last day of 2012

 It's so nice to have the laptop back.  There is a limited amount I can do on the cell phone. Probably due to my limitations, not the phone's.  But in the interim, I did get more hats knit.  Hats for toddlers get too-big-to-swallow buttons for eyes.  On the purple one, I used white buttons, then picked up a 99cent bottle of purple nail polish and painted in the centers to look more eyelike.  The black buttons are sewn down with silver thread.  And the stripy hat is a skein of self-striping sock yarn plumped with a skein of white sock yarn of mysterious content from an estate sale.  The eyes, which don't show well in the photo, are green sparkly buttons.  I don't really need the pattern to knit fish hats at the moment.  Anyone else want a hat while I'm on a roll?

 For Christmas, my newly married niece gave me some beautiful, soft blue yarn spun by her new MIL.  I knit myself a happy, cozy cowl, adding in just a bit of dark blue alpaca at the end to make a ruffle.  I loves it!  Thank you , Cheryl and Deb!

A thing DH and I love to do is to go to grocery stores out of our area and peruse the selections.  The Asian store is a treat!  The Russian store is a source of awesome teas and chocolates. There is a store down in the industrial area that has the best butchershop in town.  Oh, the sausages we find there!  Last time through, we picked up Daffy's Delight which is duck meat with wild mushrooms, some chicken/basil sausage, a kielbassa and a pound of home-made sauerkraut, and a classic venison with sage sausage. We've got some serious feasting ahead of us.

We also enjoyed checking out the beer cases.  I was especially amused by "Santa's Butt" beer and "Bad Elf" ale.  There's some "Mutant Bastard" porter in the case, too.  Lots of small breweries in Oregon.  Some people call us, "Beervana."

So, the Mayan alpacalips has come and gone, and we still seem to be here.  Right this minute, it's next year in Australia and Japan.  Time is whistling past my ears, as the tempo of my life slows down.  DH and I will spend a quiet night at home, probably nibbling cheese and crackers, sausage and fruit.  I may start a jigsaw puzzle which I see as a metaphor for life.  Except in real life, of course, it's a 30million piece puzzle, you don't have all your pieces, although you have many pieces that don't belong in your particular puzzle, there are no edges, and the colors keep changing.  A jigsaw in a box is so comforting.  And it will hold my attention long enough for me to stay awake till midnight.  On the other hand, we may just turn in as usual and wish each other happy new year when we wake.

Regardless of which side of the meridian you are, may 2013 be a year filled with pleasure and satisfaction for you. Rejoice!