Whirl into Winter giveaway

And the winner is #162  Theresa N………………..

I’m hosting my first blog giveaway, along with at least 60 other bloggers. 

 Starting at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2009, you will receive an entry if you leave a comment telling me about your favourite Christmas present of all time and why it was your favourite. In your comment please leave a link to your blog or an email address as I need a way to contact you if you are the lucky winner.

The winner will be randomly drawn on January 15th, 2009 at approximately 7:00 p.m. Atlantic time. I’ll announce the winner in an entry on January 15th.

The lucky contestant will receive the following to kick start your quilting for next Christmas:

1. Quick Quilts for the Holiday book by Trice Boerens
2. Three pieces of Diane Richmonds’ 12 Days of Christmas fabric -each piece is 1/2 yard.
3. Three fat quarters of the above noted fabric.
4. One tree mini quilt hanger.

This contest is open to everyone, including international entries, but please only enter once. However, you can double your chance at winning by mentioning my blog in a post on your blog.  Just be sure to leave me a comment linking to your post.

So remember, the contest starts at 12:01 a.m. January 1, 2009 and ends at 7:00 p.m. Atlantic time on January 15, 2009 . You must leave a comment on your favourite Christmas gift of all time. Your comment has to include your email address or a link to your blog.

A big thanks to Debi for organizing the Whirl into Winter giveaway. For the list of other participants click here.

Scaling back for New Year’s Eve

My husband and I have decided to scale back this New Year’s Eve……instead of going to bed at 9:30, we are going to bed at 8:30.   We are such party animals.   Years ago New Year’s Eve meant a night out, expensive tickets and babysitter, a new outfit, a hang over the next morning…………but now it is as it should be.   Quiet and reflective.   Each New Year’s Eve we sit down to a nice dinner at home.   We reflect on the events of the year and wonder what the next year will bring.  We give thanks that each member of our family has survived another year, healthy and spared from any major upset.

When the kids were small, the refrigerator calendar recorded the events of the year.  Doctor appointments, recitals, weddings, and birthdays were all scribbled and preserved on paper.  Now I’ll rely on my blog to help me capture the memories as the months fly by.  As I try to remember the event of 2008, it seems like a blur as it past so quickly. 

My father survived two major heart surgeries.   I gave up my sewing room, so my brother could move in with us for six months.  My son started and ended the year with a new apartment and a new girlfriend.  My daughter and her husband began a new business venture.   After years of my daughter’s nagging and encouragement, I began writing this blog.

Usually my husband works away in the summer spending the winter months at home. 2008 found him away during the winter and home for the summer, completely different from other years.   He was home when our beloved kitty Abby passed away.   Everything happens for a reason, sometimes it takes awhile to understand why.

 

Thank you for reading my ramblings, for taking the time to comment.  May joy and peace surround you and your family in 2009.  To each of you I’m sending this Irish blessing

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

Under pressure

Love the song by Queen, but not the state.   I know better than to rush when I’m quilting.  When sewing the Christmas present quilt for my daughter, I neglected to attach the even feed  foot to my sewing machine.  I have two identical sewing machines and usually I leave the attachment on the machine I’m using but not this time.  Oh no.  And this is the result, a wonky quilt.  Which I will completely take apart and re-do.  It should be ready in time for Christmas 2009.

Christmas is about the presents

especially if you are 8 years old.    When we arrived at Andrea’s Christmas Eve, Emma suggested that she and I go upstairs to play in her room.   As soon as we reached her bedroom, she surprised me with one of my Christmas presents.    Not just any present, but a hand made pin cushion.   According to Andrea, considerable time was spent on choosing the fabric.  Thankfully there was sufficient fabric in the discount bin for Emma to find two matching pieces.   Emma spent a lot of time and effort sewing the cushion by hand.  In my estimation you can’t rush perfection.

Emma then had to find a present for Carl.  She decided on a coffee mug. Not just any mug, the perfect mug. Apparently she has been listening to our tales of Carl’s coffee adventures in the morning.  How he stumbles down the stairs to make my tea and his coffee.  How he is not quite awake when he is pouring his coffee.

So she bought him this special Christmas mug.   The little tree inside is “the stop pouring line”.   

I wear a Friends of Mel bracelet to support my friends who have survived cancer and to honor those that did not.  Emma gave me a yellow (her favourite colour) memory bracelet, to remind me of her.   As if I could ever forget.

Making memories

As a child I loved pop-up books.  My Nanny would buy these for me at the Sally Ann.   When Emma was born I began to collect them for her.   In 2004 I purchased our favourite, Robert Sabuda’s 10th anniversary, special edition of  A Christmas Alphabet.  During the Christmas season, Emma and I would spend hours lifting the flaps to reveal the beautiful pop-ups rendition of the alphabet beneath, reciting each letter beginning with……”A is for Angel”.

