Christmas 2008

Here we are, another Christmas over. It was a quiet and peaceful time for the four of us. We got to spend 5 amazing days with Ginette and she's back in New Brunswick safe and sound. She took Puss back with her. We already miss him (he was with us for 2 months).

Luc the candy master. For as long as I can remember, Luc puts out the candies Christmas Eve afternoon. Ginette is watching still in her PJ's.

Above and below - our traditional Christmas Eve lobster supper. (I know, I look sick but it's not just the looks, I was and still am sick - with a cold).


Dave took a whole bunch of pictures while we opened our gifts but here's 4 pictures for you.

Ginette - happy with her new breadmaker.

Yours truly with a wonderful calendar gifted by my daugher. It's all about Pagan traditions. I love it.

Dave with his new drill.

Luc hoping to Rock-On.

Puss enjoying the wrapping paper.

Mrs. Sick Eyes again. Not sick enough that I could'nt have a strawberry ''something'' drink with the rest of the family. We were watching a movie - Alvin and the Chipmunks. Years ago we started the tradition of watching a movie together after we finished opening our gifts.

One of my many beautiful gifts - a Kitchen Aid Dutch Oven.

I still have loads of pictures to show you... stay tuned.

Hope everyone had a joyful and peaceful Christmas.

Camping

With no electricity we have to make do with what we have - our wood furnace is hot air so the heat comes up gravity so that was not too bad and we had to go dig in the camping supplies to find our little propane stove. Seems that all we did all day was being lazy on the couch and eat. We had fun but we sure appreciated seeing the power come back on tonight at 6 p.m.

Category 1

At 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon it started to snow and by 6 p.m. it was a full-blown snow storm and the wind had picked up. There were all sorts of weather warnings on the radio and television about the heavy winds and warning people to stay in. This morning we woke up to a power outage (most of the province was in the dark). In our neck of the woods we only got power back at 6 p.m. tonight.

Environment Canada has classified last night's winds as a Category 1 Hurricane.

(Pictures taken from CJLS Radio website)

Finding comfort

I am finding more and more comfort in my own home. When I'm home, I never want to leave. Our home is a very low maintenance, organic farmhouse (inside and outside) and it fits our lifestyle perfectly. I am now on vacation for two weeks. Allowing me some down-time with my husband and two wonderful children... where else but ''at home''.

While waiting for our daughter's arrival Friday evening I wrapped christmas gifts.

One of my favorite decoration - very rustic nicely displayed on my driftwood cabinet that my husband made for me 15 years ago.

Saturday morning was so nice and sunny outside. Look at my dormant veggie beds.


Tonight we are in the middle of a snow/freezing rain storm with winds up to 100km/hr. Not a beautiful site out there but it sure is nice and toasty inside.

All four of us spent the entire day together. Did I mention how lucky I am and how much I appreciate my small family. In this picture we had just returned from Frenchy's and needed a small snack to hold us over til supper.

After supper and when everyone was well relaxed and rested we made shortbread cookies. I rolled, Ginette was the cutter and Luc was the baker.


And lastly I want to leave you with a cute picture of Puss.

Hope everyone is keeping warm tonight.

Did you think I forgot...

... the tree !!!!! Nope, it's been up since Monday evening but I kept forgeting to take a picture and posting it.

The nutcrackers have been standing at attention for over a week.

And this snowman light keeps us company every evening.

Hope everyone's decorations are coming along fine. I know, I know, I am quite bubbly and jolly when it comes to Christmas but I am fully aware that Christmas is not for everyone and I do respect that.

Now I must start my christmas baking list. I know for sure it will include pies, shortbread cookies, fudge, and the christmas cake that I seem to be the only one enjoying but that's OK, more for me.

Wishing everyone a good and happy weekend.

Visitor... of the best kind

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately but I've been busy - the good kind of busy that is. My niece visited from Ontario last week. We did as much as we could possibly do in just a few days but we still wanted to keep it calm and stress free (only stress involved was when I drove Colleen back to the train station in Halifax and my usual route to enter the city was under construction and I was faced with an unfamiliar detour, but everything turned out perfect and we got to the train station in plenty of time - honest, that was the only stress of the week).

We ate lobster.

Went for a walk in the trails where I take my daily walks on the university campus where I work.

Birchdale Lake

Entering at the gate...

Having our lunch in one of the cabins...

