Happy New Year's Eve !!!!!!!

Well I am happy that the busy month of December is almost over:)

December 1st is the anniversary of my retirement....3 years ago.
December 9th...my husband's birthday.......he's very old (he reads this blog hee hee)
December 23rd was my birthday....62 now:(
December 25th Christmas......one more turkey dinner done and dusted.
December 28th ....my 1 year blogoversary.
December 30th........the 8th anniversary of my mum's death.
December 31st....it would have been my parents 73rd wedding anniversary.

In our house New Year's Eve was called Hogmanay. New Year's Eve was always a bigger celebration than Christmas Day. It was a tradition that a dark haired person carrying a piece of coal had to cross your doorstep. Usually it was my Uncle Ron who had black hair. It was also a tradition that the children in the house were given a gift and this is when my Aunt Mary would give me my Birthday/Christmas gift. Since I was her only niece it was always a BIG gift:)

My parents were married in Glasgow on December 31, 1938. It was quite common for couples in Scotland to marry on New Year's Eve. My dad used to say it was for tax reasons but I think there was a lot more to the tradition than that. So we would celebrate their anniversary and the coming of the New Year. There was always a feast and many toasts and of course a few shots of whisky. My dad and Uncle Ron would be feeling no pain by the end of the night:)

For some reason, I feel very optimistic about 2012. I just have a feeling that it's going to be a good year.

To all of you out there who read this blog...........all the best and

glitter-graphics.com

Take care:)

Anyone for a night cap?

So..... I recently became a Pinner... yes I succumbed to the addiction of Pinterest and I have found some very interesting stuff to share.

I thought this was an adorable idea as a way to decorate a bottle of liqueur or as New Year's is fast approaching, a bottle of bubbly that you might be giving as a gift to your host or hostess........

simplynotable.com

You can find all the how-to's at simplynotable.com. While you're there take a look around as they have lots of fun projects:)

Take care.

A Funny Christmas Cat.........

Neither of my cats would let me do this...LOL

Merry Christmas to all.......

I want to wish all my bloggy friends a Very Merry Christmas:)

Take care:)

Christmas came early:)

I was very fortunate to win a very cute snowman in a giveaway by Wendy of WendyCarole's Stuff:)

Here are some pics.....

He's made of lovely soft white fur with a sweet little hat and a knitted scarf. He even has a sprig of holly and berries on his hat....so cute:)

Take care:)

Sweet puppies.....:)

Monthly Make It Challenge 2012

I've signed up for the 2012 Monthly Make It Challenge over at The Felt Fairy . I enjoyed doing it last year because it reminded me to keep crafting and to make at least one thing every month.

My December 2011 make are felt Christmas decorations from a kit that I received as part of a give away from earlier in the year. I have never made up a kit like this before and it was lots of fun. Sorry about the pictures. It's very dark here today.....hopefully it won't snow.

Dad and mum snow people.

Two snow kids.

I wish I could tell you what the kit was but I can't find the instruction page....oh well. Everything was included even the cute button eyes.

Take care:)

Christmas Song.......

I was over visiting Pat Winter Gatherings and she has a giveaway.  All you have to do is leave a comment and tell her your favourite Christmas song..........here's one of mine:)

A little Christmas song to sing along with.........

Booh Bear Giveaway! Drawing 12/31/11......

Oh my ....there is a giveaway for a cute little bear over at......Wish You Were Here, Mom......go take a look:)

It is for a little bear called Paula who is 5.75" tall and is made from a mohair/alpaca blend.

The drawing takes place on December 31st so there is plenty of time to enter:)

Source: Wish You Were Here, Mom

I mean how can you resist....so cute:)

Take care.

I won a sweet little pattern.........

I forgot to tell you all that I won a giveaway a while back from a very generous doll maker named Carolyn.......you can find her blog here.

I won a pattern for her little felt dolls that she calls Cutie Pies.

Source -  Carolyn's Dolls

The PDF included the big doll and the mini baby doll but...... she also has a separate free pattern for the mini baby that you can get here.

Take care.

Meow......

You know it's getting closer to winter when.......

