HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Our 2012 wish 

Peace, Love and Happiness

for you all.

Happy Christmas!

Or should it be Merry Christmas, or Season's Greetings, or Happy Holidays? Whichever, whatever ... Peace on earth and goodwill to all men.

I am posting these greetings now because I have NO IDEA of when my life will return to normal! It's chaos in my household. The builders finished on Monday which was my granddaughter's birthday which was two days after my grandson's birthday ... and now it will soon be Christmas. I do have most of the presents bought and some are wrapped! The house is half-way to being decorated but is in need of greenery and fresh flowers [to be honest, the decorations' boxes are still all over everywhere!]. My advice to anyone would be DON'T have babies in December - birthdays distract ...

Ignoring all my chaos, I saw a new blog today via Postcards & Pretties that I'd not come across before - Sweet Something Design. 

This little chap was 6, two days after my granddaughter was 2 and four days after my grandson was 5. The blog belongs to his Mum. There's definitely an affinity there! 

The images on Postcards & Pretties today from Sweet Something Design were very seasonal. Hope you like them, they're so festive. I might even be found looking for a tartan rug tomorrow - just for the final touch!

I somehow doubt I will be blogging again until the New Year [I've already made 1 resolution - to be a better more regular, blogger] but until then ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Great ways to give 2

THIS WEEK, THERE'S A VERY SPECIAL CHARITY GIVING OPPORTUNITY. 

The BIG GIVE have their Christmas Challenge. For every amount you donate to one of their registered charities, they will match it. It probably isn't quite that simple - I'm sure the charities themselves have had to do a lot of work to be included in the challenge but for the likes of you and I,  who often feel our small contribution may not make much difference, here's a chance to double it!

I support Action Medical Research as all the money they raise helps to make a difference - their strap line is for children, for life; the charity saving and changing children's lives and that certainly sums them up.

There are too many babies and children who suffer from medical problems and you can be assured that Action will be trying to help.

Right now donations are £4,100 so that means £8,200 will arrive with Action. The challenge is paused at the moment but will re-open at 10.00am [UK time] on Wednesday. Even philanthropic donors have finite funds!

PLEASE help - every amount [up to £5,000] is worth twice as much plus gift aid if you're a UK tax payer! If you're not, you donation will still be doubled and will help. And it's really important to realize that if a problem is solved in the UK,  IT IS SOLVED EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

Oh ... have you seen their truck out and about?

 Let us know when and where, we have a bottle of Ice Cuvee for the first response and also one for the response furthest from Brown's home location in Bicker, Lincolnshire

Don't forget - £1 donation would become £2 and would be added to make an amazing final total.

Thank you, it means such a lot

Pennie 

Winter, Snow and Weddings

The post I've just done led me to thinking about weddings in the winter. So there's a theme. The images, all from our favourite photographers listed to the side, include some engagement session photography as well as actual weddings - they're all pretty inspirational.

Do let me know your thoughts. 

Guess that's the groom, steering at the back!

Driving home for Christmas - sort of.

I wasn't REALLY driving home for Christmas, it just felt like it. The snow came during the night - my neighbour said it had come to say "Hi" before I left. The amount of time I spend there in the snow is a mystery to most of the locals. I can't help buy LOVE it and would have stayed but I was coming home for my granddaughter's birthday party. Two of my kids have been particularly silly - they have children born within 2 days of each other, the week before Christmas! HOW is anyone supposed to deal with that. Dear Santa, Can you help with Grandchildren's birthday presents? I have been good, well, at least I can explain. Love Pennie. Fortunately, the one living in England is having her party this coming weekend which should give us time to recover for Christmas [well, in theory that should be the case.]

SO, I am driving down to the city having left late because I had to clear snow from the drive and the car but at least it had stopped snowing. I take a route along Airport Road - a very long road that goes from Collingwood through to Lester Pearson Airport in Toronto. It's straight, hilly and very scenic. The sun was shining so the road had dried after the overnight snowfall and there was enough snow to twinkle. I pass at least four christmas tree farms with quite a few more just a little way off the main road. Get the scene? What comes on the radio - "Driving home for Christmas" and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since!!! Mind you, it did suit the journey but not as much as a few years back when I did the journey on a Saturday and all the city folk were collecting their trees and it was snowing - big fluffy snowflakes, so beautiful.

Couldn't resist some photos. Think cosy clothes and hot white chocolate. Enjoy.

Early morning

Even the trash got a covering

I straightened it before I left!

The trash adds to the scenery, don't you think?

Not quite as clear as the one across the road, but clear enough to get out!

Great ways to give 1

Right now, we are all aware Christmas is coming and we know that there will be HUGE demands on our wallets. Charities hit us hard at this time of the year ... and it is right that we should think of those less fortunate. When I saw this fundraising idea, it seemed a fab way to raise money and have fun - rightly or wrongly, we give more when we have fun. This particular bit of fun is for the charity that every female I know holds close, The Breast Cancer Foundation. IF you happened to be near Collingwood, Ontario on 21st January, why not register and have a great day out for a great cause?

Don't know if London Bride has any of her cute little pink hearts left for sale but check out her page anyway - she did a good job for UK Breast Cancer earlier this year.

Heard on the radio earlier this month that Evelyn Lauder of Estee Lauder had died of ovarian cancer. She was instrumental in the whole 'pink ribbon' campaign - and I'm quoting Wikipedia  here ...

The first known use of a pink ribbon in connection with breast cancer awareness was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.^[1]

The pink ribbon was adopted as the official symbol of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month the next year, in 1992.^[2] The pink ribbon was derived from the popular red ribbon for AIDS awareness. Alexandra Penney, the editor-in-chief of the women's health magazine Self, and breast cancer survivor Evelyn Lauder,^[3] the senior corporate vice president at the cosmetics company Estée Lauder created a ribbon for the cosmetics giant to distribute in stores in New York City.

A pink and blue ribbon is sometimes used to symbolize breast cancer in men, which is relatively rare. The pink and blue ribbon was designed in 1996 by Nancy Nick, President and Founder of the John W. Nick Foundation to bring awareness that "Men Get Breast Cancer Too!"^[4]

There are some great wedding locations in and around this area - check out the Collingwood website pages

First it was Helen, now it's Amy

In October, I did a post called North American Wedding Magazines and Helen. It was about a wedding feature I has seen some time ago that just seemed to suit Hannah's friend, Helen. Helen is getting married next  year and I can't wait to see how close [or far away!] I was.

Now I've seen another wedding and this time it's Amy, another of Hannah's friends, who as far as I'm aware has no intention of getting married. But Amy, when the time comes ...

These are the images.

Again, I can't tell you what it  is - I just see Amy. Wonder what she thinks?

The credits:

photography: Green Ginger Photography

venue: Saar Bank Farms, Abbotsford, BC, Canada

dress: Treat Bridal

custom alterations+design: And Sew On

groom’s outfit: pieced together from his own closet

stationery: Landen (groom)

boutonnieres: Mallory (bride)

WOW !!!

And again - WOW !!!

The credits ...

Photographer:  Heather Armstrong Photography

Flowers: Cambray Rose Florist

Taken from:  Inspired by This