Fat Cat Nap

This is more than just a plump cat soaking in the sun. This is about the fact that it got mild enough today to melt some of our many layers of snow. It felt wonderful to walk on the beach without a woolly hat and scarf. Even though we have a couple of snow falls coming this week today's respite from ice and windchills was much needed and Skitty took advantage of a soothing sunshine nap.

Little Gray Kitty AKA Skitty...Moochie...

This is our wild cat friend who every morning inundates my dog Willa with affection. Willa is unimpressed...she is willing to share her chicken treats with Miss Kitty, but no snuggling allowed!

George

This is George. I was given this wee Quaker parrot by some wonderful people I used to work for, the Turreffs, as a birthday present a few years ago. I was so surprised as I never thought of owning a pet of my very own, I was delighted and named him George. Every morning when I woke up I would take his cover off and say "good morning", within a few days he would say "good morning" back to me! I even taught him to say "goodnight", but the best part was when he called me "mummy", I loved it! At the end of the working day (If I didn't have him on my shoulder) I would go to my room and he would say "hello mummy", then I would let him out to walk all over the bedroom floor while I put my jammies on and got comfy on the couch. When I would sit down he would come looking for me and walk up my leg until he got to my shoulder and there he would sit for the night. I would take him away for weekends to my sis-in-law's house as Carole loved him too. I had him for 2 years, then he died, he had a bacteria around his wee heart, my poor wee baby, he was a fabulous wee bird. I just loved him and still think of him. If I could get the exact same bird I think I would get another. To my wee George, lots of love from his mummy xxx.

By Christine Neary

Spoons With Many Tales

My wee Mum collected spoons, I'm not sure when she started but she loved her spoons and the collection grew and grew. A lot of them were given to her by family and friends, when someone went to another country they always remembered to buy Mum a spoon. Here are some countries they came from. South Africa (she had a friend who lived there), Canada (I think I bought her one from there), Greece (from my sister Kathleen), Spain, New York (quite a few came from there as a few family members came to visit New York and I live in New York so I sent her a few too), Portugal, Gran canaria, Athens, Ireland, Cornwall Devon and many more countries. Sadly when she passed away Kathleen kept the spoons, some were dispersed among family but Kathleen keeps the others and I hope she keeps them forever and not get rid of them as they were a big reminder of our lovely wee Mum.

By Christine Neary

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends what is their favorite Christmas memory...this is Rose Ann's memory.

"I was 12 years old and my Dad had not long been dead. Christmas was looming and I suppose I never thought where the money was going to come from for presents. Maybe I hoped for once, Santa might be real! One day my Aunty Ellen turned up with masses of presents, one for each of us. She handed them all out and there I was sitting on the stairs the only one without a gift. I remember saying to myself, "don't cry, don't let them know it bothers me". Aunty Ellen came over to me and said, "we haven't forgotten about you, your present is not in the shop yet, it will be here soon!" True to her word, a couple of days later she arrived with a big box which was a post office set, and I just loved it! They couldn't (they being my Aunties and Uncles who clubbed together to help my poor widowed Mammy give her 10 children a decent Christmas) have picked a better or more wanted present. Knowing what I know now of relationships, I know that was a supreme act of love on their part. I will never forget that Christmas."

Exceedingly Good

For all of you who know and adore the bakewell tart I hope your mouths are watering and that you will truly understand this dilemma. This is the last bakewell tart (one of many delicious goodies given to us by Kathleen and Andy) and there are three people in the house! Does the strongest get it, the nicest, the fastest? We could divide three ways and each get a heavenly mouthful (whole tart only 2 and a half inches wide). Or the one who is here alone doing giant piles of laundry all day deserves it? No...I think I will be nice and share when everyone is here together and keep this photo to drool over every once in a while.

Blown Away

My eyes are watering...finally getting some feeling in my cheeks, I made the mistake of going outside in this gusty frigid day without my scarf. It's 17 degrees with a wind chill of 4 degrees and wind gusts going above 40 mph. But I just had to take a look at the ocean and saw these poor Canada geese, not flying straight but sideways struggling against the wind. The waves are calm today but you can see the spume being blown away. It's the perfect day for beginning a craft project and as soon as my fingers work properly I'm going to begin crocheting with the wool Jonathan gave me for Christmas.


Click on photo's to enlarge...you can see the geese better...the same for any photo on this blog.

Come For Tea

This is my cup and saucer collection. I love to drink out of a cup and saucer, I always have, the daintier the better. I have collected these over a number of years. Some are from my Mum, one from a lady I have adopted as my Grandmother (she is a collector too), she gave me one from her own collection. Gale, a woman I used to work for gave me one. One from a sister and one from a niece. I bought a couple myself from antique shops (I love antique shops!). The wee cabinet came from my brother John who got it at an antique shop. I love my collection, if I had a bigger apartment I would collect more!

By Christine Neary

Orange You Glad To See Me?

You must all think I've got nothing to do! No, I have been busy all day, but between being busy one must reward ones self with a treat. I forgot I had this chocolate orange hidden away. You best take a slice before they're all gone!

Copy That

I found this sticker on the bottom of a mixing bowl. Perhaps this label should go with every sewing and craft project I make, though most often than not it is only me who see's the mistakes.

So Good Their Bad

I can't stop eating this Christmas present. "Mrs. Prindables" caramel covered apples rolled in candy. It's my favorite apple, the granny smith, the combination of tart apple with caramel and sweet chocolate is amazing!

Farm Fresh Eggs

After reading an article about store bought eggs, I went on a search for real fresh eggs. Just because it says “fresh” on the box or “organic” means nothing, those eggs are up to two months old before they get to your fridge.

