Mixing the New and the Old

This week-end we finally got into the swing of things, in preparing for the holidays. We're a little behind...usually we get our tree the first of December and decorate the house around that time too. But the past few week-ends have been jam packed with preparations for sheep, picking up sheep, surviving during power outages and extreme cold temperatures and building a sheep shelter in -30 degree temperatures (you can kind of see it in the background covered in a blue tarp as we didn't the roof quite finished yet).


As this is our first Christmas in our new home, we decided not to travel to Vancouver, as we did last year, to see my family, but to celebrate in our own home. As we were getting our tree today, I was reflecting on how different each of our Christmas' have been over the last few years and how pulling out our Christmas decorations, is the thread that ties everything together...no matter where we are. The kids excitedly take out each one, squealing with delight as they recognize one that they made at preschool, one that has their name engraved on it, one that they received as a gift etc etc.

Last week-end we attended the Old Fashioned Christmas party put on by the Horsefly Community Club. I see this as being a new 'tradition' in our family, because it was so much fun. The event starts with a huge potluck dinner...I have never seen such a large buffet with such a variety of dishes. The kids loaded up their plates and in a rare twist of events...ate almost everything! After dinner there were some performances by local musicians and music students and a rousing version of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Horsefly style...my favourites were the 5 Share Shed Shoppers, 6 Fire Levies, 4 Dry Wells and a Closed sign at the Cafe. The entertainment wrapped up with a visit from jolly old St. Nick.


After the entertainment we headed outside into the cold, to enjoy a bonfire, some horse-drawn sleigh rides and hot chocolate, while the kids climbed all over the huge piles of snow left behind by the snowplows.

This week-end we started another new tradition, heading out to chop down our own Christmas Tree. I've been scouting out trees for the last few weeks...looking for one that is about the right size and sufficiently 'bushy' for putting ornaments and lights on. We have always purchased our tree...and always had a Fraser Fir...they seem to last the longest and don't drop as many of their needles. We don't have many (any?) fir on our property so we had to go with spruce. I spotted one that I thought would work so we all headed out to chop it down...



The snow is a little deep...good thing there is no sound ;)



Timberrrrr!


I think it looks lovely!

Tonight we will be celebrating Winter Solstice...a tradition we started last year...with a bonfire, lots of candles and discussion of all the things we look forward to as the days start to get longer again.