Surprise!
Furrylittlegnome is back! Sorry for the hiatus, folks, but gnome had a very busy 2014. She will start to share her stories with all of you soon. As you can see from the photos below, gnome was feeling very crafty last year. Take a look at her 2014 completed needlepoint projects!
An unexpected notification showed up on furrylittlegnome’s dashboard a few days ago. Journey Around The Globe (a wonderful travel blog) has nominated this teeny little blog of mine with The Lighthouse Award! It actually still amazes gnome that you all read what is posted here and to have a fellow blogger take the time to nominate it for any type of recognition is just plain nice. Thank you, Globe Runner!!!
As with all nominations, there are certain criteria for accepting awards:
•Display the Award Certificate on your blog.
• Write a post and link back to the blogger that nominated you.
• Inform your nominees of their award nominations.
• Share three ways that you like to help others.
• Nominate as many bloggers as you like.
Answering 3 ways furrylittlegnome (and the person behind furrylittlegnome) likes to help others is hard to answer…
1. Gnome has the gift of instantly making someone laugh when they’re in a rut or had a bad day and she knows exactly when to make it happen.
2. Furrylittlegnome has a good ear. Not only does gnome have super-sonic hearing, but she is a good listener and gives frank advice.
3. Gnome has been fortunate enough to travel outside of her comfort zone and because of this, she is able to provide a different prospective on various topics to others who have not been able to visit different parts of the USA or the rest of the world.
Below are five blogs that furrylittlegnome would like to nominate for this award. These five choices put furrylittlegnome to shame. Their talent and content is amazing!
Sorry for the hiatus, ladies and gentlemen, but furrylittlegnome has been busy as of late. If she isn’t wining and dining with fellow gnomes, she is trying to stick with her New Year’s resolution of cranking out one needlepoint project a month – a resolution that just might not be attainable. Yes, she is still on track – two have been completed, but her fingers have taken a beating…
Then there’s the Spain trip in just four weeks, and frankly, furrylittlegnome is not at all prepared. A trip to her local Barnes & Noble bookstore finally occurred and gnome obtained her coveted Rick Steves guide-book. Mr. Steves has never steered furrylittlegnome wrong. With the book in hand and a saved program on TiVo of “The Majesty of Madrid” which aired on public television a few weeks ago, furrylittlegnome might begin to piece together a list of things to do.
While looking at her map from DK Eyewitness Travel, to get a way of the land, gnome is growing uneasy. She cannot pronounce anything. One must remember, gnome hails from Vermont – where the second language of choice is French. Simple words in Spanish, like street, “caille,” are throwing her off.
Not many people in gnome’s circle have been to Spain. However, the few that have visited have given tips and assured gnome she will be able to find her way through Madrid (especially to the Salamanca district where she will spend her allotted time for shopping). Over and over again, furrylittlegnome has been told that “dinner is late and the wine is great!”
Of course, gnome will visit the Museo del Prado, have Tapas, “sample” chocolate con churros and visit the royal palace to see if there will be a glimpse of Spain’s Prince Felipe. Furrylittlegnome also hopes to see is a bull-fight. For real.
A day trip to the middle of the country to a world heritage site called Toledo will also occur, but there will be another free day. Should gnome stay in Madrid or fly somewhere close by? Barcelona to the East? Seville to the Southwest? This is where the planning comes in. However, there is a very important fact that remains – is it wrong that furrylittlegnome is actually excited for her flight home from Spain – a flight she purposely made to stop in London so she could spend some time in her favorite international city?
The temperature and wind chill was below zero for some this morning, but that took second billing of what is to come. America’s Northeast is gearing up for another “weather event” – Winter Storm Pax. Depending on one’s location, some will see rain or a significant ice or snow event. Unfortunately, for furrylittlegnome, Boston is only expecting three inches of fresh snow before turning over to some frozen precip.
While tomorrow morning’s commute is expected to be rough, today’s lunch time stroll looks picturesque under a bright blue sky!
Sorry for the absence, friends, but furrylittlegnome has been busy. In between work, appointments, play and needlepointing her little hands away, she has been thinking about this year’s foreign adventure.
Will gnome return to England and revisit The Tower of London?
Will furrylittlegnome go back to Paris and stand under this?
Will gnome try to learn a little bit of German and revisit Odeonsplatz in Munich?
The answer to all of these questions is no.
Eight weeks. That is all gnome has to learn basic Spanish! She will keep you posted.
Last weekend. TD Garden. Boston.
That is where furrylittlegnome and fellow gnomes spent their Saturday watching Olympic hopefuls grace the ice pinning their hopes on flawless four minute performances at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The goal? A win or second place finish would almost certainly guarantee a spot on the 2014 Olympic team travelling to Sochi in just a few weeks.
As much as furrylittlegnome wanted to see double axels, triple toe loops, triple salchows and all of the combination spins that make one wonder how a skater is not completely dizzy afterwards, there was much to see off the ice!
Two time gold medalist, from the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, Dick Button, was spotted signing copies of his new book “Push Dick’s Buttons”. 
Although, Brian Boitano is 5’11” or 1.8 meters (according to a quick google search), his costume from the 1988 winter games in Calgary where he took home the gold for Team USA looked, well, rather small. 
