And the snow lay on the ground

The snow lays thinly, but it does indeed lay. Today is St. Nicholas' Day, which means it's the day we get out our artificial tree (a concession to allergies) and decorate it and the house. My children are the chief decorators, and we have a lovely living room at the moment. A harp really adds a nice touch to a Christmas tree, did you know? Maybe I can find some ribbon to artfully drape over it.

A bug, or bugs, are making their way through the small fry in the family as well. Without going into unnecessary details, it can be said that I stayed home on Sunday with one, and was quite close to staying home with the other tonight. When the latter was told that, were he to stay home, he still could not keep close tabs on the Dayton-Creighton basketball game, he determined to go, and hopefully keep a low profile.

I have been knitting, of course, but have no photos because I am still doing Stealth Knitting. If all goes well, I can reasonably complete my projects in time to wrap them. I'm not so sure about blocking, but the wrapping part should be ... dare I say... a wrap.

One of the reasons Christmas is a special time of the year - beyond the very obvious fact that we celebrate Christ's birth, and where would I be without Christ? - is that I hear and read about some very nifty things. From the e-mails of one person, in particular, have some gems of presents come this year and last year. (Yes, this year. It's a rule that if I get something for myself, I don't have to wait for Christmas to open it.) Last year was Adagio Teas and this year it's Pendemonium. I've also learned there are several other tea vendors that ladies on my homeschool list frequent, and SpecialTea's Mocha Spice is loudly calling my name (to no avail, thus far), but last Christmas, it was Adagio Tea that I got a teapot and some yummy teas from. This year, I ordered a fountain pen from Pendemonium, and have been having a wonderful time with it. Me, with my left handed hook, can use a fountain pen without scratching, smudging, or other terrible scriptatorial events. I am looking forward to using up the ink cartridges I ordered with the pen, and trying some other colors. I am also enjoying writing ... and to that end, addressed, by hand, all our Christmas cards. I'm also hunting for things to write in my commonplace book, just for the delight of using the pen. I did draw the line at recopying an entire section of Waverly's third chapter, however.

I've never read Waverly before, but I got brave a few years back and read Ivanhoe. Much to my surprise, it was a readable novel. Waverly has been sitting on my shelf, and I decided it would be good fodder to read while sitting next to a sick child. I'm not that far into it, but chapter 3 intrigued me. So did the General Introduction, followed by the Introduction, followed by another Introduction, followed by the Preface to the Third Edition, followed by Chapter I - Introductory. (Actually, that part just tickled my fancy. Chapter 3 was the intriguing part.) It's a bit too long to append here, but if you'd like to read some comments on education in 1805, follow the link. The second paragraph is the portion at risk of finding its way into my commonplace book.

I also found a "Which character in Princess Bride are You?" quiz, which delighted myself and my son. My daughter was not entirely pleased to be Westley, and my dear husband did not show any emotion upon hearing himself pronounced Buttercup.

On the other hand, I think Valerie suits me perfectly. She probably had some knitting needles back there in a corner of the shop.