Lyle Lovett, "Church"

I'm in a groove right now revisiting the music of Lyle Lovett and finding some new- to-me songs that I'm really loving. This one, Church, is so good and reminds me of the days when we had five Littles sitting with us in church asking, "When will church be done? I'm hungry."  Can I get an Amen?

 I made raised-glazed donuts Monday.  It was such a cold, windy day that it was a perfect time to stay close to the stove and fry up some hot donuts.  The coffee was good too.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel...

Wishing you a blessed and joyous Advent!

Tutus, holiday wreaths and Advent...

We had a lovely Thanksgiving and I hope you did too.  The turkey wasn't stuffed, but the rest of us definitely were!  All the kids were here, grandparents and my brothers made it out.  This is the weekend of  leftovers and for that, I am grateful.  We'll gobble them up with gladness.  I plan to make a turkey-noodle soup with homemade noodles for tomorrow's lunch.  I can't wait!

So.....why are there two tutus on my blog?  Because we made them over Thanksgiving to give as gifts.  We girls put our hands to work and came up with pretty pink and white tutus -- one for my 3 year old niece and one for Hazel Peach.  They were so simple to make using instructions from MomdotCom.  We used tulle-on-a-spool which was 6" wide so all we had to do was to cut it in lengths and tie on.  Easy!

 Today daughter-in-love and I got together while HP was napping and made ourselves some Christmas wreaths out of coffee filters.  Another almost-instant-self-gratifying project.  We figured it took us about one hour to make a wreath.

Various instructions call for a styro wreath base or a straw-filled wreath, but we made ours with cardboard circles.  I traced around a 10" dinner plate and then used a small bowl to trace out the center.  Cardboard bases are very easy to work with.  One thing we figured out after our first wreath was to put a row of rosettes on the back of the base first and then fill in the top of the wreath by going around the outside first and working inward.  In the picture above, I had the wreath completely filled and and decided to put the extra layer on back so I took the picture to show you how it was done.  The second wreath below is made from an 8" piece of cardboard as the base.  The smaller size is really cute.  I added bows to mine, but you could just loop a pretty piece of ribbon on back to hang the wreath. 

We found the idea on The Nester and I highly recommend that you go look at some of the other projects she has made with coffee filters.  I love the light pendant and think it would be fabulous for a wedding.   There is a rectangle-shaped wreath on Pleasures of Homemaking that I think you'll like too.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent.  Our family has always taken time to reflect upon The Coming of Christ by observing Advent.  I like to burn a special candle or make an Advent wreath with candles to light every night as we read our devotion or sing a hymn.  One of our favorite books to use is Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader.  The daily readings are interesting and the book comes with a CD which includes selections from Handel's Messiah that go with each reading.   When the children were Littles, we used Family Celebrations by Ann Hibbard.  Back then, I made all the felt symbols that went along with each daily devotion and the kids put one of them on our tree each night.

This weekend I ordered some sweet Advent Calendars for the Littles in my life.  Did you ever have an Advent calendar that counted down the days till Christmas?  I loved them!  I remember some from my childhood that had small chocolate candies behind each numbered square and some calendars had pictures behind the windows.  I found this Advent calendar on sale!  Perhaps you made a paper chain that helped you to count down the days to Christmas?  Such anticipation and excitement.

Wishing you all peace and joy as you prepare your homes and hearts for Christmas.

Tea experiment....

A couple of days ago, I mention that I love Masala Chai tea.  Since my Rishi Masala tin is near empty and the nearest seller of my tea is two hours away, I decided to make my own blend.  I went to my health food store which carries lots of nice herbs and spices in bulk, and bought the spices and the loose China Black Tea I wanted to make my own mix.  I was looking for whole green cardamom, but only found cardamom seeds which would have to do.  

On the plate and moving clockwise starting with the cinnamon sticks at the bottom, whole star anise, cardamom seed, dried ginger, whole cloves, peppercorn.  In the middle is the black tea.

I really had to fiddle around with amounts to put in my mason jar.  My first cup of tea was pretty good, but I think it needs more umph.  Maybe I should make my tea in small batches like this recipe:

Chai Masala Tea

I think with tea mixes like I'm trying to create, you don't always get a good dose of each and every spice when you scoop it into your tea ball.  More experimenting is in order through these cold days.

For a high today, 8 degrees with 20 mph winds

I went out to feed the chickens and that was all!
It's frigid.

Young buck...

 Look who I saw nibbling in the snow-covered flower bed in the backyard?

This young white-tail buck deer was all business about eating what was below the snow.

