Cards, Anyone?

Today was a rather full day...keeping an eye on the TV re: the hostage releases this morning, while retreating to my craft room to work on Christmas cards...Hard to do both at the same time though...so the TV had to go...

I thoroughly enjoyed quiet time puttering with paper, tape, rubber stamps, ribbons, and scissors, as well as little tidbits of Christmas ephemera I have gathered from various sources. Part of the fun is salvaging beautiful, but not personally meaningful, cards that I or my neighbours would normally be throwing into the recycling bin at the end of the season. I love the challenge of creating something new from something that is no longer of use... or just needs a new purpose...so today was fun..and I at least made a start on my Christmas preparations!  

And then in the afternoon - a wonderful visit with Nora..who used to live in Burr Lodge, that heritage house behind my place. My neighbour Elaine and I really miss her. She used to invite us over for evening drinks or tea on the porch and, being a musician as well as a social worker, she always invited us to the evening concerts she and her group performed for friends in her home. I really do miss chatting with her over the back fence as we used to do while working in the garden. We have not seen her often since they moved..especially after her husband died last year. And then Elaine and I bumped into her at that author talk earlier this week and invited her to come for tea at my house today...( and heh heh, I used teacups not mugs !) We had a wonderful time catching up and I do hope we will see more of her; this last year has been a tough one for her, but she seems ready now to get out and about more.

And so I spent Black Friday not shopping, and missed out, I am sure, on oodles of bargains...and I don't care.