So this was Christmas.... 2016

Seasons Greetings dear friends.. 

Well, this was Christmas this year of 2016... 

And a lovely one it is turning out to be.. 

Our Christmas lasts all week this year !  

A bit one day and a bit more the next.. 

Our oldest son and his family could not be here for Christmas day because of work schedules so we are having a Family Day on New Year's Day.. 

Grandpa and Grandma are pretty excited as all 5 grandsons will be arriving on New Years eve and having a sleep over with us.. 

Perhaps their parents will be here, too or so we hope..

So nice to have all of our children under one roof once again.. smile.. 

Anyway all is well and we have been enjoying getting ready and having a few wonderful few days already.. 

Just sharing some pics of our doings.. 

Decorated the front step and trimmed our lovely Christmas tree..

That is a story in itself.. lol.. 

I guess I will tell you it as it is rather funny.. 

Last year we had a very pretty tree and I was kind of excited about it because trimming a tree just is not my forte... smile.. 

We had bought it at a tree lot and the kids all said it was the nicest tree we had for a while.. 

This year I kept bugging Terry to go buy our tree.. 

Then on Friday when we drove by all they had were a couple of small ones and I was a bit dismayed .. 

Not to worry says the dear man.. 

He will just go out to his woodlot and cut one down.. 

No problem.. 

He got right to it and a couple of hours later I look out the window and there he stands as proud as a peacock holding onto a rather tall fir tree.. 

Smiling he says he only needs to cut the bottom off and it will be great!  

Sure..... 

He sees the look on my face and gets all defensive so I just go along for the ride and say ok.............

I was talking to Shonda on the phone and she says that perhaps he felt bad because he had spent all that time trying to please me.. 

Yup... So I feel guilty and think I may as well do the best I can with it..  

To make a long story short he brings it in and cuts off the bottom and it is still too high so I say to cut the top off so that it will fit.. 

Oh dear lord.. 

We had the middle of a very sparse tree.. 

On go the lights and I spend all the afternoon trying to fill in the spaces... I even put on icicles.. Remember them?

Let's just say that I was not very successful.. 

When I went to the end of the living room and looked back I thought it looked like a drunken sailor with two arms outstretched trying to stand straight.. 

Moving over the the other side it looked like a cross in the middle of the tree.. 

I called Shonda and told her and she said well everyone will just think that you are religious, Mom.. 

Brother!! 

To end this sad story I will tell you that it is coming down tomorrow before someone sees it and won't let me forget about it for the next few years.. 

A tree has not ever been that important to me anyway as we don't even put it up till Christmas eve usually.. 

Oh and when Dustin came home he wanted to know if we got the tree for half price since it was only half there.. grin.. 

I just cannot stand to hear all the lovely comments from the rest of them so it is coming down.. lol...

Oh, I did take some pics so I could prove to our daughter just how bad it really was.. grin.. 

On with the story.. 

Prepared a few care packages.. 

Sprayed the bells copper... 

Made some shortbreads, white sugar cookies, coconut macaroons and a few pans of squares and fruit cake.. 

Making soups as usual...

Writing out cards... 

The fireplace mantel in the living room.. 

The little lighted houses are vintage and used to belong to a dear Pastor's wife who I loved.. 

Her name was Sister McNair... 

It is a lot prettier than the picture shows.. smile.. 

My old Santa that I remade a few years ago... 

Another care package for some very special people in our lives..

The mantel in the family room Christmas morning.. 

Dustin and Charlie ...

Then on Boxing Day we went to our daughter's home for dinner.. 

Some of her decor.. 

An old santa I made for her on our homespun Christmas a few years ago.. 

Her beautiful huge poinsettia.. 

Gramp teasing Carter.. 

The men just hanging out.. 

A little pose of Shonda and Dave.. 

Note the wonderful roses that David gave Shonda to celebrate their 25th anniversary last week.. 

Aren't they sweet?? 

I wonder who Matt is texting.. smile.. 

When is dinner ready??? 

It was delicious!! 

I forgot to take a pic of the food but it was wonderful turkey and ham dinner.. 

And the best apple pie that I have had since last Christmas.. 

Shonda is known for her wonderful apple pie.. 

Just like her Grandmothers... 

Today, Terry and I went Boxing Day shopping.. 

I did not buy anything... 

Just too much for me so we went and had our annual Christmas Chinese dinner... 

Then we dropped by my Mom's and had a lovely visit with her and Gerald... 

She gave me some lovely gifts but the one I loved the most was an old chocolate box filled with old handkerchiefs that belonged to my grandmother.. She thought the box was well over 50 years old.. 

I am going to go and make a cup of tea and just sit and go through the box and savour and smell each one of them.. 

So blessed to still have my mama with us... 

So dear hearts this is all for another time.. 

This is a pic of the moon out of our kitchen window yesterday morning... 

