Epiphany 2022 ...

... or, as some of us call it: 'Little Christmas' or 'Women's Christmas'.  Traditionally the Feast of Epiphany was, and still is to many, the end of the "12 Days of Christmas" when families - particularly those of the Catholic faith, spent Christmas day and then the next 12 days fulfilling the duties of their religion, spending much of each day in church with their families and neighbours.  It was on the 12th day, the Feast of the Epiphany, that, in Ireland, the men were left home to handle the children and household chores and the women of the community would have a very well-deserved respite.  This would often include the ladies all meeting up and taking over the local pub to have a wee "drop" and to catch up on all that had happened since they had last gotten together.  It was also the day when most of their family's gifts were exchanged as Christmas Day itself was for honouring the birth of the Christ child, not for trading gifts amongst themselves.

On this day, the 12th day of Christmas, any greenery or other decorations for celebrating Christmas were removed from the home.  In our household, it has continued to be the day we remove all of our decorations - and what a job it is!!  Although, I must admit, it seems to take less time to take the decorations down than it did to put them up.

So - this morning, as I was looking around the house and trying to get up the energy to make a start at "un-decorating", I thought that perhaps before I began I would take a few pictures to show you why I don't look forward to this chore.

First, since before the last post there had been several weeks since I had posted anything, I hadn't shown any pictures of our Remembrance day tribute for November 11th so I will start there and move forward.  last year we decorated the whole front verandah for Remembrance Day but this year we just made one very large wreath of poppies and hung it from our flag post along with a Canadian flag, again in honour and respect for not only my own late father and father-in-law but for all those who have served in the military, past and present.  We are forever grateful for the sacrifices made and the work they continue to do.

Each year I start decorating for Christmas around November 15th - as long as Remembrance Day is over, I am ready to go.  So before I take all of this down today, here is a walk-through of what I have to remove and put back in storage:

Foyer:

On one side of the front door we have a 6 foot tall wicker lantern which, of course, lights up beautifully at night.  Unfortunately I never thought about taking pictures of most of these things before this morning so you will have to see them in their daytime look.

On the other side of the door - oops, it looks like Santa left behind a pair of boots - and the naughty elves have filled them with greenery and lights!

Visitors to our home, of which there sadly have been very few during this second Covid Christmas, were greeted by a 4.5 - foot tall Welcome Santa..

a large picture of Santa which, if you were able to look more closely at it, you would see within his beard, mustache and eyebrows are pictures of many happy children...

more pictures of Santa, or, as I prefer to call him, Father Christmas...

... and lastly, in the foyer, a little entry hall table with yet another picture of "the Big Guy" above.  The trees and lantern on top of this table light up so beautifully at night - it might be my favourite little decorated area when the lights are twinkling and casting shadows on the walls.

 

Moving out of the foyer we could go straight ahead into the dining room or take a left turn into the living room.  I think we'll check out the dining room first. 

On top of the buffet I have a small lit tree, another lantern, a star with a laser cut front and lights inside which looks quite pretty at night considering it is just a Dollarama buy, and a tall thin Father Christmas made by Lennox which I purchased many years ago.

A wicker reindeer stands beside one of the extra dining chairs...

On top of the china cabinet I have put together a little scene with a church and carolers - all completely out of scale with each other but I don't care.  I like them anyway!

..in the corner of the dining room we have a cluster of three "rustic" trees which are usually one of the first things we put up at the beginning of our Christmas decorating.  At their base is another Father Christmas along with the two gnomes I made last year when I used them in an outdoor display on our front verandah.

Right next to these trees is a tree of another sort.  While it cannot be called a Christmas decoration it does serve its purpose as someone tries to figure out how much fun can be had before someone catches them at it!!!

In the opposite corner of the dining room, on the way into the living room through this archway, is another lantern.  I did have a picture taken a week or so ago at night as well so I will show both below:

As you can see from the foyer, I often take down our regular pictures and paintings and substitute others during Christmas.  I only did that in the foyer this year and with these three pictures in the dining room which replaced two larger ones that hang there the rest of the year.  I love these little scenes of wildlife winter.

At the end of the hall leading to the bedrooms I have a small vignette sitting atop an antique sewing table.

In the kitchen I have displayed two of my Christmas minis by Bruce's coffee centre...

