Wishing You and The World a Merry Christmas

Good Evening from the Rockwood, Ontario.  I am visiting my grandchildren for Christmas.
Is this a pretty sight from the back yard?  I took it before the sun really managed to make its full appearance.

Then the sun came up and for Christmas Eve Day it was bright and sunny and not too too chilly at all.

This afternoon we did something that is a tradition in my daughter-in-laws' family, they trek out to see a children s' movie at the cinema, this years movie happened to be Chipwreck with Alvin, Dave and the Chipmunks.   Very cute for the grandchildren.

This evening we go out to eat mmmmmmmmmm nice treat!

I would like to announce the Winner of the Mystery surprise, only 9 people commented on memories of what makes Christmas magic for you.  SEW  without further ado, the winner chosen by Mr. Random is GRANNYANN!  Please contact me at mitzjidebos@yahoo.ca with your snail mail address and I will send along your surprise!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very wonderful Christmas and please take care out there no matter on which road you are travelling!

Happy Christmas everyone.  

Packed and Ready

I have been so busy not a moment to post.  Last night a small army of elves came and picked up  102 Christmas bags filled with lots of fantastic gifts for Santa to deliver this coming Christmas eve.  We're all a tad exhausted, but we are pleased it was accomplished.
If you could see the gift in those bags, we are thrilled that in these hard economic times, others have stepped up to the plate with our local Lions club and filled a need.  We are a most fortunate town to be living in, people helping other people is what these townspeople are all about.  Not just at Christmas time, but all throughout the year.
We have all been blessed and this is what makes volunteering so very worthwhile.
How about your entering my "Christmas Memories" giveaway?  You have until December 24th to enter and you never know, you could win a nice gift.  I know it is customary to announce the gift, but, I have holding off on the announcement of what the prize is because I would like it to be a very nice surprise!  I have promised, the prize is worthwhile, not shabby at all, so, give yourself a chance to win by entering here.
You will not hear from me tomorrow as I begin my road trip.  I am travelling to be with my son and family for Christmas, but, as soon as I reach there and after the children are all tucked away in their beds, I will post, and I intend to take some photo's along the way, as I plan on visiting some quilt shops, there out to be something wonderful for me to buy, after all a volunteer Santa needs a tiny reward, wouldn't you agree. 
I am packed and ready to leave, but now it is time to inspect my bed, after the shenanigans for the past few weeks with the Angel Tree project and the baking, I am totally in need of rest.
Thanks for stopping by today and I sincerely hope your getting your much needed rest as well. 
I will be back on the 23rd, so do come back to see what I will  have to share with you from the road. 

We DID IT - FINISHED

We did it!  Last night we finished buying and wrapping, sorting and checking all of the ages and genders off the list, now all we need is for Santas' Sleigh to arrive for pick up and delivery!!
What with 108 children in our immediate part of the region there was a great worry that we wouldn't meet our target,  having it all ready for pick up, but somehow our team did it. 
Here are pictures of everyone having a great time wrapping up the gifts, and every once in awhile exclamations of "look at this.or ahh isn't this cute"!

If your interested you may view more pictures here in the Seeley's Bay Community Picture Gallery.
You know in these hard economic times, Christmas isn't the time for children to be disappointed and when we began putting up Angels on the tree asking for the community to help us make those children who wouldn't otherwise be enjoying Christmas morning, smile.  We were rewarded with their most heartwarming generosity, and enough cannot be said about how overwhelming their help has been.
Remember I am running a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY, asking you to comment on your memories of what makes Christmas magic for you, and the last day to submit is December 24th.  I will send the winner a surprise.  Enter here.
Thank you for joining me today, it has been a busy season for me so far, but at least the childrens' parcels are ready for Santas' elves to pick up all of the gifts for Santa and his reindeer to deliver on Christmas morning.

AND THE WINNER IS.........

CONGRATULATIONS TO MAXINE of big-dog @ Yahoo.com CONGRATULATIONS, your the winner of the  "MORE NICKEL QUILTS" by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode and a package of 100 of 5" Charms from my Stash!   

