It's All Over!!!

Only to start again...

I decided this morning, that next year is going to be a sock year... So...

First I dug out all of the yarn. I think that I may have enough for everyone in the family and have a tiny bit left over.... Maybe.

Then I had to hunt up all of the size 2 needles... I still have to sort them out, but I know that there are enough to start every pair that I want to do.  And then some... MORE.

Most of the ones that you see are #2.   I will measure to make sure though. 

Some of these I even made myself.  That was when #2 needles were scarce.  When I first started knitting socks, it wasn't a popular item to knit and the needles were a bit hard to find. So I made my own. I still like those.  They  are the length that I like.  Some of the mass produced ones are either too long or too short.

Anyway, next I will have to sort the yarn. We won't talk about the weeds and the beads that are mixed in with the yarn. I think that happened when I was doing some mini landscaping and some beadwork at the same time I was knitting... I have to stop doing that kind of thing if I want to get any socks made.

Now I only have one problem left... I have to find a place to sit while getting the mess sorted.

Where do I start? There must be a place to sit somewhere in the middle of this mess.

Back to sorting. See you tomorrow.

First Cookie Delivery, Tomorrow at 10:00 AM

The room is for all intents and purposes finished. I may put the basketball hoop on the closet door if I have time, but probably not.

I found a cat to go up the ladder of the bed.  April's cat does that sometimes.

I still left him some spaces to fill up and all of the small things are just stuck down with wax.

If he wants to move things, he will be able to rearrange things himself. I am giving him extra wax.

The Terrible Two have found their spot in the Christmas tree. They are sitting there now relaxing and eating pizza.

They told me that I should have cookies and two kinds of fudge ready for them by tomorrow at ten AM.

It doesn't matter that that will be Christmas Eve.  They want to get an early start.

I still need to bake one more batch of cookies and then clean up the workroom.....

Can this be done by Christmas morning at 9:00 AM? I hope so... People usually want to see what is in the workroom.

Right now, it is a bit difficult to set foot in there. I did manage to get in to take the photo, but working there would be impossible.

Oh well. If worse comes to worst, I can always bar the door and tell them that the aliens are living in there.

 Back to business.  See you tomorrow.

Candy and Cookies! Oh My!!!

I finished the outside of Amare's box this afternoon.  The strips on the back are to cover up the area where I put the window.

They still need to be painted.

Kota was playing foreman on the building site.  He does that a lot, but I pay no attention to his directions. 

I would have windows on the roof  if I did...
I put the strips of chair rail around the front edges.

Waiting for them to dry.  That's why there is blue tape everywhere.

The Terrible Two disappeared before I finished.  I suspected where they were headed.  I was right.

I made two kinds of fudge and some cookies. 

They headed straight for the chocolate fudge.  Good!  More of the white chocolate pecan fudge for me!

I took the goodies and put them back in the fridge.

They disappeared. They are still trying to get the room box.  It isn't going to happen.

Let them dream for a couple more days. I think that I am going to have to do a thorough house cleaning in that room before I give it to Amare. 

They are determined to make a mess of it every time I turn my back.

Two more days to go...

See you tomorrow.

The Moning After...

I am sitting around, with my feet up, knitting and crocheting today.

Yesterday wore me out.  In a good way.

I did get some goodies for minis.  These were from April's Mother in Law.  She is a kindred spirit and looks for things that I can use for minis when she is out and about.

I got a book on Miniature plants and Gardens.  A set of napkin rings that will be made into picture frames and a Statue of Liberty with a torch that lights up!

My best present this year was from Seth, April's husband.  He is a ceramicist.  He did me a yarn bowl.  It is beautifully done and works like a charm.  That is if the person using it knows how the yarn should be going.  I finally got it figured out and it is wonderful.

That little swirl that is cut in the side of the bowl holds the yarn and lets it out so that you don't have to keep yanking on the thread. 

Thank You Seth!

Last but not least. I got some beautiful jewelry from Walter too. 

Thanks to all for my gifties, everyone!

Back to being lazy.  See you tomorrow.

A Very Merry Christmas!!!

 

Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

 

See You Tomorrow!

Working Around the Cat...

I put everything that I would need to do jewelry work on the bed.... Then Kota moved in...

This is the view from the other side...

I did manage to get some bracelets and key chains made...

