OK, I'll tell...

[altivo]

What I got for Christmas/Solstice...

From my dear mate:

• A geeky indoor/outdoor weather station with LCD display and atomic clock. Cool once you figure out how to calibrate it. The directions included were abominable.
• An umbrella swift. If you don't knit or spin, you probably don't know. It looks like a medieval torture gadget but it's a very effective and gentle manager of yarn skeins while winding them into balls. Replaces the helper with two outstretched hands method.
• Teddy bear calendar, goes in the kitchen. We always have one of these there.

From corelog, a nice candle with hand cut runes that will (I think) glow if it is lighted. More importantly, a very sweet personal letter. Thanks, Rex. *smooch-hug*

From chibiabos, a downloadable audiobook of Peter S. Beagle reading his book The Last Unicorn, a long time favorite that I will enjoy revisiting. Thanks, Chibi. *hug-smooch*

From songcoyote, lovely pristine copies of William Horwood's The Wolves of Time series (2 volumes), very hard to find in the US. I've already started reading, and they are every bit as good as chibiabos promised. *big hug and smooch* for the 'yote.

From my online friends, furry and not, a nice wrap up to a whole year of shared laughs and tears, virtual hugs and expressions of affection. An utterly delightful and long-lasting present for which I am endlessly thankful.

From my younger brother and his wife, we got a gourmet package with two kinds of sourdough bread, preserves, and some really excellent cheese.

From my sister and her husband, another gourmet package with chocolates and a jar of the world's best hot fudge for ice cream, from Sander's in Michigan.

From my mate's Mom, cash which covered a splurge on new plushies. See earlier post for details.

From one of our volunteers at the library, a handmade woolen drawstring bag of green tartan plaid. She explained to female recipients that they were "evening bags", but I'm not sure what she would have told me. (I waited to open mine until I got home.) However, when I see her again on Friday I can tell her it has an excellent use. My tarot deck fits into it very nicely. I hope she won't be horrified, but I think probably not.

From myself, two calendars: Horse Feathers for the wall at work, and Stallions for my wall at home. ;)

All things considered, a laid back and really calm and pleasant Christmas week. I feel like I'm waiting for something bad to happen, almost.

Comments

[kamodragon.livejournal.com]

So sweet, gifts are the icing on the cake, the friendship and companionship are the true gifts. If I were rich hun, I would buy ya something too... I will just give ya what I have to offer.. friendship and lots of pony hugs.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Friendship and affection are worth far more than any material thing could be. :)

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

*lappy-panty-slobbery smooch right back atcha* :p~~~

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Eee! Sit! Off! Go play! *looks for towel*

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Aww! *maneruffle*

Sounds like a nice mixture of the crafty and the geeky.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes. And no ugly ties or clothes that don't fit. :)

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Yeah, those clocks even make me work for it, and I'm the geek that
everyone calls to set up the surround sound or find out why they
keep getting pop ups. XD

But...it /is/ cool to see the indoor/outdoor temps when the
weather turns to: "God decided you were too warm at -11" @.@

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've been asking for years for a barometer. We have an indoor outdoor thermometer in the kitchen that is permanently installed and came with the house. This thing does neat stuff though like tracking the phase of the moon and predicting weather conditions based on barometric change and temperature/humidity.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

An atomic clock, as in a real atomic clock, or one that listens to time signals either from short-wave or online?

You will actually be able to buy a real atomic clock on a chip in the near future, accurate to 1 second over 300 years. One was developed last year, and it should be another year or two before it is on the market, and it doesn't sound like it will be particularly difficult to make. It will be nice to finally say goodbye to the days when you have to keep resetting internal clocks in computers or digital cameras that have the worst crumby crappy clocks in them that aren't even as accurate as a sundial.

http://optics.org/articles/ole/9/11/1/1

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's the kind that adjusts itself based on a longwave signal from Boulder, Colo. They just call them "atomic clocks" on the package. For practical purposes, though, it's now the most accurate clock in the house. I collect (and wind constantly) spring and weight run clocks. Some of them are more accurate than today's cheap quartz clocks.

I have two digital alarm clocks of the kind that have a battery to keep the time when there's a power failure. One of them gains time at an incredible rate when the power's off, while the other loses at an equivalent rate. Useless junk, both of them. Fortunately, I haven't actually set an alarm clock for years.