My Everything Corner

If I had to pick a theme for how my Christmas tree has developed over the years, it would be Woodland. The following photos are of a few cute things, but there are all sorts of things in that tree. I think it's a six foot tree, and it is jam packed, but I still manage to find more decorations for it each year. It took me well over 3 hours to get all the ornaments in place this year, not including the lights. That may sound like a ridiculous amount of work, but for me, it is a special tradition. I put on the Christmas tunes - I especially love listening to Josh Groban's "Noel," and I go round and round the tree until it looks amazing. There are some very special ornaments that I spend time with, ornaments that hold memories of people and pets that are no longer able to celebrate the holidays with me. These memories  are the main reason I do not just pull a bag over the tree, leaving it ready to toss up next Christmas. Not everyone agrees with me on the 'amazing...

I am up to my ears in sweets! Gingerbread houses, (made from graham crackers) and all kinds of different candy; I've baked shortbread, sugar cookies, and gingersnaps.  Then there are all those squares I bought to support our school's fundraiser. If we eat these treats at a reasonable rate, (which some of us will not) we'll still be eating them in July. It really is a lot of fun though, and my 12 year old boy is fairly certain this is what Heaven is all about. I hope you are all enjoying your baking and your giving of baking and your eating of the baking and mostly that you have a very Merry Christmas!

I've got our home into full Christmas swing. I've really enjoyed making Christmas cards and they are on their way.  Next is to wrap the gifts and then into the kitchen for my favourite part, the baking!     I love this tree more every year.  It took me over 4 hours to put it together and I had help putting the lights into it this time.  There are so many memories in its branches, and we add more every year.   I can hardly wait until school is out for the year, and I can cuddle up with my family for Christmas movies and games. Even when we are all off in our separate corners doing our own things, I love the feeling a full house gives me.   This picture was taken just before sunrise.  Every morning, this time of year, I am so lucky to have a fantastic view.  

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season.  For me, it's all about the preparation.  I love to bake, so I do a lot of it and then wonder I made so much.  I do this every, single year.  No one complains though, but as Mother, I know we are eating way too much sugar.   I love how warm and cozy my home feels all decked out with winter and Christmas decor.  I dread taking it down.  I really have to find a way to make my home feel the same way for the remainder of the winter months. My amaryllis bloomed a few days after Christmas, but that's okay.  Isn't it gorgeous?!  Also included is a picture of my tree and the light over my dining table.  I really love decorating both every year. The last photo is of my wee black cat, Sooty in a very weird pose.  Even my other kitty seems to be looking on in disbelief as to how he got his body into such a contorted position. Happy New Year Everyone!

The Christmas clean up didn't go as smoothly as it does every other year.  Frank put up a fight.  The look on his face when I said it was time to get packed up until next year, was one of pure confusion. I explained to him how seasonal decorations worked and he went on and on about how I could be so insensitive and prejudice over a bit of attire. "If I hadn't been wearing a red and white striped toque with a sweet, little, matching bow tie, I'll bet you would easily consider keeping me out year round.   You are far too hung up on the color thing. Look around, your home could use a little pop of color; all beiges, browns and grays.  Someone might think you're depressed. I know I'll be depressed if you shove me in box for the nicest part of the year.  If I agree to stay in here, I'll never get to see the leaves, the green grass, feel the warmth from the sun. But go ahead, I'm obviously powerless to stop you.  If you're comfortable being a bully, ...

I am beginning the new year with a flu.  A common, I'm weak, I don't feel like moving, I should just go back to bed, flu. Blech. It wouldn't be all that big a deal really, but I am going to miss a very special celebration of our Dear Uncle Mike turning 100 years old.  I am relying on my husband to take lots of photos and I may even ask my daughter to take her video camera.  I could go on and on about Uncle, but he would hate that. Suffice to say, he still lives on his own, cooks, and plants a garden.  He's always up for a chat, no matter what the subject.  He's downright friendly, and who doesn't like that? I wrote that first paragraph on New Year's Day, but I didn't have the energy to finish it.  I ended up in bed most of that day.  On the second, I started to feel quite a bit better and today I am almost completely back to normal.   I do regret missing Uncle's party, but the husband and daughter pulled through and captured the memor...

I did not think I would be doing another post until after Christmas, but when my daughter decided to make everyone in the family a special card, and I fell in love with all of them, well, I just had to share them.  She asked me to pick a favourite and I really couldn't. You'll see what I mean... I shared this post HERE for Mosaic Monday.  Thank-you so much Judith for hosting!

After spending the last two days cooking and hosting, it will be nice to take a break before getting together with our other side.   Although it was fun, and I was well prepared so everything ran smoothly, it still tired me out.   Sitting down at the computer and having plenty of time to type up a few words and play my part in a link party while sipping my tea, is a wonderful thing.  While some people have not even started their holiday obligations, mine are nearly half through.   My munchkins go back to school on the fourth, so that leaves me with plenty of time to snuggle up and enjoy my little family of four, (10 if you're counting our pets).  Yes, we are outnumbered by the animals we so love. I've really enjoyed visiting the blogs during the link parties, and it is great how everyone returns the visits.  It truly is a wonderful community, and one that I don't have to venture out into the cold to enjoy!  It just doesn't get better than that. ...

