Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe.

Merry Christmas!

Thoughts of Christmas

When I was little my mother always baked at Christmas time. She baked fruit bars, brownies, chex mix and cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. There were chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, sometimes anise and my personal favorite, spritz. I'm not sure why I love spritz cookies so much. They are basically just flour, butter and sugar, but I have always loved them. As a child I was always amazed that little metal discs in the cookie press could turn cookie dough into beautiful shapes like this.

Or this.

Last night Sarah and I made spritz cookies. They are still a big favorite of mine. There is something about the sweet, buttery way they melt in your mouth that I love. Now we'll see how long they last. I predict not very long.

Artistic photography by Sarah.

Sheetrock

Today I have photos of sheetrock. Here is the living room facing the fireplace. Here is a photo of the kitchen taken from the living room. From left to right you see the door into the pantry, the bar area with kitchen area behind and then the breakfast room.

Things are moving along. Outside is still a sea of mud with the rain we've had recently. My Target rain boots have gotten a lot of use recently.

Christmas Spirit and Socks

It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is 82 degrees outside. That's what it was this past weekend here in southeast Texas. Now, having lived here on the Texas Gulf Coast for such a long time, you'd think I would be used to this type of weather. December is always unpredictable here, however, it just seems a little weird to be putting up Christmas lights in T-shirts and shorts. And how unpredictable is it? It is 55 degrees today.

On the knitting front, here is what I have been working on. Black and light blue tweedy socks made from Tofutsies yarn. One sock done, and one to go. I did start the second sock yesterday so I would not suffer from SSS (Second Sock Syndrome).

I was downtown twice this past week, and while there I stopped by Yarns 2 Ewe. I don't go there often, but when I do, I usually drool over their Koigu yarn. I did drool some, but I really didn't see any Koigu that just jumped out and said "Buy me." What I did see was this.

This is Steinback Wolle Aktiv Effekt. It's a lovely Austrian yarn, 75% wool and 25% polyamid, 460 yards. It is so soft, and I love the colors in the self-stripe. The photos don't do it justice. It has little bits of lime green and magenta in it, too. I came home and immediately cast on, and it has been so fun to knit with. I'm already to the heel on the first sock.

More House Stuff

Here are some more pictures of the house we took yesterday. All the insulation has been blown in. We are using Biobase which is a soy product. You can read more about it here or here. It is an excellent insulator and should keep our utility bills lower than what we are paying now.

This is a shot of the bonus room over the garage. The doors on the right of the photo go out to a balcony.
Here is a photo of the bonus room looking from the opposite direction. You can see the bathroom through the studs. When it is finished, there will be a small kitchette along that wall with a sink, microwave and small refrigerator.

This is the bay window in the master bedroom. The brick is coming along, and it looks good.

Another brick photo showing the back porch.

Pay It Forward Gifts

A while back Piglottie had a blog about Pay It Forward, and I was one of the first three people to respond. So last Thursday I got a package in the mail from England. This is what Piglottie sent me. Look at that lovely project bag Piglottie made me. Isn't it great? I love the colors, and it is just the right size for one of the shawls I am working on. Piglottie also made the greeting cards. They are three dimensional and very clever. It was a wonderful surprise, and I love all of it.

Bricks

We now have a completed roof, and all the hardy plank is done. Here are the dormers in the front now that they are completed. The fireplace is installed.

And.....we have brick work. There is not a lot of brick work yet, but it's started. We are having them do a 3/4 inch, flush mortar, so it will take a little longer than if we had gone with standard mortar. Since the mortar is thicker than standard, they have do sections and then wait for it to set up before they can go higher.

I'm happy with the way the bricks look. I like the variation in the bricks.