Christmas Family Greetings

The great big fist of winter has hit
Time to get out the scarves, hats and mits.
I find this year I don’t have as much time,
To figure out Christmas poems that rhyme.

But I’ll do my best to give you a clue,
About all that has happened and all that we do.
The first big thing I have to say,
Is I became ‘redundent’ and lost all my pay.

The College disappeared and so did my job,
It didn’t surprise me I didn’t even sob.
Businesses are closing in our little town,
But new ones are opening so I just won’t frown.

I’ve started my own called ‘Ye Olde Batt’
I’m milling wool, so how about that!
I’ve bought myself sheep and alpacas too,
Well you all know me, I need something to do.

So I am a shepherd with my very own flocks,
We give vaccines, clip nails and shear off their locks.
When I studied Philosophy at good old MUN,
I never thought I’d be having such fun.

The kids are impressed and Mike too, I think,
I do have to say that he didn’t even blink.
I want 2 alpacas, is what I first said,
But then they’re so cute, it just went to my head.

We have 16 animals, I’m breeding them now,
And Mike keeps on smiling, but he wants a sow.
I exclaimed, “You want a great ugly pig?
They’re smelly and gross and nasty and big!”

You’ll have to wait till I write next year’s poem,
or follow this blog as I grumble and moan,
I’m sure if he wants, we’ll have one next year,
Then our small farm will be really in gear.

Even Leah has gotten in on the farm,
“A horse,” she says, “A horse in the barn!”
She took up riding, on Rosie the mare,
with lessons each week, she hasn’t a care.

She has a good teacher and just loves to ride,
She sits on that horse with the greatest of pride.
Her school work too is good we can say,
We enter the teens this year and I pray!

Both of my girls give me wonderful pride,
They’re lovely and polite I cannot deny.
I worry the teen years will be a bad shock
But so far so good, my daughters just ‘rock’!

Shellsea too keeps on doing so well,
Her marks are tremendous, her art is just swell.
She wrote a story that gave me such pride,
Her talent is growing and can’t be denied.

So from this farm as the year passes by,
This Season of Light with God, is a joy,
We wish you all now, the gifts He bestows,
Joy, peace, and hope, with blessings that grow.

Merry Christmas with love from the Nichols Family

Ta Da

Here are the final results of all our renovations.

Ok so I like the red floor and especially with the new rug.



I added a little conversation area in the corner with the Christmas villiage above it in the window.



The computer is tucked nicely into the corner.



We always decorate the rail of the steps... it makes us feel like Christmas is all around us.



And finally the new table fits perfectly under the steps with the kitchen close by.
Perfect! I'm all done. How perfect is that?

Sleep In Heavenly Peace

The house has been in such a turmoil lately that I sometimes think that we will never get back to normal. I think that even the cats and dogs are beginning to feel the same way too. The cats slink around and every time there is a scrape of furniture they dive for the nearest safe spot. Duff, our big Wolf/Husky has taken to sleeping upstairs at the top of the steps as she wants to be near us but not when the house is so crazy.

Add into the mix, one large granddaughter dog, and you have complete chaos. A few years ago Duff found herself pregnant after a romantic interlude with a Black Lab. When the pups were born, we found that we had difficulty getting homes for all the them of which there were seven. Hubby began to plead with our friends to take a puppy. And so the Buddha odyssey began. Buddha belongs to very good friends of ours and when they agreed to take one of the puppies we agreed that we would dog sit when they travel..... they are now in New Zealand and we are stuck for the millionth time with another large dog in our very tiny house. It is -32 degrees and you can't leave her outside since she has short hair. Now over the years we have developed a way of dealing with this particular problem. Buddha sleeps under the steps. She completely disappears down there. But this time when she came to visit, the new kitten was not sure what to make of this new big dog.

Buddha is a wimp and so the cats and Tootsie have taken over her bed in this chaos.

