Christmas Wishes

Thank you for visiting my blog in 2018. 

I hope you like my new blog format and enjoy my posts. 

See you in 2019!

From my family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas

(or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year)

and wishing you all the best in the New Year!

What Weekend?

Where did the weekend go? I barely remember Saturday, other than the long awaited temperature. We've had well-below normal through most of December, so it was nice to have sunshine and 3C on Saturday.

I walked the dogs, but because the roads were wet from melting snow, my yellow labs had black lab bellies. They were a dirty mess and needed to be cleaned before coming inside. The walk was very enjoyable now that Keefer is walked with a head halter. We bought a halter many years ago for our German Shepherd. He was a strong puller on walks to the point where my arm was in constant pain. This collar was amazing! Our Shepherd became a joy to walk. He instantly stopped tugging. The head halter goes around the dog's neck and snout. It isn't a muzzle as the dog can still open their mouth. The difference between a head halter and a collar is when the dog pulls or tugs, it is their jaw that takes the pull and not their neck. It's like walking Jekyll and Hyde! Gone was the crazy dog walking me and in its place was a well-trained dog.

I had to use the halter on Jagger as a pup as well, but not as long because he didn't like the halter and quickly learned to walk at my side. Jagger is a joy to walk. He walks beside me and doesn't falter even if someone walks by.

Keefer reminded me of the days of walking our Shepherd. He's a tugger and tries his best to be the leader. Last week I dug out the halter. He didn't like it much either. He swiped at it with his paws and would occasionally body surf in the snow, hoping to get the halter off. However, like with our other two dogs, I clip the leash onto the halter and their collar for extra support and to ward off any escape the dog may make from the halter.

Success! Keefer walks so much better now. He doesn't tug or pull anymore. I now enjoy morning walks with my two yellow labs, one on each side.

So, Saturday was a blur and Sunday was busy with house cleaning and baking cookies. I baked Snickerdoodle cookies and used a few cookie cutters. This was my first attempt at using cookie cutters and while the Christmas stockings and stars turned out okay, my gingerbread men looks more like a blowfish, lol.

I also took a few minutes to create a couple new black and white card bookmark designs. Here are two of  my favourites, but you can find more on the right of my blog under "Save My Page Bookmarks".

A busy weekend, but a good one.

How did you spend your weekend?

A New Tradition

As the excitement of Christmas grows and my holiday break approaches, I have to share another of my holiday favourites. This is actually a new one...a tradition my family started just last year.

Last year, me, my husband, and my daughter went to Neptune to see It's a Wonderful Life, live theatre. It's a Wonderful Life is my favourite Christmas movie and we watch it every year, so to get to see it in theatre version with actors was quite thrilling. We had balcony seats and our eyes were glued to the stage. The show was absolutely amazing! All the actors were very good, but the man who payed Jimmy Stewart did a great job as did the gentleman who portrayed Clarence. I had watched this movie so many times, I could recite their words before the actors spoke them, lol.
Before the show, we had dinner at a restaurant close by. We enjoyed our day so much, we promised to go again.

This year, my daughter wanted to continue our new tradition, but this time she wanted to treat her parents and bought tickets to Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. This is another Christmas classic and my second favourite Christmas movie. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge and ghostly visits from Christmas past, present, and future. A story that warms your heart as Scrooge finds redemption.
I must admit, one of my favourite versions of this movie is in cartoon with Micky Mouse playing Bob Cratitch and Scrooge McDuck playing Scrooge. Goofy is a perfect Marley, lol.

The live theatre play was a one man show so we weren't sure what to expect, but we were excited and the show did not disappoint! We were four rows from the stage which was a simple setting yet required nothing more. It placed the audience in every scene.

The main actor was amazing at paying several roles. He interacted with the audience, and his added humour made the show even more enjoyable. There was also a puppeteer who played the role of the three ghosts. He didn't speak (the ghost's voices were through a speaker) but he didn't need to. He did a great job making the puppets real.

Overall, the show was very good! We even got our photo taken with the actor and puppeteer as they gave their version of 'Bah, Humbug'.

Another wonderful day at the theatre! And we kept tradition with going to supper at a local restaurant.

I really like this new tradition we've set and I can't wait to see what show we'll go to next year!

What's your favourite Christmas movie?

Christmas and Music

While sharing my favourite holiday things, I must mention my love of music. I have a wide range of musical taste, but holiday Christmas music is at the top.

