Happy December

December 23, we got a beautiful Christmas tree...the place around the corner where they'd been selling them put a FREE sign out.  This one had a $75 price tag on it.

We brought homemade gingerbread cookies decorated with words and snowflakes to paint pottery with family and friends.

 Vegetable soup.

 A bit of snow.

 Cinnamon rolls.

 And plenty of merry-making with family!

The cinnamon roll recipe is SO simple and easy.   

http://minimalistbaker.com/the-worlds-easiest-cinnamon-rolls/

Hope your December has been warm and filled with joy! ♥ 

Sewing mittens

 Mittens.

 A new stocking.  The one I just sewed is the second from the left.  You can see how I used the sweater:

I had several sweaters shrink because of being careless with wash, one cashmere...  So, I cut out mittens out of the sleeves and sewed a stocking out of the body.

We got this book out of the library today.  It's dated 1964.

And more mittens sewn from sweaters.

Super moon...

The moon rising tonight about 5:30pm...a beautiful super moon!  Apparently the nearest it's been to earth since 1948.  And the next time it will be this close will be in 2034.

 

The sun setting, about 5pm...before the moon started to rise.

This 9 year old took me for a ride around their property in his ATV.

Emma's kitten

 My 9 year old niece has been saving money for a kitten. 

 Paul gently pet the kitten.  And then wanted to play trucks.

Timmy watched me taking photos and I let him take a few photos with my camera.

Their dog, has been licking the kitten, very loving...  And they share a mat where their food is, and also a tiny ceramic bowl that my niece made with milk in it.

Leaving, the sunset was just lovely...

Tractor and horses

We went to a friend's house...Brad, Maria and their son Alex had bales of hay in the wagon behind the tractor for a hayride.  The trees started to turn yellow and reddish, although there is still more green here.

Paul is 13 months old now.  He was very excited to be in the wagon.  Playing pee-a-boo, by bending down and popping up!

Last time we went there, we were talking about camping out here.  We went for a hike around the pastures to the woods in the far back. We cooked dinner over the fire.  Rob got out his mandolin and Brad played his harmonica.  It was beautiful.

 Feeding the horses apples for a treat...

Painted pumpkins

 Just starting...

Olivia and Hannah are into details.  Looked like Paul was playing the drum...er, pumpkin, more than painting.  He did a little painting, and I wrote "fall" on the other side in cursive.

The end product:

Frankincense

Royal Hojari frankincense from Oman at the monastery in WV.  We also bought frankincense from Somalia and Ethiopia.  I've burned all 3 kinds this week on charcoal during morning prayers. 

 

 

Procession from the church to the outdoor area where the services were held.

I got to help milk a goat.

 New little friend.

Friends (13 year olds...and their little brothers)