Homespun Christmas..

Greetings everyone.. 

Hope you all are enjoying this week of Christmas. 

I wanted to share pics of my and Shonda's homespun Christmas before the holidays were all  over.. smile.. 

I have posted that last Christmas we decided we would do a homespun Christmas between the two of us..

We picked an amount to spend and each item had to be handmade, thrift store, yard sale or auction finds.. 

There was not to be anything new.. 

So..

They arrived here in time for supper on Christmas Day and then afterwards we made ourselves a lovely cup of tea and went into the Living room.. 

These are the parcels that she did up.. 

All beautifully wrapped with Kraft paper and burlap and such.. 

Please forgive the quality of the pictures. 

The room was dimly lit..

And these were the ones I did for her.. 

Shonda opened up the tin can first as I suggested.. smile.. 

I put it in a tin so it would not break.. 

It was also wrapped in a package with my Mom's writing on it explaining that this was one of my her and my Dad's first Christmas ornaments from 1951..

It is precious although the picture does not show it well.. 

It has an old Santa inside.. 

Then I opened my first one .. 

It is a wreath she made from the pages of an old book called The Hiding Place.. 

This is one of my favorite books and I think it is beautiful.. 

Shonda said I could put it in my Sun Room where I like to read.

smile.. 

Then she opened another from me.. 

An antique Pink Depression water pitcher that she has loved since I bought it at an auction.. 

It matches a bowl she had received from Terry's mother.. 

She was excited.. smile.. 

She also made this for me..

A lovely centrepiece made from a vintage Christmas tree stand.. 

Neat, eh!!

I had found this old box..

And filled it with her favorite homemade treats that I make at Christmas.. 

 Walnutty Caramels..

I loved the way the packages looked that she had done.. 

Burlap bows and berries.. 

And another gift from her.. 

A pair of skates filled with holly, branches and such along with a wreath hanger to put on my door.. 

Lovely.. 

Here is the Santa I made for her.. 

She loves Vintage Christmas so this will match her new house decor.. 

He is made from a wool sweater that had a cowl neck which made a lovely hood.. 

The decoration on him came from old vintage hats that I had.

She gave me a lovely round rooster mat and old shelf that she had in her other house. She knew I loved them and kept them for our exchange.. 

That is the nice thing about having a whole year to prepare, eh? 

Also, this lovely old mirror with a beveled edge.. 

I also gave her some glitter trees, books, napkins and such.. 

All in all it was so much fun.. 

I know I will treasure my gifts and I know she will hers.. 

We have decided to do it again next Christmas.. smile..

Thank you dear hearts for your visit.. 

I have answered a few of your comments on the last post. 

I need to be a better blogger but there just does not seem to be enough hours in the day, lately.. 

Our weather here in New Brunswick has been terrible.. 

It looks so beautiful out there but so much ice and snow.. 

Some dear folks have been without hydro all through Christmas and into the new year.. 

We have men coming from Quebec and even the USA to help get everything restored.. 

Terry plans on getting snow off of our roof tomorrow.. 

Now they are forecasting very low temps.. 

Winter in Canada, eh!

Do you have plans for New Year celebrations? 

We are going to a New Years Eve service at church and then I am planning a lovely dinner for after.. 

Praying that all is well with you dear ladies.. 

God bless... 

HAPPY NEW YEAR.. XO

Christmas Memories.. 2013,,

Greetings everyone.. 

Just a picture post for you today of our Christmas memories this year.. 

Above is Charlie and Peanut... 

Dustin's dogs.. 

They are watching the festivities through the window.. grin.. 

These are our sweet children..

Dustin, Shonda and Trevor.. 

We were laughing as it looked as if Duck Dynasty had invaded the Henry Household.. grin.. Camouflage here and there.. 

Two of our children had to work all night so they grabbed a nap when they could..  

I will get in trouble for posting this one but he posted one of me with a birthday hat on FB.. grin.. 

Love ya, Dust... 

My precious mother.. 

Enjoying all of her grand and great grandchildren... 

They could be found in every room.. 

Just enjoying the love of family... 

Something must have been funny... grin.. 

Cousins and more cousins.

Opening gifts  and having a good time.. 

The sun was shining and the ice was glittering.. 

We were all so thankful to be blessed with hydro.. 

Eh, Trev??? 

Cookies and more cookies.. 

Mom and Gerald... 

Wondering when dinner would be ready, I think.. smile..

Making some candy..

Walnut Caramels... 

Finally, Christmas Dinner.. 

They said they have a tradition that all the grandsons sit at this table.. smile.. 

Beautiful day, really... 

But so many people without heat.. 

So thankful for all of the hydro workers who have sacrificed their day to help others... 

Little boys and big boys.. 

Some having their pic taken with Grandpa... 

Yes, it was a lovely time.. 

Family is one of the most precious gifts that God has given us.. 

I am just so thankful for them all and for this celebration.. 

The one day of the year when we all try our best to get to the same place and just relax and enjoy each other.. 

The day is special but I am so glad that JESUS is still REASON for the SEASON in this family.. 

MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU... 

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Thank you dear hearts for your sweet friendship and faithfulness in reading this blog.

May you all have a very blessed family Christmas and may God bless and keep you through the New Year.. 

Sending you all a Christmas hug from Eastern Canada.. 

Faye Henry 

Winter Time Doings...

Good Evening everyone.. 

A stormy Sunday here in Eastern Canada.. 

We have snow and ice and more ice but thank the Lord we still have hydro.. 

So many people do not have it and may not have it even by Christmas Day.. 

We are to have this going on all night yet so who knows how much the hydro lines can take.. 

So blessed though to have wood heat...

I made a nice big turkey soup and keep refilling my big thermos jugs with boiling water.. 

If I can have a hot cup of tea then all is well.. smile.. 

The washer is filled with water in case of outages for the flush and Terry braved the roads and went out and stocked up with gas for the snow blower and such.. 

Not much more we can do.. 

What preps do you make if you know a storm is on it's way.. 

Last week we made a couple of trips to St. John as Terry needed to have some tests done.. 

These are a few pics of our neck of the woods...

We live on a bit of a higher plain... grin.. 

Not that high actually but some of the pics look that way, eh? 

After his tests which have been good so far we went shopping again.. 

So many people shopping.. 

My goodness it makes a person wonder where all the money is coming from.. 

Afterwards we dropped by Shonda's to pick up a couple of parcels.. 

She was preparing for a dinner that she and Dave and her boys were putting on for the ministers from their church.. 

The tables were decorated beautifully.. 

She made all of the centrepieces.. 

Aren't they lovely? 

The tables were all set up in the downstairs of their house..

Another tree is decorated down there in the family room.. 

The gathering was last night and she said it went well.. 

Some wonderful young people worked very hard at serving their elders.. 

Bless their hearts.. 

Anyway.. 

I have been busy today trying to get the homespun Christmas presents made for you know who.. 

I will show you some of the finished product later.. 

I don't want her to see anything yet.. 

We don't open our family gifts until they are all here on Boxing Day.. 

Sure hope she will like them.. 

This has been a very fun project, actually.. 

I have enjoyed the challenge .. 

I was not expecting Shonda to change her style half way through the year but I think I have a handle on it.. 

Tomorrow I hope to get some baking and wrapping finished.. 

Are you ladies all ready? 

I am never really all ready.. It just happens and I stop.. grin.. 

Church services all over the province have been cancelled today.. 

Seems funny not to go to church today but that is Winter.. 

Take care my dears and keep warm and safe.. 

Love and Prayers 

Faye...

A Winter Visit...

Good Evening everyone.. 

We are having another storm day here in Atlantic Canada.. 

The second one this week.. 

It is slowing down a bit tonight but the wind is causing white out conditions.. 

Just what we Canadians love.. 

A white Christmas... 

Terry and I had to go to the city on Monday and I took a couple of pics along the way.. 

I would say we have twice as much snow now.. 

We stayed overnight with our daughter and her family and had a lovely time.. 

They are all so hospitable.. 

We sat around the Christmas tree and chatted ... 

Our sweet grandsons were there and we were so pleased to see them.. 

They are growing up into young men way too fast for this Grandma... smile.. 

Matt did 40 push ups for his Grandpa just to prove that he could.. grin.. 

And Carter serenaded us with his guitar.. 

They are wonderful boys and we are so pleased that they have placed God first in their lives.. 

We just pray that they will walk with Him all the days of their lives.. 

Thankful... 

Here are a few of Shonda's little vignettes.. 

Her new home is modern as is her new style of decorating although she calls herself eclectic.. 

Lovely whatever style it is.. 

This was our bedroom.. 

Dave found me a little footstool so I could get into the bed... grin..

The sun was out the next day..

The river was very Wintry looking.. 

Shonda has several trees up and decorated.. 

She even drove us to Terry's appointments and cooked  breakfast after we returned.. 

We were in a hurry as we wanted to go across the border again.. 

There were a bunch of people there again.. 

I do not like shopping in a crowd but managed to get a few things that I was happy about... 

The moon was full and beautiful on our drive back home last night.. 

I wanted to thank Dustin, Veronique and the lads for a sweet birthday party on Sunday.. 

They arranged it and surprised me so much.. 

The rest of our family could not get there as we were having a blizzard but Dustin lives closer and was there when we arrived at church..

I tried to get Terry to turn around and go back as it was quite the storm but he kept plowing forward.. grin.. 

I was glad he had after we got there..

And then when we returned home there were many phone calls 

from the kids and friends all wishing me Happy Birthday . 

Also a rather special call with the whole Mayo family singing the birthday song.. Such sweet friends.. I so enjoyed our chat.. 

You can find them HERE..

So ... I am a year older.. 

What can I say except that I am thankful to have my health and strength and for my dear dear family.. 

How are you all doing? 

Hope all is well and that you are more prepared then I am.. 

Take care, dear hearts.. 

GOD BLESS YOU DEAR FRIENDS..