On Sunday after the Daughters had a birthday party which they attended, we decided that the Christmas tree was necessary to add to the mix. The chaos in the house, was almost under control and we needed to add a tree to the craziness! Having found no tree in FSJ to buy that didn't look like it belonged in the house of the sevin dwarfs, we felt that we had better go looking for the perfect tree. Daughter #2 insisted that we cut a Pine and so it was while I was scarfing down breakfast that my eyes landed on the half eaten by a moose Pine tree that Hubby has been nursing along for the last three years. This tree (and several others in our yard) had been nibbled below the deer line (as I call it) three winters ago when the deer and moose were starving. When spring finally rolled around the tree and several others looked somewhat like a giant Q-Tip. A long spindly trunk with a tiny tuft of pine needles at the top. In three years the top has grown to quite a size. When I peered through the gloom on Sunday morning I spied that tree and made the decision to convince Hubby that with time so short before Christmas, it would be a good tree for our Christmas celebrations. He was quite willing to cut it down since it meant he didn't have to go trekking through the woods in -32 degrees.

We cut the tree down and took it into the kitchen to thaw. This was a big mistake as it was frozen with a lot of frost on it and that melting frost makes large pools of water, which on a laminate floor will curl the edges of each individual board. I am not happy.... but the flooring will be changed in the spring when we take on our renovations to the house..... When we got the tree in the stand after the church pageant on Sunday night we dicovered that this tree was larger than we had imagined...... argh! After 8 hours of sleeplessness I got up in the morning to once again freak out the animals with another furniture move. By last night it was done. The living room will not be changed again. It all looks good, even if I do say so myself, as you will see in my next post.

Flax Seed Fruit Cake by anonymous

Mix in your largest bowl - 11 cups of chopped dried fruit and 6 cups
of chopped nuts. Options are: citrus peel, cranberries, dates,
currants, raisins, dried apricots, candied ginger and walnuts,
almonds, sunflower seeds. Drizzle over this mix - half cup of brandy,
liqueur, sherry or other powerful stimulant/preservative that will
soak into the fruit and nuts. Leave this half a day or more.

Gently boil 6 tablespoons of flax seeds in 2 cups of water, then let
sit - this makes the "glue". Slightly heat to make it flow nicely - 1
and a half cups honey. Add 3 teaspoons vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt.

Stir into the fruit mixture - 3 cups flour - I use half and half -
white and spelt or whole wheat. Add the honey mixture and the flax
mixture and stir with a BIG spoon.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 5 loaf tins with plain brown paper and
rub the insides with margarine. Pack cake mixture tightly in the pans
(they'll be only a half to one third full). Cover tightly with foil
and bake 1 hour. Then uncover and bake another 10-20 minutes.
YUM! These keep all winter in the fridge, wrapped in foil or in
brandy-soaked linens if we want to get back to the linen theme! They
cut well into non-crumbly blocks of energy food.

Happy Holidays!

Ginger Cake by Marjo Wheat

Prep time = 30 minutes
Total cooking time = 1 hour

125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter (I use margarine)
_ cup Molasses (I use Fancy)
_ cup golden syrup (I use water – less sweet)
2_ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Allspice
_ tsp ground cinnamon
_ cup firmly packed soft brown sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
_ jar candied Ginger, drained

1. Preheat oven to 350∞lightly grease 8 inch square cake pan.
2. Combine butter, molasses, and syrup or water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat.
3. Stir the flour, b powder and soda, and spices in a large bowl, add the sugar and stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre. Add the butter mixture to the well, then pour in the combined milk, ginger, and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and well-combined. Pour into the baking pan and smooth the surface.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Leave in the pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

This cake will store well for up to a week in an airtight container, and improves if it stands for a day or two before being eaten.

Hot Mulled Apple Cider with Cranberry by Renate Giesbrecht

1 jug organic Santa Cruz apple cider
1 cup Just Cranberry juice (it is straight cranberry, no apple or grape in it, nor any sugar)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 orange, cut in slices
 
Heat all in slow cooker till hot. Serve in hand pottered mugs. Lovely!
 
