Friday's Hunt v. 4.22

I'm rather late in getting around to Friday's Hunt blog - it has been a busy weekend.  Just scraping in under the wire with my entries for Eden Hills' prompts!

Starts with V
We have two rats that we adopted from one of Marc's coworkers (her cat was scaring them so she was looking for a home where they would not be so frightened).  One rat is named Violet and the other is named Ivy, so they both have a V in their names, but only one starts with V.  We think they are lovely pets - easy to care for and easy to love.  They are fun to watch - although they are mostly nocturnal so we don't get to see them at their most active times.  Here is Violet yawning!

Our indoor cat, Mitten, does not even pay the slightest bit of attention to them.  Here is Violet again, after having a bath.

Festive
We actually put up and decorated a Yule tree yesterday!  We don't put one up every year.  In fact, I think I've only had a tree up once in the past 5 or so years.  However, we are now well settled in our home and it seemed like a good year to try to find the right spot for a tree.  It is an artificial tree because we are both very busy and remembering to water a tree is another thing on the list that neither of us really needs.  However, it is a nice quality tree and we had fun putting it up.

Marc carried the tree upstairs.

I added a festive bow to our house mouse's tail.

We assembled the tree and Pippin came to check it out.  He did an audit and determined all the lights were working properly.

A couple of hours later, it was all decorated.  I'm not much of a tinsel person.  I like handmade ornaments the most.

It looked pretty with the room lights off, too.  Here you can also see a festive wall decoration from Marc's childhood on the rear wall.

We listened to a CD of Harry Connick Jr., and then a vinyl LP of Bing Crosby, both singing holiday tunes.  It was definitely festive.  It's nice to celebrate the winter holidays even though we are not at all religious. 

Wood
Several of the ornaments that I put on the Yule tree yesterday are made from wood.  Most of the ornaments on the tree have a story or a history to me.

This lovely wood heart ornament came from Winston-Salem in North Carolina.  It was purchased on my last vacation, which I looked up today, and realized was in 2008.  That means it will be 10 years since I have been on a vacation, with the exception of a few long weekends or our short honeymoon, which was 3 nights in Quebec City. Oh, and one night away this year on PEI.  I think I am in need of a real vacation soon.

There are two wooden bear ornaments on the tree.  Marc is especially fond of bears.

This ornament is actually made from wood shavings.  I am sure it is from Europe but I don't remember where - my parents bought these long ago and I have this one from their collection.

This little camel ornament is actually made from olive wood, and I think it might have come from Bethlehem from somebody who visited there.  I'm very fond of camelids, so it's nice to have this one on the tree.

I'm hoping to do a few more blog posts about other ornaments on the tree in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned!

Tree Ornaments

It was great to spend time with my parents, decorating their Christmas tree.  Our family tree has many ornaments on it, a large majority of which are handmade.  Some also come from trips that have been taken to various places, with the ornament having been purchased as a memory of that trip.  It is wonderful to get the ornaments out each year and remember their stories.  I thought I would share some of the ornaments (especially sheep themed ones!) for a post to share with the All Seasons meme hosted by Jesh in California.  Lots of pictures here, so sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy!

Here's a little cross-stitched ornament I made many years ago as part of a set of 4 farm-themed stockings.  There's a sheep, a chicken, a bird feeder, and a pig.  They're cute little ornaments that fit our mostly-handmade theme.  You can see a handmade straw ornament from Europe in this picture to the lower left.

Here's a little alpaca ornament that I love - so fluffy!  I crocheted the star on the right, and my mom needle-felted the owl on the left.  We do love fibre arts!

Here's another little woolly sheep with a scarf to keep her warm.

This sheep is one of a set of 3 ceramic ornaments - a sheep, a cow and a pig.  They are quite heavy so this one needs to go on a sturdy branch.  To the right, you'll see a wee nativity scene that is a very old wooden ornament, and in the background there's a wooden bird that I bought on a visit to Prague.

Here's a pear that I knitted for the tree (yes, there's a partridge, keep scrolling!) and next to it is a little felted hen sitting in a golden walnut shell nest.  My mom made a set of those cute hen ornaments!

Here's the partridge - but he's crocheted, not knitted.

This lovely woolly sheep is a Nova Scotian artist's ornament - such a neat design.  Behind it is a felt snowman couple that was made for me when I was a little child by my next door neighbor's grandmother.  She made several lovely ornaments for me then.  I think that was about 40 years ago.  There's also a star made from wood shavings under the sheep.

This is a silk hand-painted parrot ornament - very tropical!

Here's another sweet little hen on her walnut shell nest!  My mom does a great job on her needle-felted ornaments.

I don't recall where this ornament came from but it is so cute!  It's a little mouse and she's sitting inside a thimble, which you can't see in this picture.   Very detailed work, but so effective!

This is one of my mother's favourites - it's a little wooden tree with cut-out gingerbread men hanging on it.  We haven't seen any like this again - quite unusual.

 Yet another woolly felted sheep!

This little dog on a cushion is an ornament I made in my teens.  I made ornaments to sell one year, and this was one of the designs.  They sold really well!  We still have a couple of these on the tree.

Here's a traditional Christmas pudding that I crocheted.

Here's a sweet little felt mouse in a stocking, handmade and embroidered by my mom.  It's one of my favourite ornaments, too!

This owl was also made by my childhood friend's grandmother.  A simple but cute design!

My parents have a Welsh Terrier, Bella.  She's their third Welshie, and here's an ornament depicting a Welsh Terrier made out of felt.  You can also see a couple of ceramic mouse ornaments from an artist I like who has ornaments made of some of her paintings.

This pair of mice are also hand-made from felt by my mother, and she gave them very snazzy outfits for the holidays!

This mouse is another cute ornament, although I don't remember where it came from.  He's wearing a sweet little chef's hat and carrying a candy cane.

I hope you've enjoyed this little tree "tour" around some of my favourite ornaments, and maybe even have some ideas of some ornaments to make for yourself!