A Christmas Ramble...

Well.... 

Hello everyone.. 

Hope you are all great and enjoying the season!  

I am so sorry for missing for so long!  

I have no excuses so am not going to begin but it is nice to get organized enough to chat with you all finally.

I couldn't believe it today when I checked back and it has been a month and a half since I did my last post.. 

The longest I have ever been away, I believe!  

But here I am and all is well.  

Thank you for all of your concern... 

I have been on Instagram and am truly not as happy on there as here but it does take much less time.. 

I must begin my ramble here now.. 

Are you all ready for Christmas?  

Will try and catch up with all of our doings.. 

Making.... 

Some old fashioned Christmas tags.. 

I was going through some antique Christmas cards and found a World War II card that was handmade like these tags.. 

Thought I would give them a try.. 

Just drawn and crayoned...

And of course ... 

Journals for gifts.. 

Our grandson got my printer going for me so here are some Tasha Tudor tags.. 

And doing...

We were out to the farm for a day and did a few last chores.. 

And.. 

Had a meal.. 

A lovely bowl of Chicken Soup... 

I was able to still pick Thyme from the Herb bed.. 

On the way home I took this pic... 

It was a beautiful evening!

And then the next day it looked like this!  

Life in Canada, eh!  

That was about a month ago and we hardly have a skiff right now here in Eastern New Brunswick... 

I actually do not mind!  at all!  

I was born on a green Christmas and it has always agreed with me since.. grin.. 

Well... rambling along here.. 

This is a long post to make up for all the missing ones.. smile.. 

More making... 

Winter Potpourri... 

The link is at the bottom of the blog here if you want the recipe.. 

Over half is gone already.. 

Love passing bags out to company... 

We made a couple of trips across the border to Calais, Maine and I bought some lovely fabrics from Mardens.. 

This is a bunting I finished... 

Hanging over the Family Room window.. 

Have been enjoying the fire... 

A lovely cozy thing about making Winter....

There is a hashtag on IG called #making winter and I love it..  

Another view of the bunting.. smile.. 

We were blessed to have our ladies group visit last Saturday.. 

It was lovely.. 

It was certainly an incentive for me to get my house trimmed!  smile.. 

And make stuff... 

Little clove filled trees for my pantry to make it smell nice.. 

And I painted a counter mat... 

Or whatever to place on our counter.. 

I am not a great painter.. 

When I had my craft business I used to have a couple of girls do that work for me but I gave it a try...

Kind of like a floor cloth.. 

Terry siliconed it to the counter.. 

It is actually darker in reality but it is not a work of art by any means.. lol... 

Did this wreath for the front hall... 

My friends are so impressed that I have my tree up.. 

It has always been the last thing that gets done.. 

My sister and I grew up with the tree being put up on Christmas Eve and I continued the tradition for many years.. 

But... 

We finally broke down and bought a fake... 

Yup..... 

It is pretty though and with boughs everywhere it still smells nice in there... 

Just a couple of pics of the livingroom... 

I did a couple of things in the pantry.. 

A little tree in a huge crock my Gramp left to me.. 

Decorated with little utensils and such.. 

Made a dried fruit garland... 

And organized my herbs and spices with mason jars and covers from the Pioneer Woman... 

So love them.. 

I can only find them across, though... 

At Walmart... 

Rambling along.. 

I found these dear old pics in my craft supplies.. 

I journeyed to my workshop in the basement and could have spent the winter there making stuff.. 

I can't get over how much I am loving crafting again... 

Anyway.. 

On with the story.... 

I painted some holly and berries on them.. 

Sprayed some sparkles and punched a hole in the top.. 

I love the little tree in the bedroom.. 

It lights up too.. 

And this is in there also.. 

My first Christmas gift from my parents! 

I was born 10 days before Christmas and they brought me home on Christmas Eve.

My Dad and Gram and went to town and bought this for me.. 

And these were my shoes.. 

My Mom kept everything and I have treasured these for years.. 

I believe my sister who was born a year and half later wore them also.. smile.. 

This is another spare room.. 

Rooms that used to have children sleeping in them every night. 

But now... 

Well... 

I better not get going on that.. 

Let's just say that if I could turn back the clock and have them all under our roof again I would be a happy momma.. 

Time flies and there is no going back except in the turning of the pages of your memory.... 

And they are very sweet!  

Thank you, Lord!  

Well now.. 

I did a wee bit of baking today.. 

Ginger Short Breads made and in the fridge.. 

And date balls... 

The recipe is from a sweet friend of mine.. 

Bonnie.. 

Hope you can read this.. grin.. 

Anyway dear hearts... 

This is all for tonight.. 

And a great long post it is.. 

Just skip half of it!  grin.. 

Hope to get back here before Christmas but just in case I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas...

From our house to yours... 

And may the Christ of Christmas be as real to you as He is longing to be... 

Looking forward to hearing from you and your lovely notes... 

God bless you.. 

from  Terry and Faye... 

Sending you Christmas hugs!  

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