I have sent you an e-mail requesting your snail mail address.

To all who participants, contestants and Bloggers alike, thank you for making this BLOG HOP party a fantastic event.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Michele Foster,

owner of THE QUILTING GALLERY where quilting is really a fun affair for her hard work and care to details in arranging this wonderful Party which took place during the last week.

It was so very much fun!

To all who did not win, I wish you could have, but, many more giveaways are being planned, so stick around, who knows where lady luck will land?

I have been burning my candle a bit too long and i just can't seem to get my get up and go to work this morning, so, another hot cup of coffee and a few extra minutes of just vegging here might do the trick.  Do you ever have such days when you just cannot seem to get your day started.  Goodness knows my "to do" list is as long as anyone else's, but for some reason these old bones are protesting, I heard the squeaking and grinding joints as they brought me down stairs this morning...YIKES I simply don't need to be inactive today, I need energy!

I am enjoying your comments about your special Christmas pasts and what it is/was that mad it magic for you?  

Remember I am running a giveaway in yesterdays' post that asks you the question, and to leave me a comment **Click on the link in red above" and tell me in at least 25 words all about the magic of your Christmases past"  and I will send the winner a surprise.  I also stated that the surprise would not be shabby, and it won't! 

WHAT I neglected to tell you is that this surprise giveaway will close on  on December 24th, a sort of "just in the Nick of Time" gift....LOL
SEW think back to those wonderful Christmas everyone and send me some of your magic Christmas moments you enjoyed.
Thank you for stopping by this morning, I have to say here in the Bay it is sunny but very frigid, and I must go out of the house today, like it or not, got to pick up all of those Angel gift bags and bring them back here once again, waiting for Santa to come pick them up.  I do not know how Santas' elves do this every year, I'm exhausted from counting and recounting, moving them from one spot to another and then taking them in and out several times until their just right for Santas' Sleigh.
Have a wonderful day everyone and remember, make a few moments to relax today, we still have 7 more hectic days till the BIG DAY.....

Today Is A Wrap

Good Saturday morning to you all

TODAY is the last day for the BLOG HOP, and don't I wish it could go on and on, but, there is always the New Year and more Giveways and fun is planned in 2012. 
If you haven't had the opportunity to surf the hundreds of blogs of  participating Bloggers,  I urge you to try for it today because today is the very last day for you to get in on it.  You may still still enter MY GIVEAWAY HERE before it closes this evening at 11:59.
I am hoping that all of our new found followers remain friends long after this Blog Hop is over, and while I do not always blog about my quilting and crafts, I do try to keep you interested, at least I hope what I write about is interesting.  So stick around after the party is over, 2012 should be a very interesting year!!
Speaking for myself as a Blogger, and I am betting for all of the other Bloggers taking part in this Anniversary Blog Hop, having so  the visitors come and check us out and receiving the many very nice comments that have been left, and happy to have been a visitor myself with my co-participant bloggers this week. 
MICHELE  from The Quilting Gallery puts in a great deal of time so that you, the reader will enjoy her blog and those blogs that we all write and I thank her for her time and her insights in respect to the Quilting Community.  We just love The Quilting Gallery, and every week there is much activity going on there.
I delivered over 15 dozen cookies yesterday and silly me, I neglected to take pictures of the 15 dozen!!  I made so many varieties I lost count, and, the lady who ordered them had an afternoon appointment, so, I hurried over and dropped the off and forgot to take the camera with me!  

