catch up

I'm adding lots of new stuff to the store today, but had to take a little break to get a drink and view a couple of the blogs I read.

I was going to post pictures of my disappointing needles, recently won on eBay, but that will have to wait until later. I just read something astounding and want to share.

Did you know that consumers saved more than 19 BILLION dollars on eBay last year? Well, I didn't either, but you can read about it here.

Ya'll know I sell on eBay, so I try to keep up with what's happening there. And I buy lots of stuff there--things I know I'll never find in stores, like my very favorite knitting needles that are no longer made. But I was just blown away to discover that you and I have been saving so much--and I'd like to give us a little online pat-on-the-back for being such good shoppers!

Meanwhile, I started a lace project out of some wonderful Cherry Tree Hill Cascade silk yarn, in the Spring Frost colorway. I'll post a couple pictures soon (along with those knitting needles)--
but first, I have to untangle the mess that my Bungee made of it this afternoon. (That's Bungee in the picture--sorry about the Children of the Corn eyes--helping me take down the Christmas tree.)

When I went out to the kitchen on my little break, I found a bread crumb trail of thin yarn. It led to Bungee, who was running around the house with my newly cast-on lace in his mouth. This explains why all my yarn is stored in a room with a closed door that has a scratched away patch of carpet in front of it. (He doesn't bother other closed doors on closets, etc.,--only the room where he knows there is yarn. He is a devil.)

Somehow, in what must be a talent only a yarn-obsessed cat possesses, Bungee managed to pull my stowed away project out of the ornate grid on the front of the cabinet where I hide it every night. It's not fair.

My cat is smarter than I am.

belated

Grandson #1 with his Never-Go-Anywhere-Without-Him pal Cisco. Decked out for Christmas.

May I be the last to wish you a Happy New Year!

And apologies on being MIA on the blogfront! I rarely get a cold or any kind of bug. But about once a decade some virus hits me and makes up for lost time. This was my year.

I think I told you that my grandsons always spend the week after Christmas at my house before they have to go back to school. Apparently all the holiday bustle and after-Christmas Chuckie Cheesing and ice-skating weakened my usually hearty immune system. Right after they left, the BIG BUG jumped into the void, and I've been a fixture on the couch for a week and a half. Periodically trying to do a little knitting, or raising myself to do a few errands, only to end up wiped out and back to square one. I could barely force myself to move, let alone blog about our Christmas grandeur or the fun with the boys.

So here are some pictures I've been saving to blog about--with severely abbreviated comments and my best wishes for the new year.



My two kids, and the proudest achievements of my life. As different as night and day--but both wonderful, both so beautiful and perfect to me. I am in awe of the adults they have become, and am humbled and so ever grateful that they were granted to me.













A small part of the merry-makers. And yes, I do leave dishes until the next day. Christmas here is all about Christmas Eve (thank you, Daddy), when presents are opened and the party begun after a traditional oyster stew dinner.

(We enjoy adult beverages, as you can see.) In fact, when a brand new, unopened bottle of wine was dropped on the ceramic tile floor of my kitchen, I was the only one with the presence of mind to remember 'Glass!' and keep others from licking it up.

Missing here are the hysterical pictures of my daughter and my niece, her cousin, the same age except for a month. One year when they were small little girls, they decided to bedeck each other in Christmas bows after presents were opened. It has become a tradition. (If you look closely at the picture of my daughter and her brother above, you can see a green ribbon that she put over his head, trying to involve him in the festivities. He refuses to take part in the 'wearing of the bows on your head' ceremony.) The pictures were entirely too blurry to see what was happening, because I was laughing too hard.

Also missing is the picture of the socks I finished that night. As an illustration of a 'picture is worth a thousand words', they clearly demonstrate my new rule about why you don't kitchener stitch toes if you can't remember how many glasses of wine you've had.

Hope your Christmas was as joyous, and that your new year is filled with blessings.