spring???

spring dream time arrived in my mailbox today!!

my Landreth seed catalogue came!

yes, i do know that spring is months and months away... but with a beautiful seed catalog in my cold winter hands, i can start planning and before we leave in May for 5 weeks i can get some seeds started!  our wonderful and amazing housesitter/dog care person is also an avid gardener and i know she will take loving and tender care of any little plantlets that appear.  and just to increase her incentive, she can take a bunch of them home for her garden!!   my dye studio hasn't seen an active dye pot in months and is actually a perfect place for starting garden plants... both vegetable and flower.

i love this catalog!  their photos and drawings are a work of art in themselves and the seeds and bulbs they sell have never disappointed me.  doesn't get any better than that, in my opinion!  there is a small charge for the seed "book" and it is so worth it that i've even given it as a gift to gardening friends.  this is not a paid advert and i get no kick-back, but my advice is to get one!  you, too, can start dreaming of and planning for spring.... and warm... and sun... oh my!

dome central xmas

it all started on saturday when Chris, Alex and Zylie (75% of the northern branch of the clan) arrived to have an early celebration with us.  Kate needed to stay at home to get some
dyeing done and the grandkids really wanted to be at their own house for xmas, so they left on monday and made it back home in plenty of time to put cookies out for santa.  it really made my heart sing to have them hanging out here for a couple of days.  we did some present opening... and Z amazed and delighted me with the stunning feathery pink flamingo tree ornament.  love it totally.  it will, of course, not be packed away with the tree ornaments, but will join the others in my homage to the pink flamingo guest bathroom decor.

it was a quieter the usual xmas morning here at dome central.  for the past few years Chris, Kate and the gkids have been here, usually coming down xmas eve and santa finds them here because he is magical and clever.

another thing that made a BIG difference was that rather than being the roaster of the turkey, and since i'd just done it at thanksgiving, i asked my bro and sis if they'd bring a honey-baked ham from that famous store... and they did!!  so, i was able to use my oven to bake a peach crumble dessert (Jim's fave and about the only dessert that i make from scratch ), and to roast a big pan of vegetables Greek-style... which means with a lot of olive oil and Greek seasonings.  i really like this arrangement and wonder why it took me so long to figure it out.  so, many of the tribe, plus a few neighbors, arrived mid afternoon and we feasted and enjoyed for hours!  Jim even had a few brave souls who joined in on the after-dinner raki drinking... OPA!

i didn't take a lot of photos... but did get some of my beautiful nieces and their daughters, who are going up much too fast!

i think that part of the reason for Jen's happy smile is that she did not have to leave early (as she usually does) to go to work on her night shift at Providence.

Jordan!!

                                      Maggie and Maisy.  she was really rockin' that hat!!

Maisy, Maggie, Jen and Judy

did someone say "cookies"???  Jim gave the doggies new scarves and the best way to get them to sit still for 30 seconds for a photo is to say the magic word.

it's a sweet little tree.  but not quite as short and little as it looks from this angle.  and we managed to get it up and decorated before the kids arrived on saturday.

it was a good xmas and i'm grateful!

a prayer flag

my muse nudged me and i said "ok let's do it".

someone i love very much just got a breast cancer diagnosis, her second one.  i wanted to make something for her that she could look at and think of all the love and light and healing thoughts that are being sent up for her.  so.. i made her a prayer flag.

a blessing

hummingbird

 outside my kitchen window.  the photo is kind of fuzzy as it's shot thru the window.  his brilliant color really lights up the grey day.

and the salad greens in the greenhouse are enough to add to a salad a few times a week.  tasty, they are!!

a bag

 i do have some further comments on that last post, but procrastination and disinterest are getting in the way.

this is a little whatsit bag that i made a while back and am posting just to remind myself that my creative muse IS out there somewhere.  i think she's been trying to contact me lately and i just haven't been receiving the nudge.  i need to get my groove back, but for no good reason that i can discern it is elusive.  have been neglecting 3 projects that i should finish, just ripped out a weird and funky hat that somehow or other was big enough to fit a medium sized pumpkin... don't know how that happened... a total fail.

on the better side of things, i have gotten organized enough to buy or order about half of the holiday gifts i have on my list, and am as far as thinking about getting out the holiday decorations.  i don't hate the holidays this year and am even willing to calmly go along with the whole show.  and no, i don't need to increase my meds... they are already at max.

i lined the little bag with dupioni silk, which i love.  there is no pattern for the bag.  the entrelac part of it was from a pattern for a mitt but was way huge for any wrist that i know and turned out to be perfect for a bag.

i may think better of even posting this and come to delete later.  just need to get my groove back.....