For weeks now I have tetter-tottered back and forth regarding my employment and finally made the decision to retire. The monastery in which I have worked for 18 years is closing and moving their offices. It was a good time to make the change. My plans are to spend more time with my DH who has been retired for ten years already (and of course find more time for stitching and quilting). The decision was not an easy one in our difficult economy. We will just be a little more frugal. Having committed to my choice, I have been working every day long hours to clean out closets, files, drawers, shred papers, recycle and “when in doubt…throw it out.” I will miss most of my working companions (some perhaps not so much–smile) and the routine. But thinking about sleeping in and being occasionally lazy sure sounds wonderful to me at this point.
I must now get busy and decorate my home for the holidays and finish my Christmas shopping. With the changes in my life regarding working, I’ve had a bit of a difficult time in getting into the Christmas “spirit”….but I LOVE the holidays and know it will be wonderful. My son and DIL will be coming in from Boulder, Colorado, and all the family will be together.
So……Merry Christmas to all…may the Holiday Spirit fill you with joy and peace for always. Joyeux Noel, Averyclaire
I know that Christmas is done and so is the new year holiday…but before I put away the Christmas decorations this week, I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorites this year.
Another of my favorite ornaments is one my friend, Maggy (who lives in France), sent me last year…a wooden ornament from Strausborg. She sent me a couple of them. Her daughter lives there and she got them when they visited during the Christmas market time. The ornaments are so delicate and lovely and looked beautiful on my tree. 
Here is another update of the latest needlework I began over the holidays. [For some reason the beautiful rose colored fabric never looks quite nice in the photos.] Not much progress…but a little each day. I am having trouble doing such close work. I guess I need new glasses, or some kind of magnifying thing. I have one, but it seems cumbersome to use. I will have to look for a new one. Anyhow, I am enjoying the cross-stich and I know my SIL will love it.
In the needlearts department . . . over the holidays I began working on a surprise for my sister-in-law. My DH’s mother, Violet, died last spring after a brief bout with uterine/cervical cancer. She lived a long, full life and passed away at the age of 87. Last month my friend, Marjorie, gave me some old magazines. In one of them I found a cross-stitch pattern of Violets done on a lovely English Rose Jobelan. My SIL is having a hard time with the passing of her MOM (as we all are), but I thought this saying would be a nice remembrance for her. The stitching will say “The Violet, a lady with a charm, grace, and beauty all her own. I will show my progress as I complete it. Here’s the first photo.
Averyclaire 