It's The Little Things...

Call me old fashioned, but I still like having a calendar hanging up in my kitchen.
Of course this can't be just any old calendar...it must meld into the decor, and suit my style, just so...
Of course this hanging of the calendar than becomes more than just hanging up a calendar..
It's a pursuit and an event....

and then it stays, quietly recording life's dates and times...for one whole year... unless of course I decide to change it half way through...but that's another story:)

Here unofficially is my calendar for 2016.

                                      

The 'runner up' and the has been...

Do you use a wall calendar?

A Glance Back To See Ahead

As each year closes, inevitably I seem to find myself in contemplation of sorts.
Life is busy, but at the close of a year I find myself craving the luxury of contemplation and commiseration.
                                                                                 

A year has a way of changing things, and in the process we are changed. Our carefully executed lives are no match to God's plans and purpose.
One can only glance into life's rear view mirror to know that very often we hear ourselves ask, "how did I get here?" 
                                                 

The good and not so good at the time experiences in a fleeting year make me feel small. I would almost feel insignificant were at not for God's undulating grace that flows in and through every place I have been in the past year.
This grace is the current that propels me forward in place of looking back too long and dwelling on situations that must pass like water under the proverbial bridge. 
I read recently that the reason the windshield is much bigger than the rear view mirror is because we are going forward not back. Life is always a forward motion. But there is a mirror to glance back into. I think it may be there to let us know where we have come from. To remind us and help us remember experiences and lessons learned at times along the hard road.
                                             

 The other day as I pulled into the driveway I caught the line of a song playing low on the radio. The unshakable lyrics from Meghan Trainor's catchy song played through my head for the rest of the day...

                    I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you
                            I'm gonna hold you like we're saying good bye
                            Where ever we're standing I won't take you for granted,
                             Cos we'll never know when we'll run out of time.
                             So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you..
                             I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you.



Life holds no guarantees, and in almost an instant can at times change what once we were. I observe people whom I know and love lose their spouses, their careers or their health. Children keep wanting to grow up and try on independence and I keep needing to adjust with every facet of change. 
I am glad my heart doesn't know what 2016 holds. Like this past year it will surge and ripple until it too passes away. So let's love intensely like we are saying good bye, because we never know when we'll run out of time.

                                            

My youngest daughter and I back in May on a spring boat ride.

                               Blessings to you in the coming year!                                    

A Few Favourite Christmas Things

Whether it is the touches placed about a home, the Merry Christmas from a stranger, or the look in the eyes of the people you hold most dear...

Christmas has a way of making even the simplest of things special and treasured.
                               

Sharing a few Christmasy glimpses around my home with you...
                                    please come in..                               

The reason for the season...
                                                  

These happy snowman are the closest thing to snow we'll be having this year..Very mild temperatures are setting new records..

Don't you love cards?

 Especially the ones that arrive in the mail a few weeks early..so special.

We have the tree beside our steps in our rec room..
                                            

It's not fancy, but is filled with sentimental treasures..

A simple display on an end table...

My kitchen window. I added a string of lights after I took this photo:)

A display behind my couch. The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans is a favourite book of mine..

                                                               

Baking...Every year I bake cinnamon buns for Christmas morning...

My spontaneous nature seems to go into over drive at Christmas time...I love to prepare little impromptu gifts for whoever comes to my mind..
                                                 

  This is ginger honey chex mix  nice to give for gifts in a jar or tin.                            

I must wrap this up...no really I have some wrapping still left to do..shhhh!
It's okay I'll make a nice cup of tea and listen to some Josh Groban I think...


                                     Please listen to this song...It echoes my heart...

       


                                          Merry Christmas, Good night!                                                            

In Between and Starting

 Some rooms stories come round full circle...a little like this one...

                                                     
I haven't really been by my blog much lately. There always seems to be something else just a bit more urgent. 
We have tackled a few little 'spruce me ups' around here....

                                  

                                               a spot to write..
                         

It always starts somewhere, and this one began with freshly painted walls...

                      waiting for its first visit from daughter..
I have been wanting to try an all white room for some time. There is so many lovely ones here in blogland...

  the before; originally it had four colours when my youngest two shared it.   While it was cute for a while, they were happy to leave it and head to a bedroom in our basement..It waited like this for a while before it's walls were transformed into a more elegant mood..                                          

                                                   
 another lifetime's...

story..
                                                     

                                                           
    Simplicity and solitude..                                                       

                                         a quiet corner..

Then we decided we would also rip up the old carpet in the bedrooms here on the main floor, and put in laminate. It is a refreshing change, and I am quite pleased with hubby's hard work.

                     (had fun painting this desk for in here...)


Sometimes it's a scary thought that I have a spare bedroom. When all five children lived here, space was a premium, but time passes all too quickly with one daughter married, and suddenly there is a room to redo for second  daughter when she comes 'home -home' as she calls it. 
                                            

                                                            sweet dreams...


 I have also started working part time at a restaurant. I've enjoyed the change that it brings to my life without compromising too much of my valued time at home.
                                          

                         found the art work at a thrift store, I thought it was perfect..

So there in between life's coming and going. The having and holding, the silence and songs, I stumble than soar and start over again.

                                                                 

                                      
                             coming together with a few final touches..

            
                       Thank you for visiting my new white room!