Christmas Blessings

We had a wonderful day full of so many Christmas blessings.   Starting last evening we hosted some friends after the church service.  Good friends, food and laughter - a great start.

By the time we went to bed we were about ready to drop.  Tired but a happy tired.

Santa  found all of us, even little Millie.

One of the greatest blessings of the day was that Mom was in a great mood.  There were even a few funny moments from her.  This is rare and was a lovely gift for me.   We had a morning visit from my cousin Mike (you know - the boy who killed Santa for me) and he brought a cake. 

I had Christmas Dinner ready at around 1 pm.  I cooked a 20 lb turkey and all the fixings.  Yes, I said 20 lbs - for the 3 of us.  Lol  But that means I get a couple of days off from cooking.  Mom ate a huge plate of food.  Another rare treat, as her appetite is not the best anymore.  She seemed to be on her best behavior for me today and I was so grateful.

I want to show you my most special Christmas present.  Two weeks ago when I picked up Mom at day care the supervisor handed me this package with instructions not to open until Christmas.

 
Despite being curious, I wanted to wait.  I knew this was going to be special.  Their project that week was to make something special for their loved ones.  I am blessed that the staff at Mom's program are caring enough to think of something like this.   What was held inside this little package ?

A simple little beaded bookmark.   A few beads on a simple white ribbon.  But it was enough to bring me to tears.  It has been so long since Mom has participated in holidays, the fact that I knew she actually made this has made it so special. 

Sometimes it just the little things that make a day special - like a small gesture from an angel.   I hope you all had a blessed day and have some angels in your life.

Merry Christmas

Merry  Christmas

from our house to yours

Finding my way

It has been a long couple of weeks.  There has been a lot going on in my life lately.

I have been managing to plod along but today I am tired.  I think everything is catching up with me and I am glad it is Friday and I have a couple of days to decompress.

One of the coping skills I developed as I learned to  live with Mom's Alzheimers was to compartmentalize certain problems.  I just couldn't deal with all the different things in the beginning that were coming at me every day.  Sometimes you just have to deal with the task at hand and put the feelings and emotions aside for awhile. 

I would just take certain things and mentally put them in a box.  And that is what I have been doing for a long time.  But lately I have been collecting a lot of those boxes. They are getting a little heavy. So I guess that means I need to deal with some of them, before they deal with me. 

I feel better just admitting that to myself.  It is OK to have these feelings.  It is OK  to take some time for yourself.   It is OK to stop pretending to be the energizer bunny.

Actually, I feel better already.   Have a great rain-free weekend.  I hope to get some more photos of the fall leaves before they all disappear.

The Switch

This is one of last Fall's photos.  It has nothing to do with this post, but I didn't want to do a pic-less post.

Today was the traditional "switch" day.  It was time to switch out the seasonal clothes.

What a mess for awhile. Mountains of clothes piled up on the floors of all the bedrooms.  The washer and dryer were thumping since early morning.

All the cute shorts and T shirts are history for now and all the cozy, comfy sweaters are back on the shelves.

We kept busy all day and had leftovers to eat so it was nice not to have to cook - just microwave. 

Miss Millie was back to herself this morning, running around and begging for treats.   I think the sneaky culprits have learned their lesson about being too generous under the table.  There were quite a few barks, snorts and growls of protest during supper.  Millie is so funny when she is ticked off.  She is one little ball of attitude.

It's back to work tomorrow.  It is always so hard to get going the morning after a long weekend.

More of Fall's Bounty

Here are a few more photos taken earlier this week as I was leaving the Annapolis Valley.  It is such a beautiful area, dotted with scenic farm lands, country markets and lots of memories.  I spent 4 years attending university in this special place.  And I think Fall is the best time of year to appreciate what it has to offer.

And it would be almost criminal to leave the Annapolis Valley without some apples.  I bought a bag of Ginger Golds, Honeycrisp, and of course MacIntosh.   My plan is to make  apple pie this weekend.  My grandmother made the best apple pie in the world.  Really, she did.   The pressure is on to re-create it.  I think it is pretty hard to screw up apple pie.  Well, I hope so anyway. 

This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.  Pumpkin and apple pies are tradition.  This year I do not want to eat store bought pies.    Look out - I'm strapping on the apron this weekend!

Some quiet time

It has been more than a week since I had a new post.  I have been blog absent but I hope to catch up with you all over the next few days.

In the middle of last week things went sideways.  I needed to take an unexpected trip, but that's all I am going to say about it.  Monday evening I needed to clear my head.  I left the hotel and found a short nature trail near a farmer's market.  It was just what I needed.

Rumor has it......

Rumor has it that this was the first official weekend of Autumn.   That is what everyone is saying.  That is what the calendar is saying.

However, the thermometer was saying something else all weekend.  It felt more like July than the tail end of September.   Even the trees are slow catching on.  This photo was taken last year.

Maybe it's some kind of twisted karma that ever since I bought new Fall duds for cooler weather  - the temps have climbed to the mid to high 20's.  Today I was sweating in shorts and a T-shirt.  Sorry gals, until it cools down I won't be modelling my new purchases for awhile.

