Quiet Sundays

A sneak peek

It's Saturday afternoon and I have done everything but bake and decorate!

It's been an enjoyable day none the less.

Little Women (the 1994 version) was on late last night and I didn't get to bed until one in the morning.

I slept in until 8:45, had a leisurely breakfast, did a little tidying, went out for lunch with Morgan, did a little shopping together and then brought Jesse to the Credit Union to do some banking.

The Credit Union is a great place to go as it is right beside one of my favorite garden centers.

Every time I visit I'm inspired and I rarely leave without at least a little something. (Today was no exception)

I'm going to give you a quick sneak peak today and then feature them on Monday's post.

As a matter of fact, you will be seeing images from Wellington Garden Centre all through the Christmas season.

You wouldn't believe how many pictures I took and those were just the tip of the iceberg!

I hope to take you on a tour again in the spring.

Enjoy your sneak peak!

"Tis the Season

Well maybe not quite. I try to wait until the beginning of December before I get too Christmasy.( I'm hearing snorts of disbelief from my family over that one!)

I've been good this year though.


I've only had my Christmas music on a few times and I try to do that when no one is home.


It's almost time though.


I'm going to start with these.


The outdoor decorations are going up in the next two days and, unless something unexpected comes up, I'll be baking up a storm on Saturday!

There will be Christmas music.

Even if it's not quite December. . .

Remember This?

This is what the bathroom in my basement looked like for well over a year.

And now, after several months more. . .

It looks like this!

(The shower is behind the fully tiled wall)

The funny thing about this bathroom?

After all the time and energy I spent on the upstairs bathroom. . . Which, although it doesn't look it, is very white and bright. (Chandra tells me it has something to do with how a camera reads the gray scale?)

Everybody likes the downstairs one better!

Wordless Wednesday

One Last Garden Chore

Some of you maybe thinking my garden is covered in snow. While we did have two lovely snowfalls, neither lasted, as we have had above average temperatures for most of November.

Last week I realized that I hadn't done anything to protect my evergreens from the drying prairie winds.

The cedars in my back garden don't really need extra care as they are protected by the fence from most of the wind. Of course the other problem we face in overwintering cedars is our bright winter sun. Cedars still transpire from their foliage when warmed by the sun but if the roots are frozen solid they have no way to bring moisture back up to the foliage to replace what was lost.

Some one can think that their cedar has made it through the winter only to find it turning brown and dying as spring arrives. Cedar growers from British Columbia who enjoy optimum growth conditions (wet,wet,wet) just love us crazy Albertans for trying, year after year, to grow cedars where cedars were not meant to be!

My back garden is shaded all winter as the sun does not come high enough to shine over the garages. (Ours and our neighbour's)

The front garden, on the other hand is the worst possible place to plant a cedar.

In general, I am all about the right plant for the right place. I only plant hardy roses,trees and shrubs that are well suited for our zone. If I'm going to experiment it's usually with perennials as the cost is much lower, especially when I start them from seed.

However, I was born and raised in B.C.'s Frazer Valley where people plant cedars instead of building fences.

Sometimes I get homesick so. . .

When I was able to buy a topiary cedar from Costco for cheap,(and I mean cheap!) I planted it in a pot and put it on the front porch. I knew it wouldn't survive the winter in a pot so I told myself the back garden had no room and planted it in the front, right where I had always longed for an evergreen.

Wrapping in burlap can be self defeating as the cedar can still heat up if the burlap is touching the foliage, so I tried something different. I sprayed it with an anti desiccant.

It actually worked!

This year I found three little Alberta Spruces languishing in a Canadian Tire garden center. As soon as they saw me they begged me to take them home!

What could I do? They had been marked down from $40 to $10 a piece! Of course, they hate the wind and sun even more than cedars and where did I put them?

In the sunny, windy front garden.

So with 25 minutes before I had to leave for school one afternoon I decided it was time.

First of course I had to find the anti desiccant.

In the garden shed? No.

Then where on earth?. . .

Oh right! I put it in the garden room. Found it.

I used 15 of the 25 minutes to figure out just how much 'Cloud Cover' I needed to mix with the water in my sprayer. (1:10)

I hate ratios! I hate math.

I didn't believe my teachers when they told me I would need it some day.

Who knew they were right?

I ended up using my favorite measuring cup for the job. (It's still out in the greenhouse.)