 As a family we purchase a lot of books.  I have a stock pile in the tickle trunk, just waiting for the right moment for gifting.    Two years ago I purchased two copies of this book.  One I gave to my parents to keep for my nephew Christopher.  The other copy I put away  for Emma.    The right moment appeared a few weeks back when Emma telephoned and  requested I bring the book with me on Christmas Eve as she missed it.   Last year was her first Christmas in their new home and in the hustle of traveling I simply forgot to bring the book.    Oddly enough, just five minutes before the telephone call I mentioned to my husband that I thought I would give Emma her copy as a Christmas Eve gift.

On Christmas Eve the conversation went like this:

“Thank you Mam, I love it.”

“Emma, now on Christmas Eve, we will always be together.  Even if we are apart, we can read the book at the same time.    When you are grown up and have little girls, you can read the book to them.”

“Because you’ll be gone, right Mam?”

“What do you mean by gone, dear.”

“You know Mam.  You’ll be taking your dirt nap.”

So much for that Hallmark moment.

Merry Christmas

Christmas…….when love is the light that guides our way. And home is the heart’s destination.   From our home to yours, a very Merry Christmas.

One more sleep

Christmas preparations begin in October, barrels through November and thunders through December until the big day.  And each year, I’m still not completely finished.   Yesterday we spent the day in Fredericton as my brother was undergoing day surgery.   Not great for him but good for us as we spent time with my grandson Addison and his wife Kaytlyn.   This also gave me a chance to visit Michaels’ craft store for a few last minute gifts.   So when you throw a 5 hour drive into the Christmas recipe, things get a bit behind…………..that is my excuse for not having everything finished on time this year.

But that is the thing about Christmas, it arrives on December 25th whether we are ready or not.   Last night I stayed up late wrapping presents.  This is a testament to how much I love my grandchildren.  Wrapping is the one thing I despise about the whole gift giving process.    Even gift bags do not relieve my wrapping Grinchiness.   I misplace the scissors, I lose the pens, and I tangle the tape.  I’m a mean one when it comes to wrapping.   The first gifts look quite presentable, as the evening progresses, I leave the present in the store bag, using the receipt as the gift tag.

Years ago my sister-in-law was in university and on a tight budget.  She called apologetically stating that she could not afford to buy gifts but would come to my house and wrap everything.  Glenda wrapped all the out going present, the children’s gifts, even the stocking stuffers. That was the best Christmas gift ever.

The weather outside is frightful

We’ve been hit with 40 cm of snow plus high winds.  With the RCMP telling people to stay off the roads, I heeded the warning and stayed home from work.  This gave me the morning to make a hearty breakfast for Julia and Paul.   Breakfast started with homemade black berry jam , gouda cheese and homemade health bread, followed by bacon, sausage, home fries, eggs and morning glory muffins.    Now they should have enough energy to shovel snow.

This is tiring for a kitty

Porsche is completely exhausted from the flurry of  getting ready for the holiday activities in our home.   The non-stop baking of cookies, two types of bread, apple sauce, stuffing, and free range chicken is just too much for an old cat.    On top of the “let make sure we have enough food in the house, for Julia and Paul” cooking, the weather man is calling for 40 cm of snow (15 inches).    A pot of Olive Garden soup has been bubbling on the back of the stove since early morning.

I need to squeeze in an hour or so of sewing to complete a Christmas gift.  I’ll post the recipes later, for now I’m off to the grocery store to buy fresh fruit and cat food.

Cookie Saturday

Christmas does not need to be expensive, it just takes a bit of thinking and planning.

At least twice a month I buy items at Shopper’s Drug mart collecting Shoppers Optimum points.   Today I purchased the Christmas candy, stocking stuffers, Christmas crackers, many kinds of juice, chocolates, granola, trail mix……….the list goes on and on totalling $88.63.    All I paid was $13.63, the other $75.00 was paid in points.

In our home we use cloth napkins.  My find of the week was a dozen brand new cloth Christmas napkins for $3.50.

The Saturday before Christmas is my time to bake a few different type of Christmas cookies.   If I bake any earlier, there isn’t anything left by Christmas Day.   Home made cookies always taste better than store bought, and are considerably cheaper.  So if you think you are not a baker, here’s the easiest cookie recipe in the world.

Nut butter cookies

1 cup peanut butter (or almond butter)

1 cup sugar

1 egg.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Mix ingredients in bowl. Scoop into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Dot each cookie with a 1/4 of a glazed cherry. (Or two chocolate chips, or a dried cherry)  Bake for 10 minutes.  Be careful as these babies can go from cooked to burnt in seconds.  Cool on a rack.  Hide in the refrigerator to avoid instant consumption.   Serve with a glass of cold milk or a cup of tea, and a cloth napkin.