Monday, December 31, 2007

Julafton


Uncounted Blessings

Whenever we gather together,
The words are not easy to find,
But love speaks a common language
When people have ties that bind.
We don't always say what we're feeling
As often as families should;
We don't count our blessings out loud,
But somehow they're understood.
We know that we're thankful for living
With the comfort of each other's care;
We're grateful for memories and stories,
And the jokes that our family shares.
We might leave a promise unspoken,
But we know that we're loyal and true;
We can count on companions through life,
In the sunshine and shadows, too.
We might show some special attention
To a stranger, acquaintance, or guest,
But we never forget in our hearts
About those that we really love best.
These blessings can never be counted
Like money or gold dividends;
They can only be shared as the love
That exists when families are friends.

Jill Wolf


Xmas Eve was here. We keep the long standing family tradition of what we imagine a Swedish Julafton should be.
Pickled herring, meatballs, potato sausage, cucumber salad, flat bread, and more.
It was a relaxing time with friends and family.








Saturday, December 22, 2007

Life is full of many blessings
















Thankful
Some days, we forget to look around us,
Some days, we can't see the joy that surrounds us,
so caught up inside ourselves,
we take when we should give,
so for tonight we pray for,
what we know can be,
and on this day we hope for,
what we still can't see,
It's up to us, to be the change,
and even though we all can still do more,
there's so much to be thankful for,
look beyond ourselves,
there's so much sorrow,
it's way to late to say, I'll cry tomorrow
each of us must find our truth,
it's so long overdue,
so for tonight we pray for,

what we know can be,
and everyday, we hope for,
what we still can't see,
it's up to us, to be the change,
and even though we all can still do more,
there's so much to be thankful for,
even with our differences,
there is a place WE'RE all connected,
each of us can find each others light,
So for tonight, we pray for
what we know can be,
and on this day, we hope for,
what we still can't see,
it's up to us, to be the change,
and even though this world NEEDS so much more
there's so much to be thankful for.

David Foster, Carole Bayer, Richard Page

Friday, December 14, 2007

Xmas is coming too soon !!

Can't believe Christmas is just over a week away. My next life I'm coming back as an organized person ! I'm not ready at all but it will work out though, always has. Anna is helping with shopping which I really appreciate. Christmas will be different this year.....

"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!"
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens




Marc and Anna cutting our tree. Marc looking very fashionable in shorts and friend Elizabeth's coat ! He lives in shorts year round, has since a young child. People are quite puzzled why I "let" him but he's happy.


Multidirectional diagonal scarf I made with two of my favorite yarns
Farmhouse Lumpy Bumpy
and Berocco Ultra Alpaca
Found the pattern on Ravelry.com
The colorway is "Autumn" but it looks very Christmasy to me. Just noticed I didn't finish it properly. Oh well....

B&B holiday party was last week at Charisa's house. Didn't get a picture of her at the party so grabbed this one off her Ravelry profile. Was very fun and as always great to see other peoples projects.
















Custom dyed Merino roving purchased from Kristin who's in the group. She sells as Allspunup on Etsy.com Great colors !! Will be interesting to see how it spins up.








See what came in the mail today from my e-mail buddy Ulla ! We met in 1994 when I was trying to research the surname Winroth. Her name popped up in the search engine. We are not related but have been writing ever since. She lives in Örebro with her sambo Calle. She always finds her cute Christmas presents at area craft fairs, wanting to support the local artisans. Calle's ancestral home is in Järvsö. We met them on our trip in 2006. It was great to finally meet after corresponding so long.
It's wonderful how the Internet can bring people together from across the globe.