Optional: add your own mulling spices, squeeze in some fresh orange juice, add fresh apple slices

Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread by Kim McTaggart

1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 cups flour
 
Beat butter with sugar until creamy.  Stir in seeds and zest. Gradually add flour.  Gather into a ball and chill for a while if sticky.  Roll and cut as desired.  Bake on ungreased sheets in 300F degree oven.

Easy Almond Wedges by Lauralee Life

1 egg - beat till fluffy
1 cup sugar
2 - 2 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 cup flour
Pour into greased lined round pan with oiled brown paper/parachment
paper/waxed paper. Decorate with whole almonds centered where you expect to
cut lines for pieces. Bake 350F for 30 minutes or lightly brown. Turn out of pan,
take paper off. Cool completely, then slice. Very quick, easy to make and
delicious.
(Recipe can be doubled)

Cavishe (great h'or d'eurves)

2 8oz cans of shrimp
pimento
red pepper
green pepper
1 stick of celery
1 sweet onion
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 package of flour totillas
pepper and salt to taste
paprika

In a large skillet bring a tablespoon of oil to heat. Slice the flour tortillas into strips or wedges. Fry for two minutes on each side sprinkling paprika and salt and pepper as you go. When they start to brown remove and drain them on paper towel. Continue until all tortillas are used. When finished store in a cookie can or plastic container. This will be good for 24 hours at room temperature and several days in a refrigerator.
In a bowl place finely chopped pimento, red pepper, green pepper, celery, and sweet onion. (Olives can be chopped and added too.) Soak shrimp for a few minutes in very cold water. Drain shrimp and stir into vegetable mixture. Pour lemon juice over this mixture, and let stand for several hours. Before serving fold gently. Serve in a suitable dish so that it can be dipped up onto the the tortilla strips. Enjoy.

How bad is that!

It is so bad that when I just read my last post I realized that I thought it was the 19th when it was only the 17th ..... my head is just not screwed on right..... that's what Christmas does to me.

The church pageant is tomorrow night and so we have been busy prepping for that. I spent the day shopping and so that is all finished... except I bought lots of paper towel instead of toilet paper.... so I have to go to the store Monday and do that. I'm pleased to say that there is no one else to shop for. I am still waiting for Hubby's gifts to come in the mail but at least I have a couple of things for him.

We are finished with the setting up of the furniture and painting the floor but we still need to decorate the house for Christmas.... we will be working on that tomorrow and Monday.

Hubby and I decided to have an open house on the 29th of December so I am going to have to start thinking about getting some cooking done for that. Tuesday will be my day for wrapping and cooking. I also have to get the Turkey for Christmas day... can't forget that or I'll be like Dave from the Vinyl Cafe.

I thought you might like to try some of my favorite recipes for the holiday season... I will post some here over the next few days.

I'm starting to feel more organized. As soon as the tree is up I will post picture of my little abode. At least I now know what day it is....

Meanwhile, watch over the next few days for yummy recipes that I will be working on.....

Insanity

It's the 19th.... aaaaahhhhh! When I last wrote here I was not sure the red would be ok. It is growing on me. I am slowly getting used to it and it is better now that the whole floor is finished. I just finished the floor today. I am waiting patiently for the floor to dry so that I can get the furniture back into place. That is my job for tomorrow. The new furniture looks great so far. It fits well in the house and we all appreciate the couch-like qualities of the corner dining set. I sometimes wonder if my head is screwed on right when I take on these insane ideas, like painting your floor a week before Christmas. But here I am proving to the world, my insanity by blogging about one of my dumber ideas. Hubby must love me to put up with all of my insanity. Speaking of Hubby, I am hoping that Hubby will cut the shelves for our Christmas villiage. I am hoping that then I will feel like I am starting to get things done.

I love my Christmas villiage. I made it when I was first married. I ordered the pieces from Mary Maxim. They were unpainted pre-cast ceramics which I painted.... of course I had to paint them in my own way and ignored the instructions...... there was lots of room for creativity. I would mix the paints up and create new colours, I would dab the paint on instead of making smooth strokes. I enjoyed every minute of making them. They have always been a source of pride. When we moved into our very small house we had no clue as to where we would put my Christmas villiage but it was a must.... and so it went up regardless of having room for it. Over the years it has been moved from one corner and set of shelves to another more appropriate spot as our house morphs. This year he villiage has grown to an impossible size and so we are puting shelves in the windows so that it can be both indoor and outdoor decoration.

