Crazy January Start Twenty-Five - Petite Treasures

It's only a diamond so far, but should go pretty quickly!

Crazy January Start Twenty-Four - Sapphire Crystal

A tiny start for a (hopefully) quick finish.  This is just a little snowflake ornament from Mill Hill. 

Crazy January Start Twenty-Three- Saguaro Cactus Belt Buckle

I've finished three buckles in this series, and really need to complete more.  To enable that commitment, I started another one - the round cactus.

Surprisingly Fun

Pigeon Forge has a huge number of dinner shows that perform every night.  With such a surfeit, we decided we should see one.  The decision became pretty easy because so many were completely kid oriented.  Considering the price (most were over $50 a person), we were kind of surprised about the way they catered almost exclusively to children.  One, we thought, was less child oriented, so we went to it.  This was the Lumberjack Feud, which promised real lumberjack competitions.  They delivered.  All the major actors were champions of the national lumberjack competitions, including the girls.  There was some local history, some log rolling, some silliness, and some climbing and cutting.  Overall, it was rather fun.

 We had 'bears', so our food was served in bear proof container.  The food itself wasn't all that good.  It wasn't awful, but it definitely could stand improvement.  Drinks (all nonalcoholic) were served in mason jars.  The food (not presentation) was the only disappointment of the night.

You could tell the competitors wanted to win, even though the overall show was rigged to keep both teams in it through to the final event.  The stage was easy to see and it was interesting!  They even had dogs competing to fetch out of water and run over logs.

I'd go again in a few years to see if it changed, but would eat beforehand.

Cow Fur

 I have mentioned before that I love the look and feel of cow fur.  Andreas isn't quite so enthused, but he's coming around slowly.  As witness, I was able to buy these two cow fur coasters for work (they're really good for petting to destress) and this rope of cow fur stars for the house.  I love them, of course, and the cow fur is coming in handy at work.

Megan Left!

One of my good friends, Megan, left post while we were on home leave.  She just got to Moscow last week.  Before she left we had lunch and she gave me these cute earrings from her favorite jewelry designer.  Thank you Megan, and I hope we cross paths again soon!

Crazy January Start Twenty-Two - Ornate Butterfly

Just brown at the moment, but the piece has a bunch of jewel toned colors and the floss is separated!  It's also somewhat small, so there's a chance of finishing it in some kind of normal time.