Sorry for the silence, dear readers, it's been a loopy couple of weeks.
Rather than go into everything else, I wanted to post some photos of the gifts I received during our belated Christmas gift exchange. If you recall, we were hoping Younger Daughter would make it home for a late Christmas, but she had to report straight to her stateside naval base for some training. She's planning on coming to see us in May.
So, in her absence, we finally exchanged our gifts. Here are my favorites.
Don knows I admire Jackie Clay, homesteader extraordinaire, so he obtained one of her books...
...signed by her! I was thrilled. (It's an excellent book. Highly recommended.)
Earlier, Older Daughter had asked me to keep track of all the books I read over the course of 2022, then provide her with a list. From this, she made the most clever craft imaginable: an ornament with the books "miniaturized" down.
It's entrancing, seriously so. The "book" part is folded-up bits of paper, with color copies of the front cover on both the front and back sides of each book.
Honestly, it's riveting to turn the ornament around like a kaleidoscope.
I liked it so well I hung it at eye level by my computer.
Younger Daughter sent a box of gifts for us, some of which were purchased in Japan. My special gift, however, was an oil painting of her parrot Lihn.
It's beautifully executed in oils on wood, rendered from a photograph I sent her of Lihn taking a bath in a bowl of water.
She admitted it was cheeky to send me a painting of HER bird that I'M taking care of while she's in the Navy, but it's just a beautiful painting.
And those, dear readers, are a few of my favorite things.