I love all of my Christmas ornaments, and have collected them slowly over the past 20 years.  Here are 5 of my favorite and I'm sharing this post on Amy's lovely blog for Five on Friday . I hope you all are enjoying the time leading up to the holidays.

Who knows what sort of bird this little guy was modeled after, but my husband called him "Frank the Finch', so there it is.  Frank came home with me one day, because he wouldn't stop whining about how lonely he was on that shelf.  I tried to reason with him, and explained that he had a huge family surrounding him.  He continued to complain saying that their beaks must have been attached improperly, because they couldn't chatter it up like he could.  All they could do was mumble inaudible sounds. So, I let him hop into my cart, and he hasn't shut up since.  He even insists I take him on walks, which I refused to do for a long time, explaining that if my dog ever got hold of him, it would be his end. But he persisted, and so I eventually gave in, thinking to myself that if Bear did catch him, it might not be the worst thing. He perched himself on my shoulder, and out we went.  I had my camera, I always have my camera, and why wasn't I surp...

Christmas exploded into our home yesterday!  I spent the entire day putting up everything but the tree, and after dinner we all joined in decorating and that made this the first year that we have all worked together on the main tree.  The cats are the ones most excited about the change in decor, but so far, there have been no major mishaps. I did manage to get an adorable picture of my girl kitty, Georgia which I just have to share.  I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for the holidays! After getting all the decorations up in one day, I feel a whole lot better, and now can move on to the baking! I shared this post at The Enchanting Rose, HERE .

I've always loved black and white photography. In the past, my own attempts at this art have been more like grey and gray, soothing, but very boring.  I tend to love a black and white that offers a lot of contrast.  The dark blacks make the white shine through almost as though the picture is back lit. I love that! So, with contrast in mind, I set out to create these next images.  I liked the way they turned out.  What do you think of black and white photos? A view from the top of a small hill in my backyard on my daily walk  Our poor Christmas tree has taken such a beating from the wind.  This is a view from my yard, across the road into my neighbors yard. Night before last, on the night of the full moon, it was thick cloud cover, but last night was very clear. My hands were frozen and I had even managed to get a couple of fingers stuck to my tripod at one point. Brr.

If you are looking for the 'Grow Your Blog', and you may want to, as it contains a giveaway, you will find it   here . My husband's co-worker spent his holidays with his family in Oman.  When my guy heard about the trip, he asked his friend to pick up a few 'touristy' things for his wife.  The wife was not disappointed.  I received a surprise, late, exotic gift, how could I not be excited?    For those of you that don't know, and I didn't, Oman is an Arab state in southwest Asia.  It is ethnically diverse with at least 12 different languages being native to the Omanis who live there.  And of course, it is warm there, so jealous of the warmth... .  It is actually very interesting to read about if you have the time.    Onto the gifts!  The gorgeous embroidered cloth is actually a turban.  I intend to use it as a table cloth.  The ornate silver thingy is an incense burner.  Along with that goes ...

The season doesn't really start until we've seen the kids' Christmas concert and school is officially out.  Jared's class performed "Mary Had a Baby" on recorders as well as singing several other songs between scenes of the play. This was my daughter's first experience as one of the lead roles in the play.  She seemed to be very comfortable up there and did a very good job of her lines. On the 23rd we had family over for food, drinks and games.  We put together 5 different 'minute-to-win-it' games.  The one above is called the North Pole. Once the cups are stacked, you have to pull the papers out quickly, dropping the top cup onto the bottom without knocking the tower down.  Good luck, not one of us were able to do this. Another game had us all sliding gingerbread men off our foreheads, down our face and into our mouths.  Most of us were unable to do this, Jared and Auntie Brenda were the only successful ones. Aft...

Although not every gift I received this year was Tolkien related, there was a definite theme.  This 50th anniversary edition of LOTR was definitely the highlight, but under the tree also was Thorin's Map, (yet to be framed), two Hobbit themed notebooks, and the least desirable, but really very funny Adventure slippers.  Yes, they are slippers in the form of Hobbit's feet, and they are dangerously big.  Manageable, but you'd better pay attention to every single step, especially on stairs. My husband and I are also big "Firefly" fans, so naturally I now have a t-shirt that has a blazing "Shiny" written across the chest.  Continuing with the 'geek' theme, a "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock" form-fitting t-shirt was also waiting to be tried on.  Everything was a great fit, and I promised to wear it all, (even in public) with exception of the Adventure slippers.  I really don't think they would hold up at all if I did decide ...

Another Christmas has come and gone.   The anticipation I felt leading up to it was fun but really only when I was observing what my children were experiencing.   As a child, I had nowhere near as much as my kids do now.   That’s what I tell them, that was what my Mother told me, and that was what my Grandmother told her.   I wonder if in upcoming years we would be terribly sad if we could no longer put on a Christmas with all the gifts and foods we have come to expect.   We say every year that it is all too much, and that we need to cut back, but if we were forced to, I’m certain we would look back longingly on our years of plenty and feel a certain amount of sadness. Okay enough of that, the best part of the season was being together with everyone and although there were a few disappointments with the gifts given, most were received with surprise and followed up with joy.   The most difficult part of the season was when I put an ornament on the t...