... a white Christmas..

.  ...   which of course, in Canada, would seem perfectly normal... but, our weather so far this 'winter', has been unseasonably warm and mild really.  It was totally green and crispy dry until a day or so of a skiff of snow happened... and, then, it melted.   But, last night plenty of the white stuff accumulated.  I shovelled for two full hours and still didn't get it all done.  Still the inside of a big patio to do and the sidewalk along the side of the house.  Yikes!! Somebody says we are going to have more today.  I'm not sure whether to cheer or say I'm sorry for hoping for a white Christmas.    Yaaayy..    yes, I know... motorists and people who hate shovelling will not like me much for cheering about that.  Heh, heh....

Somewhere in there is a heated bird bath and drinking bowl.... nowhere for them to perch to have  drink.  I fixed it though.... soon after realizing it.

They were a bit wary of the giant snow cone on top of the feeder too....

I love a white Christmas.  But, if is doesn't really snow til Christmas Eve and then... melts and is all gone about a week later...that's okay too.  I would even be cheerful about that.  But, usually around here we have plenty of snow from end of October til end of April.   Shovelling does become a pain..in the back, the arms, the legs and gut ..etc.  And, it does get piled so high it is tough to toss it on the piles after they are about 4 feet deep.   I'm spoiled this year.... so far.

Origami, some cute little mice and other fun stuff has been happening...so at least it is fun stuff that prevents much in the 'bloggy-sphere'...

I found some great gold and glittery paper this year .. there is glitter all over the floor and tables.  I
splurged on a $9.00 roll... it should last me til I'm at least 205 ....   even if Muriel helps me use it.  Still haven't found any of the perfect weight gold thread I used to be able to buy... I hate when they stop making perfect stuff.  Gold thread is just toooo darn thin.... and so difficult to work with  Plus... even the tiniest seed beads slip off the end...arrgghhh!!!  Good thing I am so patient...hahahahhahahahhahahahhahah  Anybody who knows me is laughing their heads off.... I have absolutely NO patience whatsoever.   Well, with some things... mostly people.

I have new babies...

I took out my box of Christmas 'mousie' bits when I searched for the Christmas cards in the storage area awhile back.

It was a Herculean feat just to get into that storage area believe me.  It is still stacked with all manner of "stuff" we had to move in there to get it out of the way so we could make our renovation mess.   There were rolls of excess carpet, boxes of record albums, boxes of electrical and electronic gear, my massage table, boxes of tiles, golf clubs and carts, the other pop down movie screen and two long blinds from upstairs reno of 3 years ago....acckkkk!! Disaster area of the first order.  In January, I am going to do a major purge... what fun that'll be.  No, really, I'm actually looking forward to throwing out anything and everything related to renovations.  Goodbye and good riddance to it.  I no longer have to save any of it.  Wheeeeeee!!  oooh, sorry, got a bit giddy there for a nano second..  Oh, alright... perhaps maybe one box of tiles in case there is an accident and something needs replacing.  But, there is going to be a lot of stuff piled out by the fence in the New Year.  We love doing that... we have some regular scavengers who stop by to check it all out and in no time at all...it disappears.  Perfect.  I bet some of them have built houses with all we have chucked over the years.  Complete houses.

Back to the mousies.  It appeared that I had cleaned out several walnut shells last year so I had a head start... thank goodness, as we finished this reno so close to the festive season I didn't have much time to tinker around.  Managed to find a few hazelnuts in the box as well, to make into the actual mice... so, lots of drawing eyes and noses and gluing and playing later...I have several new babies to hang on our own tree or to give to various neighbour kids.. I sneak out on Christmas eve and hang them on doorknobs for a laugh.  Only got caught once when somebody decided to drive home at the exact time I left the porch.  Probably I looked like a deer in the headlights.  I was busted there.  And, one dog barked his head off inside a house...but nobody figured out why, so I sprinted down the block before they opened the door.  Whew.

I love them on our tree... and little kids and parents alike think they are so cute... I make a dozen or more every year it seems.