....the butter stays hard in the butter dish........the cats sit on the heating vents.......

..........and I get a Flu shot.......OUCH!!!!!!!

My doctor is getting on in years and of late has developed a very noticeable palsy so it was with some trepidation that I watched in horror as his hands shook getting the flu dose out of the packaging and attached the needle and approached me....... all the while his hands were shaking and I knew in my heart of hearts it was really going to hurt.......and it did:(

My aching arm.  I can't lift it up with out being reminded.......ouch.

It's a very dark and gloomy day and suits my mood perfectly. The 24 hour forecast is for 30-40 mm of rain from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon......peachy.

On a positive note.........it isn't snowing:)

Take care.

Plush Pussy Cat Giveaway......

This is for those of you that are doll house lovers and/or miniature collectors.......

Look at those sweet little miniatures....:) Go visit plushpussycat and join in the giveaway fun:)

Wrapping Paper Topiaries......

This is for all of us who have tons of wrapping paper that is not quite the right size for that giftie........or for people like me who use gift bags and now have tons of wrapping paper not being used:)

52 Mantels

A simple little project that doesn't take too much time. This idea is from.....52 Mantels...go here and see how it's done:)

Take care.

p.s. You could use fabric instead of paper:)

November Monthly Make-It

I remembered to post my November entry to the Monthly Make-It Challenge hosted by The Felt Fairy. She is continuing the challenge into 2012 if any one is interested......here.

I find that it's a good idea because it forces me to finish what I've started.

This month I made a small rag doll that I have named Emily. The pattern is my own design. She is about 10 1/2 inches long/tall. Her hair is eyelash yarn that I knitted into a wig. Her dress is made from a small piece of fabric left over from an apron that my mum made about 30 years ago.

The colour looks a bit washed out but her dress and shoes are a bright spring green. The light wasn't very good this morning. It was minus 4C outside and very gloomy. It's supposed be sunny today with rain forecast for most of the week. At least it isn't snow.

Take care:)

Patchwork Christmas Tree....

I found a perfect project on Sew What's New for all those teeny tiny bits of scrap fabric that I have hanging around and I thought I'd share it......

TeresaDownUnder

It's from a blog called My Patchwork and the blogger...TeresaDownUnder......has a photo tutorial that you can find...here.

I'm not a quilter but I think I could manage these:)

Take care:)

Soggibottom 2011 Giveaway!!!!!!

One of my favourite blogs is Soggibottom:)

Michele Vaile is a bearmaker who lives in a wonderful 17th century cottage in Devon, England. Her cottage is at the soggy end of the village...hence the name of her blog.

Michele is having a birthday and to celebrate is having a birthday giveaway of one of her teeny tiny bears.......

http://soggibottom.blogspot.com/

Isn't it cute:) Look at that sweet little scarf and hat.

Go and visit Michele and say hello and enter her giveaway today.

Take care:)

Elf Clogs......

Yes I said Elf Clogs....

Photo from Allsorts

I was wandering around looking for something and I found the directions to make these adorable shoes on Allsorts.

So, I thought I'd post the link because you never know when you will need to know how to make Elf Clogs....right?

Take care:)

What you always wanted for Christmas.....

A free Holiday Mitten Ornament pattern ............!!!!!!!!

I know:)..... not what you expected eh? Hee. Hee.

I haven't posted a freebie in awhile. I was looking for some easy peasy ornaments to make for my Christmas tree and I found this one in my email today from Sew What's New .......

Photo from Oliver + S

Photo from Sew What's New

The idea is from a blog called Oliver + S and the pattern can be found here in PDF form.

If your like me and like to see how it's done in pictures there is a Flickr group just for that.......Here. Click on the pics and there are instructions written underneath.

Aren't they sweet.........go crazy decorating them and have fun:)

Take care.

This and that...and the other......

So, I get an email from one of my lovely bloggy friends asking me where I am and what I'm doing:) Not much people. I really detest this point in the seasons between fall and winter.  It's wet and cold and fairly dull. It makes me restless and uneasy and unable to settle on anything creative.

So I do genealogical research. It keeps me busy and out of trouble and I may actually find something interesting. 

