This blog is all about me......I come here for respite in between caring for JoJo (our Daughter who has Special Needs)......I am addicted to starting new projects......I am becoming a fabric-a-holic... I love to try out recipes... take a beach walk and breathe in that salty blue air......love to have coffee...sip a glass of champagne......read a book......I am Queen of the Armchair and am inspired by all the wonderful blogs out there!!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Surprise Gifts In Time For Halloween...A Christmas Wish Quilt Update and Delicious Chocolate Cups!!!

Last week JoJo and I had the best surprise...
a very special gift all the way from California from Vicki

Part of the gift was the very cute Owl from Harry Potter...
found in the box below...
(as you might already know from a previous post I'm a Harry Potter fan...
and have a collection of the stuff!!!)

This is the box we went to pick up at the local Post Office...

Opened up with a card and wrapped gifts!!!
How excited were we to see this!!!

But before opening them we set up our own little party to celebrate!!!
A glass of pink bubbles for me...iced coffee for JoJo...
together with some Rice Crackers and a dip!!!
All by candlelight!!!
Hubby was away overnight and it was just '2 girls' as JoJo calls it!!!

Amongst the gifts...a deck of Harry Potter cards...
Harry Potter glasses....wands...1 each!!!
Party favours...a hard candy kit...

Our very own Sorting Hat...
Boy were we blown away by all this!!!
Thank you so much Vicki for this very very special gift...
and your thoughtfulness...
We are over the moon !!!

This has really gotten us into the Spirit of Halloween...
Halloween is not widely celebrated here in The Land Down Under but I have noticed over the last few years it is slowly creeping in...with shops starting to stock costumes for the children...party treats etc...

So I thought I would research Halloween a little...find some of its' origins and a bit of history to go with it all...
A quick look on Wikipedia led to this...

Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. The day is often associated with orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols like the jack-o-lantern . Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

There is a lot of fun associated with this celebration...
so we are going to have our own fun here...
we have never done this before...
we are going to play the Harry Potter cards...
get dressed up for the occassion...
put some Harry Potter movies on...
and hope that the Trick-or-Treaters come again this year...as they did last year and surprised us all!!!
Yay...it's party time!!!

On the stitching front I have put the strips on to my A Christmas Wish quilt by Gail Pan ...
it's now ready for a border...

From the garden these beautiful roses...
it is our 3rd Spring here and I have never seen roses here this size!!!

And a special treat you might like to enjoy this Halloween...or any time that is chocolate time...Chocolate Cups...for the recipe hop on over to my other blog My Dolce Vita !!!
Bon Appetit...and Happy Halloween!!!
And Thank You again Vicki for encouraging us to do this...we are certainly going to enjoy our first Halloween celebration!!!

19 comments:

Jane said...

Hi Dzintra, oh gosh how lucky you are, what beautiful gifts. I am sure you and JoJo had a super candlelight evening. Samhain is very much celebrated here in the UK. mainly by children who go trick or treating, I always make sure I have enough treats to pass on to the little ones, no treat = a trick, which normally means getting your car or front door egged.

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

How precious! I love owls!

I have a white owl myself, given to me by one of my sons, for a Christmas time present, a while back. :-)

Oh and I also have a 'Hagrid' doll. -giggles- Mmm, I did spell his name correctly, didn't I?

Anonymous said...

What a thoughtful and enchanting gift package from Vickie. I also love your Christmas quilt - how cozy it looks.

Kath said...

I don't have a "thing" for soft toys, but that owl is adorable, you must have been oohing and aahing the whole time you were unrapping your gifts! I love your quilt, such neat work.

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

Such a thoughtful gift from Vicki and you can enjoy it with your upcoming Halloween celebration.
The roses are beautiful... it may be hard to believe that even though the overnight temps dip into the 30's, there are still roses on my bushes here.No wonder we treasure the flower with such abandonment.
xo Susan

Fer said...

