THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS

THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS

It's not the glow you feel
When snow appears

It's not the Christmas Card
You've sent for years

Not the joyful sound
When sleigh bells ring
or the merry songs
Children sing

The little gift you send
On Christmas day

Will not bring back the friend
You've turned away

So may I suggest
The secret of Christmas

It's not the things you do at Christmas time

But the Christmas things you do
All year through...

Songwriters
Van Heusen, Jimmy / Cahn, Sammy

 I have been listening to a radio station on Tune In called Christmas Standards.  Young people would say it's old people music - I would say it is classics from 1940, 1950 and 1960.  Artists like Joe Stafford, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Jimmie Rogers, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald...well you get my drift.

They play such a great variety that I am hearing songs that I have not heard for years and some that I have never heard.

During the last few weeks, I have heard several renditions of the song, The Secret of Christmas.  Every one is beautiful, because the words and the music of this song are beautiful...but my favourite of this one remains performed by Ella Fitzgerald.

This song is so true, and so beautifully done that is should be played for young and old alike.

Here is the Secret of Christmas.



https://youtu.be/Fe6TUTSctdg



I want to take a moment to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas!  I know some of you will have a wonderful family celebration, and some of you will be alone.

I hope we all reach out to one another and share the true message of Christmas - the one of Love for one another no matter where we are from, what our beliefs are, or how we live.

May we all be Blessed with the Secret of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS THROUGH ANOTHER'S EYES

I have not been in a large mall or a major retail store in over 5 months - have I missed it?  Not in the slightest - especially not at this time of year.  I have no idea what the hot toy of the year is, I have no idea what they are pushing for Christmas gifts for men - for women...

Sigh.... how refreshing to not have to be bothered with that aspect of Christmas.  I never was a mall crazed woman, or a shopaholic, I have always been the person that had a list, walked in the store, bought what I needed and walked out.  I don't do browsing ( unless it is a craft or yarn shop, and maybe an antique store or a thrift shop).  Major retailers would go broke if they depended upon people like me to make their yearly sales soar at Christmas time.

Maybe she's cheap, you say!  I don't believe so - I have never had a lot of extra money to throw away on things that were not needed and in the same sense I have never considered that one had to spend hundreds of dollars on a gift to make someone happy.

That is why yesterday afternoon when I was killing time on Face Book, frowning at all the Christmas nonsense that takes over Face Book at this time of year - I was so happy to find this post.

This is the best thing I have read this Christmas Season.  This was written by someone other by myself - and I re-post it here with the utmost respect and appreciation for the writer's story.  The message here is just to powerful not to share it with my readers.  Thank You Nancy W. Gavin for your beautiful story.

Christmas Story:
For the Man Who Hated Christmas
By Nancy W. Gavin

It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it—overspending and the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma—the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was on the wrestling team at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.

Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids—all kids. He so enjoyed coaching little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes, and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed a small, white envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done, and that this was his gift from me.

Mike's smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. And that same bright smile lit up succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition—one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The white envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children—ignoring their new toys—would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the small, white envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree. And the next morning, I found it was magically joined by three more. Unbeknownst to the others, each of our three children had for the first time placed a white envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down that special envelope.

Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.

OUT WITH THE SHORT!

I don't know about you, but I am very happy to finally have reached the shortest day of the Year.  Winter Solstice is finally here, and power of suggestion being what it is,  I could have sworn that yesterday the early evening was a bit longer.

We live  quite a bit further north than we used to and last summer and fall we noticed that the days were indeed somewhat extended.  Power of suggestion aside - I have noticed the last week that the days were a bit longer...even during the cloudy days that we seem to have so much of lately.

Anyway you look at it - Winter Solstice can only be a good thing.  Yes winter in officially one day away, but also we have turned the corner and now have a straight path all the way to spring.


My weekend was spent organizing the basement.  I have really done nothing in the family room since we just kind of dumped everything when we moved in.  With Gary moving all the TV stuff and some furniture into his home theater, I decided it was time to give the family room a bit of attention.

