Santa came early, and I must have been really really good this year, because I got something I’ve been wanting for a very long time. Santa also said that I could start playing with my new toy right away, so I have been. So far, I’ve just been using the auto settings, but the results are pretty darn good. My little Olympus point-and-shoot has served me well the past four years, but this little baby is just amazing. I took some pictures last night, which I never would have attempted before, and then this morning, it was grey and drizzly, but I still couldn’t stop myself from snapping away. I can’t wait to try it in full daylight. Click on all the pictures to see them big!

This is a cross-stitch I did years ago, and always pull out for Christmas.

A light supper last night, under the Christmas tree. I got my swap package from Yvonne yesterday, and did I rip open the caramel-ly stroopwafels? The spicy-sweet speculaas cookies? Oh no sir-ree, it was the beautiful wedge of cheese that I had to dig into right away! When Yvonne asked if I had any special requests, I jokingly told her Leidsekaas, please! And she sent a nice big chunk of a similar cheese from her home town. It is so good! There was much more in that pretty pink box, but it will have to wait until I can take some daylight pictures to truly do it all justice.

Today is our secret Santa gift exchange at work, and I was lucky enough to draw the name of a fellow knitter, so I made her a needle roll, the first one I’ve ever made. It came out pretty cute, I think. I hope she likes it. There’s also a yarn store gift certificate, so even if she hates the needle roll, she should be pretty happy with the rest of the gift.

Last week I picked up a frame at Ikea for my poster from Victoria. I was going to hang it in my laundry room, because I could use a little reminder not to get all worked up when I have to spend my Saturday doing five loads of laundry, but it looked so good in the guest room, that I think I’ll leave it in there. I do need to take it in and get the mat trimmed down a bit.

And one last picture. Every time it rains, the logs from the tree we cut down a couple months ago get all mossy and green. I love that color.

I went ahead with the scarf gift, and was knitting feverishly until late last night and then again for an hour this morning before work:

Luckily the recipient is a very small person, so I stopped once I knitted about 46 inches. I used the pattern for Misty Garden from the Scarf Style book. The yarn is Trendsetter Muse, a mohair/acrylic blend which is super soft and fluffy, just like a cloud. The pattern is a really easy 4 row repeat, so it was good, mindless knitting. I think it was well received, and the yarn has lots of subtle color in it, so it will go with just about anything. I like it better than a $20 gift card :o)

In between my feverish knitting and making meatballs for our potluck at work today (recipe: 2 bags frozen party meatballs from Trader Joe’s, 1 bottle Soy Vay Island Teriyaki sauce, also from TJ’s, dump all (er, both) ingredients into a crock pot, turn it on under your desk when you arrive at work in the morning, thus torturing everyone sitting near you with that delicious aroma, and serve 3 hours later, when they’re all hot and bubbly), I’ve been doing some reading lately. I’m generally a pretty fast reader, but my latest book, Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell has taken the better part of two weeks to read. It’s challenging, in a very good way. I’m not quite done, but I keep thinking about it. Here is my review so far:
 
Cloud Atlas is really 5 novellas, split into two sections each, surrounding a sixth novella in the middle of the book. What makes the book so amazing is that each story is told in a completely different voice and all are very different styles. Some of the reviews on Amazon compare it to a Russian Nesting Doll, which is sort of apt, but not completely. In one interview I read with the author, he described the structure as if holding up a mirror. One reason I’ve taken so long with this book is the abrupt changing of styles. Each story is so fascinating and well-written, and the first halves of each novella have ended with suspenseful, cliff-hanger scenes so that I keep wanting to skip ahead. It’s just all so clever, without being pretentious. I wish I could explain it better. It’s very original and I highly recommend it, if you’re up for something a little more challenging. I’ve already requested another of his books from my library, so it should be ready and waiting for me when I’m done.

Have you read anything lately that you highly recommend? I’m always looking for good books to read! I’ll have to list some of my other recommendations, if anyone is interested.

Oh, I almost forgot, someone bought my little snowman. I can’t even tell you how excited I get when I see those e-mails from etsy and paypal. It’s always just a little unbelievable to me that someone really will pay actual money to buy something I made. I’m off to do a happy dance now! :o)

I made a sock for Fall:

The other one is underway. Mr. Lucy was laughing at me for taking a picture of one sock, but I was excited and had to share. It’s my second pair using the Embossed Leaves pattern, which I just like so much. The yarn is Lorna’s Laces and the colorway is called Aslan. I may have bought this yarn just because of the name. I’m not much of a beige/brown person, but this colorway is actually quite pretty. I wonder if I can rake my rug?

Last weekend I decided to join up with the Apartment Therapy Fall Cure, and cure my guest house of all its ills. I made a lot of progress. I got rid of four big 3-drawer plastic bins. They were ugly and they took up a lot of space and they weren’t working. As I was clearing out the drawers I kept coming accross fabric that I had totally forgotten about. Now it’s all arranged on shelves and I can easily see what I’ve got. I’m such a sucker for organizing gadgets, but just because something is made to get you organized, it doesn’t mean it actually will. I’ve thinned out my fabric quite a lot, but there is still so much! I’d better start using it. Here is a progress picture:

The main thing I want to get done, after I get all the junk cleaned out, is to paint everything white, and then I’m going to hang some curtains in front of the bookcases to finish everything off nicely. I’m sure I’ll be showing more progress photos as I get things done. The TV may also get a new table and I have some other ideas percolating as well.

I’ll leave you with some current chicken portraits:

That’s Fuzzy in the first picture, and then one of the Silver-Laced Wyandottes and one of the Rhode Island Reds. They are looking like little chickens now, I’ve started calling them chucks at Yvonne’s suggestion in the comments a couple entries back. I think that’s a perfect name for them and it makes me smile. They are starting to make little clucking noises, although they still peep a lot. They like going outside and scratching around and they love the lettuce and cabbage leaves that I bring them for treats. So, the chucks seem to be thriving :o)