In the end I got the job done with a minute to spare.

Gardening. It's such a relaxing past time. . .

Ooohhh, look what came in the mail just as I was ready to leave.

Now reading about gardening.

That is relaxing.

Christmas Is Coming

I thought my post today would be about all the Christmas baking I did on Saturday. I had my house spic and span (for the most part) and ready to go Friday night so I could get right to it on Saturday morning.

I woke Saturday morning and discovered as I walked down to the basement and dragged myself back up that my asthma had chosen that day to flare up.

For crying out loud! NOW? I do not have time for this.

I have discovered over the years however, that a strong will cannot overcome everything.

I spent most of the day resting. I felt better by the evening but the desire to bake had passed.

I did however clean and sort the last bit of the house that was still in chaos from renovating the bathrooms. Getting through the hallways downstairs was a challenge! Poor Morgan never knew what he might trip over while making a late night trip to the bathroom. Now, the whole house is ready for anything.

I'm still feeling under the weather and have napped most of the day.

I did visit the doctor this morning for both my flu shot and the last hepatitis booster.

The doctor is right next to Micheal's.

Need I say more? (Of course these cookie cutters were on sale!)

As soon as time and health permit I will be making up lots and lots of cutout cookies.

Aren't theses the cutest cookie cutters?

What are you doing to get ready for the holidays?

Quiet Sundays

A Glorious Morning

I am so sorry that I didn't have my camera with me on my walk with Jada this morning!

It was a glorious morning and desperately needed after yesterday.

Bundled up for our walk yesterday, we (okay I!) struggled against 30-50km (18-31 miles) per hour winds and a - 9C (15.8F) temperature.

Ugh! That was a very short walk.

This morning was a total flip. The air was still and the temperature hovered around 0C.

It snowed overnight, blanketing the ground and it lay glittering in the pale winter sun.

Oh to be a photographer!

We had such a long, peaceful walk this morning, Jada and I. . .

Mind you the huge moose we saw in some one's back yard kind of threw me. . .

Especially when we got closer and saw that it wasn't real!

Of course peaceful doesn't really cut it with Jada, so we had a rousing game of Frisbee before we went in for breakfast.

What a lovely way to start the weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

A Crafty Evening

The Christmas Card Craft Night was Lots of fun!

We all paid close attention as our instructor Val explained how to make each card.

We found different cards at each station.

It took some serious concentration to put the various elements together.

As mom discovered, stamps weren't the only tools we needed!

Val had a nice variety of techniques for us to try and they combined into some very cute cards.

Some techniques were more complicated than others. . . Mom gave up on this ornament! (I came pretty close too.)

There was lots of visiting ( Holly was happy to see an old classmate) and. . .

We can't forget the delicious snacks! (someone brought my all time favorite taziki from The Happy Camel. Yum!)

Thanks Val!

Look what I made

Now pretend you never saw them.

Just in case you are one of the lucky people I plan to send one to. . .

A Busy Week

Well, I've got a busy week ahead.

I have to leave for school in a few minutes as I am driving the grade one students to the museum this afternoon.

Tonight, Crystal Holly my mom and I are going to a Christmas card craft night at our church. If I can convince our card instructor V. to let me take pictures, I'll share our evening with you tomorrow.

I have another field trip to drive on Thursday afternoon when I drive the senior high students to a curling rink for the afternoon.

I will be going full steam ahead with the planning of the school's semi annual Sinter Klaas bazaar. (Sinter Klaas is the dutch Santa. More on him another day!)

I've been perusing a stack of Christmas magazines borrowed from the library as well as my Martha Stewart book of handmade gifts. Many ideas are swirling around in my brain and I'll share them as I work on them.

I also still need to shop for my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

The Christmas season has begun!

I'm looking for some advent ideas to incorporate into our holiday this year. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Are You Going To Share With Me Dad?

Jada and Henry love their spiced dutch cheese!

Change Of Plans

As you can see, it snowed last night.

Somehow the sight of snow has rekindled my desire to get the big Christmas Clean done.

So. . .no shopping for Operation Christmas Child today.

Today will be all about scrubbing , sorting, organizing and laundry. Lots and lots of laundry!

Now, I'm off to finish my tea and toast.Don't forget. . . today is Remembrance Day, if you can't visit your local cenotaph, observe the two minute silence at 11:00 am.

It's the least we can do.