Epiphany Carol Sing

For many years now, we have hosted a carol sing on or near Epiphany, January 6, the date in the church calendar that celebrates the arrival of the Wise Men or Magi to see Jesus.  When we were first married, we had a sing at the beginning of Advent, but after a few years it seemed people were busier in early December.  So we decided to move our event to the end of the Christmas season, and it has been quite successful.  Guests mention how much they look forward to coming and singing carols one last time.  I used to make several kinds of cookies and treats for this party rather than before Christmas; now most guests bring something to put on the table, so I don't make as much.  This year I made date nut pinwheels, pecan pie slices, and white chocolate spiced brownies.  Thursday night I made cranberry nut brunch cake to take to a potluck on Friday, a meet-and-greet for church staff and council members to meet the pastoral candidate for Trinity.  Only one or two slices were eaten, so the cake was added to our party table last night.  E and es joined us; ec slept through it.  Several people had been ill, so the singing was a bit soft, but still enthusiastic.

I really can't recall if we had a party the year Sarah was born.  The old calendar shows "sing?" on December 7, and I don't see anything on the weekend of January 3 and 4, so it looks like maybe we didn't have one that Christmas season.  It was a hard time, with Randy out of work and sick, our rental house on the market and me 9 months pregnant.  A party may have seemed like just too much work.  We hope to celebrate Epiphany next year in our remodeled house!

A day off

The sky is gray today, and fog lingers over the bay.  This morning Randy and I went to REI to get me a pair of waterproof shoes for walking in the rain, assuming we have any this season.  I have rain pants and jacket but no shoes to keep my feet dry.  These new ones look like they will do the trick.

Yesterday K watched the children while E and I went to Famous Dave's BBQ for lunch, then spent a couple of hours in her office/sewing room.  She worked on the second lumbar pillow for Clay and Cait's camper while I tried different layouts for the quilt blocks using the challenge fabric for our quilt guild.  I would never have bought this fabric so it is a challenge, but I found some orphan blocks from a previous project and they go together pretty well.  The light print in the upper left and the lower right corners is the challenge fabric; color balance isn't quite right in the photo.  I "fussy cut" the fabric to feature flowers in the upper block and the wheels in the lower one.  Next, I need to keep rearranging until it suits me, then stitch them together.  A finished project is required in order to be included in the judging next month.

Now I'm on my way to Kohl's to spend my Kohl's cash, then I expect to begin the process of making date nut pinwheels for our Epiphany carol sing Saturday night.  E must go into the City for meetings the next three days, so I possibly will have longer days with both children; es is on vacation from her preschool all week.

Happy New Year!

Some people like to choose a focus word for the year, like "mindful" or "smile" or something.  I find it difficult to choose just one, so I guess I will be without focus in 2018!  Perhaps "breathe" would be a good one, reminding me to slow down and take it easy.  Or "listen," which I will need to do as we continue to work on the house project.  Or "today" to remind me there's no guarantee of tomorrow.

We managed to stay up till midnight to see in the new year.

2017 Review

This year I have knit 6 1/2 pairs of socks; I gave two pairs to Cynthia and kept these for myself.  I really enjoy the feel of these lightweight wool socks and wear them often.  You can see that the unfinished pair uses a different design, one with a basket weave.

I finished two quilts in 2017.  This one is "Soul Searching," the one below is "Fractured."  These are the names of the patterns; perhaps I will give each one a more personal title.








As to my resolutions for this year, I met some but not others.  1.  I continue to try to improve my eating habits and walk more.
2.  I have read more non-fiction; last year 13% of my books were NF, this year 17% are.  Not a huge increase but some.  My goal is still 25%.
3.  Blogging continues on a regular basis.
4.  As to quilting goals, so-so success.  I did finish these two, but still have one top that needs quilting.  And I didn't do Sarah's quilt or one for donation.  Maybe in 2018.
5.  I visited Dad three times.
6.  I visited Sarah and Erik for a bridal shower, then we went to San Diego for their wedding.
7.  Meeting a friend for lunch or another activity has been easy to accomplish.

In summary, 3, 5, 6 and 7 were fully met; the others were only partially met, so I will keep working on them!

