A White December

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

A whole two seasons later means my blog news update is well overdue to say the least.
I last wrote during the summertime as we were settling into our new home, reunited as a family of four. We explored the local area and made the most of all the sunny days living close to the sea.  
The cooler days came along and quite quickly turned into white winter ones, with early snowfalls in November and temperatures way below zero into the double digits.
Jemma had to return to South Korea by the end of August and I do miss her so much. We got used having her around for many months enjoying her company. 
Amber is just 25 minutes away by car which is nice.  She has been immersed in studying, working and socialising, so we have had an empty nest again - which is how it should be when you have raised two independent daughters who are quite capable of living their own lives.
My Etsy shop kept me busy throughout August, September and October with continued orders for wedding cake topper birds regularly coming in. I introduced mobiles back into my shop and started taking care of two primary school children for a few hours a week, giving some structure to my days.

 Cloud and bird mobile - Custom made for a nursery or playroom

Although my new home does not give me the inspiration that our old Victorian farm house did with its quirky character, I always look out for DIY projects and ideas to work on when I get a break from sewing. 
I had been looking out for a large old picture frame for some time, checking in thrift stores and the sale ads in the local newspaper but couldn't find one large enough for what I had  in mind.  I wanted to make a statement chalk board for my kitchen and had seen a few on Pinterest.  One suggestion was to use door trim to construct a frame, which I decided was a good alternative to try.  

First I bought two lengths of door trim from the local hardware store and a large enough piece of lightweight backing board measuring 50" by 25".  Craig used a manual saw to cut the door trim for me, using a saw frame to get all cuts at a perfect 90 degree angle to form the frame, which was then glued to the  board and clamped together to dry.  The board had been painted prior to this with chalkboard paint in black found at the local craft store, it went on easily and needed three coats for a nice smooth finish. 
I am pleased with the end result and it cost under $20 in total!

Now all I need is for Jemma to come home and write a fancy menu for me in her perfect handwriting to make a simple but effective piece of art in my kitchen. In the meantime I shall have some fun scribbling on it! 

 This week we have Amber home for the holidays, which is lovely.  I get to stock the pantry again with plenty of delicious food, decorate the Christmas tree, sip a little red wine, dabble in some baking and smile sweetly as she tries her very hardest to convince me that we really do need a small dog in our lives!!  This would, apparently make her want to come home so much more often.
Let's just say, I am still very much on the fence on that subject.  

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

Happy Holidays!

Mid morning on Saturday and I am all alone as Craig and the girls have gone into his office to do some secret 'stuff' before Christmas.

Feeling a little tired after a late, but fun evening, which consisted of Craig's office Christmas party followed by a visit to our friends up at the lake.
I was so excited when a parcel arrived this week from my good friend Keriann all the way from New Zealand! The parcel included a lovely letter, a couple of local newspapers from the village of Havelock North, where I used to live. Also some pretty tissues from Cath Kidston and cute Christmas napkins (pictured above), which I love. The little tissue wrapped surprise has gone under the tree to be opened on the 25th. Such a thoughtful friend who knows my taste exactly. Very sweet Cath Kidston tissues sitting amongst my cookie cutters!
Christmas eve is just around the corner and we will be visiting our next door neighbours for the evening. We all get on so well as families, it does help that the children are the same age. Of course just being a stones throw away it certainly has its advantages at this time of year especially. The snow is still quite deep and the temperatures below freezing almost every day.
Archie our cat is a bit depressed, which I may have mentioned before? He sits looking out of the window with such a forlorn look on his face and is not eating very much. Occasionally he will venture outside a few feet away from the back door, only to do a swift about turn and come rushing indoors with his 'crazy wild cat look'
My shopping is all done and hidden away, with just the wrapping and labelling to do. Lots of small gifts as usual, to compensate for having no relatives around. Each year I get more nervous of getting it right as far as gifts are concerned, anyone with teenage children can relate I am sure to the ever changing fashions and trends, this weeks purple could be next weeks red! I hold on to all my receipts very carefully, just in case :)
My own wish list for material presents this year reads as follows; warm pj's, warm sweaters, warm fluffy socks, warm gloves, warm..... Actually I will be happy just to see happy faces on the day and get a few hugs from my family (even if some of them are only on facebook)
Sunday evening.
I decided to paint the lounge :) A sort of spur of the moment thing! It got finished this afternoon with Craig's help and I am really pleased with it. Previously the wall were a dark dusky pink which was ok, but looking at it for our third winter I decided a change was due. Now a warm cream with just enough contrast against the white ceiling. No longer confined to having pink soft furnishings I can make some nice new cushions for the spring. No photo to show yet as it is now too dark.Happy Christmas!Hazel xx