Relaxing in the chapel. My SIL in the middle with the hunter's vest. Birchdale is way in the middle of the forest and it's hunting season around here.

Other stuff we did but forgot about the camera :
- ate rappie pie.
- went to Frenchy's.
- visited with family members.
- almost wet our pants laughing because Puss ate Colleen's Peace Tea teabags (we think they contained catnip).
- drank herbal tea.
- knitted (I think this might have been one of my favorite things we did together).

Thank you so much Colleen for a wonderful week.

They said snow...

... and that's what we got ! Beautiful surprise when I got up at 7:30 a.m. this morning. When we went to bed last night, the lawn was green. It's amazing how quickly snow can accumulate.




I baked a flourless chocolate cake this afternoon. Very rich but delicious. More like a torte. We each had a slice with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Farmhouse Decor

(Edited to add - please let me explain what I mean by "arts and craft" - I don't particularly like the crafty trends that go around every 6 months, that when you walk in the home it smells like a craft store. That's what I mean when I say arts and crafts. I love "Art" - painting, pottery, sculpture, quilting, knitting, etc. and if you walked into our home you would notice that I do in fact love these things. I also want to mention here that this is "my style" and may not be for everyone. Each individual is unique and your home should reflect that).

I have found the perfect description of the style we try and look to achieve at our home. I am not so much shabby chic and most definitely not arts and craft country not even French country (although we have some elements of this style in our home). I love, love, love stuff from the past, the older the better. Nothing perfect. In the text below I've indicated in bold the words that describe me 100% and the most important is in bold and caps.

(Text and picture taken from here).



Present in Country Farmhouse design are elements of rustic style interior design . While these interior design styles may vary a great deal, the one common theme is the idea of incorporating the natural elements and environments of the area to create a cozy, relaxed decorating style. As such, there are no hard and fast rules as to what you can and cannot do in country farmhouse style design, and in fact, the items you use in your country farmhouse themed home may differ from the pieces used by someone in any other part of the country, because the design should be influenced by the natural elements in your area. Some basic things you can expect to find in country farmhouse design are:

• Wooden floors covered with colorful throw rugs
• Furniture covered in cotton or other natural fabrics
• Antiqued metals
• Floral patterns
• Large pieces of furniture made of wood

While these are some common things associated with country farmhouse décor, they’re not the rule – anything that is non-fussy and cozy goes. If there is one rule to country farmhouse design though, it is accessorize, accessorize, accessorize! Knick knacks, pillows, wall art – these are the finishing touches that bring a country farmhouse home together. Look for things at the local flea market, show off your old family heirlooms. Don’t worry about anything matching – in fact, the less matching there is, the more your home will have that charming, lived-in feel you’re trying to create. Your home décor should evolve over time as you pick up more and more pieces to add to your rooms. In this instance, clutter is a virtue and will only add to the appeal of your country farmhouse style décor.

Rainy, Spoony Ring

This picture pretty much sums up the weekend weather wise. We had heavy winds and rain ALL day today. Friday and Saturday I was in meetings in Halifax and we had rain Saturday and Friday was foggy. Actually, it feels like Spring.

Life has been so occupied for me lately that I haven't had time to really get into the Christmas spirit yet but I think that now I might be more apt to start thinking about Christmasy things.

In between meetings on Friday I slipped into this store to buy part of my birthday present (Dave gave me money for my birthday especially for this special spoon ring (below). It's custom made by this fabulous artisan from Halifax.

With some of the money left from my gift, I bought this CD at this store. I don't go to Halifax often but when I do I need to find time to go at this little store.

Happy week to everyone !

Acorns

In one of my latest post I mentioned that if I had acorns I would fill that little green pitcher/vase that I found at Frenchy's lately but that acorn trees are very rare in our neck of the woods. Well after a brief encounter with my memory I remembered my brother telling me about an acorn tree next to the church in Corberrie (20 minute drive). So off we go mid-morning today and yes we found said tree right smack in the middle of the cemetery. So this was a double treat for me - finding acorns and visiting a cemetery. I've mentioned here a few times before how much I love walking around in cemeteries. It gives me such peace and comfort.

After the past couple of weeks enjoying mild weather today was not mild at all. In fact it was so cold that I needed my winter hat that I knitted in July.

We managed to find just the right amount of acorns but I think the squirrels got to them before we did...