Stitchy Resolutions!

When my Dad came to live with us 5 years ago, I went into a real stitching slump. I really didn't have the time to stitch with the exception of a small amount of time in the morning. After he passed away a year later, I thought I would get back into my cross stitching with no problems at all. It hasn't happened like that unfortunately. I also have a project that I was stitching for a friend and I really do not like stitching on it at all. But I feel guilty if I stitch on anything else so I haven't stitched on much of anything. So in the past four years, I've finished maybe six projects. The two years before that I finished an average of 50-55 projects a year. Well, this year I decided that things have got to change. My friend at work who's in the same place as I am and I have decided to report to each other our progress on what we really need to finish. In other words, hold each other accountable for our actions. Yesterday some new yarn came in that I really liked. Now I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head. Before I had a chance to grab a bag out of the box, she closed up the box and told Don to take it upstairs. It was exactly what I needed. Today I realize that I didn't need that yarn, that I have plenty in my craft room, family room, garage, well you get the picture. So I thought I would post my stitching goals here so I can hold myself accountable for what I am going to finish this year.

1). Finish Poppies for Don
2). Finish Midsummer's Eve Fairy
3). Finish Don's naked male angel (the project from you-know-where)
4). Work on the Monet for Chris (doubtful I can finish it this year but I can make a good sized dent in it)

Some of my non-stitching stitching goals are:

1). Organize my file cabinet in my craft room
2). Set up a rotation for smaller projects (I need some reward for working on my other stitching goals)
3). Catalog all my cross stitch fabric and threads
4). Catalog all my yarn (and cull out what I really won't use just like I did my cross stitch patterns last year)

I know this sounds pretty ambitious but if I'm going to get back into stitching like I want to, I really need to start somewhere. Hopefully this journey will take me well down the road to stitching nirvana.

Merry Late Christmas!

Well, I may be a little late with my Christmas Greetings to all but they come with no less feelings. I've been a little lax with my blogging lately but I have a good excuse, really I do. I spent the month of November writing a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo. I've always loved writing and that sort of lit the fire in me again. The point is not to write a novel that's publishable (at least, not without a lot of work) but it does get you in the habit of writing. I was cruising along and then 2 days before Thanksgiving I hit a speed bump in the form of a hospital stay for my atrial fibulation. I wasn't sure if I could get back into the writing routine but I had written enough ahead that I was able to catch up.

We had a wonderful time at Christmas. My son and his wife flew in for the weekend from Minneapolis and we also had my mother-in-law with us for the holiday. It was the first time in 7 years that we had all the kids together for the holiday. Hopefully it won't be so long again between visits. BTW, Chris in the middle is the one who received the China picture for Christmas. He and Annette loved it! They planned on going home and having their pastor (Chris is a youth pastor at the Chinese church in Minneapolis) translate the characters since I couldn't remember what they meant.

Next week is New Year's resolutions. I have a few ideas for that and maybe by putting them down in writing, I'll be better able to keep them.

In All Its Glory!

Here is China in all her glory. I picked this up from the framer's today and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The spot of glare is from the camera flash (couldn't help that, I'm not the greatest photographer around). The mat on the bottom is gold metallic matching the gold in the stitching. The red mat on top is actually silk. It really cool and matches the red perfectly. The frame is black, shiny on the outer edge and a matte finish next to the mat. I thought about a shinier frame but it was just overwhelming. I really like how this turned out. It is almost worth all the agonizing I spent over it. The really neat news about this piece is that Chris and Annette (the lucky owners of it - they just don't know it yet) will be here at Christmas. So I can can wrap it and have it under the tree for them. Both David and I are so excited. This is the first time in about 7 years where all our kids are home for the holidays. And David's mom will be here as well. We'll have a full house and are really looking forward to it.

Some Stitchy Thoughts!

