DIY Christmas Wreath

While many of you in the states will be preparing for your Thanksgiving Feast...
here in Canada those of us who celebrate Christmas 
are looking ahead to the Festive season.

Our lovely DIL and I recently took a wreath making class
which was offered at the local garden centre.
I have never made a Christmas wreath, I usually make swags or buy a pre-made Christmas wreath.

I'm posting pictures of the evening.

You know what they say...
pictures are worth a thousand words.

You will need :

Wreath base, wire, secateurs, heavy string, moss, assorted boughs, pine cones.

I wore my garden gloves to keep the sap off my hands.

Hot coffee and apple cider were available to sip while we worked

as we were outside (BRRR!)

  we were dry as we were underneath a canopy.

Next year they assured us they would have heaters!

First you fill the wire base with moss

then cut all your boughs to a similar size and lay them on top

of the base at an angle overlapping them

wrapping each bough to anchor it to the base as you go.

Fill in any areas where the string shows with short pieces of greenery.

Wire the pine cones and attach them to the wreath secure the ends 

then cut off excess wire.

Natalie's wreath...I love the eucalyptus and the touches of gold.

You may add baubles, bows, ribbons, glitter accents 

anything that you like.

Finally

attach a zip strap at the top for hanging and enjoy your newly decorated festive wreath!

I am pleased with the results and will be able to make another one next year.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

 I'll be back with more on the continuing wardrobe edit soon.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Wardrobe edit: Scarves...those that made the cut

I've recently been editing and culling my wardrobe.

I like to do this regularly as it helps me refine my style, allows me to see what regularly gets worn, who are the key players and what features make them the workhorses in my closet.

My wardrobe is kept small...the closet is also small and I share it with my husband! One day we will redo it and install some features that will improve its storage capacity...in 1913 a "pedestrian bungalow owner" would not have had many clothes...daytime wear (house dresses) and Sunday best.

First on the chopping block are the scarves...

Too many scarves and they were spilling off the shelf in my bedside cabinet
not enough space so some had to go...
7 scarves were donated to the charity shop and two were consigned.

Silk Hermes collection
 (which I wear mostly in the Spring and Summer)

Three orange boxes

Small square purchased in Paris

Black and White silk from Vancouver Hermes store

The original from the San Francisco Hermes shop.

Long scarves

some worn in summer and some in the Fall and Winter

Large white scarf (shawl size) from the Monoprix 

 St Germain, Paris

Burberry print infinity scarf

(gift)

Two Linen scarves:

black and grey 

blue and white 

(purchased at the Pharmasave in Oak Bay)

Burberry cashmere

(gift from my husband)

I tend to wear the Burberry cashmere all through the Fall and Winter as it offers warmth and is so cozy and goes with my wine coloured puffer coat.

That's all the scarves and they neatly fit inside the cabinet now with some "breathing room!"

The new Bosch dishwasher arrived and was installed today...

looking forward to clean dishes and no more leaks!

I am taking a wreath making workshop this week with our lovely DIL

Hopefully my efforts will be worthy of a photo and if the wreath looks OK

 I will share it here in a future post.

Have you started decorating for Christmas?

For some strange reason this year I feel like putting up our decorations and tree already and it is not even December!

I recently read this book the subject matter was quite disturbing...

extremely well written but rather graphic

 a NY Times bestseller.

I'm reading a much lighter book right now...

(Chick Lit)

Set in London and the South of France...

love the style in which it is written

just the thing to put a smile on my face as I sit with my mug of tea on these rainy afternoons.

What is new with you and 

what are you reading?

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

In Holiday mode for a wee bit longer....

Greetings from The Humble Bungalow.
I am still very much in holiday mode but thought I would share a few of the holiday snapshots with you.

Our faux tree with simple white fairy lights.

Boxing Day 

before the gifts were opened...

(most of these parcels are for the grandchildren)

Fraser Fir candle adding to the ambiance with the scent of a real tree.

Our tiny living room

Dining Room 

lunch table set 

food prepared 

we are ready for the family's arrival.

We had a fun filled day and the grand children were such fun to watch.

We had a small turkey with all the trimmings and a kale salad.

 Grammy's home made macaroni and cheese as the wee ones seem to like it!

This Hostess is quite pleased as Santa decided it was time to replace our 15 year old Volvo with a newer one!

That's Kyle, the salesman at Volvo of Victoria, standing beside me.

The staff at Volvo of Victoria are very knowledgable and helpful.

They made our purchase experience so relaxing and easy...

V60 Cross Country

The car has so many wonderful safety features...

and is a quiet and comfortable car to drive.

