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Monday, December 26, 2011

All the Shiny Things

I'm resting my tired 'dogs' after  four days of having my Dad and brother visit with us for Christmas! I enjoyed having them here and we would chat by the hour, eat, watch movies, eat, chat some more, eat....and for a change, eat some more!  Then suddenly, it was all over and they are gone....the house sure feels quiet now!

I hope that you all had a wonderful time with family and friends in the past few days and more to come in the week ahead till we welcome the New Year!

I thought I would share some of our special ornaments on our tree...


I kept the ornaments on the light side near the bottom of the tree where they were in range of a curious Airedale!


Yeah, this one... who needed encouragement to open the first gift and then took to her new job with a vengeance! The pooch who loved her new ball and had the 'squeaky' chewed out of it in under two minutes. The industrial strength nylabone will take her a lot longer (hopefully... she is still quite the chewer, even at 18 months old! My Dad discovered she had chewed a whole in one of his tee shirts. Too much upheaval going on in the house I guess.)


There was this lovely new addition to the tree this year from Dorothy in Scotland! Thank you Dorothy.... its a real sweet ornament and much admired by all house guests.


There is this angel made by a friend Marcia and she features a handwoven dress and beads (Calli really wanted to get this one!)


The tiniest pair of mittens....


A crystal train to represent my husband's many years working for the railroad


A boat to represent the five years we lived aboard a boat (1988 to 1993). That's a whole blog post all by itself!





The above grouping are little woven bands, with the beaded hanging cord inserted as a weft. They were woven by my friend Gudrun Weisinger. She has a lot of talent.... check these little gems out!

A tiny paper folded star which I understand is a tradition in Germany

Isn't she cute? a tiny pine cone, pipe cleaner, beads and an acorn hat sitting on a round wooden ball.

Inkle band folded

Then there is the beaded sheep I found  one year...

Then there is this group that I cross stitched:





There is also this one which is a tribute to all our previous dogs we have shared Christmas with. Their names are recorded on the back:


I just realized there is one more with a jolly Santa but it must be on the back side of the tree and I missed it with the camera!

I received only one hand woven card this year.... thanks Joan!


Here's a closer view! I love all the shades she has used in this cloth...


So pretty soon this gang will all be tucked away for another year...




My husband has been ordered back onto crutches to rest his achilles heel, but hopefully I can get back to weaving soon..... look, its patiently waiting for me!


I have decided to increase the prizes for the Blogiversary from one to three guest towels! So your chances of winning just got better. Sign in as a 'Regular Reader' and you are entered. I will scientifically pick the names by drawing it out of a hat on January 8th.

Wishing each of you a healthy, happy New Year! 
All the best, Susan

17 comments:

Theresa said...

Oh such beautiful ornaments and such wonderful memories they must bring. Love the boat and crystal train and the dog ornament of course!
Hope DH recoups from his heel and isn't on the crutches too long. Robin chewed a hole in one of my sweatshirts pocket corner. No doubt it smelled like food of some sort...maybe I stored a candy there before eating it?

MarthaVA said...

You have a beautiful and unique tree! Happy New Year!!!

Linda said...

Merry Christmas, Susan! What a sweet tour through your tree and all of the beautiful ornaments. I especially like your grumpy sheep...and of course, that glorious loom at the end makes my heart beat a bit faster every time I see a photo. May your New Year be healthy, happy, and full of everything that means the most to you.

Marion B. said...

The ornaments are lovely.

Two Guys and a Loom said...

Lovely ornament collection, sounds like you and your family had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!!!!

Anonymous said...

Loved getting to see all the wonderful ornaments on your tree, which I think is such a great idea I will promptly go and shoot pics of mine to share.

Callie looks like she enjoyed herself - what is a chewed up T-shirt among family - nothing....

Hope Bruce is on the mend and you are taking care of yourself too.

Wow, blog a versary - three prizes how generous of you. Hope I win something!

Hugs to all three of you, Martha

Acorn to Oak said...

Oh my gosh....your loom looks amazing and so much fun! I can only imagine how hard it must be to stay away from it. I'd be going crazy wanting to get to it! I hope you'll be able to soon. Can't wait to see what you weave on it. I'm so excited for you!

Anne said...

Sounds like you had a very nice Christmas!

barbara said...

Hi Susan,
Beautiful tree and ornaments. Sounds like a good Christmas. Hopefully with Bruce on crutches that will heal his heel. Have not checked the post office - will do so tomorrow and see if the parcel has arrived.
Weaverly yours ...... Barbara

Threadbare Designs said...

What a lovely tree, so filled with homemade and hand picked ornaments. We too had an issue with our tree this year because we have a new cat, and he found all the shiny things (ornaments, and especially garland) VERY interesting.

I hope your husband continues to recover as mine is about to undergo surgery on his shoulder next month. There will be a very long recovery period, meaning less weaving/knitting/spinning for me, but as long as he is healthy in the end, I'll be happy.

Happy New Year, Susan!

Margreet said...

Susan, thanks for sharing. Lovely to have around you each year.
Wishing you a creative and healthy 2012.

LOU said...

THANK-Y'ALL-KINDLY for your ' Ornament-Tour ' showing us you are blessed also with talented friends, and also the progress report on BRUCE, wishing y'all ' ALL-THE-BEST ' for the coming year !!!!!!

Delighted Hands said...

Beautiful ornaments-thanks for the inspiration to include ornaments that reflect me and my love of textiles!

tinsel said...

So fun to see ornaments from far away.All so special. Thankyou

Laritza said...

It's done! My 20+ is in!
I reviewed the old emails, it was April 8, 2009 that you shared with me the pictures and description on it. It only took almost 3 years, a move across country and another wonderful friend to get it done.
I am so happy! I can't wait to get a warp on the loom.
Thank you again!

Susan said...

Hi Laritza!

That is wonderful news and I wish you joy of using it!

Keep us posted as to how your first project goes!

Susan

trish at tangled threads said...

All the best to you, Susan, and your family. I have enjoyed your blog and reading about weaving and other adventures and I look forward to future posts. Cheers, Trish