Materials Gathered

All set to put my "cupcakes" together!  I forgot that I purchased three planters...I had considered spray painting them red and green....but I really like the colours they are!

I decided rather than spray paint the foam, once it hardens, I'll use a brush and paint them pink frosting!  You would think the foam spray would be easy to find, right?  Well, not here in the great white frozen north!  The spray is supposed to be used during warmer months...15+ C degrees!  

I could not find it anywhere...and Mr. Seventies went to three hardware stores before finding it at Metro Building Supplies!  The best I could come up with was calking and I knew that wasn't going to work!  

Right now the weather is currently crappy....snow, rain and winds.  I will wait a few days to see if it improves...if not I may have to put them together in the furnace room.

While I was at Home Depot...searching for the foam spray...I browsed their Christmas section...loved this large guy...put not the $90 price tag!

I have my sign similar to this ready to be set out...not sure if you remember I got it when my BFF & I were attending the wooden flower painting workshop a few months back.

Now this guy was just as adorable as his big brother....and half the price.  I may have to go back and retrieve him!  Pretty adorable...and love how he is carrying his skis!!

It's windy as heck here today...I suspect the Confederation Bridge has restrictions for high sided vehicles.  So we're going to curl up by the wood stove...maybe with a cup of hot chocolate and stay warm!!!

Getting Ready for Some Outdoor DIY

It's been kinda quiet here lately...on a personal note I've been dealing with arthritis in one knee.  I've dealt with arthritis in my spine my adult life and with the help of an amazing pain management doctor..I've been able to keep the pain and discomfort under control.   But this knee is proving to be a challenge.  Final course of action will be an injection...later this week.  For more years than I care to remember I took anti inflammatory medication...but can no longer take them.
Keeping my fingers crossed the injection works..and for a few months.  My only other option...is to see an ortho surgeon...which we really don't want to do.

So, with all that in mind...I've been on the down low.

But it's time to turn my attention to prepping for outside Christmas decor.  Remember the cute Christmas cupcakes I had written about?

I found two perfect pots to use and will pick up the expanding foam and spray paint (for the "icing") this week.  The next fine day, Mr. Seventies will fill the pots with small bits of broken concrete (for weight....need that with our winds)...then a good, thick layer of foam can be sprayed.  I purchased a bag of small red Christmas balls at the thrift store...perfect for use as cherries.  Once the foam hardens, since it will likely turn yellow...we will cover the pot & cherry & spray paint it.  This year I am attempting two cupcakes....if they turn out..maybe next year I can put together a couple more! 

Outdoor decor need not cost much money!!  We have an abundance of trees that need trimming...the branches are perfect for pots and wreaths!  This is last year's pot of greenery...using my crock, holly from our own shrubs and ribbon left over from daughter's wedding!  Easy Peasy!!

These are a few of our creations from last year!!

I used a grapevine wreath I had on hand for the base of the this wreath...but when making one for my daughter...I used a pool noodle...shaped in a circle and held together with duct tape!

Again, the greenery, branches and holly were all from our property...and leftover wedding ribbon!  I added a couple of large Christmas balls...and purchased the baby reindeer from a local artisan!  Is it not the cutest thing ever?   He made a couple for his wife...and things just went crazy from there...he had so many orders for them!  And no wonder...they are adorable and take up little room!

I didn't want to hang anything heavy on the outdoor lantern...again with the winds we get...I was a bit scared anything weighing too much could damage the lantern.  Chose to make a small spray instead.

Mr. Seventies put a few concrete pieces in the bottom of my lanterns so the wind would not blow them off the steps....then I added a few balls and more leftover ribbon from the wedding.

This year..I plan to use the Christmas balls I purchased at the thrift shop...a huge haul!!  And I have yards of ribbon (mostly from the thrift store)...Michaels had wired ribbon at 50% off on Saturday....I picked up a black and white buffalo check roll.  Just in case...right?

Other than putting the cupcakes together...we will wait until December to put our outdoor decor together.  It stays green and fresh well into the winter!  

Do you decorate outside for the holidays?  We cover a tree with clear lights, put a spot light on to illuminate the wreath on the front door...and we purchased a laser projector that makes it look like soft snowflakes falling on the front of the house. 

