Honor the Ending



The journey of a year is drawing to a close. Cherish the moments, all of them, even the ups and downs. Cherish the places you've visited, the people you've seen. Say good-bye to those whose journeys have called them someplace else.  Know you can always call them back by thinking loving thoughts.  Know all those you love will be there for you when you need them most.  Honor the lessons you've learned, and the people who helped you learn them.  Honor the journey your soul mapped out for you. 

 Trust all the places you've been. 

Look back for a moment.  Reflect in peace.  Then let this year draw to a close. 

Take time to honor this ending---though it's never really the end.

Tomorrow a new adventure will begin.

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and support during this difficult holiday season

and a peaceful, safe and healthy New Year.

My Mother-In-Law: June 17, 1923 to December 24, 2010

This is surreal for our family, 10 days after my Dad passes away my

mother-in-law does the same thing.
She went into the hospital on December 22 with shortness of breathe and passed away 2 days later.

Wow, is the only word I can come up with.

I am a bit tardy posting this news, I did not want you to be concerned over

your holiday season.

I took pictures of the flowers, of course, and made this collage.

I read this poem at my Dads' service and was asked by hubby to read it at his Mothers'

For me it says everything I feel and believe.

When I am gone, release me, let me go.

I have so many things to see and do.

You must not tie yourself to me with tears.

Be happy that we had so many years

I gave you my love, you can only guess

How much you gave to me in happiness.

I thank you for the love you each have shown

But now it's time I have to travel on alone

So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must

Then let your grief be comforted by trust

It's only for a little while that we must part

So bless the memories within your heart

I won't be far away, for life goes on.

So, if you need me, call and I will come

Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near

And if you listen with your heart, you'll hear

All of my love around you soft and clear

And then, when you must come this way alone.

I'll greet you with a smile and 'welcome home.'

~ Author Unknown~

Thank you for visiting.

Happy New Year!



Flowers in Bloom

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

It was very quite here, which was a nice change.

An amaryllis bulb was on my Christmas list this year and

I received three, the one from my middle son arrived early as it was growing in the box.

Poor thing was shaped like an S and white in color.

We planted it up and put it in the window and it bloomed in time for Christmas.

 

It is a double called Pasadena, a beautiful red and white.

 There is another bud coming between the two flowers.

I am hoping this bud will open before the first blooms die off.
But if not, there is another shoot coming from the base.

It is determined to bloom, even with its' poor start.

The second amaryllis was my Dads', it was given to him in the hospital

and it has put up another flower bud. It is the same color as Pasadena but is a single bloom.

The third is still in the box, no activity from that bulb.

I would like to plant it the middle of January.

It has a pink bloom and would look great in February.

I received some other wonderful gardening gifts and will keep them for another post.

Did you receive any great gardening gifts?

This Christmas

May you find a renewed FAITH

in the message of the season...

a renewed HOPE

in the promise

of the season...

a renewed JOY

in the miracle of the season!

I used Kim Klassen textures Magic 2 and Silent Night.

Perfect for the season.

Take care and have a wonderful Christmas.

Mosaic Monday - Peace and Joy

We had a Memorial Service for my Dad on Saturday.

With Christmas only a week away,
 my brothers and I decided to use that theme for the flowers.
Winter greenery with pinecones accented with red and white flowers.

We have had so much snow,

 turning the garden into a magical place,

 with snow sparkling in the sun

 or christmas lights twinkling under the snow in the darkness.

I am Linking with Little Red House for Mosaic Monday,

 please drop in and visit those on the list.

Wishing you Peace and Joy

this Holiday Season!



My Dad: August 1930 - December 2010

My Dad passed away last night peacefully in his sleep.

 He had not been well and had been in the hospital.

 He was home only a couple of weeks,

 but was not recovering as well as we had hoped.

He is at peace and will be missed.

Take care!

First Snow

Winter has arrived to my small town in Southern Ontario.

It started snowing on Sunday evening and continued all night.

This was taken around 9 p.m. on Sunday evening. The snow was almost raining.

I always love the first snow, it gives a photographer some challenging conditions in which to try your hand at some creative shots. I was hoping for a light dusting to give a winter wonderland look.

But as you can see the small mounds in the forground of the picture are sedum and the seedheads are buried.

By morning the stairs leading from the back deck had a lot of snow and

my favorite chairs were hugh mounds.

I have been shovelling snow everyday since, as it has not let up until day.
But today was perfect, blue sunshine and sparkling snow covered trees, a magical time.

A Christmas Snow!!



Mosaic Monday - Tree Ornaments

Once upon a time there were three lively boys in the house and our Christmas tree was decorated with non-breakable ornaments. When the tree fell to the ground, there would be little damage done to the ornaments.  They are all grown now and I have been decorating the tree with wonderful heirloon decorations from hubbies' grandmother.  But this year there will be a 3 year old visiting
and once again I unpacked the non-breakable ornaments.

 It was a wonderful trip down memory lane.

 I made many of the ornaments using fabric and felt and each year the boys would get a little ornament in their stocking from Santa. After the tree is taken down this year, I will collect their ornaments and gift them to the rightful owner, for their own Christmas tree. If grands are on the horizon, I will start a new collection of non-breakable tree ornaments.

Please drop by Little Red House, visit Mary and the other beautiful mosaics.

~ I wish you Peace and Joy this Holiday Season ~

Fridays' News

I have been busy as a bee finishing the wedding quilt.

and I did accomplish that task, only thing left to do is stitch the binding down.

Then into a beautiful gift bag and it is ready for delivery on the big day.

My next project is a quilt for my future daughter-in-laws' son.

He is only three, loves hockey, so I made the quilt with this in mind.
It was fun to make using the bright primary colors.

They will not be visiting until after Christmas,

 so I have a few weeks to get it finished.

Have a great weekend.

Take care and thanks for stopping in for a visit!