A Busy Month - Our Annual Christmas Tree Adventure

After 17 years in our old house, it has been fun getting ready for Christmas in our new house. Finding where to put our Christmas treasures has been a bit of a challenge, a fun challenge though! The mantle in our den with holly from our garden.

We are so lucky to live in Lunenburg County, known as (the highway signs declare it so!) "The Christmas Tree Capital of North America". Our trees end up in homes from Florida to California and across Canada too. We have been going to the same tree farm for over 30 years to chose and cut our tree. We have had warm, sunny days, we've had pouring rain and we've had snowy days. This year there was not only snow on the ground but it was bitterly cold, about -20 with the wind chill. It sure made for a quick decision! From the time we left home to when we got back it took an hour Now it helps that we live 10 minutes from the tree farm!

We drove up over the hill, Mike had warned us that the bigger trees had been well picked over but we soon saw just the one, a good 10' tall and not too far off the road. Luckily, just as Peter cut it, along came Mike with his pickup truck and he drove it back to where the baler was.

The problem with the very cold temperature was that when the tree is baled, the branches can break and we didn't want that but there was no way we could drive it home not being baled. So we kept our fingers crossed as it slowly went through the baler, it worked, no branches were broken.

Peter cut a couple of feet off the tree and we were good to go. Up it went, perfect height in our bay window with just enough room for our angel!

Peter does a great job decorating the tree, it is something he has gradually taken on over the years. This tree had to be decorated on all sides since it is in the window.

Good thing we have kept all our ornaments that we have collected over the years. They all bring back such wonderful memories.

An ornament from way back in the 60's! Who knew someone could turn this into a commercial success (known now as "Elf on a Shelf"!). My Mom gave me this when I started skiing! It has always been on our tree, not on a shelf!

Our grandsons have given it their stamp of approval and they have found the pickle. it was quite a hunt this year!

From our home to yours, wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Busy Week

We just had a wonderful week with my very good quilt friend Heather Stewart. Heather was in Mahone Bay to do some quilt workshops and lecture with the Mahone Bay Quilter's Guild. She came a few days early so we could go to Avonport Discount Fabrics otherwise known locally as "Faye's" and so that she could spend the better part of a day with our bee the "Cove Quilters" (she is a long distance member). We accomplished a lot, Faye had some great fabrics on sale as well as her very reasonably priced regular cottons. We had a lovely lunch with Faye at the Port Pub in Port Williams plus a few stops at some farm markets and Oulton's, the farm butcher.

Since it was the day before Hallowe'en, Sandra had a wonderful Hallowe'en theme. We were so pleased to have about 25 kids at our door for Hallowe'en, as well as a group of costumed teens who were collecting for the local food bank, nice touch!

Lunch with the bee was wonderful, we gathered at Sandra R's beautiful home by the ocean.

We had a yummy lunch, lots of quilt talk and show and tell and lots of laughs.

Heather's workshops on colour and her Fireside Log Cabin were terrific. I found the colour one a challenge as I was just days away from cataract surgery and that did not help me chose the gradations and values I needed but I still learned a lot. The Fireside Log Cabin was great fun, we had cut a lot of strips before hand so were ready to start sewing right away. I chose off-whites and grays with a tangerine centre. a couple of days after I had my surgery and was very surprised to see that my grays ranged from green grays to violet grays to blue grays and everything in between! I love it! I have 9 of the 20 blocks done so far.

Heather has another busy week ahead of her with workshops in Dartmouth and Cape Breton. I am sure everyone there will learn a lot and have a wonderful time just like we did.

Ready, Set, Sew!

I think I am ready. Everything is unpacked and is more or less organized. I am sure as I work in my new space things will change to accommodate drafting, cutting, sewing etc. I have had a few trial runs.

The grandkids all "needed" new Hallowe'en pillowcases and since I found all my Hallowe'en fabric I had no excuse plus 2 needed to get in the mail going west. I love having a designated cutting table. Just the best thing ever, thank you Peter! The last job for him to do is build a shelf to lower my sewing machine. In my old sewing room, we used a sewing machine lift from Lee Valley Tools. I had to leave it there. We were going to get another one but then we found this tutorial online and it makes much more sense and saves almost $200 (more $ for fabric!).

Next on the list is a raffle quilt for the Chester Gingerbread Festival, an easy strip pieced Christmas tree quilt. I'll have some help from a few quilt friends to make this charming quilt. My friend Heather is coming for a week long visit tomorrow. She will be here to teach workshops and a lecture with the Mahone Bay Quilters Guild. So we'll put her to work while she is here! The best way to make a quilt is with friends and it is for a good cause - the new health clinic for Chester.

Really different colour choices for me, I hope they work!

Our new garden continues to surprise us. Blooms can still be found despite the chilly nights, the rain and the wind.

I can't wait to see what the spring will bring.

I should cut this bud and bring it in, it sure looks lonely!

Now we need to see if we remember how to rake leaves! Haven't had to do that in 17 years!