Some Olympic hopefuls, like Stephen Reynolds, was gracious and kindly signed autographs and took photos with fans. Spoiler alert! We won’t see him in Sochi.
Smaller and more intimate than one would think, the TD Garden was the perfect place to host this event. There really did not seem to be a bad seat in the house. Before the “Pairs” and “Ice Dancing” events took place, the pack of gnomes were able to watch the men’s “singles” practice. We were treated with all of those skating terms listed above and more!
With quite a few connections to New England, particularly The Skating Club of Boston, the crowd seemed to roar when the local skaters took to the ice. Furrylittlegnome’s assessment? We cannot knock figure skating as not being a “sport”. Television does not do it justice. The speed. The preciseness. The agility and strength. All of these things were put on display for everyone in the audience.
So, who will represent Team USA in Figure Skating at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi? A list can be found here.
A couple of weeks ago, furrylittlegnome made the trek to “The Big Apple” for culture, holiday decoration displays and for some much needed shopping. Her first stop was to 5th and 82nd. The destination? The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
There were a few exhibits on the agenda but the most impressive (that could be photographed) was this one: The Temple of Dendur.
Housed at The Met since 1978, The Temple of Dendur dates back to 15 BC. Made of sandstone, the front gate and temple were removed from their original site, in the Egyptian town of Aswan on the Nile River, in 1963, as they faced destruction from the construction of a dam. Egypt presented the temple as a gift to the American people, represented by Jacqueline Kennedy, in 1965. 
Inside the temple, carvings depict Emperor Augustus – a distant nephew of Julius Caesar – with several gods. More information can be found in an article titled, “Temple of Dendur Opens Front Porch” published in The New York Times in January of 1994: “If its relief carvings have been much studied, scholars have long been interested in a group of other, unplanned decorations in the pronaos: its graffiti. The first, scratched into the soft sandstone, was written in a spidery demotic Egyptian script and dates from 10 B.C., 5 years after the temple was built. Other graffiti include Greek Coptic Christian inscriptions from A.D. 400, when the temple was used as a church, and the chiseled inscriptions of 19th-century travelers who left their names in the building.”
Happy New Year, friends!
Plane. Train. Bus. Car. There are ample modes of transportation for furrylittlegnome to choose from to get to “The Big Apple” this week. Pre-September 11th, flying was her first choice. The shuttle into LaGuardia was less than an hour. From there, it was a quick cab or chauffeured ride into Midtown. Gnome and a family friend would spend fifteen hours shopping and eating at the shops and restaurants of New York’s elite – back when dining at Tavern on the Green wasn’t for tourists.
Then, gnome went through a phase when she and a friend would take the cheap, Chinese bus that left South Station on the hour and ended up in the bowels of Manhattan – on the outskirts of the Lower East Side and on the edge of Chinatown. “The Lucky Star” bus was only $15 one way (it still might be). Looking back at it now, it was like being a can of sardines with the added detriments of being extremely unsafe and so sketchy.
Then, the Limoliner came into furrylittlegnome’s life. A limousine on big wheels, with a capacity of only twenty eight passengers, is the only way to describe it. Using Boston’s Back Bay Hilton and New York’s Hilton as its destination points, the Limoliner is comfortable, clean and has all of the bells and whistles one could imagine. The spacious black leather seats are roomy for gnome and also recline to be able to nap comfortably. (Unlike domestic flights these days, the Limoliner even provides a pillow). An on board attendant serves each passenger with food and beverages. Catering to business folks, there is WiFi, power outlets and actual work stations.
Furrylittlegnome will be on New York’s Upper East Side for eight hours. She will fill you in with all of the details about this quick adventure later this week.
One of the best things about the month of December is not the beginning of the winter season or furrylittlegnome’s birthday but the smell of Christmas trees! Originating in Germany in the sixteenth century, the tradition of a Christmas tree has evolved over time. Early Christmas trees were lit with candles. The ornaments were not made of glass or plastic but were actually apples and nuts. The most common Christmas trees are Balsam Firs and Fraser Firs – the latter found in the Eastern United States.
In America, the most photographed “Tannenbaum” – German for “Fir Tree”, is located in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. 
While reading the news online this morning, furrylittlegnome learned some interesting facts. While 88% of Americans will have a Christmas tree in their homes this season, 83% of these Christmas trees will be artificial or “fake”!
The tree below made its way home yesterday. From a tree farm in Colchester, Vermont, this Fraser Fir cost $35 and is seven feet tall. It will be decorated later today and stay that way until Epiphany.
In Brookline, Massachusetts, this Christmas tree came from a tree lot in town. Priced at $45, this six feet tall Balsam Fir is also from Vermont!
In Dracut, Massachusetts, we find this decorated Fraser Fir that stands at seven feet! The price for buying this Christmas tree at a local garden center? Twenty-two dollars! A steal!
As is custom in furrylittlegnome’s family household, the artificial Christmas tree, that is seven feet tall, is erected Thanksgiving afternoon. This year, gnome’s four year-old niece took charge and with the aid of her grandfather’s height, she decorated the entire tree herself! We can blame gnome’s brother for the artificial tree due to an allergy at an early age…
It has been a busy year for furrylittlegnome’s fingers. She is waiting for two projects to come back from the finisher, but take a look at what she has made in 2013!
furrylittlegnome 