Klik Here

...all God's creatures great and small..... ....anticipating promise, hope, love and health and happiness.... ....to one and all.....for the coming New Year. N.xo

I am very happy to have reconnected after some time, of course through blogging, with the artist of the lovely Father Christmas figures featured several posts ago.  Many of you have inquired about them....her name is Rose Dolhanyk, a very well known and documented doll artist and miniturist. After several years, I found Rose through Google and was happy to also find she has a blog, rosedolhanyksantas.blogspot.com You will be delighted with your visit......   I have cherished my collection for over twenty years, since I first found her...you may also email Rose at rdolhanyk@bell.net

  It happens to me every year....the day after Christmas I am ready for a party, a celebration, finally just kick off my shoes and relax and let the festivities begin.... Now that the highly charged atmosphere of the last two days has subsided, the cooking, cleaning and wrapping done, I am ready for fun.... When I find myself alone for a bit, I sink into a favourite chair, and just enjoy the transformation our homes and surroundings take on for a few weeks every year....  Count my blessings and my many gifts....both tangible and not so.... ...a beautiful ex voto with my initials, and a heavenly lavender sachet from a dear friend from afar... ...the soft magic of candle light which seems so different this time of year... ....remembering dear loved ones..... .....special memories, from a few short months ago, like this ex voto, found at the flea market in Arezzo, with the initial M topped by a small crown....making for a perfect Chris...

It's a lovely, peaceful evening here in my house: the movie "The Ultimate Gift" on tv after returning from a nice long ride to look at Christmas lights all topping off a generally perfect Christmas day. It's hard to believe that once again, this special time of year is now pretty much passed and we're perched on the edge of 2012! This month as been SO busy -- not only with the store and orders for magazines and shop items, but in the personal realm, my sweet daughter, Olivia, graduated last weekend (12-17) from college. I seem to remember that not that long ago I posted about her  FIRST day at college.  So I ask you, WHERE has the time gone?? Well, in all fairness she did move at a pretty accelerated rate and graduated early, but still...  :) This is the girl who spent 6 weeks this past summer on her own in Israel working with an organization that reaches out to Palestinians. She traveled several times into the West Bank/Gaza Strip delivering  food relief aid pack...

You may have heard me mention at times, my sister Micki and her delectable food gifts which she purveys from her kitchen. After leaving the corporate world of banking, she began baking and cooking as a mindless refuge to the rigours of a demanding career. Today almost ten years later, she brings much happiness to customers all over Niagara with her delicious cookies and sweets during the Christmas season.  Jars of condiments such as red pepper jelly, and apricot pear conserve with Poire William gleam in her tiny kitchen. After years of collecting vintage kitchen accessories and utensils, her cooking area is a visual dream as well as contributing other sensory delights. During this time of year, literally thousands of cookies are all hand made using only the best ingredients and home made techniques acquired through hours of trial and error... Every cookie is a delicious as it is beautiful. Biscotti, hand dipped in chocolate are bursting with lightly toasted peca...