Prepping and fluffing for the festive season...swags, soup and cranberry relish.

We are getting ready for Christmas here in The Humble Bungalow.

I love using things found in nature...greenery, pine cones and plants.
A white amaryllis sits on the dining room table almost ready to bloom and paper whites are growing on a bed of river rocks in a clear vase on the window sill in the kitchen.

Friends met up last weekend to make door swags from greenery and pine cones.

I made a big batch of Mulligatawny Soup to serve for lunch at the swag party.

It's a hearty soup, served up in my friend's arts and crafts Roycroft china bowls.

One bowl of this soup fills you up and I had no room for dessert...

I bought the soup base at The Root Cellar and you can order the Cowichan Valley Soup base  here.

Mr. HB and I have hosted our family's Christmas dinner here in our small and cozy Humble Bungalow for the past 30 years...
When everyone is here we need to spill out into other rooms as our living room is so tiny...
our family have been very gracious and are quite tolerant coming here to celebrate considering ours is the smallest of all of the houses.
I am very grateful that they have opted to join us and make our Christmas celebration, a family affair.

We are cooking an organic turkey and will serve a whipped potato bake, green peas, Brussels sprouts, stuffing and gravy....my sister brings a yam dish and mom brings some buns.
I make a cranberry dish ahead of time as we like to have it on hand for the feast and then after for turkey sandwiches. This recipe can be made a week in advance so I am sharing it with you now...

Cranberry Relish

1 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries rinsed and drained
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 Granny Smith apple chopped
grated zest and juice of one orange and one lemon
3/4 cups raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cook cranberries and sugar with 1 cup of water over low heat for 5 minutes until the skin of the berries pop open.
Add the apple, zest and juices and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the raisins and nuts. Stir and let cool, then refrigerate.
I like to use a silver dish that has been in our family for years to serve this relish...it looks lovely in a crystal bowl.

It also makes a great gift for a busy hostess.

I was tempted by this sweet little snowman cookie at Starbucks.

I resisted though and enjoyed a skinny egg nog latte...

isn't that an oxymoron?

Skinny and egg nog latte together in the same sentence?

I am not very talented when it comes to "decorating" cookies...

I am in awe of Martha Stewart and others who can make cookies look like works of art.

Do you celebrate Christmas?

What are your traditions?

Our neighbourhood has a food drive and carolers go door to door.

The children pull wagons and we fill them up with food for the food bank.

Another neighbour bakes dozens and dozens of cookies and opens up their house for all to attend...

one year they had a gingerbread village set up on the dining room table and a toy train ran through the village!

I went for a refreshing 5K walk along the seafront this afternoon.

I stopped by on my way home to have tea with Mom,

 she was making shortbread so we sat down with out tea and sampled a few pieces...

they were delicious and she even sent me home with a few pieces to share with Mr. HB.

Folly and the Wisdom of Women

Wisdom's folly...

"The unexamined life is not worth living." 
~ Plato ~

Folly definition as it appears online on  Merriam-Webster's dictionary...


fol·ly noun \ˈfä-lē\
: the lack of good sense or judgment

: a foolish act or idea : foolish behavior

: a very unusual or fancy building that was built in a garden for decoration or amusement in the past

On my 10K walk along the seafront today thoughts bubbled up....
and I am still digesting them.

OOTD
(The firm's annual staff party and what I wore to a penthouse suite overlooking the inner harbour)

Banana Rebublic tweed dress
Susan Bristol black sweater jacket
black fish net hose
Calvin Klein kitten heel pumps
gumball pearl necklace

My choice is rather pedestrian, nothing out of the ordinary...

Reminiscent of what Emma Thompson wore to her husband's staff party in "Love Actually"

(one of my favourite holiday films)

I am dressed for comfort

not looking for attention

with greying hair

laugh lined eyes

progressive glasses

a slacking jaw

a sense of humour

life experiences

grandchildren

a humble life

a wonderful husband

many blessings

good friends

I am happy to be mingling with the guests 

sipping wine and sampling the hors' d oeuvres...

I feel comfortable in my own skin...

the French have a saying for that...

~ "Bien dans sa peau: being comfortable in your own skin" ~

I might have waited almost 60 years to feel this way.

It is a wonderful feeling

and I feel immense gratitude.

I am reminded of a lovely woman that I worked with for 17 years who lived her life honestly 

she has had a huge influence on how I view life.

( I have never told her and I really must!)

She is an older woman who dresses to please herself

reads voraciously

attends many art and cultural events in town,

is on the pulse of what is "happening about town"

keeps fit by walking

spends time with her family and grandchildren

travels

gives of herself to the community

tends her garden

entertains

is enthusiastic about life

is fully present in her daily round

loves tea

(owns many beautiful china teacups and saucers)

has struggled with her health and never complains

she is dignified

elegant

is calm and centered

and she meditates every day.