...and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a candy and fruit table set up somewhere.  This year it is in the kitchen, up against the stairway leading to our lower level.  It is looking a little bare now since, after all, it is more than a week after Christmas and much of the chocolates, cookies, and other fruit is now gone.  I'm sure it won't be long before the rest is as well.  Although our nephew who is serving in the military in Germany right now did provide us with a few bags of Dutch licorice treats he picked up on a recent visit across the border to the Netherlands, we find our North American palate is definitely not used to these and, sadly, cannot eat them.  Luckily my good friend Marijke from Punchinella's Cellar has agreed to take them off my hands as she says they will bring back memories of her childhood before coming to Canada.

While on the subject of my kitchen, I will mention that I did a lot of baking leading up to the big day and then I boxed up a dozen of each of five different sweets I had made and gave one box to my sister and one to my daughter.  They both appreciated them but now I will need to come up with different recipes for next year.  No problem!  I love to cook!

I'm sure you're getting tired of reading this long post but we have only one more room to go! 

The living room:

First, in case you haven't guessed yet, I am a collector of Santas, or Father Christmases if you prefer.  Nowhere is this more evident than in our living room at this time of year.

Just inside the door from the foyer is a large old-world Santa under a bare gold tree with a rocking horse and poinsettia by his side:

On top of one bookcase is a large Father Christmas primed and ready to play us a tune on his bass cello.

And on the other is another version of him as he is bundled up for a walk through the forest.

On one end table is an animated scene with a train running through it.  Our grandson loves this one.

On the other end table is a picture of a Santa Gnome that was done by my daughter using the diamond painting craft.  Also is my "modern nativity" set and a wind-up skating pond scene - another of our grandson's favourites.  

On the table behind the sofa is a small nativity scene and a lovely framed mini scene in white and red that my friend Louise made for me last year.  It is battery operated so when turned on a soft light glows through the windows - quite lovely!

As for the Christmas tree itself, alas, several years ago now I finally gave in to my allergies and we bought an artificial tree.  I so loved our real trees but I love being healthy over Christmas more.  This is a narrower tree we purchased several years ago.  The tree topper is one which we have used every year since 1974.  The large "prism" in the centre of the star contains a black cylinder with many coloured stars which, when the star is plugged in, rotates within the prism sending beautiful light effects on the ceiling and walls.  Our kids have always called it the disco ball tree topper and it is such a tradition now that they both wish they could get one for their trees to carry on the tradition.  Alas, although these vintage tree toppers occasionally show up on places like ebay, they are now prohibitively expensive!

So - back to my collection of Santas.  Next to the etagere in the living room is a large Santa purchased from Costco a couple of years ago.  He is next to two of a set of three lighted trees also purchased from Costco several years ago.  The third and smallest tree of the set is on a shelf in the etagere.

The etagere itself houses most of my collection.

You may not have noticed but, in the night time picture there are only four Santas on the bottom shelf but in the daytime picture there are five.  That is because Bruce bought me a new one for my collection this year and "hid" it in plain sight with the rest of them.  Apparently it was there for a full two days before Christmas and I never noticed it!  No, that does not mean I have too many!

My other Christmas gift from Bruce this year is a wonderful surprise and I will make very good use of it.

Now you all know why I was so long between posts in November and December - I was very busy!  But now I think the reason I decided to do such a long post today is because I am procrastinating on actually starting to take down all these decorations.  However I have just received an offer of assistance which I suppose I shouldn't ignore.  She is in the living room waiting for me so we can get started.  This should be an experience!

Thank you for taking the time to read such a long post.  My next one will definitely be about minis - my market stall!  In the meantime I wish all of you the very best in 2022 - a year which hopefully holds a return to a healthy population and prosperity for all.  God bless! TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Reflections on 2021

 As I sit quietly this evening with just Bruce and I on our own, I reflect back on other Christmas Eves when our home seemed to be the "Christmas Eve Drop-in Centre".  It was a time when our extended family, some neighbours and friends would end up at our house for a wonderful evening of good food, good cheer and great company.  We wouldn't go too late into the evening because everyone would want to get last minute things done at home before the beginning of the "Main Event" - Christmas Day.

Those were indeed some wonderful times but this year, as we were last year, we are mostly just really grateful that all of these people who would show up at our door are still with us, still healthy and still hopeful for what is ahead.  Our hearts go out to all those who cannot say the same as so many people have been lost and so many others completely overwhelmed by the burden of caring for those struck by this awful virus.  God bless you all and please note that there are millions of people who care about you and are grateful for all you have done.

On a personal note, I have been absent from my blog for a couple of months now but it is for no other reason than I have been extremely busy with other things leading up to the Christmas season.  I have not even given myself time to explore the wonderful blogs of the many talented people I have always loved to follow.  I have continued to work at little things here and there but nothing enough to warrant a post of my own.  However, with 2022 clearly in my sights, I vow to do much better in the next 12 months.  

