Libby Loves the Snow!

Well it wasn't a white Christmas in 2011 for us here in Forest, but December 27th brought down a bit of the fluffy stuff; wet and fluffy that is.  After a bit of shopping in the morning and polishing off left overs in front of the TV in the afternoon, we thought we really better get outside for a walk!

It was a gorgeous night and big fluffy wet flakes were gently falling and we wanted to see how Libby would react in the snow.  Needless to say - she Loved it!  My camera couldn't keep up with the speed of her excitement, but the following pictures will give you a bit of an idea of how much she enjoyed it.  I can't wait until the snow is a 'dryer' and a little deeper - then I hope to get some really good snapshots of her.

Getting ready to head out for our walk.

I told you the flakes were big !

I am surprised that the camera even
captured this shot as clear as it is. 
You can tell by how her feet are positioned how fast
she's flying through the snow!

She's loving this!

She kept stopping to get the snow balls off her feet.
She'll be wishing she wore the puppy boots I bought her for Christmas. 

Well the snow was thick and wet, but very pretty against the night sky.  And just watching Libby have so much fun was so worth it.

Holly called and said she made it home ok, but it wasn't a pleasant 2.5 hour drive. She's thinking that snow tires are a good idea after all and I'm hoping it's clear for the morning commute back to work tomorrow.  The only really good thing about going back to work tomorrow is that I won't be tempted to sit and each the left over Christmas cookies all day.  (Well - that - and the paycheck!)

Happy Holidays everyone. 

Bonnie 

TUSAL- Post #13

Oh, where did the year go?? 

Hard to believe this is the final TUSAL posting for 2011!  Just a few bits of floss added to the pile...

Here's to many hours of stitching (not frogging!!) in 2012.

Wishing you all the best of this holiday season... Merry Christmas!!

Tracey

Let It Snow!

Today I thought I'd share pictures of my outside decor.  We got a bit of snow overnight, so I figured this may be my only chance to capture that "Christmasy" look before the 25th.  

Here we go...

Hope you enjoyed my little tour.  Thanks for stopping by!

Tracey

Cookies & Cherries & Chocolates, Oh My!

Arriving at work this week, on my last day before my vacation, I was greeted with a wonderful surprise at my desk.  I knew right away it was from my friend Lori.  We share a passion for baking, so we can totally relate to the intricate details we apply to our baked goods and the time we take to make those special treats for our loved ones. You either love making this special effort, or you don't.  Either way everybody loves to eat them.  So in the end, we all win!  Tomorrow, I'll be working on my famous  &*$%@$*%%&Cookies !! 

I can't wait to open this !!

Overflowing with decadents.

Let's look inside each bag now.  OMG - I can smell the chocolate already.  I'm getting so excited !!!!

Lori and I have spent many lunch hours discussing recipes and sharing cookie ideas and she explained to me once how she has her 'special' tweezers just for applying her decorations on her cookies.  She said, "People think I'm crazy"  but I totally get where she is coming from.  Like a guy has his tools in his shed, the gals have their 'gadgets' in the kitchen.  As I opened the first bag,  I truly appreciated this gift even more.  

Shortbread cookies like I've never seen before!
Don't you just Love the little plate? 
A gift from Jody a few years ago.

 

Now, just so you don't think this is a large plate
or that the decorations are large,
I placed tweezers on the plate
to show how intricate this work is.
(Don't worry, they were cleaned)

ohhhhh - I can smell the peanut butter and chocolate.
I Love the little holly leaves - isn't it amazing how something so tiny can add so much!

Oh, the smell of the chocolate is driving me crazy. 
I should have eaten breakfast before doing a photo shoot.

Oh my goodness.  This plate is filled with Cake Pops, and get this - cream cheese, chocolate chips and crumbled cake rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate. It's like eating chocolate covered cookie dough.  Don't be silly, Yes, of course I tasted one

Ohhhh... now it's yummy cereal, peanuts and chocolate covered cluster thingie's.  That's the name right Lori? 
You didn't happen to use bran cereal did you -
'cause that's a really good way to hide fiber and justify eating the cookie at the same time.
I'm thinking I might have to hide those
homemade turtles from my kids though -
so don't anyone forward this post to them ok?
 

mmmm gingersnaps and fondant covered cherries

Now the hard question... do I want tea or cappuccino for breakfast, and dare I eat cookies for breakfast.  Sure why not, it's Christmas and Lori went to all that work! 

hmmmm tea or cappuchino?   Note the snowflake on the cup.  Another gift from Jody.
It's magnetic and you can wear it on
your winter scarf or whatever...
I choose to display it on my mug because it looks
festive and sparkly.  Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle.
It's all about the bling!

OK, now Bonnie - decide which cookie you want.  OH, why make this difficult - the solution is staring you right in the face! 

Have one of each silly.
Have the cappuccino for breakfast and call Diane over for tea this afternoon and pretend you are opening the cookies
for the first time.  Problem solved.

Hang on: doorbell ..........

Crap! Busted!  Diane just showed up for tea while I was in the middle of the photo shoot and about to sample goodies before I sit to actually eat them. Sampling is different than eating.  There are no calories in sampling - But you can still get busted. I'm just sayin'.

Thanks again Lori for such a thoughtful and tasty gift.  Not only do I get to enjoy them, you saved me some time with baking and I got to brag about you on my blog.  You are a great friend.

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of our followers and their families.  I hope you aren't too jealous of my generous and delicious gift, but if you happen to be in the neighbourhood anytime soon (and by soon I mean before they are all gone), you might want to pop in for a little treat. 

