A Christmas Tradition

Movita and I have made a tradition of spending part of a morning at Thornbloom each year and having lunch afterwards. Go to Movita's blog to see the wonderful display of Christmas baubles.
This year, we had lunch at A Mano - one of our favorite downtown restaurants. Pasta for the main course and then, because it IS only once a year, a round of fabulous desserts:

Projects

We are notoriously bad at making decisions. We have a tendency to over-research everything and we, as they say, over think - big time. My poor brother witnessed the process one day when he and his basset hound dropped in while we were trying to plan a vacation to Britain. We were making calls to various locations in the British Isles, madly reading up on accommodations, changing flight plans, considering the pros and cons of a variety of weather conditions... The poor man - I am sure his head was spinning by the time he left. And we never did fly overseas that week. We made it as far as Toronto. 

After mulling over a variety of house projects for the last couple of years, we finally settled on a basement renovation. Work starts two days from now.

The "Before" Photos

The upper photos show the "room" that runs from the front of the house to the mid-point  and the lower photos show the "room" running from the midpoint to the back side of the house. The load bearing partition will be removed and a 350 pound steel beam installed to make one large room. The back door will open onto a small area of ceramic flooring. There will be a half wall by the door with bookcase style shelving. The rest of the room will have maple laminate flooring. There will be a closet, eight recessed pot lights, and two overhead semi-flush ceiling fixtures (we like LOTS of light), and a cable hookup. The "rustic" staircase to the basement will be replaced with maple hardwood.

We'd like the new room to have a cosy, comfortable seating area around an area rug for watching television and reading, and many bookcases, etc. to hold knitting supplies, reading materials, etc.

A Much Smaller Work In Progress:

The babies keep coming. I''m having a bit of fun here adding stripes to a basic baby cardigan. I may just stripe the sleeves and leave the rest of the sweater white with navy buttons. After so many baby girls, I am counting on one of these newcomers finally being a boy.

What That Ball of Fabel Became

Why, little dancin' boots!

Pattern: Baby Booties in Patterned Sock Yarn

Yarn: Fabel Superwash by DROPS

Color:161p

Needles: 2.25 mm

Sunday Review

Pattern: Parade

Designer: Judy Kaethler

Yarn: Jawoll Solids

Color: Gray - 23

Needles: Circular - 2.25 mm

Other Good Things This Past Week:

Bark mulch delivery. I moved the entire two yards on Monday - proving once again that gardeners never get too old to do the things they love to do. Some of the mulch was used to mound the roses for winter, some placed in heaps along the foundation at the front of the house to cover and hide the wires and extension cords when the shrubs are covered in Christmas lights, and  the rest was stockpiled under the trees in "mulch holding area".

A visit to Have A Yarn in Mahone Bay. The lady working there that day had made some dear little items that were for sale at the front counter. She was most helpful in helping me to choose the yarn for working on one of those sweet little projects. We decided on this ball of Fabel sock yarn and she provided me with a free pattern from the store. 

I was not as lucky, however, in finding just the right type of yarn for a cardigan for the Pink Princess. They had the color she loves but in a heavier gauge than the pattern calls for.

And something I have been meaning to share for a long time.

The Japanese edition of Johnny Kellock Died Today by the great Hadley Dyer.

Week in Review - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:

I love my new flip mirror (regular on one side and with 8X magnification on the other). It is definitely one of my better purchases! It helps immeasureably when it comes to tweezing eyebrows, applying makeup, and filling wrinkles and cracks with miracle cream.

And it has a light! So first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, it lights the bathroom with a softer, more ambient light than the overhead fixtures. When I picked this one up at Home Outfitters, I noticed that they had wall mounted models as well. I highly recommend them as an addition to any bathrooom.

My new glasses. I've spent the past year with my old glasses on top of my head more than on my face. This new prescription (my nearsightedness has actually improved greatly) is awesome. I love the frames and they are always firmly on my face - except when taking a photo of them ...

Other Really Good Things:

The Pink Princess in France is hungrily learning to do math and read. At four years of age, she is a marvel but, of course, you heard me say that four years ago!

The estimate is in for the basement renovation. It's good. And the estimate for the basement hardwood staircase has arrived. Not quite so good but we knew it would be expensive. The light fixtures (eight pot lights, two semi flush ceiling fixtures, and two wall scones) are being couriered to the house on Tuesday. We expect construction to begin by the end of the month.

We had 49 kids here on Halloween - our largest number in the fourteen years we have been here. The three little boys from two houses away came with their baby sister and made a fuss over Lucy Dog and solemnly told us how their dog, Hunter, is in heaven now and they are still sad and miss her very much.

The Christmas pound cake is made and has been carefully wrapped and stored. I thought about Isabelle all that day.

The window boxes have been emptied, cleaned, spot primed, and filled with perlite. Once the weather really turns cold, they will be filled with evergreens for the winter.

Ms. Cutie's Little Car Coat has been boxed and will soon be on its way to Toronto.

The Bad and The Ugly

I ordered navy blue Jawoll sock yarn (one of my favourites) weeks and weeks ago to knit a pair of socks for a Christmas gift. I got the two balls out this week, and started one, completed the leg section, put it aside, and started the leg of the second sock. Last evening, both legs completed, I had them side by side for the first time and noticed immediately that the navy color is not the same. The vendor sent me two different color numbers with two different dye lots. I lost a week of sock knitting and won't get this particular yarn again in time for Christmas. And the socks were looking so good!

The drapery panels I have been waiting three weeks for arrived from Pottery Barn. Upon opening the package, I discovered that the price quoted was for one panel only! And the color - ivory- was actually more an orangey/sandy/light tan. Yikes! Not a shade I could live with. The panel has to go back. And I am back to square one in my search for a simple, lightweight, semi-opaque, softly draping pair of panels.

And Finally

Winter is coming. The time changes tonight. The bad news is that when the snow flies, there will be more difficult driving in the weeks ahead. The good news is that the landscape will be lovely covered in white.