Sorting

Cynthia told me the other day that they have already packed 34 boxes as they get ready to move in April or May.  They've made numerous trips to Goodwill, sold (or donated) a couch and chair, cleaned out a closet or two.  What an inspiration she is!  I wish she could come out here and help me!  E encourages me in my effort to de-clutter; she is very good at looking honestly at "things" and marking them as unnecessary.  I'm not sure why it's so hard for me, why I cling to objects don't use any more.  Yesterday afternoon I worked in my sewing room, sorting fabrics and patterns.  But there's a long way to go.

More sorting of fabric happened this afternoon, clearing off the cutting table so I could begin work on the challenge for the quilt guild.  Our house plants are all in my workroom so James won't nibble on them and throw up, so it's even more crowded than usual.  Last night I recycled some quilt patterns, most of them black and white copies not color.  While they apparently appealed to me years ago, seeing them without color leaves me blah.  There are so many quilts on my want-to-make list now, I don't need to go back twenty years and add old ones.

Good dinner tonight:  roast chicken (on sale for 78 cents a pound at Safeway), dressing, gravy and Brussells sprouts.  And I made two loaves of bread this afternoon.  That's one thing I miss when I'm watching the children all day at their house, being able to cook.  Perhaps I could if they were here; after all, I cooked when our girls were little.  I guess I feel ec still needs lots of supervision, and there might be a bit of "they're not mine, so I'd better be careful."  Boy, that sounds strange, but could it be?

Boxing Day

Christmas dinner tasted delicious!  E and es made a lot of Parmesan Breadstick Candy Canes, maybe twenty-four, and we ate all but two.  The lasagna and broccoli were well-received, even by es.  One funny story--after I finished my breakfast early on Christmas, I took out the ingredients for Strawberry Salad, only to discover the bag of frozen fruit was not strawberries as I expected but rather raspberries.  I certainly was not in the mood to go out looking for an open grocery store.  What to do?  For some reason I had a box of sugar-free raspberry Jello in the cupboard, so I took a chance (using my intelligence guided by experience, as Nero Wolf frequently told Archie) and simply substituted raspberries for strawberries.  The result was a bit tart but still very good.  The raspberry seeds added texture.  I think Joann liked seeing the children and interacting with them a little.  She has no grandchildren.

After eating we FaceTimed with Grandpa-Great, then opened the few gifts under the tree.  EKee went home to pack before heading south for "second Christmas."  By 7:00 I was drifting in and out on the couch, so we nixed the idea of watching a new DVD and went to bed early, at least I did.  Randy stayed up a while.

Tuesday morning I practiced a bit and dried clothes at EK's.  Then we went to Dena's for a Boxing Day feast.  I had expected just six of us, but eleven people enjoyed an afternoon of prime rib and Yorkshire pudding with roasted vegetables.  And of course lots of appetizers--cheeses, crab dip, crackers, Brie in puff pastry.  Cheese cake and stollen ended the meal.  Home by seven, and then we did watch the new movie, "Remember the Night," with Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, an improbable but fun holiday story about a district attorney and a shoplifter.

Merry Christmas!

Saturday morning I went to the church, eager to see if the piano had been fixed.  While it is indeed much much better, it does not sound as good as it did before the damper problem last week, so I will have the technician return.  I practiced organ, preparing for Christmas Eve services, then we met at EK's to discuss layout drawings from our contractor.  After lunch I made my annual Cherry Almond Wreath, a sweet bread full of red and green candied cherries and almonds, and Randy and I have eaten at least half already.  Yesterday I played for three services:  the normal Sunday morning service, the family service at 5:00, and the 9:00 service with choir. EKee and Randy attended the 5:00 which included two songs by the new community children's choir (es is ready to sign up), two short children's sermons, and two saxophone pieces by one of the boys, as well as the traditional carols and candlelight "Silent Night."  The church was not quite packed, but more came than to the later service.   Randy had hoped to sing in the choir but his cold prevented that.  Home by 10:30 or so.

Randy and I are fighting colds; he's been sick a month now, I've had mine less than a week.

This morning we will decorate our tree, I hope, and perhaps put the angels on the piano.  I haven't done much decorating this year, and the box of Christmas cards is still sitting on the table.Why?  I've just had a lot of other things to do, and with Randy not sleeping well I'm not sleeping enough either, so my energy level is low.  EKee and neighbor Joann will join us for lasagna, broccoli, strawberry salad, breadsticks and peppermint ice cream.  Then EK and children will drive down to see K's family and participate in a wedding.  Looks like James will stay with us while they are away.