New Years Eve - Wishing you a Beautiful "2017"

This has been an unbelievable year for me. My mother died in March and then my father died at the end of September. I don't think he could make it in this world without my mother. His health was faltering. He has been living on borrowed time for many years since quadruple bypass heart surgery and then in an instant he was gone.

I feel like an orphan. It is a strange world without your mother; the person that has been there, caring for and loving you, your whole life. I have so many memories that I have sifted through since my mother's death. The entire dynamic of our family has changed. All of these changes will take some more time for me to deal with.

Christmas is my favourite holiday and we spent it quietly this year. We are not planning on staying up to usher in the New Year. We will be having a nice dinner.  I have my table set for tonight's dinner.

I really love deep red to decorate with at Christmas time. These are my grandmother's dishes. On the back of the dinner plates is says; Malborough, Royal Petal, Grindley, England and the pattern is called Rosiland". I chose the deep red from the flower pattern to use as my accent colour. The red votive holders are glasses that I purchased second hand, the crystal goblets are second hand the water glasses belonged to my mother and I purchased the cut glass candle holders second hand a few years ago. The linen and cotton tablecloth I purchased at the Salvation Army. The deep red placemats I purchased at Walmart about 3 years ago. The deep red candles were a gift.

It has been snowing since we awoke this morning. It is pretty to see everything covered. The snowflakes are falling gently at the moment. It looks like the kind of snow that lasts all day and all night. The winds are calm and it would be nice to go for a walk.

Here is Simon sitting in my chair and I am not sure what he is looking for, but those little paws look so cute hanging over the arm of the chair.

Here is  Chubby, he loves little boxes. He will be 11 years old on January 6th. He is a handsome old man.

Love Always,

Kim

 

Our New Baby

It has been a long time since I posted last. So many things have happened since then. My mother died in the spring of this year. I trust that she is finally in peace.

This is our new baby. He is a rescue kitty. He was abandoned along with his mother and 3 brothers and sisters. His name is Simon and he is a lovely kitty. His fur is so soft and he has fit right in with our other babies. He loves people food and crunchy cat food. His little meow is just like a little squeak toy. He loves to talk and I love to talk back. Being a kitten he is very curious and loves to take things to play with. I guess you could say we have to kitten proof the house somewhat.

My plan for the summer was to paint the cottage exterior but we have had such a long, hot and humid summer it just has not been possible. There may still be time this year. Time will tell. I wanted to continue with my furniture painting from last summer but everything looks the same as it did.

I have a couple more feeders in the yard and the bird watching has been exceptional this year. We had some kestrels making them home near by. They have since moved on. They are a very noisy bird and I am glad to have them gone. I regularly see chickadees, rose breasted nuthatches, cardinals, blue jays and goldfinches at the feeders. Occasionally the mourning doves visit. Just last week a there was a downy woodpecker at the feeder. I also saw a pleated woodpecker at the beginning of the spring. 

The northern flickers love to eat the seed off of the lawn, as do the grackles. We still have the family of ravens with two more family members. The ravens love to waddle up the road checking out things as they go. They are funny to watch.

Love Always,

Kim