Now, its time for me to bake for the house, already a batch of shortbreads

and a batch of peppermint candy canes

and a huge pot of chili are done

and the chili has been me tested already and it tastes "hot"!
Now, all I need now is to clear off the work surface, hit the shower and get ready to wrap...I will leave the party early and drive into town to pick up a friend who is coming home for Christmas from Hong Kong.
Tomorrow I will host my own wrapping party and have invited me, myself and I to participate.  
Monday has been set aside to clean the whole house, these floors really need taking care of because everyone and his uncle Sam have been here delivering and picking up and I hadn't the heart to make them take their shoes off...LOL Then, I plan a long soak in a bubble bath to get rid of the aches and pains (kinks) and get ready to welcome the senior lady of the house back from her Caribbean cruise, all tanned and ready to relay her orders for what she believes I still have to do before I leave to travel 7 hours to my sons for Christmas....whooppee
I know Christmas comes the same date every year and every year I am never really quite ready.  Oh well, do what you can and the rest somehow comes together, that is part of the magic of Christmas.
I confess, I long for the "old" days, my olden days to be exact, I had a business, a family, parents that lived away, and somehow those Christmases were magical, and Christmas eve was the best time of all, soft caroles playing in the background, hot coffee spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon and my feet up looking at the decorated tree with all those pretty wrapped parcels beneath it and then on to bed at the end of my day to get ready to face the 6 or 6:30 get up from the excited shouts of the little ones downstairs jumping for joy at all that Santa left.
What is your magic moment during Christmas?
Write me a comment and tell me in at least 25 words all about the magic of your Christmases past, then Mr. Random and I get together we will choose another winner apart from this Blog Hop and send you a SURPRISE and don't fret, it will be a decent surprise!
So there, I'll share my magic of Christmas past with yours.

FREE & SIMPLY CHARMING

Good Morning from the Bay, and it is a rather wet and gray day here, but with decent temperatures. I have been giving thought to the many comments about the charms being offered in my giveaway, and thought some might like to have a few different easy but pretty charm quilt patterns for free!

These 5" charms can be so versatile and may be used in hundreds of different patterns, but, I have found a few that possibly you may not have seen, and these are offered by their designers or online store owners for free and free is one of the best ever gifts to receive.

Larene Smith, Designer of The Quilted Button worked with the Quilts of Valor Foundation, with Windham Fabrics and through the events for the Maine Quilt Shop Hop this year offered an original design for Windhams fabrics for the hop shoppers.  A beautiful design in honor of American Soldiers.  Nice pattern and it is Free for personal use.

News from the Hen House was a Blog and then it morphed into a Quilt Shop called Red Rooster Quilts.  It has a lovely pattern which you will like, I am certain you will love this free pattern pictured above.

From Elizabeth Fransson, of Oh Fransson as a frequent blogger on Sew Mama Sew you will find a link to the pattern for this pretty baby quilt pictured above.  Elizabeth also offers many concise and wonderful tutorials too, should you be interested.

These are but a very of the many charm square free patterns being offered by the very talented people in this blog hemisphere we all enjoy every day.

DON'T forget the Blog Hop party  still going on until December 17th. If you haven't had occasion to join in on the fun or the opportunity to enter into the over 250  blog giveaways this week, why not relax with a tour of these great blogs and see what if being offered on them for you the reader, and to discover and make new blogging friends.  Go to the Quilting Gallery list of participants and have some fun. 

Once again I am behind, I meant to complete the baking, but only accomplished the peppermint candy cane cookies yesterday.  I interrupted the baking because our Lions Club had its last meeting before the Wrapping party this  Saturday.  Due to the overwhelming increase in the list of recipients for the Angel Christmas Tree Project, we find we have a total of 108 children.  Residents have been overly generous.  Last night we wrapped up 49 Christmas bags filled with toys and Christmas goodies.  The balance of the bags will be wrapped on Saturday evening and readied for Santa's elves at the various Food Banks to deliver with the Food hampers.

Thank you so much for visiting me today, I hope you do not allow ourselves to be tuckered out with the million and one things you have to do to be ready for Christmas eve and Christmas morning, even if your too too busy, make or set aside even a half hour for your internal batteries to recharge, you deserve to do this for yourself.

Okay, I am off to complete the baking - wish me luck!