Here is a shot of a portion of my tree...  you can see a few of the little guys on there.... along with origami and all my other fun little things.. it looks like one of those pics you could make a puzzle out of doesn't it?
Click on any pic to biggify

Here are the little mousies... all the same and yet...all so different.  Just like little babies in a nursery...hahhahahah.... oh, I'll take that one please, the one with all the lovely black 'sticky up' hair...oh, just a minute there aren't any.  Not since my nephew was born.  Okay then..the one with the little blue flower between the ears please?  She's mine, all mine.

Makin' babies....

... maybe I had some of you there...hahhaha.... don't ya just love deceptive titles?  Sort of a regular on the news and great for selling scandal rags near the checkouts at the grocery store.

I'm making my walnut mice babies...that's what I'm really up to ... for the tree....and to give away.  They are pretty cute and almost everybody wants one for their own tree... why wouldn't they?
                                                                               

Remember last year when I was panicking that I would be buying a Safeway BBQ'd chicken for Christmas dinner ? ...(turned out I didn't have to resort to that, but, it was close) .... because this was where my oven was still sitting on the 21st of December  ..... in the dining room!  Because the cabinet guys couldn't get things right.  Not this year.  All is done ...but, now...I don't have my new dining room table and chairs..oh, well...we still have the old one....and I ain't taking it out til I see the new one in the back of a delivery truck!  which may be first week in January...or not......

-27C...and still digging out...

..one can only toss or carry so many shovelfuls...... yesterday I did another hour and was more or less done in ... today...looks like still close to another hour to get it finished... maybe later...the sun is out even though it is bitterly cold.... usually that is okay ...it feels good on your face .... and I do have a great down coat.... keeps me plenty warm .. and, I bet my arms and shoulders are getting stronger so ..hey... what's another hour? ...

I can do this... poor Mr. BV is working 12 and 13 hour days right now...I hate it when he has to come home and go out in the dark to shovel after days like that... he did an hour too the other day and I called him to get in here for a hot drink... it's a project... can't all be done in a day ...

I'm whittling it down to size ...
But, the pile out front is growing.... I can't toss it much higher... I just have to walk further with the shovel.....

In fun stuff.... I got out my little Christmas ornaments that I love to make each year....

Origami ornaments and my little walnut and hazelnut mice.... I love them both and try to  make several new ones each year..

Remember these?  You can read more about them here if you are interested... I like to have lots on our tree so that folks can take a couple home if they like them...

Okay... that's enough playing for one morning... now it's time to play with some rogue dust bunnies.... and later .. maybe some baking .... it is a beautiful sunny day and most of it should be spent in here .... where the sun  makes it feel lovely.... I'm not so sure on the standing around outside today..... I'll give it a long think................................................................................................................................................

having fun making more of these....

Sadly.... only a few at a time...my hand still can't grasp needles or do much precise folding ...before the elbow gives me grief.

Save your pretty foil-y type papers.....even some chocolate wrappers work beautifully.

I can point you in the right direction for folding instructions.... or send you some more detailed pics if I can't find the site... or...we just ask fellow bloggers to help us.  That's how I found a site again last year.

Then, it's just a matter of sticking some points into some other points...ahhahahha...and voila.... a cute little origami type tree ornament.  Attach a gold or silver thread... or ...well, any colour you like, really ...why not?  Make them your own.  Sometimes I like to add a little tiny gold or silver bell....or some beautiful beads ....  my tree is full of these things.   Folks will be able to choose one or a couple to take home with them from the tree.
 Photos in the camera... will upload them tomorrow.... off to physio now...... still at it.   How I wish there was more good stuff happening with this poor old arm.  It is taking sooooo long to notice any appreciable difference...

Pretty papers ......

Hey, what day is it? I am still in sparkly stuff mode! Ahhhh...who cares? I am not putting it all away yet anyway. Nope...not me. I am playing with papers, cards... walnuts and hazelnuts... all the little fun things I like to do for a few days prior to boxing it all up for another year.

While everybody is making their New year promises...I am just enjoying some gifts of perfect paper from a neighbour...and a bunch of new cards to sort through. Wheeeeee!










Oh, look... chocolate box wrappers.... all foil-y and shiny and so perfect.

I bought my first little origami ornament several years ago.