I had a bit of a stomach bug yesterday and spent much of the day sleeping on the sofa.  I hate it when I waste an entire precious weekend day.  Plus that meant I had to cram all the weekend chores into today.  The last load of laundry is now folded and I can pull a few loops on my rug while I watch the premier of Desperate Housewives.

I also switched the furniture around in the "Christmas" room.  It is actually the front living room that we never use - except for at Christmas time.  It is going to become my study room while I start my new courses.  I got notice on Friday that my first set of text books have been shipped so I  moved things around so I have a cozy little study corner away from the chaos and the constant stream of company this house receives.  

Time to see what is happening on Wisteria Lane.   Have a great week.

A late bloomer

Todays weather was certainly not an indication that "Irene" is on her way.  It was a beautiful sunny late summer day.   Not so for some of you along the eastern US coast.  I have been watching the news reports and hope Irene continues to weaken. 

We are not in a direct line of her path but are still going to be affected by the outer bands of the storm by this time tomorrow.   Wind and rain warnings have already been issued here.  I have taken all the outside furniture inside and tied everything else down.

I noticed this late bloomer in the planter a few days ago and decided I better take a photo before it drowns or blows away.  The 2nd sunflower has finally bloomed.



Weekend travels

Another busy few days have come to an end.  The fun (not) started Friday.  Remember the "no free lunch guy" from last summer?  Well, he is back again and we had to all go out to dinner with him Friday night.  I dreaded it all Friday - it hung over me like a storm cloud.  You can read about last years dinner with him here.    This years version was just as not-fun.    The only good thing is that it is over for another year.

Then I had planned to take the Golden Girls and the Vermont crew on a road trip Saturday.    They only have one week left so I am trying to squeeze everything in.  Not sure how the first 3 weeks flew by so quickly.  Anyway I picked everyone up and we planned on touring the Sunrise Trail and stopping into all the little villages, shopping etc.  It ended up being the hottest day so far this year.  It was deadly. 

One bright spot in the day was a visit to the Jost Vineyards.  

I just realized I didn't take any photos inside the chalet, so I guess that means I will have to go back again.  Hehehe    We did pick up a few bottles and tasted a sample before we left.  It is a beautiful spot.  Unfortunately Saturday it was just to hot to spend alot of time outside.

We ended on a high-note with dinner at the Sandpiper Restaurant in Port Howe.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and declare that they serve the BEST fried clams in the world. 

Today was a bit cooler and I spent the day at the beach.  It was an almost perfect day - bright sun and a cool breeze.  I got settled in with a book and Bud Light and enjoyed the afternoon.  

But I once again fell prey to the zero-gravity chair.  As soon as I recline, you can guarantee that I will be asleep in 10 minutes or less.    Yup, woke up in time for supper.......with a sunburn.   They should install some kind of alarm on those chairs. 

(Six more sleeps til vacation!!)

Bouncing back

Seems I am bouncing back.  In fact, I started feeling more energetic around 3:30pm.  My phone rang at work and it was from the beach, with an invitation to Happy Hour Martini's and dinner. 

Funny how that perked me up!   This is the view I was enjoying by 5pm.

(Strictly for medicinal purposes)  hehehe

Ahhhhhh......... the triple raspberry garnish

A little grey goose, a few laughs, some mussells and scallops......

And Happy Hour ended with one of these....



Summers are rough in Nova Scotia  :)

Weekend Update

More family beach fun all weekend, and we added one more to the gang.  My big sis Jane flew in on Saturday morning.  She is staying for a week! 

I picked her up at the airport and almost the moment her plane touched down - it started to rain.    Murphy's Law.  But as long as it is just for one day (it was) its OK to have a rain day at the beach. 

We got caught up on all the news and family gossip/drama.  

The sun was back today so I took the Golden Girls out to the beach and we all had a barbeque.  Well........not exactly.  The barbeque caught fire.  Not a tiny fire either.  Huge flames shooting out the top, bottom and sides.  Nothing like a little drama!  Luckily no one was hurt and we ended up cooking the meat on the electric grill. 

Here are a few shots of the beach as the tide comes in over the rocks.  The shoreline has been dramatically changed this year as a result of that terrible storm surge last November.    But it still feels great to sit on the bank with Jane and laugh and listen to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore.

Here she is talking to her hubby on the phone.  She was not a cooperative model.  She told me if I took a picture of her she would throw me over the bank.  LOL  So I took one when she wasn't looking, because I think she might have thrown me over.   I think about 40 years ago, it did happen but it was one of the boys.   :)   Its funny, when we get together at the beach where we grew up, we instantly revert to 12 years old.

Strolling Downtown

It has been a busy few days.  The family has arrived safe and sound.  Until I unpacked their car on Sunday I had no idea how much stuff will fit in a Buick Lucerne.  Holy Cow !!  I joked that they were only supposed to stay a month --- not 6 months.  

I didn't have any great ideas for a post tonight but since I just got back from my photography class, I thought I would show you what we did tonight.  It was a beautiful evening so we took a stroll downtown.