We always deck the rails of the steps with garland and ornaments. Over the years we have collected so many ornaments and many of them have a lot of nostalgia attached to them and so, even though we say every year that we will alternate them year after year, when the time comes to actually choose we end up breaking down and using them all. Our house ends up looking like a Christmas bomb has hit. We don't put up our Christmas stuff until late but we are late taking it down too.

When we moved to the mainland we were surprised that people didn't know what old Christmas day was. Old Christmas day has as much meaning for us as does the 25th. We celebrate all over again.... but instead of celebrating by decorating, we do the opposite... we celebrate by taking down. We hang old stockings and give gift just like on the real Christmas. Some people know it as Ukranian Christmas but for us it is old Christmas day. Our tradition of celebrating old Christmas day started when the girls stopped believing in Santa a few years back.... I had alway celebrated it but not with gifts. The girls were so upset that Santa was Dad and me, that we felt something needed to be done to end Christmas on a better note.

Christmas has been odd this year. Normally I'm further ahead with this than I am this year. But somehow I've managed to let things get away from me. I panic whenever I look at the gifts that are coming in in the mail.... gifts from people that I have gifts for too. Only the gifts that I have for them are not in the mail, gifts that are not even wrapped yet. I've reached the point in the calendar year where I just don't care about dates any more. I've passed panic! It's all about us now. If I don't get all my away gifts in the mail till the 24th, so be it. I'm late. Big deal. It's the 19th and I am resigned to the fact that I will once again be the person that everyone shakes their head at because I just can't meet deadlines. But that is ok. because on Christmas morning I won't have any of those people to listen to.... now it is just about us. Once I get to this point I throw my hands up in the air and say "come what may!" Christmas starts to be fun. My family is so laid back it will be alright I think. Nine days left. Woo Hoo!!!!! Soon it will be all over..... Our family away will just have to enjoy their gifts on Olde Christmas Day instead. Maybe I can start a new tradition. How cool is that? Maybe I'm not so insane after all.

Knit Night

I just want to take a day and not talk about decorating for a moment. Last night I went to knit night and we had a good group of ladies out for that. There's L who is a Grandma and knits the sweatest little sweaters for her grandkids and is now working on sweaters for her grand puppies. Then there is P who is a new knitter and astounds me with how quickly she catches on to the different patterns she tries. She started out with a little square out of handspun wool that I had spun and given her for practice. Then she graduated to plain cotton wash cloths then on to neatly patterned wash cloths and then on to a scarf made with eyelash yarn.... not for the faint of heart that eyelash yarn. So then when I asked her if she wanted me to bring in a few easy patterns for beginner knitters she said her next project would be a sweater with cables..... good girl, I'm thinking.. jump right in. A and M were missing last night. : ( B dropped in and didn't have knitting but it is always good to have her as she is such a great one for keeping the chatting going. Then V had brought along her crochet and was working on bookmarks. They were lovely delicate things. Very pretty. The last young lady that was there was N and I was devastated to realize that last night would be her last time with us. She was in our comunity for a short time and just fit right in with the knitters. She is the person who brought the most devastatingly lovely sox and got me turned on to trying some. Last night she was working on another lovely pair of men's sox. (I think they were men's.) She was getting very frustrated with the pattern as it was a new style of heal that she had never tried and it was not working out to her liking. We won't get to see the finished item which is very sad. But I do wish her well and hope that she comes back to our little town again.... I don't know if that is possible though the company that she worked for here does move their people around so you never know. She is getting married in the summer so I guess a lot will depend on her future with him. But she is a spinner and I do hope I run across her sometime in that world. If you read this N all the best in your future endeavours.

I am so glad I started knit night. I come home rejunenated and ready to keep going. I would miss it terribly. We have become a great group of friends and cohorts. Knitting is a good thing for bringing people together.

