Sat Nite Special link party 114 - featuring your Christmas stories

Welcome to Saturday Nite Special #114, the multi themed link party! 

* Home Decor

 * Crafts, / Sewing / Recipes

* Theme of the week

Every Fri 7pm  to Sunday 11 pm Pacific.

This weekend's theme - your Christmas stories

We had a really nice Christmas.

 A few from my family met up at my sister's on Christmas eve afternoon, 

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What my new little friend taught me

source

This story happened a short while ago. I wasn't sure I was going to publish it. But I now feel if it can reach even one family struggling to maintain status quo on the home front, I'll have done my job here. And it just seemed like the right time of year to post it. Here we go...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today started like any other normal day. I head out for work driving through the pretty countryside.

As I drove on, something pulled my eye towards a ditch. I slowed down when I noticed a little black head and ears popping up beyond the top of the grass. I glanced at the time full knowing this wasn't going to work well in my schedule but pulled over anyway. If that was a stray cat needing a home, I take full responsibility to stop and see if it will ultimately belong to me. :)

No go. The cat knew exactly where home was. Awesome! Onto work I go and chalk it up to save the world another day.

But that wasn't to be.

As I drove on, I noted someone walking in between the highway and a side road. I mentally took note at how odd it was to purposely walk through VERY long grass rather than flat gravel. That image stayed with me for a moment as I drove on, puzzled.

Thank goodness for overgrown grass. Due to over thinking it, I realized what I just saw. That was a child in the middle of nowhere. And kids that age wouldn't generally have a cel phone to call if they missed the bus or what have you. That child must be stranded...

I grimaced as I looked at the time once more, made the U turn and head back.

I pulled over to the side of the road, and started talking. After a little chit chat, I soon found out this girl was the same age as my son (12) and this was about much more than missing the bus. This girl left home on her own accord with full backpack, on route to another parent's location in a town a VERY long ways away.

After lots of inquiring on what was what, I kindly told her what I needed to do. She didn't know either of her parent's phone numbers so a call to the police was in order.

So we sat on the grass together, called 911 and proceeded to wait. I wrapped a blanket she had brought along, tightly around her shivering shoulders while we talked a bit more about her situation.

Once the authorities arrived, they were very relieved. It appears many were looking for her. I'm just very glad it was someone safe that found her...

I also was pretty stern about them drilling for more info before leaving her where she ran from. I can only hope for the best and requested an update. (I've heard nothing.)

It was only when I started driving again that the full impact of what transpired hit me full force. Grateful tears immediately sprung to my eyes.

You often hear those 'cute' stories of kids wanting to run away from home. My son 'ran away from home' a few years ago and got as far as the front porch, blankets all around him eating snacks out of his luggage. He even thought to bring his library books along for the ride. :)

But today was seriously real. Did she want to or need to run away? I don't know.

All I do know is, my new little friend taught me to listen to my own son with a much more understanding heart. To never overlook what's going on in the minds of our kids. Why are they hurting? How do we play a part in that? And what can we do about it? Are we really listening or too busy talking?

Thank-you friend. May you be safe, warm, well loved and above all, become happier. You will be in my  prayers.

Would you keep her in yours tonight too?

Enjoying the after Christmas lull....

 

Hello! Please come in, but you'll have to excuse the happy mess. We're still in our pj's too!

Kaboom!

We're taking in some fireplace/game playing/movie action while eating a little too much. Last night was The Waterhorse in front of a roaring fire. Perfection.

We're visiting family, friends and meeting newbies to the fray.

(photo by Zoe Brown Photography.... more on this photo whiz soon!)

We took in the amazing Yarrow Alliance Christmas eve program in which I did a photoshoot.

My brother commented, "Do you hear this kind of music every Sunday?!?"

Why, yes we do. This service is famous for a reason.

We're eating way too many freshly flown in Hawaiian Macadamia nuts from my sis' recent trip.

We're enjoying homemade banana pancakes with Canadian made Rogers syrup...

... and these very addictive Tassimo made lattes in which I have no self control over.  

The Tassimo is from 'Santa'. :) 

(love love love love LOVE)

We're also busy keeping those no longer with us close to our hearts.

And appreciating the simplistic Christmas beauty still up.

And we've only just begun. :)

May your upcoming week be lazy, food and family filled as well. :)

What are you up to? 

What did Santa bring you?

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Sat Nite Special link party 113 - plus Christmas 2011 home tours

Welcome to Saturday Nite Special #113, the multi themed link party! 

* Home Decor

 * Crafts, / Sewing / Recipes

* Theme of the week

Every Fri 7pm  to Sunday 11 pm Pacific.

This weekend's theme - home tours

stepladder tree

I have to admit, decorating for this season has been one of my favorites.

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Festive junk food displays for your table

The pristine white and crystal serving dishes are staying in the cupboards this season! (easy to do since I don't have any crystal)  It's gonna be an all out junk brawl in this house, serving things up in divine upcycled style!