Even though not fully grown, he's majestic and beautiful.  Around these parts we must guard against the deer.  If you look in the background, you see a round piece of fence and two steel posts.  It is protecting a young tree from bucks such as this one.  They love to rub and scrape their antlers on trees and they sometimes eat young trees too.  Deer are browsers and will give most anything a nibble.  One year the deer moved in so thick and ate everything down to the nubbins.  They ate all the flowers, pulled up carrots, ate the potted geraniums on the front porch, and even ate my rhubarb--leaves and all-- and here they've always told us rhubarb leaves are poisonous.  Not so for the deer I guess.  They tend to gather in hay corrals in the winter and lay on the hay and leave their scat there to soil it.  And of course, they like to eat the hay that we have reserved especially for our livestock. Sometimes we end up sharing whether we want to or not.

Despite all this, I still think they are beautiful creatures, and I like to watch them all through the year.

Cattle & Cold....

 

Herd Bulls await a bucket of alfalfa cake.

 

Cows coming  out for their cake.

The days are turning colder and colder.  This morning it was a meager 6 degrees as we headed out to feed the cows.  The sky was beautifully bright and blue and the air was brisk.  

We are expecting single digit temperatures tonight with windchill temperatures as low as -10.

And snow.

About 4-5 inches of snow overnight.

For comfort, I'm building fires in the wood stove and lighting candles.  I like the hazelnut candle best.  It seems any type of flame makes the home feel more cozy and warm.

Lately I'm drinking more hot tea and trying to keep it herbal (Stash Lemon-Ginger) since I don't need the extra caffeine of my favorite drink, strong fresh-ground coffee or my second favorite, chai black tea.  I really like the Rishi Teas and so far, my favorite chai is Rishi Masala.  Add some hot milk and a tiny bit of honey and you've got something good in your hands.  It makes a nice dessert!  What's your favorite wintertime drink?

Around home...

 I've been seeing and hearing this Northern Flicker (red shafted)  around the bird feeders the last week or so.  He nibbles on the seeds that fall on the ground.  Normally, I see him picking bugs from the trees but I suppose gathering seeds and bugs from the ground is easier picking. 

 He's showing off his red mustache and black neck tie.

 There, now we've seen him from three angles.  Isn't he handsome?

 Who needs toys?  

Spruce cones are great fun to count, "One, two, six, sefen, nine..."  

I have very few "real toys" but my Peach likes the real stuff that we have around the house.  Wouldn't you like to count soft spruce cones into a yogurt cup?  Or lay them straight on your blankie?  

Earthy-Gram likes natural things like cones, dirt, and garden carrots to share with her grandkids.

Hoot!

Another owl project happened just last night after I visited Cassie at You Go Girl.  She always has the cutest stuff to share and this Hoot Owl is no exception.  The free pattern comes from Juicy Bits.  I increased the pattern size on my copier to 150% just as Cassie suggested.  I really want to make a few more of these.  They're fun to stitch on these long, dark evenings.

Pine cone fire starters and more....

 Talk about your recycled project!

The pine cones were free for the taking at the golf course, the candle wick I had in a box of candle making  stuff , and the wax was recycled from the paraffin wax bath that Hubs uses for his arthritic hands.  It was time to change the wax for the season, but instead of throwing it away, I dipped cones.  It worked perfectly.  I found the idea for fire starters here.  It really is fairly easy to do except that the pine cones have very sharp bracts that you must watch for as you thread the wick around the inside of the cone.  I added a sprinkling of clear glitter to some of the cones just as they came out of the wax dip. Won't a basket of pine cones wrapped in cellophane be a pretty gift?

 I had to experiment with the dipped cones to see if they would  light easily and burn.  

Yes, they did!

I received my Cath Kidston "Dec the Halls" catalog today and guess what?  It had USA prices and a Cath Kidston USA website to order from!  Talk about thrilling!  The CK fabrics are still WAY overpriced for my budget, but it's fun to think I can actually shop this catalog and get a chunk of that fabric without doubling the price of  British pounds to US dollars.  No international shipping either!  Woo Hoo!

Don't you just love Cath Kidston's vintage Christmas look?  The paper, the bows, the tags?  Be sure to check out the holiday wrap and spot ribbon on the drum!

How about making a magnetic paper doll set?
Stop by and see the Betsy McCall Paper Dolls for inspiration.
  Take the kids or the grands along with you and don't forget your scissors. 

 Just one more thing....
Look at these cute mittens made with a recycled wool sweater.  Just launder a thrifted, wool sweater, dry on high heat, and shrink it down so it is felted.  Then cut and sew!
Full instructions are by Waxwing over at Craftser.

Smile....

The wee folk now has a face.

She has a smile.

SMILE!

Feed my sheep....

 "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Lord, You know that I love you."

"Feed My lambs."

"Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"

"Yes, Lord, You know that I love You."

"Shepherd My sheep."

 "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"

"Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you."

"Feed My sheep."

 

(Excerpt from John 21:15-17, NKJV Bible)