I Love Snow

I know, it's cold, it's messy and slippery driving in it but snow makes the world so beautiful and white and pristine. It was just lovely watching (from INSIDE my cozy home) as the yard filled up at the rate of an inch an hour last night.

Digging out is not so much fun, especially for retired folks with bad backs or other infirmities....is wussiness an infirmity? But small towns in Missouri (like Pleasant Hill, where we live) are also home to outdoorsy types with big boy toys - like four wheeler, offroad-type toys. Who knew they could be equipped with snow scrapers on the front?

Our neighbor's nephew generously cleared our driveway after doing Joe's driveway. Although it is cold, it did look like fun - and he not only pushed snow from the drive into the street, he also cleared the curb so the US Mail could get to the mailboxes. He wouldn't take payment and didn't give me his name.....

...but when he left, he was headed down the street toward the dead end, where another neighbor was struggling with a snow blower. Thank you, Joe's nephew!

This photo is for my granddaughters - their stuffed penquin looks right at home in the snow.

But Frank (the penguin) didn't sit there long, not even wearing his custom-knitted muffler from Aunt Laura.

Happy Snow Day from the Fisks in Missouri.

Adding to the Family Tree

I decided our Fisk Family Tree (see previous post) needed a visual for the entire Fisk Family. So I added one of my little beaded fishies....

Since FISK usually means FISH [English (East Anglia): metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or fish seller, or a nickname for someone supposedly resembling a fish in some way, from Old Norse fiskr ‘fish’ (cognate with Old English fisc)] that seemed the most obvious choice. Of course, there is also a French derivation [(Origin French) From Fisc, revenue, public funds] but how boring is that?? Hmmm, of course, that could mean it would be a money-tree but that's not too accurate.

With Dale's love of fish 'n chips, my love for sushi and everyone loves salmon....fish it is!

A Special Christmas Tree

My daughter saved this gift for the last one of the evening on Christmas Day. (We wait and open gifts slowly on Christmas Night - after all the worship services are over, the dinner has been enjoyed and cleaned up, the candles are lit and soft carols playing on the iPod....and we take about 3 hours. It's lovely.)

She went out to the car since she had not wrapped this one....and presented me with the

Fisk Family Tree. 

Mounted on a wooden base which she covered with my favorite olive green in an embroidered taffeta fabric, the tree itself is made from wire - lots of it. Using 16 and 18 gauge wire, sequins and imagination, she wove a fanciful tree to hold amazing charms representing everyone in our family. Her cohort was Meridith, my daughter-in-law, who crafted charms symbolic of herself, our son, and their family of daughters. My daughter, Laura, made charms to represent Dale and me, plus herself and her husband, Aaron. The tree is accompanied by a scroll tied in ribbon with each person's first and second name, birthdate, the meaning of their names and a description of how the charms were selected.

It is simply fabulous. I'm sure we'll be adding charms to this tree for years as more grandchildren are born and they marry and have babies. Laura said she saw the idea in a Martha Stewart Living magazine, but Laura took it to another level.


Dale B. Fisk - Farmer of the valley
The key to this family and the cultivator "farmer" of music. The bells represent the music of your life, as well as the key to your home.

Lynette Yvonne Fisk - Little beautiful archer
The peacock feather represents an arrow, though more appropriately represents you, with an intricate, beautiful ring to show tenderness and creativity.

Jonathan McAdam - Gift of God
A box to represent a gift and a crucificix to represent the greatest gift God has given.

 (especially appropriate for Jonathan is a pastor.)

Meridith Elaine - Good friend with golden hair

A letter for a friend with the "M" seal on the closing to represent "Meridith".

Chloe Elkanah - Fruitful one created by God

A wedding couple, New Baby and New Arrival charms are hung on a diaper pin used on Chloe as a baby. This is all to show "fruitfulness". (Chloe is currently 6 years old.)

Anastasia Avielle - Resurrected one whose father is God

The butterfly is a symbol of resurrection and it is yellow because that is one of Anastasia's favorite colors. The cross shows "whose father is God" and is a pendant that Anastasia received when she was two. (She is currently 3 1/2.)

Trinity Promise - Baptism saves

Father, Son and Holy Spirit pendant for "Trinity" with a shell from our family trip to Ocean City, NJ, to represent baptism or "Promise". (Trinity is 18 months old.)

Unknown Baby Fisk - "Button"

The buttons are from Hungary - the place where this portion of the family tree began (Jonathan met Meridith when teaching English in Hungary.) When Button is born, we will replace the charm with something more personal, but the buttons can stay to represent any other people who may follow, Lord willing.

(The new baby, expected in June 2011, has been nicknamed "Button" by the girls. When their mother explained how small a newly forming baby is by holding her fingers about two centimeters apart, Chloe said "That's about as big as a button!"

 Laura Ruth - Loyal friend crowned with laurels

The leaf represents a love of nature, surrounding the image of a spritely woman. The ring is a baby ring also representing leaves and the Rose of Sharon.

Aaron Douglas - Exalted one from dark waters

The wire is a piece of Mig welding wire (from Aaron's current grad school projects) surrounding a Celtic knot showing his Celtic origins and a piece of padauk hardwood, which rises to the surface of even the deepest waters.

Quiet Time

A quiet holiday at our house this year. Daughter Laura and husband are in the Twin Cities with friends at a "friend's-gather-to-cook-unusual-foods-and-sip-adult-beverages-all day" weekend. Everyone cooks something they have never made before while everyone else watches, then everyone eats. Sort of a Julie and Julia/cooking class with friends marathon. Sounds like so much fun - would love to have been there when Laura "killed" a lobster today.

The rest of our family is far away - Philadelphia and Iowa. Friends who like my cooking couldn't make it from San Diego this year. And since Dale played for church both Wednesday and Thursday services and I was scheduled to work at the gallery today, we couldn't go anywhere.

So we cooked  a smallish turkey, made pies and other "trimmings" and took naps. Not a bad way to spend the day....thankful for many blessings and time with each other.

Steampunk Pendant Class

While it was a long day, yesterday end with a four-hour creativity party. Four people took my Steampunk Pendant class at Eclectics Gallery - it's always such fun to watch other people come up with something completely their own using the same kits. (Steampunk pendant kits include a 1.25 x 1.5 inch copper rectangle, old jewelry chains, rivets, eyelets, screws, washers and old watch parts.)

The class teaches them some beginning metalworking techniques - filing, drilling, riveting, texturing and patina on copper - and everyone ends up with a pendant on chain or a pre-made necklace.

This one is almost done - missing the main event, which is a watch work piece that missed getting into the photo. Bella was a newbie who learned fast! Her grandma Nina already knew her way around jewelry-making and provided us all with some exercise as we crawled around looking for a teeny tiny watch-part that fell onto the charcoal-colored carpet. But we found it - it was the piece that looks like a miniature crescent wrench.

Joann also knew her way around jewelry making, but was new to using rivets and copper.

Our biggest glitch was using a 2-part epoxy to attach the tiniest watch gears. We had a 15 minute epoxy that really needed 2 hours to set up properly, so that caused us some grief, but everyone was very flexible and we learned as we went.