Horse Drawn Sleigh Ride

It was a wonderful day for Winter fun. We spent the afternoon enjoying skating on an outdoor pond, tobogganing and best of all . . . . a horse drawn sleigh ride. Aren't these guys gorgeous!

Complete with jingle bells.

I think the adults liked the horses as much as the kids.

Each ride was about 45 minutes long around the property of a local golf course. A crisp blue sky and lots of sun today ~ I even got a bit of a sun burn.

I took more horse photos than people pics, LOL

They were quite friendly and let us melt the tiny icicles off their muzzles with our hands.

We ended the day with dinner in front of the fireplace and a glass of wine.

Winter Fun Day

We are going to an outdoor fun day tomorrow at a friend's house. There will be skating, sledding, horse drawn sleigh rides and even dinner. A good'ol Canadian outdoor fun day. If you have snow . . . you might as well enjoy it !

A Blog Award and Blog Tag

I have been awarded a Spanish Blog Award : ) by Barbara at Southern Lady's Vintage. Thank you for selecting me! The award is forwarded to charming bloggers who invest in the PROXIMITY of space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. The authors ask that you pass this award on to other blogging friends and include their link in the post. Notify them to let them know that they have been given the award. So please spread the love!

Please stop in and visit with these lovely ladies!

Nancy at Tis Design Works Originals

Jenn at Mysteries of the Juniper

Chrissie at Just me and my Shadow


I have also been tagged by Carolyn of Draffin Bears . . . and asked to post 6 random things about myself. So here goes:

1 ~ I think there is a squirrel living in our attic and I don't want to go up there!

2 ~ I auditioned for the National Ballet of Canada when I was 15 years old.

3 ~ I really don't like Fashion (being told what to wear). Maybe that is why I like vintage clothing so much.

4 ~ I have too many chairs and tables, but I still keep buying them at auctions, LOL.

5 ~ I want to swim with Dolphins and just might get the chance on our next trip.

6 ~ I want to be on Survivor, but they won't allow Canadian participants : ( Maybe I will be the first !

I will tag these lovely ladies . . . . . and ask them to share some secrets about themselves:

Mya at Creative Musings with Mya

Kim at Kim's Treasures

Monica at The White Bench

Since I played two games in this post, I reduced my tags to three each. I hope that is OK. Have fun reading and have a great weekend! Karen

Vintage Toys ~ 1920s

Oh I have lots of goodies to "show and tell" today. A great group of vintage 1920's toys to move along. I hope to have them all listed this weekend. This tin lithograph tea set is so sweet. A tray with four matching cups and saucers. The teddy bear theme should do well with the Teddy Collectors.

I will likely sell this luncheon lace set as well. The set includes a large centerpiece doily or topper with matching place-mats and coasters.

This 1920's American Clown is adorable. He is musical and still plays sweet music when you gently squeeze his tummy. His colourful red and green mohair is still bright and vibrant. He looks a bit sad here though . . . so I will try and take some happier photos of him!

This Schuco Bird is sweet too ~ they are called "peck peck" birds . . . because they peck the ground when they are wound up (his wind-up key is on the far side).

The mohair Donkey is from the same Estate. I couldn't find him in my Toy Books but I think it is safe to say he is also from the 1920's (same as his furry friends). He is straw filled with glass eyes. Likely from Europe.

This little guy is quite rare . . . a 1928 Spotty Dog. He was only made by Steiff for one year. He is pretty cute! He retains his original bow, bell and Steiff Button. His soft white mohair is clean and full.

This boxed puzzle is also from Germany ~ 1920s. It has six different fairytale pictures on the wooden blocks.

Well . . . I had better get working on my descriptions and scheduled postings.

Have a great weekend !!!

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Update: All items posted on Sunday Evening ~ January17th ~ on Ebay

(FYI ~ my ebay link is at the top of my blog roll) Thanks!

Test Results

Well . . . not good news. Cider's results are in the family of "Soft Tissue Sarcoma" and specifically she has "Hemangiopericytoma". Big words for localized cancer in the soft tissue.

The "glass half full" news is these tumors are usually slow growing and localized (don't pop up elsewhere in the body). The impact is only cosmetic at this point. She is in no pain and it currently does not bother her at all. The concern is when it becomes large and uncomfortable.

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I have read numerous articles today and the experts all seem to have the same conclusion at least. Surgery is rarely able to remove the entire mass when it is located on a limb. The tumors also tend to grow back faster and more invasive than the original, after surgery. The most successful way to remove the entire mass is with surgery and 15 - 18 radiation treatments (yikes), which I am not about to put my dog through.

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Still deciding what to do . . . but at this point we will monitor its size and hope for slow growth and many more happy years.

Fun with Paint Splatters

We finished my daughter's decorating project. Yes, I think it was back in September when we started (oops) it. We had four canvases painted four different colours (purple, blue, green and pink). We decided that was two much for the room, that already had light purple walls.

While we were humming and hawing about what colours to use . . . our cat knocked one of the frames over and her little paw prints stretched the canvas. We were left with three. We decided to add silver to the mix and keep the purple and blue.



The paw print marks gave us an idea though! We splattered a connecting design ~ rather like a Milky Way through each of the remaining canvases. It was fun and very messy : )

We covered the areas we didn't want splattered with paper. It worked quite well. We even got them hung up on the weekend.

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We hope to hear Cider's results tomorrow ~ thanks for all your comments : )

A Trip to the Vet

We decided we should get Cider's lump on her front left leg tested. It is one of those common "fatty tissue" lumps called a Lipoma. Many older dogs have them. Vets advise to watch the area and have it tested if it changes in size. Rather safe than sorry I think.

It was the usual routine at the vet . . . fur flying! A 3 person job to hold her, a muzzle, lots of squirming, barking, growling and an all round temper tantrum. We will know the results of the biopsy next Tuesday. Her tail was wagging as soon as it was over and she gladly accepted a treat from the Vet before we left.

I like the cute heart bandage!

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Cider even ran back to the car with me, after we were home, to get her blanket. I was quite surprised she was still interested in going near the car after all the fuss at the Vet just 15 minutes beforehand. If only people could forgive and forget as well as dogs :)

An impluse purchase

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I bought this little gal in December on eBay for only $13.00. I guess she was my "Merry Christmas to me" present. It was one of those late night browsing sessions that ended up in a purchase. She arrived in time for the holidays but I didn't have much time to clean her up.

Now that it is January she has received some attention. After a quick surface bath and a new blue dress I think she looks pretty good. A bit like Alice in Wonderland perhaps. I suppose she needs a white pinafore though.

She and the rabbit can find some spring weather for us, LOL



Pedometer update: Wooo Hooo! I knew I walked a lot when I was helping out at the Auction House. This was Monday's step count. We cover the 10K a day easily :)

Happy New Year ! 2009

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for a Fun, Happy and Healthy 2009!

My darling daughter is feeding the wild Chickadees at a local nature trail.
They really liked her fuzzy new Christmas hat, LOL.

They enjoyed the wild bird seed too. They must be hungry little things. I would think they need a lot of food to keep those tiny little hearts beating all winter long.

So . . . my New Years resolution: I bought one of those step counters ~ pedometers ~ you clip to your hip to count your steps each day. It says 10,000 steps a day is ideal for a healthy heart and 12,000 steps a day for weight loss. I will monitor my steps in January to see how I do. I will aim for 11K a day, Monday to Friday. Walking my energetic dog must be worth a few thousand steps. It is the cold weather that slows me down, LOL. Any resolutions gals? Love to hear them.