CHRISTMAS SURPRISE

I was sitting here in the office this morning looking at other blogs and looked up and my friend and network consultant Eric was standing in the doorway holding the most beautifully wrapped gift.  He said he got saw it in downtown St Augustine and thought of me - WOW - I was so impressed with his thoughtfulness - he said he thought I needed a special gift and not the obligatory chocolate basket (nothing wrong with that either!)

I couldn't wait to open the box and see what was inside - I was so impressed with the elegant gift of a reproduction pen set with a little tray and 2 ink wells and this gorgeous hand blown stylus.  I thought the card even went so well with the gift and the blue and white transferware pattern is so ENGLISH.

Here is a photo of our tree at the office - I can see it from my desk in the library.  It is at the opposite end of the house in the formal parlor which is our conference room.  You can see the size of the tree by looking at the grandfather clock next to it.  It is so beautiful and I have enjoyed it so much.  The owners of the company I work for are such lovely people.  Their youngest son who is my direct boss did most of the decorating - putting up white lights on the palms outside and greenery over the doorway and up the staircase.  What a wonderful place to work and such a great family to work for.  I am so blessed.

I am leaving work early today - DF Karen is stopping by on her way to visit her mom and sister in NC.  It will be nice to have a guest at christmas time if only for one night - we are going to have dinner and start stitching or knitting.  I plan to get her advice on that Maggie Bonanomi Winter White bed cover I want to do and how to approach that project since I am not a quilter - I need some coaching.

Wish I had some needlework photos to show you but I have not been stitching much at all - I did have a new start for christmas - I needed something bright and sparkly and I have had Poinsettias and Pines stashed for 2 years - I ordered some of that lovely sparkly linen from Sugar and Spice in Australia but had misplaced it in the move last summer.  Upon finding it recently - I thought it was a message from the christmas angels that is was OK to start something bright and sparkly this season.  I doubt I will get much done but since it is not necessarily a "christmas" piece but a "winter" piece - I will continue on it for the next couple of winter months. I'll show a photo when I have more to show.  I gave my mom a little stitchy gift for christmas and wanted her to have it now - she only stitches on Aida these days but I wanted something special for the Prairie Schooler Christmas Eve chart so I ordered PTP Crystal Mystic and also glacier - She loved them both but chose the sparkly piece to start stitching on.  So we'll have a good time over the holiday stitching on our bright and sparkly pieces.

I'm knitting a neat scarf for Jody and it's coming along - I'm into the 2nd skein of 3 so I guess I'm about 1/2 finished - I won't have it done for christmas but our coldest weather is yet to come.  So I'll keep at it and soon he'll have it to wear.

I've done all the shopping I intend to do - we decided to go very small this year - only 2 gifts each - of course that doesn't apply to my mom who never adhers to my rules LOL - However I do think she did pare back this year - I sure hope so.

In case I don't make it back to blog land to post again before Christmas - I hope every one finds peace and joy and many happy stitches.  I appreciate and look forward to hearing from each of you with your comments.  I feel like I have met so many wonderful and talented people thru blogging - you are all so special to me -