So That Was Christmas!

 

Christmas 2023

First and perhaps last attempt at making a Yule Log.

It was yummy though.

The vintage Nativity Set always gives me joy ...

Mom's China Cabinet truly makes it feel like Christmas.

Oh how she loved that cabinet and I'm so privileged to be the "keeper" for now.

My skinny tree on the antique wagon fits perfectly beside it.

Christmas morning at the farm ... so much joy!

Brunch was delicious too.

Tasting the delicious cookies that came from Germany.

Truly blessed ... Happy New Year Dear Friends!!!

Till next time ... till next year ... stay well!

Oh November!

 It's been a bit "wonky" around here of late...

Crazy Christmas Trees Pattern by Karla Alexander

No matter how Wonky, it felt good to be back in my sewing room

to do some piecing and creating.

This Wonky Tree pattern has been on my wish list for some time.

A fun mystery bus tour to 3 quilt shops inspired me to gather some fabric for this project.

This "quilt in a day" did take me a tad longer than a day tho!

Even the free motion quilting (snow flake design) turned out a bit wonky.

But hey, I love it!

It was a good distraction from a very dreary November.

I can't lie - my emotions have been over the top!

I don't think I'll ever be okay in any November - sigh!

There was a bright spot however.

My one and only child turned - 40 - what!!??

I finished her quilt just in time.

She knew it was coming but hadn't seen it until the day.

Made from her Dad's shirts! Pattern aptly called "Farmer's Daughter"

Her hubby threw an amazing 40th birthday party.

This was a labour of love to say the least.

He has been working on uncluttering, cleaning and repairing the old barn on the farm.

It is an amazing transformation from old hay, old equipment, old everything to

a clean and useable space.

It has never looked so good.

It has been decorated with a beautiful serving area,

sparkling lights, furniture and even some carpets.

The perfect venue for a party ...

I will not be surprised to see many future gatherings and memories made

in this old bank barn.

It was chilly but hearts were warm

What a fun bunch - her forever friends!!!!

So thankful for this group - and so proud of them all.

Happy 40th to my Becky!

So glad you were so properly celebrated.

Today, November 27th, there's a sciff of snow and it's wintery.

Christmas is at the door!

Till next time ... enjoy the excitement and crush of the upcoming season. Stay calm and carry on!

                         Remembering that Jesus is the reason for the season. 

October World

"I'm so glad I live in a world where 

there are Octobers" by Anne with an E!

Trying to focus on the good things to be thankful for this October,

in spite of what is happening in our October world!!

Like fun dips in the spa with these sweet humans ...

Airing the freshly washed quilt to make room for cozy duvets and comforters ...

A visit to a local buggy making shop on a very interesting

"Up the Nith River" Amish history bus tour led by the amazing

Fred Lichti...

Helping at our church's annual church beef bbq supper ...

2nd year as "drive thru take out". Worked so well!

Inspired by my cousin Fran to make Mom's old fashioned

concord grape pie - seasonal for sure

and so delicious!

Here's the recipe:

3 Cups Concord Grapes – washed, stemmed and drained

1 Cup Sugar

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 Tbsp. butter - melted

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Pastry for 2 pie crusts (one for the lid - or just use crumbs for topping)

Remove skins and simmer pulp for 5 minutes.  Do not add any water to pulp.  While hot, press pulp through a sieve to remove the seeds.  Combine strained pulp with the skins.  Combine sugar and flour and add to grapes.  Blend in the lemon juice and melted butter.  Pour into pastry lined pie plate.  Cover with top crust or crumbs.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Makes 1 - 9” pie.

To make crumbs, rub together 3/4 Cup Flour, ½ Cup Sugar and ¼ cup melted Butter.

Went on a quick little bike ride on the GtoG trail

with my friend Jan to see a newly installed bench ...

 And off we went to a great ABBA revisited concert with the Leis gals ...

Some sour dough baking whilst figuring out how to change a leaky

kitchen sink sprayer hose! Thanks Google for your help.

An awesome day spent with my little love while his sis played hockey

in her first season opener tournament...

Trains, Mexican Train games, stories, McDonalds lunch, and spooky skeletons.

Neighbourhood "under the sea skeletons" - eek!

Oh, and one more thing.

My infamous butter lamb got a wee mention in Marlene Epp's

recently launched book - "Eating Like a Mennonite"!

"From zwieback to tamales and from sauerkraut to spring rolls ..."

Congratulations Marlene!

And that, dear readers, was the rest of my October!

Till next time .... November be gentle!

Oktoberfest - Wunderbar!

 

A special weekend of unexpected joy and friendship!

One short week ago

a road weary "Musikverein Elchingen" very talented music group, from the Neresheim,

Baden Wurttemberg region of Germany, came to our small town of Milverton, Ontario.

They had just finished a tour to our Nation's Capital - Ottawa,

Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto.

They unloaded their luggage and musical instruments

and performed a beautiful mini concert prior to being properly welcomed

and fed BBQ hamburgers, salads, butter tarts and beer!

All the arrangements were done by an uber efficient 

Perth East Twinning Committee.

Congratulations to you all!

I had signed up for billeting and was delighted

to taxi 4 beautiful young women to my home in Stratford.

They were tired and cold and welcomed the hot tub,

lingering as long as possible.

Katharina, Isabell, Roswitha and Silke

It was evident right from the beginning that this was going

to be a very fun filled weekend

in spite of the weather and my very poor German vocabulary...

Thankfully they all spoke English very well.

On Saturday the group was given a quick tour of our area and

later that evening they performed for a "sold out" Oktoberfest

crowd at the Perth East Recreation Centre.

