I made this guy three years ago. (You can read about it on this blog post. It’s a free pattern from Deliah Iris designs.)

Athena, my odd cat, loves wool. I can not leave my wool pressing mats lay out–she shreds them with claws and teeth. If I had wool clothes in my closet she would probably be hanging off of them. (But I don’t–I live in Florida–who wears wool?) My handmade wool felt creatures are quite often her victims. I usually keep them tucked away in a drawer because of her obsession but the pretty turkey was on display and dismantled by the kitten last year. Wings here, tail feathers there. I found all the parts except the wings which were MIA and stitched it back together. Occasionally she walks through the room with a wing in her mouth. She likes to keep it on her dinner dish. (I put the tail on backwards so all the pretty colors are on the back but not worth fixing since she is just going to take off with it anyhow)

Anyhow…

It seems, according to Instagram, I’m the only person in the country that is not decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween. But I’m holding out. It’s just too EARLY!

Besides, I really like my Fall decor and all of the autumnal colors of yellows, browns, and oranges. I hate to take it down and wait another 10 months to put it back up.

The day after Thanksgiving will be the official beginning of the Christmas holiday for me!

While I’m not decorating for Christmas until tomorrow, I do have about five Christmas projects going on simultaneously. Why so many? While I usually start a project and stick with it until it’s finished, I am waiting for supplies to arrive. The items are slowly trickling in and I have plenty of time before Christmas so no panic yet!

One last subject.

I don’t usually write much about being thankful. But I am.

Thankful for my family—husband, children, children-in-laws, grandchildren, extended families…..friends that are like family….my cat..my home.

Thankful for our health.

Thankful for being able to give back to my community through the Homosassa Civic Club and the Old Homosassa Learning Center. Terry and I have been directing the non-profits since 2015–shortly after Terry retired from his real job. The civic club grew from about a dozen to over 200 members. And now we are retiring. We will still be members and assisting but no longer in charge. We believe that the new board will grow the club even more and will do even more good for our community.

Our home for the last 20 years is on the market. We love it and it was our “Perfect” for most of those years. But as we have gotten older, the realization is that it is no longer our perfect. Time to move on. Time for someone else to appreciate the Nature Coast and the beauty right out the back door.

Looking forward to our new direction.

Thankful that we adjust easily to change, because it’s coming!