Happy Hogmanay!

Say what? That’s the Scots New Year greeting and what my Irish-Canadian dad used to say to my Scots-born mom on New Year’s Eve just to tease her. The accent is on the last syllable. Just like most places in the world, in Scotland they have the usual drunken midnight revelry but there were some unusual old traditions like First-Foot, the first foot to step over the doorsill after midnight bringing good luck. A strong dark-haired man bearing gifts is preferred! (The one to come up with that must have been female, eh?) Other traditions are fire-ball swinging (like a fire-dance) and a bonfire, both of which are obviously from the ancient midwinter/solstice celebrations. Of course, we’re well past Hogmanay and into Ne’erday now. (That’s New Year’s Day in Scots dialect.) No, I’m not making this up!

Well, I’m pretty tired today after sleeping over to babysit the Sprout. She was just fine (slept like a log actually) but it was sure noisy last night with all the parties and firecrackers and horns and all. Plus we stayed up too late watching the Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (again) and didn’t get to bed until after 11 — which is a full two hours after our usual sedate bedtime. It’s always harder to sleep somewhere else besides your own bed anyway: it’s too hot, too hard, too…different. So I’m ready for bed even though it’s only mid-afternoon.

Sprout’s parents are even more ready for an early night I bet. They didn’t get in until 3:30am! But they had a great time so it was worth it. Unfortunately their daughter was really grumpy with them this morning for leaving her with us. Amazing how a one-year-old who can’t talk yet (beyond a couple of proto-words) can express her disappointment and dismay at being “abandoned” — even though we had a perfectly fun time with her and she went to bed as good as gold for me. Even this morning she was fine all through breakfast, until her mom woke up and came down for her breakfast. It was an interesting insight into a toddler’s mind. First she got clingy-mommy then it switched to clingy-daddy. She wouldn’t even respond to me or her grandpa except to cry. Hopefully she got over it after we left. Her parents looked like they could use a nap along with her!

The T-Man had this week off and he spent most of it relaxing (apart from fetching and assembling my Billy bookshelves). However there was a modicum of cleaning that went on in his wood studio (I hear the vacuum) and he decided to play with his glass for awhile. Here’s the results:


For size, the big striped one in the upper right-hand corner is about 2cms long. I really like the green swirly ones. That’s a new technique he just tried, including the Christmas tree bead. The glass rod used there is called filigrana. It has a solid coloured core with a clear coating. The effect is really interesting, kind of like coloured smoke under water. (Yeah, I know that probably doesn’t make sense but meditate on it.) He’s still practicing his clear encasing technique too, which seems to be rather difficult. I don’t know — I stay away from hobbies that include hot melting glass and roaring flames! I have no idea what I’ll do with these beads but for now they’re going in their bead box. You can just see the stack of bead boxes on top of the yellow and orange drawers in one of the photos from yesterday. That brightly-painted drawer system, which comes up to my shoulder, holds the majority of the Damselfly Bead Stash. And as you can see from the boxes on top, there’s some overflow. At least it takes up less room than some of the other stashes around here but it definitely cost more per volume.

So what’s up next on my to-do list? In the midst of my cleaning frenzy, I’ve compiled a list of the most obvious of the UFOs. It’s only 30! (Somehow I thought there'd be more. Or maybe they're just hiding out.) Some just need a quick finishing and some need more work. I usually came to a screeching halt when something was not quite working. A few things need to be recycled into their component parts. There’s a whole box of handspun handknits that could be frogged and re-used. They don’t fit or they are so old they’re completely out of style. If worse comes to worst, they can always be fulled and then cut up and sewn. Nobody would appreciate my handspun at the thrift store and I’m not chucking it out! It can become something new instead.

One last comment for today — good news. Tomorrow I start work! Yes, it’s only a week's temporary job, helping with the inventory at Birkeland Bros. Wool. But since I actually have some inventory experience from many years ago (at Circle Craft), I offered to help out. I may regret this, but I hope I have fun instead. Though if I’m not careful, I may get paid in merchandise instead of money! Having that much luscious stuff pass under my nose will be a serious temptation. One for you; one for me; one for you; two for me...