A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope that you all had a wonderful peace-filled holiday.  We were lucky enough to have my son and my partner's daughters here for dinner.  The girls feasted on steamed clams and huge crab legs, while my son, the carnivore, was treated to not one, but TWO gorgeous filet mignon!  Earlier in the day we took breakfast to my mom - french toast made with that thick Texas Toast bread and homemade sausage patties.  Yum.  This holiday has always been about the food and it was excellent.  We missed the Bean - she had spent Christmas Eve in the Emergency Room - diagnosed with pneumonia.  That poor child.  Tomorrow is her birthday and although she is not feeling well, she did receive a large parcel from her mom which should make her smile.  She had some important news that I am eager to share, but have not been given the green light - yet.


The biggest surprise, for me, was the gift that my sister sent to me.  My sister joins the ranks of women who raise needlepoint to an art form.  Forget any pre-conceived notion you might have about pre-stamped designs stretched over unruly thick plastic canvas - you know, that stuff you walk past (quickly) at Michael's.  She uses the finest materials and she doesn't limit herself to the basic continental stitch.  When you look at her work, you are viewing a potpourri of experience.  Over the years she has created canvases that are truly drool-worthy.  Canvases that you want to grab and race out of her house with!  Canvases that you just have to hold in your lap and sit and pat.  One of my new year's resolutions will be to get over to Connecticut to photograph some of her staggeringly gorgeous work.       


Some time ago I had sent one of my canvases (yes, I went through a SERIOUS needlepoint phase) to her because I thought that it would make a nice addition to her collection.  She and I share the love of the sea, so the motif was right as were the colors.  In the past, she has generously accepted my canvases and taken them to a shop that finishes in extraordinary ways, and then given them back as gifts - that's a post for another day!  So the big surprise was that she sent this piece back to me, when, in fact, it had been created for her! What had gone to Connecticut as a humble decorative textile returned in the form of an elegant little foot stool.  God help the person who tries to put their feet on it!

I feel strange accepting this back, as it has lived in her home for quite some time.  I'm sure that this will pass!  I am amazed that after all of these years, this piece appears as pristine as the day it was completed.  Needlepoint may very well outlive all of us - providing, of course, that we shelter it from its enemy - the moth.

This image doesn't quite cut it - you cannot see the little wooden ball feet that raise the cushion up and off of the floor.  Have any of you knitters and quilters needlepoint pasts that you can share?  I'd love to hear about them.


I don't have to work today and we woke up to icy conditions, so it's going to be a sewing/cooking kind of day.  I'm planning a huge batch of snowball cookies and after I clean up my sewing room, I have a special project to get busy with.  See you later!

Adding a post script on this day - Mr. Harley stole and eat 1/2 pound of unsalted butter, wrappers included, while I was in my sewing room.  The snowball cookies may have to wait for another day!  As for Mr. Butter Butt - I'm sure that there will be repercussions ... Good Lord!