Post Christmas Post

This post is as much for my own benefit as for anyone who may choose to read this. 😉 Time to process the last couple of days and clear my head for the days to come.

We had a lovely, quiet Christmas Day. Just us three adults. Then the next day our daughter and son-in-law brought their family over. It was a much more boisterous afternoon! But of course I loved every minute of it.

I ended up having a very technological Christmas haul. Not only did I receive a new Paperwhite Kindle, I was gifted a card promising a new smartphone. The Kindle hasn't been strenuous to learn but the phone will function as both communicator and camera (among other things, no doubt). Up to now I've been using separate devices for those functions. My camera has been acting like it's on it's last leg though. This particular Gramisaurus has finally been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. But readers should be warned, it may take time for me to master the photographic capabilities of the phone. Consequently, posting may be infrequent for a while. Plus there's the whole matter of getting back into the swing of things after the holidays - which aren't entirely over yet.

In spite of the high tech gifts, probably the most welcome and cherished gift is the ruler rack our son made for me. It was modeled after the cardboard affair I've been using for a frightening number of years. The cardboard dividers had bowed somewhat over time but overall the unit fits my working space and my style so well that I didn't want to replace it with anything else.

Even the maker was impressed with how well it turned out. His girlfriend gifted me with the layer cake of William Morris prints she'd picked up during her visit at the Victoria & Albert Museum this summer. That girl's a keeper! Because of the potential for off-gassing of the layer cake (completely wrapped in cellophane) they also gave me a set of charm squares of the same print collection so I could see what was in the larger set. They're beautiful.

So far I really like the Kindle. It's smaller and lighter than the Nook I had. And the Paperwhite technology really works to reduce eye strain.

The second gift card was for this set of variegated floss from Nancy Turner:

It hadn't arrived before Christmas Day but was delivered the day after, which was sooner than expected. I'll have to figure out a way to put them to good use. For now I'm in heaven just looking at them and fondling them. 😁

I received another handmade gift too, from my friend C~. It's a perfect addition to my studio!

I tried to inculcate our two youngest granddaughters into stitching with embroidery kits I put together for them. Of the four girls they are the two who always ask for the stitching cards to be brought out when they come over for a visit. So I figured it was time for them to graduate to the real thing. I found a couple of cute lunchbox style containers...

And filled them with (what I thought was) floss, a pair of needles in a plastic case, a 4" hoop, cute little scissors, and fabric I'd transferred a simple design onto.

Turns out the floss is more like perle cotton and wouldn't fit through the eye of the needles I'd provided. Or any other needle I could find that would also pierce fabric. {sigh} I didn't want to have to make color choices for the girls so I just went with a big variety pack that divided up nicely between the two kits. Should have looked more closely. Live and learn - apparently right up until the day you die! I was so looking forward to being the one to teach them how to do simple back stitching. Fortunately, I was able to provide them with half a dozen skeins of DMC floss before they left. And our son has gone to their home with them to spend some time; he can show them how to back stitch.

Meanwhile, our daughter had the means to take photographs of each of the girls and turn them into bookmarks for me. Well, I'm supposed to share with my husband but he always loses his bookmarks. He's not getting his hands on these! (Didn't think to take a picture to share, sorry.)

So now I have to shift my thoughts away from gifts and Christmas and find my footing again in terms of what I refer to as studio work. Easier said than done I'm afraid. Especially with a new phone to learn and accessibility to new books to read! And then there are the tedious year-end chores to take care of. Well, they'd be tedious for me at any time of the year but I'd really like to make a clean start in 2020. At least I've had the most toxin-free Christmas I can remember. That was a gift in and of itself, for which I am excessively grateful. 😊Here's to a happy and healthy New Year!