Another turn of the celestial wheel

Elf laundry

The sun is making its way to shine more on the southern hemisphere's summer. Up in here in the north, we greet the turn of the celestial wheel with something akin to resignation. We put up our Christmas lights and decorations because by 4:30 in the afternoon, it is getting dark. There is something very cheerful about their shining efforts. It is comforting in a way, bringing these little bits of light into our gardens and attaching them our eaves troughs.
Down the lane, we do Christmas with a full-on frontal assault. Lights, real tree, decorations, baking, making, friends and family invited over for the festivities. Oh yeah baby, it is about the only thing that makes the other five months of winter bearable.

Solar-powered Christmas

On the weekend, my dear husband began our back yard ice rink. My lavender will be under constant threat from stray pucks until April, but it has survived thus far. The back yard rink is a project of epic proportions.
A special liner arrives at the end of October, the lumber comes out of the garage, along with the special hardware to attach the liner to the boards, it takes the better part of an afternoon to assemble the whole 40 x 35 feet framework. And then we wait.
Usually, the weather becomes unseasonably warm -- and windy/rainy. Windy/rainy is bad. Leaves blow into the rink. When the sun hits them -- even under the ice, they heat up and create pits. So to avoid pitted ice, I have to skim the leaves out. Worms also manage to get into the liner. They have to come out too. Yuck!

Lavender in peril

Mr. HH turns into a weather hound. The minute forecasts predict temps below 0 for three consecutive nights, he begins pouring water into the framework. Then, nightly, especially on very cold nights, he applies a thin layer of water to the ice that has formed. Until it gets very, very, very cold. Putting on water at that point might wreck the surface. Trust me, it is science in action out there.
In other Christmas-y projects, I created a little tabletop tree from my summer potted rosemary. I used a set of solar powered lights to wrap the plant into a tree shape. It charges all day long (even in our often weak sunshine) and then lights up for about six hours as soon as it gets dark. At the moment, it is sitting on the tarp-wrapped table on the deck -- and given the puck situation -- it is probably safer there.
In other news, the Splendid Sandra has returned from her travels. She shared some scraps from sweet little quilt store scrap packs -- because I LOVE scraps. She also brought me back some lovely black and white polka dot fabric -- and Colour Catchers. I washed the scraps by hand and then hung them on the little dryer on the deck.
When I finished, I thought it looked like washing elves might put out on a line. I just had to take a photo -- and of course -- share it.
Hope everyone is having a great day! I'm off to do more Christmas presents. Fa la la la, la la la la...