Here's to 2023!

This past year had more good than bad.

The tough stuff was so hard and things

I hope we never have to tackle again.

But we did get through them. We even

celebrated those moments. And truly

embraced all the good moments too!

Thank you for all my readers and blog

buddies. Thank you for those who are

able to comment and those who follow

along. I read all your blogs and love

the community that exists with those

who love to share our lives with others.

Happy New Year to each of you as you

ring in 2023 with family and friends. Be

well. Stay safe. Keep living. Never stop

dreaming. Let creativity flow. Love to all!

~ Chy

Our Babies ....

Remembering our babies during the holidays. We

miss them so much but especially Christmas when

we should all be together. Love you to the moon and

back: Bretton, Ciara, Birkley, Cabriola, Cambria,

Beau, Cree and Bentley. Candles lit to shine in the

dark and frosty night. Love, mama and papa XO.

~ Chy

Counting Down.

A quiet New Year's at home, with gin

and goodies, Yahtzee and trashy tv!

And these 2 girls who keep us laughing.

Life would be very quiet without them!

~ Chy

Home.

Many travel at Christmas. I miss family

that doesn't live close by. We're in the

middle ~ family in one province to the

west of us and family in the province

to the east of us. We love to visit. But

at Christmas we choose to stay home.

Do you travel during the holidays?

~ Chy

Irish Blessing.

A beautiful Irish Christmas Blessing I found

when I was searching for a New Year's one.

Saving it for next year for our festive dinner.

The Irish in my blood is excited to find this.

~ Chy

Corner Candles.

Candles in the corner. I used to love

this little corner in the kitchen. But

when we bought our SMEG kettle,

my sweet candles got moved so dh

could have the kettle out all the time

in the Winter. One day I'll have them!

~ Chy

Wish us Luck!

The last few years, we had a rink right

off our back deck. The rink is set to go

but in a different spot this year. And I

am not sure it will happen. We came

home from Disney to snow and since

then, it's been too cold to get the final

pieces in place. We'll see what happens

over the next few weeks. Wish us luck!

~ Chy

On a Walk.

Before the frost. Out on a walk, a shot of

the cottage on a sunny but chilly afternoon.

~ Chy

LIttle Footprints.

Deer on the lane. Always nestled down

in the trees but they do venture out and

about along the lane, often coming in

to our garden. This morning, we found

little footprints up to the rose bushes.

Hopefully they didn't munch on them!

~ Chy

Before Sunset.

The back of our cottage, just as the sun

starts to set. So excited that now our days

will begin to get longer and longer again.

And Spring is just 80 days away. Yes!!

~ Chy

London New Year.

Beautiful shot of London, England

as they welcome in the New Year!

~ Chy

He Still Believes ....

I love that at 12, our little gs still believes.

I think he has a bit of wonder about the

whole thing but he's a great kid and as

long as we choose to believe, he will too!

~ Chy

The In Between.

I love the time in between Christmas

and New Years. Most years, we all

have time off. This year, I did have

to do a bit of work on the Wednesday

before Christmas and then again this

week. Not hard at all. I go back on

Monday and am looking forward to

the start of the year. Getting back to

routine will take a bit of work as we

haven't had to be up early and many

afternoons, we find ourselves curled

up on the couch, watching the snow

fall outside while we watch a movie

or work on our fun projects. We eat

when we're hungry, nap when we're

tired and spend time doing things we

don't always have time to do. It's truly

relaxing and what the in between is for!

Do you love all the time in between?

~ Chy

Vintage and Shiny.

My favorite decorations that never end

up on the tree! I found this old vintage

muffin tin at the Antique Mall and put

these pretty balls into it one year and

they've never left their safe place. Now

I bring it out every year with the idea that

I'll actually put them on the tree .... then

they stay in the tin. Vintage and shiny!

Do you have any decorations that don't

make it on to your Christmas Tree?

~ Chy

Yummy Confetti.

My auntie used to make "Confetti" all

the time when we were growing up. I

did for years as well but now our dd's

have taken it on as a tradition. Yum!

~ Chy

Coronation Street.

Another evening of catching up on Corrie.

Another year of being intrigued by all the

"stories" of those who live on the tiny Street.

A great British soap that we've been tuning

in to for decades. Can't imagine not having

our bit of "lost time" each day but we love it!

Do you watch any soaps or British tv?

~ Chy

Filling My Time.

Getting ready to ring in the New Year.

I love to sit with my new Susan Branch

desk calendar each year and fill in all

the special days for the year. Thankful

for a sweet daughter who makes sure I

have my sweet calendar under the tree

every Christmas. She did however this

year order 2 by accident! One for work!

~ Chy

Frosty and Foggy.

We woke up yesterday to the most amazing

hoar frost, which is still present today. A

quick trip in to town to meet a realtor, see

my mom and look at new phones meant

we left home in the sun but quickly it did

disappear and we were suddenly engulfed

in thick fog that made driving challenging.