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet?  Do you wait until the last minute or are you like me...and have it done early...while there is still a selection.  And...I admit..I shop on line for a lot of things...and gifts are no exception.  And with wait times and Canada Post participating in rotating strikes...now is the time to order.  I've already had a couple of items arrive!

It's been raining here..but I wasn't got to let that deter me from doing a bit of shopping!  That's what rain jackets are for!

I didn't purchase these...but the mere fact that Wal Mart had them was a surprise!  My favourite are the bear plates on the left!!  If I didn't already have so many...these would have come home with me.

This cutie I couldn't resist though!  He will add some fun when I decorate our master bedroom for the holidays!  (and yes...I do that).

And these adorable snowman towels will be cute in the bathroom....my hand pump is a snowman...so everyone should get along fine!

These cute cannisters are covered with Christmas doxies!  Tempting...but I really don't have a place to put them!

And I was very pleased to find my favourite buffalo check wrapping paper..I have some from last year...but an additional roll will come in handy!  I dislike wrapping immensely...so if I'm going to do it...at least I have pretty, durable paper to do it with!!

Looking forward to decorating the house...usually around December 1st.  I haven't mentioned it on here..but I've been bothered my arthritis in my left knee for quite some time.  We've pretty much exhausted all methods of treatment...except for injections...which we are going to do next week.  If that fails to help...then my last resort is seeing an ortho doctor.   Not what I want to do..but also cannot live with pain and discomfort...not to mention difficulty walking.  I've dealt with osteoarthritis in my spine all of my adult life...and with medication have been able to control the pain and discomfort.  But this knee is a whole new ballgame!   So hopefully injections will give me some much needed relief!

Birthday Celebration

Mr. Seventie's birthday is tomorrow...but we celebrated yesterday with one of his favourite meals...ham dinner with all the fixens!   He has been a Red Sox fan since he was a young boy...and they did just win the World Series...I thought a Red Sox themed birthday cake was in order!

A local bake shop, Candis Creations here in Charlottetown put this amazing cake together for the celebration!!  The detail is amazing...check out those buttons down the front of the jersey!  Mr. Seventies hated to cut into the cake...but folks...it is as delicious as it looks!  Three choices of cake flavours were available....white, marble or chocolate...I chose white....since we were having Black Cherry frozen yogourt with the cake (another of his favourite).

I set a casual birthday table...our daughter, son-in-law and grand dog joined us for the celebration!

And Liesel, of course was front and centre with her Dad...

And it was hysterical to watch Benson "help" Grampie open his presents!!  Benson loves, loves, loves tissue paper!  "Here Grampie, let me help you with that!"...

"Hmmm...something very special in here Grampie!"

Mr. Seventies thoroughly enjoyed his birthday celebration...and hopefully we made it as special as he is!  

It was a wild and wet weekend otherwise...we had torrential rainfall for two days...and winds of up to 90 km/hr!  The Confederation Bridge put restrictions on for high sided vehicles and the ferry from PEI to NS shut down for pretty much two days.  We get a lot of wind in the fall months.  Happy to have rain though...and not snow!!

Mr. Seventies and I ordered tickets to a dinner theatre...Christmas in Kandahar...a musical feast with a full Christmas dinner being served for the meal!  And our local NBL basketball team plays their first game next week!  We enjoy attending many of their games!!

Daughter and I have numerous craft fairs, Christmas home tours, and a Victorian Christmas market in the downtown area later this month.  A local designer is hosting a Christmas decor workshop this month as well...we are so excited to attend!!  Everything put together that evening...will be given away in draws!  Including a fully decorated Christmas tree!!  (if I win that..I will give that to her and her hubby for their new home).

Lots of things to see and do during the next few weeks!!

Spooktacular Halloween

It was a perfect night for ghosts and goblins!!  Since we live on a busy road...we don't get too many trick or treaters...but we had a few visitors!!  Such fun....

I love this pumpkin Mr. Seventies "carved" at the last minute!!  Pretty scary.....

And our doxie pumpkin was set out!!  Notice the "blue" pumpkins to the right...ya...they never turned from green to blue!  Oh well...it was worth a try growing them....

And who do we have here?  Why it's just the cutest little Daffy Duck ever!!!