That leaves me. I was plying the red for my hat that has to be finished tomorrow. I will do the weaving today and the felting. I may even have to pull a late night. We will see. Tomorrow is the day of the great adventure into the world of Christmas for spinners and weavers. Our potluck and gift exchange is something I look forward to each year. I must remember to bring the camera and take lots of pictures. Decorating the house will have to be put on hold for now. The couch langours and the floor stinks, the fumes are overwhelming..... but oil paint is like that. It is about 1/3 finished. I will have to stay home on Sunday to work on it. Stay tuned....

Red!

Hmmmmm! Not sure about this!

New Skin And Other Stuff

After skipping a night due to babysitting problems, Hubby and I got back at the new skin for the couch, last night. Very quickly we were able to get the fabric on the back of the couch. I have to cut a fitted piece for the side of the couch today and then I have to start covering the cushions. That is my job for today. Hubby is picking up new nuts and bolts to replace older ones that were stripped. I am hoping to be finished with it by Friday. Perhaps that is wishful thinking but I am a wishful person. Meanwhile my art hat is progressing slowly. I have finished the spinning for it and now have to work on the felting. My art hat is for the annual gift exchange that the NPSW guild has. I should have had this done a while ago but just couldn't get inspired.... nothing like a deadline to inspire.

I have decided on a colour to paint the floor.... thanks to you who emailed me with suggestions. The floor will be a high gloss Fire Red. I don't think I will get time to be fancy smancy with it. Hubby has promised to get 1/4 round in half inch to finish the flooring in the kitchen so that things look finished. When will this all happen? Before Christmas? Stay tuned!

A New Skin #2

So Hubby and I didn't get as far as I hoped. The bottom of the couch is done with extra padding. The back has the extra padding, but not it's outer shell. So far so good. Hubby is not too thrilled with having to do this as he hates anything that smacks of building projects. But though I'm not gone on doing this so close to Christmas, I am glad it is getting done. I think we will finish the skeleton tomorrow and then I will have to finish the cushions. Once the couch has it's new upholstery it will be up to the new furniture that is coming on Saturday.

Next project before Christmas will be the floor. We have taken the carpet up three years ago with the intention of laying new flooring in the near future. Problem is, flooring is horifically priced and so two years have passed and still the flooring is not done. I, at one point, got the idiotic idea to make flooring of our own by making plywood tiles and wood burning them with vines. I have not got the satmina to complete 175 tiles. I did 49 tiles and stalled. So I have decided to keep the tiles done for my studio room when it is built next year. I just need 35 more tiles. The ones that I completed look really great. I just wish I could do enough for the whole house. But I'm a realist.

Meanwhile we have been walking on rough plywood subflooring in the living room... the kitchen has a nice laminate flooring on it and the front porch has vinyl tiles. A friend recently redid their flooring and so we are jealous. It looks great. They used vinyl plank flooring from Home Depot. We want that through our whole house. It looks like wood until you get down on your hands and knees and look closely. But who's going to do that? The laminate flooring in our kitchen is getting old and chipped and we were very disappointed in it's ability to stand up to the wear and tear of our family. The flooring in the bathroom is in bad shape too from a leak we sprung from the laundry area two years ago. So we want to do our whole house like theirs.

Meanwhile we can't afford it right now. Sooo.... I have to paint the plywood subfloor between now and Christmas if the new furniture is going to make a debut. One of the reasons I like living in a log house is because I don't have to change colours every few years. BUT I HAVE TO CHOOSE A CCOLOUR FOR THE FLOOR!!!! I'm not sure I can do that. I walk into those paint places and all those paint chips get me excited. I start to lose any sense of reality and then..... and then..... I just can't do it!

Ask me what my favorite colour is and I start to panic.... I love them all.... it depends on the day... on my mood... what the weather is like.... I just can't choose.

So, I chose green for the couch now I need to decide what to colour the floor. Help!!!

