Thursday, January 29, 2015

A huge thank you!

Aren't fellow bloggers just the greatest?  I received these cute gifts from a blog friend,  Twyla and Lindsey.  I don't know how she knows me so well except, bless her heart, she said she went back and read all my posts from the beginning. Oh my!

I love the little slippers she made for me.  Yes, they fit perfectly, and I am wearing them now.  The pretty handmade items mean so much to me because I know how much time she spent! !! I collect restaurant creamers, and these are perfect.  Beth Moore is my fave. ....I love her books.

The little felt slipper  reminds me of a favorite aunt who always made such sweet things.  And who couldn't  fall in love with the sweet,  little figurine?

Check out her blog... She has several.. and they are really wonderful.  She's a doll...  Thank  you from the bottom of my heart.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Purple Story

Just rearranging and grouping some pretty purples together for a Winter's effect.


Wherever you are in terms of Winter Storm/Blizzard Juno, I hope you are safe and well.


The Midwest got some kind of a reprieve from this one, and I haven't heard if the storm materialized in the South and moved up or swept high over our heads. Our weather switched in less than an hour on Sunday from t-shirt warm to blustery cold.  Other than that, we're doing fine, and this week is looking okay, too.


I made the choice several years ago to enjoy the season I'm in as much as possible and not wish for a season upcoming. I have learned to do that, to a certain degree, barring the extremes of super hot or super frigid.. or storms? Today I made a pot of Baked Potato Soup and grilled a little mini quesadilla for supper. Rather yum.


Take good care of yourself.
Talk to you soon...

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday Cheer




Brrr!  Oh,, I know a girl who got up in the middle of the night. The furnace was blasting, and she was soooo miserable.  How many clicks down did she do?  It's hard to tell, but oh, the temperature in the house, combined with the sunless drear?  Her Mom got up feeling PRETTY FRACTIOUS!



So, up with the furnace, and in with the yummy roast beef, carrots and lone potato!  I guess I forgot to get potatoes, but I managed to scrounge ONE from the bottom of the refrigerator crisper.  My son eats sweet potatoes anyway, so Mom and my son's friend can duke it out!  Ha Ha!


Yesterday was a big clean out day.  Had a lot of fun.  Yep.  I think it's a giant hoot to take a big black trashbag and go through drawers and stacks and simply give all that old stuff a big shove into the nether regions of "out to the dumpster."  It was eight drawers in my mother's room!  We went through them carefully and stowed many a treasure, including a kind of wobbly-eyed antique doll...  But after we secured the "treasures," we decided to pitch several items of clothing that had never been worn in the last decade.


I found a mother lode of pantihose.  It seems Mom stashed pantihose for the myriad of things we believe pantihose will solve.  There were the few for wearing, the few for wearing, and the few for wearing.  Then there were the worn and clean, waiting to be called to action to tie up tomato vines (which we sadly do not have,) to stuff a pillow (which we usually use fiberfill), or to maybe rob a bank...  (just kidding!!!)


I wouldn't be surprised if we found 40 pair!  But I didn't count, of course...  Anyway, the funniest thing happened.  My sweet sister/cousin came down last night bringing the beautiful box you see here filled with the beautiful ornaments you see on the tree above (for an early Valentine!)  She is sooo sweet to me and brings me all kinds of baubles and sweet things.  We share a love for Valentine's Day, for sure.  One of our favorites was an Open House we hosted when we had a shop together.  It was an icy, blustery, nasty day outside, but we had such fun with our special candles, special Valentine offerings, and wonderful refreshments that we didn't even notice.  Several very brave souls ventured forth to make the day super special.  I often miss my shop, and having one again in a different location is never far from my mind.


Anyway, while she and I were sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee, it hit me that we could pull a prank on my Mom.  I told her to come in and ask if Mom had any old pantihose that she could use for a craft she was working on.  I knew two things.  Mom HATED to throw things away and believed at any minute those pantihose could be NEEDED desperately.  My sister/cousin is a wonderful artisan and crafter who does indeed utilize many things in her wares...


Oh, the look on my mom's face was PRICELESS!  She had that mouth wide open, eyes shooting triumph and irritation at me...  She didn't say anything but she thought MUCH.  It was so funny I laughed so hard and so did she and my sister/cousin.  Nothing like a good gotcha! on a Saturday afternoon.  Needless to say, Mom was an excellent sport!


