Merry Christmas everyone. I just wanted to say thank you very much to all of you who take a moment out of your day to stop by and especially for all of the wonderful comments. You all have made my foray into blogging, extremely enjoyable and satisfying. I have met such wonderful new friends, and I look forward to continuing on in 2010. Have a wonderful, very merry Christmas!
I just love this tin. Most of the Christmas ones I come across have the idyllic sleigh in the field scene, which don’t get me wrong, is really nice. It’s just that this one is so different, I instantly grabbed it (thrift store) and I really, really love it. Who wouldn’t love a lighthouse all dressed up for Christmas? Well, we are in a hotel, halfway home. It’s been a long, but fun, two and a half weeks and now we are ready to get back. Unfortunately the weather is starting to get bad. It’s very rainy, and it’s starting to freeze, which doesn’t mix very well with driving. So, off to quickly pack up and head out to try to beat the storm. I have so many pictures and things to tell you about, and Christmas is right around the corner, so I have a lot of last minute things to catch up on when we get home. I hope to pop in quickly tomorrow and show you a project that I have been working on. Let’s hope the weather holds and we can get back home tonight. Hope everyone is doing well, and getting ready for a calm, peaceful Christmas.
This is what I see when I walk out of the house here at Hubby’s parents. Isn’t it gorgeous? I just love brick and stone buildings and these two are beautiful. There is a huge field out back and just before supper, we all went outside for a little footy. Several things I discovered, our little girl is absolutely brilliant at soccer. She can dribble the ball like nobody’s business, even in wellies. Secondly, wearing cowgirl boots does nothing for my already seriously lacking athletic ability. Oh well, it was tons of fun and we all worked up an appetite. Still no internet here, so I apologize for not replying to comments etc. It’s all I can do to come over to the library and read my e-mail and get an occasional post up before the babe protests too much at me being gone. Hope you are all having a great week. I can’t wait to catch up with everyone soon.
I love living on the prairie, but the one thing I do miss most is the lush, green surroundings of just about anywhere else. Everything is so different here. It’s rainy (which I love), there is still so much green around (though I only managed to show pictures with more browns), and there is an abundance of wildlife and beauty. There are wild mushrooms growing everywhere. I am waking up to loads of different bird song. I can feel the moisture in the air, and I love it. Hubby’s parents live in what used to be an old military academy and the grounds are gorgeous. They said that there are often deer, even wild turkeys running around out back. Also, lots of woodchucks, tons of birds and lately, there have been sightings of a coyote in the woods. Yesterday while everyone else was taking a nap or watching football, I put the babe in the sling and my mother-in-law and I took a nice long walk. The weather has been in the fifties here, so a huge change from the below freezing weather at home. It’s been nice to be outside, and I have been trying to be out whenever I can. Anyway, the walk, it was gorgeous. Beautiful stone and brick buildings everywhere, even a gorgeous brick sidewalk. I couldn’t take the camera yesterday as it’s really hard to take photos with the babe strapped to my front. She fancies herself a photographer which makes for an interesting time. I promise I will take more photos when I’m out with Hubby so he can carry her. The only downside was that on our way back, we spotted a coyote across the street in front of a house, so I am a little nervous about being out with small children and I probably won’t go walking anywhere unless Hubby is along. I still don’t have regular access to the internet which is making posting, reading, commenting, even e-mail a bit of a problem. Hopefully that will be resolved soon. Can’t wait to show you some more of the views here. Hope you are all having a fantastic week.
We’re having a great time away, but this is the first time we’ve had any internet, so hoping to be around a little bit more this next week. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.
Sometimes all you need to make a cold, dreary day better, is some cheerful wellies. Well,tomorrow we are off on an adventure, to visit Hubby’s family for a couple of weeks. We haven’t gotten away on a vacation for quite a while, so I am really looking forward to some family time. It should be fun to see some other parts of the country as well. I will continue to post while we are gone, though not quite as regularly as normal. I’ve got a full day of laundry, packing, and baking before we leave so, I must run. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.
One reason that I love shopping at the thrift store is that there is so much character in some of the things you find. My mom found these at the thrift store and bought them for me. Aren’t they fantastic? They are from the 50’s I believe and look at how sparkly they are. I absolutely love them, they are so much prettier than those dull gray nonstick pans I have at the moment. 
So out with the new (nonstick) and in with the old I say. I’ll pass mine along to someone who wants them, and then every time I make muffins or a loaf of something yummy, I will be able to do it in a fun, pretty, sparkly pan.
This year for our tree, we are using only handmade ornaments. The kids have loved working on all kinds of different ornaments. Our oldest made this snowman. This little guy is full of fantastic details, a pointy 3d nose, a separate thumb on his mitten hand. Such wonderful detail and all on a snowman that’s only about an inch tall. I’m so proud of my kids and I love that they have such creative imaginations. It just really hit me today that we only have 3 days until we leave on a trip to visit some family for the next couple of weeks. I have tons to do, and am just hoping that it all gets done. I am looking forward to being able to relax a little bit though. I also wanted to let you know that after a few inquiries about how I made my vintage button heart, I made a tutorial here. Hope you guys have lots of fun making them. Have a fantastic day, I better get back to the laundry and packing.
Whenever we go to Whole Foods we stock up on some foods from the bulk bin. I like that we are not paying for branding or packaging, which means a better price and less packaging. I hate using the little plastic bags to put the oatmeal etc. in though and have been meaning to make some bags for a while. I’ve had this idea floating around my head for a while to just put the PLU number right on the bag so that I don’t have to use any extra disposable stuff like the ties etc. This works well if you normally get the same items, and make sure that the store keeps the same numbers, which they usually do. If you don’t normally get the same items, you could always make the bags and just use a piece of masking tape right on the bag to write the number down, or use the cloth bags and use the store ties to write it on. Either way there is still less waste than using the plastic bags. So, long story short, I made this up and love it. This size bag holds approximately 5 1/2 cups of oatmeal (I didn’t have enough raisins to fill it). With six of us, I will need to make bigger bags for things such as oatmeal, rice etc. I made this with fabric and bias binding that I bought at the thrift store for pennies. The only thing I suggest, is that no matter how bright and cheerful you make the bag, make the tag on it in a light colour so that the cashier does not have a hard time finding the code. Have fun and enjoy the tutorial here. I’d love to know if you make some. These bags are also great for storing anything from rubber bands to buttons, just embroider the tag accordingly.
