Winter Slips Away

It is really hard to believe I haven't posted on the blog for almost a year!! I really miss it and feel determined to get back in the groove!

Needless to say, quite a few important events have come and gone in my life during this time...we'll have a quick rundown to catch up!

Momma celebrated her 80th birthday in August with a family dinner at the Callawassie river Club!

Annette and Lee celebrated their SECOND Birthday in September with a Cat in the

Hat party and lots of excitement!

November brought a "surprise" 60th Birthday Party for Philip!

Thanksgiving memories were made at Baybottom again in 2011 with turkey and all the trimmings followed by he annual hayride!

We enjoyed having all our family together for the Christmas holidays as we celebrated the birth of the Christchild. We will probably never forget trekking down Hwy 17 to Mass in Hardeeville after finding no priest for Mass in Ridgeland. Also, going through a "license check" en route to that Mass in Hardeeville!!

2012 has arrived and we have much excitement on the horizon! Philip,Jr. and his girlfriend Amanda became engaged!!!! We are anticipating their wedding in spring 2013 and are immensely happy for them! We travelled to Snowshoe, WVa a few weeks ago with them and Amanda's parents.  Very cold and lots of snow .....a great time was had by all!!

In a few weeks we'll travel to Columbia for the wedding of our nephew Rush and his fiancée Jessica! We are wishing them a beautiful wedding weekend and much happiness.

When I look back on all these events, I guess it helps me understand why I haven't had time to blog!

Next up:  Update of Camellias and Knitting Projects

November Reprise

Wow! It is the end of November and no blog post!
I'll have to work fast!

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I am thankful for so much, but especially my family and so many dear friends. You all enrich my life and I treasure each of you! I'll have many great memories of this Thanksgiving as we spent time and enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving fare with each of our families. We enjoyed a hayride after lunch at Grays. This photo of all the "Thomas cousins" provided a real "Kodak moment".



Laura, Fields, Tom, James, Fisher,Annette, Lee, Elizabeth, Sarah, Michael, and John



Knitting Update: Working (slowly) on Jane Slicer-Smith's "Boxes Drape". I am liking the yarn and get the feel for how "drapey" it will be . . . and can't wait to see it finished!

We also enjoyed spending time with Annette and Lee while Ashley and David went to Carolina-Clemson football game and had a little time off. Here they are at breakfast!

Now it is time to prepare for the Christmas season . As we ready our hearts to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, we can enjoy some other favorites of the season . . .



Camelias beginning to blooom . . .







Baking fruit cake . . .



Decorating for the holidays!!





Welcoming family and friends to share the joy of the season!





Reminder to Santa

Luke 1:14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. Yeah!!! I have finally finished Christmas stockings for Annette and Lee. So sending out this post to remind Santa that there will be two new stockings hanging by the chimney this year!!

Santa needs to know that Grandma Pixie doesn't knit as tightly as Aunt Cathy (who has made these beautiful stockings for our family through the years). The result is that these stockings are a little bigger - - - which means they'll hold a little more loot!!

I am really hoping to finish my Christmas shopping today and then have time to enjoy some of the holiday fun . . . wrapping packages, baking, etc. I may even get brave (and energetic) and try to make a fruit cake.

Have fun getting ready . . . and remember the reason we celebrate!!

Thanksgiving 2009

The Thanksgiving holidays have been filled to the brim with good times, good food, and getting together with family and friends! The Thomas family gathered at Grays for Thanksgiving lunch.

We spruced up the cottage with a festive table on the porch.

When everyone arrived we had our traditional Thanksgiving Punch and these pecan-topped cheese biscuits. The recipe is a rendition of Cocktail Cheese Biscuits from one of my favorite cookbooks Savannah Style. We have enjoyed these on Thanksgiving Day for years. I usually make this dough a few days ahead and keep it refrigerated until time for baking. Here are the ingredients - altered slightly from the original recipe:

Cocktail Cheese Biscuits

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sharp New York State cheese, grated

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup plain flour

Pecan halves Cream butter, cheese, salt and pepper. Add flour and work gently into a stiff dough. When ready to bake, roll into small balls and press half pecan on each ball to flatten. Place on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Aunt Brenda and Philip, jr.

Amy and Elizabeth

Michael hooks a fish in the pond...

Needless to say, we all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We were able to visit with my family later that day. Then on Friday, Ashley came to visit with Annette and Lee. Look at these two little angels!!

Christmas Stockings

As we now get ready for Christmas, it is time to get their Christmas stockings finished and hung on the mantle. I am almost done!!! I was looking around on Ravelry a few days ago and found what looks like a pattern that is VERY close to these stockings. It is called 1945 Christmas Stocking and can be downloaded for free. Our family's rendition of these stockings leaves out the band with features "little people", but they are very similar. Check out the link if you're interested. Here's the beginning. . .

the middle . . . and the end!!! Getting down to the toe. I will add the names in duplicate stitch in the white band before sewing up the back of the stocking. I am thinking of all the many things that I have to be thankful for, especially my family and friends who make everyday special. I am looking forward to a very special holiday season. Do remember the reason we celebrate.

Fun November Weekend

This weekend Philip and I enjoyed an opportunity to babysit with Annette and Lee and give David and Ashley a chance to go to Carolina/Florida football game. We can definitely see these babies changing in just 2 weeks. They are on the verge of "smiling" and are much more alert and focused. They are two little sweethearts - - I had to make another video!!

Above is Grand-dad Philip holding Annette. Below is Lee after his bath.

Knitting

Remember the Berroco Peruvia Quick?

Fun quick project: 4 skeins and size 11 needles. Simple ribbed pattern . . .

I used pattern for Baby Alpaca Grande Vest by Plymouth Yarn.

