Me On A Monday - December 28th

 

Good Morning - I hope that everyone had a good Christmas, in spite of restrictions & recommendations to stay home. 

We had snow fall on Christmas Eve & it continued to snow until Boxing Day - a total of about 30cm of snow, it's very pretty & made for a classic Christmas card look, but now it's enough. 

Another thing we had happen on Christmas Eve day was a main water line in the village broke.  It was about an hour before the water was turned off, which in turned severely damaged the road. The power of water amazed many & thankfully the temperatures were above freezing. Water to all the homes in the village was not turned back on until mid day Christmas Eve day & the all clear to use for drinking and/or cooking wasn't given until Christmas Day about 2ish.  The road through the village is still closed until repairs can be made on Tuesday.  Not far from where the pipe broke is a bridge over the river through town & they had to bring out structural engineers to verify that the main structure of the bridge was not damaged by the water.  Thankfully it received no damage.

Ontario went into a fairly tight lock down on December 26th - which put a full stop to in person Boxing Day shopping.  Southern Ontario will be in a 28 day lock down & northern Ontario a 14 day lock down.  

I am fighting my own urges to follow tradition & have all Christmas put away for New Year's Day, but this year I think my mood requires a little longer for the twinkle & some lingering Christmas magic.  What about you?  Christmas away already or is it still a welcome guest in your home?

And now the rush is to New Year's Eve & New Year's Day, although unlike Christmas, no gatherings allowed.  I am not totally sad to say good bye to 2020, there were some gifts but this year is definitely one I'd like to see in the rear view mirror.  I know that not a lot will magically change January 1st, especially regarding the pandemic & COVID-19, but come on 2021 be the year to shove 2020 into our distance memories.  In a good way that is.

 I won't be posting any wisdom this Wednesday, so I'll take the opportunity now to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Thank you for being here at my blog, I appreciate you taking the time to read & comment.  I raise my glass of cheer to the quick distribution of the vaccine & a renewal of hugs & handshakes.  Please, 2021 be kind.

A Happy New Year

Grant That I May

Bring No Tear To Any Eye

When This New Year

In Time Shall End,

Let It Be Said I've

Played The Friend, Have

Lived& Loved& Laboured Here,

And Made Of It A HappyYear.

                                                                         ... Edgar Guest 

Wisdom - Christmas Under the Tree

 

 

 It's not what's under the tree, but who is around it.

 

my two little fur elves, even being naughty make my heart happy.

Happy Christmas To All

 

Me On Monday - December 21st

Welcome to the official arrival of Winter.  Old Man Winter arrived in this part of the world at 5:02AM.  This is one seasonal guest I am not happy to see; "here's your hat, what's your hurry".

In the midst of all the hustle & bustle of Christmas, I took some time to attend to Eileen's WPSH list.  If you haven't seen the list, you can check it out here at her blog site: Bracelet of Days - Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt

 

These are my first finds for the search:

# 1 A Set of Three: what better 3 than the Three Wise Guys I made in ceramics class many a year ago.

 #5 A Treasured Item: This must be a treasured item because I have never unboxed it. I believe it was bought as a gift but I cannot remember for who.  This year, I'm gifting myself the Christmas mug, with lid.

#9 Weather Conditions: My footprints in freshly fallen snow.  This is so Canadian of me

#10 Work In Progress:  Some of the new items in my already too much, Christmas scrapping stash.  Ideas abound for layouts, just waiting for the photos in the lost Christmas mail.

 #13 Something Beginning With C:  Canadian Geese, on mass at one of our favourite parks.  These Canadian Geese produce a lot of something that also starts with C.

#18 Something You Do Every Day:  Feed my fur girls, it's the first thing I do every morning & last thing at night.  

This is Smoke ensuring I've put the correct food & the right amount into the bowls. Each bowl has a different type of crunch cat food; the one Smoke is eating is the Oral Care to keep their teeth in tip top shape & condition.  Thankfully they love it.

 #20 Marking Time:  At this time of year it's all about the count down to December 25th via the Advent Calendar.  I made this clip board Advent Calendar.  The beautiful crocheted Christmas Tree was from a friend, who's talents are shared with me.

Alt A. In Pieces:  This is Rudy the Reindeer, who for storage purposes is easily disassembled but thankfully goes back together quickly.  This wooden reindeer was made for me by a lady I rode with & I use to take care of her horse when she was away.  She has since passed away, so it could also work for #5.

 

 

Rudy assembled.

 

I'll finish today's post with a quote, that is the opening for my 2020 December Reason Why page. For me, it sums up what I need to remember about Christmas, during lock down restrictions.  Some moments I can focus on the joy in our lives, some moments I struggle like a whiny 3 year old.  I'll say no more ...