I sent my huge, HUGE grocery list by text to my son today.  I had every intention of going myself, but just decided to cook a little more slowly and to simmer some things and the time just got away from me.  He doesn't seem to mind being our personal shopper at times.



Yes, you all know I got a new camera!  Ha ha...  Well, it's just plain fun to take a bunch of photos and cram them all on here.  So, please bear with me.  I'm sure I'll settle down in a few weeks.  So far, I've been experimenting with focusing the front and swirling the back...  I asked for this little jewel.  It's a Canon Rebel something or other, and it's WHITE!  My mom bought it before she fell and tucked it away as a surprise.  I was definitely very surprised.


Have a wonderful, wonderful Sunday... and a good week waiting in the wings....


The photos are Mom and Dad at their wedding, and again at their 50th party which my son and I gave them in 1990.  Theirs is a really sweet romance, and I love to think of it on Valentine's Day.


My Lang teapot and canape plates were new last year, a gift I purchased with some birthday money.
They make me think of my Gramma, born in August and in love with pretty red poppies.


I made the Valentine collage for my dad because he was a telephone collector extraordinaire, and I thought this would be a fun gift.  It sets the scene for the holidays and gives me a special smile because I know how much he loved it.










Whimsy and Hugs!

Friday, January 23, 2015

Pink Ice...

Whimsy and Hugs!

linking with My Romantic Home

My current passion is red, which is fine because it's Valentine's Day.  However, the dining room table is a little shout out to my dear little Gramma, who adored pink and green. I do, too, and lately I've been doing the clutter cluster thing on the dining room table.  I'm sure I'll go back to the one central piece, but I'm loving this combination of soft, icy sparkles.  The pale pink and green Mason jars light and twinkle at night.  Quite magical.  Behind all this, on the bottom photos is a little red bird, hidden where basically only I can see him from my Daybed.

If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, would you let me know.  I cannot seem to see any word verification requirements, and I definitely have it turned off, but a dear blogger friend said she was getting the dreaded Verification box...  Grrr..  I think it's something to do with the New Blogger interface thing.  I'm not sure why the old one wasn't fine, but I hate to complain about free things.









Here is my little buddy, the red Mercury glass bird!









Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Pip Berry Swags and Redbirds...


In the middle of the night, the fairies came, bedecking the windows with little red and white pip berry swags.  The iridescent cardinals loved it soooo much they decided to swoop in and stay a while, perched in happy chatter. Last week my son helped me (did all the work) hang these new creamy white valances and embroidered curtains in the dining room, my new digs.  I love them.  The drapes they replaced were very pretty, but Mom calculated they were about 57 years old. !!! Time for a change? I'd say Mom got her money's worth with the old ones. ( See botttom photos. )


Unseasonable springlike in the latter days of January, the world looks positively green...  Not a good thing for wheat farmers because Old Mother Winter is most likely not finished with us yet, and we don't need little green wheat shoots to appear---- only to be nipped with cruel frost. 


My week has gone fairly slowly.  My son couldn't come for his Tuesday night dinner party date because he is totally swamped at work.  That was a bummer to Mom and me because his presence is definitely our highlight of the week!  I fixed us a neat supper though, and tried to be unusually congenial and cheerful since I and my companionship had to "do."  However, a quick phone call he made at bedtime really cheered her, and I loved that he took time to do that.


These mercury glass redbirds, cardinals if you will, haverecently arrived as a flock of eight.  You can count two of the little chirpers here ----- one on each cheerful window.  Stay tuned for the other half dozen!


It's hard to find a picture of the old curtains because I'm on a different computer, but here's the rough idea... I still liked that look, but with the addition of the little white day bed, it seemed a new, fresh cottage/country ambiance seemed to beckon.

Have a great Mid-week!





Whimsy and Hugs!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Winds and White Chocolate

Whimsy and Hugs!

Here it is, late at night, wind howling...  but it's about 40 degrees, so at least that's in our favor.  I have a furry, warm throw wrapped around my shoulders, and I'm sitting here on the edge of the bed with too much running around in my mind.

I've been cleaning and organizing, so yes, the house is a mess.  It should work the other way around, but it doesn't for me.  If the house is tidy, that means there is a hideous chaos lurking somewhere behind the closet doors or in a drawer...  possible even underneath a table with a long cloth slouched over it. The nearer it gets to clean, the messier it looks because that's when I haul out the old, strip the kitchen linoleum (why?) and organize the wrapping papers for another year of storage.  Not that I remotely ever intend to use it...  It's never handy when I make that wild dash to wrap at the Eve of St. Nicholas..