Every time he disapproved of some movement I made... He curled up... Covered his eyes and went back to sleep...

I finally just gave up and worked around him.  He pretty much stayed in the middle.  Every time that I tried to reach for something, he would bat at me and tell me "NO!".

After a while, I got a few pieces finished and gave up for the day... He just isn't cooperating with me this Christmas.

He's going to get a very large lump of coal in his stocking! 

I am going back to the bedroom.  I am going to clean up the mess and spend the rest of the day complaining and watching Korean TV.  Back to work(playing around).

See you tomorrow.

Kota Bites!

Would you argue with this face?  I am not arguing!  Every time I stop working on one of the Christmas presents, he starts stalking me... And  growling...

I did manage to put some stone under Desmond's feet.  He seems more secure.  He still needs to dry a little, so I am working on Christmas presents today...

 No.   I am not going to show you what I am doing... Someone might be spying on me to see what they are getting... I'm not telling...

I have been working since about 7 this morning.

I am getting nowhere fast and making a huge mess doing it.

I think that Christmas is just a holiday where you make a real mess of your house, so that you will have an excuse to take everything out, clean up, and start over... I am in the take everything out part right now. And getting nowhere fast.

Back to the grindstone.  See you tomorrow.

A Christmas Tree, a Dragon and a Hippopotamus

 I decorated our new tree this morning.  It turned out pretty good.

Now all we have to do is wait for Santa to come down the chimney... Or in our case through the front door or an open window...

While I am waiting, I am working on a dragon to perch on one end of the conservatory.  I am not sure what is going on the other end. 

He doesn't have any arms or wings or even ears yet... Oh and no tail!

 I am having to sculpt him over one of my glue syringes.  It is about the same shape and size of the end post that he is going to have to cover.

At least that lets me sit in a comfortable position and sculpt. 

I got this part done yesterday.  The hind feet need a lot more work. 

Actually, he needs a lot of work all over.  It will take some time.  After sculpting is done, he will need painting. I am liking him so far.

The last thing for today is the Hallmark ornament that Walter got me for an early Christmas present. 

I have been seeing the post office add on TV that is using my favorite Christmas song this year.

I looked it up on line and if you go to You Tube and put in "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." you can hear and see it.  It first came out in 1953 and I guess it was quite a hit that year.  The girl that sang it made it to the Ed Sullivan show.

I drove my parents mad with it when I was little.

Now I am driving Walter mad with it.  I keep pushing the button on his tummy and singing along. Best ornament that I have had for Christmas in a long time!

Back to sculpting.

See you tomorrow.

The New Calendar Year...

Walter gave me a Calendar for the new year,,,

It consists of  many minis... and our favorite mini...

We have Daisy's Time Machine... The one where she is leaving town in a hurry...

 Then there is the Forest Fantasy Cottage...

 And Zar's Trailer...

Daisy's Time machine again.  This time she just arrived home... In time for the  housewarming...

Then, last but not least, our favorite mini!  Amare!  There were 11 mini photos and Amare.  Guess which one I liked best?

That's all for today.  Thank you, Walter!!!

See you tomorrow.

T'was the Day After Christmas...

Technically, this photo is still Christmas morning.  I had to show you this one.  The tiny Ambulance that Amare is holding is the one thing that he asked for on his Christmas list.

That made him happy.  The rest of the stuff was just extra!  We had to talk him into opening the rest of his presents after he found that one!

The whole day was a lot of fun!

 Then this morning, Tessie got into the act.  That arm puppet that she is displaying in the photos is MINE.  It was a finger puppet for me...

The slabs of stone were from the kids.  They know what I like.  New table tops!

The puppet was actually in with these two rocks.  It's kind of a tradition. I like rocks to fit into landscapes and when the kids go hiking, they find me a few that are special...

April's Mother in Law and I get along well.  We are kindred spirits.  Thrift shoppers first and foremost!  She brought me all of these little hand carved beads and a couple of pair of earrings that she thought I could use in mini... Tessie took one look and started shoving them in her pockets for future use.

The last time I saw her, she could barely move, but was dragging herself towards the weaver's workshop. I guess I should go see what she has planned for her treasures.

The only one with any energy this morning is Kota.  He has a thing about looking under beds and covered tables... I am not sure what he is looking for, but he still had lots of energy.  He spent yesterday in our closet.  He came out a couple of times, but basically he slept through Christmas day.