FUN ON THE HOME FRONT TODAY

Hello from the pretty Village of Seeley's Bay this afternoon.  It was very foggy this morning as the temperature rose overnight and hence the dense fog, but this afternoon the sun its appearance this afternoon and the mild temperatures made it possible for me to finish most of the outside Christmas lights display 

which I believe isn't too shabby at all.   Once the winter darkness descends late this afternoon I will take more pictures, after all the lights display better against the darkened sky, don't they?
You might recall back in October Rick Hansen came back to Seeley's Bay in celebration of his 25th Anniversary of his Man In Motion Tour across Canada.  Thanks to Rick Couper of Seeley's Bay for posting this video of this 25th Anniversary stop over.
I left you with pictures of that special afternoon and today I have a facebook link for you to see the event which was captured on video. Wow, it sure turned out great, and it is also in this video you will get to meet some of the residents of the Seeley's Bay Retirement residence.  A wonderful greeting by the home's residents to Rick and his crew of many was made possible by he sheer generosity of the Home's owners Ron and Liz Rudd. 
ideas and knowledge of what works well and just how to go about accomplishing it.  
THIS afternoon I am baking more cookies, thumbprints, candy cane cookies, and some christmas shaped shortbreads, and just a few more dozen of the chocolate dipped flavored shortbread...mmmmmmmmmmmm my kitchen smells great and my inernal batteries seem to be working rather well today.
I would like to thank each and every one who to date has posted comments on this blog and joined in on the 
events that my participating bloggists (is this a new word?) and I have arranged.  The time is racing by and with all of the Christmas preparations and the flury of events which are beginning it means much to all of us that your enjoying yourselves.  THANK YOU one and all, it is sincerely appreciated and we all hope you will hang around after it is over for this year on the 18th and 19th when winners of all the giveaways will be announced.
Thank you for sharing a part of this afternoon with me, with you and all of the great Christmas music playing for company my day is such a happy one.

Cookies, Cookies

I am just about cookied out!  That's right, I said cookied out!  Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking cookies for someone (a special request) and I baked 4 dozen cherry drops, 3 dozen of (my secret recipe) the best chocolate oatmeal chocolate chip, 3 dozen Scottish Short breads, 3 dozen chocolate and almond dipped crescents, and tomorrow I will be baking three other varieties of cookies to bake in as large batched, then, they all have to be parceled up in individual gift Christmas tins because this lady will be gifting them!
I love baking, but almost never do anymore because my 89 year old mum loves to tell me how to do it better, or faster, or something she believes I may have forgotten, LOL,  but seeing as she is away on a cruise I am having a great bake in.  
Today, though I gave myself a bit of a change, I left home very, very early and did last minute purchasing for others who are working, know what they want and where it could be bought from and I just had to go and buy it for them.
I also treated myself, I found an artificial Xmas tree to set up outside on the veranda and I got a great bargain buy with it too.  It is 6' tall and already has lights on it all over from the top to the bottom.  Because my dear mum refuses to throw anything away, those old lights we've been reusing every Christmas are finally done in.   If we want Christmas lights I have to replace them with the latest LED outside lights.  When she gets home she will have to acquiesce and allow me to escort them to the recycling dump, their old, kaput, not functioning, and you all know how frustrating and time consuming trying to discern which light in the string isn't working!
So because my mum has everything, needs nothing of consequence, I bought her new strings of lights and new Christmas out of doors decorations and it will be all up and looking grand for her arrival home.  YIPPEE!  Once I get it all done, I will take some pictures and share it with you!
You may or may not recall I lost my special four legged companion Mitzji this past March (a day after my 65th) and I miss her terribly. 
While I was bargain hunting for an artificial tree. I just happened to go past a shelf with stuffed toys on it, and believe it or not a tiny Bear was looking directly at me and saying very clearly, pick me, buy me, take me home?  When I looked a second time, I saw that its face looked so familiar and to my way of seeing things, she looked just like my Mitzi's face staring right back at me, so, this tiny and once loved bear simply came home with me.  Needless to say I have given her a new name, "Mitzji Bear" and I am feeling a well comforted.  Strange behavior for a 65 year old, but what can I say in my defense other than it simply shouted out my name and I simply couldn't leave her there.  

Meet Ms. Mitzji Bear

Here she is at Age 14 all scruffy 

Mitzji at Age 10

I'm sure you can see the resemblance between my beloved pet and this little bear... can't you?  Please tell me I need to clean my glasses....
As you can see I found two pictures of her to share with you and to convince you that these are look alikes!
As I said, once I get all of the decorations up and working outside I will share it with you in pictures, that's if your not too bored by it all?


