Fitting

Nice that the 2014 Boot Shoot ends with these snakeskins:

These are the boots I wore on the weekend I met Scott Wilson

and

saw Hugh Laurie in concert.

Good boots.

They Started It

All the Christmas decorations are boxed up, and most of them have been put back into the closet in Hannah's room.  Two big bins wait in the hall.

As I dug further into the box of letters and cards I mentioned yesterday, I discovered loads of letters from high school friends.  The very nice thing is that I'm still in touch with several of them, including, of course, Shari.

1978

2014

These are the boots I wore to Ms. Tamale's Thanksgiving get-together.  The ones that got her to say, "Why don't you put one picture of your boots up every day?"

Do you think she knew I"d have over a month's worth to show?

How about you?  Do you think we'll get to 40?

Feelings: Spectrum

All our Christmas decorations are kept in the closet of Hannah's bedroom.  As I bring down the boxes and bins to pack all the bits and bobs for next year, I'm trying to clean up other things in the closet.  Today, I found a box full of cards for every occasion, and going back as far as I-don't-know-because-I'm-not-at-the-bottom-of-the-box-yet.  The first one I looked at was the card Dale gave me for his last Christmas.  Needless to say, crying ensued.

We all knew that was going to be his last, but we tried so hard to treat it like a normal one.  (Briton was 9, Hannah 5, at the time.)  We gave him gifts we knew he wouldn't have time to use. I only took pictures of the children and my parents that day;  he didn't want any of him because he looked skeletal.  Just like everything else in life, holidays come around whether you're ready for them, or feel like celebrating them.

Well.

Today's boots are among my very favorite.  I wear them a lot.

Finn would not move off the couch.

I love the stitching on these,

even on the heels:

As you can see, Finn still hadn't moved.

They even match my new socks.

Ouch

Shari asked for stories about the boots.  The truth is, very few of them have stories beyond, "Man, those are great-looking boots!"

These have a little one.  Hannah, Briton and I went to Mall of Georgia for some shopping, and I was wearing them.

We didn't even get halfway around the top floor before I realized they were not going to be amenable to much walking.  So, I headed into the nearest store with shoes and bought myself some purple Converse to wear the rest of the day.

To this day, they're the only pair of boots I own that are only worn for "show," not "function."

No. Really.

I've been watching college bowl games today, so it's fitting to show my other Vanderbilt boots today.

 

The feather ornament between them is one of a set of seven: different sizes and shapes of feathers enclosed in glass.  I saw the set in a random catalog, and had to have it.

By the way, I heard from the friend who put this whole boothing in motion.  She said she thought I'd have "maybe 9 or 10" pair.  She can't believe it might be three times that many.

For a while now, I've had one sock on the needles.  I just couldn't get to it.  Until today:

For some reason, the baby blue in the yarn isn't showing up in the photo.  It's there, I promise.

Twenty-Sixth

It's been very quiet around here today.  Even the animals seem to be trying to catch up on sleep:

Eel skin today.  Either the skin for the boots came from different eels, or the dye lots were not the same.  There is a color difference here.

Do any of you use a WPI tool?  Is it helpful enough to justify my getting one?

Christmas

Hope you don't mind my recycling a Facebook photo for today's boots.  I didn't get around to taking a new one today.

Yes.

This is my favorite day of any year.  And today's boots are Christmas Eve traditions:

My boots and Daddy's boots.

He wore them to work on Christmas Eve,

and I've had to pull those shiny, slippery suckers off his feet many a time --- his feet would be swollen by the time the store closed.

I got my red boots because Daddy had a pair, and I don't wear mine much, either.

I do always wear them on Christmas Eve, when Hannah, Briton and I visit the living Nativity scene.

Merry Christmas, everybody.  Enjoy your traditions.

Eve Eve

My donations-to-charities-instead-of-sending-Christmas-cards came to an end yesterday, with a donation to Heifer International.  Thank all of you who have helped me through this year, and know that you are now helping others.

I still haven't come across those boxes of cards.

My son came by last night to pick up some wrapping paper, and, after he left, I realized that was the only roll of paper I had.  (Cue Hugh's facepalm again.)  So this morning, I slipped into CVS and bought more.  My mother taught me the advantage of drug stores at Christmas.  No one goes to them much, and they have tons of other-types-of-stores stuff.  If there's one near you and not at the end of a heavy traffic route, you are good to go.  And now, I am in the house until we go to the live Nativity tomorrow night.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'll be throwing a little extra into the Boot Shoot.  I got some nice compliments on yesterday's;  that pair really is stunning in person, and absolutely nothing like any other pair I own.

An older pair today, framing our lovely Madeleine:

No skirt or gifts under the tree yet, as all the pets like to investigate the property.  Wrapping paper gets torn, the skirt gets mussed, hairballs are expelled. . .  It'll all be pretty tomorrow night.

Hold Firm

One last therapy session today, before the holidays.  My therapist has two little ones, and deserves every minute she can spend with them.  Not surprisingly, we talked about my "little" ones and how Christmases are changing as their lives do.

