First off, there’s a little seasonal Meme, courtesy of Robin!
Ornament Tag
The rules:
1. Take a picture of your favorite ornament and put it on your blog telling everyone about it.
2. Post a link to the person on whose blog you found out about the Ornament Tag.
3. Post the rules.
My favorite for this year is the star ornament Michelle and her Littles made for me. Stars are my favorite seasonal decoration, and how could I fail to treasure such a special star from precious hands? I still have some of the ornaments my aunt and cousins made years and years ago, although they aren’t on our wee tree this year. While I love elegant trees with color themed, fancy decorations, what means the most to me are the memories wrapped around my ornaments, many of which are from my childhood. My father’s sister gave me an ornament every years into my 20s, and my mother has passed along some of my paternal grandmother’s ornaments as well, so this star will become another treasure that I’ll hold for a moment and think about Michelle and her family as I place it on the tree in years to come.
We had to Sissy-proof our tree, and if you read regularly, you know that even pre-Sissy I wasn’t sure we were going to put one up. Well, MJ found the perfect tree, half-off, so Sissy and I picked one up earlier in the week, and Mugsy helped me put it together Friday night. It’s 4 1/2 feet tall, and holds all of the Knight’s firefighter ornaments perfectly. I’ve said for years that I’d like a smaller tree for that collection, so I suspect that the sometimes Scrooge will be asking for his little tree in years to come. (Why yes, you do see some swapperly goodness there in the bottom. I haven’t found homes yet for all of the goodies!)
Speaking of goodies… Friday night found a stack of packages on the porch, and two more came on Saturday. On Friday, 
Mugsy’s prize pack from Nichole of Lapdog Creations arrived, with goodness all around. The sweet ball had to be photographed separately, as the Knight was opening the boxes for me, and Mugsy was in his lap. Of course, the prince spotted the ball, and it was game on. Sissy likes it too, as there’s a bigger version of the ball at the office, but she can play with this one! Thanks Nichole, and The Princess(donated the doggy prizes)! There are also bones, both dentibones and some special cookies, made by Nichole, from her furkids to mine, and both are current favorites here.
For me, there was a very special present from Nichole. Now, keep in mind that when she bought this, when Mugsy won 
his prize, and even when she shipped the package, Sissy wasn’t a part of our household. Amazing, eh? She didn’t know I desperately needed a keyring for the new key to the Lexus. (The 4Runner’s remote WAS the keyring I used, but the Lexus’s remote is built into the key. Handy, but hard to find in a handbag!) It’s a craptastic photo, but that silver wad in the right corner is a basset hound! Now, Fred and Sissy Freida will always be on hand to help me find my keys. Thanks so much Nichole!
Here. We’ll pause for you to go grab another drink, cookie, whatever.
Back? Good. Settle in, because there are THREE more packages to display. There was actually another one on Friday I’ll just mention in passing – from my mother. It contained our gift and some interesting keepsakes from my childhood, ranging from Girl Scout patches to the papers she kept from Parents Weekend when I was a freshman in college. The Knight had a ball poking through all of those, while I opened the sweet box from Mary. (Yes, I feel very guilty for not being able to get my act together and do cards, much less ship out gifts to my friends and to my mother. Sigh. My back hurts, and we lost a whole day to car shopping…)
Put your nose on the screen and read the sweet words on the candle on the right. Sniff, sniff. Thank you, Mary. You are truly a Godsend! There were also some sweets, some cocoa mix which the Knight has already claimed, and some dog cookies for the furkids!
Saturday’s post brought two surprises. The Knight quickly opened a pretty padded envelope from Alaska, from Ingrid. We were so honored and blessed to not only meet Anne’s mom, but we got to spend several days with them. Clearly, she got to know us too, because her package was filled with perfection!
Don’t mind my roosters in the background, or the Raisinettes. (I’m pretty sure the top box is empty, but I’ve been told to keep my paws off!) There’s a pretty cloth, which the Knight has claimed (see a theme here?), a box of chocolates which is big enough to share, a fun book which the Knight – not a big reader – has already read, and pretty tin of playing cards. Fortuitous that, as the deck of cards in the pocket behind the driver’s seat on the 4Runner didn’t make it into the box from the salvage job the Knight and a co-worker did. You might think that without the Page around, we wouldn’t need quick, easy entertainment. Wrong. The Knight is a card-counting card shark, and we both love to play Spades, Hearts, Rummy, Gin, and when we have several decks and some clever friends, Hand and Foot is great fun! Thank you so much Ingrid, for gracing our home and for your delightful gifts!
I hope you’re still with me, because this is big! My SP11 box arrived, all the way from the far corner of the world. Sue and I met a while back – I don’t recall how – so like Michelle, she managed to fool me whilst staying in touch as my friend and as a secret pal! Now, keep in mind Sue had already sent books my way…
Now, you can’t see all of anything in the photo, but there’s a lovely lap blanket on the left, chocolate and more chocoate, yarn (details to follow), tea, great-smelling wax tarts, and a beautiful calendar filled with Autralian Beaches.
The yarn’s not so electric, but in case you couldn’t tell, the overcast days and indoor lighting aren’t providing the best shots. My first Fleece Artist, all the way from the other side of the world! There’s a sock pattern on the label too! The colors remind me of the water in the above mentioned calendar.
I had the devil of a time trying to photograph this lovely shawl. Mugsy insists it is a lap blanket, perfectly designed for my lap and enough overlap for him. Sissy won’t be allowed near it until her baby teeth move on. The color is pretty accurate in this photo, even if the Knight’s recliner doesn’t show it off so well. I am in awe! It means so much that you invested all of this time in a gift for me, Sue. Thank you, thank you, and thanks to Latte for such a generous gift.
I think that about does it for this update. I hope all of you are off tomorrow and enjoying time with friends and/or family. We’ll work for a couple of hours tomorrow, and go back to work on Wednesday. From our house to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas!
Chan Knits 