Christmas Decorating - Phase 1

We moved to the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia in December of 2010, just two weeks before Christmas.  It goes without saying that our Christmas that year was a very sparse one.  We unpacked only the bare necessities, knowing that we would be knee deep into renovations as soon as we could line up some contractors.

Last year it was difficult to get into the Christmas spirit because it was just a couple of weeks after the holidays that I began my cancer treatments.  And of course Frankie was still a very inquisitive and neurotic kitten at the time who had a hard time accepting new and different things into HIS environment.

Well, this year, I'm pumped and soooooo ready to decorate.  It's been three long years since I've unpacked all my treasures.  Before moving, I purged and considerably downsized my Christmas stash and kept only my most very favorite things.

So yesterday morning, Mr. Painted Quilt brought in the first three bins marked "Xmas" from our workshop outbuilding.  

Ollie was there to supervise.

I wonder if there are any toys in there...or food maybe?

It felt like Christmas morning.  Each item brought back memories of friends, family and places that I/we have visited in our travels and at times, I became very sentimental.

I decided to tackle downstairs first and started with the dining room...

And then moved on to the bathroom.

Next up was the sitting room...

And then the living room where I still have a lot more to do, including the tree.

And lastly, the kitchen...our favorite place to hang out.

The cooking corner with freshly baked banana bread cooling on the stovetop...

And the cozy stove to keep us warm and toasty.

Are we done yet?  All that work made me hungry!

Phase 1 is done but there's still lots more to do.  Today I'm hoping to haul out the tree and boxes of ornies that are stored under the dormers...and I haven't even started upstairs!

Fresh pine boughs and holly from the woods at the back of our house will be cut and added to the mix.   

My goal is to be finished by Wednesday or by the end of the week at the latest.  

Stay tuned for Phase 2!

*Note to Janet*

You came up as a "no-reply" blogger so I was unable to contact you directly to answer your question about the thread that I used to complete the stitching on my Wish quilt.  I used DMC #115 which is a variegated red and it's one of my favorites.