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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport

Hello everyone,

If some of you may have noticed I have been a bit absent lately it is because my husband and I went away on a little trip for six days down to the Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport Maine. We have been to this charming little town a couple of times before, but never for the Christmas Prelude, and since I love Christmas it was all very beautiful to me!

Come along and I will show you a little bit of this beautiful little town in all it's Christmas finery.Christmas Prelude was voted the number two best Christmas celebrations in the United States by HGTV. They have a website with beautiful photos if you would like to see more click here.

The Inn above was so breathtaking ,with thousands of mini lights on trees and shrubs and the wreaths on the windows etc. It is "The White Farm Inn".

This shop was absolutely beautiful with all the trees and colored hanging balls etc. I think the owner but so much work and creativity into this display. I think she thought of everything because she even had heaters out to warm you up and she serves nice delicious sweets and punch outside . Inside are all kinds of beautiful things to tempt you. I love how the ceiling was decorated inside too. You can click to enlarge for a better look.

These carolers outside a beautiful old inn are so charming. I was really hoping for a little snow to add to the beauty but, alas it was not to be.

I love walking around the town as nearly everyone has beautiful wreaths etc.

Doorway to another Inn.

My photos don't do justice, to how beautiful the night time was here.

In Dock Square in the evening there were carolers singing as we waited for Former First Lady Laura Bush to light the tree.

This is our charming room under the eaves in the lovely Harbour Inn.

This was the front porch. I loved coming back after the caroling etc. to sit by the fire with a hot cup of tea and some cranberry loaf with our friendly hostess.

This was our cute little bathroom. My husband was glad we didn't have to wallpaper it with all those angles!

Even the bridge between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport was beautifully decorated with greenery and lights.

more shops decorated.

The tree in Dock Square with 13,000 lights on it!

there was lots to see all around the town and surrounding areas.

There are lots of temptations for me as there are so many antique shops.

Well, we had a great time but now I am feeling a little behind in my own decorating ,visiting, baking etc. I am behind on checking in to see what all of you have been up to as well, so lots to see and do!

Thank you to all who have visited me and all who left kind words(I preposted a few posts before I left).

Hope you enjoyed a peek into the Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport, Maine- it is aprox. a ten hour drive from where we live.

Take care,
Carolyn

Link Love No 32!

Before I start link love post, let me tell you about this dessert I had tonight at a restaurant...

It is called "Chocolate Lava cake with hazelnut whipped cream". Mmmm... Writing the name out make me drool. It was SOOOO good! We were pretty stuffed, so we only order one cake. I thought to myself "Ah, I will just have a bite". I am sure that every one in my family thought that too. Wrong. After we had our first bite, the cake was gone in a second (we might have looked like vultures).

I need to know how to make it. Does anyone know a really good recipe for this? If you do, please email it to me!

Well, I need to get a hold of myself and start the link love post...

Chick Chick Sewing shared this very pretty rag wreath tutorial. I love how she put the fabric pieces on to the wreath.

Sarah from Welcome to the Good Life is known for her amazing repurposing skills. She shared some of her secrets on how she does it. It is very easy to understand, with lots of helpful hints!

Check this out! I am in love with this legging...ok, maybe not for me, but for my little girl. This Jcrew inspired legging tutorial was linked by Mama Says Sew. This is such an easy way to dress up simple leggings into one of a kind piece.

Oh, boy... Aren't they so beautiful? My Salvaged Treasures created these necklaces out of keys and vintage parts. I love how she combines things. Great work!

Leg cozy anyone? Shwin & Shwin created this cute leg cozy. This is such an easy, nice project to do. I bet it will make a great Christmas gift too!

Oh, my "Things to make" list gets longer and longer... do you guys have the same problem? Thank you so much to share your creations everyone, have a nice Sunday!

Tis' the season of visiting with Friends & Family. I always like to show up with something in hand for the hostess. Here is my never-fail favourite thing to do - a custom flower arrangement in a vase. I love it because it's economical (Usually around $15-$20) and is immediately enjoyed by the recipient.

The reason why I like putting flowers in a vase to bring with me is because at a dinner party or event, the hostess is usually so busy entertaining, so your flowers go unappreciated during the night. By providing a vase for the hostess, the little arrangement can be immediately displayed. And personally, I dislike the pre-made flower arrangements that you buy in shops, and find that you can make beautiful ones on budget.

So, here was an arrangement I did for a hostess this weekend.

I stock up on vases at the dollar store like the one I used here. For $2.00 you can't go wrong. I keep a collection of vases in storage in our basement, as buying the same vase at the florist will run you $8-$10 because of the convinience. I bought a stem of a Hydrangea - it's large so fills up most of the vase, and then bought an assortment of greenery/berries that were at my corner florist. (I wish I knew their names - sorry!)

Ta-da... The total cost came to $16 for this little arrangement. $14 for the flowers and $2 for the vase from the dollar store. I purposefully picked non-scented flowers/berries as I couldn't remember if the hostess was sensitive to scents (I am, so I'm usually careful). It's my no fail hostess gift.

They are done. :)

I have always wanted birch branches for the front pots but could never find them in Toronto. A week ago as I walked by our mini mart/video store at the corner of our street, I stopped in my tracks when I saw he had a bundle of them for $2.50 each. I loaded up 6 into the stroller and Oscar and I went home to stick them into the pots. I wanted to add ornamental cabbages like I saw in front of stores on Yonge Street, but Aubrey wasn't digging them and truthfully, I like the simplicity in the end of the front.

