Keeping Busy & the December Give Away

Second Post of the Day

Benefits of having a big family? Lots of presents. Drawbacks of having a big family? Lots of presents. Christmas preparations continue to run apace!

Yesterday I wrapped 28 gifts and I'm only about 2/3s done. Our bedroom functions as the Christmas wrapping station and right now you can barely walk through it. Mama is timid by nature and yesterday she was too overwhelmed to even come in to borrow Pepper's bed. (Don't worry about Pepper. She was borrowing mine.) Mama went back to her own bed in the living room.

The spa tub is filling up with packages that our out of town family is sending and will wrap when they get here, but it isn't too bad yet. In fact, I used it yesterday to hold boxes that I'd broken down for recycling from my own wrapping blitz.

Teacher Daughter Lisa's health and work schedule finally allowed her to spend some time putting out my mother's Nativity with me.

It's been a tradition for nearly 20 years that we do that together and one that I cherish. 

My mother poured and cleaned the greenware, painted it, and then fired it, doing a couple of pieces a year until she had finished them all.

Now we just have the tree to put up, and Craig and I are determined that today is the day. (Wish us luck - it's 11 degrees out!)

Remember the card Kate sent me last year that made me cry on Christmas Day?

Pony Pal Susie sent us an electronic one yesterday with singing snowman and then wrote a sweet note to accompany it. I've lost count of how many times I've watched that card. Thank you, Susie!

Craig enjoyed watching it in my office accompanied by Nash (who is very attached to Craig.) That's Pepper sitting on my feet. The four dogs enjoyed a day together, playing, eating, and sleeping hard despite all the things scattered on the floors and around our home.

We managed to squeeze in time for our monthly volunteering down in Indianapolis this week. While down there, we spent some time at what has become my favorite outdoor Nativity.

Getting there was interesting. We took a different route than usual to avoid traffic. Take a look at how we went:

That's 14 roundabouts. 14!!  And that wasn't all of them! They don't call Carmel, Indiana the home of the roundabout for no reason!

Carmel has more that 150 roundabouts, more than any city in the United States. (If you are prone to dizziness, you might want to skip Carmel.)

Feeling a bit like we'd just ridden an extended merry go round ride, we made it to the Nativity. I've been visiting it for over the past ten years, and it has become a place of joy, happiness, and peace. It also provided a place of solace when James died just before Christmas in 2022.

Simple, quiet, and without fanfare, I love this scene. (And that donkey.)

December Give Away

I pulled out my embroidery machine and have been making gifts for family members. This Nativity is a new pattern for me and is made in a technique called "Sketch."

I made two hand towels and the winner gets to choose one of one them.

But that's not all. I ordered six of the Christmas blankets from Breyer, hoping to get one of each of the three designs.

That didn't go so well! So, I will be giving away one or more of these, too.

The usual rules apply - entries begin now by commenting on any blog post published starting today and ending Sunday, December 15 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. One comment per blog post, please, and don't forget your name or initials so I can identify you if you win.

Good luck!

Silver Star Classic - Photos of the Fun & the Entries

Lauren and Andrea Maultby did such a nice job on last Saturday's show.

 There was a room off the show hall that was absolutely stuffed with raffle items!

 The assortment was so large, I lost count of how many there were

 but I think it was over forty. 

There was also a silent auction (the table on the right)

And fun games to play, all with the chance of a prize.

Plus, everyone got a door prize! (I got the horseshoe tea towel on the bottom right.)

Here are photos from some of the classes:

 As you can see, the competition was stiff!

Tomorrow's post will be the last one about the show.

Silver Star Classic - a Quick Look

Yesterday's Silver Star Classic live show in Carmel, Indiana was fun and a big success. We had entrants from as far away as Mississippi and I think they found the show worth their drive. I sure did, and I only had to drive an hour.

The awards were beautiful and the flats were ribbons as well. (I prefer real ribbons over paper myself. To me, that is a "must" expense for a show. I've held four live shows and I know that they can be expensive. But, Hodges sells bags of ribbons with 50 of each color very inexpensively, and for even less money when there is a sale going on!)

I'd brought a very small show string so it did not take me long to unpack and set up. I'd also offered to bring several copies of Nancy Kelly's new book, Exploring the Model Horse Hobby, and sold them all in the first hour and a half of the show.

 Silver Star Classic was held in the Carmel Lions Club building and it was an excellent location.

We were not crowded, the restrooms were clean and easily accessible, there was a kitchen, and then a huge second room where the silent auction, door prizes, raffle items, and games were located.

And there were tons of raffle items! This is only one small part of them.

I finished settling in about a half hour before the show began which gave me a chance to watch the other pretty ponies being unpacked and readied for showing and greet and chat with some dear friends who I only get to see at shows.

More on the show will be posted tomorrow.