Nativity

I try to limit my Christmas decor purchases to just one or two ornaments each year...but if I see a Nativity ornament or set I like, I have a hard time walking away...  The first Nativity set I bought was at a Kansas craft fair several years ago...I'd been waiting to get one until I found just the right one...the pieces were all hand carved and painted - rather rustic looking but I loved it.  Unfortunately, I left it tucked safely away in CO as it was rather large to haul up to AK, but I recently found a new one...miniature size...

Instead of the traditional shepherds, wisemen, sheep and camels, this Eskimo Joseph, Mary & baby Jesus have a moose, a husky dog, a seal and a polar bear visiting them in their igloo manger... :)

I got this ornament when I first visited Alaska several years ago...

Joseph, Mary & Jesus moose

here are some others...

and here is one other set I have...

courtesy of Etsy - simple wood pieces painted & sanded

this one combines my love of dogs and nativities...although I never thought to put them together until I was emailed this picture...

which got me thinking...Nativities and Cavaliers?  Could there possibly be?  Of COURSE there is....

Etsy link

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from beautiful, snowy Alaska!

A New Visitor

Duncan and Dave have had a new visitor this weekend, and I'm not talking about the 2 girls that are taking care of them while I'm gone...

Thanks to Alanna and Christy for the cool lynx pictures...AND for making sure the boys stayed inside while this new visitor hung out on the deck...to them, it looks like any other cat and those foolish dogs were just barking their heads off at it while it was eyeing them for lunch!

Random Musings

So the total amount of snowfall for Anchorage in November?  32.4 inches!!!  The snowiest November on record is 38.8 inches in 1994 - this year, we were 1 inch shy of breaking the 2nd place record.  Remember when I was bemoaning the fact I had to spend $$ on snow tires?  Worth every penny!!!  :)

Recent winter sunset...

The past couple of days we've been getting RAIN instead of snow...makes for a big mess of slush and ice everywhere...and the wind...reports of hurricane force winds over 100 mph...it certainly sounded like it from the howling going on outside!  Here's the resulting damage from the wind storm...

 grills knocked over

 broken branch on the deck

 and the top of a large evergreen split off and blocked the driveway

 the remainder of the tree minus the top

Thankfully, I had the help of a family friend and his chainsaw and we got the area cleared pretty quickly.  Using a chainsaw is another first for me!  I may just become a frontier woman yet (frontier women used chainsaws, right?!?) :)

I've been playing Christmas music a lot...between my own personal collection and the radio stations on Pandora, I have a large library to listen to...but it doesn't matter HOW many times I hear this song...it makes me cry...Every. Single. Time.

I love seeing the glow of Christmas lights underneath the snow...

I came across the BEST gift card ever...at Walgreens of all places...don't you agree...isn't this the BEST gift card ever??? :)

 And no post would be complete without the gratuitous puppy shot...

naptime

More from Homer

There obviously isn't quite the same amount of activity in Homer during this time of year, and there definitely aren't as many visitors, but there is still plenty of fun to be had...
remember this 'lake' from Sept?  It's where many of the float planes take off and land...

well, this is what it gets used for in the winter months...

an ice skating rink for cars...

 sliding around, spinning in circles

 but thankfully no collisions

I missed out (happily) on all of the 'Black Friday' sales but we took advantage of the many small shops and art galleries around Homer.  There are many artists throughout Alaska, painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelry makers - you name it, they've got it.  This art gallery had some really cool wood carvings...these were two of my favorites...carved out of pine...

This guy greeted us outside another shop...

I stopped at the Homer 'Costco' again to see what Trader Joe's goodies they might have this time...here's some of my loot from this trip...

 I LOVE English toffee...and I thought the packaging was so cute too...couldn't NOT get some!

Peppermint Joe-Joe's...oreo cookies with candy cane peppermint bits in the creamy filling - YUM!

 I like apple butter - and adding cranberry sounded pretty tasty...

THIS almond butter was NOT $11.00 a jar, so maybe I WILL make these brownies again after all...

and finally, some "Glogg"...a warm, spiced drink sounded perfect for upcoming evenings...this is a non-alcoholic version but it will be easy to remedy that... :)

Here are some other shots from around Homer over the weekend...

 more waves...

 sunset

One nice indoor activity for the winter months?  Knitting...something I was able to re-learn over the weekend, thanks to Jeanne!  In the past, I've only made things using the knit stitch, never the purl...but she spent time teaching me that as well and I THINK I've finally got the hang of it...

 this is a basket weave pattern and will hopefully end up as a scarf when all is said and done!  The coloring on the yarn is variegated so will fade from dark to light like you see in the picture...
update...crap, I've gotten stuck b/c I made a mistake and don't know how to fix it...anyone in CO knit who can help when I get there in a few days?!? :)