Actually, I bought 3 because I didn't know if I would ruin them all trying to figure out how they were constructed. I still have all 3. That number must mean something... because they are made with 3 pieces of 3 inch square paper. I took one apart and it took me 3 days to figure out how to put it back together again. Each year when I try to make another...it takes me 3 tries to get it right. I don't know if I could explain in less than about 33 pictures and plenty of uhm-ing... how to do it. And, I have searched for a tutorial on it...but have not been successful. Have never seen a picture of one quite like it. Anybody know what it is called?










Look at all the beautiful colours I've made... hahah...then I got really silly...and made some half the size ...ohhh, was that fiddly!
(update Jan 6, 2008) Hey..I just saw that tiny ones can be used for earrings!














This is my favourite that I have made so far. A beautiful patterned tissue paper combined with chocolate box foils. String a golden thread, add a bead or two and look how beautiful they are. They are such fun to make.














...... and, this.... this will be my first doll of the new year. A beautiful Northern Star Mermaid by Judi Wellnitz and cover girl for December issue of Doll Crafter and Costuming.

She is a tiny thing .. and I began by sewing up the hands just to see how tricky they would be to turn ... ..not bad. So, then on with the face.. I always like to do the head first.. then the body. I am in the process of drawing and colouring her face now, but as we all know.. real life seems to interfere with fun stuff. Plumbing fiasco yesterday.

Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!!!

That's what we used to say all the time as kids when a new month began. You are supposed to say it first thing before you utter another word ... for good luck. Olde Englishe I think ...

I borrowed this little pic of some bunnies I saw somewhere ... I really thought they were cute and figured some day I might try making me one just like them. sorry I can't remember where to give them credit for it.......










Anyway... new day, new week, new month ... and new "stuff" to do. This foot is still playing merry hell and I am getting reeeeeeallllly ticked with it all. According to the MRI it is healed. So, why then can I not take a step without pain? When does that end? What can I do to speed it up? How can I get much exercise if I can't walk? Yes, I can do stretches and arm exercises but it just is not enough to deal with the osteo.. I am going to run into more problems if I can't get going and darn soon. This is way too many months of inactivity .. I need to be doing weight bearing exercise. I am making an appointment with my doctor this week and I will have plenty of questions. I need answers. How can a person do ANYTHING to help a situation if they don't really understand the problem? Or am I just trying to be too logical here? oh, yeh ... silly me ... they don't like that do they?

okay..on to other things...

OMG it is October! It happens every single year doesn't it?!

Summer is going along so swimmingly; although somehow this year it sped past in a heartbeat (perhaps because I had deadlines with dolls and bears ?) .. well, I am using that excuse anyway. But, how would it do that with no golf, no gardening, no motorcycling ?.... I didn't have enough strength to walk on uneven surfaces like the lawn for fear of turning this ankle again and putting me back to square one! Couldn't hold up the bike ....

The various flowers bloom and then others take their place ... (I am quietly pleased that it is working exactly as I planned it when I planted!) Lovely colour continually interspersed with the shrubs in the gardens. All of a sudden there are a few rainy or cooler nights ... daytime temperatures drop from the sleepless nights of +28's to +21C... which is wonderful .. perhaps a slight warning of sorts and before we know it; September .. lulled by perfect sunny days .... BBq's and drinks under the "brolly" ... later September, and daytime highs down to +14C ...... unbelievably some of the leaves begin to turn and some of the flowers in the pots look a bit leggy and peaked. It drifts into early fall, but we don't want to even think that quite yet so we ignore it . .... .... just enjoy the lazy days of peace and quiet... so quiet in the neighbourhood now that the few kids are back in school ... lol .... if I open the windows all I can hear are little sparrows and chickadees playing in the bird bath and even an occasional bee or fly buzzing past the screens .... I think about how quickly the time will begin to spin into overdrive by October .... and then .. all of a sudden .. it IS October! For crafters it is already imperative to get busy with certain projects for Christmas. Darn it. Snuck up on me again. Every year I think I might do a festive craft show table at a little venue near me ... they have some really beautiful and artsy "stuff" at that one. Some year.....