Springerle

My friend Trudy -- who is a wonderful baker -- brought to church yesterday some springerle that she and her sister had made. She gave me one with a knitter on it. My first thought was that I should varnish it, because it is so cute. But I think I will eat it with some tea when I need a little treat.

Cameron Indoor Stadium

Duke versus Clemson tonight. My nephew Michael will be covering the game. Duke is also celebrating the 70th anniversary of Cameron Indoor Stadium and the 50th anniversary of its first ACC championship team. Cameron and the Dean Dome down the road at UNC couldn't be more different, but I confess I have a soft spot for Cameron and fond memories of watching basketball games there while a law student in the pre-Coach K. days. It was where I developed a liking for college basketball.

Two More Cards

I started these two cards shortly after the last two, and finished them today, trying to get back into the mood to create. These again began with an ArtChix image, and I found the same butterfly in another ArtChix sheet. I picked up the colors from the original image and tried to use new attachments -- the Tim Holtz tiny stapler and HappyTape from Japan.

Two Cards

I have not been doing much knitting or paper crafting lately . . . holidays, snow, etc. So today I made some time just to play around, starting with a background technique on pages from a French novel. I started with the idea of making Valentine's Day cards using two Artchix images, so I stuck with a palette of pinks and reds, with black. But in the end I left off any sentiments and will just let the cards be whatever they want to be. It just feels good to start to get back in the groove of making something.

Thankful

I am thankful for:

family

friends

health

happiness

creativity

my job

Life is good this Thanksgiving Day.

Notre Dame 21 Navy 23

Everything about Saturday's Notre Dame - Navy game at Notre Dame stadium was wonderful, except the final score. The day was cloudless and warm -- an unbelievable 70 degrees on November 7. The campus was beautiful, the atmosphere was festive. The quads were filled with the smells of grilling hamburgers and brats from various student concession stands. Leaves rustled underfoot. The strains of the marching band's music could be heard in the distance. The day was full of traditions -- the players' walk from the basilica to the stadium; the band marching from the administration building to the stadium. The stadium was beautiful and filled to capacity. It was certainly a day to remember and I enjoyed it all, despite the score.

Canadian Stash Enhancement

I did buy some yarn on my cruise at the beginning of September -- but only in Canada, as it turned out. First, at Loop in Halifax, I got a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts merino laceweight yarn in the Lagoon colorway. Then at Cricket Cove in St. John I got some Handmaiden yarn -- a skein of rumple (a 100% silk with a nice boucle texture) and another skein of rumple together with a skein of angel hair (70% kid mohair, 30% nylon) in coordinated colorways. Each came with a hangtag pattern for a shawl. I thought that was a clever idea -- no need to wonder what to make of the yarn or whether you would have enough yarn for the pattern.