Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop

How is everyone this morning?  

It's another Merry Day here at the 

Ravenwood Whimzies 

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop!

 I hope you had a nice weekend. I'm a bit tired from watching our 3 year old grandson all weekend, but we had such fun with him!  He is at such a cute age.  The temperatures were mild, so we got to go outside Saturday and Sunday to play, and that is something he always enjoys doing.  He had the best time chasing the chickens around the yard and playing with his shovel and trucks.

I hope you had a chance to visit with Danice of Homespun Hannah's yesterday.  She shared a festive tutorial for a silver bell door hanger, as well as a yummy white chocolate gingerbread man recipe.  Who doesn't love gingerbread at this time of year, and the merry sound of jingle bells always brings to mind visions of days gone by, when horse-drawn sleighs were an normal sight.  If you missed Danice's post, just scroll down to my post from yesterday, where you will find the link to her blog.

Hang onto your Santa hats and button up your sleigh-belts, because we are flying far today, as we visit Deb of Paxton Valley Folk Art.  Deb lives with her hubby and their three dogs (who are their kids) in the south central interior of British Columbia, Canada, on a small acreage.  She says they are so lucky to live in that beautiful province, where they are surrounded by mountains, rivers, lakes and forests.  The wilderness is quite literally out their back door, and it's a joy to be this close to nature...she wouldn't want it any other way!  I can almost see the beautiful scenery in my mind, because my husband is from northern Idaho, and one year while we were visiting his relatives there, we took a few days to travel north into British Columbia, all the way to Lake Louise, with a stop in Banff to enjoy the wonderful hot springs.  The scenery up there is so pristine...the tall, snow covered mountains, the unusually blue waters of the rivers, the smell of the pine forests and the lovely vistas all around...it's truly worth the trip.

Deb tells me that Christmas has always been a very special time in their family.  They strive to all get together at this most wonderful time of the year.  She says it just doesn't seem like Christmas if they are not with each other.  Despite the fact that they are all grown with families of their own, the family continues the tradition of stuffing stockings for each other, and delight in coming up with fun and silly gifts that they all cherish.

One of the 'must have' holiday treats for their family is a French Canadian meat pie called "tourtiere".  It is a traditional Christmas Eve meal in Quebec, where her parents both grew up, and they have continued that tradition, even passing it on to her husband's family.  She said she is forbidden to show up for Christmas dinner at his family's home without a tourtiere in hand!  Served with a sweet fruit relish, it is a delicious and savory dish that they all look forward to having each year.

Deb is another very talented crafter...all you have to do is take a look at her Etsy shop or Selling Blog, to see that she dabbles in so many different ways, referring to herself as a folk art and mixed media artist...and she does them all so well!  She's been doing quite a bit of paper crafting, making some absolutely gorgeous vintage look Christmas tags and cards, to name just a few.  You can also follow Deb on Pinterest and on Twitter as well.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to hop in that sleigh and head on over to Deb's blog!  Bundle up and let's go see what she has to share with us today!  I can't wait!

I will see you back here again tomorrow, as we do a bit of traveling again to visit our next blogger!