"The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives."   

Russell M. Nelson

 

Wisdom - Christmas Gifts

 

 

 

May no gift be too small to give, nor to simple to receive, which is wrapped in thoughtfulness and tied with love.    ...L.O. Baird

 

Me On A Monday - December 14th

 

Greetings & Good Morning All. 

Currently Recovering: Mr Man & I had our Flu Shot. We have been waiting for over two months for our pharmacy (chemist) to receive a new lot of the vaccine.  The need this year was greater than anticipated.  I hate needles so I won't say yeah, but I hate illness & after last year's "Great Sickness" I was quick to sign up for the Flu Shot.  What about you?  Did you get the Flu Shot this year?

Source: Internet

Currently Gifting: My walking friend gave me an ornament that her sister makes for her Esty store.  What do you think?  Cute?

Currently Reading: nothing, I'm waiting for several books to clear quarantine at the library along with two DVDs. 

One of those books is Mr Dickens & His Carol. Which is described as "a charming comic poignant story about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale every written."  It's a good read, I hope, & keeping with the situation ... a fun read.

Source: Internet

As we just celebrated the 3rd Sunday in Advent, I'll leave you with this thought ... Advent means expectation.  Let's think about the expectation of hope as the new COVID-19 vaccines rolls out across the world.

Wisdom Wednesday

 This week's wisdom quote is one I have seen on a few Christmas sites & all take credit for it .. no matter who said it first, I think it's a very good reminder especially since I also read that 6 out of 10 Christmas shoppers are trying to out-gift their friends or family members.  To me that is very sad.

 

It is 

A celebration

Not

A competition

 

 

Me On A Monday - December 7th

 Ho Ho Ho & Good Morning Everyone.  18 days to go until Christmas Day - I am already feeling the need to dig out that pause button. 

Currently Adding:  this new ornament to the horse tree. It's Santa riding a dressage horse - dressage is the equestrian discipline I am part of.

Currently Sorting A Mix Up:  Earlier in the week I helped with the promotion of my church's online bazaar efforts & I sold two baskets - yeah.  One of the ladies that is allowed to go into the church at any time is responsible for getting the sold baskets wrapped & out to people.  I sent her the basket numbers along photos of the requested baskets & offered to deliver to the purchasers.  I ordered #2 Basket & #5 Basket.  So far these are the only two baskets sold.

Basket #2: quilted Christmas tea cozy; Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning & Stash teas, 2 reindeer mugs, a cookie plate & napkins. 

Basket #5: Santa Claus; crackers; quilted stockings; mug, tags, napkins, plate, tags, battery candles & an ornament in a cloth basket.

When I picked up at the church, both baskets were wrapped so I couldn't easily identify what I was given.  Turns out what I delivered was #1 Basket, & #2 Basket not #5 Basket.  The #5 Basket purchaser was NOT happy with Basket #1, so I had to refund her the money, which I was not really budgeting for.  It's for church & I really don't want to upset the lady looking after the baskets, so I've kept.

Basket #1 (which is nice): trivet, 2 mugs, Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning Stash teas, napkins. 

I've taken basket #1 apart & made into three smaller thank you gifts. The teas & mugs one gift; snowman trivet (I'll put chocolate treats on it) & napkins another gift & I'll purchase a plant to put into the tin snowman basket.  There shopping done!

Currently Learning:  I will be playing Zoom bingo this Wednesday morning in the wrap up of my bible study group.  I've never played bingo.  I cannot believe the excitement of some in the group.   

Currently Crafting:  I've made lots of cards & this year I will be sending not only to my family & friends, but 13 to seniors living in a senior's residence who because of the lock downs in their area (near our nation's capital city of Ottawa) won't be able to see family over the holidays.  I've also made 6 cards to send to folks serving overseas in the Canadian military as I did last year.  This is a sampling of some of the cards I have been making.

Currently Very Tired, I am having great difficulty staying asleep - I wake about 3am & begin to toss & turn, then my mind begins racing.  If I try to have a nap in the afternoon, then I cannot fall asleep that night.  I know some of you have shared sleeping woes ... any solutions, does it just work itself out?  I've read that collectively the world population are experiencing more vivid dreams since this pandemic began.  Now this I believe gives rise to the theory of collective energy.  I'll say no more for now.

I hope everyone has a delightful week ahead, for me I have a few more cards to make & reading up on bingo rules ...

Wisdom - The Sarcastic Kind

 

Some people should use gluestick instead of  chapstick.