I love the old Christmas classics sung by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and Brenda Lee, but when we're decorating, I play my cd's of Elvis' Christmas Album and Michael Buble Christmas.

My love of Elvis' music goes back a long way. I remember singing Elvis' version of 'Blue Christmas' when I was a young girl. I was thrilled when my husband bought me Elvis' Christmas (cd) 'If Every Day was Like Christmas' many years ago and I listen to it every Christmas from start to finish. Two of my favourites are 'Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me' and 'Santa Claus is Back in Town'. It's just not Christmas without Elvis singing in the background.

My other favourite is Michael Buble Christmas. I have every one of his albums, including his Christmas cd. As for a favourite song? I can't pick just one because they are all so good. Buble sings the Christmas classics like the fantastic crooner he is. His Christmas cd is perfect to play in the background when you are decorating, doing the dishes, or just chilling on the sofa. I love his voice!

I have a mixed playlist of various artists and songs, but Elvis and Michael Buble are my go-to guys at Christmas!

What's your Christmas music favourite?

Snuggle Cuddles

Now that we're in the holiday season, I'm singing the song, "These are a Few of My Favorite Things", so I've decided to share some of my favourite holiday things.

One of my most favourite things to do this time of year is to get comfy on the sofa with a cup of peppermint hot chocolate and my cozy blanket, and watch a Hallmark Christmas movie.

However, last night I had some company.

Keefer, who is now nine months, got it in his head that he wanted to join me on the sofa. Note...while I love my boys, they shed their yellow fur all year round, which loves to cling to our brown sofa, so the rule has always been - no dogs allowed on the sofa.

Keefer ever-so-slowly edged his foot and then another onto the sofa and my blanket as though I don't see him.

He then shuffled his butt to the back of the sofa and wrapped his paw over my legs. Not once during his daring attempt did he make eye contact as he pretended all was well and began to watch television (head on pillow).

When I asked what he was doing, he turned and gave me the "Love you Mum" look. Well, I can't resist though big brown eyes, so needless to say, I broke the rule for a short time. Sometimes you just have cherish the snuggle cuddle and vacuum the sofa in the morning.

Keefer took my silence as approval and settled back on the pillow and tucked his nose into my blanket.

We cuddled for a good a good twenty minutes before he jumped off the sofa and returned to his dog bed.

One of my favourite things is definitely some warm snuggle cuddles!

Let the Decorating Begin

I am placing this post under "My Favourite Things" because decorating for Christmas is definitely one of my facourite things to do!

My daughter and I usually decorate the main tree the first weekend of December, but this year we had to rush things a bit as she had to go to work in the afternoon.

So my husband hauled out the boxes from storage and we started decorating right after breakfast. I put on my mixed playlist of Christmas tunes and opened the boxes. Our main tree in the living room is an assortment of glass, white, frosted, silver, and red ornaments. An hour later we were done and very pleased with the end result.

A short break later to have lunch and drive my daughter to work, I then started on the rest of the Christmas decor. I placed my village on the top of one side of the kitchen cupboards. I used to place them on a table, but the houses grew and more space was needed. I love having them stretched out and sparkling with lights.

On the other side of the cupboards, I put some of my snowman collection and added more white mini lights to highlight the snowmen at night.

Then the hutch in the dining room was next. A few more snowmen mixed with some other snowy decorations.

I cleared off my desk (I'll be using my laptop on my lap for a few weeks) and added the rest of my snowman collection.

At this point, my husband told me that everything didn't have to be decorated in one day, but my response was...yes it does, lol. However, I did leave one last item for the next day, but got a start on the decor. I put up our second tree in the dining room. This one is smaller than our main tree, which is perfect as it doesn't take up a lot of space. I placed the lights on the tree and then called it a productive day. The next morning, my daughter and I decorated the tree with a few new ornaments we bought this year and an assortment of oldies we have kept through the years. We still have five of the set of eight bells my husband and I bought for our first Christmas together as a married couple (twenty six years ago).

You may be asking where was my husband through all this decorating, well inside decorating isn't his thing. He says he leaves that to the professionals (me and my daughter) lol, but he does help with the outside lights, which we already set up a few weeks ago but don't turn on until December 1st.

With the decorating done, let the holidays begin!

Is your house decorated and what are some of your favourite decorations?