Winter Solstice.

 

💗 Chy 💗

Quiet Cozy Day.

Last night, I spent some time working on our Christmas gift to each other ~ a vintage signed print by an artist with a vision. I'll share the story one day.

This morning, we woke up with plans to head in to the Big City to visit the Old Antique Mall and to see my mom. But we woke up to large snow falling from the sky and decided not to chance driving down the highway with reports of blowing snow. It seems to have calmed down now but we're settled in after some tidying, showers and comfy clothes, and will now just enjoy being home in our little cottage. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were family focused, Boxing Day was friendship, and tomorrow is our day to welcome our neighbors down the lane in. So today was to be a bit of shopping and visiting. We don't have to work over the next week, so shopping and visiting can happen on another day. We're heading out to shovel, then lunch, then dh is playing some games with our dgs and dd's, and I plan to keep writing to planning for 2025. More family dinner tonight, some favorite shows to watch, and an early night as tomorrow will be quite busy with groceries in the morning, tours at our new centre for families wishing to join in, then home to tidy and make food for the evening. Excited to visit and enjoy the company.

                                  Enjoy the day!

                                      💗 Chy 💗

Blogtober: Day 17.

A good book and a warm cup of tea.

The best way to end a lovely, cold day!

~ Chy

The Eve before the Eve.

 

Cleaned off my desk as the letters and
cards are all done for the year. Finished!

Visited our granddaughter, son and our

daughter in law, as well as their pup. It

was a lovely time and we look forward

to more visits soon over the holidays!

Christmas tree all ready for the celebration

that is before us. So quiet, after a busy day.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care."

We're worried they'll fall off but so far, so good!

Good night to one and all. Sleep well. Dream lots!

~ Chy

Winter Solstice.

Tonight is the longest night after the shortest

day ~ the Winter Solstice. After tonight, the days

will begin to get longer and our sun will stay up

later and later. I look forward to that but will still

cherish the significance of today and tonight, as

we all observe what this time of year means.

~ Chy

Light and Bright Drive Home.

Before the time change this weekend. A light drive

home from being in town for the day. Beautiful!

Love how bright the sun was as it set. Soon it will

be late in the day before it goes down. Almost there!

~ 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

Gloomy Day.

Today is a gloomy day. The sun is hiding, my body is tired and my mind is clouded. Nothing bad, just a lot of things are happening that are hard, great and everything in between. And that has left me feeling worn out. The sun will arrive again. And I have a whole week off from work to catch up. I'm excited to have this time to reset life. I look forward to it.

Everyone is at work except dh and I. Fridays is our day to work together on our music festival, to do any renos or tasks that need to be done around the house, shopping in town if we feel like it, or just chilling when the weather keeps us home. Today, it's festival work day, as well as ensuring all the families that registered for our community preschool last week are entered fully on our spreadsheet. We have more than 80 families to input, so that will take a bit. So happy though that once again, for the Fall of 2022, we are full! Our preschool program is vibrant and very strong. 

Wishing you a beautiful day and a restful evening. 

~ Chy

Lego Day.

Lego Building Day is always the 27th

of December. We all got Lego again

today and we love to have a day in our

pj's, with treats and Lego to build. Fun!

~ Chy

A New Day.

Easter Dinner was fun but we so missed our other kids. We're grateful our daughters live with us so we've had family all year during Covid. But not seeing our boys and their families, my mom and other family members, and our friends has been hard. This celebration seemed the hardest as we're now in Year 2 of the virus and it's not getting better. A year ago I truly thought "okay, we lockdown for a month or so and kick this thing to the curb." But I don't have that same hope anymore. Will try to find it again. It's been a rough few days and I'll need to do some work today to get back to my smiley self. For now, pretty pictures of our Easter feast above. We're still enjoying a few more leftovers.

Today is going to be crazy busy. I'm heading down the hall in a few minutes to do my treadmill and my weights. Then a lovely shower. Meeting with my boss on video, then a phone counselling session, another video call with one of our hospice residents and his family, then a meeting (video) with my team, and the final video call for the day will be with my practicum student and her advisor ~ today is her final eval and her final day, though she has asked if she can stay on as a volunteer. So happy to have her continued support. She's going to be an amazing Social Worker. After all this, I'll take a bit of a break and then I have to catch up on the art class I'm signed up for. It's 3 nights ~ Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was live but each night was saved, and for up to one year, I can play the videos over and over again. Very thankful for this as last night was a very difficult end to the day and I didn't attend class. Tried to do some self care and ended up crawling in to bed early instead. Didn't sleep much but at least today is a new day. I hope you have a great day too! We all deserve some great days when life is tough. I'm off to tread out my bad feelings, stomp on my mood and lift some weights after my run/walk. Namaste my friends!

~ Chy

Challenge: Day 12.

Today's challenge: "What Makes Your Day?"

Pretty things.

Heartfelt hugs.

Warm dinners.

Laughs and giggles, 

Squishy babies.

Cozy cottages.

Good reads.

Engaging conversations.

Memorable movies.

Letters in the mailbox.

Smiles from my lovey.

Notes from my kids.

~ Chy

A Day in the Life ....