I'm just taking a little break from working in my craft room and some thoughts starting invading my mind. I was sorting through a pile of patterns I've recently acquired (some free, most of them purchased) and it occured to me that I have more stash than I can ever stitch in 2 lifetimes! There must be a zillion (ok, not a zillion but a whole lot) of free patterns on the Web. Some simple, others that I would pay for, they're so good. Why do I feel the need to buy more when I could stitch all the free ones out there and never finish them? I have patterns out the wahzoo that I plan on getting rid of and still I buy. Some I know I'll never stitch but I can't bear the thought of getting rid of them, I like them so much. Same with threads and fabric. I do like the idea of going to my stash and pulling fabric and threads, but more times than not, I end up buying new stuff. It's a sickness, I tell ya. I could blame it on working in a LNS and seeing so much new stuff coming over my desk. I'm so weak. I tell myself you don't need it, but then I find myself at the register checking out new stash. It's like the invasion of the body snatchers. Some addicted little alien is inside me making me buy all this stuff. That's my excuse and I'm stitcking to it.

Starting Anew!

Well, I've started a new project last week. This is one of the new line of kits from Anchor. My friend, Don, from work loves poppies and has had several people stitching needlepoint projects for him. I decided he needed a cross stitch project to go along with them. So I found this online and ordered it. I started it last week and boy, is it weird. After spending almost a year working with one strand over one thread on 25 count lugana, I'm now using 2 strands over 14 count aida. It felt so bulky at first. It was just so wrong. Now I'm not someone who won't stitch on something if it's not linen. If the kit has aida, then that's what I use. I guess I'm too thrifty (e.g. cheap) to spend this much money on a kit then throw half of it away. But it's so different. It is a quality kit. Has Anchor threads (which I really prefer over DMC) and a good quality of Aida. It's stitching up quickly but I'm NOT going to say when I'm going to have it done by. I learned my lesson on the China piece. It'll will get done when I finish it.

Oh Happy Day! It's Done!!

It's done, it's done, it's finally done!! I can't believe it. It took me a year longer than I originally estimated but it's really and truly done. I finished it up earlier this week and just now was able to get the picture uploaded. Let's see, this was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my son and his wife last year. Then it was going to be a birthday present in January for him. Then it was an anniversary gift for them. So I guess we've come full circle on this and it will be a Christmas present for this year. With the exception of the scene in the middle, it really was an easy stitch. But oh boy, was that scene a bear! If I had just taken the time to really examine the pattern, I would have seen all the quarter stitches and would not have chosen to stitch it over one. But, nooo, I had to plunge head first into it and by the time I realized the problem, it was too late. But I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully they will like it as much as I do. Now to get it framed. I was thinking of stitching the pattern by the same designer called It's All Greek to Me (both Chris and Annette majored in Biblical languages in college). I'm not too sure if I want to tackle it though. If I did, I'd want to do it over one as well (to keep them the same size) but I just don't think I'm ready to give that a go.

Happy Dance Part 2!

Oh happy day!! I finally finished the middle section of the China piece. Once I started backstitching on it, it went really fast. As hard as it was to stitch, I'm really glad I stuck with it. I think it turned out really well. Now that the middle section is finished, the rest of the cross stitching is going really well. I can honestly say I see the end. And getting so close to finishing this is making me excited about stitching other pieces. Maybe I'll dig out another UFO to finish.

Thoughts on a Movie

I've gotten bogged down again on the China piece. I've promised myself that as soon as I finish here, I will go in and stitch on it. I'm also going to try to keep up with this blog more often. That means some of what I blog about won't be cross stitch related but I hope it will be interesting.

I saw a very good movie over the weekend. Now I love a good action, end of the world movie. I'm really not into so-called chick flicks. Oh, I'll watch them at home but I usually won't go to see them in a theater. So this weekend Dave and I went to see District 9. It was just my kind of movie. Lots of action and aliens. Also lots of violence and raw language (which I do NOT like but when spoken with a South African accent it wasn't so easy to understand what they were saying). All this being said, I've been thinking about this movie all weekend. On the surface. it was humans vs. the aliens vs. big business. But on a deeper level, it really made me think about just who are the real monsters. Often we're afraid of people or things that we preceive are different from us. They may look different or sound different or act different. But strip off all the outer trappings, and I'll bet we'll find that they are just like us. They want a home or family or love. But we label them and try to push them aside so we can't see them. I know I'm guilty of it sometimes. From now on, when I'm tempted to do that, I'll try to remember District 9 and the lessons I've learned from it.

Happy, Happy Dance!

Yes! I'm happy dancing all over the house. I finally finished the cross stitching of the center section. I was bound and determined to finish it yesterday. I decided I just needed to suck it up and finish it. So I spent several hours just working on it and voila! It's done. I even managed to start the backstitching on it. That should go considerably faster than the cross stitching. I know, I know. Famous last words. But I can see the end. So let's boogie together and celebrate!