I really value all of you talented people I have come to know through this wonderful hobby and am looking forward to reading through your blogs once this busy season is over and catching up on what you have all been working on.  I am also so excited about getting back to working on my own minis and will be sure to share my progress with you in the new year.

I want to wish you all a joyous Christmas and a happy, healthy and hopeful 2022 but I would be remiss if I didn't share with you one of Bruce's contributions to my blog post - he is still finding highly appropriate cat images that he suggests I use.  This one particularly captures the vibe of our own furry little munchkin at this time of the year:

So, I leave you here with, hopefully a smile on your face and look forward to being in touch with all of you again in the brand new year!!  God Bless us, every one!!!- TTFN!!! - Marilyn 

To market, to market..........

 With the Knit Wit finished and at its new home, when I returned from P.E.I. it should have been time to get back to finish the North Pole Postal Service.  I have to build the front room's service counter, make up the few little people who will make an appearance in the post office, add a few more accessories and finish hooking up the last of the lighting.  So, did I get to work on that?  Of course not!  But I do have an excuse, or actually a reason.  I cannot, for the life of me, get my head around what I really want that front service counter to look like.  

I often find myself at a place in my projects where I have to think, think some more and then think some more until I finally land at an "Aha moment".  Until that happens, I cannot make myself move forward.  So - still thinking, but when it finally hits me I will go go like a house on fire.  I hope it happens soon!

In the meantime, Marijke, Louise and I decided we would work on a group project.  We are making small market stalls.  We started with some leftover kits I had from when I cut out the ones I made for Camp Mini Ha Ha a couple of years ago.  To refresh your memory, here is what they looked like.

It is proving to be an interesting exercise since we are all making adjustments to the original design and putting our own unique spin on them.  Because I am such a Christmas fanatic, I am making mine to be a Christmas-themed stall as is Marijke.  And, in case you couldn't guess, Louise's will have a flamingo theme.  No surprise there either, I guess.  *smile*

Before I begin to describe the process for the market stall, first I will mention that Marijke also had a birthday in October.  Louise and I joined her at her house the day after her birthday for our weekly mini-session so I took the opportunity to present her with the gift I made for her.  For those of you who also follow Marijke's blog, Pulchinella's Cellar, you know that, in addition to the market stall we are all now working on, she is nearing completion on a wonderful Dutch wooden shoe factory.  As she nears the end she had mentioned that she might like to make an old candle-making factory to go along with it so I decided to make her a piece for that.

Here is Marijke with the gift I gave her - a drying/hardening rack for hanging dipped candles while they cure.

Here is a closer look at the candle curing rack with a picture of old equipment behind it, from which I drew my idea.

Marijke does such a great job on these older, historical-type projects and I love all of the details she puts in them.  I hope this rack proves useful to her in the future.

So, here we are on a Skype mini-day as we are early in the stages for our market stalls.  You can see Marijke and Louise on my computer as we chat and work on our projects, and you also see the beginning of my project.  I have the body of the stall taped together and I am laying boards for the floor of the stall.

Once I had the boards laid and glued down, I let it sit overnight with a heavy book on top to make sure everything stayed completely flat while it dried. Then I used a black fine point marker to place marks on each board to simulate old nail heads.  I followed that with Minwax wood stain in Colonial American colour and added a couple of coats of clear finish.

Then I painted the walls of the stall black to provide a depth of colour behind the white that I was eventually going to paint it.

I liked the way the white paint covered the walls, making them look a little aged without looking too  grungy.  I also added boards to the back wall and really liked how the white looked after I dry-brushed them.

The original market stalls were a little dark inside, even though I had cut large a hole in the roof for a "skylight" to bring more light in.  So, in addition to my plan to do the same to the roof for this one, I also cut a window out in the side of the building.  I used screening over the window to simulate the wire sometimes placed over the windows of commercial buildings to discourage break-ins.  Then I added battens to the two sides and back, made a faux door and painted all of the trims in a pale grey colour (dove grey).  I added black hardware (actually just thick black paper) to the door and a faux security key pad above the door handle.

Then I moved to the inside and added some shelves to the back.  I think I will add one along the side as well.

Of course, while I had just barely gotten started on mine, Louise had the outside of her market stall pretty much done - flamingo designs and all!

Well, tomorrow is another in-person mini day at Marijke's house so I will be working at the doors, roof and base of my market stall.  Then I can start the really fun stuff - making things to go in it!!!!  I hope you enjoyed seeing what we are working on and I will be sure to show all three of our projects together when we finish.