I rearranged furniture, gave a good clean, found some things I had forgotten I had, and now that room is a nice area to entertain quests especially with the TV gone.

My next project is going to be the very large cold room in the basement that I have only ventured into maybe 4 times since we have moved here.  I forget we have this large room.  I did go in there on the weekend, and it is cold to be sure.  It is going to be a very useful room when I have canned and have fresh vegetables to store.  At the moment it sits empty except for a couple of dormant bulbs that I am trying to save until spring.

The biggest event on my weekend was hubby's announcement that he wanted me to have his computer so I could edit my photography better.  He has a big iMac and I just have a small laptop - so we switched computers.

I never wanted an desktop computer - but I have so say the large screen is wonderful for working with my photos.  Photography is taking me down another new road and now I have the proper tools to expand this wonderful hobby.

My nephew, Scott has inspired me to pursue night photography.  It is a total learning experience for me, and quite the challenge to learn new aspects of my camera and put them to use.

The ultimate goal here is to catch the night sky.  Aurora, stars, comets, the moon... all difficult objects for the amateur photographer to capture with a lens.

I am starting with some normal night shots - lights (perfect timing with it being Christmas and all the houses decorated with lights).  In particular I want to get acquainted with a certain Moose across the lane.  He is going to be my first real subject.

In the meantime, I fooled with some settings and took a bunch of indoor shots.  No flash, just different settings and adjustments to make the camera do it's work.

Here are a couple of images I captured at dusk the other night.  It was dark enough for all the lights to be on in the house and the street lights on outside, as you can see in the last photo, that fleshy haze behind the glass reindeer is actually the reflection of the street light outside.

I am going to have to be very careful in the future - I can see photography becoming a very serious threat to my love of crafting.

For now, it is pure JOY!

FRIDAY IN A NUT SHELL!

It's Friday!  One week before Christmas 2015.  I sit here at my desk and wonder how it is that we are here already.  I know I have said before that time seems to fly by faster than it used to - but really - How did we get here already?

I am finally getting around to baking those cinnamon buns - the dough is rising in the oven as I write this.  I haven't really done any Christmas baking, but I did buy a jar of mincemeat yesterday, so at some point there will be tarts.

The sun is shinning - it seems forever since we have seen the sun.  My sun room and living room are so bright that I seriously thought I might pull the blinds a bit - but I won't!  I don't want to shut out the sun or the heat that comes with it.  It has turned pretty cold, and the north wind still is blowing so we can use the extra rays of heat.

I have it on good authority that this weekend, beginning tonight there will be some awesome borealis aurora storms happening.  They are supposed to last through the weekend, so my advisor has given me some great guidelines for getting out there and hopefully successfully capturing some awesome pictures.  His will be awesome - I already know that for sure!

I still struggle with night photography, and certainly with night photography with movement.  It is not an area I really pursued before, but the gentle little nudges coming from my nephew, Scott - are making me want to learn and conquer!

Gary has finished painting and is now busy setting up his home theater  - I hear a lot of hammering going on down there so he must be getting close to the big reveal.

In the meantime, our son Jon has been redecorating in our old house.  He has turned my craft/doll room into a gaming room for his vintage systems and games.  I can't believe it is the same room... have a look....  this is the same corner of the room when it was mine, and now that it is his - I do believe I like his better... it certainly is much cleaner looking!

Last but certainly not least I want to say and very special Happy Birthday to my oldest niece, Cheri.  Cheri is celebrating her 50th birthday today.  Happy Birthday Cheri, Have a Wonderful Day!

Also a belated Happy Birthday to my cousin and good friend, Debra who celebrated a birthday yesterday.

So that is Friday in a nut shell, as they say.

Whatever your plans are for this weekend before Christmas, don't forget to stop and enjoy the season with some beautiful music, some Christmas sights, and the company of good friends or family.  If you are in Winnipeg on Sunday and are looking for a Christmas experience, consider attending this traditional Christmas Service of beautiful Christmas readings and choral music performed by one of the best choirs in Winnipeg.  I sang with this group and they are a rare treat indeed.

