North

Recovering now from a very long trip up north for the holidays- 10 days! Felt like even longer, I really had the chance to move in and make myself at home on the island. Other than Auntie Jan not making it up, I got to see everyone on my list! Lovely dinner with cindy, tea and baby time with Erin, lunch and sleepover with Deb and Denali, fish and chips and Safeway adventures with Sabine, playing house with dad and Kim, lots of great time with the Grandma and Grandad, officemax adventure with Don, Solstice celebration and bellingham time with Mom and Matt, car talks with Shannon, and lots and lots and lots of Lily! Not so many pictures this time, i guess not so many pictures in general these days, i find myself just hanging out in the moment a lot more, the need to document and report gets fainter by the day. But, quality right? Not quantity!  

Dad's christmas tree beets

Stockings!

New boat owners!

After all my huffing, shannon finally made everyone pose for a family picture. Taken by father, who refused. I like it. It has a kind of holy feel to it.

Look at Lily's eyeballs in this one! Ha!

It's not every year we get a new stocking at the farm! Yay!

Seriously. I love this one.

Orange hazelnut solstice cake! Yum, didn't manage a picture of dinner...

Ghost father

The train goes! (kind of!)

Pete's liver and hazelnut stuffed lamb leg- oh, no one told you it was liver, huh? Funny how much liver you can eat when you don't know what you're eating!

Orange vanilla baklava, my most successful dish of the season

Ha!

Pig pancakes! Yes!

Ok, so i always think it's not so many and then it turns out to be 77! Holy crap! Most of them are of Lily, though, as you may have noticed, she is just so darn photogenic, it's like the camera turns to her automatically!

What else...

Oh, yes, the felt things! After my last post complaining about being bored, my mother suggested that i try sewing little felt things like she does with her friend Georgia. So i did. I didn't want to go buy the book that she had so i downloaded free patterns from the internet- there are millions of them! I guess i gave the little duck, my first attempt, to Lily without ever taking a picture, but here's attempt number two:

Before you try to guess, i'll just tell you- it's a cupcake. I got some interesting guesses. I am currently working on a little owl, pictures to come. It is an interesting new hobby, first thing i noticed- felt is super expensive! After checking out the options, i decided to go with some of the cheap recycled squares in all different colors to practice with, maybe i'll spring for some real stuff once i get a little better. Second thing- embroidery floss is kind of a pain in the ass, and certainly not my friend. I feel like there must be an easier way to work with it but I have yet to discover what that is. I finally was able to pull two or three strings out without the whole thing getting tangled, but i still run into problems once i start sewing, it just gets so twisty and ties itself in knots. So, pointers there would be great. 

What else, oh new years! Also Ben and I's anniversary, went to a party at our friend Cassie's house in NE. It was fun, we danced and talked to people other than each other, which is great for us. And Anthony took a few silly pictures of us before we left.

I like this one cause it makes me look tall!

Oh, and there was a fabulous overnight vacation to the Hilton in Beaverton- friday night, pool, hot tub, yup. Not a single picture!

Bye!