Family Funnies

Back in the late 1980's, I decided to venture into the land of the Christmas letter. I enjoyed writing, and for the most part, I enjoyed reading about the years' news of folks we didn't see very often. I'll admit, I did have a few second thoughts. I remembered the one we used to get each year from my mother's old friend, Clara. It was hand-written and covered every square inch of an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet. Clara would relate every operation, malady, misfortune and hard luck story of everyone in her family. It got to be funny. I'm sure Clara has gone on to the big writing desk in the sky by now. If not, my apologies Clara!

So, taking all of that into consideration, I cautiously began writing a Christmas letter. It seemed to be well received. I don't know if people were laughing behind my back or not, but I took pains to make my letter very un-Clara-like.

One year I had a case of writer's block. I just couldn't get the words to flow, so I started doodling. And I ended up sending out what has now become known as the "Christmas cartoon." The drawings are very elementary, but people seem to enjoy them along with the humorous captions. I think families have similar issues that we can all relate to, and it's fun to laugh at ourselves.

On the crafty front, I finished the bird socks--and just in time for 80 degree weather here in So. Calif! I think I'll still have plenty of winter left when I get back to Connecticut though. And now that my knitting project is finished, I'll be starting an embroidery project--an embroidered cat (my own design) with a primitive look. Picture soon!