We are into the home stretch now with just one week to go until the big day of Christmas!
I'm just tying up some loose ends & then off to deliver the gifts to some friends & I hope they too feel the joy of Christmas as it will soon be gone & a new year will emerge & these days will be our memories.
As promised, let's look at some of the decorating this year.
The dining table has now been extended to accommodate the 10 of us eating our Christmas feast, two extra chairs will come out of storage & we are all seated!
I'm enjoying having the Louis XV chairs at the head of the table as that is where Bill & I will sit and the memories of Namama will wrap around us.
The gingerbread man with matching salt/pepper has been with us for years and last Christmas our friend Louis gifted us the gingerbread house from his vintage/antique shop. They are perfect together & will be filled with cookies closer to the big day, there are just too many cookie monsters in this house! lol
We've pulled out all the Nutcrackers for the great room this year. So many memories of where they came from. The tall wooden one on the stairs was from Price Club now known as Costco & was used at our workplace for decor back in the 90s.
I made these Nutcrackers from a VIP panel, they were to be a decorative pillow but the boys needed something to carry their small toys in when we went visiting, so I lined them & added a zipper opening to the top of their hat & embellished them. On the bottom, I have sewn an 'M' & 'N' in a silver ricrac so they could tell which one was theirs, hard to believe that was over 30 years ago! Christmas is memories. xXx
It's a large tree year with everyone home for Christmas, the stockings are starting to be hung now, with several more still to be added.
I put out some of my favourite Christmas photos. Bill with his sister Margaret sitting on the lap of Napapa Wallentiny, Bill & I when we lived in London ON, and the last Christmas with my dad in 1999.
A fuzzy photo of Mitchell William's first Christmas in 1988...see the arrow with the bear? I found the bear among the Christmas textiles & I knew I had made it & I remembered it was for the baby's first Christmas & it sat in his crib that year.
So this year I paired the two together, the photo is not fuzzy here! lol, Our house was under construction year after year & this was the year Grandpa Richardson & Bill put Napapa's coloured TV into the wall under the front staircase to free up some floor space. The TV was an old one & you had to turn it on first to warm up the TV tubes before you got the picture. Such fond memories of our simple thankful life with all that we were blessed with.
The tree is full of decorations from Christmas past, it was a joy to decorate!
The new quilt cabinet that Bill made me this year has been decorated with some of the nutcrackers too!
We added the glass firescreen that used to be in front of our gas fireplace in London. Gordo the English Bulldog took to lying in heat so much so that he made himself sick, so the screen prevented him from getting overheated next to the firebox. I may not have my mantle but having the screen adds to the elegance of the season.
I made another button pillow & this time added the Beavermoon logo to the center with a sprig of holly.
The snowmen were mounted onto a canvas frame & now add to the liveliness of the festive season.
Gordo has done quite well with living with us in a rural setting, I think the noise & chaos were interfering with his daily naps. lol
He sleeps best with his neck in an upright position & snores away for hours, we always know where he is by just listening. lol
Santa came early this year with a new TV, it is a big one! Bill & Don are excited to see the NASCAR racing on it this February when they start the first race of the season in Daytona.
You can see the scale of the TV with the double garden doors or the sofa, I'm now used to taking it all in with one look as we moved our chairs to the far end of the great room.
OK let's go upstairs to the guest room where our Alberta kids will be staying on this visit.
The window on the great room mezzanine has the embroidered valance on it this year & I love it there!
I put a small Christmas on the side table & Christmas bedding on the bed.
The antique sofa has moved over to the stained glass room & a dear old friend's buffet has moved into its place.
I find it it be a much better fit for guests to put things in & on when they are staying here.
This dresser is full of Mitchell's clothing, he could travel here with no luggage & have things to wear!
I'm so amazed to look at that dresser of mine & think back to the '60s & early '70s when it held all my clothing except my dresses & jumpers that were on the back of my bedroom door. Oh my, how my times have changed!
The view through the window changes each season, each one having its own beauty & is in full view with the shutters folded back.
The cold winds have iced the Miramichi Bay up but today the weather is warm & the tide-moving water is viewed with the ice pads.
I can't wait to see the kids again, they arrive on Saturday!
This is the door to the guest room with a small foyer that houses an 1880 bonnet chest & on that chest a very special friend made the runner & another friend quilted it. I place it here each year with those friends' memories & the visits they have made.
Another angle of the guest room door area.
The newest antique piece to Beavermoon - an 1820- 1850 circa bookcase & desk!
A very tricky piece to set up as it is 100" tall so, there has to be headroom for it & my stained glass room was just the spot!
It is in pieces right now as Bill is going to clean & refurbish it for me, I love old antiques and this is from Fredericton NB.
The very top has such detail that isn't viewable with the dirt & smoke over the years but I will post as it gets cleaned up in the new year.
The inside has been modified with wooden teeth for adjustable shelves but the original horizontal holes can be seen too.
The antique couch that a friend gifted me 25 years ago has the same style of legs as the desk!
Bill liked the leg style of the desk, I liked the full glass doors that would be above it to keep dust out!
There are so many pieces to be worked on but it will be a beautiful piece when it is done!
The bookcase is the height of the double door & the colouring is dark like the kitchen cupboards so I think it is going to look right at home in the stained glass room.
The leather needs a good cleaning & moisturizing too, so many pieces to bring this beautiful piece together! I plan on working on a stained glass piece whilst Bill works on the bookcase/desk piece.
All the plants have migrated to this area too as it has the best light for them & the kitchen sink has running water to keep them watered. I like to see the colour of the greens & flowering plants as the snow makes everything so white.
The Gnome home has been put away for the season too, this is the colour that is viewed until everything goes white with snow.
If it were not for the evergreens that stay green for the harsh winter season, it would be bleak for sure!
The front yard has more colour with red bows that I tied to the evergreen & we put a rug over the bridge as it was slippery to walk over. Don walks through the woods daily on his way to the bunkie & the path is looking good too with Nick's leaves spread over the landfill that was put down to raise it up to keep it from flooding with all the rain that we are now experiencing.
The horseshoe pits were fun to play with this summer too!
Next year's plans in the spring are two pergolas with a BBQ & prep area, it will be fun until the mosquitoes hatch! And that is just 6 months away!!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Thank you for stopping by for a Christmas visit.
I'm wishing you peace, joy, and happiness this holiday season!
Stay safe & healthy until our next visit!
Merry Christmas!
The view through the window changes each season, each one having its own beauty & is in full view with the shutters folded back.
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