New beginnings

Hello dear friends,

With the beginning of the year, I also finalised my plans of renewing my blogging experience-and yours. 

I have discussed this in the past, but I was not sure if I wanted to do it, and what it would mean to my relationship with you. You know how I cherish our friendship!

And yet, I wanted to put almost everything on a new basis, the "green" part and the "Greek" part of my blog, with who I am now, almost five years after I launched my ship in the blogosphere, and thus, to put forward a more honnest and whole "me". 

So,

with all this in mind,

I am launching 

The E-Diaries

I hope to see you there, soon!

http://the-e-diaries.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, loving, joyful and creative 2011!

2 days for Christmas

Hello dear friends,

I thought I wouldn't stop by before Christmas, but here you are, and here I am :-)
I am particularly happy that our dearest friend Denise is back on-line. Hi Denise! We've missed you, and were so worried about you!

We are two days away from Christmas eve, and I am looking forward to switching off must-do-contacts and concentrate on family and friends.

We are facing some challenges right now. Both C and myself have some exams to do that are not particularly pleasant, but we must do them. So please say a little prayer for us, that our exams come out nice and clean.
Prayers work miracles, especially on Christmastime!

The general gloom in this part of the world thanks to Greece's politicians and the world money lenders is suffocating at times. If you smile, people look at you as if you were a wierdo. We are all supposed to bend our knees and cut open our veins for the parasites to feed themselves on our blood. We won't do it, some of us won't at least. So we are holding on tight and try to avoid people who bring us down with their moods and pessimism.

In this spirit, last week we hosted a little party at the shop, for our customers' kids and everyone who wanted to come. People were so surprised we did not charge anything. They were expecting to pay, and many did not come because they thought they ought to. In the 14th year in this part of the world, and I still feel like an alien at times.

OK, stop wining, dear, it's Christmas!

See my new blog theme? You know I like changing it, like every other month? This time, Dani, a lovely person and a skilled blog designer made me a custom header and a new background. So I am all dressed up for Christmas, blogwise!

So, ladies, I am puting on some sparkly lights, blowing red lipsticked kisses your way, and wishing you a night of wonder and love in your hearts and souls.

From our family creche to you all out there,

Merry Christmas!

 

2010 Christmas Tour of Homes

Hello dear friends,

Welcome to my 2010 Christmas Tour of Homes post!

This year we started the festive season by decorating first our shop,

...and then our home...and garden...

We wish you all a very blessed, peaceful Christmas season, and a lovely 2011!

P.S. Snow with cherry syroup, anyone?

{With many thanks to The Nester for hosting}

Merry Christmas!

Snowtime!

Hello dear friends,

This morning we woke up to snow. Not too much, but enough to keep the kids and ourselves from going to school and work in the morning.

 

i love the blue light of the morning

...our garden...

...our doggy neighbour...

...hot chocolate time...

I hope you are all baking and decorating, 

and getting ready for a beautiful, blessed and merry Christmas!

Christmas ding-dong-ding!

Hello dear friends,

I hope you are all doing OK. I popped over to see you tonight, and most of you haven't posted for days-just like me! Are you busy decorating and baking? Or is blogging simply taking its toll on your lives and you want to do more living and less blogging?
I wasn't in the mood for blogging either. But since we decorated our home and our shop, I thought I'd stop by and add some festive cheer to my cyber-home. I have also been posting over at the Happy Turtle about Christmas crafts and finds, so when I'm not here, try over there and say "hi!".

God willing, I hope to stop by again for a couple more Christmas posts. 

See you soon,

NASA Astrobiology Discovery

Nov. 29, 2010

Dwayne Brown Headquarters, 

Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov 

Cathy Weselby Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, 

Calif. 650-604-2791 cathy.weselby@nasa.gov 

MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-167 NASA SETS NEWS CONFERENCE ON ASTROBIOLOGY DISCOVERY; SCIENCE JOURNAL HAS EMBARGOED DETAILS UNTIL 2 P.M. EST ON DEC. 2

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov. Participants are: - Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington - Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif. - Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. - Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla. - James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe Media representatives may attend the conference or ask questions by phone or from participating NASA locations. To obtain dial-in information, journalists must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov or call 202-358-0918 by noon Dec. 2. 

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

What will it be? C and I have been guessing this morning (the conference will be held 8p.m. our time).
-Life on Mars? 
-We are being attacked by Allien?
-Scientists realised that the Universe is a huge super wise living and kicking being? 
-Earthians will be colonising Mars or the Moon? 
-A delegation of extra-terrestrians landed with their space ship somewhere in the US?
-Astronauts are currently holding friendly talks in space with Martians? 

