Happy Solstice

Welcome, winter - we're happy to have you here.

What will you do today to welcome the solstice? We'll be having a quiet candle lit family evening, hopefully while snow is falling...

Update from the Field: Lessons Learned

Okay, I don't have a doorway puppet theatre to show you YET.

But, I do have some lessons learned to share:

• One hour is not enough time to sew a puppet theatre.
• I really don't know how to sew.
• Satin sucks. I mean, sure, it'll look glam as a theatre curtain - but how do you sew that stuff.
• Felt isn't perfect. (I know, that's a HUGE statement coming from me.)
• My Nana's sewing machine rocks.
• I have no idea how to thread my Nana's sewing machine. Or, for that matter, the bobbin. So, I used the thread already there....white. 
• White thread (especially when not sewn perfectly) looks lousy on purple.
• One really should have a plan or a pattern before they start cutting fabric. Or, ribbon. 
• One really shouldn't stake their Christmas plans on a sewing project if they don't know how to sew.

Stay tuned.

Look What I'm Giving the Girls For Christmas

What? You don't recognize this?

Sigh.

I had great plans of making a doorway puppet theatre for my girls for Christmas. They love to give puppet shows....and who doesn't want to encourage that?

Here it is,  the 20th of December, and I haven't started it. I have exactly one hour (one hour that isn't committed to work or kids) to make it. Right now. The thing is....I don't really know what I'm doing or how to sew.

Can I do it? Stay tuned.... (man, I just really put the pressure on myself, didn't I?).

Too threatening? Too Subtle?

Not sure what exactly inspired me to do spell this out on my blocks...perhaps a subtitle threat, I mean, reminder? Tell me, it is too threatening, or too subtle?

Life is Good on the Candy Cane Train

Sickness has been visiting here and it has had a hard time finding the door. And, in addition to feeling sorry for all of us, I'm a little annoyed at how it is wreaking havoc on my December Planner.

Though I wasn't sure it was going to happen, we were able to climb aboard The Candy Cane Train this past weekend for our annual pilgrimmage.

Have you been? It's a magical ride. Carolers. Hot cocoa and homemade cookies served by elves. Storytelling. A festively decorated train. A coastal Maine vista. And, of course, a visit with Santa. The best part? The rides (which sell out every year) are a fundraiser for Tri-County Literacy. What's not to love?

So, add this to your bucket list, and for now, climb aboard!

Have some cocoa and cookies.

Sing a little.

Enjoy the view.

Wine Wednesday: Wine for a Cause

LoveVermont has a regular Wednesday feature -- Wine Wednesdays. It's one of my favorite reads...and, this week I'm borrowing the theme just so I have an excuse to tell you about a great wine-related gift idea that my very hip friend Tony told me about. 

Wine for a cause.

OneHope donates a portion of each bottle (totaling fifty percent of its profits!) to charity. Each variety supports a different cause - autism, breast cancer, our troops, AIDS, children's hospitals and more.

Now, that's a gift you can feel good about! :)

OneHope was started by eight friends who worked out of their living rooms, selling wine out of their trunks, trying to help support a friend in her fight against cancer. Now an enterprise, the company has sold over 20,000 cases of wine - and donated $350,000 to charity, since its inception in June 2007. Pretty cool, huh?

There's a few wine lovers in my life I need to get shopping for.

Christmas Tree Gettin' Maine Style

No, not everyone cuts their own tree here in Maine.

But, I insist on it.

It's the perfect Christmas tradition. Everyone gets bundled up. We sing carols on the way to our tree hunting grounds. We merrily pick out the perfect tree. We sip hot cocoa afterwards. Perfection. Just the way we did it when I was a kid.

At least that's the way I remembered it.

But, this year, I had flashbacks to some not so perfect aspects of that perfect Christmas tradition. The trigger of these flashbacks? My crying toddler who really wanted to be napping. My husband's hurried-I'm-doing-this-for-you-attitude and my nearly seven year old's I'm-going-to-be-as-defiant-and-contrary-as-possible-mantra.

I almost left the scene.

But, in a moment of desperation I turned around and said (cried? yelled?), "this is one of my favorite things about Christmas, don't ruin it".

And, on we went. Happy memories being created, damn it!

I climbed under the tree to take the first whack at cutting it. I almost stayed there forever. The snow on my back, the fresh pine smell, it was heaven.

Eager for everyone to have this experience...and eager for a little sawing re-enforcement, everyone took a turn.

 

 

Fresh cut tree in tow, we headed home.

Our tree stands now in our antique bay window ready for adornment.

  I can't wait to see what this next Christmas tradition adventure brings...