Talk to you next week!

MUSIC FOR THEIR EARS.

Today was all about music.  It was a day that was filled with music...mother natures in the form of wind...mine in the form of piano music, and others in the form of singing.

Today was my first solo appearance at the nursing home here in town to play Christmas music on the piano for the residents who live there.  My turn to entertain was to follow the United Church Service.

When I arrived, the service was still in progress...the leaders and the resudents were singing a few Christmas hymns accapala., so while I unwound my scarf, removed my boots, mitts and coat...I sang along.  I really was just doing my own thing, not really looking at anyone, just singing and removing outerwear when the singing stopped and someone said... Who is that singing like that?

All eyes were on me.

I smiled, gave a little wave, and continued my task of hanging up my stuff and setting my gear out of the way, when someone said... "You sing beautiful". Then one of the leaders said... "She was singing harmony".

I hadn't realized that I had... It's just a natural thing for me to sing the alto line when it comes to most Hymns...Christmas or not... Thanks to my time spent singing with the wonderful St. Luke's Choir.

The service was over so I made my way to the silent piano, turned it on, organized my music put on my glasses, and started to play.

I really can't say if anyone listened or not.. I was lost in my own little world, as often happens when musicians start to play.  I just sat and played and didn't notice much, until I played Hark the Herald .  Where every song was played to a mostly quiet audience, this one was immediately joined by one male voice.  A good voice too.  I looked up and a gentleman sitting in a Gerri chair against the wall with his head lowered, was singing a beautiful solo of the first verse.

So I played another verse...and another.  I stopped at three and so did he.  He looked up at me when I stopped and the smile he gave me went straight to my heart.

He never sang again after that.  Others did, some hummed along with the tunes, some sang some words, others just sat and smiled.

About  30 minutes went by, and I noticed a Christmas orange being placed on the piano, someone softly telling me "for later".

I stopped and asked how I was doing, and everyone said..."Great...keep playing".  So I did.

When I was done I started to get ready for my cold walk home.  A female resident in a wheel chair beckoned me to come close.  She couldn't form a sentence, but I did hear the word ...nice.

I thanked her for coming to hear me and told her I would be back next week.

She grabbed my hand and held it close.

As I walked away I heard a staff member address her.

The lady who had held my hand is the lady who used to own the house we now live in.   It touched me somehow....

The whole afternoon touched me, and as I walked home with tears in my eyes, and a heart full of joy, I once again was thankful that somehow we were directed to this wonderful little snowy town  in rural Manitoba.

THE CELTIC COW AND A GIVEAWAY.

Welcome to Wednesday - it is a snowy day here, we are sitting on the tail end of the big snowstorm that is hitting Winnipeg.  We are not expecting to get near as much as they are, but we will get some.

At the moment it is warm out there, only about -5C and it has started to snow, but luckily without any wind to push it.

I didn't get my Cinnamon buns made yesterday, so I am going to try again today.

Yesterday I got sort of side tracked with my embroidery floss.

I was looking for some colours for the new little project I am starting (Joyful Judy) and my floss containers were so mixed up, the numbers not in any sort of order, so I tipped them out and started organizing.  It took most of the morning to get it done.  Now I will be able to find the right colours quickly.

Are you wondering what the Celtic Cow is?  If you are facebook, you will already have seen her.  I have made the cutest little Celtic Cow ever.  It is not my pattern, but one I found in a 2001 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments.

I have hundreds, maybe thousands of patterns of many different crafts in my pattern library.  Some are in magazines such as this one, others are original vintage publications handed down to me from family members and friends, some I have purchased off the Internet and some were free copies off the Internet.

 Until a couple of months ago, I didn't even realize I had several years of issues of this particular magazine... what a treat to find such great patterns by such creative designers right in my own pattern library!

This Cow ornament was just called a Christmas Cow ornament - I renamed her the Celtic Cow!

