Nightmare After Christmas

Of course Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” is my favourite holiday movie, along with the original Grinch and the Alastair Sim version of Scrooge. We got a new copy of Nightmare too, in DVD since our last version was VHS (and who knows how long the player will last?). The disc was a used bargain at $5. I’m a very happy damselfly.

On Christmas Eve we went for a walk in the sunshine around the neighbourhood while carefully avoiding the shops. Then I made butter tarts and shortbread while singing snippets from the movie:

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see
Lock him in a cage and then, throw away the key!

Much more fun than the “real” carols, IMHO. Yes, I’m perverse like that. Don’t judge me.

We lazed around in bed on Christmas morning, not having any little ones around to get us moving. I was served breakfast in bed (again! I’m so spoiled) and finally dragged my sorry behind up while his was still firmly planted in the bed. Eventually we headed for our son and DIL’s (The Ninja & The White Lady) for the Big Turkey dinner.

Unfortunately they were not feeling well at all, just coming down with a bug. Especially poor WL, who was really toast. Just what you need when you’ve invited 20 or so of your rellies to dinner, huh? And you can’t cancel because there’s a honking huge turkey and fixin’s that need to be cooked and eaten. So the guests pitched in – particularly my little French-Canadian sis-in-law who is a gem and a jewel – plus The Ninja managed to marshal his resources and a good time was had by all. Or most – The White Lady was definitely looking a bit peaky by the time we left. In spite of everything the food was fabulously yummy! The stuffing had sausage in it and was really good. Plus salads, smashed spuds, roasted root veggies, peas and lots more. I even ate the Brussels sprouts, smothered in cheesy goodness. Of course I made the gravy, that being my “speciality” (as Wallace would say).

The little cousins (5 in total) all got well-spoiled with gifts. I’m surprised that anyone knew which toy went with whom after the blizzard of ripped paper was over! Luckily though the kids had it all figured out which loot was theirs. And I got my fill of baby-jiggling while we were playing musical chairs with the littlest cousin. Hopefully he will get some play time out of the present that I made for him:

Dodecahedron Toy

For: Baby Great-Nephew (4-months-old)

Begun: December 21, 2009

Completed: December 23, 2009

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, 75% superwash wool/25% polyamide, colour 4255, 210 m = 50g. Took less than one ball (leftovers from Milady’s Gloves).

Hook: Clover SoftTouch 3.5mm (E)

Pattern: Celestine Crochet, free pattern from Berroco

Modifications: I worked the rounds without a ch-1 step-up, just going in a spiral.

Comments: The shape is a little wonky due to the fact that my tension got tighter after the first point and also that I can’t count! I think maybe only one point has no errors in it. I got very good at fudging the numbers so they came out right at the end anyway. The very last point was difficult to crochet, especially in the beginning few rounds. If I was to do it again, I wouldn’t stuff until about round 3 just to give myself something to work with.

I stuffed it with fiberfill and included a film canister with a few little rocks in it for sound, wrapping the canister well with fiberfill and yarn to cushion it before placing it inside. It rattles quite loudly! Hope it doesn’t drive his parents nuts.

So what was the Nightmare After Christmas? Trying to get home! A journey that took us less than a half-hour on the way out took over 2 hours to get back again. We didn’t get to bed until nearly midnight. There was an accident on the freeway that slowed traffic to a crawl. Once we got past the next exit, the one where the radio news had been telling everyone to take and was now seriously blocked up by folks trying to avoid the first problem, we sailed the rest of the way. Our exit was before the reported accident which was probably cleared by then anyway. Sheesh! At least there was some nice 17th century Baroque Christmas music to listen to on CBC radio so I didn’t fall asleep in the car. T-Man’s clutch-foot got tired though – the disadvantage of the standard transmission in our MINI-Cooper. It was nice that it has heated seats. It was frosty out there.

Hope everyone had a Very-Merry and a Happy-Happy! Wishing you all Peace On Earth. It can’t hurt, eh?