Until my next post - please stay safe, stay busy, stay healthy!  Big hugs to all!!  TTFN!!!! - Marilyn

The Eagle has landed...

...or, in other words, The Knit Wit has been delivered to its forever home.

So - for the complete story - and you knew, with me, there would be a long, drawn-out story, right????  Well, here it is:  

Bruce and I headed to Prince Edward Island on Friday, October 1st, with 2 goals in mind.  First of all, our 50th wedding anniversary was on August 28th but making any plans to celebrate seemed a difficult task.  For the last few years, with our 50th looming in the not-so-distant future, we had started going through options for celebrating this special anniversary.  We kept fluctuating between a European trip - perhaps back to Paris once more as we normally spent the month of June each year in Ireland (pre-Covid, that is), or perhaps a trip to Old Quebec, or south to someplace in the U.S.  Once Covid hit, our plans seemed to change month by month as things were shut down, then opened up a bit, then restrictions back in place, then removed, then back in place again.  In the end, with some restrictions still in place and international travel out of the picture for now, we figured we would just go to Prince Edward Island, spend a few quiet days there, in the province of my birth, have a special anniversary dinner one evening during our visit and spend some time seeing a few of my relatives who were fully vaccinated.  Reservations were made at the Pownall Inn in Charlottetown for August 27th, 28th and 29th and for supper on the 28th at a wonderful, if pricey, restaurant on Sydney Street, The Claddagh Oyster Bar.  The plans were much more simple than we originally thought of a few years ago but we all have to make sacrifices during this time.  Our sacrifice was definitely minor compared to what Covid has brought to many other people.

So plans made! But then we got word that our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter would be coming through New Brunswick and staying with us for a few days on the way from Newfoundland to Montreal to take our granddaughter to McGill University where she started classes this fall.  Then after staying there with her for a week, they would come back and stay with us for a few days on their way back to Newfoundland.  Those days happened to be on August 27th to August 30th so we cancelled out hotel and dinner reservations and moved them to October 1st to 4th.  Better late than never!

It also worked out well because I had been planning on making a birthday gift for my DSIL, Jean, whose birthday was on October 2nd.  So, we could have our belated anniversary trip and deliver her birthday gift at the same time.  

In my last post you saw the outside of the little shop I made for her as it was nearing completion so now we will take a step back and look at the details.  First, I would like to apologize for the quality of the pictures of the final product.  I normally take my pictures outside on my deck where the lighting is good and I have more control.  Since I was working on the shop right up until the morning of the day we presented it to her, which means I added the last few details while in our hotel room, I was not able to get set up to take good pictures.

Here are some of the ones of the project in progress.  Having finished the basic build, I gathered pieces of furniture from my stash to start filling this little yarn shop. I had some pieces that just needed a paint job and I grabbed two of my little Chrysnbon chair kits to put together as well.

Once these pieces were gathered and painted it was on to what has to be the most important items for a yarn shop - skeins of yarn!  I needed LOTS of balls of yarn but, luckily, they moved along fairly quickly each evening as I sat and watched the Blue Jays play ball while I wound yarn.

First I made balls of "100 % cotton" which I did by cutting straws into small sections, threading lengths of  cotton embroidery floss I bought from Dollarama onto a darning needle, and using it to thread the yarn through and around the sections of straw.  I would never use this floss for doing actual cross stitch as I find it far too coarse but for cotton yarn, it was perfect.

As I was nearing the end of making up the balls of yarn, I went to the computer and set up a Powerpoint file for the labels for them.  I made labels for "100% Cotton", "Crochet", "Chunky", and "Baby Soft" yarns.  I also made labels for "4-ply Fingering" but didn't use them in the end.

Here is a shot with most of the shelves filled and the labels on the yarn. If you click on the picture you may be able to see a larger version.

With the yarn situation pretty well under control, it was time to turn my attention to other items needed to fill in this little shop.  First, let me say - although I am able to knit and crochet quite well myself, I DO NOT knit in dollhouse scale!  I leave that to people far more skilled than I.  However, I knew how I wanted the window display to look and for that I needed 3 little sweaters.  What to do??  I put my thinking cap on and came up with an idea, crossed my fingers, and went to work.  While the end results weren't perfect, they did suit my needs.  I gathered a few socks I thought would work as sweaters then consulted this marvellous book I have on my shelf:  "Making and Dressing Dolls' House Dolls" by Sue Atkinson.  

On page 156 of this book I found a pattern for a boy's "Victorian velvet suit" and I thought the jacket pattern would work perfectly.  I traced out the pattern onto paper...  

...then used it to cut out a piece of the first sock I was using.  I glued the right sides together, leaving the bottom and the ends of the sleeves open, and turned it right-side out.

