Cookie Day 2010

This will probably be my last post of the year since New Year's is coming up.  And we do plan on just a little celebrating!  But I had to get in some pictures of Cookie Day.  I think I explained before that it is a family tradition on my Italian side to make Christmas cookies and deliver them to our neighbors.  No matter where we are, we all work out a day to make cookies, then we call and check on each other's progress.  It's a fun tradition!  Here's some pic:

Get ingredients together

Mix up a batch

Knead the dough

Roll out the snakes to wrap around your finger

Trays ready to go in the oven

Frosting and decorating the cookies

Finger cookies!   (Hey Matilda!  Do you know what these are called in Italian?)

 Decorated sugar cookies

And there we have them all ready to batch up and go!

Happy New Year to you all!  May you all be healthy and happy!

Happy Thanksgivng

We have so much to be thankful for!

Here's a pic of my DH and his wonderful dinner:

We are blessed!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I've always loved Red Robin!  In fact it's the first place we went to when we got to NM.

So of course I had to go on my birthday!

Here's a couple pics.  The first one is of us and the mascot:

The last one is blurry, but my button says, "It's my birthday and I can do whatever I want!"

And I did!

Man Cave

Just caught my DH playing in his man cave the other day!

I think he has a serious computer addiction!

But he's happy!

Always during the holidays!

We were just getting ready to put up some Halloween decor

when a pipe in our hot water heater burst!

Here's a pic of the tiny hole that caused so much damage:

That little pinhole caused a bunch of water damage, so the repairmen had to come out & soak up water, dry the drywall, cut through & repair the drywall that was ruined, then paint the whole side wall in our living room/dining room.  Here's some pics of the mess:

Everything had to be moved away from the right wall 'cuz they had to paint it & the wall that faces the garage. 

Thank heaven it's all done & looks like new!

Halloween 2010

My DH loves Halloween!  He has stored boxes dedicated to just Halloween decor.  So here's a few of our holiday decorations. 

I have to admit the broom, moldy shoes & witch's hat are my idea!

This poor guy has lost some fingers and toes over the years:

And a tiny hand needle felted pumpkin I made:

My niece's FIRST knitting projects!

OK.  So there's someone in the family who is taking after me!  My niece decided she wanted to try knitting.  She went online, found some tutorials, and taught herself! 

Here are her first projects:

Fills in the time at work waiting for clients too!  You go girl!

My Dad's Thundereggs

My mom was busy cleaning out her back room.  In a drawer she found some of my Dad's old rocks.  When we were kids, one of our favorite things was to go rock hounding with my Mom and Dad.  She knew I would love to have a couple of these, so she surprised me and sent them to me!  This first one is a non-shiny one.  It feels like there are real plants in it:

This next one he polished up:

I always thought it was so magical to cut open these crusty looking things & find out how beautiful they are inside!  Thanks Mom!

More new stuff

Here's some more hand needle felting I've done recently:

I've also been working on a friendship project. 

It's taking a long time since it's longer than a bracelet:

Seems I've been keeping busy with alot of different things!

Me? Working? Go figure!

Believe it or not, I've actually been working on some things. 

Here's a funny gourd elf I made at the library a while back:

I've also been working on beaded worded Hearts. 

Here's a whole batch cut & with the words glued on:

And here's one that is part way beaded:

I think I have a long ways to go to finish the whole batch!

I'm not sure what I'm gonna make these into...brooches? 

Glued onto painted canvas?  What do you think?

Art Gifts!!!

I am so blessed to have pals who really care for me!  I received some wonderful art gifts!  Here are some I received from a pal in NM!  Thanks so much!

And some from a pal in Hawaii!  Thank you so much!

I really love this art doll!  I want to sleep with her!

Long Time No See!

Well it has been awhile since I've been on here...again.  Life just keeps happening!  Finally got a diagnosis, and am seeing a doc about it, but really I think I'm just gonna work on building up my immune system.  I feel alot better since I've been on vitamin D and B!  Don't want to get into it all here, but wanted you to know I haven't forgot about you all.
Believe it or not, some of those carnations from my last post are still blooming!  Even while the snow flurries around them.  Here are some snapdragons that lasted until after Thanksgiving:

And I also harvested my little practice garden.  I think I need to talk to a nursery before I go on next year, but we did get a bunch of herbs out of it.  More next year!