happy holidaze

A belated Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year to everyone! It's a typical cold, windy, wet Oregon winter night, where it seems as if the wind and rain are blowing straight in through the window glass. (It doesn't help that my computer is next to the window with the air conditioner still in it from the summer. The stupid thing is too heavy for Dave and I to lift, and pretty much too big to store any where in the house at the moment.) So I'm sitting here with a glass of red, wearing my favorite Christmas present, handknit by my niece Mercedes...fingerless gloves are the best! Even the kitties are snuggled up together in the big chair next to the Christmas tree.
It's been busy couple of months here at Camp Cactus. First the run up and the preparation for the best holiday sale in the studio ever, then quite a few of the extended Russell clan made their way up to Portland for the holidays. Matt flew in from San Mateo a few days before Christmas, followed by my big sister Patty and niece Mercedes, who drove up from the Bay Area. It was really fun having them here. Mercedes is a mad knitting fool and gave Caitie and I some impromptu knitting lessons. We're managing to make a couple of easy scarves so far, but are not yet ready to make gloves - fingerless, or mittens!
On Christmas Eve we had a gathering of all the usual suspects for a traditional buffet of corn chowder, clam chowder, salmon cakes, clam cakes (an old Russell family fave), and tons of other munchies.