New Years Rulin's

As much as I love being back in my city, part of me wishes I was sitting here on this stool in my parent's house.

I had a delightful Christmas, lots of good things from Santa, and of course lots of food with family and friends!

Bacon on pancakes with maple syrup.

D-Mon ate his with a side of chocolate reindeer.

Tea with my Darling Lizbeth (and again later with the Delightful Amy!).

It took half a week to eat all the leftovers from our big Christmas dinner but on my last night Miss Linda asked if I had any requests. And all I wanted was spaghetti and meatballs!

Oh, and in this house, you grate your own damn cheese.

Other than eating and visiting old friends I spent most of my week home here, on the couch.

Finishing this.

Drinking lots and lots of tea out of my favorite mug.

Watching other people do things for me (I miss that sometimes!). Like make me food. And bring it to me. And take away the dishes. AND WASH THEM!

Miss Linda joined me on the couch in the evening for snuggling and watching of holiday movies.

Each night I slept up in the attic, which was my bedroom for many years, snug under layers of quilts. Jupiter was bright in the sky and I stared at it through the skylight before falling asleep. So lovely.

After a beautiful week, despite many offers by Miss Linda to kidnap me, I was back on a bus heading north leaving Ohio behind. I dove right into my city girl life side-stepping tourists, taking a cab up to my apartment from downtown, and getting take-out for dinner.

Of course this was all over a week ago. Last year! And half of my reindeer has been eaten. :-(

I keep thinking about Resolutions. Everyone seems to be doing it. I'm typically not a big fan as it requires effort, but then I stumbled upon some of Woody Guthrie's from 1942.

Dr Karl and I have decided to live this year like Woody says (he was a seriously cool guy): 

-Wash Teeth If Any 

-Take Bath

-Eat Good-Fruit-Vegetables-Milk

-Read Lots Good Books

-Learn People Better

-Don't Get Lonesome

-Stay Glad

-Keep Hoping Machine Alive

-Dream Good

-Save Dough

-Have Company But Don't Waste Time

-Dance Better

-Make Up Your Mind

-Wake Up And Fight

-Love Everybody!

So far so good, Happy New Year everyone!

Gnomeageddon.

The evening started off innocently enough. Some friends, big and small, were invited over for dinner and gnome gingerbread man decorating.

Cute right?

Then things got a little weird. Dr. Karl took it into his head to make a gnome in a boat (the corracle made of the delicious Banana Maple Walnut muffins Miss Linda made earlier that day whose recipe I am  SO stealing).

And then the impaling began...

It was an all out blood bath.

No one was spared. No one.

Mangled gnomes and blood and gore littered the parchment paper . It was horrible.

But delicious.

Happy 2012 Folks!!

A Few (Little) Things to Share

Last Saturday.

Ready and waiting.

Behold! My first properly soft-boiled eggs. (About time!)

A simple thing, which has multiple times eluded me. Finally a success! I need to do it again before I get too cocky but I am terribly excited!

And another exciting thing to share! It's Pepperkakor time.

Dala Horses! A whole herd!

A few gimpy ones...

I doubled the ginger, added black pepper and rolled them thinner. Quite a success. We have a lot of family cookies Miss Linda whips up every year (peanut butter blossoms, gingersnap gnomes with red iced hats, russian tea cakes/kourabiedes that my Dad calls Swedish Nut Balls etc etc) but these are my first Very Own holiday cookies. Special cookie cutter and everything!

And I bought a toaster! No more sitting on the floor watching bread toast! (or constantly burning it...)

I also bought a fat bottomed pasta pot to match my big stock pot (seen in action awaiting eggs for poaching with sauteed swiss chard on the side)

And the most A-dorable heat pillow which sits on my radiator soaking up heat and making my pillow smell like lavender. Soooo cozy.  I keep cuddling up in my blanket with it hugging my poor work worn neck as I read Jane Eyre.

And I completed my Three Day Band Ring class at Lillstreet Art Center! This was my first, a simple 22 gage sterling silver band that I punched the constellation of Orion onto.

This one was the most challenging, and I was very displeased with it for a bit. I put a sheaf of wheat through a press but the rubber cement I used to hold it in place marred the delicate impression. (I was pissed for a day.) Then I attacked it with my hack saw and punched in lines from my favorite W. Whitman poem:

"...Loafe with me on the grass-loose the stop from your throat; Not words, no music or rhyme I want-not custom or lecture, not even the best; Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice..." Song of Myself Pt. 5 from Leaves of Grass

I'm quite pleased with the results now, which serves me right for having an artistic hissy fit!

As that ring took 1.5 classes to complete my last project was a quick wee pinky ring made of 12 gage half-round sterling. I had actually asked for just such a ring for Christmas last year (I have a pinky ring problem.) and now have one I made myself! My camera was having a hard time focusing on something so small though. Sorry!

Not a hand model. At least you can't see my wrist which is sporting a lovely wee bruise from where I whacked it (twice) with the rubber mallet while punching holes in straps last week!

I'm home in Ohio for the Holidays but I have an Epic post coming up you will not want to miss: Gnomeageddon 2011.  Merry Christmas everybody!

"It won't be long before we'll all be there with...SNOW"

Friday morning it's entirely possible that I wrenched open my curtains, beheld the glorious snow, and proceeded to jump up and down yelling "Snoooowww!". Entirely possible. It's also possible that the 'Snow' song from White Christmas has been going through my head on repeat for the last two days. Whatever. 

I made "fancy" cornbread for breakfast to celebrate. I put fruit on top. Fancy!!! I now have a stock of frozen fruits in my freezer, Miss Linda passed on the tip to put them in my morning oatmeal to cool it down and it's brilliant. The blueberries are my favorites, with a bit of maple syrup it's a lovely winter weekday breakfast.

It's been a crazy few weeks at work. After all, once a year Souldier HQ turns into Santa's Rock n'Roll Workshop. Yay? I've been taking lots of hot baths, and lying in bed, and making easy foods.

I have managed to get my wee tinsel tree up and adorned it with ornaments. My straw wreath is hung on the back of my apartment door and there are three little Dala horses hiding around my room.

And the Tree in a Can is being burnt on a daily basis.

But it really wasn't until the snow came that I was feeling that special Holiday feeling. I do love this time of year, all the lights, the songs, it's a sensation overload! On Roku you can get a channel that's a burning Yule log AND classic Christmas songs AT THE SAME TIME.

I've also begun the watching of the Ridiculous Holiday Movies. It's a sickness really. Miss Linda and I are obsessed. "Borrowed Hearts is on Netflix!!!" "Oh man have you seen the one with the soldier and the Christmas card yet?! That's so the best!!" Next up in my Queue is The Christmas Bunny. THE CHRISTMAS BUNNY. And of course there are the legitimately good holiday movies: While You Were Sleeping, Home for the Holidays, The Ref, Shop Around the Corner, Family Stone, White Christmas etc etc. I may try to see Meet Me in St. Louis this year, I've never seen the whole thing! Judy Garland singing 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' makes me cry without fail. And when they use it in Family Stone I flat out weep!

What are your favorite Holiday movies??