The Bay was Calling...

Early Saturday morning

we packed up the car for a journey north.

It felt so good to leave the city behind.

In fact I think I'm almost ready for a

change in lifestyle...

I've decided I no longer want to sit in

long queues on the motorways

just to get from A to B.

The views of the green countryside

were relaxing

(I still had a niggling voice in my head telling me

"you should be baking the Christmas cake"

and another asking me 

"what about the Christmas shopping").

I ignored them both!!!

 In just over 3 hours we arrived in

the little seaside village of Russell in the

Bay of Islands.

After settling into the house

I decided to take a stroll along the waterfront.

At Pompallier House

I found the French Society

were hosting their 

Fête de Noël!

There was a wonderful atmosphere

including men in berets

and french conversation in the air

"parlez-vous français?"

It was a sparkling summers day.

I'm sending sunbeams to all

my dear friends in colder climes,

hope you catch them!!

We're home again now and

it's back to reality...

now where's my Christmas "to do" list?!

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

The Centre of CHRISTMAS

Hello dear friends

everywhere 

I'm seeing signs of CHRISTMAS approaching.

So far, I've brought my box of decorations

down from the attic

but I still have to find a tree

to hang them on.

I found this sweet angel decoration last year.

She is heralding the arrival

of the centre of

this wonderful celebration.

the CHRIST child

is the centre of

CHRISTMAS.

let's all remember that.

It's wonderful to decorate

and I use the same decorations

I've had for 43 years.

Some were made by my children

when they were little kindy kids

and I love the memories they evoke.

This little star with bells

is my new decoration for this year...

We have been away for a few days

so I'm running late...

I'm linking to

 Michelle for Grey Dey Thursdey

and

 Mary for Mosaic Monday 

please pop over and check them out!

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments

on my post of Jessie's Christmas stocking.

WELCOME

to my new followers - it's lovely to meet you!

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

Embroidered Christmas Stocking

Hello dear friends

This is the Christmas stocking I've

made for my youngest granddaughter.

I've shown you sneak peeks before

on my embroidery group posts.

It's been a marathon over the last

couple of weeks to complete it

amidst everything else that goes on.

I had to incorporate a little Kiwi

for Jessie, to remind her

she is half Kiwi and half French!

I spent the afternoon on the sewing machine

and this evening I'm still finishing

hand sewing the cord to the stocking!

I want to post it tomorrow so it

arrives in France in time to meet up with

Papa Noël

before he begins his big journey across the world!

Today I'm joining

Mary for Mosaic Monday
and

the other Mary for Masterpiece Monday

 

Thank you dear friends for popping in here to say hello

and see what I'm up to - I'll be over to see you too.

WELCOME

to my new followers - it's lovely to meet you.

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

♥ Shane ♥