I think if we pay close attention to women of this calibre that we will be able to pass on some of this wisdom to the young women who are following in our footsteps...

I'm looking and listening to the wise women in my midst...

I hope to keep learning.

"A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim."

~ Maya Angelou ~

"Tis the season to be jolly...'tis folly to be stressed.

'Tis the season to be jolly...
try to keep that in mind while others are running around in a panic.

Lists make a huge difference for me when planning for Christmas gift giving and shopping.
I try to shop local in small stores near where we live.
For many of our friends I opt for consumable gifts...at our stage of life we have most things that we need and many of us are thinking about de-cluttering and downsizing to smaller homes and condos.

I also make a list of things that I need to do...
my current lists looks like this:

~ order turkey
~ write out Christmas cards
~ wrap gifts
~ pick a date for the tree decorating/pizza night
~ buy stamps
~ make a swag for our door
~ make rum balls
~ make chocolate bark
~ go shopping for grandchildren with lovely DIL

Things are looking festive and bright...

The Laurel Point Inn on the Harbour is all dressed up for the holidays.

Sun set and all is calm on the water.

My sister and I took Mom to see the annual decorated gingerbread house display at The Laurel point Inn last week.

It was well worth seeing as many amateur and professional bakers rolled up their sleeves and got very creative...

it was most impressive.

The only time that I ever tried my hand at making a gingerbread house it was a total disaster!

The house tilted sideways and the walls collapsed.

It tasted good...

Look at the attention to detail.

Many many hours went into these houses...

The Baggins residence was my favourite of all the entries...

There was a Dental themed entry with a toothbrush, floss and toothpaste.

a good reminder with all the sweets that are around at this time of year

There was a mouse house...

aren't these adorable?

There's even a Santa Mouse visiting the house!

Looking out at this beautiful scenery reminds me that we need to keep calm when so many people around us are showing signs of stress and becoming impatient and cranky.

I have been mindful of others and have made every effort to allow others to go first in line ups and have politely yielded to merging traffic.

I usually do these things but I feel that it is even more important to be patient and kind when there are crowds.

Take time out to refocus and relax.

Keep things simple.

Stay hydrated get a good nights sleep.

Walk in the fresh air and breathe deeply.

Stay focused on the positive...

don't be tempted to go into debt buying presents

live within your means

make some or all of your gifts

give a gift of your time

offer to babysit for a busy mom

visit an elderly relative or shut in

be kind to others 

 give to those less fortunate.

"Tis the season of giving after all.

Give yourself the gift of a stress free holiday.

Choose peace and sanity and savour the little things.

OOTD and a few tidbits...post # 1111

What can I say? I have been too busy to post on the blog.
Living life fully in the moment supersedes time spent sitting at the computer.

Here we are hamming it up in front of the camera...

we both bought the same T shirt at Aritzia in Mayfair Mall.

#FullOfHeart

OOTD 

(on the Hostess)

Wilfred black tee

g21 skinny jeans

Timberland short boots

We stopped for a bite to eat at Pure Vanilla in Oak Bay to refuel on our Christmas shopping mission.

Skinny decaf latte for the Hostess

Lovely daughter has been helping me choose Christmas gifts for the family.

I love a second opinion and she has a great eye for fashion.

On December 1st

 I lit a Diptyque candle.

Nothing like a fragrant festive aroma to put me in a happy mood.

I've been trying to stay one step ahead of the house keeping as our cleaning gal is vacationing in the warmth of sunny Mexico and I really miss her help.
She takes such good care of the basic domestics allowing me time to polish the silverware, tidy up the drawers, cupboards, wash and iron the clothes and generally enjoy "fluffing" our space.

The weather has been freezing with a dusting of snow and the sidewalks have been icy.

Walking has taken a back seat and I have been focusing on indoor activities.

I like to have hostess gifts on hand so I made a batch of marmalade...

Seville oranges water and sugar.

I like looking at the fruits of my labour...

if you want to see my recipe for Scotch Orange Maramalade go here.

Chester has been spending too much time at the window watching/scaring the resident hummingbirds

while they drink at the feeder...

Mr. HB and I have tried to keep him from pestering them as they need to keep their strength up in this frigid weather.

I really enjoyed this book and thought that Betty was particularly honest about her shopping habits.

I loved reading about her life and am so impressed that she continues to work as a personal shopper at the ripe old age of 86!

(I give it 5 stars)

I might be the last person I know to read this book.

 Better late than never...

a well written book which is keeping me up late as I cannot put it down!

I'll be back soon to show you some of the highlights of the Gingerbread Houses on display at the Laurel Point Inn.

Hope you are getting into the festive spirit and not getting stressed...

remember to take it one day at a time and don't forget to breathe.

Hostess