Christmas Day Skating on the Pond 2011

Our tradition on Christmas day has always been to open our gifts in the morning, stuff the turkey, throw it in the oven and then grab our skates and head down to the pond.

This year we were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day.....so...a bit of sunbathing took place!

With a full week of holidays ahead of us, I think there will be a few hockey games with the neighbours and we will certainly head over to the skating oval on Lac Beauport for a full afternoon of fun and exercise.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!

Georgian Bay Christmas Road Trip

Well, I am getting ready for a Christmas Road Trip with my 16 year old son.  He plans on getting us out of the province at which point I will need to take over the wheel.
We are heading to Georgian Bay, the place of my birth and childhood. It is a place that holds fond memories for both myself, my husband and our children.  Members of my husband's family still live there so we are fortunate to have opportunities like this to head back to the bay.

This past summer I thought often about the area that I come from and parts of that landscape that have shaped who I am today.
So, I wrote this, and ode to Georgian Bay......

Georgian Bay

I sometimes find myself staring at you,

And then I see me,

reflected through your eyes.

You seem to be beckoning ,

welcoming me in with a soft gentle wave.

I allow myself to wade forward,
within you,

slowly at first, because you are cool.

I move deeper,

careful to avoid those bits of shell fragments that often get in my way.

Slowly I feel myself sinking.

You feel warm now

and all of a sudden as if on cue,

I drop,
I surrender,

and allow myself to fall into your arms,

floating,

eyes closed,

tasting in your freshness.

Yet the whole time my mind is wandering.

Then,

I see me,

Young, pig-tailed, freckled-skin, worried eyes,

swinging from side to side,

A small wooden plank attached to a willow by an old tattered rope

I see my sister too,

She is in front of me,

Her skillful arms slice through you with such grace, and precision

The teacher is smiling,

But not at me,

And then my sister is running,

Heading home

Eager to report

that I chose once again to sit

on the swing.

But you see,

I was afraid.

I studied you from that swing,

Determined to see through your moods,

Charcoal grey, midnight black.

You possess a full orchestra of percussion

All clues in the mystery of you.

Your sudden acts of aggression,

I learned all the signs.

That day at the door,

Where my parents stood,

Whispering, nodding, sniffling

My neighbour dead,

Fishing, storm, empty boat,

I heard that you were to blame.

I already knew,

that you can be angry,

fierce and cruel,

spew up foam and remnants as you welcome victims into your depths.

But I also believed,

That you are kind, forgiving

Even magical.

Like on the day of our annual family photo,

You had the presence to soften the glare of my grandmother’s eyes

And bring warmth to the lines of her manufactured smile

With your rich hues of blue.

Then,

I see me,

On that day when I stood in front of my swing,

Listening to you,

As I answered your call,

Walking slowly at first,

Toes touching, cold, then warm

gently assured by the sound of you lapping on the rocks beneath me

and I surrendered,

allowing myself to fall,

into your arms,

floating,

eyes wide open.

I am not a poet, that is clear, however I really enjoyed writing this piece.  It has been hanging around my office in an old notebook since a writer's workshop that I attended this summer with my partner. It felt like the right time to look it over and.... revise it yet again.
My partner, on the other hand, is a writer and a poetic one at that.
Anyway, this attempt at poetry represents the bay through my eyes.  Haunting, yet lovely.

I will certainly take photos of the bay in winter but I do admit I favour the look of it most in summer!

The Art of Setting the Table

Whatever happened to taking time to set the table for dinner?
Well, in our family that has been something that both of our parents took pride in and it always made those holiday dinners feel somewhat more special.  So this year I am setting our table with my mother's china and some silver that has made its way into our home from family and the odd flea market here and there.

Our house is fairly rustic and right next to a ski centre so we have lots of action around this table.  Usually it is a bit more crowded than a setting for 4.
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Simplement Noël

 I have always gone under the banner of less is more when it comes to decorating so it only made sense to take that same approach at Christmas.  Our kitchen has just recently been renovated. We also ripped out all the various other flooring, ceramic and hardwood to install the same hardwood flooring throughout the main level of our home. And now, we are just waiting until after the holidays to start painting so the walls are more or less half completed.  I did not want to pass the holidays with paint cans so we put that on hold. So, with that little explanation out of the way, I hope you enjoy the simple touches we made to create a holiday vibe in our home at this special time of year! Funny to start with the bathroom but the sliding door into the bathroom is seen right off of the kitchen so we felt it warranted a nice bouquet of evergreen branches.

 The wreaths are simple and all-natural and the angel statue has been around for years so we like to give her a spot by the window. When the sun shines through she appears to light up. Three simple voltive candles sit on the window sill.

 The kitchen and the pantry are home to the carved Santas that my sister made for myself and our children years ago.  They are a Christmas favourite.  We have a curtain covering the washer and dryer in the pantry and that has been changed to red velvet to give it a more festive flair.

 The chandelier was decorated by my teenage daughter this year with cedar boughs and silver balls. It makes a stunning arrangement for dinners during the holiday season.

An antique post office turned wine rack hosts our only faux evergreen decorations.

The amaryllis flower plays a special role in our decorating scheme every year.  I keep a few extra bulbs going in our bathroom window so that we can enjoy them for at least a month.  Yep, I love them!

 The Christmas tree is placed between the livingroom and the seating area off of the kitchen so that we can enjoy it from many different angles.

I do love this tree but I am somewhat nostalgic for the old trees we had in the past.  It was our tradition to go into the woods and cut down a tree.  It was usually a tree that was struggling, not the belle of the ball variety.....but unfortunately we could not do that this year.  Anyway, I am including one of my favourites from last year.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!!!











http://hookedonhouses.net/2010/12/08/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-my-white-christmas-tree/

Christmas Party Tradition

The Christmas party is the official first party of the holiday season for us!  It is a great time for adults and children to share in on the excitement of the upcoming holiday.
We build little houses out of graham crackers that resemble gingerbread houses so that each child, young and old, can decorate with candies of all sorts.

This is the first year that Sarah helped me to make all these houses.  I am happy to pass this tradition on to her and hope that one day she will do the same for her friends and family.

The flat roofs are for the youngest children since they have a tendency to break the more fragile peak-roofed houses.

This little one has been known to eat all of her candies in the first 24 hours following the party!

We have been carrying out this tradition for 16 years so many of these young ones have become pros.  And of course the adults are quite good at this as well!

As a matter of fact we had our first-ever log cabin!!  There were some structural flaws as we later found out but certainly this individual plans on re-working his design for 2011!

Once the houses are built, the food has been eaten ....well... nothing like a bit of dancin'!!!!!!

So....let the festivities begin!!!!
Christmas!!......bring it on!!