Happy New Years!

My dear friends,

as the sun begins to set on this, the last day of 2010, I pray that God's sweetest blessings will be yours in 2011.

Hugs, Cindy

Projects of 2010

This will be the last post that I do this year, be prepared, it is going to be a lengthy one.  Not because I have done a whole lot of projects, but rather because we did a couple of BIG projects.  Here we go.

Back in January we started on the kitchen.   We tore out everything and started from scratch.  We had a kitchen designer/cabinet builder come in and he completely renovated our 1950's homemade, inefficient kitchen.  He turned this ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!

BEFORE PHOTOS

We closed in a doorway in the photo above and tore out a false beam in photo below.

AFTER

My husband and I put the new pine ceiling in.

 

The eating area is adjacent to the kitchen, see how this wall has changed.

This was my cabinet maker's idea and I love it.

Our second project was outside.  We had a large, empty, very muddy, unused area, between the house and the garage that we made into a patio.  My husband did all of the work himself.  One of our neighbors gave us the cement blocks, so the cost of the patio was cut down considerably.  Then together we repainted our little garage.

Before

After

 Before

After

Here you get a better idea of what we did.

Let me say that this is not what it looks like now.  We have nearly a foot of snow on the ground, and sadly nothing is green.  I forgot how pretty everything was this last summer.

I am joining Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality for her Top Projects of 2010. Thank you, dear Rhoda!

Happy New Year and all the best to all of you.  Thank you for your support over this last year.  My readers, who have become friends, are what makes blogging so much fun.  I love you all!!!

Love and hugs, 

Cindy

Outdoor Wednesday

Hello my friends!!! I have a new-to-me computer now, so I shall be able to blog much more easily.

Did you have a good Christmas?  I did, it was different, but very fun.

I am joining "Outdoor Wednesday" again today and I am going to show you what little I did for outdoor Christmas decor.

I hope to do more next year, we have a couple of bushes in the front that would look nice covered in lights, so I am going to look for some on an after Christmas sale.  I also need to find a nice bow for the greenery around the door, to replace what I have up there now.

 

These two photos were taken in Regina.  The first one is the old Radisson Plaza Hotel, a stately and still very beautiful place to stay.  The rooms are gorgeous!  The second one is the Saskatchewan Legislative Buildings in Christmas lights.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to doing something special for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  We will be going to a special service at  our church, but we won’t be staying late, which I am looking forward to.  I have found in the last year or so that the new year comes in just fine even when I don’t stay up to see it in.  I think my age is showing.:~)

                          Hugs, Cindy

A Merry Christmas to all...

Hello my dear friends! The big day is almost upon us, I hope this finds you well and not stuck in an airport somewhere, like so many, or just stuck in the snow!

We celebrated our family Christmas last Saturday with our son and his sweet family. I had just begun to set the table when I took this...I didn't think to take one when I was finished.

Here is Jonathan with his gift from grandpa and I. He and his sister each received a camera. They were over the top thrilled with them. It's obviously after dinner, because he is still wearing the crown from his Christmas Cracker. Do you have Christmas Crackers? They have become a tradition with us. First you pull them apart with a loud pop and each one has a joke, a toy and a crown in it.

These next three photos are vintage cards that have been in our family since the late 1930's. I found them in a scrap book that used to belong to my mother. It came to me about 17 years ago after she had passed away.

The gate on the one above opens.

Aren't they darling? They are some of my favorite Christmas decorations.

I made a banner with four pieces of cardboard and some letters that I had and had never used. I strung them on a piece of jute string and then hung the vintage cards in between them. Pretty creative for me! I don't do many crafts of any kind, I try, but they just don't work out. I did do one though, that my friend Ana from A Petite Cottage sent me the tutorial for and it turned out fairly well. It's a sweet little star that I made out of vintage sheet music, out of an old music book that I found at GW for next to nothing.

I had a visit from my friend Millie at A Wreathmaker and I gave it to her.

She gave me a beautiful little white jug! I love it, it is the sweetest little thing ever! I stuck some greenery in it and put a bow around it, I love it! Thanks so much dear Millie. Your visit was such a blessing to me. You should go and take a look at her blog, she has the prettiest dishware and puts together beautiful vignettes.

Do you see the little polk-a-dots on the finish of it? It is just delightful!!

Have a wonderful Christmas my friends. I pray that you will love, laugh and make some sweet, lasting memories with your loved ones.

A merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Love and hugs,

Cindy

A Virtual Christmas Tea

Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies and a cup of tea!

Each December brings this memory.

Since you were not in school that afternoon,

We read together from a book; but soon,

Tiring a bit, we heard the clock strike three;

Decided we should have a cup of tea.

