HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2010!

A brand new start to a new year. I hope that 2010 will bring all my friends and family happiness, good health, new experiences and memorable moments.

The month of December has passed by in a whirlwind since my last blog post.

Following the play, Amber finally had her 16th birthday party celebration a couple of weeks late, having a few of her girl friends over for pizza, a movie and some fun time in the snow.

Darragh, Lindsay, Emily, Serena, Amber, Tanisha, Jen, Marcy, Amy, Hannah

The Christmas decorations were up and the snow kept falling....Jemma came home for the holidays on Dec 20th and we had a few special family days together, playing board games, piecing together a puzzle, going out for coffee and a little bit of last minute Christmas shopping. These are days I savour now with Jem away mostly and Amber in her last few years of high school, I know how fast the months and years go by.
Craig and I don't get out and about very much so were excited to be invited to our friends' Terri and James for a 'bring a dish' get together just before Christmas, where we met lots of new interesting people. Their flourishing tea room business was the perfect venue for a crowd of guests, young and old, mingling and enjoying the lovely festive pre-Christmas atmosphere. They manage to make entertaining look like a doddle even though so much preparation and ongoing work goes into it, such a skilled team :)

Jemma's boyfriend drove up to see us on the 27th and the two of them headed for New York by car early morning on 28th, bundled up in preparation for an exciting 6 day trip. They are staying in the Hilton Hotel and planned to be in Times Square for the 31st. They were originally going to take Brian's little Yorkie 'Romeo' with them. We felt that dragging such a little jumpy dog all the way to the US didn't make a lot of sense, so Craig and I offered to take care of him for a few days. He has settled in nicely and enjoys plenty of running around in the snow and likes to be with one of us at all times, whimpering when we are upstairs and he hasn't mastered stair climbing on bare wooden floors :) He gets super excited when we return if one of is gone for a few hours, goodness knows how he is going to react when Brian gets back after 6 days away!!

Even though I am a cat person, this little dog is seriously cute!

Our new friends Edna and Bo invited us for a Hogmanay celebration on the 31st (two events in the same month!!), Edna is a Scottish lassie. Bo's loves to cook, his speciality is a delicious curry which he made. Joined once again by Terri and James it was a lovely cosy evening. We ended the new year laughing and reminiscing, surrounded by their 5 lovable pets!! Two huge German Shepherds and 3 Siamese kitties. All the animals were so very well behaved (can't say the same about some of the husbands!)

Little Romeo came along and stayed in his own quiet room with a heated kennel and was as happy as Larry. We stayed until the wee hours and being the designated driver I drove home, getting to bed at around 3am!! An unheard of hour in our house where we all get up so early. I did managed to lie in until 9.30 when at minus 12 degrees C, it was getting a little chilly and the wood stove needed some attention. Amber was staying with a friend so the house did seem eerily empty for the first time, a taste of empty nesting !

Well it's now well into the afternoon and Amber is safely home again and I spoke to Jem on MSN and all is well in NY. A storm is brewing again and I am a little worried about their two day return drive home, I will be happier once they are safely back in Nova Scotia again.

This morning I put up my new calendar, illustrated by a friend Judith Glover. (linked on the side of my blog too) I have been displaying her calendar's for the past 3 years in my kitchen and love them. This year it's a very pretty organiser one called ...Spice of Life...

Hazel x