Happy Birthday Julia!

Today, our daughter is 19. This is her last year as a teenager. Really, she is already a young lady. How fast time flies. Just yesterday she was the energetic little girl racing through the house on all fours and roaring like a wild animal! Now, she is a successful college student who the professors fight over as a lab assistant.

Earle and I are so proud of the young woman she is becoming. We are blessed to call her daughter and friend.



If you see this smart, adorable, caring, creative, talented, faithful, unique, scientific, animal-loving, lovely young lady today, be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday!

We love you, Julia!

Happy Birthday Shawn

If you see this artistic, witty, energetic, patient, caring, faithful, handsome, respectful, honest, hard-working, young man today, please feel free to wish him a Happy 17th Birthday!

You are a blessing to your family, Shawn.

We love you.

Readability Rating

I found this cool little test at another blog this morning and thought I'd give it a try. From the results, it looks like you all who hang out here must be a pretty educated bunch! *Cheeky Grin*

Go forth and test your own blog's readability at:

The Blog Readability Test

Now, get back to those Christmas preparations; stop dawdling about. You've only got two more days left! For heaven's sake, what are you doing here!! Goodness, what am I doing here?! Shawn's birthday is tomorrow and then it's Christmas, and then it's Julia's birthday.

Does chocolate keep panic at bay?

Germany

The Traveler and I have returned from our Germany trip. We are jet-lagged and full of fine German sausages and beer! Northern Germany at Christmastime is a wonderful place to visit. Each town has its own Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) set up with traditional food and drink stalls and stalls with hand made goods for sale. Everywhere you go the German people are out for a walk or a bike ride, even the senior citizens. The cold, damp, winter conditions don't keep them inside. There are errands to be run, gardens to be tended, and Christmas markets to enjoy. When you live at the 54th parallel you must make good use of your limited, winter, daylight hours.

I could, of course, fill my entire blog with photos and stories from our trip, but I've tried to narrow it down to the essential highlights. Here are the results of that near-impossible task.

This is the Schloss (small castle) that is across the street from our hotel in Ahrensberg, the smallish little town that was our home base for the trip. Earle stays in Ahrensberg regularly when he makes these trips for work.

Erik (a business associate and friend of Earle's) and I enjoy drinks at the Lubeck Weihnachtsmarkt one of our first evenings in Germany. Each town's Christmas market has its own mug design and color. For a small fee you can keep the mug. We have quite a collection of them now. I am sipping traditional Gluhwein while Erik enjoys some hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. I may look happy, but let me tell you, that Gluhwein stuff tastes like unsweetened cough syrup. You need to try it once for the experience.
One of the main streets along the river in Lubeck. The Christmas market was winding down and we were on our way back to the car after a wonderful dinner of pork and roast goose.
Several days later we visited Lubeck in the morning because there is such magnificent architecture there that can't be missed by daylight. Lubeck is a very historic town with a remarkable past. I am in front of Lubeck's famous Holsten Gate which dates from the 1400's.
Earle was feeling a tad adventuresome this morning. You just can't trust a guy with a camera.
Up close gate shot.

Gate info.
A row of beautiful old warehouses that used to store Lubeck's prime commodity, salt.
Lubeck's Architecture.
One of several historic Lubeck churches.
An attempt to give you some idea of the scale of the buildings.
All the Gluhwein and hot chocolate mugs handing overhead in a stall at the Hamburg Christmas market. Hamburg is the largest city we visited. Much of its old architecture was destroyed during bombings in World War II, but it is a thriving modern city today with a lovely and very busy Christmas market.
The Hamburg Weihnachtsmarkt boasts the largest pyramid in Germany. Lovely, isn't it! There were so many lights everywhere brightening the scene with Christmas spirit.
A carved, life-sized, wooden nativity scene.
Just ask for your hot chocolate with a little Amaretto in it and you won't mind the crowds so much...
One of my favorite Christmas market foods came from this stall. Imagine a warm, gooey, layered concoction of fresh bread, tender prosciutto, melting cheese, and spices. Warm Christmas goodness. What a comfort to the German citizens to come year after year to these markets and experience the same tastes and smells that have been there since their childhood. They eagerly embrace these yearly traditions with a twinkle in their eye.
After a few markets, we headed to the northern coast to visit a summer resort town on the Baltic Sea. To our surprise, the beach was well used in the winter too. There were couples, old and young, walking the frigid beach and promenade. Can you imagine the crowds in the summertime?

The boardwalk at Kuhlungsborn.

A small map near the boardwalk showing the town and surrounding area.
Lovely trees bedecked with orange berries frame the pier and sandy beach.
Not all Christmas markets are in the cities. We did visit one country market at Wotersen Schloss that boasted the most beautiful handcrafted items for sale, the best grilled sausages and grilled pork on skewers, and the warmest fires for chasing the chill away.
A fine selection of handcrafted items for sale inside one of the barns. Steffi, Erik's wife, ended up with a lovely new felted wool hat. With already bursting suitcases, I was properly restrained yet covetous of all the lovely items.

An enchanting fire to warm hands by made of a single log stuck lengthwise in the ground, split into fourths, and lit from inside.
An architectural feature common to see in the countryside is old brick barns and houses sporting thatched roofs with boards at the peak ends in the shape of horse heads.

