Luffa Love

Okay, Petunia readers, I can't hide this one away over on the Veg blog! I had a blast peeling my luffa. Check it out here!

Christmas Dinner

The tables were set.


The vegetables were simmering.


And then mom started cranking out the potatocakes! (Mom is a little mortified that she's on my blog wearing an Eagles sweatshirt. Mom was nicely dressed when she arrived, but we gave her a sweatshirt to wear when she got cold.) I wish we'd kept track of how many potatocakes she cooked. I think I ate about a dozen, and my nephew wasn't far behind.

Christmas dinner is served.

Toasty

Among the things on my mom's Christmas list this year were some new flannel nightgowns. I already had four and a half yards of flannel, so it only made sense to make her one--right? Um...err....

First I had a problem with Simplicity 9012. The pattern layout shows the sleeve pieces cut on doubled 45-inch-wide fabric. Half of 45 inches is 22 and a half, right? So how am I supposed to fit a 23 inch sleeve onto that? Good thing I hadn't cut anything yet.

Instead, I switched to a unisex nightshirt pattern (a Simplicity So Easy that's out of print). Technically, it was pretty easy, but I'm not used to sewing with so much fabric, and I had trouble even finding a place big enough to lay everything out. After much grumbling and stalling, everything was cut, and it went together easily. I even had a scrap big enough to sew a little stocking cap!

Mom loved it and even wore it to bed last night. She told me she only wore the cap while she was reading, which cracked me up, because I really only made it as a joke!

Once I finished, I said, "Never again," but seeing how much mom liked it? I think I've changed my mind.

'Twas the Night Before

Isabella is unfazed by Christmas. For her, it's all about the warm lights on the tree and a new place to watch the world go by.

Pixies, Elves, and Gnomes

A chorus line of pixies.


A sassy elf (?) with a Christmas tree hat (?).


And a comely gnome dated 1979.


I'm still working on the tree and coming across all my favorites--yes, they are ALL my favorites. We may need a bigger tree soon!

Christmas Shopping Shoes

One Fish, Two Fish

Red fish, blue fish.

Christmas Finery

Yuck! What a ghastly picture! But that's only the"before" shot, so maybe the ghastlier the better. Oh well. Months ago, I found this skirt at the thrift shop. It was too warm to think about velvet, so I threw it in the refashion basket and forgot about it. Thursday, I realized this is prime time for velvet skirts, so I better get busy!


Not only was the skirt too long, but it also had an impossibly small waist. Chopping off the top several inches took care of both problems.


Next I sewed up the side slit, which was no longer needed. (Or advisable at the new length!) To keep everything nice and tidy, I picked the stitches out of the hem too, and then sewed everything back up. Wow, there was a ton of lint in there!

Then, to get it back into shape, I used a pattern as a guideline to make new darts in the front and back. A new zipper, some shaping at the sides, and then I finished it off with purple ribbon around the waist.


And there you have it! Now will someone please invite me to a Christmas party?

Googly Eyes and Sequins

We had a very elaborate Christmas last year, so I wanted to dial it back this year. I flirted with the idea of a simply decorated live tree, but a) I didn't want to spend the money and b) I knew I'd miss seeing all my favorite ornaments.

Looking around, I think I may be the only blogger in the world with a fake tree. I'll admit, it's not quite the same as a fragrant fir, but it does have its advantages.

It's easy to set up.
It never dries out.
No allergic reactions (Gerry) or cases of poison ivy (me).
The lights are already on (although I would like colored lights again sometime soon).
No worries about cutting down some critter's home.
I can bend the branches anywhere I want, and they're strong enough to hold heavy ornaments.
There's lots of room for lots of ornaments.
It was really cheap.


So I went with the fake, the decorating has begun, and I'll share some of my favorite ornaments with you over the next few days. Oh, who am I kidding? They're all my favorites!

1957

Fifty one years ago, my husband's mother and father left Ireland with their two children. They left several boxes of belongings behind in a relative's attic. The boxes were repacked sometime in the Seventies and moved twice.


Earlier this month, we got to explore those boxes.


Among other things, we found several toys, which we brought back to the States with us, to return to their original owner.

First Sign of Christmas

Since I'm so far ahead on my Christmas shopping and decorating (cough cough), I decided to take some time today to get crafty.

Ger and I saw a Nollaig Shona banner in the window of a shop in Bray. We asked about it inside, hoping they could tell us where they bought it, but they told us they'd had it for at least twenty years. Never fear, I said, I'll make one.

My plans almost derailed when I got to the craft store and couldn't find any loose sheets of paper in the colors/patterns I wanted. The closest I could find was a giant, 180 sheet pad of Christmas designs. Rather than chase around to the other craft stores, I decided to go with it.

I was going to cut all the letters, using a computer font as a pattern, but they had packages of die cut, glittery letters on clearance, so I saved myself some trouble and used them.



I'd forgotten I even had a few pairs of scissors in my drawer that do fancy cuts. I really like that giant zig zag! The hardest part of this project, was trying not to get too picky about things. The ovals were all cut freehand, which, for me, was a big step in loosening up!

Pages

It doesn't pay to procrastinate! Since my last list...

Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zemser: (young adult) Not really what I expected. A little too quirky for my tastes.

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott: My library was discarding a duplicate copy, and I'd never read it, so I gave it a try, even though I wasn't too keen on Little Women. Turns out, I liked the male version better. Probably because it wasn't as sappy!

Evans to Betsy by Rhys Bowen: Still working on that Evan Evans series! Haven't tired of them yet!

Hard Gold by Avi: A juvenile fiction book about the Colorado gold rush. Kids often come into the library needing a historical fiction book, so I previewed this one. It's a good length for kids, seems to be historically accurate, and has pictures sprinkled throughout, so I think it's a winner!

