Stasia's Place Of Grace

Sunday, December 01, 2002

 

Happy Hanukkah!

We're having a great time celebrating Hanukkah! To see what we've been up to, please click here!

My mother came by for our "big" Hanukkah dinner tonight. It was relaxed and everything went well. I think it is because my family didn't celebrate Hanukkah, so there are no holiday expectations to live up to!

The latkes (potato pancakes) were wonderful and we all ate far too many!

Here is some helpful information on celebrating Hanukkah, and on how to make and use advent wreath.

---

I received a wonderful early Christmas gift this weekend...

A Tasmanian Myrtle Burlwood Nina Spindle!

This is from my dear friends, Linda and Tom Diak of Grafton Fibers. Tom is the maker of these fantastic spindles. I can't say enough good things about them. I love the different shiny finish on this one!

What a wonderful and unexpected surprise! "Hanukkah Claus" was very good to me this year! I was reading an article on Tasmania the day it arrived - how strange is that?

---

I'm grateful to be making some progress in the "present room." I have separate piles made for each "giftee," ready to be wrapped and shipped.

I hope that soon I'll be able to get in our music room and play my recorder again! I'm looking forward to playing holiday songs with Jeff (he plays cello), and I hope that as soon as I'm not ill any more and I won't infect my instruments, I'll be able to pick them up again.

Just have to clear those gifts off the floor first! Thankfully Mom took hers with her when she left tonight.

---

Jeff and I are each making batches of holiday cookies, and we're planning to include some with our families' gift boxes. My nephew even asked me to send some... and how could I refuse a request? Especially when I have all these fun cookie cutters from Downtown Dough to break in!

Jeff also surprised me with a new, big, rock Maple rolling pin from a trip to Williams-Sonoma today (his favorite place!) I can't wait to try it out - it's a vast improvement from the antique pin I was trying to use yesterday. "The right tool for the right job," Jeff always says!

We have made pfefferneuse, gingersnaps, honeycakes, and sugar cookies. I'm going to try Norwegian spice cookies tomorrow if I have the energy, and Jeff's making chocolate crackles now...

I'm grateful that Jeff and I discovered we enjoy baking together. We can't both cook at the same time without arguing over seasonings and stove heat, but baking is relaxing, and fun to share. I think this will become a tradition for us!

---

Fiberarts Progress

• Almost finished with the second front half of Jeff's Grandpa's blue knit Christmas vest. Ready to do the shoulder and neck decreases.

• Making a little progress on the Cranberry Cable Patons Kroy socks. I'm loving doing them... just have been focusing more on the vest due to the Christmas deadline. They are not going quickly, but every stitch of these that I find time to do is enjoyable. I really like this yarn.

• Have not yet finished warping the loom for the Treenway Silks silk scarf kit. Have realized the scarves will not be finished for the holidays, but that's ok... then I don't have to give them away! (Hee hee!)

• Picked up stitches around Jeff's new kippah/yarmulke and ended up crocheting some more rows. It no longer looks like a flat doily, but has a nicely tapered, properly cupped edge. Much better! He now looks like a Jewish man instead of a Catholic woman when he wears it.

• Made a beaded necklace and two beaded ID card holders for my sisters for holiday gifts. Then realized why I gave up jewelry-making a while back... my fingers are not liking working with the little bits and pieces.

  Maybe I will give someone this new collection of beads and findings for a holiday gift, and let them enjoy doing it instead! (Linda, how's that needle felting, by the way? Hee hee!)

  I'm a firm believer in the motto if it ain't fun, don't do it... Life is too short and energy too precious to spend time doing things I don't enjoy. Fortitude is very good in work and education, but dreading a hobby isn't my cup of tea. If you feel the same way, join the AbandonedCrafts Yahoo Group!

---

Currently Reading...

Still trying to finish up Fanny Burney's "Evelina". I like it - it's funny and very Jane Austen-esque - but it's quite long and slow-going. I'm trying to rush through so I can get on to book group books: "Anna Karenina" and "A Prayer For Owen Meany".

I am also reading snippets from "KnitLit", edited by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf (Three Rivers Press). If there's one thing I enjoy more than actually doing fiberarts, it's reading about fiberarts, and this book has some interesting and inspiring tales. My quote of the week comes from page 42:

"There is a difference between fear and danger. You [are] not in any danger. It is only your fear allowing you to believe you [are] in danger."

I need to remember that when I have a panic attack!

---

FMS Progress

After enjoying my book groups so much, I thought I'd try to join a local Fibromyalgia support group.

The local one is apparently now defunct. But, by chance, I received notice of another group at another hospital in the mail this weekend! It's a pretty far drive, and FMS people don't do real well out on cold winter nights, but I will try to get there. I think it would be helpful - along with my continued medical monitoring, therapy sessions, medication, and alternative treatments. Every little bit helps!

I also plan to focus on getting back into my stretching/strengthening routine this week, now that this horrible cold/sinus/throat thing seems to be tapering off a little...

Sleep has not been good lately, so will work on becoming more relaxed in the evenings to encourage better rest and health.

And no more latkes! Greasy, carbo-y food isn't good for me! (But yummy!)

---

Recommended Listening

Jeff got a new CD from "Hannukah Claus." It is "Jacaras: 18th Century Spanish Baroque Guitar Music of Santiago De Murcia". What a mouthfull! But it's a great and very unusual recording and I've enjoyed listening to it all day... until dinner time, when we put on Klezmer music for our Hanukkah feast!

---

I hope you're living in the moment, taking things one day at a time during the busy holiday season, finding some new things to celebrate, making some new traditions, and going with the flow... it makes this time of year so much more enjoyable! Have a wonderful week and be kind to yourself!

Stasia Permalink | Archives | |

		Animal	All Bird Cat Dog Horse Pig Rabbit Reptile Small&Furry	Breed		Zip Code