As you can see, I left a piece of the "cuff" attached to the front of the sweater but not the back.  Then I folded this over to the back and glued it in place.  Now, of course, it is no longer open on the bottom but since it is meant to hang in the window as a display it doesn't really matter, right??

I used little bits of leftover cuff to trim the ends of the sleeves and the neckline.  That part didn't work with the next two sweaters as they were made from socks I had bought at Dollarama so the cuffs were completely sewn on, not knitted into the sock, which meant I had no real finished edge once the cuffs were removed from the sock.  Anyway.. you will see all three sweaters a little further along in this post when I show the window display.

With the sweaters made I then searched my stash for other items I might have from those talented knitters I was talking about earlier.  

In the wall-hung shelf, in addition to the balls of crochet cotton I made by winding pastel shades of DMC floss through pony beads and adding labels, I have two beautifully made tiny blankets.  I do so wish I could name the talented person/people who made them but I have had them for a while and there was no note with them to tell me where I got them.  The same goes for the incredible crocheted doily hanging from the drawer.  The detail is exquisite!  I really must get better at recording where I get things and who made them.  I will happily give credit where credit is due if anyone recognizes the handiwork and lets me know.

To show the rest of the items, perhaps it is time we did the complete tour.  As I said earlier, I will apologize in advance for the quality, or lack thereof, of the pictures.

As we enter the shop, we see there is a patron at the table, working on one of her projects while chatting with the shop owner.  This is probably part of the "Knit and Natter" group that is advertised on the front of the cashier table.

In the cabinet just behind the door there is a gorgeous little baby set:  bonnet, tiny dress and jacket.  It is so delicate and beautifully made but, alas, to my shame, I have no idea who made it!!  I am so truly ashamed of myself for not knowing.  Sorry!!  The little white knitted blanket is actually a piece I cut from a white knitted baby dress I bought at Frenchy's a while back.  I find if I buy used baby clothes I can often find cottons that have prints small enough for miniature scale as well as knitting that is much smaller gauge than in adult clothing.  Once cut, edges sealed and staging done they work very well in a scene.  

I added small knitting books, plants and containers throughout the shop just to add interest and fill spots.

In order to see the second baby set we need to view it from outside the shop.  Now this wonderful little dress and hat is one that I do know the artist who produced it.  I received this as a "giftie" at Camp Mini Ha Ha a couple of years ago.  It was made by Bridget Madill from Ontario.  The picture is fuzzy but isn't the set beautiful??  Such talent!!

Here we have our shop owner doing a little knitting of her own as she chats with her customer during their "Knit and Natter" session.

Behind her is a wonderful little sign I found on the internet.  The pictures here are, again, quite fuzzy but I thought the sentiment was perfect no matter what our favourite hobby is. 

In case you can't read it well, the sign says:  "Buying yarn and knitting are two different hobbies."  Should we substitute something like" "Buying minis and building dollhouses are two different hobbies." ????? *smile*

So, nearing the end of this post, here are a few overhead shots of the interior which also show the little snack the ladies are enjoying during their knitting session - fresh croissants, jam and lemonade!

Moving to the outside, we see a fuller view of that lovely baby set from Bridget Madill.

We also see that this little shop sits on the corner of A.G. MacKay Blvd. and W.B. McNeill Lane.  I love adding some sort of personal touch to a gift project - something that would be meaningful to the recipient.  These street names represent my DSIL's late father and mother so will always mean something to her when she looks at them.

And, of course, there is the shop name itself.  I couldn't resist it and, luckily enough, my sister-in-law has a great sense of humour so took the name in the spirit it was intended!

Here, you can get a better view of the three faux sweaters I made.  They certainly are a little rough around the edges but, for someone like me who doesn't do tiny knitting, they worked well for display purposes.

Off to the right you can see a couple of knitted caps on hat stands.  The little blue striped one you have seen before and I made it myself.  No knitting was involved!  I will post a tutorial on that one sometime in the future.  The little pale green one with scarf I received from Grandpa's Dollhouse, along with several balls of "worsted weight" yarn.  A few of the balls of yarn are on the shelf at back and a few others are on the cash table along with a knitting book.

So, there you have it:  The Knit Wit - a gift of love and sharing for a special person in my life.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't include a picture of my dear sister-in-law, Jean, with her special gift.  Happy birthday, Jean!!!!  With love from Marilyn and Bruce

I hope you all enjoyed this journey through the development of The Knit Wit.  Now, on to another project.  Too many minis, too little time!!! TTFN!!!! - Marilyn