And prisoner # 003115 escaped custody!!  Grand dog Benson was trick or treating Mimi and Grampie had treats for him!!  Look at that tail wag...

Glad it was a clear, dry night for trick or treaters!!  The weekend forecast is calling for some heavy rains and winds...typical fall weather for PEI. 

Mr. Seventies did an awesome job carving our weenie pumpkin!!!

Have a safe & fun night of trick or treating!!!

Eventful Road Trip!!

So, yesterday my BFF and I took a road trip to the mainland.  Usually, we take her SUV and I do the driving.  But she noticed a leak coming from her vehicle (thankfully in her driveway)...and discovered her gas tank had a leak.  And Mr. Seventies needed our vehicle...so that left my friend's second vehicle...which is an old clunker her husband drives.  Oh my...I was very hesitant to head out on the highway with this tug boat...as the driver door would fail to close sometimes...every warning light that could be on the dash was lit up...and it drives like a wandering tank.

But I said a quick prayer for safe travel...and we got away about 20 minutes late.  Although the weather here was calling for a lovely day...when we reached the other side of the Confederation Bridge it began to rain....and it rained all day!

We made it safely (and slowly) to our destination and after her appointment and a delicious lunch at a local restaurant...it was time to browse a few of our favourite shops!!  Oh my..the beautiful Christmas home decor was amazing!!!   There were so many gorgeous framed Christmas prints...

So many red truck prints to choose from!!  *swoon*

These adorable snowmen....were on clearance...$9.99 each...I picked up these two!!

Mr. Seventies would have gotten a chuckle from this sign!! He might know someone like that!!  

Love these little wooden plates...perfect for leaving cookies out for Santa!!

Another beautiful framed print...wish I had room for them all!!

Right next door to this shop....is Pier 1!  My all time favourite store..keeping my fingers crossed one opens up here in Charlottetown!

Oh, so much gorgeous Christmas goodness!  Beautiful dinner and tableware!  Notice the adorable dachshund?s  One on the roof of the red truck on this plate!

Another beautiful pattern...and a sweet doxie in a Santa hat!!

Even place mats, napkins and runners were available!! 

And a few other dachshund goodies!! An adorable candy dish!

I picked up a package of these cute napkins...great for use next summer!

Were it not for my huge collection of plush dachshunds...this cute little guy would have come home with me!!

And the item I am most excited about..this top hat tree topper!! Last year I searched and searched everywhere for one...to no avail!!  I even tried online to find one.  Nada!  Pier 1 had two in stock...I was thrilled to get one for our tree this year!!  They also had a huge selection of tree picks...but I have quite an assortment of picks...so I had to restrain myself.

Next we visited Mod Choc...a home decor and fashion store.  Keep this store in mind...as it comes back into play later in this post!  We were a bit disappointed the store had very little in Christmas home decor...only one little section of ornaments...

As it was now mid afternoon...we decided to wrap up our day with a stop at Costco (for my BFF)...and while she was fighting the masses there...I decided to check out Home Sense.  And it was there I discovered....I had lost my cell phone!!!

Anyone who has experienced losing their phone....knows the panic that sets in!  I was convinced I had it sitting on my purse in the cart!!  I began frantically looking in every aisle...when these two awesome ladies offered to call my phone...perhaps we could hear it ringing.  But...we heard nothing and the phone went to voice mail.  Not to be deterred...she dialled my number again....and a woman answered it!!!  

Now...one important factor in this equation...is there is a language barrier!!  There are mostly french speaking folks in Moncton...and the woman who answered my phone...was very difficult to understand.  But she was able to answer my question...where was she with my phone?  At the customer service desk at Mod Choc!!!  I told her I'd be right there to retrieve it!!

I was so thankful to the two ladies who helped me!  In the meantime, my friend is texting me like mad asking me where I was...lol!!  I went to Costco to let her know the situation and I would be going to pick up my phone and be back to pick her up!!  There must have been hundreds in Costco...not an exaggeration...it was a zoo!!  I don't understand the draw to Costco...but Mr. Seventies and I are empty nesters...so a 45 gallon drum of peanut butter does not appeal to us!!

With that...we decided it was time for these two old gals to head for home!!  The clunker got us safely back on the Island. 

And we get to do it all again in November!!!  Can't wait!!