Sunday, December 26, 2010

Primitive Rug for Christmas

Here is my new primitive rug hubby got me for Christmas. I just LOVE it! Bit by bit, piece by piece, I'm turning our home into the Colonial/Primitive decor I love!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Early Christmas Present! New Grand-baby Evelyn

Christmas came early for us this year! Evelyn was born last night weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs 11 ounces. Mother and Baby are doing fine. I probably won't be around much the next few days so I'd like to take this chance to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Here are a few more pictures of our home decorated for the holidays. 




Remember the real REASON for the season and keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas and in your Heart!




Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A few more Christmas photos

Here are a few more photos of our home decorated for the holidays.








I have a few more to post but right now Grand-baby is calling! 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Blast of Winter


Old Man Winter decided to come callin' today and is supposed to continue his visit for another day. I went outside and took a quick picture of the 2 small trees I have decorated in the yard. There's a lot more snow now than when I took the photo. In fact, I think we have more snow on the ground now than we did all last winter. 

Notice the perfect snowflake at the top middle of the picture...pretty cool!
~It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas~

Fun Facts about Christmas Trees



- It’s estimated that two million Christmas trees are sold across Canada every year.

- Canada harvests around 5.5 million trees annually. Of those, B.C. produces 300,000.

- In 2008, Canada exported most of its trees to the United States. The breakdown of sales per province was as follows: 860,900 from Quebec, 540,000 from Nova Scotia, 307,100 from New Brunswick, 11,400 from Ontario, 3,300 from B.C. and 51,600 from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan combined.

- Canada exports to other countries, including Mexico, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Aruba, Barbados, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Honduras, British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Jamaica, El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Singapore, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Nicaragua, St. Vincent and Grenada.

- The species that sell the most are the balsam fir and the Fraser fir.

- It takes six to 15 years for a tree to mature and bring to market.

- For every tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in its place

- A newer Christmas tree option is the "rental" idea. One company offering this service is Burnaby’s Evergrow Christmas Trees, which will deliver a potted tree to you and pick it up after Christmas.

The facts about artificial trees:

- Most are produced abroad — in China, Taiwan and South Korea.

- On average, an artificial tree lasts between seven and 10 years.

Source: The Canadian Christmas Tree Growers’ Association and the Recycling Council of B.C.


Saturday, December 11, 2010

Keeping it simple outside too

I'm keeping true to a simpler Christmas outside too. In past years I've been so stressed out trying to 'do it all'  so this year less fuss + less stress = more enjoyment time and I'm already noticing a difference. I'm actually enjoying every bit of preparing for Christmas this year.

 Here are a couple of gatherings outside my back door (the one visitors come to).
An old milkcan holds a bunch of silk poinsettias. An old rusty bucket and tool caddy await fresh greens that I still have to go cut in our backyard. The vine reindeer was purchased for me by my oldest daughter a few years ago :)

I got this wooden toboggan at a garage sale this summer for $5 - can't beat that! It will be put to good use this winter when we take Grand-baby for rides. And Santa is there to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

I hope to get out and do some shopping today but they're calling for a major storm so we'll have to wait and see. 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Decorating Fun

I thought I would share a few photos of what we've been up to the past week. We've been busy baking and decorating and will be doing more baking up until the big day.

 I'm  trying to keep things simpler this year and I've noticed I'm not alone in that area. A lot of the blogs I visit have the same idea. I think it's time for our family to tone down Christmas and get back to the main reason for the season - Love of Christ and spending time with family.

Just being together and spending time together preparing for Christmas is a blessing in itself and the only gift I need!

Here's a photo of Grandbaby Hailie picking out her very first ornament to hang on the tree and I LOVE the fact that she chose one of my old rusty jingle bells! She's got primitive in her blood :)

Shelby and Hailie starting to decorate the tree.

Shelby making Sugar Cookies. I forgot to take a picture of the cookies and they're all tucked away in the freezer now. We made chocolate chip cookies too but they're all gone now...LOL

Here is the finished tree. It's an artificial tree that my parents purchased the year I was born and I only use the top half of it due to lack of floor space. 

This display is on top of our entertainment unit. 

I'll be posting more as time permits. I hope you all take time to relax and enjoy the blessings of the season.




