O Tannenbaum, 2011

Can't quite get the whole tree in the picture!

 Just love getting out the ornaments each year....the strings of beads the children made long ago, the wooden ornaments I bought at the Kristkindl Markt in Nurnberg even longer ago, the goldfinch nests found hidden in Ohio's long grasses after the Fall migration....  These days we use perhaps half of the ornaments, so I pick and choose.  My favorites seem to be the animals--including a Cajun crawfish (trip to Louisiana's Cajun Country), several cute cows (a story for another time), and the various birds.  Oh, and my 'soap bubble,'  a blown-glass ornament that I adore. 

English paper piecing...and memories of beekeeping

Fake nut-hatch with real gold-finch nest and shells from house-finch broods

Now, really--isn't this darling?

The soap-bubble--a little yellow from the flash....

Wishing everyone safe travel, joyous gatherings, and restful times.