Ten lovely ways to make your Winter home cozy....

Hello there dear hearts.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth today.. 

This is to be a special blog post because the homegoods company called Wayfair.ca invited me to participate in a little campaign they have going on.

 I am to write a post giving a few tips which will help create a cozy home during these last several weeks of Winter.

Here in Eastern Canada we have been hit with two huge back to back snow storms this past week and it is hard to imagine an end in sight.. 

So let's talk about a few ideas that might help us to revamp our homes into cozy retreats for the rest of the season.. 

1.  The first idea of course is to have a nice warm fire... 

Either in our fireplaces, stoves or such.. 

But if you don't have a fireplace or don't want to bother with the work of fire making then make a mock fireplace with candles.

Grouping candles of different sizes on a shelf,  a coffee table or at the base of a fireplace is a great way to add a cozy spark to your home.. 

2..Candles just naturally cheer up a space.. 

3..  Throws and Blankets..

Throws are lovely but sometimes it does add a sense of warmth and flair to go with faux fur..  

Adding blankets to chairs and couches injects a touch of warmth to any room... 

4.. Plants.. 

Any room can benefit from greenery not only in the decorative sense but they are wonderful for your health.. 

This past year I have been trying to grow plants and place them about..

I think they add coziness, don't you? 

Making coffee and glancing out of the kitchen window on a Winter's morning with the snow piled high is somehow cheerful with the colourful Geraniums peering outside, too! smile.. 

5..Speaking of kitchens ... Copper adds such a touch of warmth to this centre of our home.. 

The lovely copper colour reflects the light.. 

Whether it is a wintry sun shinning through the kitchen window or the reflection of a candle burning on the counter or hutch.. 

Copper is classic and so rich looking, I think.. 

6..  Wonderful home cooked meals and lovely set tables.. 

Sitting around the supper table with a delicious meal definitely  makes a big contribution towards a cozy home anytime of the year but especially during the long evenings of Winter.. 

Tablecloths and dinnerware can make the food taste better, eh?  smile.. 

7..  Books...

Taking time in the afternoon or evening to turn the pages of a book along with a lovely cuppa makes for a cozy spot in your day.. 

Books and plants are in the same catagory to me.. 

They just emanate the coziness  of home and especially during the winter months..

I can never have too many bookshelves, if you know what I mean.. 

8..Bread...

Yup... 

You have to agree that there is no other smell as cozy as homemade bread and it is so comforting... 

It is very easy to make now with the many no knead recipes that one can find on the internet.. 

Here is the link for this one here..

It will take only 5 minutes of your day.. 

9.  Fragrance.. 

Plug- ins, candles, sprays or even homemade potpourris can make a stale home smell delightful.. 

Spices and fruits mixed with water and simmered in a pot on the stove or in the oven smell glorious.. 

Or even wrap some up in cheesecloth and tie with a string.. 

Dip into a potpourri burner along with a bit of cider...

Don't you think that anything that makes your house smell delicious is money well spent?

Me, too.. 

10..  Make a few cozy corners for yourself.. 

They will give you a quiet spot during busy days or restful place at the end of one.. 

This is my favourite spot.. 

Our water bed... 

So warm and cozy.. 

A flannel covered down filled duvet, an open window, a smelly candle and the book.. 

Heavenly.. smile..

and this one.. 

An old lazy boy, a pile of books and the electric fireplace in our sun room is another cozy spot for me.. 

And my plants.. smile.. 

Well, my friends this about wraps it up.. 

I hope you will find something inspiring here to help you cope with the rest of our Winter season and make a bit of cozy for yourself.. 

Looking out of our Family Room window the other night at this beautiful sunset gives us hope of waking up to a sweet Spring morning very soon.. 

Thank you so much for visiting and I look forward to reading your sweet notes that you leave.. 

Also... 

 I would like to thank Wayfair.ca for this honour of allowing me this opportunity to represent them even in this small way..

There are several links above in the post to Wayfair.ca and their cozy products.. 

Take care and God bless.. 

xo 

Winter in Albert County...

Have a great week, dear hearts... 