It's a fun ride.

If we are lucky 

it should be another 15 years before we need to buy another car...

Volvo's are made to last a LONG time.

So that's it for now...

I'll be posting more soon.

If I don't manage to write another post until after New Years...

Wishing you a healthy

and 

Happy New Year!

Thank you for reading my humble blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Seasons Greetings...

The Humble Bungalow is dressed up with twinkling white lights.

We are ready for the Holidays.

Food has been purchased, presents have been wrapped, the baking is finished.

This year

Our Christmas tree is a faux one.

 (blame the naughty cats who climb the tree, drink the water and munch on it)

The faux tree came with lights and has a handy foot pedal that turns it on.

There are 11 different programs for the lights,

 I prefer to have them on old school style rather than waving on and off or pulsating!

We have been enjoying casual seasonal get togethers and creating some new family memories.

Baking 

Gingerbread Men for the grandchildren to decorate.

We had fun decorating the cookies!

Many of the candied decorations were munched before they made it onto the gingerbread cookies...

This Grammy had such fun...

we will have to arrange to do this again next year.

This week a friend and I met for morning coffee in town.

Later

we went to a book store and this book tree caught my eye.

Many of our neighbours have dressed up their gardens with lights and baubles.

The holiday spirit is very much alive in our neighbourhood.

Walking along our street I noticed that more homes are decorated 

than those that are not.

I love that people take the time to participate in making our street a wee bit brighter.

Colourful lights look so pretty strung up in a tree...

a simple idea that really adds ambiance.

Our holidays in The Humble Bungalow focus on the things money can not buy.

It is not all about gifts, but rather the memories...

those that we create today and those we remember from years gone by...

the people who are no longer with us always have a way of popping up in our minds at this time of year.

We toast to their memory...

stories follow

some are funny, some sad

the stories are not all "happy" 

but 

they are part of our history

our festive season is made brighter by 

 connecting with friends and family...

 if your family is far away

unable to get home

you can give of yourself 

with so many opportunities out there 

it fills ones heart to help the less fortunate

or 

you can invite a group of other friends whose families are unable to get together this year and celebrate with a simple meal

it could be a pot luck event

keep it simple.

Festive food and feasting...

treats, baking, chocolate.

Friends, who now live in France, sent us some chocolates.

We nibbled a few last night and they live up to their tasty reputation.

BETA5 is one of the top 5 chocolate makers in all of North America!

With all these extra treats I will need to be vigilant and keep up with my walking,

perhaps walking longer and farther to compensate for these delicious seasonal indulgences.

Weight Watchers will still be there for me after the holidays!

This post is a bit discombobulated and I am trying to rein it in,

 in a cohesive way,

 but I think it has gotten away from me so I had better close.

I am grateful that you are my audience and that you visit and listen...

Thank you so much for reading The Humble Bungalow blog.

Your comments and emails throughout the year are really appreciated.

Wishing you a Joyous and Festive Holiday. 

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Snow Day...

We enjoyed a dinner out with friends this week,
on the drive home we marvelled at the large orange moon hanging low in the sky
it looked like it was suspended just above the houses
and the reflection on the ocean was just so beautiful...

Not quite the image that I was hoping for...

it was difficult to capture the detail with my IPhone.

I cannot believe it but we have more snow...
we awoke yesterday to a light dusting and it continued to fall all morning.

This was the view on my walk the other day and I thought for sure that we would be enjoying warmer temperatures.

I noticed that there were a few late forming rose buds...

they must be frozen and ready to drop by now.

A study in black and white

Black Mondo grass poking out of the snow.

I decided that some comfort food was needed so I made a chicken pot pie.

The Food network had Ina Gartens' recipe.

Fresh and hot from the oven.

Can you see the snow outside?

Mr. HB put up a string of white lights on the Climbing Royal Sunset rose.

They look so pretty at night

I can see them when I am working in the Humble Bungalow Kitchen.

reminds me of a string of lustrous pearls

We went to an open house and a birthday party last night,

held in a heritage home of a young family.

There was quite a crowd and I think that the children outnumbered the adults.

This black cat clock hangs in the kitchen and the eyes move from side to side.

The young children are quite taken with it...as are many of the adults who have memories of these vintage clocks.

I've woken up with a stuffy nose and a scratchy throat and I am hoping that it does not turn into a cold. Today I plan to lay low, drink lots of fluids and keep warm.

Fortunately 

I have a great book

The Midwife of Hope River

by Patricia Harman

I am halfway through and enjoying it immensely.

Have you had a good weekend?

What's new?

Are you busy with all the Christmas preparations?

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~