Merry Christmas!

Sun Tea

Although I ENJOY reading everyone's Tatting Tea Tuesday postings, I usually do not have anything myself to offer.  I LOVE tea, but only ICED tea... preferably Lipton with no sugar or lemon (shudder).  On special occasions, I OCCASIONALLY make my iced tea with bottled water rather than tap.  LET ME TELL YOU that in a tall clear glass filled with ice, it sparkles like the sun!

And today being the national... OK, maybe just local... yes, yes quite possibly just in my own home, HOLIDAY that it is, SUN tea would be the order of the day (if the sun were actually out)!  Because yesterday was the winter solstice, today is the first day of many that we will gain an additional minute or two of sunlight and that is cause of great celebration and rejoicing to me every year!

I could not be described as a sun worshipper (this pasty pudding doesn't tan well) or outdoorsy type, but apparently I need the sun to be out there even when I am not, to promote my own happiness and well being.  I become grouchy, sullen and unproductive without my sunshine.  So in my home we could call this RETURN OF GOOD ANN DAY, although that seems to promise allot, so maybe it should be RETURN OF A HIGHER PERCENTAGE POSSIBILITY OF GOOD ANN DAY.  It's a mouth full and will make for a very expensive banner, but still it IS cause to celebrate!  So in answer to the Tatting Tea Tuesday question, "How many extra minutes of sunshine will you take with your tea, one or two?"  I would answer, "TWO PLEASE!"

My tatted sunshine today is a rendition of a pattern by Jane Eberall.  It is part of her Sun, Moon and Stars Mobile.  I say it is a rendition because it was not done perfectly.  I did not have small enough beads for my sunshine to have a sunny smile.  My beads produced a joker-like grin not suitable for the large orb that heats the earth - that kind of grin would produce fear of accelerated global warming.  My execution of the pattern is a little clumsy and the pattern is intended to be placed in a large ring,  but I am quite pleased with my patch of sunshine and am now even MORE excited about Jane's upcoming TIAS project in January!


Oh! I forgot to mention.  Those really ARE the clouds I saw in the sky last night a little before dusk.  Today they have melded together to obscure the blue but the sunshine still manages to filter through so I am happy!

Caring and Sharing

My daughter did not CARE for the last picture I posted and asked me to please SHARE another picture so she wouldn't have to keep looking at it on her reader.  She didn't care for that picture because she doesn't care for Party Pizzas because she doesn't care for meat.  I, on the other hand, had grown tired of it because I kept getting HUNGRY looking at it!  It is our very own version of the generation gap...

So I rushed, or perhaps sauntered, maybe even just schlepped outside this morning and photographed a snowflake I made last night, and truth be told, MANY nights before, because I tat slower than Christmas!  It is Jon's Quantiesque Snowflake done in a size 20 Lizbeth thread.  It was a pleasure to make!

If I sew more quickly than I tat, you will see it hanging on my tree soon...

Yum-yum! Party Pizzas!

One of our holiday traditions is to make a bunch of appetizers on Christmas Eve and munch away.  My mother-in-law always made Party Pizzas and they are a favorite.

They are very simple.  Spread cocktail bread (we like pumpernickel) with tomato paste.  Sprinkle on some ground oregano.  Top with browned Italian sausage and shredded mozzarella cheese.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees until the cheese melts and browns a little.  Yum!