Getting A New Skin

I am giving our couch a new skin. We had gotten a great shaker style couch from a friend but the fabric was in sad shape. So my plan was to replace the fabric at some point in time. As Christmas creeped closer and I had so much to do I decided that I would just throw a great quilt over it for Christmas and ignore it till after the Yuletide season.

Daughter #1 had her 13th birthday over the weekend and I had promised her a day of shopping and a movie at the theater (that's a big deal in our house) and dinner after. So we headed to the nearest shopping mall to do some shopping. When we were done, Hubby and I wanted to look at TVs for a family Christmas gift. We headed to the nearest furniture store TO HAVE A LOOK. Shortly after we left with the agreement to pick up our TV with a new Dining set as well, next week. I came home and spent the next few days staring at my depressing living room trying to figure out what I was going to do to make the old suitable to receive the new. Thus, the new skin for the couch. This is what it used to look like... well it was the best picture I had.... I can't help my couch always having piles of wool.... : )


This is what it looks like now.

I am hoping to finish it in the next few days. Then I have to paint the floor. Yeesh!!! Is this insanity or what? I thnk I should take a picture of the living room now and the living room after I am done. It could be interesting.

Knitting...? I wish!

I have several projects on the go right now. I haven't finished the second Baby Surprise sweater and I am still working on the wristlets for Daughter #1, I have started spinning the fibre for Daughter #2's wristlets, and I still am working on the scarf from the workshop from several weeks ago. I even have a pair of socks on the go. So why all these projects? It's a bit of a long story.

I don't seem to be able to get the Baby Surprise sweater done right now, it is not inspiring me any more. So I have put it aside until after Christmas since other projects are taking priority with Christmas looming. The wristlets are the main priority right now and even the scarf seems to have been set aside because of the wristlets. The sox are a story all unto themselves. I have never knit sox before but one of the ladies who comes to knit night brought along a pair of sox that she was working on. They are lovely purple things with a pretty vine growing up the side and I was so taken with the lovely, fine, merino yarn which she is using, I felt the burst of an urge that I have not had before. Suddenly the need for socks became foremost in my mind. Now I am not crazy enough to take on those very fine lovely things that she was making, so instead I'm making lace ones that are based on the lace pattern that I am using for Daughter # 1' wristlets. In other words, I don't have a pattern!!!!

I guess I need to clarify that somewhat. I began my sock odyssey by borowing a sock pattern book called "Knitting Circles Around Socks" by Antje Gillingham. A wonderful book explaining how to knit two socks at the same time on two circular needles. I was intrigued, I was charmed, I was hooked. I took the book home to study closely. I copied one of the patterns and then I proceeded to knit a sock doing my own thing using four dpns and concocting my own pattern.

I'm a freak... I may have mentioned that.

I never do anything by halves. I always jump in feet first and figure it out as I go along.... I think it is called FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS. I don't just fly, no, I manage to grab the hang glider with a broken wing and remember my helmet just as I leap into the great beyond. So here I am now trying to adapt the patterns I have to accomodate the yarn I'm using and the fact that my socks are on four dpns and not on 2 circulars as they should be all add up to aaaaahhhhhh! Oh hell, I'm smart, I know I can do this. It will all work out I'm sure.... They may just be too big or have the heal on the side but I'm sure I can do it.

The sock thing came of necessity this weekend when I locked myself out of my vehicle and then left the keys 93 km away. How did I do this..... suffice it to say that Hubby will not let me live it down. I have a very good reason... I was distracted by Pops (my father) who is in the hospital and I was distraught. It would take a whole other blog to explain.... all I can say is that it involved a scheme to save Hubby and me a tank of gas and me a long trip driving on roads that were dark and moose ridden, and a change in jackets.... let me offer you this advice as a lesson well learned. WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR JACKET MAKE SURE YOUR CAR KEYS ARE IN THE NEW WINTER JACKET POCKETS!

Anyway, the jist of the story is that my knitting was left in the vehicle all weekend until I could get the keys delivered to me. So what is a knitter to do, I ask? My method of fixing this problem was to go buy new dpns and yarn and start a new project.... enter sox.

WARNING: I don't suggest FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS, someone might get hurt!