In the magazine, the ornament is stitched and made into to a small pillow-like ornament with braid to hang it.  Mine is not going to end up that way.  I intend to find some old strips of wood somewhere, and make a small plaque that I will adhere my piece too.  I will fringe out the edges of the canvas to give it a more unfinished edge, and then the Celtic Cow is going to hang on a wall in my kitchen.

There are also some cute patterns in this magazine, of other animals, which I might make as well - there are several sheep, a raccoon... all good animals to make their home in my country kitchen.

Here she is:  My Celtic Cow, complete with a cowbell...

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY - 

For some reason I have two copies of this particular magazine.   There are 75 ornaments in it, and every one is a really special.  Here are some of the projects you will find in this book.

 

I am giving away this spare copy of this wonderful pattern magazine.  To enter, please leave a comment on this thread or send me an email.   Remember you must be a follower of this blog in order to leave a comment, so it you haven't signed up for that yet, now is the time to do it.  It is easy to do just click on the tab on my page and it will walk you through the steps.

A great small project to keep or give as a gift!

Happy Stitching!

Painting and a Yummy Comfort Breakfast Bake

Once again there is some decorating going on in our new home.  The last time we did anything inside was when I painted the kitchen.  I have wanted to continue painting my way through the house, but have been side-lined by a very painful flare up of Heel Spurs and Plantar Fascists, which has been plaguing me since October.

It is getting better, but it is a slow process and excessive standing in one place to do anything is a NO - NO!

This time it's not me who has the itch to decorate - it's Gary.  He had set up and office for himself in one of the basement bedrooms and seemed quite settled in there until last week.  He came up from the basement one day and announced that he really didn't need an office space anymore, but he has always wanted a little home theater.

So out came the office furniture, and painting began.  The room is very bright - it faces southeast and gets a lot of sun during the day... and the walls, like every wall in this house have been painted stark white.  To the hardware store he went, returning with a gallon of what I would call Cranberry Red paint. 

let the painting begin....

It's not going well - the paint is not covering as we think it should, and so back to the hardware store for gallon #2.  This better do the trick.

The colour, when it decides to cover will be gorgeous, and perfect for the look he is hoping to achieve.

In the meantime, I have been thinking of items he needs in there (besides the TV and sound system) to decorate his theater.   He already has quite a collection of Movie stuff... He has a vintage screen and an older than vintage movie projector.  He has canisters of film.  He will need to be on the lookout for some large reels he can hang on the walls - some theater masks, maybe a couple of movie posters... let the fun begin!

Lucky for us, the Uniques and Antiques store is reopening here in February - I am sure over time we can pick up quite a few things for his theater room.  

In the meantime we have to get those walls finished... well he will - I can't stand that long.

Too bad too - because now that he has started painting down there, I have the itch to redecorate the spare bedroom and the family room, and the living room and sun room on the main floor and the spare bedroom on the main floor - and the bathroom.

On a totally different note - there have been some totally amazing recipes showing up on Face book and other sites I frequent.  For those of you hosting a Christmas Morning breakfast or brunch - check this out... Pam... this is for you, my dear.

My friend Pam recently became a Grandma for the first time - her Christmas this year is going to be extra special.

And here is the recipe...

Now I am off to make some Cinnamon Buns...

Comfort Breakfast Bake (recipe from Rocking Lion)

10 eggs
1/2 cup milk
16 oz refrigerated breakfast biscuits (I used the Pillsbury flakey kind) ***DO NOT COOK FIRST!!!***
4 scallions (green onions, spring onions, whatever you prefer to call them)
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
If you’re into the meats – cooked center cut bacon or cooked sausage
11×17 pan, sprayed with cooking spray (Note: I think a 9×13 works better, but it might need to bake a little longer)

1. Mix your eggs and milk in a large bowl. Cut each biscuit (I’m all about scissors in the kitchen) into fours and add it to the bowl. I like to do this before I cook the bacon or cut up the scallions – give the biscuits some time to really soak in the eggs.

2. Cut up your scallions, shred your cheese, cook and break up your bacon (or sausage). Add everything to the bowl.

3. Mix it all up and pour into your pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes .. closer to 30 so it isn't runny 

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