Winter Weather Advisory

Yet again, still, we find ourselves under a Winter Weather Advisory. This is after we received maybe two inches of snow in the last 24 hours but with the wind whipping it around, it's hard to tell how much has really fallen.

(This post is picture-heavy and all pictures are clickable to embiggen!)

We've been busy here at Chez Fibernating the last week since the last posting. This morning while Russ was pushing snow, I took some pictures to indicated a bit of the busy-ness. On the treadle sewing machine in the upstairs hallway is 'Friendsheep' I'd bought at Smuckers in Orrville, Ohio several years ago with a miniature spinning wheel given to me in Willcox by Marian Burleson when we were leaving town...she wanted me to remember her and knew I'd love this with my spinning demos from the Apple Festival.

A knickknack shelf hangs at the foot of the stairs and beside the front door. The top shelf has a basket and teddy Mom worked on plastic canvas during that phase of her crafting. Second shelf is a Westmoreland milk glass Santa on sleigh candy dish. An incense burner house (unused in current position)with some of Russ' mini-tractors come next. A blue-shaded Nativity graces the bottom shelf. This set I bought at the Willcox Commercial the first Christmas we lived in Willcox.

On top the TV center is a mini-village of a Santa bank that the First National Bank of Leechburg was giving out one year in the 1950's for opening a Christmas Club account. Russ' Milwaukee Road train ornaments from Hallmark a few years ago pretend to run the rails on the Amish Wedding Ring quilted runner from Smicksburg to serve the wooden village and tractor and a ceramic tree. The light-able ceramic tree is also from another phase of Mom's crafting.

Ah, the fireplace for Ol' St. Nick sports stockings for all four of us. The deer on the hearth and the wooden creche were fashioned by Butch different Christmases. The Marx train was my Mom's train she bought when she was 17. Then there are three of my Santas. The tallest was bought during one of my lunchtimes from ARN at Coast to Coast Hardware in Willcox years ago. Thin red Santa I bought on our honeymoon in Fredericksburg, TX. And the Jim Shore Santa with a sheep was a Christmas present a couple years ago, found at a Hallmark store in Natrona Heights. Oh, the mini-quilt! I designed, quilted and embroidered it about 1991 as a Christmas present for Mom when we lived on Ft. Grant Road.

You knew there had to be some knitting around somewhere! Here are some projects on the couch -- my guernsey vest which has been knit on only one night for a few minutes this week and yarn for some ornaments, one of which I finished last night.


A roper's rope basket on the antique chest Russ restored in Cochise is one that that Beth made for us from one of Thomas' ropes has a display of various ornaments and a poinsettia pick.

Finally here are shots of the two decorated trees downstairs. (A third one, my sheep tree, stays up all year long upstairs.)This smaller one I decorated in white, metallic and crystal this year. I had never done a 'color tree', so it was interesting to pull out ornaments that would work! This is such a dense little tree that there isn't much room for ornaments by the trunk and because it's so dense, ornaments tend to jumble up on it when they are all colors. It sits on my grandmother's cedar chest that Russ restored. Barbar enjoys the tree with one of my many stuffed sheep and two snowmen under the tree. Between the tree and the fireplace is one of two end tables my Dad crafted. On it is a bowl of potpourri, Swedish windchimes my Great Aunt Syster sent from Sweden one Christmas, a pair of tomten candlesticks also from Aunt Syster and a Halla horse bought at the Swedish Pantry this summer on the way to knitting camp. They all are placed on a runner Aunt Syster embroidered.

This is the big tree, 6.5 ft., that I put together and put lights on, then Russ and I lift it onto the antique table in front of the picture window. (How's that for a term from the '50's?)Yes, the elves have been busy wrapping and had to unload some of the packages from their workshop. The elves asked if they could store some of the packages here until Christmas. Of course I obliged. I have always been a good girl for the Jul Tomtens.

And, lastly, here is the Ole Hoss. He's using his snow scraper he designed and made several years ago. We're hoping that with the little sunshine this morning that the driveway will 'melt off' enough so that no ice melt crystals are needed.

P.S. It's Pearl Harbor Day today. May our Veterans and Active Duty soldiers be safe while guarding our freedom.