Merry Christmas!

I haven't blogged in such a long time! There wasn't a whole lot of news before Christmas, and then we were busy with Christmas but now it's time to write a bit down.

We got a fabulous tree this Christmas; Sio picked it out and she did such a nice job. It is very fat and full. If it wasn't up against the wall I don't think I'd have enough ornaments to decorate it! I'll post a pic later on, I took a couple but they aren't that good.

John and I got each other our new bed for Christmas and it makes all the difference in the world. It's only 6 inches wider than the old one but it feels like so much more! He also bought a dual control electric blanket so we can each be as warm (or not) as we please. I have to make a new quilt now because the old ones are not quite wide enough.

Melissa has been here for the last week, she is leaving tomorrow morning. It's always nice having her here. We have gone bowling 3 times since she came; John went yesterday too. She is thinking about getting on a league when she gets home. John and I are talking about bowling more too, it's a lot of fun. We are having pizza later this evening and then tomorrow she goes back home again.

We had Christmas Eve at Rich and Chris' which was nice like it is every year although I have to say mom was being a bit more complaining than usual and Carla didn't really get to enjoy herself at all. I said next year we should all go to moms to open gifts for an hour or two and then leave mom at home and go and do something fun together. Even if it's just going back to Rich and Chris' and playing cards or going to a movie or whatever. The long evening is just getting to be too much for mom now. Everyone would enjoy it more that way. Anyway, I made Chris another fishing collage, and this one was a lot bigger than last years because the fishing was so much better. He really liked it a lot. Actually I said John, Chris and I should go south next Christmas and fish. That would be cool! Christmas Day dinner was over here and that was better. It's shorter and less tiring for everyone.

And the last thing is, I got my Bleuette! Her name is Josette Clarice, and the pictures are of her modeling her 1905 American Smock, 1909 Sunday Apron and 1916 Spring Coat. I also made her a hat and muff and crocheted gaiters. The little white embroidered collar is detachable from the dress; I believe the pattern is from 1906 or 1907 although I don't remember for sure. She is also wearing an embroidered combination. The Empire dress and red smock I made her before were too small. I thought they might be. I am working on another embroidered apron and a red and white checked dress.

Catch Up

I haven't posted in awhile because I left the camera at Rich and Chris' at Thanksgiving and haven't gotten it back. I have been working on Bleuettes wardrobe and I hope the things I'm making fit. She is here and is in a box on Johns desk and it's so hard not to open it and check to see if the clothes fit! Melissa thinks I should be able to, but since she may be my only gift I want to keep her til Christmas Eve. Her little shoes came yesterday and I gave them to John to put with her. Melissa is knitting her some teeny socks. I have a pattern from 1915 that I really want to try, and some pretty green silk salvaged from a resale blouse that I think I'm going to make it out of. I don't work with silk very often, and even though I got the blouse cheap I'm kind of intimidated by it. I'm wondering if I shouldn't buy a 1/4 yd of silk dupioni because it has more body. I might and use the green silk for a dress that drapes more.

I am going to Mr. Skeens going away lunch today. I haven't posted about how Hancock pretty much forced him to quit because he didn't want to go to North Riverside. They've been putting the squeeze on him for the last couple of months so he's had to work 80 hour weeks because they cut payroll hours so drastically. They wanted him to go to North Riverside where they would cut hours and payroll more. They closed the Joliet store and the manager over there is coming to Lombard. Anyway, I think he's kind of happy he won't have to put up with the bullshit anymore. He's a pretty intelligent guy and I think he's finally taken off the blinders and read the writing on the wall. There's been no doubt in my mind for a long time that Hancock wouldn't survive this economic crisis and I believed that over a year ago before most people would even admit that the crisis was looming just over the horizon. It sucks that a lot of the people I know in the district are going to get screwed as Hancock flops around like a fish out of water taking it's last gasps of air before it dies. I wish I could do something, but I've been saying this is going to happen for a long time and it wasn't that hard to figure it out. On a more personal level, my big concern is thread, I need to get a lot of thread to augment all the thread I have already. I have plenty of other notions, and I can get fabric and trims from my thrift shop finds. But I'd like to stock up on thread, especially since this is going to hit Hobby Lobby and JoAnn too. I suspect it already is cutting into JoAnn big time; Hobby Lobby I don't know as much about. Anyway, without an American textile industry in the immediate future thread is going to get a lot more expensive so I want to get a bunch now. Cotton covered polyester or 100% polyester because it lasts the longest. I prefer cotton but it starts to get brittle faster.

Siobhan and I have been rewatching Stargates lately. We have all of the episodes up through season 5 I think, but for some reason Disc 1 Season 2 won't play. I haven't watched them in awhile so I don't remember which shows I'm missing and how much it has to do with the continuing mythology of the show.

On another subject, Lunasa is my current favorite Celtic band. Here they are live at the Cork Folk Festival on Aug 31 2007: