holiday Items in the Shop!

I just added several new holiday items to the Purl & June Etsy shop, so check them out!  There are limited quantities of the holiday soaps, so if you want them order now!  

Here's the new Hot Cocoa soap! This soap smells so good you'll want to eat it!

  

And my personal favorite, the Fresh Cut Fir.

Cranberry...

And Gingerbread

And I also have soap gift sets available too.  Each one comes with a hand knit, organic cotton washcloth, a wood soap tray, and a bar of Cranberry, Fresh Cut Fir, and Gingerbread soaps.  If you want different scents, I can do custom sets as well.  These would make great gifts for teachers, babysitters, aunts, cousins, sisters, moms, you name it.

And last but not least, I just listed a new needle felted wool scene. 

Remember to shop hand made this holiday season!

Big Bertha

She is large and in charge.  This big momma is my Cornish Cross hen, who got a lifetime pass to stay here as long as she lives.  She was raised with the batch of broilers I raised for my sister, two and a half years ago.  She's still keeping up with all the other chickens, although she probably weighs more than three times what they do.  She roosts on the lowest rung, and she can get up into the nesting box too.  People say Cornish Crosses are freaks of nature and won't live long, but that's not always the case. If they're pushed feed, they'll have issues. If they're raised with plenty of exercise and not too much food, they can live long lives like this gal.  I can't help think how many meals we'd get out of her, but I already told her she's a pet. 

Dawn's Early Light

I love winter (or late fall) mornings.  There's something so nice about getting up when it's still dark and going to do chores while the sun is starting to rise.  The light is beautiful, the air is crisp, and the frost crunches on the ground when I walk.  The animals are all snuggly and warm, and I love waking them up to eat.  I love hearing them munch on their hay, I love breaking the frozen water troughs, and I love knowing they're all taken care of and have plenty of food for the cold morning. 


















The chicken coop is lit up in the mornings now.  I have been getting only an egg every other day, and I've got 21 hens that should be laying.  I am trying a coop light to see if I can trick them into thinking the days are longer.  It's on a timer and comes on at 4 AM and goes off at 7 AM.  Hopefuly it works. 

Sorry for the blurry picture, but the full moon was so pretty this morning.

After I get the animals fed, I head off to work.  I love the drive to work.  It's about 18 miles from home to work, and I don't have a single stoplight or stop sign on my way to the office.  The route is a rural one past beautiful flat farm land. 

I love the drive to work in the winter because the sky is just so pretty, all shades of pinks and purples and blues.  This is one of the reasons I love winter so much. 

Operation Christmas Tree 2012

I grew up with real Christmas trees, and always loved them. They just looked and smelled so pretty and I couldn't ever imagine having a fake one.  But then when I left home and moved to college, a fake tree was so much easier (and cheaper), so that's what we've had ever since.  Every year I'd say, "Maybe we could get a real tree this year", but each year we'd just put up our fake one.  Last year we even bought a new fake one on clearance, pre-lit, which was pretty convenient. 

So a few days ago I mentioned getting a real tree this year, and David agreed!  We found Coleman's Christmas Tree Farm, just outside of Middletown, Delaware.  We all loaded up today and went over to the farm to pick out our tree!  They have a great place, lots to do and see.  They had a Santa shop, with Santa and Mrs. Claus! 






















The kids got to visit and get some pictures taken.

Then we set out to find our tree and cut it down.  I have to be honest, we cheated on the cutting part.  We found less expensive trees in the pre-cut/Charlie Brown lot, and decided to go with one of those.  We found a great tree though!

But it's not the one above.  No, that one was just a photo prop.  It's not the one below either.

We took a picture together, but of course David can't take a serious one without begging and pleading on my part...

This one is better, even if he is trying to saw me in half. 

Finally we found our tree and were headed home.

We got one of the smallest ones on the lot, and it looked puny on top of the car, but it's actually pretty big for our space.  I didn't get any pictures of it in place, but I'll blog again one we've decorated it! 

I'm so excited it's finally Christmas time!  WOOO!!!

Quick Beach Trip

Earlier this week I went to Ocean City, MD for a 3 day work conference.  I think the off-season is my favorite time to go to the beach!  It's so quiet.

I stayed at the Princess Royale, and had a little suite all to myself.     Here's the little sitting room.

And here's the little eating nook and kitchen.

And then the bedroom, which had a Tempur-Pedic mattress.  I'm not really sold on those. 

Here was my view from the balcony, if I turned my head to the left (the room was a "side ocean view".

I did make it out to the beach on the second day, once our classes let out. 

It was very pretty, though cold!  It was a nice little get away, even if I had to go to classes!  Hopefully we can get back there sometime soon.

Now That's Better!

 
Before and after a much needed haircut!

Crafty Bastards

This past Saturday, I helped my friend Jen at the Crafty Bastards craft show in D.C.  Jen has a block printing business called Home Sweet.  She hand cuts each pattern, and prints them by hand on sustainable fabrics.  She's got all kinds of products, from pillows to table runners to kitchen towels, and now even Christmas stockings! 

Crafty Bastards is a huge show, and I couldn't wait to go help out.  Jen has perfected her display, which is hard to do, in my opinion.  Each vendor only has about a 10'x10' space to set up a shop, so you have to get creative.  So we set up her corner and got ready for the crowds!

 

I love how she uses the door as a backdrop for her towels.   

And I love these stockings.  Check out the mock mantel she built.  Her son even made a fire for her!

Here I am later in the afternoon (boy, I'm in need of a haircut!).  It was a super busy day, and there must have been thousands of people there.  The aisles of the huge tents were so crowded, people were shoulder to shoulder and it was hard to move!  It was a great show, and maybe one day Purl & June will be there!

Here's a view of the tents and Union Market after the show.

If you're local, Home Sweet will be at the Holiday Heap craft show in Baltimore on December 1st!