Happy New Year ~ with a Rare Blue Moon!

Happy New Year and all the Best for 2010 !
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Did you know that tonight is a Blue Moon? (as in . . . once in a Blue Moon). When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, remember to do one thing: Look up!

The moon will be brighter and higher than usual.

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Photo credit by: Tamas Ladanyi.

It will be the second full moon of the month -- a phenomenon known as a "Blue Moon.'' A full moon on New Year's Eve last occurred on Dec. 31, 1990 and it won't happen again until 2028.

It looked very impressive last night too.

Wishing my blogging friends Health and Happiness and all the best for 2010!

Winter Glitter ~ Canadian Style

~ My Winter Wonderland ~

It is suppose to start to melt today so I thought I would take some photos while it lasted.

I think Rudolph is looking forward to the melt :D

Freezing Rain followed by a dusting of snow gets this look ~ just in case you want a new look for 2010!

Canadian Winter means Flexible Travel Plans

The best laid plans . . . . are usually altered. Today we intended to travel to Bowmanville . . . a little town east of Toronto to visit some extended family and friends. In the middle of the night we could hear the clatter of freezing rain hitting our windows. Have you ever heard it? It is really something actually. Sounds a bit like a frozen car wash : ) and turns your windows into ripples of ice.

The result this morning was all the windows on the south and west side of our home were absolutely covered in ice. It looks pretty but it certainly is not practical for driving. When you see "Severe Freezing Rain and Ice Pellets" warnings , followed by expected "Snow Flurries" it is best to stay home. Snow over ice is not safe to drive on at all. Your tires have nothing to grab.

We have Christmas presents, games, treats and goodies to enjoy . . . so a quiet day at home is a safe and comfy choice.

This is my lovely Wee Scone Teddy Bear from Scotland. He came with dark chocolate spicy ginger cookies and marsh mellow snowballs. Great with a cup of tea : )

The warm glow from the candles makes it all cozy.

It should melt away by tomorrow I hope : )

So comfort food is certainly in order . . . the best homemade apple pie you have ever tried ~ thank you to my neighbour Michelle !

Somewhere out there is a pool hut and a pool.

It will be a few months before we get back to swimming, lol.

Have a safe and cozy holiday and do not travel if you don't need to. There is always the 2010 Winter Olympics, hosted by Canada in February, to organize parties around. We can gather with family and friends to cheer on Team Canada and our favourite athletes!

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Hope your "Boxing Day" is safe and warm

xoxo

Christmas Holly ~ New Kid in Town

Introducing . . . . Holly

We have a new family member . . . her name is Holly. We adopted Holly from the local Humane Society yesterday. Isn't she adorable! She looks like a Birman mix to us. . . . known to be friendly and calm, and as loyal as a dog. We thought friendly and calm would be perfect since we have two senior pets already (a 15 year old cat and our dog Cider will turn ten in July).

Holly is estimated to be 10 months old. Our goal over the holidays is to get Holly on our human schedule. She certainly did sleep most of the time at the humane society. . . . which did work to our advantage, as no one even noticed her. We didn't show up until 1:00 in the afternoon on Saturday and the place was packed with potential adopters by then. I am sure she would have been chosen by someone else if she had peeked out of her cardboard sleeping box.

The only reason we asked to see her was because her chart details said she was fostered with 3 large dogs and a family that had children. Sounds perfect! When she was removed from her hiding spot by the shelter volunteer we were stunned to see such big beautiful blue eyes and chocolate brown markings. I expected an all beige cat . . . as she was completely curled up and hidden, with only a bit of her back showing. We fell for her pretty fast.

They said she had only been at the H.S. for a short time (and was in foster care for a month before that). I guess the shelter was scary for her (thus the hiding) and we were told she had not eaten a thing in 24 hours. I was quite happy to see her finally looking hungry. She ate like a ravenous lion last night, around 11:00pm, which likely also fueled her energy. She loves playing with her toys. She was relocated to her kitty kennel around 3:00am this morning, for some sleep time.

She has done everything right. Used her litter box, eventually ate some food and slept well in her kitty crate (after lots of exploring and checking out the tops of all our tall dressers). This gal can jump! I will certainly be taking the tree down early after Christmas, before she gets to explore the rest of our home. It is recommended that we wait two weeks before she meets Cider or Jersey. She needs to adjust to our home first and recover from her shelter cough symptoms before meeting other animals.

The Humane Society gave us lots of suggestions for introducing new pets. I welcome suggestions from my blogging friends too! Have you introduced new animals to the family?

Old World Santas

Are you a Snowman, a Santa or an Angel decorator? I certainly prefer the Old World Santas. Victorian, Woodland or just a little different. Here are some of my favorite Santas.

I love Santa with the fawn. Santa must certainly be an animal lover too!

This is my tallest Santa.

He is close to 2 feet tall.

He looks great on the fireplace mantel with his own wreath.

This is my chubbiest Santa . . . love his face!

This is my sentimental Santa. I bought him in 2004 at the Christmas Store in Rothenburg, Germany.

This little guy is my smallest Santa. Only a few inches tall. I love his coach light.

This is my mended many times Santa. He always falls over and his nose has been repaired almost every year. His boots have been fractured and re-glued. The worse he gets the more I love him. He makes me laugh!

Oh, almost forgot this guy . . . he is big too. I love his felt outfit and jingle bells.

Looking forward to visiting your blogs and seeing the many lovely decorations from all around the globe. Happy Holidays!

Cider says Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ~ Only 2 more weeks to go until Christmas. I have most of my shopping done and the Christmas cards are ready to be mailed tomorrow. I actually feel like I will be able to avoid the last minute rush this year. . . . but then again . . . relaxing is usually what leads to the last minute rush, lol.

My hubby photo-shopped a Santa Hat on my favourite picture of Cider. It turned out very well I think! She is not very co-operative when it comes to hats, lol. My husband even erased the blue harness and red leash. The original picture is on the side of my blog roll, for comparison.

It's a Snow Day!

It's the first "Snow Day" of the year. The kids are thrilled because the weather is so bad that the school buses are cancelled and they get to stay home. We will likely decorate the Ginger Bread House early and have some fun indoors. The wind is really gusty and the visibility is low . . . so no driving today.



Last week we took some pictures for our Christmas letter. Cider is usually up to silly tricks when all this is going on. She has been like that every year, since she was a puppy. I think she knows the Santa hats equal silly poses and giggles. She always makes the kids laugh . . . so we get natural smiles.

She is jumping around being goofy here . . . . and generated lots of laughs.

I found this picture online yesterday . . . the ten best pictures around the world are published every day. Must be a fun job to do the choosing! This one was taken by Mathieu Beanger. An amazing picture of a Polar Bear shaking off water after a swim.

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How is the weather in your part of the world today?