Anyway, I hope your Christmas was as nice as ours.  Merry Day After Christmas!

See you tomorrow.

Back to College...

I am still going through notebooks.  You  seem to enjoy what I am doing, so I am going to spend the rest of Christmas Eve doing more of it.

I found a bunch of my old sketchbooks from ASU.  Yes.  I kept a lot of them.  Again, they are fun to look back at.

This one is an actual man that used to pose for our life drawing class.  He rode up on a bicycle every Tuesday and Thursday and sat for an hour while we drew his portrait.  I always thought that he looked like something from Michaelangelo's time.  Fun to draw...

 This one was an assignment for a Fashion Drawing class.  The model was in a magazine...

Of course we all had to take life drawing classes and yes... There were nude models... The ladies were anyway.  The guys got to cover up.  Unfair and unequal at that time... I don't know how they are now.

Anyway.  All of these sketches were done in less than a minute.  Some were 30 seconds!  That was to get you to put down on paper what you were seeing fast.

It worked.  This guy was sitting in the library staring at the floor or his shoes.  I'm not sure which. 

It took me about two minutes to put him down on paper.

This was one part of the life drawing that came in handy.  I can still do a pretty fast sketch of someone if I need to. 

Then there were the classes that were mostly lectures... That's where the doodling came in handy... If you didn't want to fall asleep, you doodled...

Please don't ask me why I was drawing snails... Maybe because the lecturer was soooo slow and boring...

Please don't ever tell my professors that I did this kind of thing.  Hey!  They were fair game.  They taught us to draw.  We drew.  I wasn't the only one that put them down on paper... Maybe a tiny, wee bit exaggerated... I really don't know if this guy had a cat... It just seemed to me that he should have one...

I have the side dishes ready for tomorrow.  All I have to do is shove them in the oven with the ham and sit down and open presents. 

April, Seth and Amare are coming over.  As are Seth's parents.  They came down from Phoenix today.  This is the family tradition.  April and Seth have a very small house and we only tried it there once... Not enough room to swing a cat, let alone open presents.

I am going  back and look through more notebooks now. 

Happy Christmas Eve!  See you tomorrow.

Reruns

 At least they are the kind of reruns that nobody objects to.  Tessie is almost jumping up and down with happiness...

But... It's hard to eat when you are jumping up and down... She just told me, "It is dangerous to jump up and down whilst eating chocolate or nuts.  One might just choke on the pieces!"

So... There she stands.  Gobbling up the nut bars as fast as she can chew!

I won't bore you with the recipes. If you want to make either of them, they are here. 
http://caseymini.blogspot.com/2013/12/us-versus-them.html

I think that it is safe to show you this.  I am working on a pincushion for someone... I am going to leave it unglued.  I would usually glue the stuffing and fabric inside the cup, but it is an antique... And I am not sure if the recipient will want a permanent pincushion or a cute little cup to drink from. I am also not sure if this is the cup that the person liked the best or not.

I bought two at the time.  Both about the same vintage.  The other one is just a tad larger and has a hand painted pink rose  and  the lettering "A Gift" on the side in gold.  I imagine that both were fairings or something of the sort.  Souvenir cups.

Anyway, I still have to make spritz cookies.  Back to the grindstone that is Christmas.

See you tomorrow.

Short Time... And Counting...

This is not the time of year to be wandering around in the Pinterest world... But I seem to do it whenever I get near the I pad. 

This is the biggest time waster in the world, but It is so full of ideas!

Every time someone pulls something from my collection, I have to go see what else we have in common. 

It is amazing that people all over the world are doing this and so many have common interests.  I have to stop doing it for a while or I am never going to be ready for Christmas when it gets here!

I went out and did a bit of shopping this morning... Tessie likes the bowls that I purchased.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that they weren't for her... I can't tell you either.  The recipient might see what I write... 

I did let her help with some of the gift wrapping. That usually keeps her out of mischief.  She gets tangled up in scotch tape. Sometimes I leave her there for a while.  It keeps her occupied and I manage to get a few other things done.

Sorry for the lack of minis today... I just don't have time.  I have to go make some cookies now.  I never did get to them yesterday... So many things to get ready.  So little time left to do it!  I have to get back at it. 

See you tomorrow.