A Little MORE Progress

Ok, I feel like this piece has become my very own Sword of Damacles. It's just hanging over my head waiting to drop. It seemed so easy when I first started it. It never occcured to me to check and see just how many quarter stitches there were in that center section. No wonder the designer looked at me like I was stark raving mad. But I'm almost done with that area. After that it should be smooth sailing. I really would lke to finish it soon. I spent last Friday organizing my stash and found so many projects I want to work on. But I really, really feel obligated to get this one done first. Maybe that's my incentive to finish it. I can start a new one when I get this one done. Or at the very least, I can return to stitching on CDC or finish the Michael Powell design. I only have a little backstitching to do on it and when it's done, I have plans to frame the 3 I have stitched. So while the race is on today, I think I'll stitch a ittle.

Where Has the Time Gone?

It hardly seems like more than a month has gone by since I updated my blog. It seems like this summer is flying by much faster than previous ones. Is this what happens the older you get? Probably or so I've been told. We spent the 4th of July weekend with our oldest son, Brian, and his girlfriend in Flagstaff. It was a very relaxing weekend. We went to the parade on Saturday. Didn't do fireworks cause they were fake. Apparently the woods are so dry up there, that they run the risk of forest fires with fireworks. So they put on some kind of light show. Not my style. Then on Sunday we went to the Grand Canyon. Now I know some people just think it's a big hole in the ground or just a big ditch but that is so far from the truth that it's laughable. It is truely magnificent! This picture does not even begin to do it justice. In the other picture, Brian is sitting next to David and his girlfriend, Alysha, is sitting next to him. The other couple is one of Brian's roommates, and his girlfriend. We hadn't had the opportunity to let Brian entertain us before, that it was very nice for a change.

I'd like to take one more trip before Sherrie returns to school. She's our pet sitter so I'm trying to take advantage of the time she's here. I'm thinking Vegas. Are you listening, David?

Guess Where I've Been!

I just got back from a wonderful week on the Big Island of Hawaii. Dave and I decided on the spur of the moment (ok, 2 weeks in advance is spur of the moment for us) trip to Kona, Hawaii. It was fantastic! We thought Honolulu would be too crowded this time of year and I really wanted to see the volcano so it was off to Kona we went. The weather was beautiful, in the 80's and no rain except for the last day. I was so not used to the humidity. I kept wanting to take showers to cool off. On Monday I think I took 3 of them altogether. We had a balcony where I spent every morning reading my Bible and it was so peaceful with the sound of the surf in the background. The beaches were mostly lava rock or black sand, very few white sand beaches. We went to the top of Mauna Kea for the sunset above the clouds and stargazing (14,000 feet above sea level). It was weird seeing both the North Star and the Southern Cross in the sky at the same time. We spent all day Thursday on a tour of Volcano National Park and then went on a night time hike to see the lava flow into the ocean. I think that was my favorite day. We also went snorkeling Friday. The fish were gorgeous! I can't think of anything I would have left out. If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend a trip to the Big Island.

Spring Fever or Stitching Slump?

I seem to have come to a halt on most of my stitching. I've stitched a little on the China piece but right now I can't see that I will finish it before their anniversary. I haven't picked up Cirque des Carreaux in a month. I wanted to finish the China piece first before I worked on CDC again. So I'm not sure if I'm in a slump or just feeling spring fever. My allergies have really been bad and my eyes just don't want to focus well. I do need an eye exam and I plan on going back to the Varilux lens I had previously. These new-fangled bifocals just aren't doing the job. I have been doing some knitting at night. I hope to get a baby blanket done for Chris' sister-in-law. Mainly I've been reading. Dave had bought us a Kindle 2 when they came out and we've both been doing a lot more reading lately. I know I'll get back to stitching eventually. I do miss it. It's just right now other things are taking a priority in my life.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Well, I can't let this day go by without saying a very public Happy Anniversary to my very dear husband, Dave. It was 30 years ago today that we got married and what a ride it's been! We've had wonderful times and not-so-wonderful times, but mostly it's been great. He's my best friend and every day I thank God for giving us to each other. So, here's to us, David. May we be truely blessed with another 30 years!