I tried many farm stands and country stores, but all of these places had their eggs in fridges already with no way to tell how long they had been there and often the yolks were pale and the whites were cloudy, a sure sign they had been around a while.

Then I discovered Iacona Farms in East Hampton, where you can see the actual chickens and speak to the people who collect the eggs every day. The eggs are a beautiful brown color, the yolks are bright and the whites are clear and they taste delicious.

By John Neary

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends what is their favorite Christmas memory...this is Amanda Smith's memory.

"To this date I have had 19 Christmases. I can't remember a majority of them, just bits and pieces of different ones. The one Christmas I think I will always remember is the one of 2008, and not just because it is the most recent one, either. It was a notable one because it was the first Christmas in my new rebuilt house. We had no Christmas decorations anymore, the fire had claimed them all. Because of that, my mom decided to give me her Christmas village--which she had been collecting pieces for for years. I always admired it, she always set it up so nicely every year. Along with the village she also handed down some of her ornaments that she had had for years. I now think that all of those things will be family heir items. They were very special to her and are just as special to me. Also during this Christmas...my cousin Jeffrey, who is like a brother to me now, had moved into the house as well and loves decorating as much as I do. So we went out and bought as much stuff as we could with what little amount we had to spend. We were up all night decorating all of the living room, outside, and a little upstairs. What really made this Christmas memorable, at least for me, was that every Christmas I could remember, we had a fake tree. Since my dad knew how much I had wanted a real one, he went out and got one. The smell of fresh pine illuminated the whole Christmas aura of the house. Luckily this year, we have continued the new tradition of having a real tree."

Breakfast Of Chocolate Champions

Some people start the day with a cup of coffee or tea. I must have my hot chocolate! Humid Summers, chilly winters I sip my hot chocolate with relish every day. My little brother got me this mug from the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. I make my hot chocolate from scratch using Ghirardelli double chocolate flavor cocoa with milk and heavy whipping cream. A luxury is Williams-Sonoma peppermint hot chocolate made with real chocolate shavings, it is very expensive so just a spoonful added to the cocoa. I've just finished my mugful, using a spoon to scrape the bits of chocolate from the rim...ahhh tomorrow morning...

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends their favorite Christmas memory...this is Scott Bremner's memory.

"My first Christmas memory is hearing Santa on the roof of the house after he dropped pajamas through our loft hatch. I was seven years old and my little brother Paul was three. It was when I lived on Isle of Arran. My favorite Christmas song is Last Christmas by Wham."

My Friend The Robin

When I was a gardener working in England many years ago, I had a friend, a robin. Whenever I was digging in the vegetable garden, I would stand an extra spade close to me and my little friend would come and sit on the handle, and whenever I turned over
the soil that had a worm in it, he would jump down and gobble it up then fly back up to the handle and wait for the next one. He was fat and had a big red breast and he stayed with me all that year. He was cool.

By John Neary

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends what is their favorite Christmas memory...this is John Neary's memory.

"One of my youngest Christmas memories is when I was six or seven years old. We were lucky to have a TV at home, a black and white one of course, it was 1959ish, and there was a lot of cowboy movies from America on TV, and I, like all of the boys I knew, wanted to be cowboys. That Christmas, my parents got me a cowboy outfit, it had everything, two six guns, a rifle, chaps, a cowboy hat and a vest with fringes. I remember getting dressed up in my new cowboy outfit, with the help of my dad and I remember him telling me not to stand the rifle against the wall barrel down, he said it would fall over and I might accidentally shoot someone. I was reluctant to go out of the house all dressed up but I soon figured out that a pillow tied over the foot board of my bed, like a saddle, made a great horse. I fought many Indians that winter, rode across many prairies and my trusty steed never let me down. Happy memories."

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends what is their favorite memory of Christmas...this is Christine's memory.

"I would have to say one (or many) of my favorite Christmas memories was when I lived in Glasgow. I may have been about 6 or 7 years old the year I received my cot for my new doll. I remember writing out my list for Santa on Christmas eve and my Mum took the wee letter and my sister Kathleen's too. We watched as she put it up the chimney (we called it the lum) so Santa would get it and read our list. We then went to bed. I was very excited because that was when I believed in Santa. I imagined him squeezing down our chimney and not giving any thought to the fire below and drinking the milk and biscuits my Mum had put out for him. When I went to bed every noise I heard I thought it must be Santa and I was afraid to move in case he heard me. When I woke up in the morning I looked at the bottom of my bed to see if I had a stocking with goodies in it and there was an orange, some sweeties and a wee toy, that was exciting enough. Then I ran into the sitting room with my sister and there was my new life sized blue cot with a new doll. There was a knitted blanket in it which I think my Mum knitted. I remember putting my new doll in the cot to go to sleep, it was a great feeling to know that Santa knew what I wanted and I got it. I believed in Santa for quite a few years."

Holly Jolly Memories

For the holiday season I am asking my blog friends what is their favorite memory of Christmas...this is Suzy's memory.

"I have many childhood memories of toys and surprises but the one I remember fondly was as an adult in the mid 1990's on the night of Christmas eve it began to snow. I went outside into our field that was surrounded by woods and just roamed around enjoying the peaceful feeling the snowfall gave. It was the first time we had a white Christmas. Though it was not a dramatic moment it affected me even after all these years."

Happy Memories

I remember making this high chair and crib to go with a new doll my daughter Suzy got for Christmas many years ago. I made them from scrap materials and could only work on them when little prying eyes were asleep. I enjoyed it and I am glad I still have the photo's to look at.

By John Neary