The rain was misting down for most of the afternoon when I came upon this tree. The branches looked like they were adorned with little jewels. In a heavy rain, you would not be able to see this. .
The building in the background is my apartment building.
The view from my floor in SMT is just amazing sometimes. I wish the windows would get washed soon.
I really like how these light balls look, especially against the blue of the sky.
University Village
A few shots I captured while Christmas shopping.
There was a large crowd outside the 5th Avenue Theater, lining up to see White Christmas. I should have bought tickets when I had the chance.
Swanson’s Nursery had camels, reindeer and a koi pond. They also had a nice train setup. Once I saw the BNSF engine, I had to have a picture or two.
I took the monorail back to Seattle Center after a night of shopping downtown.
I have been so excited to decorate my home for the holidays. I couldn’t wait until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I could start unloading my boxes and put out my stuff. By Sunday, November 29, I had all my Christmas stuff unpacked, the tree up and the lights on. By the 2nd of December, I was ready.
This is pretty much the full view of the living room. I have items in the dining room and kitchen, but my living room received the full force of my Christmas explosion.
My collection of tea light figures. Also on my buffet is part of my Hallmark collection of singing snowmen.
Marcus’ wreath from elementary school. It always hangs on the inside of the door. :)
My snowmen figurine collection with more singing snowmen.
Look at the baby!
More Christmas decorations, as you can see.
My Santa figurine collection. One of these days I’m going to take a picture of each item and then I’ll know just how much I have.
This is the advent calendar I started when Marcus was two and finished when he was 12 or so. It’s 12 inches by 24 inches. It was a lot of work, but I am so glad I made it for him.
The tree before decorating.
The tree with all the decorations.
My kitchen and dining room decorations, or as I call it, my Christmas tree room.
I do have a few Santa’s hanging around.
My mom made this macramé Santa. I wish I could remember when it was made.
The Metro Employee Historic Vehicle Association offers bus tours around the city. This particular tour was to see the Holiday light displays around town. I went with Carey and Kim on a crazy 3 hour tour through Wallingford, around Greenlake, past North Seattle, then headed on over through Bitterlake to the Olympic Manor neighborhood. The last place we stopped at was the Sunset Hill Park, above Shilshole Marina. The lights from the boats were a nice surprise.
Here are some of my pictures. Most are blurry, but oh well.
This one came out so crooked because I was aiming the camera behind me as we were driving down 4th Avenue.
This was the first stop. When we first pulled up everyone was oohing and aahing at the lights and asking if the Santa was real because he looked fake as he was rocking back and forth. But then he started waving and everyone on the bus started yelling , “He’s real! He’s real!”
This house was across the street from Santa’s house
Some blurry LED lights in North Seattle, near Northgate
A few of the Olympic Manor community lights.
All in all it was a great tour. There were some loud people on the bus, but I have so much practice tuning them out that I was able to just enjoy riding around and looking out the window at all the lights.
I was invited to go to Vashon Island to do the Holiday 2009 Art Studio Tour. It was a different kind of adventure and it was a lot of fun. The ferry ride was just right, not too long. The mountains looked spectacular. I just love the Puget Sound and riding the ferries.
The Olympic Mountains
Mount Rainier hiding in the clouds
This looked like a wonderful place to sit after a long day. The artist who has this amazing view makes intricate silver, gold and bronze bells. They are too far outside my price range but the bells are amazing and the sound..so sweet. I loved the studio, the bells and the view.
The tour was wonderful. We visited many, many studios and saw many wonderful crafts. The glass studios had pieces I really liked. I should have picked up a few while I was there. Maybe next year.
I had the most amazing time at this performance. I definitely want to go again next year.
Saint Marks Cathedral is this amazing space. I had been there once for a Christmas Eve service, so I knew what to expect, but I was still in awe of the size.
The central window
The pipe organ opposite of the central window.
Once the concert began, the sound in that space was mind-blowing. The softest note fills the space. The women's choir sang first, but they were not up on stage when they started singing. They were behind the stage and all you could hear were these beautiful voices filling the air and then they started to walk out. It was contemplative music that allowed you to just be in the moment and relax.
The men’s choir part of the program was very powerful, very substantial music that was completely opposite of the women's but just as inspiring.
My favorite part came after the intermission. The Bells of the Sound hand bell choir. I love hand bell ensembles. There is something about watching them perform and the sound of the bells. The big humongous bells are very hard to hear. You seems like you just feel the sound rather than hear it from the big bells.
A few pictures of the bells taken during intermission:
The harp was very beautiful. It was one of a few instruments besides the bells and the piano that accompanied the choral group.
All in all it was a great way to spend an evening and it created a very contemplative mood for the holidays.