I have one main family tree belonging to my husband's family that I'm working on. I just counted: 7,596 people and 16,200 records!!! They tended to have large families in the day. The mind boggles at the number of children some women had.

I'm also working on my own family tree with my second cousin who lives in Glasgow. We have hit a few brick walls. Our family comes from Donegal, Ireland. Anyone doing research in Ireland will tell you how frustrating it can be but it is getting better. More records are going on line but the sad thing is that sometimes you have to pay an arm and a leg to look at them. Fortunately my second cousin goes to Ireland frequently and just spent some time in Letterkenny at the records office looking for our illusive Great Grandmother Fanny Devlin.

When you put it down on paper, we do know a lot about her but we'd like to know more.

It says on her marriage certificate that she was from Rock. We have no idea where that is...? Her father was a Michael Devlin, farmer. She married our GGF Owen Bradley in 1867 at St Mary's at Cock Hill, Buncrana, Inishowen, Donegal and went to live on his tenant farm in Meenamullaghan, Donegal. The Bradleys had been tenants on that piece of land from before 1831 that we know of from our research.

ADDED: The Rock has since been found:)  It is near Foffanagh, Fahan Lower, Co Donegal. Fanny's father Michael Devlin is there in the 1901 census aged 82.

Look on Google maps for Meenamullaghan and you'll see it is pretty remote. In Fanny's day it was a small townland with about four or five families and not much else.

This is what the old Bradley farm house looked like in 2007. It has been abandoned for many many years and is falling to ruin. It used to have a thatched roof in it's day. The land is still being tended and used for sheep.

Fanny  was 16 when she married Owen in 1867. She was 31 years old when she died in 1882. She had 10 children that we know of, the last being twins in May 1882. She died about a month after their birth. 

One of those twins was my grandfather.

When Fanny died her daughter Anne who was 13 took over the care of the small ones. Anne died at the age of 20 in 1889 of Typhus Fever from an infected well.

Age of the children at Fanny's death:

William - 14 yrs
Anne - 13 yrs
Patrick - 11 yrs
Catherine - 10 yrs
Charles - 8 yrs
Michael - 6 yrs
Jane - 4 yrs
Mary - 2 yrs
James - 25 days
John (Henry) - 25 days

Owen did not remarry after Fanny's death. He died in 1902 at the age of 66.

So that is all we know about her...not much. It was a hard life.

All of the children, except William, left Ireland and settled in Glasgow and became very successful. William took over the farm after Owen died, married and had several children...and at last count over 60 grand children. William was the last Bradley to farm in Meenamullaghan that we know of and strangely enough someone has put a Bradley monument in the graveyard in Buncrana.

IN MEMORY OF THE BRADLEY MEENAMULLAGHAN......RIP

Strange eh??? We don't know who and we don't know why.

A lot of people think my hobby is a bit strange. But, I love the research bit. Some of my family start to look glassy eyed when I launch into my latest discourse about some old moth eaten record I've found. But I don't care. I think it's interesting to find out what your roots are because that's what made you......you.

So that's what I've been doing.

Take care:)

Cloth Doll Artistry Challenge Winners

TA DAH...:)

The Green Man Class.....

Well I had fun at the CreativFestival and of course bought stuff I probably don't need. The show is mainly focused on quilting and of course there are lots of vendors selling yummy fabric. I was looking for solid colours in fat quarters and I hit the motherlode and bought some beautiful Robert Kaufman high count cottons. I bought a multi colour selection and then because I couldn't help myself I bought the purple bundle as well........it's so beautiful I don't know if I will ever take it apart.........LOL

I took some pics but as usual it's raining so the colours are a bit off. It seems that all we are getting lately is rain and more rain:(

Then I took the Green Man class with Colleen Babcock. It was so much fun. Colleen provided the pre-made head and all the supplies. She then showed us how to draw the face, colour it and then do soft sculpture to bring out the features. She is a wonderful teacher and I learned quite a lot in the three hour class.

This is a picture of what the finished face should look like....

Here is my effort.....

I gave my guy green eyes instead of blue:)

Take care:)

Upcoming Events - CreativFestival Toronto....