Don't forget the Blog Hop 

that is taking place all over the Blogsphere and my Giveaway here and don't forget to check the list of participating Bloggers at the Quilting Gallery  to continue on in your Hop.  There are many wonderful giveaways being offered to some lucky winners, I can honestly tell you there are no slouches in this Blog Hop.....
Thank you for sharing some of your time with me today and I look forward to many more visitors to the Blog Hop, this event is such fun.
Remember to pamper yourself today, you deserve it.

The Jokes on Me

The Blog Hop seems to be a roaring success so far, and to keep you up to date while I continue to regale you with my adventures here in the Bay, you can click here to get the skinny on the BLOG HOP PARTY which continues all this week until December 17th, and most BLOG participants will be randomly having winners selected.  

I will be announcing the winner of my Blogs Giveaway  through Mr Random on Monday, December 19th.  Why, because  I  have committed to working and finishing the Angel Tree Project (wrapping all of the parcels) which  Santa will be leaving for children at their homes . 
Last year at the wrapping party we managed to wrap up all gifts and load them into 45 individual children's Xmas bags, but this year we have 108 (final count) Angels to wrap for and I just know these will not all get wrapped on the one night...LOL   
I  will also be wrapping all of my pressies for my seniors who are shut-ins!  I just love the gifts I made and bought for them, these I will show you later in another post. 
In the meantime I will bring you up to date on my activities over the past few days since the Hop began.   
Looking out my window the other morning you can see that Ole Man Winter has finally got a laugh or two on me!  Just two days ago I was telling you all about what the weatherman is predicting about this being a Green Christmas, and then I spied my neighbor mowing his lawn, and now what do I see and feel?

Thats it, SNOW - the "S" word!  And with it a huge drop in our temperature this morning, -1 Celsius or 30 Fahrenheit!  I simply am not a cold weather person.

This morning has been busy around here,  neighbors dropping in, sewing machine humming, telephone ringing, and in between these activities I have been partying!  Yes, Blog Hopping and reading all of the wonderful comments you are leaving me as well, what FUN!
I hope you like the Giveaway?  Thought it might generate some interest in those wonderful patterns and help use up but a tiny fraction of my humongous stash!!  

This party is off to such a great start, and if you think about it, Michele from the Quilting Gallery worked long and hard to arrange this for all of us.  THANK YOU MICHELE and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to The Quilting Gallery!!

Have you been enjoying this wonderful Hop?  The inventiveness of the participating Bloggers is fantastic, this is such a fantastic way to meet and make new Blogging friends.

I won't carry on too long this very cold Saturday afternoon because there are 5 or 6 Senior Residents of the Seeley's Bay Retirement Residence who are going to keep me company this evening when we drive to the Village of Delta to view the Christmas Lights displays which that Village puts on every year at this time.   I believe there will be three or four vans from the Residence going to enjoy this seasonal light show.  The Old Stone Mill is a wonderful old Mill and remains today an important and vital historic building of this tiny community and in this Region.

Time for me to get ready, supper for me tonight at the Residence and then to warm up my van so that my companions will be warm and comfy while we wend our way towards Delta and the magnificent light show that awaits us all.  You can see the pictures I managed to take here!

THANK you one and all who have come to visit with me and for participating in this happy Blog Hop I just know you are all having a great time.  I am hoping you will tell me all about your Blog Hop adventures or what it is you like best about this experience and that you will be a frequent visitor to The Quilting Gallery, Michele always has great quilting guest bloggers as well as wonderful quilt contests, check it out, you will not be disappointed, Trust Me!  The Gallery is my Information Station!

Take care and be kind to yourselves today, you deserve it. 

Now where are my winter boots, hat, scarf and mittens????

