Christmas all around

by Nora

December is a month of celebrations at Cherry Frog’s pond, starting with the name day of Little Miss no 2 (name days are celebrated equally to birthdays here, mind you), going on with the birthday of Little Miss no 1, my winter baby <3, and then of course…Christmas and New Year.

It’s such a delight to live these days through the kids’ eyes; they are so utterly enthusiastic about every single tiny thing that has to do with Christmas, be it a new bauble for the Christmas tree, putting string lights to the mantel, setting the table for the family lunch on the 25th, everything. The two whole weeks of school holidays is the cherry on top of the cake of celebrations. In a nutshell, enthusiasm is December’s main feeling at our pond.

Speaking for myself now, I share some part of this; I myself love having the Christmas tree again in our living room, even if I need to rearrange half of the furniture to fit it in ;-). Sitting at the couch in the cold evenings watching the xmas lights flickering from within the leaves of our porch plants makes me happy, plainly deeply happy. And having some free time, more than usually, to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and my crochet is the ideal Santa Claus present

I took some days off work between Christmas and New year’s day and we all flew away to my paradise with a couple of friends invited; Ah, those relaxing days with short walks to the seaside when the sun was out, followed by lunch by the fire, easy peasy stuff like spaghetti and green salads and bread and cheese, crochet and friendly discussions with coffee and wine until late at night, very few house chores, in fact only the absolutely necessary ones in order to be a decent hostess 😉

It was there and then that I’ve finally found the time to finish Little Miss no 2’s blanket, aka the spring rainbow blanket. I’ve started it late last spring, but quit working on it little later, when it has grown longer and… excuse me, but it was too hot to hold it in my lap! The thing is, though, that my girl was anxiously waiting for her own yarnish heaven. You see, she’s the youngest family member and the only one who doesn’t yet own a blanket of her own, absolutely and only hers, to cuddle under it on Friday evenings, when the Frog’s family melts on the couches watching films…

So, it was an absolute must, this wip had to finish. And it did, to the great enthusiasm of little Miss 2; you see? December enthusiasm again.

In the meantime, Sticker, the dog of our friends, took the liberty to enjoy it himself, just a tad before completion!

And I also finished the Last Dance on the Beach blanket, the Scheepjes Cal of 2016 (remember? In loving memory of Marinke), which was a present for my mum. I’ve never found the chance to take a picture of the finished blanket, but I’ll do, I promise. This was a dream of a project to crochet, so warm, this Merino soft yarn was soft and luscious, and so summery, with all the shades of blue and green and all the different square patterns. The only dull part was the joining, as always; it’s never fun, but I try to see it as a break between square making and border time and this thought helps to ease my annoyed self.

Now that these days of relaxing and celebration are over, I find myself missing them on the one hand, but at the same time being a bit comforted by getting into my everyday routine once again, even if the free time for handmade heavens gets scarce once more.

Hope you all had beautiful holidays and a great start to the new year!

Lots of love and a waterlily from Cherry Frog’s pond!