Well guess what I'll be doing this weekend:)

October 19-23, 2011 – CreativFestival
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
For registration call 1-800-291-2030
For more information go to http://www.csnf.com/f11_index.html

I'm taking a mini class tomorrow with Canadian Doll Maker Colleen Babcock and I'll show you my mini make on Monday:)

Take care.

Monthly Make-It - October

I remembered to make something.......this time something useful. Boy.....when you take a picture, all of the wonky sewing shows up....eeek.

My purse is very small and I like to wear it across my body...like a courier bag....that way I have my hands free when I go shopping:) I was finding that my glasses case was too bulky so I made a nice soft one from two layers of wool felt with a blanket stitch around the edge. A bit fiddly at first trying to keep the two layers together and straight but I think it turned out okay......I decorated it with leaf cutouts before I sewed it all together.

Take care:)

A Good Time Was Had By All......

We had a glorious weekend as the weather was outstanding....we are now going to get rain for the rest of the week...oh well:)

To those of you who asked.......yes we had a very lovely Thanksgiving. Everything I cooked turned out well........thank goodness. I am such a worry wart.....My granddaughter wasn't too keen on the turkey but she loved my sausage and onion stuffing. It has tons of garlic and herbs in it so I was a bit surprised that a 15 month old would eat some.......it's all over her face....LOL

Hmmmmm.....I wonder what she was thinking about here......

Take care:)

Just hanging around.....

Smokey really enjoyed the beautiful day we had today........:)

The pictures were taken by my son......he has a much better camera than I do:)

Take care.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend....

This  is the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada and it is a beautiful warm day. Too warm to be cooking a turkey but that's what I'm doing:)

We are having a family gathering and I'm in charge of the turkey, the stuffing, the roast potatoes and the gravy. No pressure there.

I still have my cold and cough but not as bad as before. I have never had a cold last this long and I'm really really sick of Buckleys Cough Syrup........bleeeck:(

My son and his wife and my granddaughter went apple picking yesterday at Chudleigh's Farm. They made some new friends.......

I am still not able to leave comments on some blogs and I really don't know why.

Take care.

Book Page Pumpkin Tutorial........

I found this really easy tutorial for recycling paper backs into pumpkins that look like this......

You can find the directions at Creations by Kara....here.

They would make a perfect centrepiece for Thanksgiving or Halloween:)

You could make other types of fruits such as apples or pears or whatever your imagination can come up with.

Take care.

I won something wonderful.....

I have been suffering with a dry hacking cough since Monday. I haven't had a decent night's sleep all week so needless to say I am not a very happy :(

I'm taking Buckley's cough medicine and sucking Fisherman's Friends...serious stuff here.....yuck:(

I was feeling very sorry for myself when the door bell rang today and my postie delivered a parcel. I knew I had won a giveaway but in my misery I had completely forgotten about it.

I opened the parcel and there was the most amazing thing inside......a corn husk doll made by Teresa at Enduring Traditions .....

OMG...I can't believe how beautiful this sweet little dolly is...and look at the basket she has full of harvest goodies:)

It really made me so happy that I'm feeling better.

Thank you Teresa.....you are a very generous and talented lady:)


Take care.

Blogger is doing it again....

I'm having problems again with my Blogger profile. For some reason I can leave comments on some blogs and not on others and it seems to be a random thing. I do visit you all but silently which is probably a good thing:)

Take care.

Cloth Doll Artistry Fairy Doll Challenge Entry.....

Well the challenge due date is over so I can show you what I made with the Faylinn Fairy pattern that all of the entrants used.

If you want to make the doll yourself you can find the free pattern at Clothmatters here....It's a tiny shelf sitter fairy about 12 inches in length.

My son took a couple of pictures for me but then he said that my pictures weren't bad....

She has big hair.....:)

I found making the face the hardest part because it was a very small area to work in. My fine motor skills aren't what they used to be...LOL

I used freezer paper for the pattern which I then ironed on to my fabric. It gave me more control and accuracy for the small body pieces and now I'm a convert. I will be using freezer paper again.