I love how the Birch logs that add height and contrast against the dark brick and dark black door and I love our red Wreath that has hung on our door every Winter since we moved in. Mom suggested adding some red branches to pull in the red from the wreath, and I may if I see some as I walk to get my Starbucks with Oscar. But for now, they are done. :)

...And the winner is...

TZel

who said "I am your follower as bridgestranslation."

I will be e-mailing you with your $35 CSN Stores gift code!

(And no, I can't figure out how people put a snapshot of the random number generator in their blog posts! If anyone has any helpful suggestions, please let me know!)

It was GREAT to read everyone's comments about what they wanted to GIVE for Christmas this year! What a wonderful, thoughtful, unselfish group of women. Thank you for following along with me, and sharing a little piece of your heart this Christmas time!

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Tree Farm Visit

This morning Mr. Comforts of Home and I went to our favorite Christmas tree farm. It is way out in the mountains and a beautiful drive. The weather was perfect! Sunny and about 42 degrees.

Eennie meenie minee mo....hard to pick just one! They are all so beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, the picture below is just one of the views from the tree farm. I love the cows grazing in the field. Did you see how blue the sky was?

We found the perfect tree and Mr. Comforts is making sure it stays on the car for the 45 minute ride home.

I am spending the weekend decorating the tree, house and front door. I will post pictures on Monday!

Like frosty is saying...see you in two days! (double click on the pictures to enlarge)

p.s. to play Weekend~Where is It? Go to the previous post...

Welcome Home,

Penny

Christmas at Mom's (part 3)

...If you missed Part 2, it is here, and Part 1 is here.

Are you beginning to understand why decorating my mother's house is not a task for the faint-hearted? The results are certainly worth it, but it's a major commitment of time and energy! I just have a few more pictures to share with you. There are places I forgot to take pictures of...maybe next year!

My mother loves garland. There is an "arch" of sorts between the kitchen and family room that gets this gorgeous garland....

The kitchen picture window gets dressed up by ropes and ropes of all things silvery and sparkly! (I really wish I could capture the sparkle!)

And here's the Christmas tree, and you can glimpse the garland between the living/family rooms above it.

My picture of just the garland didn't turn out. She purchased two pre-lit garlands from Costco a few years ago, but then she had me take off all the lights that were on it and replace them with these gold grape-cluster lights. They are really fabulous at nighttime.

My mom gave up on the "kid" ornaments many years ago, and she keeps adding to her collection of sparkly, dangly, beaded-y, FANCE-Y -type ornaments!

...but there are two ornaments that don't seem to quite belong! Those are my dad's "Christmas Story" ornaments. One is of Ralphie in his pink bunny suit, and the other is of the kids sticking their tongues to the lightpost! My mother grimaces about those ornaments every year, but the rest of us find it highly amusing!!

At the base of the tree you will find "Papa Willow" riding Mooseltoe, surrounded by his forest friends. I think my kids have named every animal!

Ahh, but what about my favorite decorations, that I promised to show yesterday?? Well here they are:

Back in this corner of the living room are my two contributions to the Christmas overload.

This is a counted-cross stitch picture on linen I made for my mother in 1996 (well...I finished it in 1996; we won't mention when I started it). It was my gift to her, although I had to beg a sister to help pay for the matting and framing!

The second Santa picture is also counted-cross stitch over linen, and I think I finished it in 2002 or thereabouts (this time a very talented sister-in-law matted and framed it). Oh, the things I did before I had quite so many children!!

So there you have it! Christmas at Mom's. It's lavish and beautiful, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Welcome, Google Apps users!

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Google Apps is Google’s suite of cloud-based messaging and collaboration apps, including Gmail, calendar, documents, spreadsheets, and more, specifically optimized for use in organizations. These services, which run entirely in the cloud, are used by over 30 million users in small and large businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations around the world. You can learn more about how Google Apps can lower IT costs and improve productivity and collaboration at your organization at google.com/apps.

For those users who have a Google Apps account, if your administrator has already transitioned your organization to the new infrastructure, you can get started using SketchUp and 3D Warehouse at sketchup.google.com with your existing Apps account.

For more details, read the complete post on the Google Enterprise blog and follow all the updates on other newly available services for Google Apps users.

Posted by Gopal Shah, Google SketchUp team

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Thanks, Denise

The whole of the UK is covered in a blanket of snow and we are experiencing Arctic conditions........and, when this happens, everything comes to a grinding halt and, havoc ensues !! I, for one, hibernate close to the fireside, drinking tea, coffee, hot chocolate during the day, soup for lunch and then move on up to wine in the evening !! Life stands still somewhat while we keep warm and think about Christmas.

This gorgeous Georgian house ( somewhat out of focus I'm afraid ) is the home to offices now, but what a lovely place to work..........

This is St, Mary's church, just around the corner to where we live. It was built in 1418 and contains Cromwell's family vault. A medieval stone coffin was recovered from the church in 1872, when it was found being used, inverted, as a doorstep !!!!

This is the entrance to the cemetery, located in my road. I find cemeteries really interesting ..... make of that what you will !!!! ..........

Here is the view from my landing......you can just about make out the snow ..........

Seedheads in our garden ..........

On Monday, I went out for lunch with the girls ( I do venture out sometimes when it snows ). I took this and the next four shots from the back seat of my friend's car ( I was lucky not to be the driver and polished off a bottle of Sauvingon Blanc at lunch !! ). We drove through Epping Forest and it looked so beautiful........... much more beautiful than a couple of snaps taken whilst going at speed !
Epping Forest was where Henry V111 and Elizabeth 1st hunted and, the highwayman Dick Turpin had a hideout there. It is also very popular with murderers as a place to hide a body unfortunately.