Channeling My Inner Martha Stewart

This Christmas season, I've been doing some crafts with the help of my trusty assistant, Owen. I saw some cute Christmas tree ornaments made from buttons on Pinterest and showed them to Owen who declared he could easily make that and he did. Luckily, I have a ton of buttons because I weirdly collect them for moments just like this. Not only did he make a tree, but he also devised a snowman pattern and a Santa. I helped tie a lot of them and then the chore sort of was passed onto me once interest waned and we have a fair amount now.


Then, because we now live in the land of fresh cranberries and popcorn, I made some garland for the tree.


And lastly, I learned how to make these Moravian stars from an American friend whilst we were in England and I went into crazy production mode.





Owen and I are thinking about selling our wares at the annual Catonsville Craft Festival in September. I'll keep you posted.
Please enjoy some photos of the ornaments on my tree.





Angel Owen - see he DOES exist!


This was a gift tag. I think it's so cute!


A hand-painted egg from Budapest


This guard should NOT be smiling!


Our pickle


Noah


Snowmen and owls, a red hand of Ulster below made even before we traveled to N. Eire

Random

Just some photos for fun.





We get our milk delivered. That saying is true.


I never had raisin bread in England. I never even saw it. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places. Plus, it would be named "Sultana Bread" or something.

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14 is Fantastic!

At least that is what I keep trying to tell myself.


Happy Brthday, Finn!

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So When Did This Happen?

This evening as I was driving into the city (Baltimore City, not the Emerald City), I was listening to NPR and they had a story about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for the year 2012. According to Wikipedia (and NPR), "groups or individuals are qualified for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Nominees should have demonstrable influence and significance within the history of rock and roll." As I listened to the bands nominated for induction, my jaw dropped in shock. These were bands I have grown up with. Bands I listened to. Bands whose CDs I have bought and own. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are like, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, right? Well, now they are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys and Guns N' Roses too. Ugh, I am old.

Hey Hon, I'm in Bawlmer, Murlin

Last Friday, I went downtown to Baltimore City with my friend, Toni,

for her early birthday celebration. Our fist stop was to partake some Tea by Julia Faye.
I am a huge fan of Groupon and I saw this deal and couldn't resist. It was a delicious meal and similar to an English high tea, but with a real southern flair. In addition to tea,
scones and cucumber sandwiches, we had cornbread muffins and a yummy sweet potato cake.The tea house is located in an old Baltimore house called Ruscombe whose twin Cylburn is located within the Cylburn Arboretum which definitely is on my list of places to see.
Our next stop wasHampden, hon. We shopped and took in the atmosphere which included some flamingo spotting
and some interesting architectural elements of design.Then today, I went back downtown with my friend, Sheila, to shop at a craft fair called Holiday Heap which was sponsored by the Charm City Craftmafia. Every item was high quality workmanship and super creative and most vendors have a shop on etsy. The crowd was huge and I am glad we went early! My favorite part was actually the venue of St. John's Church in Charles Village. It's a very old church whose exterior has fared much better than its interior, but it's actually charming inside even though it's falling into disrepair.On Wednesday, I head back into the city to go on a house tour that is sponsored by Baltimore Heritage. I can't wait!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum

A woman with whom Craig works had standing room only tickets to the 2011 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the White House that she couldn't use so we snatched them up. I took Finn and Owen since we only had three and Evan would have been miserable standing in the cold when he could be planted in front of his computer inside a warm house. The trip down was uneventful. I love the D.C. Metro. I especially loved the man humming/singing and swaying to what I believe was a Gospel song with headphones on so that he was completely out of tune. I guess it's nice to be in your own little world and socially inept.

The lighting ceremony was a good experience. It was sort of boring at times and definitely a political PR opportunity for everyone involved.





Too much speechifying and not just by President Obama if you ask me and the boys. I was especially happy to see a Gloucestershire girl, Ellie Goulding, in the line-up of the entertainment except she wasn't that stellar live.

It was this Christmas tree's debut as the national tree. The previous tree which had been the national tree for like 30 years and stood 42 feet tall was blown down in February of this year. The present tree was planted in March of this year and stands 26 feet tall but will continue growing.

There has been a lot of controversy about not calling Christmas trees "Christmas" trees. Well, as you can clearly see, the tickets say the dreaded "C" word.





However, the Christian minister who prayed at (actually I think he "blessed") the event (which was sort of odd since it was a Government event with inherently religious overtones ~ borders blurred) DID NOT call the tree a Christmas tree. This was very surprising given it is generally a Christian uproar of taking Christ out of Christmas. He did get a rousing "AMEN" though.

I was surprised to read online that a variety of groups perform at The Ellipse every evening throughout the holiday season. To see who is singing or dancing this year, please visit this website:

http://www.nps.gov/whho/upload/2011_National_Christmas_Tree_Music_Program_Schedule.pdf

For some good gouge, please visit this website which is also where one may apply for free tickets next year in early November, I believe:

http://www.thenationaltree.org/

Apply for the Green section, which is the seated section. I would not recommend the Yellow section unless you are very desperate to go. If you are granted Yellow tickets, go early. It's really not worth the effort unless you are up front. You can't even see the Christmas tree. Neither can you hear nor see the big tv screens when you are 50 people deep. The tickets are distributed lottery-style so good luck!

Here are my three favorite verses of the classic tune:

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure dost thou bring me!
For ev’ry year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure dost thou bring me!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are thy branches!
Not only green when summer's here
But in the coldest time of year.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are thy branches!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

I do love me a good Christmas song and tree.






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Don't "Blink"

I was looking through older photos and came upon a series that was taken when we were in temporary housing in Prestbury before moving back home. But first, of course, I have to tell you a story.

Our local pub was called The Wheatsheaf and we loved to go there for Sunday roasts. It's ownership was transferred and I read in the Gloucestershire Echo shortly thereafter that there was a great kerfuffle regarding the disappearance (read "theft") of some memorabilia that was on loan to the previous owner by the Brian Jones fan club. Brian Jones was a founding member of The Rolling Stones and was born and raised in Cheltenham. (FYI ex pats, he attended both Dean Close and Pate's Grammar schools.) He died in 1969, just a short while after leaving The Rolling Stones. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure". I think you can guess what misadventure might have occurred. He is buried in the Cemetery/Crematorium in Prestbury.

After reading this, I wanted to go and try to find the grave, just because it's interesting. So a few days before we moved, Craig and I went over to explore the cemetery. The place is huge and we were doubting we'd ever find Brian Jones' grave. We parked and started walking and believe it or not, we walked right up to it. I am not joking.


After that, we walked around some more. The memorials are interesting in spots.


They are memorial plaques along the roads and paths, not grave sites.


We also noticed a lot of stone angels. These are of particular interest because we are huge Doctor Who fans. One of our favorite episodes, called Blink, features the Weeping Angel and his stone comrades. At first, the angels are really serene statues, but every time someone blinks, the statues move closer to surround them until they are right on top of them. And the angels get vicious looks on their faces. So enjoy some serene stone angel pictures and remember, don't blink!



















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