Christmas Beauty 2017

Our Christmas decorations just came down last on Saturday. 

At the beginning of December we weren't feeling at all Christmassy, 

so we started late and stretched it out late.

A special addition to our CHRISTmas celebrations this year was an advent candle holder made by my creative architect-cousin. To see more of his work, check out the Første Lys Atelier Facebook page.

When my parents traveled to the east coast last autumn they got to visit my aunt and family - including cousin Peder. He was inspired by the crates of unused telephone pole insulators that Dad found in cleaning the office shed and brought out to be sold in the thrift shop associated with my uncle's ministry. 

Very soon, Peder had fashioned a series of candle-holders seamlessly incorporating the upturned insulators into his artisan woodworking.

A comical part of Christmas clean-up was that our home-grown tree - freshly cut on December 16th and watered only through Christmas week - dropped all of its needles in a big puddle on the wood floor as we took off the decorations.

But it was beautiful until then!

Mom's newest ornament - a Common Loon

Charlie Brown and his scraggly tree were given to Dad by an employee/friend and enjoyed each Christmas at the telephone office. This year he found a new home by our tree.

 One Christmas bouquet remains outside our door - a special gift from friends at Dorothy's funeral.

Losses and Crosses

And, even should misfortunes come,

—I, here wha sit, hae met wi’ some,

  An’s thankfu’ for them yet.

  They let us ken oursel’;

They gie the wit of age to youth;

     Tho’ losses, and crosses,

They mak’ us see the naked truth,

  The real guid and ill.

     There’s wit there, ye’ll get there,

       Be lessons right severe,

     Ye’ll find nae other where.

Burns

Turkey Parade

To continue the theme of bird-watching... our turkey family has joined up with several others to spend the winter. Thirty-two turkeys wandered through our snowy grass again back in December - making their way to our neighbor's where a feast of corn is spread for them.

The Company of Chickadees

"The snow is too beautiful to-day. O I was right! one may grow morbid over books--but I defy anybody in the company of those chick-a-dees."

from Susan Warner's Queechy

          

           

Birthdays to Celebrate

 It is always a gift to have birthdays to celebrate, such as Mom's birthday back in October.

Our last family-birthday with Dorothy at her corner of the table.

We have had the joy of celebrating several of our friend's 

early December birthdays with her as our guest. (She is more like family by now.)

But this was the first year she has seen snow at our place.

We had to go out for a little snowy tramp just before she left for the airport!

Soon before Christmas comes Elsa's birthday. 

This year she chose a hot-dog roast in the fireplace and a coconut-cream-frosted orange cake.

Her birthdays are always festive with Christmas decorations.

I surprised Elsa with her very own pair of TheNauticalNordic mittens.

She had no idea when I had time to make them without her seeing! 

Well... riding to and from the airport, some mornings before breakfast,

and sitting by Dorothy in her bedroom those last days.

A Creative Break

After pushing for weeks to help Elsa restock pillows (shipped as far New Zealand!), finish a dozen pair of special-ordered mittens in time for Christmas, and try some new color/pattern combinations to eventually be photographed for the shop...

... I was ready for a creative break. 

Not that I could last more than a week without any knitting. 

But now it was time to try something new... for fun!

Just off my needles and awaiting blocking to help the lace design "pop" is a scarf for myself. The Quince & Co. pattern, called Everly, was such a joy to knit! And with a gift card from Christmas, I got to try a wool/silk fingering weight yarn: "Tern" in Barnacle.

Another new knitting project that is giving room for creativity is making Christmas gifts for next year. They must be kept a surprise, so... no photos! Also on my needles is a long, slow project I can pick up at any time. This wool scarf is a scrap-quilt version of using up yarn.

All Good Gifts

The squash harvest didn't last while we had no chance to process them in November and December. But the pumpkins were still beautiful for baking in January!

48 cups of cooked pumpkin are now stashed in our freezer,

minus what went into a fresh pumpkin pie, much to Dad's delight!

Somehow these photos reminded me of a hymn we found and learned back in our childhood singing around the piano with Mom. I wish you could sing it with us with all it's marching unisons and stirring harmonies!

We plough the fields, and scatter

the good seed on the land,

but it is fed and watered

by God's almighty hand:

He sends the snow in winter,

the warmth to swell the grain,

the breezes, and the sunshine,

and soft, refreshing rain.

Refrain:

All good gifts around us

are sent from heaven above;

then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,

for all His love.

He only is the Maker

of all things near and far;

He paints the wayside flower,

He lights the evening star;

the winds and waves obey Him,

by Him the birds are fed;

much more to us, His children,

He gives our daily bread. [Refrain]

We thank Thee then, O Father,

for all things bright and good,

the seed-time and the harvest,

our life, our health, our food.

Accept the gifts we offer

for all Thy love imparts,

and, what Thou most desirest,

our humble, thankful hearts. [Refrain]

Author: Matthias Claudius (1782), Translator: Jane M. Campbell

Tune: WIR PFLÜGEN

Funeral Flowers

For Dorothy's funeral, we had 6 foot tall bouquets of balloons.
She would have loved them!

Photo Credit: Maren

Those went home with my cousins' kids while we brought flowers home to enjoy. Here are some we picked out for Dorothy in the bright colors that caught her fancy.

      

Biscuits!

After years without bread or biscuits, 

I finally found an AIP recipe we like that is close to biscuits!

Along with a chicken pot pie filling, or just a drizzle of honey... Mmm!

The recipe can be found here.

Even Now

With each round of chelation pills, Elsa and I feel more and more like calling it our "chemo." Strength sapped, sleep disrupted, pain increasing, food turning against us...

This journey stretches on -- four years and counting. How encouraging, then, to remember that many long periods of wilderness, pain, and exile in the lives of God's children recorded in the history of the Bible each came to an end.

- Joseph's years in slavery and prison

- The Israelites' 400 years as slaves in Egypt 

- King David a fugitive in caves

- And more...

Sometimes it helps to look ahead and remember, "this too shall pass." 

And yet, the present should not be discounted. When I do, the discouraging lie that I am "losing all these years of my life" takes hold.

Rather, I am being impressed with the fact that even now I am living my life. This is my path. The path God can use to make me more like His Son.

How fitting that in the midst of these thoughts, I encounter Amy Carmichael's poem on the subject:

Before the winds that blow do cease,

     Teach me to dwell within Thy calm:

Before the pain has passed in peace,

     Give me, my God, to sing a psalm.

Let me not lose the chance to prove

The fullness of enabling love.

     O Love of God, do this for me:

     Maintain a constant victory.

Before I leave the desert land

     For meadows of immortal flowers,

Lead me where streams at Thy command

     Flow by the borders of the hours,

That when the thirsty come, I may

Show them the fountains in the way.

     O Love of God, do this for me:

     Maintain a constant victory.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier 

Some Rare Fun

Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2017 each held a rare activity for my family. Not that the activities had anything to do with the real Reason behind the celebrations. They had more to do with the state of the weather and the joy of being together. Since Elsa and I needed to stay at home, Maren and Jason's joining us each time was a treat.

On Thanksgiving we flew kites!

M&J gave these kites to Dad for his birthday back in June, and he had flown them alone only a couple times before.

Wool mittens and down coats felt good in the wind that tugged at our kites.

The mailbox even took a turn at anchoring the kite, and we were amused at the way the string sang for us!

On Christmas Eve I got Maren, Elsa, and Dad out to cross country ski. Even though we lasted but 15 minutes in the bitter wind-chills, this was momentous. Our first winter to ski in many years. 

The temperatures have been too cold and strength too low since then to try again, but I hope to do some more skiing in 2018!