Red-sweateritis

I was prodded...or maybe I should say needled....into making a few more.  Someone else saw them and asked if I could somehow squeeze half a dozen more into my Christmas crazy time.  Of course I said yes.  So now they are done and I hope they've been received by now.  I had to mail them from California because Mr. Gadget and I are now at the Calcondo (where the temps are in the mid-70's) getting ready to celebrate Christmas with our Cali relatives.

I've started a new knitting project...on much bigger needles...which takes some getting used to after lots of teeny, tiny needles....and I will show it to you next time, after I've made a little progress.  It was one of those serendipitous things.  I had yarn that had been gifted to me and I didn't know what to use it for.  Then I happened upon a pattern for a cowl that is simple to knit, and one of the suggested yarns is my gift yarn.  And since I have some car time coming up (we're going north) it will be just the thing to help me pass the time, and refrain from backseat driving.  I know, I know.  But some people do need a little extra help.

A stringy thingy

I'm off on another needle-felting tangent. The ideas are never-ending.  The other evening I was just wasting time, I mean doing some important yarny research on Ravelry--that fabulous website that sucks me in and eats up my whole day--when I discovered a pattern for a string of knitted Christmas lights.  I thought they were so clever that I mentioned them to Mr. Gadget (I politely waited till an exciting football play was over).  "I'll bet you could needle-felt them," he said.

"Why yes I could!" I exclaimed.  I was gobsmacked by this great crafty idea coming out of his non-crafty head.  I ran to get my felting supplies. 

A dozen lights on a string will be just about right.  I could string them along the mantel, or even wear them as a necklace. 

So it was a busy weekend with me doing a volunteer stint at the senior center holiday bazaar and then our annual condo party (to which I took an appetizer that was a complete bust), and a Sunday dinner out with our cruising friends.  I gave my friend, Jane, a witch for Christmas. I know witches aren't at all Christmasy, but Jane was overjoyed.  It was one she had admired just before I drove the whole coven up to the October craft fair. 

As luck would have it, only this particular witch didn't sell, so I decided to gift it to Jane.  I had to be very tactful though.  I didn't want her to think this witch was a reject--a real undesirable that no one else wanted.  So I told her she had been hiding out at the old hotel and saving herself.  Jane was very pleased.

So now I'm done with crafts for the year.  Well, except for the can't-say-no sweater ornaments.  Someone saw the ones I donated to the senior center and chased me down to ask if I had any more at home. "Well, I might," I told them.  "Let me check and I'll call you back." 

Felting up some festiveness

The last time I was shopping for felting supplies I found some evergreen fiber and bought it with the idea of making Christmas trees.

They would look nice, I thought, sitting on the mantel with the collection of paper houses I plan to make....maybe using old Christmas cards....and illuminate with battery-operated tealights.  I have no idea when I'll get around to this.  Maybe in my next life.....if I decide to come back...

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving.  Ours was very nice and included some traditional activities-- a jigsaw puzzle and a game of Scrabble.  Luckily I had some knitting to work on because I find puzzles tedious, and my brain works too slowly to play word games with Mr. Gadget and Big City Girl.

No sooner had BCG and her boyfriend left on Friday morning, than our nephew and his girlfriend--both college students in Massachusetts--arrived. Thankfully, we had plenty of leftovers.  Dylan, our nephew, was quick to express his burning desire to visit the nearby go cart track--something he had done on a previous visit--but it wasn't meant to be.  He had arrived on crutches.  Something about a rough game of frisbee.

So, we came up with an alternate plan which was to take a nice picturesque drive up to the old hotel to visit the craft show.  They seemed agreeable although I know they were just being polite.

Once at the hotel, I was eager to show them my craftiness.  But, alas, there were very few of my items on display.  Could most everything have sold on the first day?  Unlikely.  So I checked with the lady working the check-out desk and found out that, yes, it was true that not many of my things had sold and it may have been because some of them were in the basement being saved for the second weekend--this being the first time they've held the show for two consecutive weekends.

I'm not sure I'm happy with this plan.  It probably suits the show organizers because they can have a fresh show the second time around, and they can tell their customers to be sure to come back because there'll be new offerings.  But it doesn't suit the craftsperson.  Something might not sell the second weekend--something that could have struck the fancy of a first-weekend customer.

I like the fact that I can deliver my crafts to the show location and let someone else sell them.  But the downside is that I don't have a say in how they're displayed or, in this case, when.  Whereas in a craft show where I've rented a table, done my own set-up, and stayed all day to do the selling, I have more leeway.  I enjoy that, but the older I get the less I like to get up before the sun and schlep everything somewhere.  So I'll just keep my mouth shut....which has never gotten me in trouble before. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a short post to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  Our turkey is in the oven and Mr. Gadget is on his way to the train station to pick up Big City Girl (delayed a day because of snow).

