Decorating the Church and an Old Memory...

Hi everyone.. 

Happy Weekend!!... 

The pic of the church was taken a year or so ago.. 

We have snow now but not quite that much.. 

We will soon, though, no doubt.. smile...

Today we did a little decorating there for Christmas !! 

When Shonda and I were to Bangor we bought some rolls of ribbon and they came in handy today.. 

I thought I would put them on my tree but I think they look better above all of the windows.. 

Lindsay stood on the chairs and hung them, the dear girl.. 

I wonder what Terry is doing over there by the office door.. 

Probably tormenting our poor secretary by doing something mischievous.. 

Men !! They can act like wee boys, sometimes.. grin..  

Tools of the trade.. 

I always carry these three tools...

The window sills are done... 

Except for lighting the candles inside.. 

Sweet Lorraine did a little art work.. 

She wasn't happy with it but I think it is great.. 

An old window, a nativity print out from the computer and a bit of greenery... 

It hangs above this poinsettia !

I should have taken an after pic...  

Under the communion table... 

We had soup and muffins for lunch and just had a great day of fellowship while doing our little thing.... 

Then when we came home I took a few more pics of decor around here.. 

My old folk art nativity... 

My Birthday present from Shonda last year that Lorraine made.. 

Another little nativity... 

Jesus is the reason for the season !

Amen....

Some vintage cups that were a Christmas gift last year.. 

I like Father Christmas or vintage Santas.. 

Not everywhere but here and there.. 

I hang these dear stockings every Christmas.. 

They were my Dad's... 

I wrote a little note and pinned it inside so that my children will know that they were Grampie's... 

Amongst the copper.. 

A wee gift from another blogger... 

Yes, I love pewter.. 

Notice the reindeer candle holders.. 

Found them at a thrift shop for five dollars each.. 

Still have to add fresh greenery but just too early yet.. 

A few homemade snowmen... 

Well, there.. 

Enough of that to bore anyone silly.. 

I haven't even began our living room yet so will be back with more hopefully by next week.. 

Are you girls doing much decorating or baking ? 

Our children mostly want gift cards so my shopping is not too strenuous these days, thank heavens.. 

I try to make each one some little homespun or baked gift as well.. 

The grandsons love fudge and such... 

We were discussing today how Christmas has become such a stressful time in the lives of most people and how we should be happy that we are celebrating the Christ of Christmas ... 

We talked about how wonderfully blessed we are and how we should try to de-stress ourselves and to take joy into our lives and spread that excitement and love to our children.. 

Christmas actually is all about love.. 

We can be excited and joyful because now we have hope... 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

I loved Christmas as a child.. 

We were as poor as Job's turkey but our parents worked hard to give us a wonderful day..

 Not that we had a lot of gifts at all but I remember the lovely wrapping my Mom did with royal blue, red and green tissue papers and each present all tied up with coloured strings.. 

I can still feel the excitement in my heart as my sister and I would hold hands and come out and see a tree that was not there when we went to bed the night before .. 

Mom and Dad had worked late to put it up and decorate it with coloured lights and those precious glass ornaments..  

And the tinsel !! 

There it all was along with the smells !! 

The fir boughs, the oranges and apples, and the turkey baking in the oven..

The bowls of fruit and candy.. 

Ribbon candy and Barley Toys.. 

So much to see... So much to smell and oh wow!

It is Christmas Day!!

Remember? smile..

The smell and the lights and the tied up parcels were all just so magical!! 

I hope my children remember Christmas like that... 

And now they are all grown up but I still chose joy for our home and when they arrive on the our big family day the excitement will be here waiting for them.... 

It is my job .... 

And I love it ! 

God bless... 

Christmas doings and an old card...

Hello there everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth today.. 

I hope you are having a great week.. 

It is kind of messy here at our house today.. 

This morning I picked out the boxes that I needed Terry to bring upstairs to start a bit of decorating.. 

I thought I might get away with doing just fresh decor but no... 

I started remembering some things I had that were a bit special and decided it would not be a normal Christmas without a few of them.. 

A vintage Christmas cat that has been around for years.. smile.. 

Several totes were hauled upstairs and a pail of trees and......

An Old Father Christmas had to be hung where he usually hangs since Shonda gave him to me and a snowman that Trevor made.. 

And an angel that was a gift from Dustin... 

|And so on... 

I decorated all day... 

The fireplace is finished, the hutch is done and the kitchen windowsill... 

There is still much to do but at least it is beginning to look a little like Christmas now... 

Yesterday, I did a spare room just in case someone stops by and found this dear old card .... 

I had bought a box of antique ones at our antique dealers (Julia's) many years ago and always string them across the window.. 

Then I look through the rest of them as they are in the drawer of the dresser.. I love old cards and such.. Do you?  

Anyway..

I thought you might enjoy this one as I always do... 

It is a homemade one.. 

They typed the words there on the bottom,..

CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE "GOOD OLD DAYS". 

They are holding a hot water bottle in their hand and have mitts on as you can see.. 

Along with scarf, earmuffs and what have you.. grin.. 

They glued some stars on it and coloured it with a coloured pencils, I think.. 

This is the inside.. 

Trying to get warm in front of the fireplace before they hit the sack, I would say.. 

Here is the verse.. 

Can you imagine?  

The Christmas of 1942.. 

And wishing them a prosperous new year of 1943... 

Peace on earth and victory.. 

Victory did come in 1945 thank the Lord.. 

What a great attitude they had during those terrible years... 

So thankful for all they did for us... 

Not only the soldiers but the families left at home to cope with the shortages and lack of everything... 

We are so blessed here in Canada .... 

I want to love the season this year.. 