I have one of those crazy jobs that make life, on a daily basis, very interesting and definitely never boring. Actually, to tell the truth, I have 2 contracts. My full time job at our local hospice and my part time job at the charity we created as a family over 22 years ago. With the first position, I am the manager of the family bereavement programs ~ we provide counselling and groups to families, including children, teens and parents, as well as education and support to the community at large. My second position is the Executive Director for our charity. Prior to all of this, I was home with our children for just over 20 years. My position at our charity started in a voluntary capacity and eventually turned in to a paid contract. The hospice position is just 14 years old for me, and started out part time, but became full time after a few years and that is when dh came home (we still had kids at home who were homeschooling) so that I could concentrate on that position, to grow it to what it is today. I will forever be grateful for his dedication to our family and though he went back to work once our youngest was 18, he is still a large part of our home life and to this day, still makes dinner on a daily basis. Alright, enough of the mushiness. On with my post:

6:50 a.m.    

Dh wakes me up to say goodbye. I go back to sleep for a while. Way too early for me!

7:30 a.m.    

Up to shower, dress, make the bed, do my face, do my hair, gather my backpack.

8:00 a.m.    

In the car to drive dd to her job and then head to the Community Centre for a meeting.

8:30 a.m.    

Dd at work, car parked and I'm registered and having a tea at my table with others.

9:00 a.m.    

The Community Hub Meeting begins and continues until 12 noon. Loved every moment!

12:00 p.m.  

I drive to Hospice in the Big City. Eat my yogurt covered raisins, drink water on the way.

12:30 p.m.  

At Hospice, I meet with a colleague, then do some case notes while I wait for a family.

1:00 p.m.    

Family arrives and we have a one hour counselling session with art and journals.

2:00 p.m.    

More case notes, emails, phone messages and impromptu meetings with colleagues.

3:30 p.m.    

I water my plant before gathering my backpack to head to another community meeting.

4:00 p.m.    

Meeting at a local funeral home for an event will all be participating in this August.

6:00 p.m.    

Back in my car and call dh to let him know I'm on my way. This is a late night for us.

6:30 p.m.    

Home for dinner and Coronation St. I weeded, watered the veggie patch, folded laundry.

10:30 p.m.  

We head to bed to read for a bit. I can't keep my eyes open and soon fall sound asleep.

Most days, I pop into our Centre when I drop dd off to check voice mails, pick up the post and to see if my staff needs anything. Some days, I also have to drive our little guy in to his school. Then I either head to Hospice, to any schools I'm visiting or home if it's a day to work from home or a day off. If it's a work day, I usually leave the Hospice or the schools by 3 to head back to the Centre. Many days I have counselling or errands or case notes or program planning. Either I or dh will then drive dd home with us, stopping for groceries or gas as needed. Evenings are full of gardening, tidying, laundry, dishes, sweeping, plant care, art studio work, writing or a nap, if I'm super tired! I'm so glad and so lucky that thankfully one item not on my list is to make dinner each night. Dh loves to cook and I have no issue with his commitment to this task. After a busy day, if it was just me, I'd likely munch on a bowl of cereal. Cooking after a busy day is not in my ability at this time in my life.

So there you have it, my day in the life ....

Breathe September #18: Day.

Not as bright anymore. But still

full of life and now lots of color.

The First Day of May.

Rainy Day.

Not today but one day last week.

Cold, windy and rainy ....

.... just the perfect day to be home with

a warm cup of tea and some cookies.

I was thankful on this day that I only had to 

make a quick drive then back home again.

Have you had any rainy days lately?

Do they make you feel cozy?

Morning Lightscapes.

The sun rising and creating lightscapes.

Peaceful and calm, before a busy day.

My Favorite Time of Day.

A few more Winter shots to show my

favorite time of day, just before dusk.

As the sun gets lower, it casts sweet light

on the snow and warms our home with

the last few rays at the end of the day. This is 

when we feel the cozy in our little house.

Soft and warm, bright and shadowy, truly it is

and will always be my favorite time of day!

Do you have a favorite time of day?

What makes it your favorite?

Gloomy Pictures.

Two pictures from our "Gloomy Sunday".

It really was that dark outside, overcast

and cold, frosty and dull. No sun at all.

Thankful for this warm and colorful home.

End of a Long Day.

I'm so very thankful that the

sun has set and this day has

come to it's end. It was tough

at times, lovely in between.

And exhausting all around.

Happy it's done. PJ time!!

Tomorrow is a new day and

we have been promised warm

weather and sunny skies. I'm

looking forward to new energy.

How was your day, this fine Monday?

Great? Hard? Blissful? Frustrating?

And just like that!

.... Blue Monday turned into Sunny Monday! The sun came out and our landscape is once again shiny and light. A parcel we were waiting for arrived right on time with the loveliest deliver man at my door (I was so excited, I even gave him a tip!), new referrals are coming through my email for families, lunch was leftovers but so scrumptious, I don't have to drive into town as dh can pick up dd and my favorite show returns tonight with an action packed episode. Took the one Christmas Village down so I could use that desk for our preschool registrations and after a little nap (while everyone is still at work and it's quiet), I'm going to lay out the forms to see where we stand. 

A gloomy day turned lovely. That's what I love about this life! How quickly it can all turn around!!