Winding down the year

The final days of each year seem to signal the end of yet another chapter in one's life history... It's always so hard to believe that another year has flown by so quickly, isn't it? We end the year on such a busy note with the preparation for Thanksgiving in late November right into the excitement and bustling days of the Christmas season. I have to admit, I'm truly looking forward to the peace and quiet that a new year brings--how about you? 

Our Christmas was nice, but not quite the "whole family together" time that I had pictured. My middle son came down with some sort of stomach flu and neither he nor his girlfriend were here on Christmas morning. The hardest part of his illness for him? Having to miss out on our traditional once-a-year homemade cinnamon rolls (you can find the recipe right here)! Oh, we saved a couple for him, but it wasn't quite the same as sitting down for  Christmas brunch with the whole family. We also saved his presents and the ones he had given all of us and opened them two days later when he felt well enough to come over again. Unbelievably, not a single one of the rest of us got sick!

Another odd thing about Christmas this year was the weather... it was such a warm and rainy week! We did get a bit of sunshine on Christmas Day itself, but that was it. And the temperature... it was 60° here in western Pennsylvania--the eighth warmest Christmas on record! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually missing snow right now.

As the end of this year draws near, I have a number of folks I'd like to thank--there are just so many kind and caring fellow stitchers out there! I enjoyed opening each gift and card so much and  want to share what I received for Christmas this year...

From June in England: a beautifully stitched card, a sweet Tralala chart, some finishing accessories and a Christmas towel. Thank you, my friend!

 

From Manuela in Germany: the cutest little snowman card, a pretty-in-pink hexie mug rug, and two floss tags. Thank you, my friend!

From Cindy C. (cindycstitches on Instagram): a beautifully stitched ornament featuring Santa and his deer. Thank you, my friend!

From Stasi in Virginia: an adorable (and very appropriately named!) ornament. This is a design by Mani di Donna. Thank you, my friend!

From Vickie in Wisconsin: a charming little star ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Claire in Canada (blackberryhill1 on Instagram): The most darling woolen strawberry adorned with a sweet angel and a Santa Claus floss holder. Thank you, my friend!

From Robin in Virginia: a beautifully stitched Silver Bells ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Cindy in Tennessee (cindyderosa on Instagram): a lovely blue bird ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Martina and Gabi in Germany: sweetly stitched cards which I plan on making into ornaments. Thank you, my friends!

From Nathalie in France: some pretty pastel ribbons, lip balm, and incense. Thank you, my friend!

What a lucky stitcher I am, wouldn't you agree? And thank you, too, for the lovely Christmas cards I received from many of you... Sandy P., Marilyn, Tricia, Barb R., Karen Y., Lee, and Kim H. I do love receiving a real Christmas card in my mailbox even though that tradition seems to be fading away these days. Just call me old-fashioned! 

As Christmas draws closer, I move my newest dozen ornaments from the garland going up my stairs to our tree and replace them with stitched ornaments I've received from so many of you throughout the years. These will stay up until the new year. 

My garland now bears many, many ornaments sent from stitching friends over the years.

Both sides are covered with so many wonderful gifts!

Here are the six lovely new ornaments I received this year.

The saga of Mister B and the elf... Do you all remember the photo of the little mechanized elf I showed you in my last post? For those of you who missed it, here is the impish fellow once again...

The little elf was met with a lot of suspicion by Mister B!

I was sure that my 3-year-old grandson would love him. Wrong! He was quite wary of him and  simply stared at him with wide-eyes for quite a while. At first he refused to go near him, telling me, "he looks dangerous!" He slowly got up his nerve to draw closer and proudly told me, "I touched his hat!" And, after being told many times that the elf's saw wasn't going to hurt him (that it was actually made of wood), he finally got up his nerve to touch it. Watching the whole scenario develop over a few days time was so cute. He was very proud when he and the elf finally became "friends!"

Mister B's not quite sure if that elf is to be trusted or not!

It was such fun watching Mister B discover each one of my Christmas decorations--the Nativity Set, the little tree on my kitchen table, the Christmas lights shining around the house and in our neighborhood...

Helping to rearrange Nonna's little Christmas village

As always food (well... sweets to be exact!) was a big part of our holiday. I ended up making my grandmother's homemade caramels, slowly stirring them for nearly 2 1/2 hours. Oh, they were delicious--so smooth and buttery! My husband nicely wrapped each one in wax paper--the part of making these goodies that I really don't enjoy.

Gram B's yummy homemade caramels--a Christmas tradition

I've been asked for this recipe many times, so I thought some of you might like to try making them for yourself. Just make sure to have a good candy thermometer and lots of patience!

A very special family recipe

 

Of course, Christmas cookies were also on hand and below are some of our favorites. 

I sure went through a lot of butter in my baking this year!

We spent an afternoon decorating gingerbread  cookies a few days after Christmas. What fun to watch my grandson with some of his "creative" decorating style (read that: dumping a lot of sprinkles on to each and every cookie!). And, of course, those were his favorite ones to eat, too!

The more sprinkles, the better!

I could go on and on posting photos of our Christmas, but I'll  leave you with this last one.

Christmas morning with Mister B!

So, that's a wrap on 2023... it was a quiet year for us. I have to say I'm relieved after the ups and downs of the previous few years. We do hope to travel more in the coming year... We realize we aren't getting any younger and know that, one of these days, traveling will be out of the question. Do you have any plans for your coming year? Whatever they may be, I hope your new year is filled with much love and laughter, good health, and happy days. Try to enjoy the simple things in life... often they bring the most joy, don't you agree? Thank you, one and all for taking the time to read my little blog, leave a friendly word or two, and inspire me with all of your stitching. I'll see you next year! Bye for now...

Wishing you all the best life has to offer in the New Year!