I'm thankful for so many things.....my wonderful family and friends and my faithful blog readers.  You've hung in during the dry spells and the crazy posts, and that recent time when I asked you all to "please hold."  I'm grateful for all of you!

So Happy Thanksgiving all, and let's think about making this a day to celebrate the turkey neck.  Be proud.  Leave those cowls and scarves in the drawer. Go forth and strut!

Souvenir

I usually don't buy trinkets or souvenirs when I travel, mostly because I'm in the thinning out stage of my life rather than the bulking up.  When I do buy something it's because it will serve a useful purpose and not just collect dust.  That's why I bought this delightfully colorful coffee mug in Portugal. 

I admired the bright colors and the fact that it said "Portugal" on both the front and back.  It would be used, if not every day, certainly on a regular basis.  I do love my coffee.

So by now I'm sure you've realized that it's pretty much just a black mug (with a little unintended reflection).  That's because after the first washing the pretty design began to peel off, and with very little coaxing the whole thing just basically came unglued.  So now I have a plain black mug that will provide no special remembrance of my time in Portugal.  I do have a black t-shirt to match it though, and I will try to remember to drink coffee from my black mug when I'm wearing it.  Well,  at least until I can make arrangements to return it for a full refund...

Recooooperating

I'm feeling much better today after spending most of yesterday in my recliner under my heated throw.  This was all thanks to a flu shot I had the day before.  I've never had anything worse than a sore arm in the past.  Mr. Gadget took good care of me....brewing tea, bringing Tylenol, and even offering to go out last night to get me some frozen yogurt.  I'm feeling much better today.....but please don't tell Mr. G.

I did manage to dose myself up enough yesterday morning to drive up to the old hotel with my handiwork for the Christmas craft show.  The show has always been the first weekend in December, but this year they've decided to do it for two weekends beginning right after Thanksgiving.

Here are a couple of my needle-felted pieces:

I knitted more sweater ornaments this year--some for the craft show and some to donate to the senior center for their holiday bazaar. I think I referred to them earlier as the "can't-say-no" sweaters.  When someone asks me to volunteer to do something, and they preface it by saying  "oh, they're so wonderful and you're so talented and they sold like hotcakes last year," my brain says no, but my mouth says yes.  How does that happen?

 

So now I'm sitting here in the Treehouse amidst the mess--threads, stuffing, little bits of fiber, jars of paint, needles and pins, and little beads rolling around.  Where is that stateroom steward when you really need him?

Interlopers

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the ancient Roman city of Ephesus on the outskirts of Kusadasi, Turkey. The locals, including our tour guide who insisted on calling us "dear guests," call it Kush-a-das-eh. 

We saw the Library of Celsus....

and the Temple of Hadrian.

  This is the huge amphitheater....

 

...and the toilets.  Always plenty of seating so never an annoying line.

But what surprised me the most were these little furballs--clearly freeloaders who were just lounging around like they owned the joint.

Halloween at sea

As I mentioned, after seeing a crate of pumpkins being loaded on the ship in Venice, I was pretty sure there would be some Halloween fun.

This was the hostess who greeted us in the dining room.

I'm sure the kitchen crew had fun carving these during the wee hours.

Two Halloween beauties...

Here are a few of the costumes worn by passengers:

Crafty things along the way

I had a hunch there'd be some Halloween festivities onboard when I saw a big crate of pumpkins on a forklift in Venice.

 

 Cat in a shop window (Funchal, Madeira, Portugal)

Even the sidewalks were crafty!

 

 Store front of a woodcrafter's shop (Orvieto, Italy)

 

                                               Weaving studio (Orvieto)

 

 Fabric chickens (Taormina, Italy)

 

Ceramic jugs (Taormina) 

 

 Paper-mache masks (Taormina)

 

Pretty felted things (Istanbul) 

 

 Buttons and embellishments (Athens Archeological Museum)

 

 Hand-woven carpets (Istanbul)

 

Ceramic basset hound (Sorrento, Italy) 

 

Statue on a balcony (Barcelona) 

 

 Cement sculpture on side of a building (Sorrento)

 

Be-jeweled dog on a sweater (Taormina) 

Street entertainer "statue" (Barcelona)

Thanks so much for holding!

I'm back in the Treehouse once again, after a wonderful adventure.  Mr. Gadget and I have been cruising....but I'm sure you assumed....

For 3 weeks we cruised around the Mediterranean Sea and then we sailed for another week across the Atlantic to Florida.  Gotta love a trip without jet lag.

We love to cruise, and we realized on this trip that we can look forward to doing more of it in our elder years.

Some days the seas were choppy.

Some days they were smooth.

We rode on buses.

We saw wonderful places.

And we realized yet again that people are pretty much the same the world over.