Happy New Year

Christmas was wonderfully fun!  My s-i-l drove 1500 miles with her two teenage children to spend it with us.  DD#2 flew in (well flew to Edmonton and then drove) from Charlottetown at the other end of the country.  And she only had to work five shifts on the ambulance, one of them 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Christmas Eve.  They lost two people to heart attacks that night….  DD # 3 flew in from Victoria and her boyfriend was home as well. 

Many stockings were hung by the chimney with care…

On Christmas day we opened stockings, ate a wonderful breakfast – scrambled eggs, coffee cake, bacon (the best bacon in the world all the way from Victoria), grapefruit, pineapple and homemade Baileys to go in the tea or coffee.

DD # 3 is our professional pineapple cutter.  She learned the technique from her Thai auntie.

Then there was a lot of present opening and a casual afternoon long feed of cold meat, cheese, vegetables and dip, crackers, and two kinds of trifle for dessert .  Lots of games were played; euchre and cribbage seemed to be the most popular and we had a few tournaments.

My big present is my Kobo book reader.  We do name exchanges for stockings, one present in family and one present each for both DH and my extended family.  So you buy and receive three presents and fill a stocking.  Makes life way easier.  This of course doesn’t include the little children.  They got lots of presents. 

I received a few quilty things.  In my stocking were a few items I’ve been hankering for – more straight pins, a long measuring tape – and the green item is a nifty ceramic cutting tool.  It isn’t for fabric but for paper.

A quilting friend gave me this fabulous tote box, which will be wonderful when going to retreats or sewing sessions.

And lovely presents from two non-quilting friends: a wonderful pincushion – the black part is made from a tin can - and a great looking book.

 

On Boxing Day my nephew and two nieces came to visit as well as DD# 3’s boyfriend.  We had our big turkey dinner.  Son-in-law cooked the turkey, which was wonderful!  Mashed potatoes, baked yams, Brussels sprouts, carrots and Baklava created by Sister-in-law.  Then several game marathons: Pit, Euchre, Apples to Apples and the younger folk played Pictionary into the wee hours.

DD # 2 and S-i-I are gone.  DD # 3 is around for a while but is currently hanging out with her boyfriend in Whitehorse.  There were only a couple of BIG EVENTS over the holiday.  We went skating down on the arm.  There was some snow but a nice cleared patch and we were having a lovely skate…

when S-i-l fell and cracked her head open.  She had to get four stitches in the back of her head, but fortunately there was no concussion.  Then when S-i-l left on December 28th she forgot her purse!  She didn’t discover it wasn’t with her until she went to buy gas 500 km down the highway.  Fortunately her daughter has a credit card and they were able to continue on home.  The purse, along with all her necessities of life is on its way home now.  Despite these escapades S-i-l said she and her kids had a wonderful time.  She is trying to convince us all to go to Thailand for Christmas next year….  hmmm….if I’m going that far, I’ll have to continue on to Australia….

My wish for this evening is to stay home and relax but we are invited to a party and DH wants to go so I guess we’ll be out and about for a bit. 

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, love-filled new year!

Janet