A little trip to St. Martins to see all of their SNOW..

Hello everyone.. 

I want to wish you a Happy Spring... 

I know a lot of you have true cause to celebrate but as they say.. 

Meanwhile in Canada.... lol.. 

This will be my final post about snow.. honest.. 

We heard from a sweet friend that St. Martins which is where my little shop and our summer cottage is was covered in snow.. 

So... we took a little trip.. 

Want to come along? 

This is where we started out almost.. 

As you can see our area has some very high banks of snow.. 

Where it drifts sometimes there is really only about one lane.. 

Remember this is on a rural road and not our main highways... 

They are well cleared and mostly bare... 

I coaxed Terry into turning around so I could take these pictures.. 

When we went by it reminded me of a bunch of ladies at the supermarket waiting in line to get their groceries bagged up.. grin..

They are actually waiting their turn to get to the hay feeder.. smile.. 

Patience is a virtue, dear ladies.. 

They all were wondering what I wanted with them.. grin.. 

Another friend had said that West Quaco was closed and as we have some sweet friends living there we went there first to see how it really was.. 

But by the time we arrived it was all cleared out except for some really high banks.. 

We went down Lighthouse Road to check the light house.. 

It was still there but not very visible due to the high banks of snow..

Just for fun I have included a pic I took last Summer.. 

Same place.. Same station.. 

Different scene, though.. smile.. 

Soon... 

A quaint little cottage over there.. 

The lady who owns it bought her top window curtain from my shop.. smile. 

And our friend's house but they were away.. 

Then we went back to  St. Martins.. 

The sweetest little village on the Bay of Fundy.. 

I think so, anyway.. 

See that lovely house up on the cliff.. 

It reigns supreme over the village and my sweet friend, Gwen lives there.. 

She is an artist and she and her husband make jewellery..

She blogs and takes the most beautiful pictures of St. Martins.. 

You can find her HERE...

Well as you can see everyone is busy trying to push that snow back.. 

And it is a very real task... 

Oh good.. 

There is my little shop coming up.. 

It is right on Main Street.. 

And you can see the back of our old summer cottage.. 

My goodness.... you can hardly see the shop at all.. 

And there is the cottage.. 

Pretty well buried, I would say.. 

Hard to imagine that in a few months the snow will be gone and we will be there opening up the windows and doors and bringing some life back into the old place..

Making more memories for our heart's pages..  

This is the end of our street and another friend's cottage.. 

But this is what it will look like in a few months.. 

Worth waiting for, eh?  smile.. 

On with the story... 

The harbour.. 

The fishermen still go out and there were quite a few boats there.. 

The tide was in.. 

And here are the world famous St. Martins Caves... 

How I love the Bay of Fundy.... 

I have visited St. Martins since I was a baby..

My Mom grew up here for you new followers.. 

My Dad was a lumberjack and was working for my grandfather and met my Mom at a dance.. 

They married and my Mom was the only one of 12 to move away from this little village.. 

Sorry to bore you with a bit of family history.. grin.. 

One of the two covered bridges ..

And this is the second one.. 

Well my dears, it is time to head home and I was glad to be down and see it all... 

This road leads us home.. 

Another hour and half and we will be there.. 

I had to share this picture.. 

I saw one similar on the internet.. 

It is titled.. 

CANADA... WE WILL NOT SURRENDER !!!.. 

It has been quite a Winter but now it is officially Spring.. 

And even though the snow is coming once again to our Maritime Provinces over night and again tomorrow we do know that Winter will have to give up soon... 

It has certainly put up a good fight here in our part of the world but underneath the snow the earth is coming back to life and flowers are pushing their way up to greet us once again.. 

We must look forward because joy cometh in the morning.. 

Maybe not tomorrow morning but one of these days.. grin.. 

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day and once again we are getting snow.. 

Hopefully, not enough to cancel church but if so I can still talk to the Lord right here... 

Take care, my dears.. 

Enjoy your weekend and as I promised ... 

There will be no more Winter posts.. 

Looking forward to hearing from you all.. 

Hugs..