Just then the baker's knock was at the door

With Christmas cookies - sizes, shapes galore -

With pretty colored sugar.  Funny how

One day stands out above the rest, and now

I still recall with deep nostalgic joy

That afternoon with you, dear little boy,

When each December brings the memory

Of Christmas cookies and a cup of tea.

~Ethyle Cole Ingle

                  

Especially for you my friends.

We can't be together in reality perhaps, but 

we can be together in spirit for a sweet little Christmas tea

and a little poetry reading.  That's what people used to do way back when,
for entertainment.

I am joining  Cuisine Kathleen, please check out her lovely blog for her White Christmas party.

The recipe for my Sugar Cookies is on yesterday's post HERE.

Love and hugs,

Cindy

What's happening in my kitchen?

Oh my, it is a MESS! 

I hope the little Christmas baking elves clean up after themselves!

The clean-up is what I dislike about baking and cooking, but the process and the product ~ I love!!!

As you can see this recipe came from Funky Junk Interiors, a wonderful Canadian gal with an amazing blog.  If you like do-it-yourself blogs, you will love hers.  Plus, she has many great blogging tips as well, on her sidebar.  With her help I have made commenting here easier for you.

COOKS.COM is my favorite cooking site, I have used many of their recipes with good results.

Now to ice my sugar cookies, then I can begin to clean up this mess.  Ahhh, it's so fun making a mess!

I hope your day is sunny and bright and you are getting into the Christmas Spirit!  Be careful not to let it run you over, relax, enjoy and most of all be merry~  You can really see how the sun is shining into my kitchen in the next photo.

Hugs, Cindy

PS  I can't believe I showed you my messy kitchen today, but there it is.  Promise you won't tell?

 



Winter Sky & More Christmas Decor

There's nothing prettier than a Winter sunset. 

I am joining Skywatch Friday today. 

         I am also joining French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

I haven't shown you my little Christmas tree yet, because I am not real pleased with it, I had hoped to make a music sheet star for the top, but never did find a tutorial for it, so it didn't happen.

Anyways, here it is.

It's tiny and sits atop my antique side board.

Another peak at my Christmas village.  It is probably my favorite Christmas decoration.  My hubby bought it for me one Christmas about three years ago,  it was a huge surprise and I have loved it and used it every year since.



I love pine cones, especially under glass.  Be sure to check out these lovely little memes that I have joined today, they have some great stuff happening over at their blogs.

Have a beautiful, joy-filled day!

Hugs, Cindy



Our Manitoba

Welcome to Outdoor Wednesday! 

I want to show you what it looks like to live in Manitoba.

Manitoba is considered to be a Prairie Province, therefore there are no significant hills waiting around the bend for your kids to throw their sled or toboggan down on for a ride.

This is the type of structure that you will find in many parks, for the kids to play on.  It's a man-made hill of sorts.

I live within walking distance of the Red River and this is what the it looked like just a few weeks ago.  There was just a skim of ice, with lots of open water.

Do you see the Maple Leaf flying on the opposite shore?  I love photos of our flag.

This is what the Red River looked like a couple of days ago, it's quickly freezing over.  It is deceiving though.  Although the ice looks to be thick, it isn't and many people have gone through the ice on swamps and even on the river, recently.  One example is two little boys, one was quickly rescued and the second one was not.  The divers are still searching for a six-year old boy named Nathaniel, it's heart breaking to think of it.

It was only about 3:30 when I started home that particular day, but the sun was already low in the sky, showing it's radiant colors.

Remember to check out more great photos over at Susan's Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.  I'm also joining Watery Wednesday, another very fun meme, check it out.

Have a beautiful day, my friends.

Hugs,

Cindy

~Christmas Past~

                                        Happy Monday, my friends!

Sometimes it's nice to look back and see what was.  When we lived in British Columbia, we lived in the Vancouver area and it seemed that the most likely time to get snow there was at Christmas time.  I can remember many times when the snow arrived just in time for Christmas and then was gone two very mushy days later.  I learned to live in the moment!  This was Christmas 2007.

We lived in a condominium which was surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds.  The snow was so lovely on the Evergreens.



My mantle that year. Do you ever look back at past photos to see what you have done in the past?   I enjoy doing that.

This was from 2006.

This was how I decorated my mantel, yet another year, 2005, I think.

And now for something special, close up and the next two are further away.

I'll leave you with my "Snow on the Mountains"  photos.  The mountain view from our living room window was the best thing about living in a condo, most of the people who lived on ground floors or houses never did get to see this.   

It is still snowing very lightly here on the prairies, it's not enough to cover the roads, just enough to be beautiful!  We may not have the mountain views, but there are many wonderful reasons to love it here.

I am joining in with Christmas with Victoria, please go over to A Delightsome Life and see the lovelies there.  It is a wonderful little meme.  Aren't all of the Christmas decorating parties fun?!?  I am loving them, I hope you are, too.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Monday, too.  Take care 'til next time.

Hugs, Cindy