One of my beautiful nieces...

Enjoying her Christmas tea set... cute!!! <3

I love PBS!...

My sister, Betsy, gave me the Texas Rancho House PBS dvd reality series for Christmas - it was at the top of my wish list. I just finished a marathon session with my two younger daughters watching the ENTIRE series over a two day period (we tried to stretch it out longer... but couldn't wait to watch each episode!)... and we loved, loved, loved it!
I own the other dvds in the PBS "living history" series - Regency House, Manor House, Colonial House, Frontier House, and 1940s House. They're all spectacular. But they also ALL help me, at least momentarily, to stop wishing I was born in another time period and better appreciate all the blessing of living in 2008 (um... I absolutely LOVE indoor plumbing)... Thank you sister for a VERY loved Christmas gift! <3

I just finished knitting this little blanket for my niece -

she turned one-year-old last month and I'm

very, very late in sending her birthday gift...

I found the teddy bear in Lake Arrowhead - so cute!

and the blanket's significance? My Grandma Peg, when

she still had her eyesight, would knit a receiving blanket

for her new grandchildren... she passed away several years

ago, having lived a long, adventurous and wonderful

life into her 90's, and we still miss her terribly -

the blanket is in honor of my grandmother's tradition

and a loving memory to share with my niece <3