a pictorial review of 2013

Happy New Year!!  I decided to do a photo 'calendar' of 2013 for my last post of the year.  I hope you enjoy seeing some of the highlights.

January 2013

We started 2013 with a cold blustery January and I enjoyed the Amaryllis that bloomed and fresh tulips to brighten the cold winter days.  We had a nice January thaw that melted down the snow in preparation for what would come in February.

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February would bring it's own winter joy as we travelled to Fort McMurray, Alberta for two weeks to visit our daughter and her family.

We had a wonderful time with our two grandsons.

February 2013

However, while we were away there had been 3 major blizzards on the three weekends that we were gone so we had some digging out to do in our back yard. {the bottom 2 photos}

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March 2013

The fickle month of March had us longing to see the end of winter as spring approaches.  The upper left photo is March 19 and the upper right one is March 20.  Even the mourning doves weren't impressed.  :)

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April 2013

April brought it's showers and more snow and some promises of spring to our yard.  We got away on a long weekend visit to Portland, Maine for some R&R and retail therapy as well as a great visit with Vee (A Haven for Vee) and her husband, John.

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May 2013

May is our truly spring month.  Everything is blooming, crops are being planted, we had thunder showers and some flooding, and rhubarb for crumbles and pies.  It's a month of hope for me after a long cold winter and always late spring.

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June 2013

Ahhh, June.  Summer flowers, warmer days, the first day of summer, rain, rain and more rain.

Our grandsons were helping pack up the house for the move to Calgary in July.

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July 2013

July was a really busy month for us and for our Alberta family.   Jennifer, Matthew and the boys flew home for a week's visit after spending a week at Matthew's parents in Ontario and prior to their move to Calgary.  We had a great time with Ewan and Eli and enjoyed a trip to Parlee Beach and a family reunion.   On July 25, we flew to British Columbia to visit my sister and her husband for their son's wedding.  While there we drove to Whistler and toured around.  

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August 2013

August found us in Calgary visiting our family for 12 days.  We celebrated Eli's 1st birthday, went hiking and toured the Badlands and Hoodoos.  

When we returned to NB we had enjoyed some beautiful summer days and a few day trips to St. Andrews, Sussex and St. Martins.

Our son, Mark, and Jenn got engaged!!

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September 2013

September brought us gorgeous late summer days although they were shorter with the waning summer.  Days of harvest and a great trip to Bar Harbour and other ports along Maine's coast with our good friends.  And more retail therapy!

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September 2013

We had some beautiful fall days in October although the fall colours weren't the most brilliant this year.  We enjoyed our new fire pit a couple of evenings before it got too cold.  The month ended with a hoar frost that coated everything it could and two 'wild animals' on the loose on Halloween.   {photo by Jennifer} :)

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November 2013

The month of leaden skies, cold rain, deer herding and Christmas decorating.

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December 2013

Christmas celebrations and snowstorms.

We had 4 major snowstorms in December as well as a severe ice storm and we still have three months of winter to go!

Our Christmas Music Night at Sunset Church.

After being cancelled 2 weeks in a row due to snowstorms we tried again on December 29th - while it was snowing yet again - with a reduced choir and band and smaller congregation.  It was a wonderful celebration of God's gift to us at Christmas.  

We got about 20 cm. overnight and have been digging out yet again.

We have had a great year of good health, the blessing of visits with family both here and out west, family celebrations, good times with friends, and enjoying the beauty of God's creation in our travels away and right in our backyard.  I am excited to see what 2014 will bring.  

God has been very good and faithful to us.

I wish each of you and your families every blessing for the new year.

Blessings to you!

Pamela

a white Christmas and then some

Christmas Day ~ Murray cleaning the driveway, yet again, after a Christmas eve snowfall.

Christmas has come and gone for another year.

On Christmas Eve we went to church for the service then our son and his fiance came over for a light 'lunch' and we had a Skype visit with our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandsons. 

