Notes on Christmas 2009

Christmas was snow globe place cards for the grands

and holiday post-its for the adultson a festive table, candle lit and beaded

with stockings and a wreath at the hearth

and presents and love around a small, snowflake Christmas tree.

....................................

Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy!  ~ Psalm 99:3

Deck the Doggie!

The house and yard are decorated. Its Christmas week and time to decorate the doggie! She wasn't immediately ammenable to the idea of wearing the colorful bandana. Max wore it as a tie, but I opened it to tie as a bandana for little Lailah.

Look at her crazy legs!! What a pose!














Her attempts to scratch the bandana off were for nought.















Although she has removed it once, she pretty much ignores her new accessory and looks like her cute little self chasing around the house.

I'm thinking I might replace it with another style after the holidays. She's just so glam!

.....................................................................................................

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger . . . . So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  ~~Luke 2:12

Teaser Tuesdays

"Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers."

From Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright, p. 23:

"Because many of my predecessors had beards and none was known to wear a skirt, my use of pins to send a message was something new in American diplomacy. The role of jewelry in world affairs, however, began in ancient times."

.................................................

[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:6–7

Gift Book

Thanks to my Christmas Book Swap partner for this novel from my wish list. I'll be reading it soon! My partner emailed a while ago to tell me that a book would be arriving from a third party. Alas, I do not have the name/email/web site of my partner now, so I want to send out a Thank You! hoping that she'll see it!

.................................

Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us'.  ~ Matt 1:23

A Little Bit Marley

I used the "Pastel Marley" pattern from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson to make a size medium baby hat

with Caron Simply Soft yarn from stash

to donate to the Nurse-Family Partnership Program, a service project for our Red Hat chapter. Hope it will keep a little one warm for many years.

..................................................

Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.  ~ 2 John 1:3

Birds In A Christmas Tree

We have two small Christmas trees. The one on the window seat in my office has a bird theme. Here are a few of my Christmas tree birdies:

Some are knitted like this blue/green creation from the late 70s.

A few are "bell birds" like this cardinal.

Of course there is a wise old owl.

Love these gorgeous clip-on birds.

Another cardinal--this one in blown glass.

Don't they look like they're chirping?

The pinata is a little treasure from a trip to Cancun just days before Christmas, 2006. The cute little tree is a gift from a student in 1989. Each is a  favorite. Our living room tree has a theme of snowflakes and icicles. I'm hoping to snap some pix of it soon!

How did you decorate your tree?

.........................................

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! ~ Isaiah 26:3

Echo House by Ward Just

Echo House by Ward S. Just



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

scud: (noun) 1. swift movement: a swift smooth movement

2. clouds driven by wind: low clouds that are driven swiftly by the wind

3. sudden shower or gust: a sudden shower of rain or gust of wind


cross the Rubicon:(noun) to do something that commits you to a particular course of action
[Early 17th century. After the stream in N Italy that Julius Caesar crossed illegally with his army in 49 BC, making civil war inevitable:]
point of no return: a point at which any action taken commits the person taking it to a further course of action that cannot be avoided


This story is splendid generational historical fiction about the unseen family of power players in Washington, DC. Fascinating insight comes to light as the reader begins in the the salon of Echo House with the family scion Senator Adolph Behl and his wife Constance, a demanding perfectionist. Beginning with the Wilson administration, the years unfold. Players and Presidents come and go, but the Behl family remains. The Behl men are the "Invisibles", the men who get things done, who take care of things, who avoid the spotlight. The evolution of the Behls and our nation kept me spellbound and sad to see the book end. Knowing that this novel reflects reality is mind-numbing and a bit scary. DC is a tough town.

View all my reviews >>

Invisible Dog

http://dogsonthursday.blogspot.com/

"When I hide here in my very secret place, no one can find me!"

Can YOU locate the missing dog?

.......................

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.   ~ Psalm 13:5-6

Three Stockings--Complete!

The third stocking is the snowman to finish the trio that Dear Friend asked me to make for her grandchildren. We'll all be at the church dinner tonight, so I'll give them to her after dinner.
I didn't make any purchases for these stockings and am happy that I could use the stash of Christmas yarns that have been on hand for several years.
I combined patterns from here and there, yarns from here and there using an H hook except for the smaller parts.
I am blessed that three little ones will have new stockings filled with treats.
Are you making Christmas stockings this year?

.........................

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  

 ~ Colossians 3:17