A Year of Blogging - 2008

Kelli is hosting a blog review for 2008 and I thought it would be fun to join in.

Post the first sentence of your first blog post of each month. You can also add a favorite picture from each month.

~ January ~
First off I want to wish everybody a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~ February ~

It was raining buckets most of the day and it was rather cold and dreary.

~ March ~

My favorite Penguin is now a Thrasher (and I am absolutely NOT HAPPY about that).

~ April ~

My blog turns 2 on April 3.

~ May ~
The old rosebush in our garden is in full bloom.

~ June ~
= Bread Pudding.

~ July ~
I have quite a collection of books about pioneer women and I decided to start reading through it this Summer.

~ August ~
I spent a good part of the day in the kitchen.

~ September ~
I had a bit of an off week and did not feel up to much of anything.

~ October ~
It looks like my 8 year old computer has called it quits.

~ November ~
Taken this morning, the sugar maples in our front yard.

~ December ~
Good Morning Dear Readers!

Putting Christmas Away

I read with great relief all over my favorite blogs that people can't wait to put all the Christmas stuff away and get back to "normal". It is not just me after all. Even our preacher talked about how much he loves Christmas but how much he also enjoys starting the new year with a clean and tidy house. Me too. ;) I have a few things that I really want to get done before this year is over and I hope I will get them done in the next three days. We will put our Christmas away this coming weekend and then start the new year officially on Monday with a (hopefully) clean and neat house. ;)

As for plans for 2009, I decided to skip that and make plans for the individual months instead. Planning for a whole year is easy before the year begins but so much falls by the wayside as the year progresses because life gets in the way and more interesting things come along. I will try and make a rough plan for each month and then see where that leads me.

I am off until next year. Take care everybody and stay safe and healthy until I am back.

This is how I plan to spend New Year's Eve. ;)

Christmas Gifts

Here are some gifts I received from friends this year. Del and I did not exchange gifts, we pooled our money and had a terrific Christmas dinner instead. :)

Plans for 2008 - Revisited

It is that time of the year again, when I look back on my plans for 2008 and which one of them I actually put into practice. Well, let's see:

Personal Goals for 2008:

• Learn to drive. NO.
  

• Write more letters. Not really.
  

• Keep a journal (on paper). Every now and then.
  

• Read at least one book per month. Yikes, not even that!
  

Crafty Goals for 2008:

• Finish my Women of the Bible Quilt (top at least). Yeah, right, wake up and smell the roses!
  

• Work on my other sampler quilts: Civil War Diary Quilt, Dear Jane. See above.
  

• I am going to start a "Finish Something Friday" to – hopefully – get some projects finished. Not a good idea since I am usually busy with other things on Fridays, oh well. ;)
  

• Give hand-made gifts only. That I actually did.
  

• Make more and different things for my Etsy-Shop. Done that, sold nothing.
  

Housekeeping Goals for 2008:

• Keep the house neat and clean. Yep, did okay with that.
  

• Declutter regularly. Done.
  

• Bake bread, make yogurt, cream cheese and ginger ale. Did that too.
  

• Learn to pickle and preserve fruits and vegetables. Not enough to pickle, we ate it all fresh.
  

• Learn to make cheese. Not yet.
  

• Start a small vegetable and herb garden. Did that, turned out well, but can be improved.
  

• Try at least one completely new recipe per month. Not really.
  

• Cook something ethnic once a month. Do pizza and mexican food count? ;)
  

Fall into Reading - Final Update

Well, this is more of a confession than an update I am afraid. I did not read or did not finish the books on my list. Here is my original list:

"Child of Light" by Beth A. Richardson
"Lighted Windows" by Margaret Silf

These are both Advent devotionals and I decided to read only one of them this year. I chose "Child of Light" and I must confess that it did not really appeal to me that much. I have a problem with any kind of Advent/Christmas book that is talking too much about how busy and hectic this time is. It does not really apply to my lifestyle, my holidays are never hectic, I keep everything simple and therefore manageable. I decided long ago to just leave everything out that would create stress and concentrate on what is enjoyable. I used to do a lot of things just because they were done/cooked/baked - at Christmas, but that is over.

"The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian
"Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver

I did not read either one of them, they move on to my reading list for 2009.

"Women's Voices from the Western Frontier" by Susan G. Butruille

I am about halfway through it and like it a lot.

"Pioneer Women" by Joanna L. Stratton

This one also moves on to 2009.

I did not read anything at all I just read a few books that were not on this list. Bad girl, that I am. ;)

A little more decorating

Holly from the garden in milk glass vases from the thrift store.

Dining table ready for Christmas.

Advent Giveaway - Week 4 Winner

The winner of my last advent giveaway is Judy from daily yarns 'n more. Congratulations! I hope you like your mug cozy.

Thanks to all for playing, I am planning a lot more giveaways for next year, so keep reading. ;)

Sunrise

I was able to get some pictures of the spectacular sunrise we had this morning (I hope nobody saw me and was wondering what I was doing outside in my nightshirt ;)).

Save Handmade!

My Garlands

I received a lot of nice comments about my Christmas garlands. Thank you, I love them too. ;)
I bought them (and lots of other lovely things) many years ago from a store in England called "Past Times". Just out of curiosity I checked their website and they still carry these kind of garlands, with different motives. They are called Victorian Frieze and you can see two of them here.

Christmas Tour of Homes 2008

Welcome to our house for this year's tour of homes, hosted by BooMama.
This is our second Christmas in the house and we did things a little different this year. The living room has gone from blue and gold to red and gold and I decorated the little tree in the dining room with handmade ornaments from swaps with other quilters and crafters and from friends.
So without much further delay, here we go.

Kitchen

Dining Room Tree


Some of the ornaments


Bedroom


The Living Room Tree

We have a squirrel and a bird's nest in it

and a cardinal instead of the angel


The mantel

And here we keep our Christmas cards this year:

We do not have any outside decorations or lights, just some electric candles in the windows and a lighted wreath in the porch.

Thank you for visiting, have a cup of hot chocolate and a slice of cranberry bread.

And a

to all!