What a treat! Sounds like halloween is just the thing for JoJo!

Vicki's Bit-o-earth said...

Have a magical Halloween Dzintra and JoJo! The two of could be starting up a new trend down under!

Anytime is chocolate time for me. It will go perfectly on a chilly Halloween night. I'm going to hop right over to your Dolce Vita blog and get the recipe! Your Christmas Wish quilt is looking so beautiful! My wish is to learn how to do lovely creations like that. Maybe one day... (: xx Vicki

Mrs Quilty said...

You certainly know how to make a celebration! What fun and what a wonderful package you received!! Congrats!! Have fun with your Halloween down under!

Nat Palaskas said...

What a party and gifts. Your Christmas came early! Look like you both had a lot of fun. The Christmas wish quilt is coming along very nicely too. keep it up, you might get it finish by Christmas - Hugs Nat

Annabelle said...

Vicki is a very special friend and she put a lot of thought into her gifts, they are all very lovely and I’m sure will always be treasured by both you and Jojo. Oh and the Christmas quilt is just magical…always needed for anytime of year to keep comfy and warm.
I luv the Witch’s hat…just gorgeous!
My favorite creature is the owl and come Halloween (late tomorrow evening at midnight) I will be posting my very special fellow for this year’s ALL HALLOW’S EVE…HALLOWEEN! I also have a few little treats I made for the Spooky celebration so do come on over with Jojo and I think you’ll luv what you see.

Happy HALLOWEEN! >^..^<

P.S. I’M GIVING AWAY a Witch Banner for HALLOWEEN TO ONE BLOG BUT YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME I POSTED.

A Witch called Annabelle >^..^<

Cindy F. said...

Love your sweet gifts! and your Christmas quilt is GORGEOUS!!!

Thanks for the wonderful links on previous posts too. I finally got caught up reading yours and now you have my mind going in a 1000 directions wanting to shop and stitch! OK...gotta get busy! You're a wonderful enabler:)

VancityAllie said...

Wow that looks amazing! You're so lucky :)

I love the sorting hat!

Bev C said...

Hello JoJo and Dzintra, Gotta love that owl,it looks so fluffy and cuddly just like a little poodle. So glad you made a real celebration of this gift and enjoyed your girls night in. Have a fantastic halloween. The Christmas quilt is coming along nicely.

Micki said...

What a lovely package you got! I adore the owl! You all must have been so excited!
Micki

Simone de Klerk said...

Lieve Dzintra ~ I don't understand how I missed this post!!! What a wonderful package arrived your way for Joanna and you. How much fun to see those great Harry Potter items. The glasses ... I love them and then for the two of you. GREAT!!!
And your Christmas Wish Quilt TERRIFIC. You did a fantastic job on that one. The blocks go so well to it. Oh my, you must be proud!!!
Happy Halloween - but I think I am too late. Sorry )O:

aussiequilter said...

Gosh you both were spoiled! Your christmas wishes quilt is looking adorable,roses are beautiful and biscuits so yummy cheers teri

Sigrid said...

Hi Dzintra,
I love HP as well and you can find my HP-Quilt on my blog
http://ditschiquilt.blogspot.com/
greetings
Sigrid

kanishk said...

How precious! I love owls! Work from home India

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

What a lucky lady you are! I have a Hedwig too which I bought with a book and it is so cute (I love owls). The sorting hat is very cool!

Welcome To My World

Hello, my name is Dzintra Ingrid ... have been known as Ingrid and since our Sea Change I have started to use Dzintra ... pronounced without the D ... (but still known as Ingrid, I know, it's confusing ...)

Welcome to my world ... a journal of our Sea Change ... Mum to three wonderful children ... bringing up a daughter with a disability and seeing life through her eyes ... being a new Nanna ... photos ... inspiring quotes ... taking on a cookery course ... the odd recipe ... and trying to get some stitching done amongst all this ...