Don't you love my little baking girl tin sign?  She was a gift to Mom from a dear friend.  Looking at her involved in rolling out the perfect sugar cookie...  it just makes me happy!  You can glimpse the last of some pretty wonderful flowers from my niece...  and just a snippet of a gorgeous red work snowman picture from my sister/cousin,,,  I've got some surprises in mind for this cabinet in the next day or two.  I hope to be sharing them soon.

Until tomorrow then, have a cozy night.  As I consider just what might soothe the ruffled soul, of course chocolate comes to mind...  White Nights, that old movie I always loved....  Umm...  yeah. White Chocolate Nights.  I think White Hot Chocolate sounds perfect...  in a white mug...  yeah... That should do the trick. Until next time, Sweethearts. 




Tuesday, January 13, 2015

This and That in Red...


Good morning!  It's a lovely four degrees today, but with the sunshine, it looks much, much warmer. I've been spiffing just a few little corners for Valentine's Day. And I had to try out the new camera my mother bought me for Christmas.  So far, I'm in extreme auto/learner/figurer-out mode, but I am certain I will have many opportunities to get better through the coming months.


January has always been a happy month for me because I basically am a homebody and a copycat at times.  I enjoy seeing everyone else being homebodies, too!  They share their daily activities on Facebook and in blogs, and in the wintertime, it's much more like mine, so that makes me happy.  If I see a new idea, it's easier to accomplish in my own daily round if the creative individual did it at home vs. the beach, at the mall, or even at work.


This little vignette sits in the kitchen and basically has become indispensable for storage.  An entire set of dishes is stowed in the doors on the bottom, but I've been instructed not to throw any doors wide for public inspection on my posts.  Good advice! Lots could tumble out without warning. It happily holds my new diffuser from Young Living Essential Oils and several lovely scents, including my all time favorite, Thieves.


I basically love red, so Valentine's Day is a no-brainer with its lovely scarlets, pinks, cherries, and lace.  The little heart plates were hand made in Portugal, and they are new, an after-Christmas purchase on Ebay.  Pretty tiny, but I can see them snuggling a couple of cookies with a huge snowflake mug of hot cocoa.  The red dishware is Temptations from QVC, and the white is a Pfaltzgraff set I WON! from a long ago contest sponsored by Cielo in House of the Roses.  She is now on my side bar in the Little White Cottage in the Woods.  You will love her style and magic. The red and white dotted mini plates were a purchase on Amazon a few years back.  I went kind of crazy with them and got several colors.  Luckily I gave them all away except these. So cheerful on a cold morning as I stumble in and make myself a cup of hot coffee, light my morning candles, and basically sit with the said coffee mug nestled against my eye sockets. I have a dear friend who believes coffee cups and eye sockets were designed to match so that early mornings could be just that beneficial to our health and well-being.  I think she's right!






These little children are new.  Mom bought them from Valerie Par Hill early in the fall for Holiday favors.  I think a few are wintry, not just Christmas, so they get to stay out and celebrate January and probably February.

Speaking of Magic, there is quite a buzz about THE GOOD WITCH coming to Hallmark in February.  To those of us who adore! the movies, there is quite a bit of apprehension because only Cassie Nightingale is a sure bet from those wonderful characters we love.  I spent entirely too much energy fretting over a show that may prove a new magical delight, so I'm going to stay open to its charms and hope for the best.


The phrase, "Get a life," comes to mind, but actually...  I have one, thank you very much. I am happily retired, accomodating many new changes in giving home care to my Mama, and I'm doing the best I can to be more of myself and less of anyone else I may admire more...  Does that make any sense at all?  I mean, I adore the blogs with all white, dreamy, "cottagey" looks, or sleekly uncluttered counters... but that's really not me.  I'm darks, reds, ambers...  and whites, pinks, and nearly every color I can imagine... I'm ordered messy...  I'm a little bit Country and a little bit Rock and Roll, if you know what I mean.


Hope you enjoyed a peek at the preliminary Valentine festivities at our house.  My son is coming tonight to play spinner.  He's finishing a ten day round of that "yummy" juicing, so he's bringing his own greens and stuff to make a green smoothie. Mom and I have cornbread and soup beans.  Um... not that we couldn't use a health boost, but green juicing is just not on the list for this week...  and next week isn't looking all that promising either!


Whimsy and Hugs!