Getting Ready for Christmas!

I haven’t done a lot yet to get ready for one of my favorite holidays, because I’ve been in town for the last week, but I did managed to get a few things taken care of before I went. I had fun playing with some extras from the Christmas ornament kits I bought for my handwork group. Nothing like a springy Christmas tree

and beaded candy canes!

I finished some Christmas knitting with ours to spare—a hat for my TA which I need a picture of, and this little shawlette for Hannah-

I had a lot of fun knitting it, and was very pleased with how it turned out! I also had some time to get my tree up—I love the lights!

I tried something new today—candied pineapple. I’m getting ready to make my grandmother’s famous fruit cake, and I had a bit of candied pineapple, but not enough for the large batch of cake that I want to make. So, I cut up two fresh pineapples, squeezed some juice out of the one I didn’t need, and started the long process of cooking it down in lots of sugar and juice. I was pretty pleased by how it came out—it looks like it just might have been worth all the effort and propane! Now it’s just drying before I get down to some serious cake making.

One of the highlights of my town trip was getting to enjoy a latte at one of my favorite Zambian restaurants, Barcellos. As you can see, I took my knitting along. This will be a birthday present for someone here on station. Ah—coffee and knitting. Life dosen’t get much better!

Christmas is coming!