thanks, aidan!!

aidan made these snowmen to stand on little feet thingies. i put magnets on the back and added his cheerful face to the front of the fridge.

all over but the cryin'

we did have a memorable christmas. it's always a treat to see the kids and we were thankful that everyone made it safely through the snow and cold. this will be remembered as the year iva overnighted in the hospital with a TIA. the year of first tier relatives - i mean cordials and other pleasures to numerous to catalog.

aidan did well, made a haul and was ever hopeful that someone else maight need a hand opening their package. he was polite and excited and a fierce competitor when it comes to crazy 8s and uno.

james carried this back from china for me and i am looking for way to hang it in my office area. naphtali was very creative/generous and did justice to her handmade pledge.

jacob and kate supplied my day
dreaming fix. this book on monet has all sorts of enclosures chronicling (i did run that through spell check) his baptism, art shows, preliminary sketches etc. i'm thoroughly enjoying it.
tim takes the prize for the most unexpected gift - i have a lovely new laptop -many thanks - and of course a new project beyond the use of it. i have to organize and arrange my 'office space' ooh la la!!
so these next few days will be spent undecorating, storing, cleaning, daydeaming, writing thank you notes....

change of plans

i had been psyched for a last, relaxed day of preparation and packing on tuesday but it looks as though we will leave for fort dodge that morning so as to help iva around the house. she broke her arm. packages are wrapped and ready to go.
it meant moving a few details forward but we're essentially ready to go. i need to figure out what clothes to pack and make sure that last load of laundry gets done tomorrow night - nothing too major. i might even get in on some of the holiday hustle and bustle with a grocery run in fd beings we'll be there for such a long time. hope you have a merry christmas.

merry christmas

i obviously missed a trend this year, noticing that the majority of cards we received shared a turquoise and/or green palette.
this is my favorite. it says:
to you and those you love.
from tim and me to you and yours - merry christmas

photo ops

this is for those among us who like to see pictures included in a post.

i delivered my plates of goodies to the neighbors on tuesday and afterword realized that i had missed yet another photo op. the counter looked so festive laden with colorful plates. did i think to take a picture??







when i had my basket loaded ready to play red riding hood on her way out the door did i think to take a picture??




time doesn't permit much more for this morning's post but i will have more ....

whose workshop ??

its beginning to look a lot like christmas.. (hum along)


my favorite embellish
ment- scribbles paint.
a dribble here, a swash there, you never know where it might turn up.
packages are getting wrapped.

cards are ready to be signed and addressed. and if i could get off the computer that just might happen yet tonight. i've updated the garden club website as well as checked in to see who has blogged what, done my emails...
it turned cccccold over night. containers of cookies have been moved to the garage and if it hadn't been so cold and blustery (charlie was actually blown over while in his 3 point stance this morning) i would have assembled and delivered plates to the neighbors today. that will be the plan for after work tomorrow night.
...everywhere you go...(keep humming)

you have to wonder

how much of this is genetic? i refer to distractions.
friday being my day off i had been making plans for the day all week. baking, wrapping, cards, plates for the neighbors, squeeze in a walk with charlie if the weather cooperated. it was going to be a wonderful day. thursday while processing the january martha stewart for the shelves at the library i opened to her feature spread on closets. the closets (that's right - not 1 but 2 closets) look great. tim has been drafted to add a shelf in one. and i have a start on another one with a bag ready for the goodwill. i tweaked a couple drawers as well. i did get some baking done late friday afternoon.

holiday statistics

we narrowly avoided becoming a holiday statistic today. we've all seen variations on the sad story each year.
tim had a 9pm meeting and so the debate was A: go in at the regular time, come home early, go back (something he hates to do) or B: go in late and stay. thankfully he decided on A.
i left for work just before noon and had barely registered an electrical(?)odor in the basement but had run the dryer earlier and passed it off.
tim called me at work around 4:15 to report that

this closet was full of smoke and


this plug on our heater was glowing red and


this outlet was going melty.


i'll let you all follow the train of events to its natural conclusion. and close by saying we are very thankful to have avoided the front page of the gothenburg times.
i will further add that i sure enjoy my 'van gogh of the day' gadget.

3rd annual

this is the library's 3rd annual gingerbread display. i took a call at work the other day from the local tv station and they will be coming on monday to do a spot for their broadcast. the first year i made a horse barn, last year a log cabin and this year it is a lighthouse.
here you have my components,









this is the assembled lighthouse

here it is complete with 'snow' and ready to be delivered to the library

there are swedish red fish frolicking out near the rocks. i have pasta shells, dyed red, for accents along the path and seams of the buildings. if i could have figured out how to make a bird from tootsie rolls there would be a gull perched on a rock somewhere but what i can see in my head and get my fingers to make are sometimes worlds apart.

over the river....

we had a good time up north with the kahls. naphtali took me along to northfield to drop off more of her bags and i can see why she likes carla's shop so much. it is a delightful place. i added a row to the world's longest scarf that customers can knit as they drowse in the very comfy rocker by the front door.
tim did a project for her. charlie had more than his fair share of attention. the food was great, conversation as you wanted it.aidan and i built a gingerbread house complete with mouse doors in the back. home again sunday to get a start on a busy week. we had snow from the cities to des moines but most of the traffic was going either north or east so it went about as fast/well as a 9 1/2 hour drive on a snowy winter day can go...
linden court is celebrating their 10th anniversary in north platte. tim was the dogsbody for those first couple days running several errands, picking up garland, wrapping packages, repotting plants. jack vetter, the owner, will be in town thursday to cap off a week of festivities and food. the mayor is coming out, the local tv station will be on hand. quite the shindig.
garden club met tuesday. i was puttering around the house thinking that i could get plenty done before the 2:00 meeting. i was ready to start a new project around 11:30 thinking that i had just over an hour before i'd have to clean up and get ready to leave when i realized that we were scheduled for 12:30 that day!! i made it. barely. it was so mild that day i did hang my bows on the shutters outside when i came home. my interior decorating has been done in fits and bursts but it is done.
the library is having their annual gingerbread house display and will be the starting place for the tour of homes this sunday. i've got my panels baked, my base is ready, i covered rocks this morning. assembly will start tomorrow for delivery on saturday. pictures will happen in a few days.
here we are, still relatively clean, at work on the ginger
bread house. the kit was actually easy to work with
this is iris and andy, foreign exchange students from the college.

and here you have aidan showing off his tree and a special ornament on the tree upstairs.