Caleb and Christmas

This will be one of my "Grandma" blogs. As I have said before we have only one Grandson. He lived near us until he was almost 4. He now lives quite far away and we visit as often as we can. He is a very delightful and loving little boy. Debbie and Jeff are great parents and it shows through Caleb. We just finished decorating our tree. Now this tree will not win any decorating contests. It is a tree that is filled with memories. Many of the ornaments came from students that I taught over the years. We also collected some from trips that we took. I even have some that were made by my children who are now adults. We have put ornaments with Caleb's picture on the tree every year. I said to Debbie,"What would I do if I had lots of Grandchildren?" She said you would need a special tree just for their pictures.

Caleb's first Christmas!

Number 2

This is year three and he is riding on his new rocking horse. This Christmas had a sad note because Daddy was in Iraq.

Number 4

Number 5

Finally we have last year. We were at their home last year and we had a beautiful snow on Christmas Day. What fun!

Thanks so much for looking and for all your comments!

Christmas at the Lighthouse

As I have mentioned in this blog, my husband and I volunteer as docents at a historic lighthouse about 45 minutes from our home. We love lighthouses and consider it a privilege to live near one. This one is called the Point No Point lighthouse. It was built in 1879 and is the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound. Today , a Christmas house tour was held in the town near the lighthouse. The lighthouse was featured and we agreed to work for a few hours. The lighthouse was decorated so pretty for the tour. I hope you enjoy seeing the photos!

As you can see from the blue sky, we had a great day!

Hot cider and cookies were served in what was the old fog horn room . This room was added to the lighthouse in 1900.

Santa was sitting in one of the restored fog horns.

Each window was decorated with fresh evergreens, a bow, and a candle.

The tree was decorated with lighthouse ornaments.

This doorway separates the fog room from the original lighthouse.

Even the shelves were decorated.

There is renovating going on at the lighthouse. This little elf was put in one of the holes.

A view of beautiful Puget Sound.

It takes money to keep the lighthouse in good repair.

This view shows you one of the many reasons we love Point No Point! Thanks for taking a look!

A Little Bit of Everything

I call this post a little bit of everything because that is exactly what it is! I started with my German things. You'll see a few witches from Halloween. They were either purchased when we were in Germany or sent to me by my Daughter-in-law and Son for Christmas. So I love to have them out each year-for some- twice a year! I also added a bit of decorating and cross stitch to the post.

The two on the left were gifts. Debbie and I went to the Army post a few days before Christmas. We were in Ansbach ,Germany. We bought the little helicopter. They had these because it was an Army post with lots of Blackhawks! The little wizard on the far left came from the Nuremberg Christmas Market.

All the little things came from that great day at the Post. All the nutcrackers and smokers were half price. Debbie has an amazing collection of smokers. The big witch nutcracker was my Christmas gift from the SBA(husband and super blog assistant). It was purchased in Rotenburg,

Germany.

Isn't that helicopter cute!!!

This is the house all decorated. I live in a neighborhood that likes blow-ups! I like a more classic look!

I even decorate my garden gate.

When we were in Oregon last week we bought some Japanese glass floats. I really like them in this old wooden bowl.

This is a design by Homespun Elegance. I used the recommended threads.

Lots of little French knots!

Santa's beard was made with that floss that is very fuzzy!

The little brass bird reminded me this was a design by Homespun Elegance.

I really like these pillows . The design was "Evergreen" by Blackbird Designs, one of my favorite design teams. They were done on 32ct. antique ivory linen. I'm not sure of the floss because I used what I had. I have a pillow at each end of the sofa.

I hope everyone is getting in the spirit. Every year one of our radio stations raises money for foster children. The last I heard, they had well over $100,000 . I think that's the spirit! Thanks for joining me.

Christmas decorating!

We finally got back to the Y today. First time since the surgery. I did better than I thought I would. We have done lots of walking and I suppose that has helped.Well, I'm almost finished with my Christmas decorating. I have enough cross stitches that I'm not sure where to put the one I'm working on right now. Maybe I need to do ornaments instead of bigger projects! Well for a few days, this blog will be about the decorating. On Fri. they are having a home tour in the little town where the lighthouse is located. We have agreed to work at the lighthouse for a few hours. I hope to get some good photos, but until then, it's decorating and cross stitch.

I did this one 2 years ago. It's by Shakespeare's Peddler, "A Weary world Rejoices." I did this on 32 ct. not the 40 that is called for. I did change a few colors but can't remember what they were. The designer included an explanation for all the motifs that she chose. I like that.

I always like red houses!

I did this partly because of these words from the song.

Every other year, I put my German things in my dry sink. This year however, I needed a change. Last winter a shop was closing and I got these little houses very cheap! I thought it was the perfect place to put my wonderful Woolpet winter characters. If you have read some of my other blogs, you will know that my daughter is the talented artist who has created these adorable little characters.

I have had that tree with a face for several years . I love his cute little face!!Of course, the snow people and the skiing sheep are all great. Notice the little pine cone person!

Laurie made that cute little pixie throwing a snowball for a show. Before the show, I told her that if it didn't sell, I wanted to buy it. I think that little snowman with the red bird was also one I had eyed before a show. My sweet daughter put them aside and they showed up as my Christmas gifts! Those cute little snow people are the newest additions to my collection.

Thanks so much for joining me. I 'll have more Christmas decorating tomorrow.

Christmas in Poulsbo

Poulsbo is a small town in Western Washington. It is situated on one of the many bays of Puget Sound. It was settled by Norwegian fishermen early in the 1900's. In fact, some of the larger fishing boats from Poulsbo fished in the Alaska waters in the early days. Today, there are still many Norwegian families in Poulsbo. Each winter they have a festival to mark both Christmas and the winter solstice. The main character of this event is Santa Lucia. She is considered the Queen of Light. Yesterday we celebrated this festival.

Here is the band playing Norwegian music and Christmas carols.

The gazebo was decorated for the festival with Norwegian straw ornaments.

The townspeople got into the folk dancing.

We have a great harbor. The gazebo is in our waterfront park.

The Vikings(members of The Sons of Norway) are awaiting the Lucia Queen. It was so calm that their torches were reflected in the water.

The Princesses are also waiting for the boat that brings Santa Lucia.

Here's the boat. If you look carefully , you can see her crown of candles.

Here is Santa Lucia.

There was a processional to the bon fire where a "Viking" told the story of both the solstice celebrations in the old times and the Christian influence that brought the Santa Lucia.

The Princesses.

The lighting of the fire by Santa Lucia.

All the Vikings added their torches.

Now it was cold and this all took about an hour so the SBA didn't want to wait for Santa!!!! He knew our favorite waterfront restaurant would become very busy once Santa had come. So we skipped that. His reward for standing in the cold with me-a very tasty beer!!!! I hope you enjoyed seeing the way our small town celebrates the Christmas Holiday.