It's Sunday morning and there is still a bit of peace lying about. Pk has gone down into the workshop to make noise and sawdust, the girls are still sleeping. I am showered and dressed and soon will go and make breakfast. We need to fortify ourselves because today is the day that Christmas comes out to play at our house.

But, before all of that. I want to share a little bit of my yesterday. As I told you Pk, Kate and El went to the National Air and Space Museum. There they are. Aren't they cute? I met them at a local chinese restaurant for dinner (that way no one has to clean up) and they talked about their day. I think the thing I heard the most often was "what a great day!". They saw lots of air ships but unfortunately you are not allowed to touch. This is always my problem in museums. I like to touch and they don't like it. But, even keeping their hands to themselves, they had a good day.

And I? Well, I went out to run some errands and picked up the yarn to make these. This is about half of my first thrummed mitten. (there's that word again, thrumm, thrumm, thrumm). I bought some Patons Chunky Shetland in charcoal. It has beige bits in it and I used beige alpaca hair for the thrumms. They are not as neat and well defined as some I've seen. The alpaca is very soft and bits of it get everywhere and end up knitted into the regular stitches. Here's what the thrumms look like inside. I can't describe how soft and warm they feel when you put your hand inside the mitten. Pk has requested a pair so after I finish the Christmas knitting I'll start him a pair. Or maybe I'll get good and finish them in time for the holiday. One can dream.

But the best thing about yesterday was waiting in the mailbox when I got home. Roxie sent me a copy of her new book, Sanna Meets Dauntless Swiftsure. I made the mistake of opening it and reading the first few pages. After that I was gone. I spent the next 3 and 1/2 hours reading this wonderful book. It's the first Sanna book I've read (image stolen from amazon.com) and it's so engrossing that I forgot I wanted to finish spinning my sock yarn and I wanted to cast on for the mittens. I eventually did those things but only after I finished the book. Sanna is one of those characters that when you finish the book, you ask "what now?". She is strong and caring. And I like that she is human and still learning. She makes no pretense of knowing it all, in fact, she freely admits that she has a lot to learn. And then sets out to learn it. In this book, Sanna is kidnapped and has to adapt rather quickly to a new way of life. And she does. There is never any doubt in her mind that she will find a way home and she makes us believe in her as well. I wanted to share this with my niece but she's a little young (Sanna has certain "feelings" that I'm not sure I want to explain to an 8 year old!) but when she is a little older, I am going to introduce her to Sanna. I think Maggie and Sanna could become friends.

Now it's time to go and fix some breakfast. Pancakes and sausage today. And then to make some cornbread for extra stuffing for dinner. We always have leftover night the Sunday after the holiday. It uses up the bulk of the leftovers and we always enjoy eating the goodness one more time. But there is not enough stuffing so I'll make some more today. And I have to make some more pumpkin pies. Emily took the leftovers home with her.

I'll be moving furniture in anticipation of a Christmas tree and changing the orange colors to red and green and sparkles. It's raining and damp and rather cold today. A good day to stay inside and decorate. Have a good and peaceful Sunday.