Snow and Valentines

It snowed and blowed yesterday and while the weather outside was frightful thinking of a few ways to brighten up a February day....lovely bright red Valentines, I keep some of my holiday greenery up and red bows till after Valentines day just to cheer up the gray days and my little gingham heart stayed on my front door even after the blizzard last night.

My cat Suki stayed in the window and watched as I dug out from the storm, she longs for a sunny spot and spring days, but for now she enjoys the view of birds and squirrels that live in the nearby bushes.

I am working on some Nature Journals with my daughter and have ordered a few books on the topic some that are used for Homeschooling. I have decided that as an enrichment study to introduce her to these topics at home, since the school curriculm does not have a very diverse art and nature study. I will share some of the journals with you as well as the book that I selected.
Stay warm and happy tea times to you.

A few more pictures to share, thanks for your comments Christine, my gosh I know what you mean burned out bloggers need a break too, I have been neglectful to my blog as well but I still keep at it when I have the time or something to share. Best Wishes!
Just a few more pictures to add from the tour it was hard to take good ones with no flash and tripod but I still wanted to get some for decorating references like paint colors used in the hallways and wallpapers that were selected as historical reference to the time period and some of the lovely framed lithographs the large one of Queen Victoria is so sweet, the McNab family were devote Catholic so there was quite a few religious framed pieces of Jesus Sacred Hearts and in the girls room Sophie and Minne they had little prayer altars that they would use daily with Rosarys and Missals. The room pictured with the white curtained bed was the "Sick Room" in the house and at that time Influenza and T.B. where fatal and required months of bed rest, not like our Benelyn take a pill and rest a "day" sick day's we are used to today , the ill person would take up residence there and be tended to by nurses, ahh life in the castle!

Kitchen

Music Room

Sick Room

Butler's Pantry

December has brought with it a delicate and silent winter wonderland for the weekend!!
(We are nestled in and making a cozy soup, yum!)

The folksical forest outside is blanketed with snow, and the flurries are still falling.

Wishing you all a magical holiday!

Here is some pictures from a Christmas Tour of Dundurn Castle all decked out in it's Victorian Finery, they use all fresh greenery and historically accurate decorations for that time period of late 1800's. I love the history of the Kissing Ball done in cedar bows and cloved oranges in the front foyer, it was to represent the winter solstice and the planets at that time of the year, in the center was the sun which is a mirrored ball. The mantels in each room were so beautifully done I spent time taking many pictures, and the Rose Drawing Room is one of my favorite rooms with the cranberry gas chandelier and the table top Victorian tree, as part of our tour we made one of the paper Fan ornaments to take with us, love that, and the tour of the historic kitchen was great they had samples of all the period foods of the Christmas feast Orange Gingerbread, and Christmas Pudding, Scotch Shortbreads, and warm cider, we stayed there for a while.
I wanted to spend some time taking photos of Sophia McNab's nursery where she was taught at home by a governess, many of the original pieces made are still there to view, samplers, and journals, watercolor paintings done by the children and family. Enjoy!

Thinking of holiday things, a few little drawings I did last Christmas of my daughter's Holiday Barbie, the bring out a new doll each year and it's fun to see what sort of gown she will be wearing, last year was soft pinks and glitter and this year she is in Red and White...thinking of peppermints.

My daughter collects the barbies and I enjoy them too, I even saw some Barbies from around the world out in the stores now, so pretty, some of the Ireland and Danish Princesses.

I have updated my etsy shop with some festive "Sugar Plum" themed goodies for gift giving. I am running a small promotion till the end of November gift with purchase a stationary set containing a set of 6 sweetly printed Holiday Art Postcards with a Japanese Gold Ink Pen and set of 6 Bird themed Tags for your holiday needs and wrapped in a lovely way. Happy tea times to you.

In Memory Of Ming
2004-Oct 2010

I think that by the time I get to the other side I will need a farm set up for all of my cats that I have owned throughout my life time. Ming my second Siamese cat sadly passed this week after an incident with a car, he was very curious...maybe too curious for his own good, and if you have had a Siamese cat you will know what I mean, it is the breed, my hubby had a nickname for him Stupid Face for all of the crazy things he would get himself into, these little clips from the Disney movies Lady and the Tramp and That Darn Cat sums it up best...here is a dedication to Ming, peace be with you little guy and take care of the other little buddies for me.