Christmas Crackers

My friend Lynda in Tanzania wrote about the history of the novelty Christmas cracker over at her blog today. I love the handmade ones that are made in Tanzania by the residents in leprosy homes.

My family never grew up with this tradition but as I got older I have incorporated it into my tradition whenever I have Christmas dinner at my house. Since mom hasn't been able to travel for some time, I haven't had dinner at my house for a few years. I now make Christmas dinner over at her home when I visit and the family gathers there.

Lynda's blog reminded me that I still have a whole box of unused Christmas crackers that have been languishing in a cupboard. I have now taken them out and will add it to the growing list of things I'll take with me on my Christmas visit.

Here are some pictures of my box of novelty crackers.


Inside there are usually plastic or crepe paper hats (crowns), a plastic toy and a little joke or verse. I think these are quite neat and I like adding them to my dinner festivities. Maybe you also like to have Christmas crackers at your table or perhaps you have never used a Christmas cracker. You can learn all about how to use them here. Happy pulling!

Christmas Moms and Christmas Humour

Some years don't you just wanna strangle the perfect woman who has everything under control and ready waaay before Christmas (jk).Did you ever meet anyone like that? LOL. Here is a cute cartoon about such a scenario.

It is easy for me to be ready in advance of Christmas with no children. It is still a lot of work though I do far less than many women (in part because I don't have my own immediate family for whom I would prepare Christmas). I often marvel how women do it all, especially when they often have a busy job, children, a husband and a household to run for all of them.

My hats off to these super women. I think it is a marvellous thing that so many of them take their home making and household preparations so seriously, especially at this time of year. Without such women and moms, most households would not have the wonderful creation of Christmas memories that their family members look back on fondly with each passing year.

Wishing you moms a joyful holiday season. Don't forget to take time for yourself to rest and savour the joys you are helping to create for your loved ones.

Beautiful Details

For days now I've been hearing about the Arctic Front (and it is cold here). The front is supposed to bring about 15 centimeters of snow over the city starting today and ending Monday or Tuesday.

Today is Friday and though there was some frost on the patio we didn't get any snow yet. It will likely start falling tonight. Apparently after Tuesday we will be having less of a cold snap, and getting more rain. An El Nino, winter of rain (lots), to be exact.

I took advantage of our dry spell and went for a nice walk. I enjoyed my walk very much and spent my time looking at the details of things. Let me share some of those details with you.

Look at the street banners and the bare branches outlining them. You can see how cloudy the sky is. You can almost "feel" snow.
A photo of a dormant tree. I am not much of a gardener but my guess is these leaves will need to be removed in the spring to make way for new growth.
Carvings on the building...way up high. I can see a face in there. Can you? I wonder who it is? I'm joking of course. It doesn't quite look like the usual gargoyles I see with the pointed ears, wings or horns. I am not a fan of those kinds of gargoyle as they are so scary and nasty looking but those kind of gargoyles can also be found on other parts of this particular building. I found this excellent manuscript explaining all about gargoyles here.
A carved pillar adorns the front of the same building. I especially like the pattern on this pillar.
A black metal stair rail gives support to the front steps of the building. I've seen the same kind of stair railings on the stairways of buildings half way around the world.A carved or built up impression (mould) on the building. This reminds me of the provincial flower, the Dogwood.
A close up photo of the mosaic tile in front of the building. The colours remind me of the historic department store, The Bay, which began as a way for Great Britain to exploit the animal furs in the colonial wilderness.A cool detail of several trees and many bare branches lining the gently inclined street. I turned the coloured photo into a black and white one. Then I coloured part of the picture with a beautiful shade of blue to accentuate the bare branches.
A close up of bare branches against a dark sky.
A beautiful little surprise beckoned me as I peeked into this building.I love the atmosphere that the Christmas season brings. Don't you?

I truly hope you enjoy yourself this season; wherever you may be.

Merry Christmas from My House to Yours

Wishing you and your loved ones and friends, the very best of the season.

Buttons and Blankets

Two days in a row I made it to the local goodwill just after they closed. I was laden with heavy items that I carried several blocks to donate so fortunately the clerk let me in both nights. The first night I was there just after 5 p.m. and she had a customer. I refused to leave so she finally took my bags *smile. The second night, I made sure I got there a half hour before closing, only to find a note on the door that said "Closed early for Christmas Party". This time there were several customers in the shop so the clerk readily took my donations. Whew!

It is very cold here and so one doesn't want to venture too far. Instead it is good to savour some hot tea or coffee and try to keep warm. I continue trying to find a place for, and organize things, as I go along.

Not so long ago, I purchased two of those very large bags for vacuum packing bulky belongings. I managed to pack away 4 large cushions in one and several sheets and pillow cases in another. It still takes up a lot of space but perhaps now it can go in my chest (Yah! it does. I managed to squish this wide bag into my cedar blanket chest. The cushions I'll have to store in my closet until I replace the covers; a project with unspecified time line.

Another organizing project that didn't take so long was taking a very large bag of assorted buttons which I had purchased years ago and sorting them by colour. It seems they fall into several colours: white/creams, black, blue, gold and silver. They are so pretty that I just like looking at them. I no doubt have more buttons in these colours than I will ever need for sewing. Some day I will have to come up with a project to embellish with buttons and if not, I can gift them to someone who will put them to good use.

Christmas Bell

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
The LORD turn His face toward you
And give you peace...

Numbers 6:24-26

This Year's Cards

I got the idea to post my Christmas cards for the year from Mary-Laure over at Aurea. I love these cards because they resemble home-made (the Christmas baubles are three dimensional). I am never organized enough to make my own cards as I have to do shopping and Christmas preparations, not only for my household but for my mom's as well.

I usually have a selection of 4 or 5 different types of Christmas cards to send each year. I managed to get a photo of this one before I post it tomorrow. I don't have photos of the other cards as they have already been posted. What cards are you sending?