HELLO AGAIN!

Well Hello again!  I know, I have been tardy - very very tardy - but only here, I can assure you!

The last several weeks have been anything but quiet and lazy - it seems that for someone who is supposed to be retired and taking it easy -well - I haven't been!

I am sure I did not plan November and December very well.  I think I could have given myself a little more time in between projects and commitments - but really, I don't usually do things that way, so why start now!

What have I been up to?

Well first was the craft sale in November - remember the one that bombed?  Well there was tons of work to get ready for that event - even if it bombed in the end.

Then Louise and I decided we would pool our resources and have a joint open house.  Her Antiques and my Uniques... all done in her shop "Uniques and Antiques."  We scheduled the event for four days December 6th through the 9th.  But first we completely changed the shop around, gave it a new face, and spruced it up for Christmas.  The open house came and went - we had sales, we ate a lot of cookies, drank a lot of coffee, and got to visit with a lot of really nice people - including each other!

Fast on the heels of that event was a deadline for a Christmas Swap exchange in one of my doll groups.  True to form - I decided to make everything myself - so I was knitting my fingers off, every spare moment I had ( and there weren't too many).  But happy to say, I made the mailing deadline ( by a few hours) and my swap gift is on it's way to Alaska.

This week has all been about music.  On Tuesday I played for the Spiritual Care group at the nursing home...  I played and the residents sang Christmas Carols to their hearts desire!  They had so much fun, and so did I.

The rest of the week has been devoted to polishing and fine-tuning my music for this Sunday's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.  This is a music-led service - usually by a choir, but since I have no choir, this service will be all me.  I have prepared 15 pieces of music for the service, and I think one more practice on the organ tomorrow, and I will be ready - I hope.

You'd think that next week could be some down time - but not quite yet, it seems.  Meetings, doctor visits, haircut... well the week will fly by as well.

I still have some Christmas gifts to finish, a little baking to do, but since we plan on a quiet Christmas this year, I am sure I will get everything done on time.

In the meantime, my mind is busy designing some new things, and I can't wait for a little free time to try some of my ideas out.

Wish me luck with my big service this weekend... hope it all turns out okay!

Till next week!