Queen of the Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries: It's Christmas In July!!!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

It's Christmas In July!!!

'Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before...

What if Christmas, he thought,

doesn't come from a store?

What if Christmas, perhaps,

means a little more?'

Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr Seuss)

~1904-1991. How the Grinch stole Christmas~

It's Christmas in July here in our part of the world!!!

Browsing through the latest issue of Homespun magazine (No 86 Vol 11 No 7) I came across these delightful little felt ornaments amongst others...

Designed by Lenna Green of Little Green Cottage...

and a first for me...I received the magazine on a Thursday...

Had made Santa by Thursday and finished the other 2 off by Saturday...

all in time for our very own little Christmas In July dinner...

JoJo just loves to celebrate all occasions...she was so excited about it all...

How could I refuse...

I started off just intending to do Santa for JoJo...

but these were such fun to make I added a Snowman for Mr Armchair...

Santa...

and of course I had to have one too after all that!!!

We made a quick fruit cake...added cherries to the top...a sprinkling of slivered almonds...some brandy...

and made a classic dessert of the custard world...

Floating Islands...In Latvian...Peldosas Salas

In French...Ile Flottante

Floating pieces of meringue in a custard sauce...

for the recipe for Floating Islands check out my other blog My Dolce Vita!!!

Here's to Happy Christmas in July...and Happy Stitching...Dzintra

18 comments:

Simone de Klerk said...: I love your sweet little Christmas creatures! How fun they must have been to make.
Have a lovely weekend!; July 24, 2010 at 3:59 PM
Terry said...: It is a nice reason to fill the house with yummy smells and some festivity at this time of year.
The decorations are great and I'm sure Jojo enjoyed the floating islands. Who wouldn't.
Happy weekend; July 24, 2010 at 4:34 PM
Margaret said...: I have never had the floating island dessert so I will check out your other blog.Christmas decorations just divine and the cake looks awfully good too.; July 24, 2010 at 5:09 PM
Stina Blomgren said...: Cute cute little ornaments... especially love the snowman...:o)) And I just have to ask... Floating Islands... you have to tell me more.. have never ever seen or tasted somethign like that.. so curious!!! :o); July 24, 2010 at 6:43 PM
Castles Crowns and Cottages said...: Merry Christmas, Dzintra! What fun, these little ornaments are so sweet and that cake....cherries and almonds are my favorite combination! Are you having fun? Oh, I am loving my Peter and Friends fabric...I still do not know what to do with it, but you know, I have it folded nicely in a special drawer, and when I open it up, the feel of this fine fabric just gives me joy, knowing especially, that it came from so far away! Peter travels quite the distance to meet his fans!!!

Have a happy weekend sweet one, Anita; July 24, 2010 at 8:24 PM
Micki said...: Sounds like great fun and the food looked delicious!
Happy Christmas in July! I know JoJo loved it!
Micki; July 25, 2010 at 5:19 AM
Fer said...: Very sweet!; July 25, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Nat Palaskas said...: Cute Christmas creatures Dzintra. The yummy looking cake to enjoy - I expect more on Christmas in December from you. Enjoy your Sunday - Hugs Nat; July 25, 2010 at 5:44 PM
catita said...: Dearest Dzintra!
if i promise to be good...would you teach me to make the xmas decorations...pleaseeeeeeee
lots of love
marianela
xoxoxoxoxox
ps; I am so jealous of that xmas dinner!; July 25, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Bev C said...: Hello Dzintra,boy were you quick with those beautiful ornaments. Happy Christmas in July.
Bev.xoxo; July 25, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Stephanie Hughes said...: Oh you're very talented. I looked around your blog and love it. I am glad you found me from Micki's interview and I am glad I found you. I will see you again soon. Steph; July 26, 2010 at 5:54 AM
Lenna Green said...: Glad you enjoyed making up my Christmas decorations, thanks for spreading some festive cheer and for linking to my blog, much appreciated.; July 26, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Astrid said...: Oh Dzintra, they are sooo cute!!! The cake looks so yummy too!
Happy Christmas in July! You still have a few more days to celebrate! :); July 27, 2010 at 2:18 AM
Pooch Purple Reign said...: those are totally cute! and how i wish i had a slice of that fruitcake with my tea....
happy christmas
~laura x; July 27, 2010 at 11:30 AM
a good yarn said...: These Santas were a huge hit at the Sydney Quilt Show! Yours look terrific Dzintra and that fruitcake is great too. Ann :-); July 28, 2010 at 7:55 PM
Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...: Ahhhh, Christmas...my favorite holiday any time of year! Thanks girl, I could use a little Christmas cheer today!

Ya'll have a terrifically blessed Thursday sweetie!!!; July 30, 2010 at 7:14 AM
Castles Crowns and Cottages said...: Good morning dearest....oh dear, it is morning for me, but I see on my iphone clock that it is 2:15am for you!!! Sleep well dearest, and thank you for coming to just say BONJOUR! Anita; August 3, 2010 at 2:13 AM
Megan (Best of Fates) said...: I've always wanted to celebrate Christmas in July. Sadly, I'm always too lazy - I can barely make it happen once a year!; August 11, 2010 at 5:12 AM

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 ...

Dedicated to Carers...

'Welcome to Holland'

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this ...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Colosseum, Michelangelo's David - the gondolas of Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, 'Welcome to Holland'.

'Holland'? You say. 'What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy'.

But there has been a change in the flight plan. They have landed in Holland, and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, filthy place, full of famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they are all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, 'Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That is what I had planned'.

The pain of that will never go away, because the loss of a dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Written by Emily Perl Kingsley......Mother of a Child with a Disability

Kerri...

To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sow;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war; and a time of peace.~

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

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Saturday, July 24, 2010

It's Christmas In July!!!

18 comments:

Welcome To My World