Wednesday, December 8, 2010

New Prims for Me!

I recently stumbled across a blog while browsing the other day and was so pleasantly surprised to find just what I was looking for....a mini version of Santa's red long johns! Melissa of Prim In The Country had them to offer from her blog at such a reasonable price, I just couldn't resist! She also had a prim Santa that I fell in love with so I ordered both and let me tell you, her work is incredible! So well made! She's got a lot of talent and I just thought you should all know so if you haven't already found her blog, stop by for a visit! Prim In The Country

Monday, November 29, 2010

Proverbs 31:21

She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.



Remember to take time to enjoy the beauty of winter and be thankful for a warm home. 

So many of us, myself included, complain about the hardships of winter, but this year I'm determined to start enjoying winter again as I did when I was younger. It really is a beautiful time of year and I want to pass on a  positive attitude toward all seasons to my Granddaughter - so no more complaining about the cold and shoveling for me! I promise to TRY to do all shoveling with a smile on my face :)

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thankful for the views outside my window

Although our Thanksgiving was in October, I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts about everyone being thankful this time of year so I thought I would share a couple of things that I’m thankful for and that make me smile when I look out my window.

A few days ago I was lucky enough to have a special visitor that only shows up a couple of times a year…a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker. I grabbed my trusty camera and took a few shots of him before he spread his massive wings and flew away. They really are very large birds!  Only one picture turned out clear enough. I was thankful for seeing him AND getting a photo.

woodpecker

That photo was take a couple of days ago and this is what it looks like outside today…

snow1

snow2

I’m thankful for the beauty of winter and my warm cozy home.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving America!

I would like to wish all my family and friends from the US a Happy and  Safe Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Primitive Christmas Ornaments

Thought I would share with you all what I've been working on lately. I have a ton of new Christmas ornies listed on my Ebay site here http://shop.ebay.com/primcountrycupboard/m.html

Here are just a few samples:

Happy Monday!


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

John McCrae


Please remember those who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice everything for our freedom. God Bless you all.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Halloween Photos

Here are a couple of Halloween photos that I took this year. I finally got a new camera and I'm loving it!

This is my Dad, Daughters, and Grandbaby carving some pumpkins in my parents store. It was too cold to take Hailie trick or treating this year and she wasn't too sure of the whole costume thing anyway...LOL
Shelby and her friend Erin getting ready to go out. Check out Hailie's expression - she looks like she's getting ready to scream!

Now that Thanksgiving & Halloween are over, I'm starting to think Christmas! We're supposed to get snow for the next few days so that will definitely put me in the mood for decorating. I've added a bunch of new Primitive Christmas items to my ebay store and you can check them out here http://shop.ebay.com/primcountrycupboard/m.html

Here's a pic of the prim mouse I finished and listed last night. He turned out so cute!

All the outside work is done for the year so I hope to have more time for crafting and updating my blog. 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Wonderful Gorgeous Fall!

The leaves are almost off the trees here in northern Ontario which makes it "Leaf jumping time"! I remember doing this as a child every year, then I'd help my kids rake and jump, and now it's Grandbaby's turn. She wasn't too sure of it at first but after a few tries and Auntie Shelby rolling around in them, she decided it was fun :)

Here are a few other shots of Fall that I took recently on one of our road trips.




This is a shot of our backyard that was taken a while back.


Next week the view may be completely different as they're calling for snow and I'm not even close to being ready for winter...LOL

Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope all my Canadian friends and neighbours have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m off to start cooking the feast we’re having tonight. We have 11 people for dinner so it’ll be a busy day :)

greeting1

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Welcome Fall!

This is a corn maze that we went through last Fall in Southern Ontario. We had a blast! They're not as easy as they look - even with a map to follow.  Fall is my most favorite season and it's so nice to  have the cooler temps now. We're getting hit with a ton of rain but hopefully we'll get some nicer days soon!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Moose on the Loose

There's been a big furry moose in our back yard and Grandbaby Hailie just LOVES him :)


Hope you're all enjoying your summer and I hope to get back to posting on a more regular basis, but for now, I'm enjoying every second of summer while it's still here!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Another Penny Rug Christmas Tree

Just listed another one on Ebay. Off to make a couple more for my craft sale! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=39069...