Her dress is made from the petals of a silk flower and some recycled gift ribbon. I had some hot pink scrapbook trim which I used as an embellishment. Her wings are flower leaves. Her hair is fake fur. I bought a remnant of it for 25 cents about 30 odd years ago and now I have finally used a bit.

I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out as I'm fairly new to doll making and this is the smallest doll I have ever made.

Take care.

Vintage Five Minute Chocolate Fudge Recipe......

I don't usually cook sweet stuff as I'm fonder of savoury and spicy but, I have made this fudge twice now and my family seem to really really like it.

It is a Carnation Milk classic recipe that was developed in the early 60's.....I found this recipe on a can of evaporated milk. I never buy evaporated milk but due to certain hearing/memory issues of a certain member of my family I ended up with six cans of the stuff. All I wanted was one can of condensed milk.....sigh. I'll say no more .....

It is really super simple and fast BUT...there is always a BUT.....you must make sure to boil the mixture for the full 5 minutes that the recipe requires or your fudge will not set properly.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups (400ml) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (150ml) Carnation Regular Evaporated Milk
2 tbsp (30ml) butter
1/2 tsp (2ml) salt
2 cups (500ml) miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups (375ml) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125ml) chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation:

Line an 8-inch (2L) square baking pan with waxed paper; set aside.
Combine sugar, milk, butter and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a rolling boil over a medium heat stirring constantly.
Boil 5 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
Remove from heat.
Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, vanilla and nuts until marshmallows and chocolate melt and blend.
Pour into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
Chill until set....but not too long as it won't come out of the pan if it becomes too hard....trust me.
Cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) squares.
Store Hide in the refrigerator in a sealed container;)

Take care.

Hello:)

I haven't posted for a bit so I thought I should.

Last Saturday we went to the Black Creek Annual Pioneer Festival.

Black Creek Pioneer Village is an assemblage of old buildings that was established by our parks commission originally in 1960 on a site that is about 100 acres. They started adding buildings over the years and it really came into it's hey day in the mid '70's. It is a small time capsule of what an old Ontario village would have looked like. When you are there surrounded by all the trees, smelling the wood smoke and wandering along the dirt roads you really can get away from it all and get into the spirit.

This is the second year we have gone to the Annual Pioneer Festival. There are two things that make people go back year after year....the home baked pies....they are usually sold out in the first hour....and the Mennonite Quilt Auction.

Oh, and the Canadian Back Bacon on a bun.....yum yum....and, hand-made ice cream....delicious:) There are other baked goods for sale as well which are extremely reasonably priced.......all the proceeds go to various volunteer groups that help run the festival for the day.....here's a blurb if your interested to know more:)

There is a lot to see and experience but the festival is really all about the Quilt Auction.....Sorry no pictures as I didn't bring a camera. They offer gorgeous one of a kind hand sewn quilts made by the various Mennonite communities in our area. Just stunning works of the quilter's art. I didn't stay for the auction as it was later in the day and we visited the festival first thing in the morning as it opened........it's also all about those pies:)

Fortunately I later discovered that my son had his Blackberry...with a dying battery....typical:) So the day was saved with a few pics. My son can take pictures with anything and they turn out amazing.

It's really a lovely place to visit.......

There were two young Clydesdale horses that were loverly but I don't have any pictures as my sons disappeared for a bit......turns out they got side tracked and were visiting the village brewery......sampling the beer that's made there...oh well.....

There were sheep....

And, pigs......

And chickens......

And, a very angry ugly turkey....boy was he angry. Some teenagers had riled him up and he was in full display. My son couldn't get a good picture of him as he kept moving. Here's a close-up...

There was also beautiful fresh picked corn on the cob.......

 My granddaughter really liked it....note her grip on that cob:)

She may not have many teeth but that didn't matter......:)

All in all it was a beautiful crisp fall day....at this point the battery was dying...so were my feet:)

Son, granddaughter and daughter-in-law going up a very steep hill.....arrrgggh. I was following very slowly behind....:)

Take care.

p.s. I have finished my challenge doll for the CDA fairy challenge and will post pics as soon as my son takes some.