Treats to Ring in the New Year...

Observant stuffie pals may have noticed this blog appear on December 23 (sigh)... It was meant for tonight!

Hullo! We are having a bunch of treats this evening... cause that's what we do on New Year's Eve... yum!

First up, a round of brie (local brie no less)...

Now we will dress it up.

With a bit of blackberry honey (oh goodness... did I forget the drool alert? oops)...

Sorry!

We drizzle some honey on the brie, add some crushed walnuts...

And pop it in the oven for a bit...

We also have bacon-wrapped dates...

Just to appeal to the canine viewers...

And some big old prawns... cause...

You can never go wrong with prawns!

Oh yum... I can hardly wait...

We had a bit of a hiccup getting it out of the dish and onto a plate but... it worked!

Look at that honey... slurp...

And... ooooie goooie goodness...

Bacon wrapped dates are ready too...

I'll leave you know to go and enjoy this delectable snack...

(Oh... and there was some mead and blackberry liqueur too but... we know what happened the last time a little bear tried those... so no photos!)

Christmas Gifts

Hullo! I got some beary cool (and useful) gifts for Christmas...

I mean... I would have preferred a pot of honey but... in the grand scheme of things... this isn't too bad.

I got clothing! And footwear!

Super cool rain galoshes with P.B. on the bottom... Nice... do you think it stands for Peanut Butter? Or P. Bear?

These will be great in our wet winters...

And then... a whole new outfit of clothing (complete with boots), which I was a bit perplexed by... since I have all this stuff already but then...

It comes with PANTS!!! Which are like gold for a stuffie...

Remember last year's outfit? Or was it the year before?

See... no pants!

None...

And while my friend Ajdin can do the pant-less look beary well... me... not so much.

And voila... a pair spare of jeans comes in beary handy!

And I can wear it with galoshes or...

Cool leather boots...

And... I got a secret Christmas present... all shall be revealed in the new year... let's just say... it involves another trip!

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my stuffie pals a beary Merry Christmas - with lots of excellent eating and time with family and friends.

Christmas Mail!

Err.. Hullo... I was away last week (more on that in another post) and my mail box was STUFFED with Stuffie mail!

There I am... goodness... what a load of mail!

Alright, let's open these, shall we.... First up... a card from Beanie Mouse!

A great homemade card - Beanie is quite an arteest you know.

Thanks Beanie... and the Mouse Gang!

Next up is Droopy Dog... he just moved so I've impressed that I'm getting a paper card this year!

A card from a dog with a bear on it - heh-heh...

It's from Droopy and all his canine pals... Thanks guys!

Next up... hmmm... no return address...

 I know these two - it's from Jerry & Ben!

I wonder if they have their tree set up already?

 They wish Rose a Merry Christmas (in French of course)...

Thanks guys! And if you stay tuned for the whole blog post... there's a surprise at the end!

Next up... a card from Ajdin (the envelope didn't want its picture taken)...

Beary nice handwriting... Thanks guys!

And then there's this... from Winnipeg... Hmmm... Mama knows a LOT of people in Winnipeg... and I've met a few myself but...

This is a mystery!

Pretty card though... not much of a Christmas theme though...

Ohhh.... "Sherlock Sandy, Congratulations on solving the case! Here is your prize. - The Ministry of Puzzles"...

It's a button badge!!! Custom-made no less!

See... if I ever get lost I have a wearable map to guide me home!

My eternal gratitude Ministry of Puzzles! Oh... and come on... we have some guests...

Some of the guests are a bit... boisterous and are freaking out Minnie the cat...

Sooo... the baby cat confines the guests to the front part of the house and Minnie gets the back part!

Yep... we are dog-sitting for a friend over Christmas... the dachshund is Watley - he is old and deaf and eats anything with vacuum-cleaner-like gusto... The little white and black rat terrier mix is Lucy and she is a rescue dog who is a bit skittish but LOVES our backyard with all the smells of rats...

Oh... and one pre-Christmas visitor for a few days...

Guess who!?