Holiday Train

Last night I was returning from a very successful Christmas shopping trip in Ottawa when I came upon a very unusual sight just outside of my village. The first thing I spotted was several cars parked on either side of the railway tracks just outside of town with their 4 way flashers going. What's going on?! It's not unusual to hear trains pass through the village since we're on a freight train route. However, as I approached home, the train that was coming towards me was definitely not the usual freight train! What I saw instead was the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. I believe the train was headed to its next stop in Smith Falls, ON. What a beautiful sight! The train is decorated in hundreds of lights for the holiday and spells out Canadian Pacific Holiday Train on the cars followed by numerous boxcars decorated in festive holiday garland. On top of the engine car sits a lit Christmas tree. Now I knew very little about the train but after I arrived home I looked it up on the web. I found out that this is the 12th year that the train travels throughout Canada and the US, making various stops along the way collecting monies and food for the foodbanks. All the monies and food collected at the various locations stays in those particular communities. What an awesome way to bring awareness to local Food Banks!

Follow the link to this video to get a quick look at what I saw.

I hope all of my US blogging friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My sister lives in the US and was hosting a dinner for several friends and family including my Mom. Normally I'm at work since we've already celebrated the holiday in October here in Canada. But a tangle with a gastro bug saw me at home, watching Macy's parade between numerous trips to the bathroom. Good thing I wasn't celebrating!

This week I decided to tackle some finishing on a few of the ornaments I've stitched over the past couple of years. They've been languishing in the bottom of my drawer of finishes and I figured it was about time I did something about that! Here is the fruit of my labours. Since I'm not much for finishing and sewing, I'm rather pleased with the results. Thanks to Vonna, Dani and JC magazine for their tutorials on finishing ornaments. I've also posted a pic to show you the fabrics I've used for the backings with the exception of the kitten ornament hanging on the right, which is done on felt.

I've decided to hang the partridge ornament from the knob on the door of my grandfather clock. What do you think?

Here's a pic of the progress I've made on Jardin Prive Christmas. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time spent on this one. This is the first of this designer's works that I stitch and I'll definitely be doing more of hers.

I also managed to finish my final pumpkin stitch for the Pumpkin Challenge. I got it submitted just in the nick of time since the deadline for submissions was Nov. 25th. Becky will draw a winner from all the submissions after the holidays. This final pumpkin stitch was a real challenge indeed! The frogs dropped by and camped out for most of this stitch so I'm glad it's finally done.

Now I'm off to try and find my Advent wreath, this being the first Sunday in Advent. Then we'll see if I still have any candles left for it. I suspect I'll be making a run out to pick some up. I look forward to dropping by your blogs over the course of the day. I've been seeing some lovely finishes out there!