Problem Solved!

Well, I finally figured out a way around my problem with all the quarter stitches in the center portion of this design. I've been in a real slump because I want to finish this but couldn't see a way out. Then it dawned on me. Just don't stitch the little buggers. I think I will determine which color will be in the foreground and then just stitch that color. I doubt anyone will look close enough at the pattern or my stitching, for that matter, to tell that I've done it that way. I have made considerable progress on this piece in just the last week or so. And that's just stitching for an hour in the morning before I go to work. So I can see an end in sight to the center section. The rest should go fairly quickly.

Allow Me To Brag!

Allow me to be a very proud mom for a moment. All music majors at NAU are required to give a junior recital in order to graduate. Sherrie had hers at the end of March. I would have posted sooner but I wanted to get her permission to post a few pictures from it. She was absolutely gorgeous, both in the way she sang and in the way she looked. The students are required to sing in at least 4 different languages, she went with 5 (Latin, French, German, Italian and English). It is a formal affair with a long gown required. She was so stressed for about a month. She was desperate not to get sick, memorized music right up until the week of the recital and don't even get me started on the search for THE DRESS! But she stayed healthy, had all the music down pat and found the perfect dress. We were so proud of her. She sounded like an angel. The first picture is of her proud mom and dad, Sherrie and her oldest brother, Brian. The second picture is of Sherrie and her accompianist and the third is of Sherrie, her recital partner, Joel, both of their accompianists and their voice teacher. And I give a lot of credit to her. When things got rough for Sherrie last year and she couldn't sing for about 1 month (she had a bad throat infection), all the teachers told Mrs. Gunderson to give up. But she stuck with Sherrie and the results were amazing. So now there are no more music lessons (except for piano) and she can concentrate on her education and conducting classes. Oh and singing in the Shrine of the Ages choir. Guess where they're going on tour next summer. South Africa. Oh boy, do I envy her!

A Little More Progress

Well, a little more progress on CDC2 has been made. I've been trying to work my way across the top part of the pattern. It's difficult though cause sometimes you need to go to another page. Then you have to make sure you don't, repeat DON'T, restitch the stitches in gray. I do really like this piece and am anxious to get it finished. The problem is that China (the piece I'm doing for Chris) is sitting on my table patiently waiting for me to finish it. Patiently laughing at me. I can hear it snickering to itself everytime I pass by. I can't imagine what made me decide to stitch it over 1 before I really checked it out and found all those pesky quarter stitches. So consequently I haven't stitched anything in over a week. I've done a little knitting but no stitching. Nope, not nary a stitch has passed my needle. I read about stitching, have done some more decluttering in my craft room, but no stitching. I really miss it too. I just need to gut the rest of China out and get it done. Maybe after I work in my room a little today, I'll pick it up. Nah, it'll still be there tomorrow.

Regrets Part 2

Ok, I've had some time to think about my last post. I left the patterns on my desk at work. You know, the ones I was thinking of adding to my collection. I left them for about a week. I finally came to my senses and decided that, no, they were not going to go home with me. I am still having second thoughts about what I'm getting rid of at home. Here's the issue though. For me to go through all the patterns in the giveaway boxes, I'll need to go out to the garage and wrestle them out of the cabinet. And I do mean wrestle. And they're really heavy. And there's four of them. Are you getting the picture here? This will not be an easy job. So I think for now they will just stay in their boxes until I figure out how to get rid of them. At that time, if I'm still so inclined, I'll go through the box in question and see if I still feel the same about the charts. So for now the decluttering plan is still working. Now if I can just get back to stitching!

Regrets

What's that song by Frank Sinatra? Regrets, I've had a few. Well, I'm really having problems letting go of the stash I culled several months ago. I keep thinking of things I put in the boxes and wanting to rescue them. I see patterns at work and go to buy them only to remember that I already have them in the giveaway boxes at home. Then I want to go get them out of the boxes and put them back in my file cabinets. Excuse me, that is now one file cabinet. The other resides in Brian's old room waiting to be given away. I promised myself I wouldn't go back and retrieve anything out of the boxes. But, man, is it ever hard. In the long run, I know I'm right to get rid of things I haven't used yet in 15-20 years. At that rate, I probably never will. So this is a good thing I'm doing, right?

