Monthly Archives: December 2017

Share Your World – Dec. 4, 2017

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…thanks to Cee for coming up with new questions for Share Your World

What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?

I really do not like cleaning the bathroom, any bathroom but I don’t like a dirty bathroom, either.

At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

I think I feel most passionate and alive when I’m doing things for other people and when I’m celebrating with friends and family. Last summer I never felt more alive when we travelled to Italy with the family to celebrate our son’s and daughter-in-law’s wedding.

 

How many times have you moved in the last ten years?

I have not moved once in the last ten years. In fact, I haven’t moved in over 38 years. I have, however, moved my father three times in the last two years.

 

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

This past week I’m grateful for time spent with my friends, Liz and Michele, and my granddaughter, Winnie. I normally travel to Hamilton at least once a week to spend time with my daughter, Gaelan and granddaughter, Winnie. Last week our plans changed slightly and I ended bringing the two of them back to Toronto. We went for a long walk to the library and had dinner together here at the house.

As you know from my recent posts, I made an advent calendar for Winnie and her family. When I picked them up I dropped it off at their house and Gaelan has send me photos of Winnie with some of her gifts. I think it’s been a bit of a challenge for Gaelan to keep Winnie from opening all the gifts in one sitting.

 

Last week I also spent time with Michele. We met at Sherway Gardens where we did a bit of Christmas shopping together and then I treated Michele to lunch at the Keg to celebrate her birthday that took place earlier in the month. Later in the week, Liz and I drove downtown to the CBC to take part in Sounds of the Season. We lined up to see Tom Power (host of CBC’s Q) and were thrilled to hear Lydia Persaud, Ruth B and Whitehorse perform. After the show we walked over to The Canteen and had a great lunch.

This was also a very important week for our son. The project he has been working on for almost three years has finally come to fruition. In his own words:

Kaboom!!!! 3 years of work, a deep dive into the V&A’s collection of 2.5 million objects, 16 trips to China, working with the dream team of Sam Jacob Studio, with Fraser Muggeridge Studio and Alice Masters, and here it is: A glorious V&A Gallery in Shenzhen, full of strange and wonderful things, materials, and spaces.

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Advent Calendar #2

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….another calendar for my other two girls

When I saw the jewellery organizer with pockets I knew I wanted it for another advent calendar. The only problem with this piece is that the pockets are a little on the small side and and there are only 21 of them.  On the plus side there are more hangers on the back of it and it can be used after the advent season is over. If the girls don’t need a jewellery organizer they can put it in their bathroom and put small toiletries and make-up in the pockets.

I would highly recommend gathering items for this kind of organizer well in advance. I’m debating whether to wrap each individual item or just place them in the pockets as is.  My fear is that the wrapping paper might make some of the items too large for the small pockets. Part of the fun of these types of advent calendars is unwrapping a new item each day. Maybe I’ll wrap some and leave the rest unwrapped.

Here is what it looks like before it is filled and after it’s filled. I’m already 3 days late giving this to my daughter and her wife so I’ll have to decide tonight  how to present it. I’m hoping to drop it off tomorrow. IMG_0204IMG_0205

 

Advent Calendar #1

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…every day, from December 1st to the 24th a new surprise to unwrap

Years ago my daughter and husband collaborated on a project where I was given a small gift every day from Dec. 1st to the 24th. Each gift was carefully wrapped and placed in a take away container and set before me at the breakfast table. I was so touched by this gesture that I’ve wanted to do a similar ‘advent calendar’ for someone special in my life. This year I finally got my act together and did just that. In fact I created two different ‘calendars’ for my two daughters and their families. Today I’ll share the first one with you.

At first I was just going to create a calendar for my granddaughter but then I decided to include presents for my daughter and son-in-law as well. In fact I even threw in a gift for their dog, Lucy. The hard part of this project was choosing what to put the presents into. I decided to use an over the door shoe organizer that had 24 pockets. After searching the internet and several stores I finally found the perfect vessel. After Christmas, I thought that the organizer could be used to store some of Winnie’s toys.

Apart from buying things that would be fun to open and be somewhat practical and not break the bank, the next most difficult part was wrapping each gift.

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I won’t kid you and say that this project is simple and quick to put together. If I were to do it again I would start buying small gifts months in advance and wrap them as soon as I bought them. It was, however, fun to do and now that December 1st is here I’ve been blessed with photos of my granddaughter’s reaction to the first gift that she unwrapped this morning.