Ah, Christmas break :)

 

Well, Christmas is over for another year! 3 potluck dinners, 3 Christmas parties, 3 fancy cakes, 2 family gatherings over - phew! The stars of our show, Claire and parents Lisa & Greg, were there.

 

It seems to be tradition to wear red, here's the pater and his partner looking lovely in their Christmas red sweaters. Our family celebrates Christmas twice, once with the pater, usually the weekend before, and once again on Christmas day with the mater.

Even Claire was dressed in red. She was only semi interested in the Amish puzzle ball I made her. Her attention was all on the presents from Great Grandma! They were an immediate and definitely hit, go Great Grandma!

The table runners and table toppers I spent the Fall making were also a hit, here's the mater's on her coffee table - looking good! I have to admit I'm jealous .... I didn't get one :(

But I did manage to visit our local antique shop, another yearly tradition for me, and once again found a piece of my china (not that I need any) - my present to myself!

I have been enjoying my time off work, especially the sleeping in bit.  I made the mistake of tearing apart my sewing room - you know -  cleaning. Day 4 and it's still not completed, but will be by the end of today! Never mind, I will have a CLEAN and organized sewing room soon, and in the process will have rediscovered many items and forgotten UFOs. Maybe one of them will inspire me to complete it in 2015! Let's hope so.

So, how were your holidays??
Ho Ho ho

Where Does Your cat sleep?

Iris, seen above, likes to sleep with me. That's ok by me, but she likes to sleep in the middle of the bed! That means poor momma has to sleep around her, awkward most nights...... You know what I mean, cats rule, don't they? Simone on the other hand has been a mystery as to where she sleeps. I caught her in one of the designated cat beds, once, and I've never seen her use it since!

 So, last night I was stunned to find both Iris AND Simone sleeping soundly on MY BED! Not snuggled up close together mind you, but ON THE SAME BED in the SAME ROOM! Simone is making progress, breaking down Iris's curmudgeonly demeanor! You go girl!

The last of this year's potluck's is over. I am exhausted, phew! It was a great success and kudos go out to JP for all her hard work entertaining our Sew What's group :). Sorry, no pics, I forgot my camera :(. Secret Santa was kind to me again this year, this year I received a mini Christmas quilt top and backing - or a door hanging if you prefer. Many of us received projects to work on in 2015, so we have a group challenge to finish our Secret Santa projects by our next potluck. Should be doable!

Thank you Secret Santa!

So, it's cake #2 today. I made my Chocolate peppermint swirl cake for the ladies. Today's cake is a white peppermint swirl cake for the family dinner with the pater an his partner.

Now, wish me luck getting the cake, the cole slaw, the ice cream and the presents over to my sister's place without incident ....

Fa la la la la, la la la la :)

Decorating

I was inspired this year by a quilt friend's FB post of her veranda Xmas decorations. Then I remembered this twig tree I rescued one year lights and all!  It has lost most of the twigs at the top, but that's easily camouflaged with nice big red Bows. Unfortunately I don't have an electrical outlet at the front, so it won't be lit up, but it's decorated :) I'm thinking it may need a few more Xmas balls, I may be able to find one or two more ...
The mater and I did the Swiss Chalet dinner on Friday and squeezed in a wee bit of shopping @ the Toys R Us across the street afterwards. Claire will have some nice gifts on the 25th from her great grandma! That left Saturday free so I got started on my housework and was inspired to start decorating for the holiday season. Here's this year's tree

No sewing to report. Saturday was the second of three potluck dinners, I took Lasagna, it was good. Read a good quote last week:

 "If you don’t begin to be a revolutionist at the age of 20
then at 50 you will be an impossible old fossil.’

by Bernard Shaw

One more to go and one more week of work, then I can sleep in and relax a bit. Looking forward to it :)

 TTFN

No Snow yet :)

I'm totally NOT complaining about this weather! Snow means cold and I don't like the cold, so I'm not complaining about this weather AT ALL. It's Sunday and it's sunny, what more can you ask for eh? Even Simone is loving it as she is still going outside and rolls around on the cold cold patio stones - she loves it, crazy cat!

It's been a quiet week, which is good as it gave me time to complete some Xmas shopping, not that I had a lot to do this year - yeah!

Not much on the sewing side either, although I did manage to complete an Amish Puzzle ball for the wee one in the family. Hope she likes it and has fun!

TTFN,