A Little Nostalgia

Since I haven't made too much progress on my 2 current WIP's, I thought I would show one that I did about 15 years ago. I think the sentiment is very timely for many people. I know this is how we felt when Dave was out of work. We knew God would take care of us in His time. Sometimes though I wished He would hurry up!

This is an old Mosey and Me pattern called Daniel & Friends. Now I very seldom stitch anything like it is charted and this was no exception. I used Medici wool for the lions' coats and Fun Fur for their manes. It's really too bad that fiber isn't available any more (at lease it isn't in that color). I did French knots in Medici for Daniel's hair and a Wildflower for his coat of many colors (why should Jacob have all the fun?). I also added the buttons instead of stitching the hearts.

This is one of my favorite pieces I have stitched. Yes, I've stitched more sophisticated pieces. And I've stitched pieces that were a lot more detailed. But this design just spoke to me, both then and now. And I apologize if I seem irreverant. That is certainly not my intention. I firmly believe that God loves a big belly laugh just as much as we do.

Quirks Anyone?

Does anyone out there have any quirks that are cross stitch related? Me, it's orts. Meet Floss Ball. Floss Ball has been around since 1992. Let's see, that's almost 17 years old. Has it really been that long? He began life in a little sandwich bag back in Central Pennsylvania and now lives in a grocery bag here in the Phoenix area. Yes, I moved him with the family when we came out here. I couldn't leave him behind. He had become part of the family. The kids would never let me live it down. Seriously! I just wanted to see how big he could get. Now I know people leave their orts out for the birds. I read somewhere that that wasn't such a good idea. Something about alerting the pedator birds to the location of the nest. I don't know how much truth there is in that tale, but I didn't want to take a chance on being the cause of the demise of little birdies. I also have seen pretty Christmas ornaments made out of clear glass balls filled with orts. They're lovely but you only get to see them one time a year. That's the reason I won't stitch a fancy Christmas stocking. I'd want to leave it out all year long. This way I can go visit Floss Ball any time I want. I can see specialty threads in him and remember the project that they belonged to. I know how silly this all sounds but you know, this is supposed to be fun. We should all be able to laugh at ourselves. Life's too short to be serious all the time.

A Little More Progress

All right, whose bright idea was it to stitch the China design over one? I was sure there were only a few quarter stitches in this sucker. Ha, the joke's on me. There's a ton (ok, not quite a ton but alot) of them in that center portion. I saw the designer at Nashville and told her what I was doing and she looked at me like I had 2 heads. Told me what a brave soul I was. I still think it will be spectacular when it's finished. Obviously I didn't finish it for Chris' birthday. Now I'm shooting for the beginning of June which is their anniversary. I should be able to make that date. That is, if I can keep from spending all my time on Cirque des Carreaux. I'm really liking how it looks. And it's moving along very nicely. I also want to start on a few new things from Nashville so my incentive is not to start anything new till I get one of these done. So many designs, so little time.

Nashville Market

Just some quick thoughts on the market in Nashville this year. The classes were wonderful for the most part. I took Theresa Layman's Why Knot class. She designs some wonderful miniatures that are stitched using only colonial or french knots. I knew how to do french knots but never could get the hang of colonial knots until that class. I can't wait to unpack the project and continue with it. The other class I liked was taught by Mrs. Mosey & Me. Now I know that's not her name but it escapes me at this moment. It was needle felting on a woolen bag. We did a flower on a black bag. I quickly got the hang of it but my lack of artistic talents soon came into view. Instead of a flower, it looked more like a mitten. But the teacher thought it was fine and frankly I really wanted to learn the technique more than display my lack of talent. The only class I was disappointed in was the photography class. And I don't think I was the only one. Turns out it was for advanced students and it was WAY over my head. Supposedly the beginners part had been given last year but I sure don't remember it. I think he gave it at last year's TNNA show and Nashville was an ING show last year. I felt like I was listening to my DH when he tries to explain something to me. I don't always understand him either (he's an engineer). I could have taken a nap and been as happy with my afternoon.

I was really surprised at how uncrowded it was this year. Usually all 5 floors are packed. This year there were only 6 vendors on the entire 3rd floor. The rest of the floors were filled. Serendipity wasn't there. Neither was Heart in Hand. There were also more yarn companies and needlepoint designers than in years past. There were less buyers than in years past. We really didn't have to wait for too long in any of the vendors we visited. In years past, the more popular designers had lines out their door into the hallway.

