Dutch Delft

My amazing Aussie friend is having a giveaway on her blog.  The lucky winner will receive a beautiful Delft ornament for the tree.  Looking at one of the ornaments she had reminded me of my own little slice of Dutchness.
We have a lot of Dutch farmers around the countryside here.  Several years ago there was a massive influx of them buying farms from retired farmers or from people just wanting to sell their farms.  Land is at a premium in Holland and was not easily attainable so they chose to come here and live the dream!

They keep their properties so neat it puts the rest of the farms to shame.  They have started their own businesses selling organic milk and cheeses,  it's wonderful.
I think one of the reasons why they chose to come to Canada was because our forces liberated the Netherlands at the end of World War two.  They love Canadians.
So, because of all the immigration here, the Dutch people missed their native foods like gouda and all different kinds of things.  One enterprising individual rigged up a big truck and would go around the province selling Dutch delicacies from the back of his truck.  You could just walk inside the back and feast your eyes.  A Dutch friend of mine convinced him to stop at my house.  Every month!  This is what I would buy:

Little houses!

I could just see them all lined up along the canal.

There is so much detail on them.  Even on the sides.

I like to keep them all jammed together though, just like the real ones.

See?  I would love to visit there some day.

So come on up those steps and trough the crooked door and share some gouda  with me.

                                                                      einde!

Straighten Up!

We have a bookcase in the dining room.  In fact we have a total of eight bookcases in our home. It's the dining room bookcase that I see the most often and it is also the messiest.  If we don't know where to put something we just shove put it there. It also has the least amount of books!

Here she be.  Please excuse the quality of the pic, there are two windows right to the left of the bookcase.  It took more time to clean up those shelves than I thought it would.  I filled the dining room table with junk: magazines, useless odd bits of paper and miscellaneous tat.

Et voila!  I actually tidied it up and cleaned off the dining room table.  This is a big deal for me as I tend to be a wee bit messy.
Oh by the way, remember I thought about posting a broken item of the week?  Do you see those two vases on the top of the bookcase?

The one on the left has a great big chunk out of the back of it.  That vase has known my husband longer than I have so I'm afraid it's staying.  Wish me luck on tidying up the Shelves in the living room.  It would be number two on the messy bookcase list.  I'm really expert at procrastinating though so it might be a while!

Thanksgiving American Style

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends.  Blessings to those who cook and cleanup!

Winner Winner!

Okay folks, I drew a name myself for the contest.  My only witnesses were two dogs and a cat so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

And the winner is.....

Linda!  Linda has a lovely blog called Itsy Bits and Pieces.  She also has two vintage shops on Etsy so go and check her out.

Thanks to everyone who entered.  I want to especially thank everyone who reads my blog.  I really appreciate all your comments and I've made some lovely friends through this journey.

Cheers!

Survivor

When hubby and I were first married we lived a four hour drive from our in-laws and out-laws.  We moved back to our home province for a job opportunity only.  Hubby decreed that if we had to move back home he was going to have a horse.  That meant living near family, his and mine. His parents spent their summers in a cottage on the bay.  This seemed to be the congregating spot for siblings and spouses and children Every.Single.Sunday. Did I tell you he had seven brothers and sisters?  And tons of nieces and nephews?  They pretty much all made an appearance at the cottage every weekend. It was a family free for all!

  Hubbies parent's health declined and the cottage life ended.  His family is not especially close so with the end of the cottage each family pretty much went their own way.  Family get togethers were few and far between.

   As the years flew by, his sisters began making a special effort to get the family together at Christmas.  This was great, I could endure an evening with the fam once a year.

   This past year brought a lot of changes due to sickness and other things, so Sis decided to get together more often.  As in a lot.  Today was the latest pot luck lunch Sunday.  In the car I remarked to hubby I felt like we were going to a tribal council meeting and I wondered who was going to be voted off.  Would it be grouchy, irritable brother or gasp, me because I took some ginger ale?  Sis is very health conscious.  Hubby was totally shocked at my reluctance to attend yet another tribal council get together but he had to laugh when I talked about getting voted off.

Now my daughter and her cousin are planning a huge Christmas party with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins' children because we don't get together enough. !!!  I want to get voted off. Please.

Finally...the Giveaway!

Gentle Readers,
Please accept my abject apologies for the delay of the giveaway.  My sweatshop worker sewing guru was unavoidably detained by making six of these:

Why, I ask you, do six angel costumes for the elementary school play take on more importance than my giveaway?
I digress.  Here's the booty:

A sixteen inch square pillow cover designed by me (with help from the Graphics Fairy) and silkscreened by me.
A vintage tablecloth, never used, made by my mum. It is a dark brown and white cloth, perfect for that brown transfer ware!

I'm also adding the pretty note cards shown in the first photo.

I'm so proud of myself for reaching over 150 posts so I want to reward you folks for putting up with me.  You know the drill, become a follower if you haven't already and leave me a comment on this post.  I'll announce the winner on Monday so get your fingers typing.  Also, this giveaway is open to anyone in the whole wide world!

Cheers!

What's Going On Here?

Lately I've been having these weird anti cravings.  Things that I loved to eat no longer appeal to me.

Ground beef.  This has been on my can.not.eat. list for a few months now.

Ditto ribs.

Pop has just lost its fizz.

My sweet tooth cannot handle candy anymore.  This  just occurred a couple of weeks ago and I'm shocked.  I was born with a sweet tooth.  I have not turned up my nose at candy since I was expecting my first baby.  That phase only lasted a month or two.

So, Gentle Readers, can anyone tell me what's going on?  I'm not complaining, I don't miss any of it. Oh yes, I'm not pregnant!  As if.