This is a bad photo off my computer screen (dirty and dusty!) but our grandsons looked so adorable with their new bathrobes that we got them.  They looked like little Yoda bears.

We had a great Christmas morning with our son and his fiancé joining us for breakfast and gift opening before they went to her parents for the rest of the day and we went to Murray's sister's 

1 1/2 hours away for Christmas dinner.

The roads weren't the best due to the snow pack, plus from Oromocto on down to Hampton they got freezing rain last Sunday that is still coating everything.  Over 40,000 customers were without power all week and there were 20,000 without power over Christmas.  There are still thousands that won't have power restored until New Year's Day!  Let me tell you, I am thankful we just got snow, ice pellets and a bit of freezing rain and not the heavy rain they got last Sunday!

These next photos are of the ice on the trees along the highway.   {through the dirty salt sprayed windshield} They were bowed to the ground so it's no wonder the trees snapped and broke down the power lines.

In front of our house on Christmas morning.  

The road was barely cleared all day and you can see the ice on the tree tops.

On Boxing Day it snowed again.  It was such a pretty, gentle snowfall and was supposed to be only a few centimetres but it snowed all day and we got about 12 cm.  or about 8 inches.  My family came from other parts of the province for our annual get together and braved the terrible, unploughed roads to get here.  There were 18 of us all together and although it was crowded in our small living/dining room we had a great time and enjoyed a fabulous pot luck meal. 

Our backyard winter wonderland.

Guess what??  There is another storm coming Sunday night into Monday.  Oh yes, we're getting a good dose of winter weather here in New Brunswick this year.  I do think we've had enough already though.  It's not even January yet.  We get most of our snow in February too.  

A corner of the backyard.  Those are my 'foot prints' where I trudged through the deep snow and icy crust up to my knees to take pictures.

I've been having fun playing with my new camera the past couple weeks.  Hubby got me my Christmas present early ~ a Nikon D5200.  I have a lot to learn and am hoping my nephew can give me some guidance soon.  However, I am enjoying the DSLR features of this camera and getting some  pretty good photos.

I hope you all had a great Christmas holiday and enjoyed your time with family and friends.  

It will soon be New Year's Eve.  We don't have any plans yet.  Do you?

I just looked out the window and guess what?

Yes, it's snowing again and the sun is shining too.  Maybe there will be a rainbow.

Enjoy your weekend.

Blessings,

Pamela

Christmas Greetings

Hello my friends.  How are you?

Are you all ready for Christmas?  

It's such a busy time of the year so, I am taking a bit of a break from posting for a few days but, I may get a chance to visit around a bit when I have some down time.

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Weather update:

We've had snow, ice pellets, freezing rain, wind and fog and more ice pellets since Friday.  So far we are safe and have power and no trees are down.  Southern Ontario, Quebec and parts of New Brunswick haven't fared so well with a major ice storm, power outages, heavy snow, thousands of trees down from the ice etc.  This storm has affected the whole continent from Texas to Newfoundland and all parts in-between.  

That being said, I hope you, my dear readers, are all safe and I wish for you a safe, blessed and happy Christmas with your family and friends.  

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I love hearing the Christmas story of Christ's birth and wish to share a bit with you.

The gospel of Luke Chapter 2, verses 8-14  says ~

[New International Version]

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  Today in the town of David a Savior  has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."  

Christmas Blessings to You.

Pamela

got mail?

Have you been getting a lot of mail this month?

Not just bills and fliers but Christmas cards.

Do you get your mail in a rural mailbox or a group box or perhaps one on your house?

I think letters in the mail are a dying thing.

We have received a number of Christmas greetings in our mailbox this month and we even received an email newsletter from a couple in their upper 80's.  (they are really 'with it')  However, I have noticed that the Christmas cards are down in number this year.

In my visiting with everyone here in blog land I have been wishing them Christmas greetings and have also received them  ~ via email and comments on my posts.