Now that I've had a quick, fun project it's time to focus on getting some things ready for the holidays. I had begun Christmas stockings for Annette and Lee quite some time ago. I thought I was nearly finished with the second one , only to learn that I had only worked about one inch down on stocking number two. I picked it back up, so I can get them finished in time to hang for Santa. The intarsia is going much better (and faster) this time. Practice does help with this. The name will eventually go in the white band - duplicate stitch. More to follow!!

A Few More Blooms

We are still enjoying some of these camellias as they bloom. The camellia above is Jean Clere! This is a japonica camellia that originated in New Zealand and is named for the wife of its propagator Richard Clere. It has a beautiful full peony form and blooms mid-season.

Above is pictured Emperor of Russia. This one is a japonica that also blooms mid-season. Another beauty that performs well in this climate.

Philip has decided to try his hand at grafting. We have a few of these "mini-greenhouses" around the yard. The grafting procedure is akin to surgery, requiring great care for clean cutting instruments and following tried and true procedures. The new graft is housed in this cylinder and covered with a piece of plexiglass, moss, and a brick! This will stay on for at least 2 months before uncovering to be sure the graft has "taken".

As I understand this, one reason for grafting is to propagate the growth of a beautiful (but perhaps slow-growing) variety on "root stock" from a plant that is more hearty, rapid-growing, and has better tolerance for the growing conditions of the area. Another reason for grafting is to propagate a plant that is not commercially available. A cutting may be taken from a desired species and grafted to produce a new plant.

Update on knitting projects:

The Baby Surprise Jacket and the Christmas Stocking knitting projects are progressing. I am waiting for a little pink cotton cashmere to arive in the mail to add in for stripes in the BSJ. The size is going to be larger than I expected and will require more yarn than I had on hand. I think the pink will be perfect to add a little interest. Will post a picture as soon as we get a little pink going .

Block Blankie

The weekend has gone by quickly, as most do! Sister Cathy was kind enough to help me run some errands yesterday, as I'm still sporting the Herman Munster boot. No driving yet. We are all trying to get ready for the big event in February. Only two more weeks until wedding time for Dow and Melissa. I need to add a few items to the baby gift collection, so I tried Block Blankie by Corrina Ferguson. I used the Muench Big Baby on size 13 needles. Colorway 5503 which is bluish-green/yellow. The yarn is really thick and soft. This pattern works up very quickly -and is a great size for a baby carrier or stroller blanket. I've also started on the Christmas stocking and slowly trying to learn the technique of intarsia. I think I'm getting the hang of it, but it's difficult to ignore the chaos of the different colors hanging at the back of the work. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. I've also been intrigued reading all the news about the Bohus Exhibit currently at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An interesting history of this knitting style can be found on this blog. Here's a small sample of bohus collars. I would love to take a class on this technique.

Potpourri

I'm coming to the end of my "time-out" from this broken leg. If all goes well, I will return to work for half-days beginning tomorrow. I am so very grateful for all the care and concern of so many friends and family members for helping this time go by so smoothly and so quickly.

You have all kept me well-fed and well-entertained. The meals have been delicious, the cards and phone calls have boosted my spirits. I have enjoyed lots of knitting, time on the internet and ravelry, and quite a few good bridge games. My nieces, Meccay, MaryGrace, and Joannie visited yesterday and brought me this colorful "get well banner". You make me feel very special.

Remember these hand-knit stockings from a previous post? My Aunt Cathy Hightower was kind enough to bring the "archives" of her stocking-making handiwork for me to look through and begin Christmas Stocking 101. I'm not sure I'm ready for this task, but I have a huge desire to learn. Hopefully, that will make me successful.

I have learned that she "wrote" this pattern after studying the Christmas stocking of a friend. (I can usually follow instructions, but I've not advanced to being able to construct the pattern and graphs required to do this.) Needless to say, I'm in great admiration of her ability. These stockings are a family heirloom and we have tremendous gratitude for her labor of love.

Here are some pictures of the patterns that I will try to follow.

Well, we're all tiring of seeing the Hemlock Ring Blanket. I have about 150 more stitches to bind off. As you can see it is still "puffy" and I can't wait to get it blocked. . . though I know it will be a huge task.

Wish me luck getting back to work tomorrow!

Christmas 2008

" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke

We celebrated the birth of Jesus with much family togetherness and Christmas Eve mass at St. Anthony's in Ridgeland. I am very thankful for all the blessings that we share. I am also thankful that we celebrate the season by getting in touch with those friends and family members who we may not visit with very often. All the cards and remembrances are very special.

We started our holiday festivities with dinner and gifts with the Thomas family at Aunt Brenda's.Tucker roasted a wonderful pork tenderloin and Brenda added all the fixins'. I think Philip, jr. enjoyed the macaroni the most!

Michael likes the toy truck!

Sarah is smiling just thinking about Santa!

Philip caught GaGa under the mistletoe

. . . Brenda's tree is beautiful!!!

We went to mass after Brenda's, then went to Mom and Dad's to visit with my family. I forgot to take pictures, but we enjoyed a little more good food and libation before going home to get ready for Santa.

Christmas morning! Philip is excited to get some camellia books.

Ashley zips up !

Philip in his new jacket!

Mom and Dad are excited that there was NOT a puppy in that BIG box!! Ashley, David, and Philip are having a little fun!

David is checking out the stockings!!

We enjoyed a little brunch after gifts and stockings were opened. Amanda came to visit Philip on Christmas afternoon. We all went down to Mike and Jean's to enjoy another feast. Smoked turkey....yum! yum!! It's a good thing this only happens once a year! I already know what the New Year's Resolutions will be.