Many people remarked how wonderful it was to have such

a large crowd gather once again since all the Covid restrictions in past years.

Celebrating, dancing, eating the most delicious German Food,

and enjoying this professional musical group was truly awesome.

They played on and on for many hours ... amazing!

On Thanksgiving Sunday the group was able to have some "down time"

to relax with their host families.

This was another opportunity to get to know each other,

eat together, nap and refresh.

Oktoberfest is not new to our region with the nearby famous

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest and it's many Fest Halls and

celebrations for well over 50 years!

"Our" special guests marched in the large parade!

They rose in the wee hours of the dark and cold Monday morning,

we said a tearful "Auf Wiedersehen" to our new friends

and hoped to see them all again someday!

Here is a short clip gleaned from the early morning parade TV broadcast.

They should be so proud - a totally professional and delightful group!

Following the parade, their bus took them to see

Niagara Falls before heading back to Toronto for

a flight back to Germany the next day!

Memories forever ...

In the meantime, 

a family dinner was enjoyed at the farm on Thanksgiving Monday afternoon

with left-over pie, and roasted chicken with all the fixings.

Thanks Becky and Patrick!

This was one of the most memorable Thanksgiving weekends I've ever had!

My heart is warm and full - not to mention my tummy.

Unforgettable new friends!

Thankful for you all - God Bless You and Keep You!

You are loved!

Till next time ... remembering a very special Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend shared

                                                   with new found friends from Germany!

Prost!

"Three Pines"

Bookstore Painting

And - we're off ...

Yvonne and I - ready to board the bus

 

... on a four day adventure to Quebec's Eastern Townships

and the fictitious Quebec Village of Three Pines

to discover the inspiration and locations for Canada's acclaimed murder mystery author,

Louise Penny!

Who knew it would be so much fun and also,

who knew I would actually do some reading this summer and discover

that I enjoyed her books so much!?

(5 done and 13 or 14 to go!)

'Terrific. Like a virtuoso, Penny plays a complex variation on the theme of

the clue hidden in plain sight'

 as quoted on the back of her first book,

Still Life

We stayed at the beautiful Domaine Chateau-Bromont right in the heart of

ski country, Bromont, Quebec.

If you are a fan of this author (18 books and counting, Amazon Prime Series, etc.) you will

recognize some of the references to the following pictures.

Gilbert-entre-les-Loups Monastery

Inspiration for The Beautiful Mystery

The resident Monks make award winning Cheeses and Apple Products.

What a privilege to visit this beautiful Abbey!

Witnessing their Gregorian Chant was a highlight of this visit.

Onward, up the road to the pretty little lakeside village of Georgeville

with inspiration for "Mr. Beliveau's General Store"

the haunted old "Hadley House" - Fatal Grace, The Cruellest Month, etc.

and "St-Thomas Chapel"

"Mr. Beliveau's General Store" inspiration

Creepy "Hadley House" - no snakes in the basement tho!

"Hadley House" is pretty in pink and is an actual rental house ... not so scary.

"St. Thomas Chapel" where "Chief Inspector Gamache and his team"

held town meetings and such.

So many murders to solve in "Three Pines" - eek!

Beautiful woodwork inside the chapel

"Manoir Bellechasse" featured in The Murder Stone

This is actually Manoir Hovey where Bill and Hillary Clinton come

for vacations and where "Chief Inspector Gamache and his wife" spend their anniversaries.

Of course, a murder happened here during one of "Gamache and Reine-Marie's" visits!

A quaint and lovely hotel featuring a warm library that we all envisioned as told by the writer!

There were many discussions on how we had visualized the stories to

the actual sites and to the film versions.

We could have stayed there for a nice long spell!

So cozy and lovely.

The recognizable Canada Geese on the mantel made me feel at home too.

Day three of the tour took us to Knowlton, Quebec 

where Louise Penny actually lives with her new pup Muggins.

We hoped we might see her out and about the town ... but to no avail.

At the museum in Knowlton we saw the "Fair Day" painting as described in

Still Life.

Both days on our tour we had a wonderful local guide who actually knows 

the author and gave us a keen sense of how she was inspired to write.

Thank you Linda!

 Also here at the museum there was a unique fire hall.

A place where the "Gamache team" would set up an incident room?

This museum also contains a very sobering display about the British Home Children

that arrived in the Knowlton area and many other areas of Canada during war time.

A real life story!!!

The bookstore, Brome Lake Books, is where her books are launched and proudly sold.

Every book refers to a charming bookstore and this one is owned by the author's friends

Lucy and Dany.

They welcomed us and we shopped to our heart's content.

We walked down the hill, over the "Riviere Bella Bella" to "Myrna's Bookstore"

Our travel mates Arlene and Ardith

Next stop - "The Bistro" for a wonderful dinner.

So many new friends were made.

No story would be complete without mentioning "Ruth's Duck, Rosa"

Bleep, Bleep!

We truly had such a blast.

There was much needed laughter for our souls,

Excellent food for our nourishment,

Companionship for our loneliness,

Joy for our sorrow.

Our husbands were besties, we travelled together,

we stood up for each other's weddings 50 years ago,

and now we hold each other up!

My beautiful friend Yvonne lost her beloved Ralph one year after my beloved Jim!

Notes:

Some photo credits go to Yvonne and some others

You can click on the highlighted links for more information

This trip was organized by Fields Trips 

Our fearless tour guide Arlene and her bus driver hubby Kevin were awesome!

Till next time ... I'll be reminiscing and doing some more reading? Happy Fall 2023 to y'all.