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson: It took me a while to warm up to this, but it turned out to be good. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith would probably like it, as it's set in Africa and has a similar tone.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream by Adam Shepard: I think this was supposed to refutation of Nickel and Dimed, but it didn't work for me. The guy left home with $25 in his pocket to see if he could make it. Okay, he reached his goals, but he was living in a homeless shelter. I have trouble calling that a success.

The Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont: This is one of those prep school books that's tinged with darkness and danger...sort of like The Secret History. Liked it.

Her Mother's Shadow by Diane Chamberlain: Really really predictable, but not bad. I've enjoyed other Chamberlain books more.

Clubbed to Death by Elaine Viets: Part of the Dead-End Job series of mysteries. They're just fluff mysteries, but I've enjoyed all of the books in the series.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson: (juvenile fiction) Excellent book about slavery and the American Revolution. I'm not sure how much it would appeal to the ages for which it's intended, but I really enjoyed it.

And some books I bought for ten cents each and took along on vacation. All of them mysteries, none of them outstanding:

Auntie Mayhem by Mary Daheim
Visions of Sugarplums by Janet Evanovich (I don't understand the popularity of Evanovich.)
Under Orders by Dick Francis

Don't You Think Daisies are the Friendliest Flower?

PayPal is kind of a weird thing. I have some money in there from my etsy sales, but for some reason it doesn't seem real. So in a moment of self-indulgence, I decided to take $10, look around on etsy, and just blow it on something frivolous. Well, if you've ever tried to just browse on etsy, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed. Should I get a piece of jewelry? Some lovely soap? Or a funky stuffed ornament? How about a radish doll necklace? Okay okay, see what I mean about getting out of hand?

Then I landed on a listing for yarn daisies. Something about that pink and red daisy just reeled me in. And only thirty five cents? I had to have some of these daisies. For ten bucks I could get a whole pile and PLAY with them! Now we're talking!

I ordered these before we left for vacation, so I've had LOTS of time to think about what to make with them. Some of the ideas are Christmasy, but Christmas is still ages away (please let me believe that), so here are some everyday ideas to start with.


Sewing one on a hat couldn't be any easier. Heck, a safety pin would do the trick.


Or dress up a scarf with a cluster of flowers at one end. I thought that had kind of an Anthropologie vibe. Checking their website, I found two scarves with applied flowers, albeit in more muted tones, but I'm working with what I have, and I asked for BRIGHT daisies!



How about lining them up on a velvet pillow?


Or along the top of a curtain?


One idea suggested by Eileen's parents is to use them to mark your luggage. Sure beats a piece of red ribbon!


Of course you could always make an updated version of your childhood bicycle basket!

For Christmas...well, you'll just have to wait and see what else I've thought of! But how about you? Any ideas I've missed? If you'd like to play with your own pile of daisies, you can order them from rsiefker's shop. Here's a little more info about the daisy maker:

Hi! I am Eileen Siefker and am 35 years old. I have been developmentally disabled since birth. I work at our local Goodwill store but in my spare time, I enjoy making daisies from yarn. I have been doing this for several years and my Dad says I have to do something with the hundreds of daisies I have made! I enjoy country music and bowling when I am not making daisies.

Wild and Wooly

Wow, my to-do list is a mile long. I keep thinking it might be time to acknowledge the approach of Christmas, but there are so many other little things to do first. The first two things off my list are a few minor refashions.

First, a wrap skirt that was just a little too big. This was one of last year's thrift store finds. I loved the plaid and loved the colors, so I bought it, hoping I could make it wearable just by moving the button and hook. Thankfully, that's all it took, so another skirt joins the others in the closet.

ETA: I'm always sort of disappointed when people don't include pictures of the finished product, so I took a quick pic of the skirt, even though it's sort of boring and just another plaid, wool skirt. Don't look if it's too boring!


Next is a sweater refashion inspired by a picture in a Cath Kidston book. Her version was in softer colors, but it was basically a cardigan with some fabric sewn on the placket and the elbows. I decided I had to have one, so I went to the thrift shop in search of a sweater. Well, pickings were slim, and the best I could do was a brass-buttoned refugee from the Eighties, but it was merino wool and in good shape (and cheap), so I bought it.

Off came the buttons.


On went a placket. The elbow patches were a nice idea, but I couldn't get them to come out the way I wanted, so I skipped them.


And then the sweater sat for a few months, waiting for new buttons.

Finally, this morning, I dumped out the button jar and found nine matching buttons. I don't think I realized until today how much I hate sewing on buttons. That's supposed to be a basic skill, right?


Basic it may be, but I think I had trouble with every single button. Either I couldn't make a decent knot, or I went in when I should've been going out, or I stabbed myself with the needle, or or... Ah, it's finished.



It's nice and warm, too, which is important when you're living in an igloo.

A Paltry Selection of Vacation Pictures

I always say I'm going to take tons of pictures when we're on vacation, then I get home and realize I've taken, like, twelve. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Here are a few I took in Arklow and Gorey. First we stopped off at a newsagent's to pay our M50 bridge toll.


Then we strolled the streets of Arklow, stopping in at a few charity shops. I only found one treasure, a little stuffed Garda doll, now christened Ambrose Egan.


Gerry eyed up the Wicklow legs of lamb in the window of the butcher shop. Auntie Helen cooked one for him the next day.


More piles of potatoes outside at the greengrocer's.


And the distinctive shape of the Irish Christmas trees.

Then onto Gorey, where we stopped at King Cod for fish and chips and mushy peas.




And finally a stroll through Gorey with a stop to buy one of our favorite Christmas puddings.