My mom's teacups will be holding cream cheese and hot pepper jelly. Hey mom! (waving towards Heaven)

A nice tall metal tin lined with a crisp white napkin or 3 will house the homemade salsa chips or locally made fresh kettle corn... decisions decisions!

My favourite kitchen scale came out of hiding and is the perfect place for the crackers.

Imagine all these vintage lovelies piled tight and layered on the island around the junk centrepiece or counter.. 

It's gonna be an eclectic mountain of delicious fun!

Notice the photos were taken on my back porch and not inside the house? Well, the house is in true shamble mode. We have lots to do. We're both donning shovels and are about to clean this place up spic and span for our arriving Christmas Eve guests. 

Music is being selected, food still needs to be purchased from the local deli, you know the drill. I'll be taking photos for the church's Christmas Eve program so I need to empty an SD card too. 

Not much time to cook these days with all this going on is there?

Gotta appreciate those samples while you create.. :)

SNS will be fired up this evening as usual and run right through the weekend, with all links staying open until Monday evening, 11 pm pacific. So if you're too stuffed to party in real life, there's always a party here to frequent. :)

Merry Christmas friends! Wishing you a season that will be filled to the brim with incredible new memories! Thank YOU for appreciating and frequenting this little corner of my world. I feel incredibly blessed.

Many other Christmas 2011 projects are in this area. Enjoy!

A BIG Christmas junk centrepiece, more vignettes and a gift

It's been great being home again! My work has finally finished up until the new year, so today started off slow and easy, with computer and coffee.

So I was playing on the blog (maybe for too long??) when my son asked me if it was ok to write on an old 'shirt.  "Sure!" I replied. Moments later he walked into the room with the shirt reading, "I'M HUNGRY."

While he's indeed a fine cook, the ploy to pay attention to HIM won, so we I stopped to eat. :) Then it was time to finish up a little additional decorating.

I received a really lovely gift from friend April from Thoughtful Escapes ..... She created these adorable little bags out of paint stained drop cloths in 3 different sizes. LOVE!

Washers and ribbon add the bling. Aren't they sweet? Thank-you April!

So I put them to work today. I just added a fresh sprig of greens, pinned them together and hung them up on the gate screens.

How cool was this spool find? Just a really simple little something that sits on a trunk in the room. Gotta love those apples and cranberries for just the right touch of red!

I brought back the white coffee table my son deems 'the lego table' for Christmas entertaining. A drying screen keeps all the remotes handy and offered a fun place for a vignette with a serving bowl for treats.

Fresh cranberries are nesting inside the clay pots, and the works received a light dusting of snow spray. Well, except for the apples. I've been on a displaying apple kick lately, but it's not sitting well with my son as it's apparently depleting his intake stock. Here's proof.

'Raaar' back atcha for eating my display! :)

Here's a funky little center piece for the metal island. A funnel, gears, candles, apples and cranberries placed on a few salvaged boards offer something unique and really quick to whip up.

The added snow is just spray that's super easy to wipe up, but it was rather fun to leave it for the photoshoot!  I'll just leave it until...

... seriously?!?

(all Christmas 2011 posts to date are HERE)

Creating with a self taught mentality

Ever wonder where some DIYers pick up their seemingly natural skills? Don't think I haven't thought of that myself!  Is there a self help magazine I don't know of?

But something I've come to understand is the way one thinks. Most that accomplish tend to work with a self taught mentality.

Something I've done forever in my sign / graphics / truck lettering day job is self teach myself lots of things. Here's an example.

This thick stripe had to be placed on this firetruck door. I felt it would look best if it ran right through the handle. But how would I deal with cutting around this?!?

To my knowledge, there's no manual out there to teach this, so I came up with my own solution. A washer was all I needed.

Using the washer as my radius guide, I drew on the stripe with a washable felt pen, then very carefully cut the reflective stripe on the firetruck door with my exacto stainless steel blade.

For those of you freaked out about the paint job... I can feel how deep the knife is cutting and can keep the blade off the paint. :)

The end result is a respectable outcome.

I do much the same with DIY projects. I will hunt and search for all kinds of solutions to solve my own problems.

I'd love nothing more to ask someone all kinds of questions all day long or have someone help with stuff. However, for me that isn't realistic. So I make up my own rules and figure it out.

Thinking with a self taught mentality can get you out of a lot of binds. You become more self sufficient and tend to tackle new things with less fear. And THAT, to me, is how you build up new skills relatively quickly.

So next time you think you need help, do yourself a big big favor and think again. Literally! :)

( The above documentation is part of a firetruck series I'm writing for a trade magazine. See? I'm even coming up with a way to blend my passion into my everyday job these days! :) )


More firetruck posts can be found HERE

What's your style? Self help or ask for help?