The Quaker designs are still big. Lizzie Kate is still very popular. I also really like the designs from European XS (Papillion Designs, Long Dog, et al). My favorite design there had to be Quaker Tropic from Stitching Pretty. It was a Quaker design but it had motifs that you would find in a tropical scene - octopuss, mermaid, palm tree - you get the picture. I just had to have that one.

We also ordered some hand-dyed fabric from a company new to us, Stitches & Spice from Australia. Their fabric is gorgeous! The colors are beautiful and the texture is so nice. Lots of hand-dyed fabric seems to have pills on it or is rough. This is nice and smooth. I ordered some for a mandala I'm going to do and then we ordered quite a bit for the shop.

Although it didn't look like we brought much back (or sent it back by UPS), we still have lots that will be coming in from the designers themselves. I'm going to be very busy in the next few weeks receiving things.

All in all, it was lots of fun. We got to see people we had met last year. Got to try new techniques. And saw lots of new stuff. It was well worth the time and effort to go.

A Little More Progress

Well, I didn't make my deadline for Chris' birthday present. His birthday was Wednesday and his present is still only a little further along. I hope to make more progress and post a picture later this weekend. However, I have been stitching a lot on Cirque des Carreaux. I'm really liking the colors now that I've done a little more. The greens just seem to pop on that fabric. Oh, and I have had to rip out more. I've really got to start being more careful when I'm counting. I plan on taking this along when I go to Nashville on Thursday. I'm really getting excited about this trip. Our business has been doing very well. It seems in times of economic harship, people tend to stay at home and cocoon. They have to do something to keep busy so people seem to be stitching and knitting more. It should be interesting to see how the show goes this year. My manager said attendance was way down at the show in San Diego. It will also be interesting to see what changes TNNA makes. I did notice there were more needlepoint designers listed as exhibitors in Nashville. I'm hoping that this show stays mainly cross stitch. Will let everyone when I get back.

I plan on doing lots of stitching tomorrow during the Super Bowl. Have to love those commercials. Also there's a little team called the Cardinals playing and everyone seems to think they haven't got a prayer. Hmmm...we'll see how that goes.

GO CARDINALS!

YEAH!!!!!

Ok, now I've never been much of a football fan so all I've got to say is:




G-O-O-O-O CARDINALS!

We're going to the Super Bowl!!!!!!

AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ok, I'm now convinced that if a cross stitch piece can be cursed, then this one is. For sure! After promising that it would hit the trash can if I had to rip it out again, sure enough I discovered that I was one stitch off in the outline of the large motif on the right. Now normally one stitch here or there would bother me. I would fudge around it (that's why I ALWAYS stitch the border of anything last). But in this case one stitch was a disaster. I didn't discover it until I began the small motifs on its left side. I couldn't make the last one work so I started counting. And counting again. I then discovered I had made one side of the diamond one stitch too small. Now I suppose I could have just moved the smaller motif or made it even smaller but then I realized that this mistake would keep on affecting the rest of the design to the right. It would only keep getting worse. So I sat there and tried to talk myself into chucking it. I just couldn't do it. It had to come out. So after about an hour and a half, I was back to where I had begun my evening. But once I fixed it, I was quite happy with the results. I tried to post earlier but my camera wouldn't take a clear picture. It kept wanting to make it all fuzzy. I just figured that whatever had cursed this design was just trying to prevent me from displaying it. Then I realized my camera was on the wrong setting. I figure not too much else can go wrong, can it??

I do need to get working on the China design for Chris. I need to allow enough time to have it framed and sent to Minneapolis. I need two weeks for the framing. I just realized it's probably not going to happen. His birthday present will just be a little late this year. Hopefully by the time I go to Nashville in early February, it will be on its way.

New Year's Eve in Arizona Part 2

Last night Dave and decided we had a new New Year's Eve tradition: going out for wings at the local pizzeria. It was cold (ok, not as cold as some places are) and the sky was so clear. There were no stars out yet but I did catch this photo of the crescent moon and Venus. Last month Venus and Mars (I think) were in conjunction with the crescent moon but it was too cloudy to see anything then except the moon. At least this month, I got to see both. Happy New year (again!)!