What do you think it will be? 

Oh, this is so exciting! I certainly hope it is exciting! 

(Via here)

Tuesday Garden Party-Paperwhites and zinias

I love paperwhites. 

My mother used to decorate our home for the festive season with paperwhites, so their perfume brings me memories of a warm home, festive cookies being baked, and our name days and birthdays being celebrated.

As for zinias, they are so open hearted and colourful.

Photos taken this morning in our shop. 

A feeling of Christmas

 

The first touch of Christmas...

A TV ad I like

 

F decorating the shop for Christmas

Wishing you all a lovely December and a Merry Christmas

Will you pray for me?

Hello dear friends,
I hope you are all having a good time, especially those of you celebrating Thanksgiving. It is such a wonderful opportunity to be Thankful to God for all the good that He surrounds us with.

I have been silent for a few days. Some of my posts were posted in advance. We have been busy at the shop planning for an upocoming party for our customers' kids on December 15.
We are going to paint pillow cases together, read Christmas stories, eat some pies and drink some of our bio wine.

However, things are not always easy and rarely go as planned, as you all know.
In the past week I have been experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding. I spoke with my OB yesterday and he gave me some blood tests to do, and take it from there. I know I have some fibroids lurking and I am very scared of what maybe going on. 

Will you please hold me in your prayers?

Book Review: Kirstie Allsopp Homemade Home

My new book arrived last week.

It follows on the footsteps of The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket, which is one of my desert island books. I run to it again and again for inspiration on all things domestic.

Kirstie Allsopp is one of my favorite TV presenters. 

I love her style and her accent, and the way she gets involved with all her projects.

 This book offers insights into Ms. Allsopp's finds for her Channel 4 TV show in an inspiring, delightful to read and easy to follow format.

There is everything from crochet to knitting, to making pillows or a lampshade,

and how to make a rag rug.

My mother and grandmother used to make these.

How to decorate a cake

And also lovely photography and room by room ideas to inspire.

If you are making your list for Santa, make sure you ask him for Kirstie's Homemade Home.

Wordless Wednesday- Wedding shoot

Thank you for stopping by and commenting!

More Wordless Wednesday at  5 minutes for mom and Miles to go...

See you next week!

Yeah to the Irish a**e!

Listening on the radio this morning. 

Dedicated to the hateful money lenders and warmongers toying with Greece, now Ireland, and probably Portugal and Italy.

Kiss My Irish Ass Lyrics
Oh the churchbells are ringin' in the schoolyard,
And we all went out those days
The bully said "Mick would you fancy a rumble?"
I said "Yes, it's time to play!"

Oh the nuns and the priests they grabbed their Rosaries
As they pulled our bodies apart
The bully said "Mick you lost the fight, but you've gained my respect!
You fight with so much heart!"

We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
You better kiss my Irish ass!

Oh the husbands and wives, they had a neighborhood pack
They called the Mackeys white trash behind our backs (White Trash!)
I was way too young to understand that
But if I did, I'd given it right back

Oh me dad, he'd be drunk on the lawn,
Yelling and screaming like he do
But sometimes my old man felt what he was feeling,
Sometimes Mr. Mackey spoke the truth

We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
You better kiss my Irish ass!


Oh me grandpa passed through Ellis Island,
From the greatest of the Motherlands
For he worked, provided for his family
He was a dedicated welding man
And he knew right from wrong like day and night,
He could whip any fool in a bareknuckle fight
He talked of country like he preached of God,
One hell of an Irishman!

We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
You better kiss my Irish ass!


Oooohh, I'm of a distant relation to John Redman,
He was one of the greatest Irish Rebels of his day
One bastard to another, on down the line
And this is what my son will say:

We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
You better kiss my Irish ass!

Tuesday Garden Party

Hello dear friends,

 Today's theme is Decorating with yard/garden items. 

 These little fellows reside on my daughter's balcony, together with the red mushroom. Aren't they cute?

And this little guy used to light our backyard. Though the light doesn't work anymore, he makes me smile when I mook for him in the morning.

What makes you smile in the morning? 

Visit more Garden Party goers right here.

See you all next week.

Mellow Yellow Monday-On the street

One thing I like about memes is that they make me more aware of what is going on around me. Not just the ones I want to see, like the fallen leaves, but what is there that I do not pay attention to.

Wishing you all a lovely new week.

With Thanks to