A Green Christmas

I think we are heading for a green Christmas. It's so unusual in Montreal not to have at least a bit of snow on the ground at Christmas. It's what everyone is talking about here. The skating rink boards were installed weeks ago in the park across the street but there isn't a snowflake or a sliver of ice in sight.

There's not really anything one can do so, while dreaming of snow, we are going about our days and getting ready for the holidays. Today it is colder but the forecast for the week ahead is for mild, rainy days.

The photo above is of tiny rain-soaked crabapples in my garden. While I was taking this photo and others on one of the rainiest days of the past week, a patient, slightly soggy Meeko waited for me on the back porch. Such a good boy.

I have been painting. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my progress photos of a watercolour I just finished of a small winterberry branch. This is my favourite kind of painting to do--a study of a natural object. I have another step to do as this will be a special print, actually one that was suggested to me by a lovely customer.

When I was purchasing the winterberry branches to use as my painting references at a local garden centre, the sales clerk told me that their spring bulbs were 80% off. I already planted over 350 bulbs in November but the ground still isn't frozen and the price was hard to resist. So I purchased some more spring bulbs and added them to my garden this past week! Planting spring bulbs in the garden in mid-December! The silver lining of this odd weather.

A Little Winter Beauty

Here is a selection of scenes from our stay over the holidays in Muskoka, the cottage region in Ontario where my parents live. They didn't have as much snow as some years, but it was just enough to be pretty. We walked a lot when we were there.

Do you see Woody Woodpecker in the above photo? It's a pileated woodpecker. They are so big and noisy (both their knocking and squawking)! Wish I'd had my long-range lens when I saw it.

Emma was looking at some older paintings I did in my studio just before Christmas and was saying that I should do landscapes again. I used to paint a lot of landscapes, especially when I worked in oils many, many years ago but also when I started working in watercolour many years ago. Maybe I'll paint one of these beautiful Muskoka scenes in the weeks ahead.

I'm not really fond of photos taken of me and I don't tend to be very cooperative. My sneaky daughter Chloé managed to snap this one between the trees.

Home Again

Yes, the lord and master is in! If you wondered who ruled the roost...oh, you probably knew. :) We are home again.

Our holidays are never very restful. Neither of our families live near us so we drive a lot. We spent the weekend just before Christmas in Trois-Rivières to see my husband's family and then returned for a few days here. And then we were off for over a week in Ontario to visit my family and stayed in three different houses! We lived like gypsies. It was great. We'll recuperate after the holidays, right?

The day before we left for Ontario, we had a record snowfall in Montreal. We had 45 centimeters in one day! Montrealers are used to a lot of snow (although maybe not that much in one day) so it was dealt with admirably.

I haven't really had the time to go through my photos from our holidays, but I needed to post something--just so you knew I was still around. :)

I found the perfect thing. Emma took some gorgeous photos of our fireplace this weekend. It's a bit like cloud-watching. There are amazing shapes and figures visible in the flames.

This one blows my mind. Can you see the female figure?

Really quite mesmerizing! I love our fireplace. We had a gas fireplace at first but it didn't feel natural and I was having a lot of asthma problems with it. The natural wood-burning fireplace has been much better and it is so much more interesting to look at. A beautiful part of the winter season.

Chloé went back to school today. Emma doesn't go back until the 21st. I will slowly drift back into a more regular routine. Can't wait to paint again.

Back at Home

Four different houses in one week

Two provinces

Four different towns & cities

The above two photos were taken in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada

Areas with snow and others with very little

Mild days and freezing cold days

Approximately 1,350 kilometers (838 miles) driven

Countless plates of delicious food, glasses of wine and Christmas baked goods

20 family members hugged

3 dogs patted

We are happy to have celebrated with everyone

But also happy to be home

Even the dogs are tired :)

My sister's dog Mabel

My brother's dog Marlowe

Meeko loved visiting and caused as much mischief as possible but is now
happily asleep in his favourite spot on our sofa

We will leave our tree and decorations up a few more days

We barely see them during the holidays

My routine will become more normal in the days ahead

My daughters go back to school on the 10th

I can't wait to start painting again

I hope you all had wonderful holidays

and I wish you the very best in the new year.

(The top photo was taken by my niece Katie, 
the others by myself and my daughters Chloé and Emma)