Happy New Year!

Sorry I haven't been around much! But where has the time gone? Why is it when I have time off work, that it just passes by so quickly? We had a wonderful Christmas and had all my family in for Christmas dinner - 18 of us! It was wonderful, if only I could have made Christmas last about 3 days, it would have been perfect.

I have a very special Christmas present to share, well not actually a gift from anyone, but one we had been promising ourselves, since we lost 2 of our dogs last summer. And here she is - she arrived on Boxing Day, little Bella!

Isn't she adorable!!! What a cute little puppy face. She is a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle mix) and 3 months old. She has currently become the Diva-Miss of the couch and chair and won't let any of the others get any attention while she is around. What others might you wonder? Well I have been dogsitting for Nick's friends the past 2 weeks, a Chihuahua named Mason, and I have Stu and Kelsey, Maisie and Maddie. That's a lot of dogs!

The kids are all off to various parties tonight and we are having friends over to help bring in the New Year... and yet another dog.

Just to get in a little stitchiness, here is a pillow I finished off in time for Christmas. Its hardly timely to show Christmas stitching but I thought the sentiment appropriate for tonight!

Happy New Year!

Love my new Santa!

Isn't it so nice to get lovely little packages in the mail ~ and this is what the mailman delivered yesterday - this sweet Prairie Schooler Santa ornament from dear Harmien! I love him! He's not taken his place on my Christmas tree just yet, I have him on my desk so I can look at him during the work day.

And I'm not just counting down to Christmas, I'm counting off those work days left. Luckily for me, the clinic that I work for is closing down between Christmas and New Year's and that means time off work!!! So holidays for me start on Christmas Eve!

Do you know about the new blog that has started for a Prairie Schooler exchange? Of course I couldn't resist signing up for this. And there is also a blog starting up for a Peppermint Twist SAL. I'm thinking of joining that one too! I love the New Year coming with so many great possibilities.

A Christmas tree

Not the bestest picture, but I took it with my cell phone, actually I took several, feeling very touristy, of the Swarovski Crystal Tree at the Eaton's Centre in downtown Toronto. It is truly gorgeous and could be seen from almost all areas of this huge mall. I wish I knew how many crystal snowflakes were hanging from this tree, it was awesome!

Of course being Friday afternoon/evening, there were hoardes of people about, but that made it part of the fun. Hubby and I finished up our Christmas shopping, found a place for dinner, and then went to the St. Michael's Boys Choir concert. What a great evening!

This and That

Where have the past few weeks gone? Work has been deadly recently - owing to the fact that we have gone from 3 full timers down to 2 - so much for a slow ease back into work. I honestly feel that I can't see the end of the tunnel. I have spent so much time on the computer, that once I finish up with work, that's it for me and the computer. Needless to say, I am very behind in my blogreading :-(

But it didn't stop me from taking Friday afternoon off so that Carrie and I could head down to the One-of-a-Kind Show in Toronto. I love this show - its absolutely the best show around and we love the Christmas show. Its so fantastic to see Canadian artisans and handmade items. I had thought to find myself a new coat, but didn't see anything that struck my fancy. I did get some wonderful smelling body butter, smelling of oatmeal and honey, yummm, and honey lip balm, which is so necessary for these cold winter days. Plus some delicious Christmas cranberry pot pourri and herbal tea. But the best was the new tea set that I had a hankering for - hand made stoneware - in a gorgeous shade of blue. I indulged in the teapot, cream and sugar and a small matching bowl. I did run out of money! May be the tea cups can come next year. You'll see some glimpses of my teapot in the pictures......

I received this in the mail last week from sweet Jenn (Sweet Pea) . She has been playing around with dying her own threads and has done a fantastic job with the colours. I was so lucky to have won this skein from her!! This skein is called 'American Girl' but she suggested we change it to 'North American Girl' for me! Thanks Jenn, I'm going to look for a special project to use your thread.
Here's a little finish from last month - Little House Needleworks Wool Needlebook, stitched on a 32 ct remnant (note shiny new teapot!).

And another small finish - Blackbird Designs Buttons & Pins, on a 40 ct remnant.

I started some Christmas ornaments - this is the Shepherd's Bush series that has appeared in the JCS Ornament issues, starting way back in 2000. I got the first 2 stitched already this week. I've been using a mixture of DMC, WDW and GAST threads and instead of using the silver charms, I used Kreinik #4 cord to make the cane and trumpet. Looks pretty good I think! Only 6 more ornaments to go.....do you think I'll have them finished for Christmas?

On looking at these pictures, I really think the finishing fairy is long overdue at my house!

One last shot of my wee Christmas tree. I have a sweet collection of handmade angels that I have found over the years at local craft shows and the smallest of these I have hanging on this little tree, along with a few ornaments that I made about 10 years ago.

We're off house hunting this afternoon - with the newlyweds Carrie and JF!

A Winter finish

Another finish - one I actually got done a couple of weeks ago but I don't think I posted a picture of it! Its not finish-finished.....I would really like to try making a flatfold. I have a couple other small finishes to show too, but I've got to get pictures first.

We decorated our house for Christmas yesterday - the tree is up and sparkling and the house is looking very festive - just in time for another snowstorm with a prediction of 20 cm. Luckily it ended up being mostly rain with some sleet and this morning the streets are fine. I'm so glad really - its too early for snow!

I feel like tossing all my stitching aside to make Christmas ornaments! Is it too early to start Carol's 2009 Christmas Challenge?