Holiday cheers!

Bonnie 

Keeping It Simple

For some reason it took me longer to get in the mood to decorate for the holidays this year.  Some winter/Christmas items didn't come out of the totes this time around, so compared to last year I'm keeping it simple.

Let's start with the mantle in the sitting room.  I went with a softer, quieter look... 

 

The tree, a little more subdued...

A few accents in the kitchen...

My Santa display in the family room...

I think this Santa has to be the most favourite thing I have ever stitched.  It always hangs on the door to greet our guests...

To me a big part of the holiday season is having a great smelling house, so lots of candles and my new Scentsy warmer which I got as a Christmas gift this year... thanks Anita!

So even though the decorations are simpler this year, I know it won't take away from the real meaning of what this time of year is all about; spending time with family and friends.  Just being together with the ones we love...

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Tracey

Oh Bonnie...

... how you keep us entertained with your antics!

Bonnie hosted our annual Christmas cross stitch meeting this past Wednesday evening.  Tuesday night Anita, Jody and I received the following email from her.  In the subject line it read:  Cross Stitch - warning

Ladies, I know you will all say you don’t care… but seriously… I’m not fussing about my house. 

I have vacuumed. But only because I broke a Christmas tree bulb.

I did clean out the cat box.  Peee ewwww

I’ve rearranged the living room for Jody’s blanket party.

There will be food, but not of the Christmas theme.  

And for goodness sakes, whatever you do – don’t’ open the fridge. Something might crawl out.

Your gifts are all wrapped, but not under the tree.  I hope I can still remember where I put them before tomorrow night.

The stockings are Not hung, but the faux fire is ready.

I vacuumed the dust off the ceiling fan, just in case the fire makes Tracey too hot and we have to turn it on – don’t want to be showered by dust bunnies.

Oh, and the outdoor lights are hung – but don’t be surprised if they aren’t as festive as the neighbours.
 

Oh frig, I guess I could scrub the toilet.

One more sleep.

Now, as much as we all enjoy our monthly get togethers, December is always extra fun because there are gifts involved.  Since there is only the 4 of us, we all buy something for the other 3 ladies.  It doesn't necessarily have to be stitching related; we have no set $$ limit; and we don't always get the same thing for all 3 people. 

So I grabbed all of my bags and headed out on foot over to Bonnie's house (she just lives around the corner from me).  As I approached her block, I was met by all of the pretty lights twinkling in the the darkness...

What was Bonnie talking about in her email?  She did a splendid job with her lights!

Oh wait... as I get closer, I realize that those are her neighbour's lights.  As I step up onto her porch, I spot her festive light display...

I am the first person to arrive, so we say our hellos and Bonnie tells me to go to the back room and make myself comfortable.

There I find Sushi, our possessed  friendly greeter waiting for the guests to arrive...

 

Oh no, here they are again; coming to invade my space.

Bonnie was true to her word - the fireplace was roaring...

Tracey didn't even have to shed any clothes!

 Bonnie's presents weren't under the tree yet (but luckily she did find them before the end of the night)...

Bonnie's such a busy lady that she had to go with Plan B for her tree this year.

 Anita was the next to arrive, so the 3 of us sat and chatted and relaxed while drinking hot spiced apple cider (yum!) while impatiently waiting for Jody to arrive.  Where could she be?  Sure enough, she had popped in for a visit to her brother's house to cuddle her 2 nephews (the newest one being just 2 months old... and grandson #8 for Jody's parents!)  Since Jody lives out of town, this is quite a common occurrence when it's either Bonnie or I hosting a meeting and she has to come this way  :^)  Can you blame her?? 

So after filling our bellies with a delicious array of food, it was picture time.  The photographer had arrived and we were ready to go.  The sooner we got that done, the sooner we could get to the presents!! 

Should we pose in front of the tree?  You all saw it... it just wouldn't work, we would totally block it out.  Let's go with her other tree instead  :^) ...

Isn't it gorgeous??!!!

OK... how much are we paying this photographer??

 Since I am going home with the photographer, he knows he'd better not leave until he gets a picture that we all like! ...

There... now that's better!  Thanks Paul!

For the gift opening portion of the post I have to apologize.  In all of the excitement, there were basically only 2 pictures taken by me (maybe we should have had the photographer stick around longer!).  I was with Bonnie when she bought Jody's gift, and we were very anxious to see her reaction...

Yep... that's what we expected.  You see Jody loves Scottie dogs and eventually one day hopes to own a real one of her own.  In the meantime this cookie jar will have to do!

Now when you read Bonnie's email at the beginning of this longgggg post, you probably wondered what Jody's blanket party was all about.  Well, earlier in the week Jody asked for our assistance with tying the edge of a fleece blanket to be used to sit on at hockey games (all 3 of her boys play, so that's a lot of sitting!).  Sure we all said; so Anita cut and we all tied 4 blankets well into the next am.  At least with doing this (as opposed to stitching) there are no worries of having to "frog" as you simply can't make a mistake!  Jody can now sit through all those games with a cozy, warm tush.

You really think you are going to do this with out my help?  You know how I love blankets!

One thing we didn't want to forget, was to make a toast to our fellow Stitching Sisters (this is especially for you Jayne!) who were also together celebrating that same night, many miles away from us.  It won't be long until the new year is here and we'll be counting down to our Stitching Retreat together in May!!

Cheers!!  Merry Christmas to our Special Stitching Friends!!

We would also like to say "cheers"  and the happiest of holidays to each and every one of you that take the time to stop by and visit our blog (and all of your lovely comments too...we really appreciate it!)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Tracey