Christmas Eve

Yes.... it is here!  The time has flown by recently.  Our little boys have been quite busy....

....... Munchie had a Christmas concert with his Grade 1 class.  He is in the center in the black Bat-Moose shirt.  Curtie....

... also had a Christmas concert with his Junior Kinderegarten class.  You can see him easily with the number 6 on his shirt.  According to my reporter, they were both adorable and sang gustily.  They also....

.......... attended a couple of Christmas parties.  Here is Curtie sitting on Santa's knee, telling Santa what is on his wish list and getting his picture taken.

And of course, his big brother, Munchie also got that opportunity.  Then, this weekend, they came....

........ to visit us!  While Curtie was busy playing with Poppa....

.......... Munchie was busy seeing who was tallest - himself or Pumpkin.  The final decision was that Munchie was taller!  He checked then to see..........

......... if he was taller than both Pumpkin and Hershey - yep!  You can see his head peeking over both of them in the center.  Meanwhile....

......... Curtie was hamming for the camera with Taffy.  As the day wore on....

...... Munchie and the two big bears got worn out and took a nap!  After getting into their pj's, Munchie wanted this picture taken....

.......... so you could all see a better shot of his Bat-Moose sweat-shirt.  Once again, the time flew and they left for home where they are anxiously awaiting Christmas Day, so .....

......... they could open presents!

Deck The Halls

Here it is - time to think about Christmas decorations and Christmas trees and so on.

At Munchie's house this meant carefully unpacking all the decorations.  Then....

.... Munchie climbed up on a chair to reach the high parts, while....

............ Curtie carefully chose which ornament to put on the tree next (I love the expression on his face in this photo)...

......... and handed it to his big brother, or chose his own spot closer to the bottom.  Doesn't the tree look pretty?  Mommy says the letters have been sent to Santa and the count-down is on!

Weather Warning!

While I was doing some chores a few days ago, I glanced out the window.....

............ and saw Poppa outside with his shovel.  Yes....we got even more snow.  Because of some recent health issues that Poppa had - Squeegie and Taffy were keeping an eye on him.  Earlier....

.......... he had the snow blower out - and you can see it was quite windy and chilly and....

........... there was quite a bit of snow.  For a while........

........ both Poppa and the chap across the road were out dealing with the snow.  Later....

......... there was just Poppa - blowing the edge of the road so that the mail person could get to the mailbox and so there would be less snow for the snow plow to fill in the end of the driveway.  The shovel at the edges was the last step and thankfully he was finished for a while.  Since then we've had a couple of milder days - and there is actually less snow outside right now.  We did brave the cold weather and...........

............ go for lunch with Auntie Cecile and Auntie Colleen for our regular Tuesday get-together.  Another day....

.......... Auntie Jean came out for a visit.  She brought her i-Pad with her and we spent a while together figuring out how to do the things she would like to do with it.  When I went into the room reserved for our little grandsons to do some dusting, I was somewhat alarmed when I looked at Curtis' bed.....

....... to find this rather large fellow sitting there.  After a brief conversation, he said his name is Hershey and he is planning on staying!  Not only that...

........... his brother, Pumpkin, is settled in on Munchie's bed!  Oh gracious - just what we needed - two more bears.........

........ especially as they have been known to sneak into our space and take over Poppa's chair!  It appears that Squeegie and Taffy don't mind at all!  I sat in my chair anyway and worked on....

.... Auntie Colleen's sweater.  The arms and body are now attached and....

........ I am currently working on the yoke.  I'm hoping to finish it up in the next week or so.  It has been a really challenging and fun project after so many socks and dishcloths!  The weather?  Well it is still really cold outside...........

............. the bears bundle up before they go out in the car......... and..........

.......... when we're at home, they snuggle under blankets.

Overseas....

Our friends in the UK sent me this picture.....

........ of the Big Board at the London Stock Exchange.  As  you can see, this company just went public and is already moving up in value.  The people who are business partners in this company.....

......... are shown here as the opening bell sounds.  Please look carefully at the faces in the circle..... Yes!  They can be identified as David and Allison - our friends and the homeowners of the villa where we stay every winter in Florida!  How exciting that day must have been for them!  Congratulations!!!!

