New Clothes

COLD DOGS

Here I am, in Sarasota....it's beautiful here. Chamber of Commerce weather as they say. It was a little nippy this morning which will explain a lot about this post. As you may know, my mother has two dogs, Maggie (a Shih-Tzu) and McGregor (a Yorkie.....shhhhh don't tell him about his ears.) Little dogs get cold when it's cold outside. They both tremble and shake and just seem miserable. Since neither one has a.) Learned how to use a litter box like their much wiser former roommate Misty; or b.) figured out how to use the human facilities, they must go outside on a regular basis, cold or not; rain or not; heat or not. So, this morning, my mother decided the pups needed their sweaters on for their morning walk. McGregor is all about the walk. He doesn't really care if it's cold or not, if it's time to walk, we better be going. He sets the direction, the pace and he's just not stopping for much of anything. His nose is pointed forward and off he goes. Maggie on the other hand, really would prefer to be carried for her walk. She doesn't like getting her paws wet or her belly cold, or really being inconvenienced in any way. So, putting on a sweater is just more trauma than she can bear. The sweater she previously owned (up until around noon today) just didn't quite fit her anymore. Her body is a little longer than the sweater so she couldn't get her back legs through their holes anymore. It was definitely time for a new one. So, this is what she got:

It's a lovely little, light sweater with just enough sequins to make a girl feel special. This is totally lost on Maggie. She is Paralyzed by her sweater. It's way too restrictive, and she can not possible be expected to walk with this thing on. As you can see, McGregor is giving it the once over to make sure it's safe for Maggie to wear. (He's quite the protective older brother, you know.) Maggie was not at all pleased with having to bear the indignity of wearing a sweater. I'm sure she will appreciate it when it is in the 40's again when it comes time for her morning walk.

As you can see below, sibling rivalry is not just for humans. McGregor seems to be a bit peeved at the lack of any new items for him.

CHRISTMAS RECAP

Christmas was very quiet. Mom and I went to church on Christmas Eve. The Incarnation Folk Group did an amazing job with the music. It was very nice. It was a little melancholy for me because I really miss singing with that group. Since moving to California, I have discovered that there really aren't any churches that have a contemporary or folk choir. The Contemporary/Folk groups that sing at Mass are paid for their services. Anyway, I enjoyed singing with the Church of the Incarnation folk group and I missed it this year. Mom was really under the weather with a cold and felt miserable. We had a nice dinner on Christmas Eve, and then opened gifts.

She's really not well in this picture. However, she is my mother and she refuses to allow herself to be sick. It's sort of like if she ignores it, it will go away. Well, she had to work on Christmas Day and she really was not feeling much better. It was a long 12 hour shift for her and she was done for by the time she got home.

Tuesday, she was in deep denial that she was sick however, she was not able to do a whole lot so she laid pretty low.

She has made a good recovery and is back at about 3/4 speed. She's busy and that's good for her........

It's Beginning to (FEEL) a Lot Like Christmas.....

BRRRRRRRRRRRR.....It's southern California and it's in the 50"s outside.....what's THAT all about? I know better than to complain a great deal because I have a lot of friends and family that live in places that will be much colder with great deals of precipitation in the coming weeks. So, I'll move on.


Holiday Baking....

There's not a lot of it going on but I did make my usual Hot Fudge Ice Cream Sauce and Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sauce this past weekend. It turned out good again. For such a simple recipe, it packs a big punch. I only made two big batches of each this year. It's a lot more manageable making it for 20 than it is for 100.

They sure are yummy!

San Diego Wild Animal Park

On Sunday, I traveled to south to see the holiday lights at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (a branch of the San Diego Zoo.) The lights were very festive and the kids around us seemed to be having fun. Of course, I didn't get any pictures of those but here are a few of some of the animals I saw. It was pretty cold so many of the animals weren't out. I think they may have discovered they weren't in Africa anymore.

Here are some Gorilla's. They were cold.

There were pink flamingo's.....there's a brown one too but I don't think he (she) was in the right pond.

Some Knitting and Crocheting Updates.

I finished my sister's dress! It is so very soft. She has a great picture of it on her blog. The dress was such a hit at the office that one of my co-workers wants one so I'll get to make it again. I'm one of those weird folks that I love making things for other people as long as it is something I like to make. Now if I could just figure out why I have such an aversion to making sweaters, I'd be happy.

On the Log Cabin front, I have two more squares to do. I have been thinking about the layout of them and how to put them together with a border. I think I will actually knit the border on the outside squares and then do a three needle bind off to put them all together.

I saw the Knitty Gritty episode a few weeks ago where they showed how to do a Moebius. I was very intrigued by that and have been struggling for 4 months trying to figure out what the two skeins of SeaSilk want to be. It has tried to be many different things and right now it's resting. It has been knit and unknit so many times......

Only 6 more shopping days till Christmas. I think I'm done shopping but you never know. Be careful out there.

Christmas Magic

Feel free to copy and paste, change the answers and send by email to your friends or post on your blog:

NAME: Mary Pat
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa leaves the unwrapped gifts in the same room as the tree. There were always too many of us for the gifts to go under the tree. He was very organized and would put our stockings on top of the pile of our presents so we knew what belonged to us.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? The tree goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Mashed potatoes

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I loved it when my grandparents would arrive for the Christmas holiday and we would help them get all the wrapped gifts out of the trunk of the car and put them under the tree.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes. It started when I was a kid that we would only open gifts from the Aunts and Uncles on Christmas Eve. Over time, it progressed to opening all the wrapped gifts on Christmas Eve and the stockings and gifts from Santa would appear on Christmas morning. Later I found out that my Dad was the instigator and the one who really wanted to open all the gifts.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, a little garland, and special, unique ornaments only....no icicles or tinsel

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Having lived in Florida and now Southern California for the past 16 years, I'm not so much a fan of the snow. I would like it for one day and then only if I was inside. I don't want to drive in it, scrape it off a windshield or get wet feet from walking in slushy snow.

12. Can you ice skate? No. I went once when I was a teenager. It took me 90 minutes to get around the rink once and that was it.....I hung up my skates forever...

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A couple of the more recent ones are a watercolor from my father and yarn that my nephew hand dyed.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I love spending the time with family, cooking, telling stories, opening gifts. I also really like that people are just a little nicer to each other at this time of year.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin Walnut Cheesecake

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Having a really nice dinner on Christmas eve and then opening presents.

17. What tops your tree? A star

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Most of the time, giving. But receiving is nice too.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night

20. Candy Canes... Yuck or Yum? I'm a little ambivalent about this one. If I'm going to have a candy cane it needs to be a regular red and white peppermint one.....no funky flavors or colors for me.

21. What is your favorite Christmas movie? Holiday Inn followed by Santa Claus: The Movie, Christmas in Connecticut and the original Natalie Wood version of Miracle on 34th Street.


Merry Christmas!