I told her that in 2015, I'm going to try and grab hold of myself.  Get back to my basic, intrinsic identity, work on being kind to and accepting of myself.  Hard, hard things as I turn 55.  One thing that will help is that I no longer have a monthly mortgage payment.  Yep, this house is mine.  Three years ahead of the mortgage company's schedule.

But, what to do with my hard-gotten gain?  I won't lie --- I'll be spending money on this regularly.  The taste of this fudge is beyond the ability of mere words to describe.  Far beyond.

Today's boots are a new-ish pair.  I really, really like the black cherry color and all the embroidery work.

This, of course, is pair #22.  I'm beginning to feel quite embarrassed.  I know there are still a lot to go. . .

Looks Like It

Cold and gray outside today, which makes it feel like Christmas.  Since we so very rarely have snow for it, weather that looks/feels like maybe it might snow is what makes the season.  Even a sunny Christmas doesn't seem "right," unless the sun is shining on some snow.

Wrapping has commenced.  It's always been my habit to wrap a few gifts each day so that the amount of presents under the tree changes noticeably day to day.

My crafting readers will appreciate what happened yesterday.  Hannah asked if I could pick her up from work, as she needed to pick something up here.  Her housemate, it turns out, asked Hannah if she could teach her to knit, so she could make scarves for her boyfriend and his family.  She asked Hannah on Friday.  Now, Hannah has grown up watching the time knitting takes --- she knits herself!  But here she was, a steadfast friend, going through my yarn to find some that would work.  Everyone's intentions here are good, but, come on.

Today's boots, to me, have clean, elegant lines:

Let's not kid ourselves, though --- we all know what sold them was the purple underlay.

Forty-to-Fifty Words

Early this morning, Finn manifested the prevailing mood of the day:

Maddie had to think it over a little,

but gave in to the stretch:

Me, I just had boot pictures to take:

These couldn't be any more Texas high school baton twirler if they tried.

Today

It has been a day of knitting what I wanted, at my own pace.  And making a pot of turkey chili.  And wrapping a few presents. And doing some random crafting:

The only thing that I didn't get around to was taking a nap.  Early to bed tonight, I suppose.

There is a WalMart one mile from us, and a brand new shopping center about half a mile from it, with stores in between.  Traffic outside our house has been at a dead stop several times today.  Tomorrow --- oy.  The Saturday before Christmas is hellish out there.  I'm so glad I can stay in.

I bought these boots because they remind me of my best friend, Lisa.  Daffodils are her favorite flowers.  These are a little more buttery yellow than the cream tint the picture shows.  And, yes, that's a Yoda next to them.

Pop Quiz

Remember the green boot cuffs I blogged about a while ago?  I made them with a yarn so soft and lovely to work with?  Well, there was quite a bit left over after the cuffs, so I made myself a cowl:

It's just remarkable yarn. Neighborhood Fiber Company is in my bookmarks now.

How much gift-wrapping have you done?  I did a wee little bit today: something for Hannah, for her housemate, and for Briton's girlfriend.  Perhaps I'll be spurred on to do some more tomorrow.

What TV show(s) are you binge-watching lately?  I'm all about "Hack" and re-watching Season One of "Ripper Street."  Both can get tense, so there's a good deal of this going on:

Even Finn goes on Alert:

Do you realize this is the 18th day of the Boot Shoot, and we're a long way from being done?

Should I be embarrassed, or proud?

Family

At first glance, these probably look like ordinary, beautiful-chocolate-brown cowboy boots,

and, in large part, they are.  But what I was unable to capture with the camera is that the shafts of these are cushiony/padded/quilt-y-like.  I hadn't ever seen a pair like that before, and I haven't since.

Therapy today, then late lunch with Hannah at this tiny little place we've been aching to go to, but they have sort of weird hours.  It was excellent.  I had a smoked trout salad sandwich --- the bread alone was fabulous.

Then, she wanted to go "thrifting," so we drove to a Goodwill store and had ourselves a grand time.  I'd been looking all over for a plain white turtleneck, and, as soon as we got into the store, I found one in my size.

I also found this:

I buy a new Nativity scene each year, but hadn't found one to my liking yet this year.  I'm not quite sure why the animals have eyes and the Holy Family doesn't.  Whenever there is an animal other than a sheep or a cow or a donkey in a Nativity, it is our family custom to say, "Did you know there was a *name the animal* present at the birth of Jesus?"  

Because. . .

Inspired or Insane?

For no reason AT all, the idea for a 12-month swap has come into my head.  Different theme each month (yes, I already know what they'll be), people in or out as they can, or are interested.  Could that work, you think?  Announce the theme on the 1st, have packages out by, say, the 21st.  Just a random thought.  One does a lot of random thinking when one is forced to be immobile with ice on one's head for 4 bloody days with a headache.

Sometimes, I don't know which is worse: the Headaches or the Depression.  The Depression sure makes you think less pretty things than knitting swaps when you have a Headache;  that's for certain.  And both have shelved gift wrapping for today.

For the longest time, Daughter wanted to go to Japan to teach English.  Our lives became somewhat overrun with things Japanese: bento boxes, woodblock prints, tea ceremonies, cherry blossoms.

Yep.  Pink metallic boots with embroidered cherry blossoms.  You can find just about anything if you look long enough.