Oh the weather outside is frightful...

...but the fire is so delightful!

Yesterday we had the most wicked wind, hail, rain, and this morning we woke to this...

So quiet and white and still...

This will create the magic for the kids at this time of year.

We so rarely have a white Christmas here and maybe it

won't stick around but just a taste is better than none at all.



Tradition...

It has become my tradition over the past 5 years to hang

the annual Christmas Chandelier.

Several reasons:

We don't have room for a tree.

I don't want to cut one down.

I don't like artificial ones.

Something different.

It all started in the summer one year when I wired up some

little fairy lights for a summer party.

Around December I found it hanging in the barn and thought 

"this would be fun to put decorations on..."

And hence the tradition was born...

This year I added an extra tier and stabilized it all with

some grape vines from the garden.

It gives a lovely glow above the table and all the 

decorations are really visible...

This one is at least 50 years old.

It used to be a tree topper in Toms house.

Now this beautiful mercury glass piece hangs in the centre

of the chandelier, upside down but still so lovely!...

This one my daughter brought back from Brussels one year...

Some old, some new, many handmade and all of them 

have a memory within...

Some traditions are born out of a simple idea.

I suppose we want these at certain times of the year.

Bringing the light into the house to brighten the dark days

reminds us that these days are short, more time is 

spent living indoors and reflecting on people, past and present

who we love and miss, and traditions old and new to as the old saying goes...

"keep the spirit bright".

I leave for Toronto in a few days and probably won't 

have time for posting for a while.

May you all enjoy these days of light and sparkle and have

the most wonderful time with your family and friends.

Blessings and much love and light to you all.

 p.s
through blogging I have met a friend who will be coming
with her husband from Santa Fe New Mexico to house sit.
How fantastic is that?!
They miss the rain and cold seasons and love it in B.C so this
gives them the chance to stay somewhere and explore the area at their leisure.
I just checked her blog of their progress (they should arrive tomorrow)
and you have to look at these beautiful snowy landscapes that
they're traveling through...see you soon Carol and Tom!
http://stoneangel-stoneangel.blogspot.ca/2012/12/driving-to-victoria-days-1-2.html?showComment=1355756110401#c3804707281822426907

Song for Friday...renaissance

Did you know that vinyl is back?

Yes, LP's are all the rage again and I just saw that

for a mear $42.99 you can buy your own copy

of "Beggars Banquet" by The Rolling Stones!

Yup, $43 for a record.

I think in 1968 it was about $5.

I'll just let you mull that one over and leave you

with a favorite cut from that album...

Have a great weekend all! 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXAUfC7Ze3A

 

 

 



The Season...

We'll be going back east in a week to Toronto for Christmas to be with my

daughter and her fiancee in their new house!

It'll be so much fun to be in the big city where I grew up, the lights,

the cold, maybe some snow and to be there with Tom where he grew

up as well. We can go and visit all the old neighbourhoods

and share with each other some childhood memories.

So even though we'll be away, I still like to decorate around

the house. For one thing we have people coming to stay here for

2 weeks and I'd like to make it festive for them and secondly,

I love to celebrate the season.

Things are different at this time of year.

Leaves that once dressed the trees and shrubs are gone and unveil

the beauty of the colour of the branches and their texture...

willow...

...the delicate huckleberry...

...the pine cones coated in sweet smelling, sticky sap...

...birds nests once hidden by the bushes and leaves, now empty, revealing

their secret places...

(these are rebuilt every spring as part of the mating ritual)

...and the trees and shrubs who keep this place so green all year round...

It rarely gets cold enough for skating here but a little bit of wishful thinking doesn't hurt...

...and a little tribute to the animals...

Time to check the fire and have a cup of tea!

 

 

 

 



Wordless Wednesday...

The journey of wool!

Last week some friends and I went over to Saltspring Island.

One of them had to go to a meeting and afterwards we

went off to visit a small spinning mill.

Did you ever think of the journey which takes fleece to finished wool?


(Stella from Tugwell Creek Farm)

First there is all that growing of the fleece...the munching of grass and the

long wet winters and then the beginning of summer and off it comes!

Then it is brought to a mill...

           This is a small-ish operation but does quite a bit of processing

for people and shops on the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.

So we begin with raw fleece...

Then it's put into these big tubs for washing which is done with

cold water and NO agitation, otherwise it will felt.

After cleaning it goes into an old washing machine for just the spin cycle.

Then off to be air dried it what is basically a giant dehydrator

about 6 feet by 4 feet...

         Here is Amy who graciously gave us the tour.

She's from the East coast of Canada but lives on Saltspring now...

Here she explains the next step which is a carder...

            The wool is fed into a hopper and then feeds through these fine teeth

to separate the fibres...

It always amazes me to think of the person who invented such a machine!

Next it goes through a series of a few other machines of which I can't exactly

remember what they all do but eventually the one they call

"Rumplestiltskin" spins it into wool...

You do not want to get your fingers caught in these machines or

no more knitting for you!

And magically here you go...

Alternately your wool can be left in the 'roving' stage (which is what I use for needle felting) and can be spun yourself or put into this machine...

The unspun wool is put in between the two big grey trays which have a surface

to agitate the fibres. For now it was being used as a shelf.

It is closed down sandwich style and run for about

15 minutes and VOILA...

FELT!

Sure saves a lot of time and arm muscles!!

Here's some of the waiting fleece and roving (unspun clean wool)...

Tools of the trade...

The Mill...

Small but mighty.

So next time you pull on a sweater or go to knit yourself some socks,

think of the journey this amazing fibre takes to get there.

 

P.S

Just outside the mill is the gate to the recycling depot which had the greatest design!

Recycling at it's finest...