In Canada our Canada Post is slowly phasing out home mail delivery over the next 2 years.  Yep.  No more mail delivered to your door!   There are already "group boxes" in many neighbourhoods and that will be the way of the future to save money.  Oh, and postage is going up in January to $1.00 a letter in Canada!!   I guess it's because most of us use email these days.  Someone told me that rural delivery will continue for the most part even though there are group boxes in some areas due to safety issues in delivering the mail.  

Changes.

When I was about 9 or 10 my sister and I had our own Christmas holiday mail bags.  

We would hang them on our bedroom door and put any Christmas cards we received in them.

I saved mine all these years.  I even wrote my name and address on the back just in case it went missing.  ;)  (or my sister claimed it!)  (A little sibling rivalry.)

And guess what I still have?

Some of my Christmas cards I received as a young girl.

Cards from Susan, Debbie, Brenda, Paul and Bruce,…. among others…..

Cards from Grammie and Aunt Beth and Uncle Walter, Nancy, The Redmores, Helen…..

I love the graphics on these cards from the late 50's and early 60's don't you?

I also have two 'dime' cards that I received as a little baby.

There is one dime missing in the one on the right but the others are all intact ~ $1.40 in all.

 Here are the envelopes with sweet stickers added to them.  These are at least 60 years old.

Treasured keepsakes from the past.  

Do you have any old sentimental Christmas cards saved from the past?  

Well, it's snowed almost every day this week.  We had two partly sunny days that changed to snow.   There's more snow, ice pellets and freezing rain coming for the weekend.   A nice mess.

Happy first day of winter on Saturday!!  

Enjoy your weekend and all the holiday festivities and stay safe.

Blessings,

Pamela

Notecard Wednesday

It's Notecard Wednesday at "A Haven for Vee".

I have chosen four of my photos with a Christmas card theme.

Won't you join us or drop by A HAVEN FOR VEE  and visit.  I have seen a few of the participants notecards and they are beautiful.

I am blogged out after 4 posts in 5 days.  Phew!

I even joined 2 link parties yesterday for tea time and haven't had a chance to visit around them much.  I hope to do that asap and I apologize for not getting around sooner.  It's a busy time and I shouldn't have taken on so much but Christmas is such a special time to share in these memes and to share home decor and such.  I had two of my best friends for afternoon tea today which made a busy day for me.  I was planning to go to town tomorrow for a much needed massage and to finish my shopping but apparently we're getting more snow so we'll see.  

Thank you for all your visits and comments and welcome to my new followers.  I appreciate each one of you!

Blessings,

Pamela

a woodland Christmas tea

Welcome!

It's a winter wonderland outside our front door this week but inside it's nice and cozy.

Taken Monday morning at sunrise after about a foot of snow fell on Sunday.

Please join me for a winter woodland Christmas tea today.

I got out the snowflake mugs and the red and white plaid tablecloth as well as a few deer and soft candle light to warm up the table.

You will be in shortbread cookie heaven here too.

plain shortbread with frosting, our favourite;

chocolate chip shortbread and Craisin shortbread

The tablecloth and red felt placemat came from Winners, the dishes and silver candle holders are from SuperStore in past years, the deer and trees are vintage.  The small tea lights are sitting on vintage Christmas light reflectors.

I found this sweet bird bowl at Winners the other day.  Do you see the bird tracks around the inside of the rim?  Love it!

Would you like tea or hot chocolate on this cold December day?

I've enjoyed adding red to my Christmas decor this year and also a bit of a rustic theme along with vintage and some sparkle.

Our china hutch is all decorated for Christmas.

The afternoon sun shining in.

I am so glad you joined me for tea today.  

I would invite you to also join Sandi for her beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy Tea

and Ruth for Antiques and Teacups.

I'll be visiting there too.

I'll be back soon for Notecard Wednesday.

Yes, a month has gone by already!

Christmas is just a week away!  Yikes.

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a blessed week.

And I wish each of you a very blessed Christmas!

Pamela