Winter Festivity

I need to give more recognition to the beautiful wreath from Ludgates. I got my tree there, too - a delightfully fragrant fir. I understand some of their trees come from Ed Cope in Caroline. We visited him last summer when we were collecting information for the Renewable Energy Ordinance because his house is powered with wind and solar energy.

This door, by the way, was handcrafted by my father using a stained glass window made by my best friend from grad school. (Who'd guess that she was studying biology and I was studying labor relations. She's now an ASL interpreter and I'm, well, not a labor organizer.) The door is beautiful heavy cherry. I could never have afforded to buy a door this grand. I think my father enjoyed making it and was proud of it tho' it did cost him a couple of days in the hospital as a result of an instant of inattention to the miter saw.


So, I've got the one decoration up, but this is my dining table. I hope I don't have serve dinner on it before next week.

I've got a great photo of the gift I made for the party I'm going to this weekend, but I can't post it 'til Sunday. A couple of the people who will be at the party also read the blog.

The gift exchange is complicated and fun and secrecy is important. Everyone draws a number. The person who draws #1 chooses a wrapped present. The #2 person may choose a wrapped gift or "steal" the gift that #1 has unwrapped and revealed, in which case, #1 chooses another wrapped gift. And so on... It gets more complicated and more fun as more gifts are revealed and available for stealing. I can say modestly, that in past years there's been some mock fighting over the gift I brought. It may be second in popularity only to always coveted Home Depot gift certificate. I'm very happy with the gift I made this year. I hope it pleases someone as much as my past efforts have.