I Like #144

A little late posting this morning because I had to take my (brand new) car in to have its windshield replaced after a rock hit it over thanksgiving.  Sigh.  But there's good stuff all the same this week!

1. I laughed at this present I got at the work silly santa game.  Yes,  it really is a 16 oz mason jar filled with silver glitter.  My department chair opened it, but after several rounds of steals I wound up with it.  Definitely silly, and definitely something I at least have the potential to use (unlike my chair).  He wound up with the laser that projects christmas patterns on your house which was a much cooler gift but I didn't mind "taking one for the team".

2. I liked these silly soda flavors I saw at the grocery store the other day!  In addition to "Dog drool" and "Kitty piddle"  there were also "Bug barf", "Alien snot", "Worm ooze" and several others.  No idea what they taste like, but they made me smile.

3.  I was entertained by this coloring book in the glass place!  It's a little local coloring book with coloring pages interspersed with ads.  But the ads are for grownup things like lawyers and body shops and banks and tree trimming services, so not the kinds of things kids in the coloring book would be interested in.  Just made me giggle.

4. I love this cookbook my friend gave me!  It's filled with pretty and delicious cookies and it's exciting to have some new cookie recipes to try.  I made two recipes out of it last week, and both tasted great but I think I would have been kicked off of the baking show because they looked terrible!  I need to work on my decorating skill.  The first batch was lemon and orange with chocolate accent, and I managed to get chocolate everywhere.  On the wall and canisters and in my hair.  Really a mess! :)  Clearly I need some practice.

5.  I loved this Christmas tree at the hospital at our university!  It's a children's hospital and the tree is covered with handknitted hats donated by staff and others.  They're free to the kids and babies that come to be treated there.

6.  I got very excited the other day when I went to the post office to get stamps and mail some packages.  They had dogs!!! (military service dogs), and T-rexes!!!!!, and  dragons!!!!  It was a fantastic stamp trifecta.

7.  And of course I love the pups.  They really did not want to share the chair, but I insisted, and when I sat down on that tiny portion of cushion available, Blue just buried his face under my leg. 

8.  I loved this mini-trailer from the Griswolds that my neighbor put up between our houses.  It's decorated with Christmas lights and makes me smile.  It might be time for a re-watch of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

I hope you're all having a great week!  Have a very Merry Christmas!!!  Click over to Lee Anna's for more great things to like!

I like #143

It's been a good week around here,  not filled with very much productivity on long term stuff but filled with lots of joyous interactions with friends and with lots of prep for Christmas.  I love advent, and my list is always a million miles long.  The past couple of years I've let up on the self-induced pressure to make progress on bigger quilt projects during advent; acknowledging that it's ok to have a month of other crafty stuff taking priority.  A lot of that I can't share yet, but still lots of goodness to put out into the world.

1. I like my Christmas tree!  So far the dogs have been leaving it (and the ornaments alone) and I've been enjoying looking at it while snuggling them at the end of the day.  So many fun memories in all the ornaments!

2.  I love my Christmas cacti!  They're blooming again,  I'll have to take some pictures of the smaller one too, but my big red/fuschia one is always so gorgeous!  Love!  The batteries in the electronic lock on my studio died last night so I had to crawl in through a window and I almost knocked over my precious euphorbia, but I managed to avoid it.  It's so tall and tippy,  I'll have to share some more pictures of it at some point.

3.  I love my pups!  Somehow Blue has decided it's not enough to sit on the sofa, he has to sit up on the back of the sofa.  Bullett used to do this, but he was 1/3 the size of Blue!  The couch is very squashed now, but that's ok.  :)

4.  I love making small crafty gifts for other people.  This week I was putting together the gifts for my Santa Ministry names, all elderly people who are shutins or in nursing homes. They typically supply a list of things they'd like or need. One lady requested pillows, so to go with those I made her some fun bright pillowcases.  Another gentleman requested toiletries and hygiene supplies, so to go with those, I crocheted him a soft washcloth.  It always seems to make the presents a bit more personal (especially because we never meet the people) to have a little something handmade in the box.

5.  Another sunrise-  they've really been spectacular lately, and I liked seeing my lit up front yard tree with the sunrise!

6.  I liked this fabric!  My mom gave me a bag of random fabric she'd accumulated that was what she considered "me" fabric,  mostly stuff made out of weird fiber she wouldn't use.  I went through it yesterday and found this barbie pink satin cow fabric.  I love it!  I cannot imagine what I or anyone else would ever do with it, but my life is better for having satin pink cow fabric in it.

Wishing you all a great week!  Click over to Lee Anna's for more stuff to like!

I like #142

I was gone most of this last week, first for the Thanksgiving holiday and then for a work trip to Houston, so now that I'm back I'm playing catch up!  But there are still tons of great things to like, so here we go.

1. I love my mom's plant room!  She has the best plant room and it stays warm and moist because of her pool.  Swoon!

2.  I loved getting to meet Dana's hedgehog!  I'd never met a hedgehog before and he was so cute!  Dana works for my mom and brought him down for us to visit with.  His name is Harper.

3.  I loved getting to visit all the other dogs there.  Blue had a blast playing with everyone and of course Bentley got tons of snuggles. 

This is Swatch (named for Swatch of Project Runway fame)

Here's Blue sharing a dog bed with Shooter, always my girl!

This is Tilly, she belongs to my grandparents.  Super snuggly as long as you're next to Grandpa.

And my cousin Queston snuggling Blue and Bentley-  it was so fantastic to see Queston and Mandy and the other cousins!!

I tried unsuccessfully to take a selfie with Blue while Chrsistmas Tree Hunting.  Alas.

Auto (one of my sister's dogs) looks adorable, but mostly wanted everyone to throw his disgusting ball.

4.  I love Christmas tree hunting!  We got our trees up in the mountains and I was excited to get it into the car.  So much better than blowing around on top for 550 miles!  I haven't decorated it yet (tonight) but I got it in the house and up and so far the dogs haven't knocked it over.

5.  I love helping my mom decorate.  We got all her stuff put up last weekend while there and the kids did most of the tree decorating.  Wonderful.  Even my dad sat with us and grumped (much better than when he wanders off).

It was so wonderful to see all my family,  I'm ready to go back already.  I hope you all had a good week!  Click over to LeeAnna's for more things to like!