My Secret Santa Has Really Come Through!

My Secret Santa parcel has arrived!

My Secret Santa has really come through!

Christmas had come and gone and there had been no parcel in the mail and I was wondering if maybe there wouldn’t be one but, lo and behold, there it was in this morning’s post! Hubby picked it up before work today and then phoned me to say that it was here. I spent all day wondering what it could be, just like a little kid.

When he finally got home this afternoon I tore right into it and it was full of wonderful things! There were four jars of home-made preserves in a table-top caddy, fours small books and a nice card. Wow, Secret Santa, thank you so much!

Pulling the contents from my Secret Santa parcel.

Everything was nicely wrapped and looked beautiful.

My Secret Santa gifts, homemade jams in a pretty metal caddy and four little books.

While I can’t be 100% sure who my Secret Santa really is I think that I know and she is a fellow blogger. You can find her at this link and if that isn’t her then that blog is an interesting read anyway.

Thanks again, Santa!

Secret Santa

(photo above stolen shamelessly from Buttons, Ribbons And Other Things)

Way back in October I came across “Serendipity’s Guide To Saving” while doing a little surfing. She was writing about “The Bloggy Secret Santa Project” and it sounded like such a great idea that I signed up right away. It looks like about 3 dozen others were interested, too. I’ve been waiting for the email since then to find out who I would be sending gifts to and just yesterday I got it. The matchup is just perfect, as far as I’m concerned. Great job, Serendipity!

So I was doing a little spying on my recipient’s blog and it turns out that she has already put up a list of her interests and what she would like to receive and it made me realize that maybe MY Secret Santa would appreciate the same thing from me! Well, here goes!

• If you are crafty, any home-made goodies would be great.
• Home-made jewelry made with beads, sea glass or other found pieces.
• I love all earthy colours but my favourite has always been purple.
• Anything to do with owls, I’m just crazy about them.
• Dark chocolate covered almonds, mmmmm.
• I love gardening and all plants, too.

I want to give Serendipity a big thank you for organizing this. It was just what I needed to put me in right frame of mind for the upcoming season. My brain is just buzzing with all kinds of ideas, now. I’m going to have to get busy if I’m going to make the deadline!

Scrub Pads and Shopping Bags.

It’s the time of year now where we are really starting to enjoy the gardens, especially the flower gardens. Everything is starting to blossom and I can hardly wait to harvest some to bring the beauty inside. I try to arrange a new bouquet in my ikebana every few days. This one is a little different though, can you see why?





Growing amongst my flowers are a pair of scrubbies and a shopping bag! They are there in the middle, just above the bright orange lily. The shopping bag is in the big purple rose and the white flower to its left and the purple flower to its right are the scrub pads. The scrubbies were handmade and so beautiful that it is such a shame to use them but I can’t wait to try. The friend who sent them made them herself and it doesn’t sound like it was much fun. This is the way she described it in an email she sent;

“Two years ago when we were in Mexico and I had that horrible fall, I was really stuck spending a lot of time in my room. An older Canadian tourist from Vancouver had given me a couple of the scubbies and I thought they were really cute. She knew how bored I was and told me she'd show me how to make them. I've done a bit of crocheting during the years and figured it would not only be fun but a great idea for our church bazaar. FUN???????????? It was NOT!!! I had no clue how involved this was going to be. They sure looked simple enough. I figured she used some special kind of yarn. I couldn't believe what you had to do. First you had to buy material that looks like the crinolines I used to wear when I was a teenager. It comes in all different colours and is fairly stiff. You have to get about 3 metres of it and then cut it all up in narrow strips. Well it AIN'T that easy because if you visualize it, the edges are all jagged when you cut it so when you try to fold up the strips they are all sharp and when you take a strip and try to crochet with it, it's such a treat. The edges stick to your clothes or the chesterfield or whatever it can. Forget trying to keep nail polish on your nails. Then periodically you have to tie another strip on. Not only does it prickle you wherever it touches but the strength it takes in your hands and fingers to try to make it loop means you're lucky to make one of those things a day and if on top of that you happen to have arthritic fingers, boy in the morning you can sure feel it. Once you get the circles made you then have to crochet them together but try to stuff them as you go along.”

I don’t think that I’m going to be making any of these myself any time soon!



The purple rose shopping bag is so cool, too. While it is not homemade it is very light and it has a clip on the side so that it can be attached to a purse strap or a belt loop. I’ll never have to worry about having a shopping bag with me again.






These little gifts came as a complete surprise and they brightened my day more than words can say. Sometimes the simplest act of kindness will stand out and you will remember the moment for a lifetime. I guess I’m having one of these moments and wanted you all to experience it with me. Hope you have enjoyed the ride.