It's just too cold!!

We are experiencing the coldest temperatures here in Nova Scotia for about 25 years and I am not exaggerating!! The past five days have been bitter, with windchill temperatures of -30 degrees. Having now closed off the front room, dining room. The downstairs hallway is only just bearable (when walking on the treadmill or running quickly up the stairs). It is the main topic of conversation amongst the locals from the village post office to the girls at work. Now if another person tells me to 'embrace' the winter I shall scream!!! Embracing winter is really not possible for me, I am definitely a summer person, in fact this picture taken from the 'out of bounds dining room' is currently my computer backdrop to remind myself that Spring will be back in a few months :) .While we are freezing our bums off here in Canada, my friend Kathy living in Sydney is cooking in the Australian heat! In fact so are my Mum and sister in SA and my good friend Keriann in NZ (I am just a smidgen envious I have to admit).

Off the weather topic, Jemma has recently been accepted into two local Universities and is growing up so quickly it's unreal. I popped into her bedroom to check on her and see how her studies were going yesterday and took a snap of her tastefully decorated walls.

The huge mirror is a recent addition, her main Christmas gift. She is contemplating whether or not we should re-paint it or keep it the current bronze colour. Her own dress designs are multiplying now that she has discovered that her creative side is a calming and fun break from the books occasionally!
This is what her room looked like when we bought the house.Grey walls and bottle green carpet - not very girly!My own fingers have been creating a few more felt tinies this weekend with a group of 8 heading off to Texas tomorrow.Signing off now as my fingers are numb and blue and I am struggling to type - I do believe the coffee pot is calling me!

Hazel xx

20 YEARS !!

Just a brief post from me this week as I sit here nice and cosy in my winter woolens. Another snow storm has hit Nova Scotia today, sending down about 15cm's of snow this afternoon! I predict a day at home for the girls tomorrow, as the roads will be too dangerous for the buses to run.

This weekend it is an incredible 20 years since Craig and I set eyes on each other on board an overnight KLM flight from Cape Town to London on Jan 10th/11th 1989! I am a great believer in fate, since neither of us were looking for a serious relationship at the time. It was just meant to be that we were allocated seats beside each other for the duration of the journey. With Craig on his way to England for the first time on a visitors work permit to stay in a shared house in Clapham North (the dodgy end!). I lived south of the City in a village called Purley. Both of us worked long hours in downtown London so our dates were usually after work on a Friday, where we met up at a restaurant or club. On holiday in Greece in May Craig 'popped the question' and we were engaged on the romantic, unspoilt island of Poros. The rest is history as they say and our journey together so far has been exciting, emotional, sometimes stressful, but mostly loving and fun as we have moved from country to country with our two daughters'.

I can't imagine cramming as much into the next 20 years, but who knows?
Hazel x

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

I hope that 2009 brings all my friends and family good health and happiness.

I can hardly believe how quickly 2008 went by. They say that time goes by much faster the older you get and how true that has been for Craig and I over the past 12 months.

Taking down the Christmas decorations and packing them away for another year is something that I usually do alone and I find it a little sad I admit. This year I asked the girls if they would help me as they were at home and we had a chuckle at some of their hand made ones from years ago like the gold 'reindeer and sleigh', a masterpiece of margarine tubs and paper mache, carefully copied from the English Children's TV program Blue Peter, as well as a few hand sewn creations too.

We have closed off the front room for the remaining winter months making it feel much cosier and warm in the family room adjoining the kitchen. Craig also surprised me by painting the front hallway one afternoon before I came home from work. I had been procrastinating for the longest time, always finding an excuse to delay it even though I am usually quite happy to have a paint brush in my hand. The mustard yellow has now been painted a Dulux shade called 'combed cotton'.

Things will return back to normal tomorrow when school resumes after the 2 week holiday. Everyone up at 6am, packed lunches, fighting over the hairdryer and a mad rush to get out the door and on board the school bus by 12 minutes past 7!!

This coming Saturday it will be exactly 20 years since Craig and I met each other! We celebrate it as our anniversary every year, instead of our wedding date which is sometime in June. As I am scheduled to be working on the 10th Craig took me out for lunch at a new restaurant called 'The Tempest' a week early. The lunch was delicious and I was particularly impressed by the little 'towel pods' found in the washroom. As I had my camera in my purse I took a quick snap of them!Hazel x