Blog Hop Party Fun Begins

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY QUILTING GALLERY

BLOG HOP PARTY LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

As I have been alluding to in my recent postings I am hosting a GIVEAWAY and  participating along with many, many other bloggers in this 4th Anniversary  Blog Hop fun which is taking place all week, beginning today until December 17th. 
Along with other registered Bloggers through the Quilting Gallery we will all be hosting giveaways, making for a very exciting week. 
ARE YOU READY FOR FUN?
To enter 

Leave a comment at the Quilting Gallery Blog and let Michele know how you are enjoying this wonderful week of fun and Giveaways;   

(one entry)

Become a follower of my blog ...make sure you leave me a comment about your visit to The Quilting Gallery so I know that you did

(one entry)

Blog about my giveaway...make sure you leave me a comment 

so I know that you did

(two entries)

The giveaway ends on Saturday, December 17th at 11:59 (CST).

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on 

Monday, December 19th. 

THE gift for this Giveaway will be MORE NICKEL QUILTS, by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode filled with wonderful patterns for using 5 Inch Scraps, and one package of 100 of 5 inch scraps from my stash.

LET THE FUN BEGIN, BE SURE TO VISIT ALL OF THE PARTICIPATING BLOGGERS WHO ARE PARTYING IT UP THIS WEEK, your sure to have lots and lots of fun and the chances of winning a nice prize or even two!  

Mowing in December

It's December 8th, right?  Well guess what I saw happening this afternoon?  

YES, you guessed right, your seeing pictures I took of my neighbor mowing the lawn.  I mean, we live in central Canada, and usually on December 8th we have mounds of snow covering every inch of our properties!  Way to go Dave, now, I wonder if he might relent and give my lawn a manicure?  Maybe not!  
The sun shone all day today and while the wind was rather chilly, it was great to be out of doors for a little while.  
I have spent another busy day around here, finally rounded up all of the outdoor Christmas lights and not enough of the same type are all working, that means a trip into town tomorrow to pick up some Christmas lights and then get out on that veranda and begin the out of doors decorating all over again.  
I have a wonderful prize for the Giveaway in conjunction with the Blog Hop Party which is taking place all over the net with many, many quilting and crafting bloggers which originates out of the Quilting Gallery.  I honestly believe you will like this gift I have for one lucky winner!
SO please don't forget to tune in Saturday, December 10th for my announcement and don't forget to check in on the morning of December 10th at the Quilting Gallery where you will find a long list of Bloggers who will be participating in this 4th Anniversary of the Blog Hop Party with lots and lots of prizes to be won.
I take time to visit and follow other bloggers I met through the Gallery and it is time saving as well as very nice and convenient to have someone list them all on one web site for someone like me to access at any time.  Should you choose to go to the Quilting Gallery to look around you will find so much there to keep you busy for weeks on end and still longer should you decide to visit all of the bloggers registered there.  AMAZING and FUN!
I begin my Christmas baking this coming Monday, anyone have dead easy recipes for great freezable cookies?  I have several but I could always use a few new recipes, so if you have one and your willing to share, I would love receiving it.
I thank you for sharing a part of your day with me.  REMEMBER to make some time for yourself to sit and relax during this very busy month, a nice hot cup of your favorite brew, some easy listening music and a few cookies to be washed down should do the trick, after all we deserve some R & R.
Don't forget the invitation to enter into all of the bloggers giveaways which will be announced through the Quilting Gallery on Saturday morning.

A Very Fulfilling Day

Today has been a wonderful yet exhausting one.  
Didn't get to do my bed inspection until 4 a.m. because my brother and my mother left to drive to Montreal where they will catch their ride by air to Tampa and once there board a Norwegian cruise ship for a two week vacation.  So sleep came really late yet I was up and at it at 7:45 and put in a very full day.
I emptied all of the furniture I needed to remove to lay down my new (new to me, used carpet) now all of my very old floor boards will be totally protected from my rolling chair...
Then did two loads of laundry, went to the bank, the medical center, the post office picked up more Angel gifts and to help out an elderly friend with her television. That all done came home and got all of the Angel Gifts into gift bags and began to get them checked off the master list.  We have 37 bags ready for the wrapping party scheduled for December 17th, only 66 more Angel gifts to be turned in.  We have lots of gifts already waiting to be used just in case all of the angels don't come back, but if it is anything like last year we will make our target of 103 children to be gifted.

