Handmade Highlights

There were lots of handmade gifts to be found under the tree this Christmas.  My sister-in-law made the wonderful soy candles in thrifted chinaware and sweet little pin-cushion jars filled with old buttons, which I posted here on Sunday.  I labored through the completion of my first quilt, framed old family photos in vintage frames for my mom and cousin, and put together an album of snapshots from Christmases past for my “grammie.”  But as far as handmade gifts go, my ever-productive mother deserves the grand prize!  I wasn’t able to snap pictures of all the goodies she gave each family member, but here are a few of the wonderful things we were so lucky to receive:

A delicate knitted scarf for me....

  A handwoven towel and an incredible variety of yummy homemade soaps....

A scarf knitted from super-soft baby alpaca for Erik....

And the star of the show: my niece in her knitted Christmas poncho...

A Few Days Late

We were treated to some unexpected snow today!  I was already planning to leave work early and was glad I did -- both to avoid the snarl of rush-hour traffic and to allow plenty of time for play.  Griffin didn't seem to notice any of the snow at first (due to a certain pink ball he wanted to chase), but when it was inches deep he could ignore it no longer and proceeded to try to gobble it all up.  Silly boy.  I had the camera in hand and noticed many others out taking pictures.  When Erik got home, we wandered through the quiet streets (except for the sounds of giddy snowman-building children) to Irving Park, which was a wide-open, snowy paradise.  Rain is forecasted for tomorrow, so this snow is surely a short-lived treat.

Blue Hour

 {from our yard tonight}

                                      From the hoofs of the horses where knights, riding

                                                   townward,

                                      Flash bright through the green leaves, clash shrill

                                                  on the stone:

                                      Suckt out of the heart of the small purple flower

                                      That nods on the top of the tall craggy tower,

                                                 Blowing, and glowing, alone:

                                      In the long flowing downward

                                                 Of every blue hour

                                      Loos'd in light from the rims of the sun:

                                                Millions of sights and of sounds

                                      Fill me, and thrill me, forever

                                      With the music of all that abounds

                                                 In blue air 'twixt the rocks and the river.

                                     --from The Loreley by Owen Meredith, 1863