Happy Holidays 

from our little home to yours.
Happy 2012

Time for New Beginnings. . . . . . . . . . . Taylor Addison, Blue Mountain Arts, 1989
"This is a time for reflection as well as celebration.
As you look back on the past year and all that has taken place in your life,
Remember each experience for the good that has come of it
    and for the knowledge you have gained.
Remember the efforts you have made and the goals you have reached.
Remember the love you have shared and the happiness you have brought.
Remember the laughter, the joy, the hard work, and the tears.
And as you reflect on the past year, also be thinking of the new one to come.
Because most importantly, this is a time of new beginnings
    and the celebration of life."

Hugo

More than two years ago we were given this book as a Christmas gift

This fall I finally felt like the children were big enough to appreciate it.

So bit by bit every evening we have been reading it. 

It is one of those books that is like a treasure.

and now... 

They have made it into a film! I take a breath in and hope that it is half as wonderful as the book.
This Christmas we are looking forward to watching it -  (trailer for Hugo here).

snapshots

I managed to take a few very quick shots of some small purses I made before the Christmas Market, thought I would share them with you all. 

If I manage before the baby arrives, I will finally update my etsy shop.... 

its been quiet and empty since my year of teaching History!

Shame. 

Christmas cheer

Friday arrives and finds us baking the first batch of cookies (gingerbread), also of seasonal significance you  find bubbling on the stove top, Imbuljuta (the Maltese chocolate chestnut soup) a sweet soup with cinnamon, tangerine peel, cloves and allspice...mmm the smell is heavenly. 

Christmas cards to write, mistletoe to hang and stockings to finish embroidering... yes, Christmas is in the air, may your weekend be filled with seasonal cheer. 

Stamps!

Its been a loooong time since I have put to use my carving tools, was so fun to do a few stamps for Christmas, (initially I made them to print on gift bags for the Market) but it also functioned as a fun rainy day project, to get the kids and I into the Christmas mood.
Complete with cheesy Christmas music and thick Italian hot chocolate!

They began just after they came back from Saturday sports club thus the lovely orange atire!

Catching a breath

Last weekend I participated in my first Christmas Market,
and I so enjoyed the experience! A tad tiring as I was on my feet for nearly 10 hours (being 7 months pregnant) but great to speak with people, network with other artists and to sell my handmade pieces. Foolishly I did not have the chance (was busy preparing right up to the end) to take photos of most of my work so I will include a few shots here, as well as some photos of the event taken by Denise Scicluna at the Patches Christmas Market which took place in the old Market in Valletta last Sunday. 

A part of my stall is featured on the right 

Food 

Live Music

Lastly a not so clear photo of myself and my stall

Thank You

There is something wonderful about receiving an unexpected parcel in the mail.  Today a special thank you to A. whose package arrived and whose tea and cookies I have been savouring. 

What a very nice surprise!!! 

I do believe that friendships, be they old or new, are one of the grandest treasures in life.

They can brighten the darkest of days, they can inspire, encourage, support or just make us burst out with laughter. Yes, good friendships surely are one of the finer things in life. 

May you (those Americans among you) be enjoying the company of family and friends on this Thanksgiving holiday. 

Chestnut

Just when things in the little miracle street house 

were getting calm and semi predictable 

the resident whale decided she could not pass a certain crying scruffy kitten spotted in the doorway of an old house. So with wind howling, rain threatening, three smalls encircling her ( their bickering and complaints temporarily silenced in mutual looks of pleading) the whale mama decided to heave all the bags onto one arm and gently scoop up the tiny dirty fluff ball and waddle through the maze of alleys towards home.

Resident cat of the house, 

wily trouble maker that he is was not so amused or charmed. Whale mama's husband being abroad in the land of the reindeer, had a little surprise as he returned, luckily with his first gesture of scooping fluff ball into his arms,  the whale mama and smalls were relieved. She can stay. Sigh, our family continues to grow. Washed and taken to the vet, she is soft and nice smelling now and is already feeling at home, chasing after shoelaces and purring on shoulders as we make our morning coffee. 

* It has come to our attention that little fluff adores roasted chestnuts - so that is what we have decided to call her. 

6 years ago

in an old house, in a tiny village surrounded by olive trees 

on a small island in the sea 

you were born

my daughter 

Happy birthday 

 my brown eyed girl, 

my magpie

my middle child

my fellow scorpion

my collector

my drawer of fairies and rainbows 

my dear heart. 

Reflection

Graceless is the pregnant woman

The title for this post came to me as I walked out of a pleasant interview, 

not a job exactly but volunteering for an organization that I believe does great work here on the island. 

Somehow in the brief span of half an hour I managed to spill some of the water from my water bottle before it reached my mouth.  tip my purse off a chair while sitting in a quiet waiting room(contents including all sorts of random kid things like crayons, toy cars, a chunky plastic kids ring ..all spilling across the floor, (keep in mind it is difficult to lean down nonchalantly when you have a basketball shaped belly). Then while in the presence of the head of the organization, a  calm and cool smiling lawyer, I went to lean on the arm rest with that look of interest as I was listening and missed it, making a very awkward dip towards the floor- I must have blushed crimson. Yes clumsy is the way I feel and my very very limited wardrobe now that the weather has shifted does not help. Nor the lumbering pace I seem to have acquired. When did I start to huff and puff carrying the laundry up to the roof!? 

Yes, pregnant women (at least in my case)- nearing the last months do many silly things like bump their belly into chairs, desks, people... not realizing just how far their circumference has grown.

*
May your Monday mornings be starting out swiftly with speed and grace, like a bird in flight
and not like a whale in shallow water.

Ode to November

1-11-11

Lovely date no?

Ode to the start of November, 

here in Malta she has arrived with heavy winds, rain and very dark thundering skies. 

The kind of day to sip tea, stay inside, play music, read, paint, write. 

I recently came across this artist's work and had to share-  Duy Huynh... 

I  like the mood of his paintings, the rich colours and mysterious melancholy  feel.

What do you think?

Little button turns four

Four years ago little Ms. Destructo came out into the world,

 and our lives have never been the same since! 

So glad to have this little ball of energy and noise in our midst! 

Happy Birthday my little one. 

With her papa day one

Sewing

Trying my hand at making dolls, this is Esme part of a new series.  

Christmas Artisan Market on the horizon! 

Ode to boxes

Have I confessed before my love of boxes?

No? Well I admit it now then.

With that in mind let me share this site-

Box and Needle

 sigh... lovely creations don't you think?

(a 'magnet box' to hold pens on the refrigerator)

Wish I could read Japanese. 

Then, maybe just maybe for my birthday next month I would order one!