Yesterday....

....... I took this picture in the side yard!  Yes...........we had..........

..... 7-1/2" of snow over night!  Yes..... Poppa actually took his tape measure out and checked to see how much there was.  I was quite surprised..........

....... when I saw who was helping Poppa blow the snow from the driveway and the walkways!  Want a closer look?

Yep!  It's Squeegie in his snowsuit!  Is it time to go to Florida yet?????

Knitting? Of Course!

Last winter while we were in Florida, I came across a sweater pattern that called out Auntie colleen's name to me!  I just knew I had to make it for her.  Recently, I posted ......

........... this picture which was the beginning of the first sleeve.  I have been working diligently.  It is a rather complicated pattern - and required extensive use of a cable needle.  I'm always looking for a convenient place to put my cable needle between cable stitches.  And - I usually end up putting between my teeth.  After a while that becomes irritating, so I thought about it and then I....

......... found a teddy-bear part in one of my drawers - it was one I had made and then rejected because it was the wrong size.  It was already stuffed and it held my cable needle nicely, but it was too light to hang properly...........so I put two $2 coins in the bottom - kazaam - it stands up!  Then I just took a couple of pieces of cotton yarn and attached them to each side......put it around my neck and tied a knot at the correct length... and....

....... there was my cable needle in just the right location for grabbing and then sticking back in!  I'll try to come up with a prettier version later, but for right now.........

....... it sure makes the cables quicker and easier to do!  I have finished the two sleeves and.......

.......... have about 12 inches done of the body.  There are 411 stitiches on my circular needle and a long row to knit!  But, it is great fun and I am enjoying the challenge after so many pairs of socks! When the body section is long enough it will be joined to the sleeves in preparation for the yoke - which is a totally different cabled pattern.  I keep you posted!

Poppa's Project

After what seems like a long wait, Poppa finally found enough time in his days to work on the kitchen cabinets.  You may recall a photo from last year - just before we left for Florida - of our kitchen with new, custom-made-by-Poppa cabinets on the bottom.  He was so busy this summer, he didn't have any available time to work on the upper cabinets.  At last, on some rainy days in the autumn, he squeezed in some time to work on them....and here he is....

 .......... installing the doors on the first unit.  What a difference it makes.....

..... in my kitchen!  I looks amazing!  Of course....

.... I had to manage for a few days with only some doors on.  The weird thing was - as I was working - my peripheral vision kept telling me that I needed to close the doors, since I could see the contents without really looking there.  It was a lot of work for Poppa, staining, varnishing, finishing and installing, but..........

......... when, at last, the curtains were hung........

....... the end result was wonderful!  Here..........

.............. is a view from another angle, and just in case you've forgotten..........

........... this is the section that started it all - two years ago - when I asked for a small-appliance cupboard - that is it at the extreme left of the picture.  As you can see by the top of these units, there is still some trim work to do on the newest cupboards on the other side of the kitchen........more pictures later when that is done.  Right now, Poppa is busy helping Uncle David to store his boat for the winter, so there will be a slight delay.

Oh sNOw!

On November 1st as we were driving through town.....

.......... this is what we saw.  There was less than this out where we live, and fortunately it melted away quickly.  But it is a sign of what is to come - and it looks like this year we will have winter before we leave for Florida on the 26th of December.  But.........

........... in the meantime, Poppa is still gathering up leaves and making trips to the dump.  When I went to help.....

...... there was a piece of digging equipment in the driveway beside Poppa's truck!  It turn out that the crew...........

....... working on building a picnic shelter in the park across the road asked Poppa if they could leave that thing in the shed driveway rather than taking it to and from the site every day.  So there is sits.

When Poppa had the trailer all ready for transporting, Squeegie drove us to the dump where we disposed of one more trailer load of leaves.  On the way home we stopped to pick up some lumber....

.... at one of Poppa's favourite stores - and you can see that there was some precipitation on the windshield of the truck.  While I waited for him to come back out....

.......... I noticed there was still some snow on the roof of the restaurant across the road... Brrrrr!  I hate winter!  Soon....

........ Poppa was back, carrying his pieces of moulding, so he can finish..........

........ another project he has been working on.