It is mind boggling to see just how many children there are in our small part of this Township that would not have Santa gifts under any tree if it were not for this Angel project.  I am  overwhelmed by the generosity of our neighbors have picked up Angels and have supported this project 100%.
On another note, would you believe it that our weather bureau is telling us we more than likely will not be having a White Christmas, thats right, not much snow expected before January. YIPPEE.  I realize there are many people who love snow and the wonderful outdoor activities that winter brings but I am not one of those people, I am a beach bum at heart.  
I have joined with the Quilt Gallery in its 4th Annual Anniversary of The Blog Hop Party!  Stay tuned, the list of participating bloggers who are offering Giveaways will be long and this event is going to be huge and a great deal of fun.  You could be a BIG winner this year!
Thank you for sharing your time with me today, I sincerely hope you had as great a day as I have.

The Season Has Begun

It's really begun, the season that is!  Christmas at Springfield House was the name given for this years event put on by the Friends of The Leeds & Thousand Islands Libraries.  As in years past, this season is no different, a  whirl of non-stop Christmas activities planned. The Santa parades are the kick offs, then, the various organizations make ready to show off their wares, those are the items we have to sell or give by way of gaining donations for our various worthwhile causes.  
To this end, the Friends of the Library threw its 2011 Christmas event at  Springfield House.   
Springfield House is located between Lansdowne and Mallorytown and is  the Township of Leeds and Thousand Islands, Ontario, and is historically important to the residents of the area settled z\along the St. Lawrence Seaway.  This tiny House houses the Library serving the residents of Mallorytown and is important to this area and surprisingly, very up to date for a very small library in a rural area. 
For its age this house has been lovingly cared for and its upstairs rooms remain nicely decorated in a homey atmosphere and where people can congregate during events.
We had planned "Make and Take" crafts, meaning there were some small craft projects which visitors could sit and make and then take home with them. There were three flavors of home made soups, scones with fresh butter, cookies, cakes and mincemeat tartlets.
I decided some pictures were worth taking to share it all with you.

Sweet Grass swaying in the wind

Springfield House

Outcropping fields where currently cows are grazing

Zoey was wearing her Xmas coat and visiting

One of our local artizans who makes beautiful jewellery from upcycled zippers and other wonderful materials, such as old sweathers and coats, buttons and wool sweaters and generally crafts around the clock

Mural on the attic walls of Springfield House depicting the Women Weavers of the area in the 1800's

Another wall mural in the attic

The story of the Weavers continues along the remaining attic walls

The mural ends with a woman at her loom while her baby sleeps in its cradle in front.
The spinning wheel you see pictured here was donated to the Historical Society and remains a permanent display in the attic of Springfield House today

Glen making a Christmas Ornament one of the Make and Take craft events on Saturday

Donation items for the Library, people took whatever they might want and left a donation

Crafters of the Make and Take event on Saturday

Dated in the Quilters own hand using cotton embroidery thread is the date 1892
This quilt is beautiful and for its age in relatively good shape and in the attic there are several other "old" historical quilts which are cycled as display around the seasons in Springfield House

The quilt pictured above was made using velvet and silks of the day, absolutely too beautiful.
I helped myself to the home made butternut squash soup, mmmmmmmmm was it good!   I was greedy and had two bowlfuls.. and more than some of tastiest fruit drop cookies.  The lady who made them has kindly shared the recipe with me and at the end of this post you will find that recipe.  Believe me, they are scrumscious....  

The sweet table was becoming woefully bare by the time I got to snap a photo

At this time of writing I haven't a clue as to how much money we raised, probably not enough to cover any one persons' time that whole day and there were many of us there, the importance of the day was exposure and fun which was had by all who came to visit. 
SUNDAY was spent shopping with a member of the Seeley's Bay Lions, we left very early in the morning and managed to get all of the shopping we could get done for the Angel Tree Project.  At this latest count we have 101 children of all ages to provide for.  The parcels are quickly filling up my spare room. 

FRUIT DROP COOKIE RECIPE

Thank you for sharing some of your time with me today, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the visit and the recipe.