To have joy and celebrate the Christ of Christmas... 

To put a little extra into the preparations and enjoy it all.. 

To look forward with hope... 

What a wonderful gift God gave to this world... 

How he loves us... 

Well, I am a bit slow compared to many people getting ready for the big day but I love the days leading up to it all.. 

Making and baking and such.. 

Even if it takes me at least 3 times as long then it did a few years ago.. 

This is a pic that Google sent me.. 

The same bedroom that I decorated yesterday.. 

Well, dear hearts this is it once again... 

Hope you are enjoying the season...

Any of you Keepers out there that read the blog and are not busy on Saturday we could use your help to decorate the church and make cookies and such... 

Please let me know if you can come.. 

At 10 am at the church on Fredericton Road.. 

Love to have you... 

Looking forward to hearing from you... 

GOD BLESS...

Busy days...

Good Evening my dears..

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.. 

Concerts, shopping, decorating, and such has been the theme around here like everywhere else.

Anyway, just posting a few preparing for the holidays pics for you.. 

Tea dying some fabric... 

I am trying to make gifts to include with the gift cards everyone seems to want this year.. 

Including my Mother.. smile.. 

But we still need to eat.. 

One of our daily soups.. smile... 

Well, maybe not daily but quite often.. 

This is the Italian Wedding Soup that I posted the recipe HERE..

On Saturday we had some freshly groomed company...

You remember Charlie..

So cute... 

Made an apple pie with mostly all Splenda.. 

It was very good and only about a 1/4 cup of sugar.. 

It did not last long.. 

I supposed I should of showed a cooked pie instead of this..smile..

Another step towards finishing the the snowman heads...

Spray glue and glitz... 

Some dollar store articles to make over.. 

My new friend Lori from Texas was telling me about bleaching these trees and I think I may do a little reindeer bit somewhere... 

We shall see.. smile..

Well, I finally got all the garlands and such finished..

I came across a roll of country style old lace type ribbon.. 

I made some door knob hangers and sideways garlands, too.. 

Great to add to the regular gifts.. ...

Another salad... 

Again.... 

I did manage to get some decorating done today.. 

A lot more to do although I am trying to cut back on it all.. 

Trying to just add lights and boughs and not replace the whole house.. 

As you can see we do not have any snow yet.. 

Although, we had a bit driving to church yesterday morning..

It did not last and turned into rain... 

Someone loves playing on the his little tractor.. 

I tried to get a picture of him walking it.. 

It looked like it was a horse and he was walking beside it but by the time I grabbed my camera he was back on.. 

I wonder what he would actually do with that big tractor he dreams about.. grin.. 

Here is the piece of fabric I tea dyed..

Cloth labels.. 

Now what can I do with these?  

I will show you later.. smile.. 

Are you ladies making anything for gifts and such?  

I would love to hear what you are doing.. 

Thanks for your dear visits.. 

So enjoy hearing from you all.. 

Take care and will chat a bit later on.. 

God bless your hearts.. 

\

LINKED TO... TEACH ME TUESDAYS

The Burden Carrier..

Good Evening everyone..

It is lovely here in New Brunswick tonight..

It surely is not Christmas weather, though.. Oh well...Bring on the snow later..  Showing my age aren't I? ..smile.. 

How is your weekend going thus far?  We did not accomplish as much as  we had planned for  today as we were on the roads.. again.. Just picking up a few gifts and such..

We were up to our old farm though yesterday, I believe and I had noticed these things growing in the ditch the last few times we had been up.. I have not seen them in all of my 50 odd years.. grin.. 

So my sweet hubby picked me some... 

They grow on a vine and look like cotton balls..

Do you ladies know what they are..

I twisted them around and sort of made a wreath with them..

And then I put them on the olde spinning wheel..

I really haven't started decorating the living room yet..

But I did place the snow girl that I made last year in there..

For now.. grin.. I like her in a couple of places so it is hard to say where she will end up..

So I will say good night for now...

The sun is going down here in Eastern Canada...

We bought some really good coffee today so I think I will make a cup..

Tomorrow again is the Lord's Day.. smile..

I am so thankful for the blessings of this past week.. So many times I noticed such a joy in my spirit... For some time now I have been carrying a burden... It was heavy... And although, I knew that I need not do that.. I kept it anyway... He said if we would give our burdens to Him that He would make them light...

So, many times I would forge on ... Trying on my own to fix things or whatever.. This one was getting hard to bear..

Monday morning when I got down to pray I carried such a heaviness and  suddenly I remembered times in my life when I had given Him my burden and oh the joy of leaving it all with Him..

It was as though He said to me... Remember..

I realized then that I need not put myself through this.. I only needed to give it all to Him...

And I did.. Thank you, Jesus... What a faithful God we serve..

Down to the little facets of our lives He is there..

I am so thankful that He reminded me that He could give me peace..

Tonight.... six days later and I am not fretting..

He will look after it for me.. smile..

I had no intentions at all of writing this.. 

Perhaps  though, there is someone out there who needs a little reminder of how faithful Jesus is.. He is our burden carrier...

Have a blessed Sunday dear friends...

God bless...

Matthew 11: 30

Psalms 55: 22

I Peter 5: 7

A Little Guest Bedroom Redo...

Hello everyone..

Just a posting tonight with lots of pics of a little guest room we have here..

As you know we have 5 grandsons so this room has kind of a woodsy theme going on for boys... 

It is ready and all decorated for Christmas..

Hope there aren't too many pics..

Looking out the window at the old pine tree covered in snow..

The boys are coming over their Christmas break to stay..

Something to look forward to.. smile..

Thanks for the visit.. It is such a delight to hear from you..

Sending you love, joy and peace..

God bless...

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