The silly season is in full swing.

Well, Christmas has finally come to our house with all trees trimmed, decorations placed, Christmas quilts hung, etc. etc. All looks lovely - likely there won't be many people other than Brian and I to enjoy it but that's okay - it's helped to get us in the mood. Not much shopping done as yet but I guess the panic will set in soon.

I made these in Australia - we are short on wall
space, hence the creative hanging spot.

Our timing to enter Nanaimo's social life has been fortuitous. Get a few meetings/games in and, voila!, there is an invitation to a Christmas function! Very clever I'd say.

We went to the Newcomers group Drinks & Appies last week which we enjoyed thoroughly. And then our neighbours two doors down invited us over last weekend for afternoon drinks. We were heading home from there and they reminded us to remember to watch the Yacht Club's Christmas Carols Cruise on the bay that night. We had not even heard of it so were very lucky they had mentioned it. About 7pm, 30 or so yachts and boats came cruising slowly around the bay - ended up doing a U-turn right in front of our house so we really got a good look. It was quite lovely as they were all decorated and were playing Christmas Carols. It wasn't too cold so we took jackets, lap quilts and wine outside and happily sat for an hour or more watching the show! Very nice. My photos aren't great unfortunately but you get the idea.

One day last week we drove out to Ladysmith to pick up Heidi's quilt from the quilt shop (sorry, still can't show a photo yet) - on the way back we called into a store called Buckerfields which I was curious to see. As we went into the store, there were lots of people milling around with their pets - some with Santa hats etc. We asked what was going on and discovered it was "Have your pet photographed with Santa" day. Of course we had to go and watch for a bit. Very cute.

You can't see but behind this very cute monster was
a puppy version - you can just see the top of his hat.
I think they are Newfoundland (Newfie's) dogs
(*Megan, you would love them as they are HUUUGE!)

"When's my turn?" (in whiny voice of course)

Yes, one family brought four Chihuahuas! As you can
see, Santa was pretty excited.

This is the Star Quilt I made and sent off to Brian's mum for Christmas - she has received it now so I can show it to you. I think its timing was good as she had a pretty rough week and this hopefully was a little pick me up for her.

I have also finished quilting and binding the Christmas trees quilt which I showed you before - here it is in its finished form - I think it's really cute. Problem is I have nowhere to hang it.

And I've also finished this one begun earlier this year - feeling very virtuous at the moment. That's likely it for projects until after Christmas.

Yesterday I enjoyed a full turkey Christmas dinner at my daytime quilt group - the Material Girls. Lots of food and lots of fun. We had some interesting "games" organized, including strip poker. Once I realized it involved strips of fabric and not clothing, I reassessed the outfit I had chosen to wear - I was so much more comfortable in just one layer of clothes rather than the five I had planned for! The ladies went all out with decorations, gifts, etc. We played the leftie/righty game with gifts which made me feel right at home as we had done that at my last Central Coast Tourism Christmas party. The little stockings and tree shaped napkins below were all made by one lady over a period of about two days. She made 18 of them - each appliquéd with a different design and then also sewed on beads, etc. as well! They were very cute. Oh yes, and if that wasn't enough, she also made some chocolate bark candy to include in each one. Quite an amazing effort.

Some of the lovely Material Girls.

Brian's hockey continues to go well and he is thoroughly enjoying the camaraderie of the guys. They had a mini tournament last week which meant two games in a morning - very trying for his muscles but he held up well. Yesterday he scored his first goal (breakaway) so there's no holding him back now! His group is very inclusive and have again phoned to have him go and watch the local hockey team play Friday night.

I went with Brian today to Parksville to watch him play. The guys on his team are mostly over 75 - some over 80 and one is 88! Isn't that incredible. I am so impressed. I took my camera to get proof that Brian was actually playing hockey and this is the result. The quality isn't the best because, as you can imagine, at the incredibly high speed they are skating, it's difficult to get a good shot.

Keep your eye on No. 4

Killer Thompson

After hockey, we drove up to Courtney (another 45 mins or so north) for lunch and then a spot of shopping. I think I mentioned in a previous blog how lovely their main street is and that the shops had all beautifully decorated their windows for Christmas. Well, I got a few photos today to share. Sorry about the reflections.

So far, we have two more Christmas functions next week; plus declined one for this Saturday. Our realtor and his girlfriend are coming for lunch on Sunday which should be fun. We also have a New Year's Eve party lined up, provided we get back from Alberta in time. So, the social life is good. January will be hard to take after all of this fun. Frankly, I'm not sure how I am going to find the time to go back to work!