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Christmas felt almost anticlimactic after our big advent calendar/music/cookie/movie/reading selection lead-in!  We had a quiet morning of gift-opening and board games (and A Christmas Story, of course!).  I was finally able to reveal Todd's big gift:  a hand-knitted Star Wars sweater!  I found the basic design  in a database of Star Wars patterns, tweaked it very slightly...

...and added the characters to a plain men's sweater.  I think the final result was a winner!

Before starting this sweater, I had basically stopped knitting.  My fingers would get so sore after just a few days because of my "death grip" issues.  Sure enough, this sweater was a real labor of love.  As I knitted slowly and painfully over the course of several weeks, I decided that I would discard my cobbled-together method of knitting forever.  I would learn a way that worked for me, without finger pain.  The research began...

...and I think I've settled on an unusual method called Portuguese knitting (tried once before but ended up defaulting to my incorrect style after a while).  With Portuguese knitting, you drape the yarn strand around your neck, so there's no finger-squeezing to worry about.  I'm knitting a scarf/shawl wrap now that's made up of simple knits and purls, so I'm excited to switch to this new method to see how it works in a practical setting.  One New Year's goal already accomplished!

I did try something new for Christmas Eve that I'd love to become a tradition for us.  I made homemade biscotti and whipped hot chocolate, which is basically regular whipped cream with cocoa powder added.  I overfilled our cups with hot milk and made a huge mess...

...but it was still delicious.  Here's the official "glamour shot" from the website, which is apparently how it would've looked if I hadn't filled the mugs so much:

Photo courtesy of Hummingbird on High

Now Christmas is over and we can focus on a bright and shining new year!  So far we've had cold weather with no snow but beautiful blue skies.

It's been cold enough to keep the ponds frozen...or at least semi-frozen.

Sometimes you can see interesting patterns on ice as well as snow.  On our front pond, there's a line of tiny steps, and then a long, sweeping slide.  Was it a cat?  Muskrat?  Fox?  I couldn't get a good angle of sight, but I'm so curious!

We took a nice hike around the property on Christmas day.

Lots of wildlife.  ;)

It's been nice to be out and about, although I'd love a good snowstorm!  Meanwhile, I'm enjoying thc cold, sunny days.  The sunrises, in particular, have been amazing.  It's wonderful to sit at my office computer and watch the skies change.  First it's dramatic and dark...

...and then it slowly begins to lighten and turn golden.  

I had a beautiful "winter view" from my office at our old place in South Carolina, too.  Contemplating the beauty of nature in these tiny ways has really helped me learn to notice and appreciate the small, everyday things in life.  One of the keys to happiness, I believe!

Have a great week!

Livin' La Vida STAR WARS

Today is my second day of comfortable slippers and fuzzy pajamas.  I'm going to read, and eat chocolate oatmeal, and nap. Why the life of leisure?  Well, I'm recovering from Star Wars Celebration 8, of course!

I left my professional career several years ago to ramp up a hobby business that Todd was running on the side.  Originally meant to be a stopgap until I finished a master's degree, it's taken on a life of its own now.  My business is mainly online, but we always go to Star Wars Celebration, even when it's 3000 miles away!

While we love seeing our friends in the hobby, Celebration is WORK.  First there's the pre-show prep of sorting and pricing items...then loading the cargo van and driving 10 hours to the convention center.  Here it is, west wing.
 

Our booth was 10' x 10', but thankfully we were able to spill over into the empty space next to us.  It was a real lifesaver, because we always bring a lot of stuff.  The evolution of unpacking:

Seventy thousand people attended this year, and I think every one of them came to our booth!

We were swamped from the moment we arrived at the booth in the morning until closing time at 7 p.m.  Then we stayed after for 2 hours (or more), tidying stock and pricing additional merchandise. Then it was up again at 7 a.m. the next day, and we did it all over again.  For four days!  Phew.  These conventions are always really lucrative for us, but speaking as an introvert who gets worn down quickly by the ambient noise and constant crush of customers, I am glad they only occur once every two or three years!

We get great feedback from people, though.  They love to see the vintage items they played with as kids.  From our booth space, too, we get to see a lot of cool costumes.

This is a light saber handle.

Lots of Princess Leias.

And...some other guys.

Four days of chaos, and then, at the end of day four, the six-hour process of tearing down the booth and packing things up.

The convention center seemed so small after people started moving out!

After packing up and a few hours of sleep, another 10 hour drive and then another unload of the cargo van.  Counting travel time, 6 days of moving boxes, little sleep, junk food, and chaos took their toll.  Todd and I were so sore and exhausted on Tuesday morning that we could barely move.  Today is a little better, and although I will certainly stay in my pajamas, work will begin again.   I'm looking forward to healthy food (I never thought I'd say this, but I'm absolutely sick of pizza) and SILENCE. It takes about a week to recharge!  Meanwhile, I'll wear pajamas, cuddle kittens, and enjoy our peaceful green space, where nary a light saber or ill-advised Princess Leia bikini can be found.

Have a great week!

Sarlaac-ing in Skills

I love the dependability of our wildlife friends here.  Several days ago Todd spotted a Southern Toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) sitting at the entrance of his hole down by the pond.  He's there every single day.  I always go down for a peek. 

A cardinal pair is nesting in an azalea under our sunroom.  Every day, I take a peek at "Little Miss" sitting on her eggs...

We are officially forbidden from using those stairs so we won't disturb the expectant parents!

Every day, of course, we see the familiar cast of characters:

The geese swim down to our end of the pond every day, bringing their little goslings. 

I'm following their development with great interest.  Even since last week, they've changed.  They're molting - more feathers and less baby fluff.  Their heads are bigger and are taking on the classic goose slope:

It's such a treat to watch them.

Every time I go down the deck stairs, I see the same Venusta Orchard spider, waiting patiently for her next meal:

They all start to feel like old friends, and it makes me happy to walk around and see them in their daily routines - just like me. 

Borga likes being outside too:

Not the cats, though.  Oh, it's fine for a while, and then it's:

That's what I call a kitten caboose!

In other news, I took my first stab at making a Star Wars cake recently.  This is a Sarlaac.  It's some kind of tentacled worm creature that lives in a sandy pit, catching prey in a way reminiscent of an ant lion (video here).  I got the idea from Yummy Crumble, whose cake turned out way better than mine.  But anyway...I baked a basic bundt cake.

I hand-cut the Sarlaac shapes in basic sugar cookie dough with a knife.

I frosted the cake and coated the frosting with crushed gingersnaps to mimic sand.

I gave the Sarlaac frosting teeth...

...and popped the parts into the bundt cake center, anchored with frosting.

I didn't think the tentacles looked right, so I ate them.  ;)  They were very tasty!

Finally, I went to a flea market this weekend and found this old wooden trough with several holes through its center.  I'm not sure what it was originally used for, but I had some small glasses that fit perfectly into the holes.  I pulled up some of our groundcover for the glasses.  I'm not sure what this stuff is, but it lasts FOREVER and in a darkened room, too.

It makes a nice centerpiece, I think!

Have a great week!