These photos don't even really show how

dense it was. It felt like we were driving in

a tunnel. We usually talk or listen to music

while we drive but our car was silent all

the way into town. A bit scary though pretty!

~ Chy

New Toys.

We went off to Costco yesterday to

check out new phones for 2023.

Our current phones are 4 years old.

Mine is still in perfect shape. Dh's

is all cracked up but still works ok.

But both are slow now and giving us

some issues, so it was time to consider

new devices. We found a great deal

that included a new iPhone 14 at a

sale price, an increase to our current

plan but at a lower monthly cost, a

free set of ear buds, a free car charger

(for both phones) AND $600 in Costco

gift cards that we will definitely use. It

turned out to be the best deal we found

AND my new phone is a pretty shade

of lavender. Dh's is a cool light blue.

Did you get any new toys for Christmas?

~ Chy

To End the Year.

I thought this was the perfect quote to the year.

2022 for many of us was a good year but also

a year that had it's challenges. I'm happy to reflect

on the good but so happy to have a fresh start

beginning at midnight tonight. Wishing you the

best start to 2023. Enjoy the night. Stay safe!

~ Chy

Settling In.

The last post, I promise of little Miss

Blythe. She has settled in just fine and

trying out a few spots to sit and watch

the action happening all around her.

~ Chy

My 1st Unboxing.

I've posted a video of the unboxing of my Blythe doll

but wanted to share her here as well. If you'd like to

follow the adventure, the link to the new IG account

called "Blythe Cottage" is here. She is so sweet and

now that I've got her unboxed, the next task is to name

her. She was given the name "Mary" by her creator

but we'll likely choose a "C" name to follow our little

pattern with names in our family. OR a "B" name ....

~ Chy

Boxing Day.

Boxing Day is a holiday in Canada and

in the U.K. We love this day after the

big day. For our family, it's our annual

"pyjama/LEGO Building/leftovers Day."

We ended up with a few LEGO sets to

build this year. In the first photo, our

daughter put together her Mandalorian

Helmet. Dh started to build his Disney

Haunted Mansion but we discovered a

number of pieces were missing. Like a

whole bag. Now we wait for the blocks

to arrive so his project is on hold. I will

in time start the big one above. It's a cool

3,066 pieces and will take some time. It

was surprise and I'm so excited to start!

The item is called the "Boutique Hotel."

Dh also received a toaster for Christmas

from the girls that makes a Darth Vader

impression on his toast. Silly gift but

it really works. I just shook my head!

At the end of the day, the beautiful moon

shining in our window. A busy couple of

days but it's always nice to have a break

like Boxing Day where instead of doing

what everyone else does (shopping like

crazy, kind of a Black Friday feel), we

stay home and chill. I would never, ever

change this tradition and we love the day!

Do you have Boxing Day in your region?

If so, what do you like to do on this day?

~ Chy

The King's Speech.

We always stop on Christmas Day to

watch the Queen's speech. This year,

we did the same but the difference

was instead of our beloved Queen

sharing her inspiring words, we have

a new King, so it was the King's Speech.

I think Charles has done a fine job so far

in taking over this important job after his

mother's death. It seemed like he never

really wanted this role but he's doing it!

The choir was beautiful, with participants

of all ages sharing the sweet music.

Short and sweet but always has an impact

on our day. Very well done, King Charles!

~ Chy

Christmas Day.

Once again, we were awake well before the kids.

This is tradition in our house. When they were

little, I marvelled at family and friends who all

shared how they would be up super early in the

morning and would have all their gifts open even

before the sun rose. In our cottage, it has always

been the opposite. We literally have to wake all

the kids and now grandkids up so we can get

the day underway. I'm grateful but it's always

been so interesting to us they don't get up early.

A little bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream for my

breakfast. It is my favorite. Creamy and smooth!

I have to grab the photos from the morning

off my phone so just a few quick shots for

now of the day. Dh opening a special gift

I have made for him, all the way from over

the sea ~ Turkey. He had not idea of what

it was and it was fun as he tried to guess.

Hard to see so I'll have to share once it's

been installed on the wall. The artwork

is a big angel with a motorcyle and the

nickname of my lovey guy "Wild Bill."

This will be hung up either in our little

mudroom OR in the garage. It will hold

his helmet, gloves and keys for storage.

No motorcyle yet. Down the road in time.

Dd#1 went one step further and found him

a helmet and dd#2 bought him the leather

gloves he'll need to keep his hands intact

when riding. Now I'll need a helmet too!

It was an amazing morning that took a very

long time to wrap up (my pun for the night!)

with stockings, breakfast, tidy up, then the

opening of gifts (one at a time with Santa

handing each one out), marvelling at the

sweetness of our family to each other and

then showers, turkey and sides all prepped

for dinner. A quiet afternoon to play and

then it was time to sit down to eat the most

amazing dinner once again. Never gets old!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day.

I'm loving reading all the posts from my buddies.

~ Chy