Tomorrow, Lord willing I will start getting ready to have everything ready for the weekend.. 

Hope you sweet things had a great Christmas day and enjoy this final week before we go into 2017.. 

Just imagine !! 

Take care my dears and God bless.. 

He is so faithful !!

Saturday Christmas Ramblings.....

Greetings everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth on this snowy almost Christmas evening..

A week from tonight and it will be the night before... smile.. 

This year has passed so quickly !

I am not ready yet.. 

Big surprise !! Not !! 

I am such a procrastinator and every year is the same .. Also,  I am so slow now and I am not even doing as much.. One would think that I would be more ready.. 

Is that proper English?  smile.. 

Anyway, these pics are just a few rambling doings that has been going on around here.. 

The Snowman Hat is on the Buffet..

The next one is a sneak peek at the fireplace mantel in the livingroom.. 

I need to add one more element.. Waiting on Terry to hang such element.. Then I will take a pic.. It is a little inspiration from Pinterest.. 

Fresh branch that was so awesome from my friend's tree across the road.. smile. Thanks, Darlene.. 

Then the fresh cranberries I strung on florist wire and that is so easy to manipulate into swags.. 

I will hopefully be able to share the pic with you next as we finally found the right nail.. grin.. 

The little snowman sits amongst some homemade pillows... 

Rambling along here.. 

This is a little memory for you..

A little girl who loved Christmas.. 

I think this is the only picture I had taken with old Father Christmas.. 

Many years ago... 

An old box of Christmas candles... 

Now.. 

As we ramble along here is a project that I did this past week.. 

In our living room I have some old silver.. 

So as the chandelier was brass colour I wanted to change it.. 

So... 

With some paints and sealer it is finished.. 

I painted it all black first then dry brushed the silver paint (named Old Silver) over top.. 

I love how it turned out.. 

I had already changed a mirror frame over the buffet.. 

It is topped with a fresh swag and a pair of old silver skates..

These mirrors were also given to us and they were gold.. 

I have copper in the kitchen so applied some copper paint to the frames and they go along well with the rest...  

Sorry for the quality of the pic but you get my drift.. 

There are two mirrors done the same way... 

My bowl of soup for lunch ...

Trevor had brought us a fresh partridge and we love a soup made from it.. 

And bok choy ...

 Love that in our soups.. 

Well, I do.. 

Terry does not add that to his bowl.. smile.. 

Still rambling.. 

A tablecloth that I sewed up this week for the dining room table.. 

Shonda and I found the fabric in Bangor when we were down.. 

I have to finish up the napkins and that is another chore finished.. 

I love ticking... There is also a bunting made out of the same fabric..

 More pics coming up.. 

My living room actually looks like a tornado went through.. 

Christmas stuff everywhere along with pine needles and such.. 

It all comes together though just in time.. 

I love pottering away in there.. 

A touch here and little vignette there... 

Oh yes... 

I had a birthday this week.. 

It was not my big one.. grin.. 

But it was celebrated like it was.. 

Went to Maine with sweet daughter as a birthday gift and then the next Saturday they took us to Moxies along with gifts hidden under Dave's coat which made the waitress quite anxious.. grin.. 

English tea in a Union Jack type of tin.. 

Loved it.. 

Then Dustin and Trevor and their sweet gifts.. 

Made Shrimp and Pasta to celebrate.. 

 Terry had taken me out to dinner at the Big Stop on Sunday.. 

A local place that we love.. 

I received so many wishes from so many friends and family this year.. 

I even received a wonderfully dear parcel from our sweet friends the Mayo family who live in Wisconsin.. 

They have this blog Here..

We met through blogging and feel as though we have known each other forever.. 

We really love and appreciate them.. 

All in all .... It was a great birthday..

Ok... 

Rambling along here.. 

Doing some baking today.. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Banana Butterscotch Chip Bread.. 

Just add butterscotch chips instead of chocolate.. 

A nice change.. 

We are serving Hot Cocoa and homemade cookies tomorrow night at our Christmas evening at church.. 

What our world looks like tonight.. 

It has been snowing all week but surprise we are getting rain all day tomorrow then down to below zero temps.. 

Oh my.... Whatever. !! 

More soup for this soup junkie.. 

Italian Wedding Soup.. 

My all time fave... 

The link is Here..

Love these vintage doll ornaments.. 

Well, dear hearts this is the rambling I am going to do tonight.. 

It is almost my bed time.. 

I love to go to bed and read.. 

Enjoy going into my darkened bedroom and hearing the wind chime clanking ..Turning on the lamp and opening the window (most nights).. Getting ready for bed and crawling in and reaching for my book..

I do try to end each day with the Word of the Lord.. 

Thankful for all of His blessings...

He is a great God... 

Looking forward to hearing from you sweet ladies.. 

Enjoy your Lord's Day tomorrow.. 

xo

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...