CHRISTMAS AT THE BAY

After Loretta and I left Hycroft on Thursday, we took the bus back to The Bay which is a big Canadian department store. We had a lovely lunch and then we browsed through their Christmas section. It was much smaller than in years past but they had a lot of darling things for sale.

 Tartan teddy bears, they are so cute!

 OK..now only in Canada would you find this as a display in the Christmas decoration section...lol

 Pom Pom tree garland, it was very interesting looking!

 I think Loretta found what she wants for Christmas!

CHRISTMAS AT HYCROFT MANOR

On Thursday my friend Loretta and I made our annual Christmas visit to Hycroft which is run by the University Women's Club. It is an old mansion, the McRae Mansion and it sits just off Granville Street in Vancouver. I heard people talking that the man who wrote "In Flanders's Fields" was a cousin of the original owners. Every year for one weekend the house is open to the public (at a price) and they decorate and invite vendors in to sell their wares. We found the prices much higher this year and we were actually in and out quite quickly as most of the stuff being sold was jewelery or scarfs and we weren't interested in either so we looked at the decorations and then headed back to The Bay where we enjoyed a lovely lunch. We used to lunch at Hycroft however they changed caterers and moved the lunch area into a tiny, cramped corner and it wasn't nearly as inviting as it was in 2009 before they changed caterers, in 2009 when we went they sold hot lunches and had plates of Christmas goodies for sale and you could sit and enjoy a hot cup of tea with a plate of goodies. That was such fun! When I viewed the photo below, I noticed the lady in the back ground in capri's...oh my....it was freezing outside and actually was snowing heavily when I drove home...

I just found a really neat blog that has pictures of Hycroft Manor then and now and tells some of the history of the mansion so I will add the link for those who might be interested, I thought it was pretty interesting!  http://www.miss604.com/2010/11/vancouver-history-hycroft.html

 The entrance to the house

 one of the many trees they had decorated

 Aren't these flowers gorgeous? They had many arrangements in the rooms and all were gorgeous and the flowers are real!

 This is a sideboard at the side of the dining room. The theme was white and copper and there were a lot of owls in the decor.

 What a pretty little table and table setting! This was in a room off of the dining room.

 This was near the entrance to the living room where a pianist was playing seasonal songs.

 They had a spectacular Christmas village set up with a little train going all around.

If you look closely, this tree from the dining room where the theme was white and copper is decorated with owls!

 Various things for sale in the Christmas shop.

 Christmas wouldn't be complete without a Santa!

 The theme this year seemed to be Moose and RCMP and one of each was featured outside the entrance door to the house.

 Fascinator hats are making a come back with Princess Kate sporting them now and then, this booth was selling quite an assortment of them.

SAMPLICIOUS

I have been a member of the Smart Canucks Community for quite some time www.smartcancucks.ca and there are a lot of members on the lookout for those fabulous deals out there that aren't advertised in many places. I check in on their website regularly to see if there are any deals as I love a good deal. Recently someone posted one of those deals that kind of sounded too good to be true but as it was from Kraft Canada, a number of us, actually a ton of us decided to give it a try. It was for a Samplicious package and we just had to pay shipping which was about 9.99 plus tax if I remember correctly. This morning this lovely box awaited me when I got up!!!

 Many packages of all the latest new products by Trident Gum, two new flavors of Chips Ahoy cookies, 2 boxes of new flavors of Triscuit crackers, Mac and Cheese and coupons for FREE aMooza cheese twists, FREE Philadelphia cream cheese and FREE Kraft refrigerated salad dressing. An addition of Kraft's What's Cooking magazine was also in the box and there is a coupon for a buy one get one free aMooza cheese twists. Thanks Kraft Canada, we are going to enjoy trying these fabulous new products!

Remembrance Day

from the website: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”

Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. ⁽¹⁾

During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2^nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.
As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.
For the story behind the inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”, see our page at:
Inspiration for In Flanders Fields

 

A few of my vinyl kids got dressed for the upcoming holiday season last weekend. We figured we would get a bit of a head start seeings as they wore St Paddy's Day clothes from March until October:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - THE VIRTUAL PARTY!

 The first picture is one someone sent on to me and I tracked down the location and it is in Woodstock, I love all the lite up pumpkins!

We are joining in A Fanciful Twists Virtual Halloween Party! This is the first year I have attended and it sounds like a lot of fun!
http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2011/09/halloween-festivities-an-invitation.html

 My Chatty Cathy's celebrate every year, Since my kids are all grown up now, I compensate and dress up the dolls these days!

 Katie Effanbee is trying to tell Chatty there is someone or something behind her!

 This photo was taken at my friend Loretta's house last Halloween, Loretta always has her house done up so pretty for the holidays. My bleuette Madeline also came for tea.

 One of our local stores is selling all kinds of neat witches and things to celebrate the occasion.

 My little Bleuette Emmy hopes everyone has a Happy Halloween and we both would like you to visit Vanessa and get the links for all the other participants in this virtual Halloween Party! Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment and I will try and get to everyone else's blogs to see what you have in store for this lovely virtual party!
http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2011/09/halloween-festivities-an-invitation.html

Please help yourself to a seasonal cupcake as you leave!

THE POST SCRIPT

Now I know I said that one more post would do it for my summer series however....after the convention banquet was over...not terribly late....we raced to our rooms, got changed, made it back to the street just as a bus to the park arrived, got on that bus and I bet we were in that park 20 minutes after we left the ballroom....Robert had spent the evening there while we were at the banquet so Loretta phoned him and told him we were on our way back...we just couldn't not go...my name is Linda and I am a Disneyaholic...

finally a ride that didn't break down or have to be evacuated!

Goodby Walt, goodby Mickey!

The clock on Main Street says the park is now closed

Goodbye Disneyland, till we meet again!

Goodbye convention, it was the trip of a lifetime!

Goodbye Anaheim Hilton, we had a wonderful time...wish we could have spent more time in those fabulous pools!