while we swing around the Sun towards lengthening daylight
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~ seasonal song ~
TIL that there is two degrees of separation between our plucky heroine and Cat Farber! The musician was one of the founding members of the Caer Lutris SCA household (along with three of my good friends) though she had left before I ever joined ...
~ seasonal song ~
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Finished all of line 5 on the resipei embroidery and begun line 6. There was a lot of time on zoom today, and embroidery is perfect handwork. Eventually this portion will be done and I will start on the other half: lines 1 - 4, and the ingredient list
Tomorrow I'll be back at working on the final two drawings for the 2026 calendar, and will check in at the copy store to find out what my printing options are; my timing was off yesterday, and I arrived after they were closed. I'm hoping for some resume weight stock in a warm Kraft paper color, or barring that, light cardstock. We shall see...
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"The Shortest Day", with the venerable words by Susan Cooper (first written for Christmas Revels in 1974) and with gorgeous illustrations by Carson Ellis, is my very favorite picture book...
"So the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow‐white world Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us ‐ listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!"
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow‐white world Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us ‐ listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!"
~ Susan Cooper
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Young friends coming to visit in person is a wonderful treat. That they had made gifts for me (and for all the tiny folk who live here) was extraordinary, and made this longtime birthday feel very special indeed. They made a miniature lighted tree, and a tiny rosebud brooch, a fancy apron for Almandine, a soft dog bed for Sequoia (though he also claimed the sparkly tiara) a palette of paints and an assortment of paint brushes no longer than ½", a garland of glittery origami stars almost taller than I am, a hand embroidered "Sign of Iron" from The Dark Is Rising, and a terrarium ornament with a mushroom cap lid. How I am worthy of all this generosity I don't know, but will accept with as much grace as I can.
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December SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | 2 pairs underwear | vegetable steamer legs | fridge science experiments |
| 2 | knitted shrew | shrew eyes | yard waste bin |
| 3 | 1 pair undies | Gamma bucket lid | recycle bin |
| 4 | 2 alphabeast drawings | one page of the embroidery transfer | recycle bin |
| 5 | - | daypack mended | recycle bin |
| 6 | x | cleaned keyboard | x |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
- the younger Olympia friends, who brightened my birthday with an in-person visit and many many handmade gifts
- phone calls from family far away
- leftovers for dinner that were very tasty and meant I could spend my time being social and not cooking dinner
Time of Isolation - Day 2003
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