It's that time of the year. . . . . .

Life is starting to speed up, I think. It's hard to imagine but fun things are happening almost every day. Last Saturday Ronda and I had a "play date" and decided that we would teach ourselves how to make a shopping bag. Ronda's is a light blue corduroy; mine is the Debbie Mumm sunflower fabric.

I know that I have told you about how much I love Skype. It is such fun to talk with folks all over the world. I probably talk with my friend Caroline in the Netherlands once or twice a week. Last week she taught me, via Skype, how to make little squares. See her blog, where she talks about this and shows her very creative project. Mine is pretty small stuff in comparison, but fun to think about what else I can do with the technique. Tomorrow is the CTA Christmas meeting and among other things we are having a handmade ornament exchange. So I took two of the squares and sandwiched them with a piece of batting. Put a bell on the bottom and ribbon on the top to hang it. Viola!





The other part of the Christmas meeting is a cookie exchange. I made the most fabulous cookies, recipe from my friend Janis-

Coconut-Cranberry Chews

1 1/2 cp. butter
2 cp. sugar
1 tbsp. grated orange peel
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/4 cp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cp. dried cranberries
1 1/2 cp. sweetened flaked coconut

Beat butter, sugar, orange peel and vanilla until smooth. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to butter mixture. Stir to mix, then beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes. [I suggest a stand mixer. I used a portable hand mixer and it was difficult as the dough is stiff.] dough should be a smooth, homogeneous mass, not too crumbly. Mix in cranberries and coconut. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a buttered baking sheet. Bake at 350` until the edges begin to brown. [The recipe says 8-11 minutes. My oven took almost 15 minutes.] Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Makes 5-6 dozen cookies. FABULOUS.










Finally, we brought the Christmas tree inside tonight. We got lights on it and a very few ornaments. I love its simplicity. This is a sheared dougles fir, from a tree farm down in Oregon, sold as a fund-raiser through the church.


Don't let the days go by too quickly without noticing what's going on.
Joy to you!