Near the end of our stay in Germany, we headed down to the historic town of Luneberg, another city of beautiful architecture dating from a prosperous Medieval time. Luneberg, and its surrounding area, was the center of the salt trade that produced enormous wealth and allowed all the Hansiatic League cities freedom to govern themselves.


A popular landmark in Luneberg is the old crane that sits on the river's edge.

Lovely Medieval building with bowing walls and immeasurable charm.

Luneberg at night.

Germany was wonderful, it was an unforgettable trip into the historic past of Europe as well as a memorable time spent with friends. Erik and Steffi treated us to a very traditional winter meal in their home. First course was a luscious homemade split pea soup and fresh blackberry wine. Then, we enjoyed a plate of green cabbage, sausages, and caramelized potatoes, with a condiment of jalapeno mustard Erik's mother made this fall. The meal was accompanied by a glass of beer which Erik is pouring in the photo above. After a brisk walk through the woods across the street from their house (to work off some of those many calories) and a tour of their duck pond and chicken house, we feasted on steaming coffee and a milk pudding with fresh raspberry sauce.

It was such a treat for Erik to make this meal for us so we could experience a traditional German meal. Thank you Erik, and Steffi, and Svenja for spending time with us while we visited and for making our trip special and making us feel welcome. I'm sure we'll see you again soon, if not there, then here.

Until then, Auf Wiedersehen.

The Traveler and I

Earle and I have arrived safely at our destination in Germany. We will be visiting for about a week while he has some business meetings here.

Me, across from the hotel with a beautiful old mill and pond for a backdrop

A local residence lit with a different Christmas candle decoration in each window. I am on the hunt for one of these to bring home for my dining room window.

More updates to follow. Wish you were all here:-)

A Tale of Three Bad Kittens

These "Three Little Kittens" lounge on the rug-covered, heated, tile floor by the door all morning warming their plump bellies and dreaming of chasing what's just outside.

Clockwise from the left: Truffle, Percy, Daisy Mae.

Outside the door a small flock of juncos picks at the fallen thistle seed from the feeder above.

But what's this, mommy? Why have you teased us so by putting safflower seed right near the door, disturbing our slumber?!

"My, what a fat little sparrow you are and my, what big teeth we have. Will you walk into my parlor?"

Moral of the story: Cats who live in glass houses can only dream of catching birds.

Mitten Tales

The work table hints at the projects I've been working on this week. Glass ornament blanks and polymer clay are strewn around the table waiting patiently to become one of these:

Each year I make an ornament for my sisters, brother, and nephews whom I see at the holidays. We have given up exchanging gifts for the most part as all our kids have grown to "teenhood" and beyond, but I still feel the need to give them something when we get together on Christmas Day.

This year's theme of tiny mittens is evident in my choice of ornament designs and my latest felt pillow adorned with polymer clay mittens that now brightens the felt and embroidery area of my studio. It's finally done save stitching up the bottom where I stuffed it.

This is the craft that inspired all the others. Several years ago I made this felt mitten garland and it instantly became, and has remained, one of my very favorite Christmas decorations. This year it graces the doorway between the great room and the kitchen.

Who doesn't love a precious little mitten?

Of Carpenters

There's just something about working with wood, the process of turning a living tree into a useful or beautiful object using your hands and a few tools. There is a certain connection with nature in the process. The smell of the shaved and sanded wood, the smoothness of a finely sanded surface as you run your hand across it searching for areas of roughness to even out. The weight of the dense hardwood in your hands. Substantial, durable.


Working with wood is a mind-freeing activity. The kind of activity you can engage in as the hours slip by and day turns to night without your notice. Your attention is captured by the wood.


There is time to think when you work with wood. There is the buzz of a power tool, like white noise, blocking out the world. There is the repetitive stroking of a block plane or the gritty dragging of sandpaper, back and forth. There is the smell of newly planed wood shavings and of tung oil. There is the muffled softness of a workshop floor covered in discarded shavings.


Sometimes in our too-busy world we need to find an escape, a solitude, a meditation. For me it has been my art. The hours fly by. For others, carpentry is that vehicle they use to escape inside for a while, completely focused on the work at hand. What do you do to find that place of solitude and meditation in your life?

My walking stick. Shawn made this lovely stick with its serpentine, wood burned designs for me out of tiger maple. It is as smooth as glass and almost too beautiful to use, but since it is maple it wears well and is much more than a showpiece.

Walking stick detail. I still need to add a cord through the hole. A cord twisted around the wrist provides security against loosing it down a slope while hiking!

In Shawn and Earle's workshop a blizzard of shavings all but obscure a wooden ruler that belonged to my father. I love the mellow hues of the aged wood with its worn patches and faded markings.

Beautiful maple curls. Shawn took all three of these shots of shavings as part of his photography class last year.

A lovely, wooden rosette!

Joseph was a carpenter. Jesus, before he began his ministry, was a carpenter. A humble profession, yet valued and connected to the earth. I have been reading a fictional story about Joseph and Mary. I am gaining great insight into life during that time period. The story is touching and the characters come to life. I am about two-thirds of the way through the book and am eager to finish, even though I know the story already! If you are interested in such a story, a story of a carpenter and his young bride, take a peek at Two From Galilee. It makes good Advent reading.