December 2013 Roundup

I haven't been posting a lot in December and no, I wasn't one of the unfortunate Southern Ontarians who lost power over Christmas.  We did get the ice storm but didn't bear the brunt of it.  The trees were covered in ice and looked pretty.  The roads and the sidewalks were treacherous and prevented me from venturing from home for a couple of days but we were lucky.

Honestly, I was busy with Christmas and friends and family and making gifts and baking and basically having fun.  Stopping to write a post felt like work, not fun and I promised myself that I would not continue to blog if it wasn't fun.

I'm not saying that I am stopping, just that it felt natural to take a break.  I don't have advertisers or sponsors to answer to so I don't have to blog every day.

Big changes are coming in my world...tomorrow I am officially retired so I guess I now need to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life.  I think I'm looking forward to it.

yum...ginger cookies

I did a lot of little projects this month but I didn't take pictures or share them because they were Christmas presents.  I might see if I have anything to show  you later.

Today was definitely a R & R day.  I spent the day in bed....catching up on reading your blogposts, e-mail, Facebook and started knitting a cowl for my Mom in teal.  Tea and cookies.....Downton Abbey and Victoria magazine.  A couple hours wasted on Pinterest.  It was a delight.  I need more days like this.

"Mom, are you done yet?  When can we go outside?"

I'll let you know how retirement goes...

Finnie using his Martian mind meld to try and shut my laptop down

Julie

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from icy southern Ontario to you!

Snow, Knitting and a Lovely Present from Migonis Home

It's Saturday night and we are having a big snowstorm today.  I hope it stops soon and doesn't accumulate too much.  I want to go visit a friend in the country tomorrow but I won't drive if the roads are too bad.

Yesterday was spent baking for Christmas and it was just one of those days.  Things didn't work out well so I needed a rest from baking today.  I'll try again tomorrow...sometimes it's just better to wait out the bad luck.

This morning I took my Mom over to the mall.  She wanted to get a couple of new sweaters to wear for bowling.  She often finds the alley cold.  At 88 years old, she's still bowling every week in a league. We were lucky and found a big sale at Cleo's.  I got a couple myself but I bought cardigans. Still having hot flashes so I'm not ready to wear pullovers, ha!

I did work on a knitted cowl today.  It's a gift for a friend...

I also got a gift this week. I was the lucky winner of a gorgeous mercury acorn tree ornament from Jen's blog Migonis Home. If you haven't visited yet, make sure you do.  She has such a beautiful blog.  I love following her posts and I never win anything so I was pretty excited....

I love it and decided to add it to my dining room table vignette, instead of hanging it on the tree.  I thought it would be noticed more on the table and it's definitely one that you want to show off.

Are you all ready for Christmas??  I'm not and I'm tired of people asking me...especially in stores. I'm making most of my gifts so I'll be busy every day til Christmas!  Any time I try to buy a gift, I usually just end up buying one for myself  :).  I've been very indulgent this Christmas.  Budget starts January 1!

I just bought myself some locally grown and ground flour.  Hopefully the bread turns out and I can share the recipe.  I went to a Christmas pop-up store at South Pond Farm last Thursday evening with friends and ohhhhhh I want to live in the country on a farm! It might be too late for that dream to come true but when you see a beautiful farmhouse like this one, you just want to move in.  I was able to get a few Christmas gifts here.  All local artisans selling their wares.  I'm really trying to support local business whenever possible.  Maybe it's time to start some wrapping.

I hope your weekend is lovely and warm,

Julie

Christmas in Port Perry

I realized that I never showed you photos from our little shopping trip to Port Perry at the end of November.  Port Perry is a lovely old town in southern Ontario.  It used to have one of my favourite stores - Settlement House.  Two floors of award-winning furniture and home decor.  Unfortunately they closed.  I never knew why.  Because of that, we don't visit Port Perry as often as we used to but there is always an obligatory Christmas shopping trip and Luke's General Store is a great destination.  We also poked through a bunch of other stores but most of the pictures are from Luke's.

Red is always a big colour this time of year.

This is for my American friends. I fell in love with Hobby Lobby.  You can get interesting furniture knobs really cheap there.  Here in Canada, most seem to be about $5 each.  I'm buying a lot next time I visit!

I have fallen in love with all the driftwood accessories out there.  I'll have to add something to my sunroom this year.

All the aqua gorgeousness reminds me of my friend, Linda

Lots of grey and silver out this year.  I'm glad I've worked that into my living room colour scheme.

Okay, I had to show you this really tacky purple tree.  Because I'm using shades of purple of my living room, anything purple catches my eye.

Julie

The Luckiest Woman in the World

Do you know who this is?  Her name is Kathryn Jones and she is the luckiest woman in the world.

About a year ago, she bought a lottery ticket.  The jackpot was $50 million dollars (in Canada, you don't pay tax on lottery winnings so it really is $50 million).  She lost her ticket before she checked it. She wasn't really concerned and went on with her life.

After the winnings weren't claimed, the lottery started investigating.  They were on a deadline because the jackpot has to be claimed within one year. Their records led them to the drugstore where the ticket was purchased.  Closed circuit cameras gave them a picture of Kathryn and they were able to track her down through her credit card.

That's when investigators came knocking on her door.  She didn't know why they were there and didn't want to let them in.  Then they told her she won $50 million dollars.  Can you imagine?

Well, there is still some administrative work to go through but in the new year, she will have $50 million dollars in her bank account.  So even though she doesn't have ticket and didn't know she won, the lottery is still awarding her the prize.  That's why she's the luckiest woman in the world!

Julie

Happy Monday

My sister, Connie called me yesterday and said, "I've done such a Julie thing today.  You'll be proud of me".  I was a little wary as she sometimes makes fun of my Martha Stewart tendencies.

She still works in the office where I used to work.  The staff there has been decimated by cutbacks...layoffs and forced retirement....so you can imagine that the mood isn't very festive.  It's a large office with only a handful of staff now.  One of the girls, Chris (who always has a sunny disposition) suggested that they celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas.  Each of the dozen staff left were given a day and the challenge to do something nice for their co-workers.  Today was Connie's day and everyone would come into work this morning to find a Christmas box on their desk with these inside...

Homemade Cookies!!!

Isn't my sister a sweetie!

Julie

Dining Table Vignette

When you walk into my dining room today, you are greeted by a little Christmas vignette I made.

I started with a vintage table runner in crisp white and added some silver pieces with bottle brush trees and a vintage ornament from my childhood.

As you walk around the table, you see some paperwhites that are in bud.  I planted these in an old ironstone soup tureen.

My cute little sheep has made his way upstairs and is joined by a bunny and a pig (part of my white china napkin ring collection).

You can see my Mom in the kitchen making an apple pie.  It was very yummy!

The birds hang out on the other side.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

Julie