Just a little Christmas, right this very minute!

The sunroom is completely decorated. I’ve really enjoyed decorating the new hutch.

I love the shape of these mugs given to me by my sister Linda.

Last year I made a few of these glass blocks for gifts.

Sister Diane gave me this white soup tureen.



My theme this year is a garden Christmas. I decorated the baker’s rack with white and green and the photo of my mom and dad kissing.



The wreaths are hung at the French doors.
 
I added lime green napkins to the table.




All ready for company..won’t you join me?

Time with the grandchildren

It’s always fun when I get to be with all my grandchildren. I had so much fun I didn’t take many pictures. Here are a few from Tennessee.

Sean likes to play the drums. Scott is very musical and plays the drums and guitar.

We spent a day in Pigeon Forge where the guys rode the go carts and Dan went bungee jumping.



It was so nice that day we didn’t even need a sweater.







Sean rode the kiddie rides.


Sara is an excellent baby!



Ryan and Chris “horsing around”.

NEW PICTURES

Crazy hair!

Sean doesn’t look only two, does he?

baby Sara Madison is getting bigger!

Gratitude

You can’t help but think of gratitude this week of Thanksgiving. Thanks-giving. How easy it is to take our comforts for granted and assume that everyone’s life is the same as yours. But the news says it’s not. The tv says it’s not. Pictures of homeless people all over the world tells you that you are lucky, fortunate, blessed. All the misfortunes only touch you in little ways. Get on your knees and thank God that you have so much to be thankful for in this trying time of the world. Appreciate the small things in life. They are gifts served to you every day if you will just notice them. I’ve been thinking about what I’m grateful for:

someone to kiss goodnight and stand by me when things get a little rough,
family that I look forward to seeing, enjoy their company, and am sad when they leave,
friends who hear your every happiness and trouble and offer a shoulder,
a home..more than a piece of real estate, a place where I can come and know that I am secure and protected,
peace of mind…to know that life is good
to get up in the morning and be able to live the day the way I want,
To be free, and not to take those freedoms for granted
to enjoy the passing of time, the stages of my life each one different

How blessed I am. How very blessed.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

AN EARLY START

I’ve never decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. What got into me this year? I guess the fact that I will be gone for Thanksgiving and won’t have a chance to do it and will be tired when we get back made me think….why not now? So today I got out the decorations from the attic and began. I almost completed my sunroom today and more will follow tomorrow. It was fun to decorate my new hutch. This year my theme was a garden Christmas. I used a lot of green and white with accents of red. I’m in the Christmas spirit for sure.

  Please excuse the cords, I’m not quite finished yet.

It was just one of those days

Do you find yourself too busy to get to the computer some days? That’s me today. Here it is almost 8 o’clock and time for Survivor and I hadn’t taken a moment to blog. I really don’t think you would be interested in hearing how I went to water aerobics and did laundry. I didn’t take a picture to put on the blog either. I have got to start taking my camera with me wherever I go. 
  I wish I had it with me this afternoon when I went to Frannie’s house to practice our Literary Club play. Seven of us are doing an adaptation of The Christmas Cookie Club as a book review. It would have been fun to take a picture..we did so much giggling! But the greatest picture would have been the excitement down the street. There were police cars and ambulances and there were even gunshots. Three simultaneous drug busts happened in Bradford today. There were even snipers and SWAT on the roofs of the buildings downtown. Our town has a big drug problem so I hope they caught everyone.
  So no picture today. Sorry.

SNOW CREEK FARM

 

It’s always fun to visit my sister Linda in Fredericksburg, Virginia. One of our favorite places to go is to Snow Creek Farm. A few weekends a year the owner opens up her house for visitors and displays a wonderful assortment of items for sale.


As you walk toward the house this bicycle full of greens is leaning on the fence.


This lovely driveway leads to the house.


As we get closer you can be tempted by the merchandise sitting outside.


I wonder how we resisted that iron chaise.


Every room on the inside was filled with wonderful Christmas gifts.


Out on the back porch were country Christmas kitchen items.


Our delightful hostess always provides hot cider and homemade cookies for our enjoyment. (Thank you so much, they were delicious).


To complete the ambience there are chickens pecking in the dirt (in the center of the picture).


Inside there was a cherry hutch which caught my eye.


It happened to be for sale and amazingly it fit in the back of my van. It made the trip to Pennsylvania safely and was a great addition to my sunroom.


Don got to work polishing all the nooks and crannies.


And hanging a picture that we had to move.


Looking into the sunroom you can see how perfectly it fits in the room.


Tomorrow I will take the time to arrange my object de art on the shelves.




The room is complete now. I can’t wait to decorate the hutch for Christmas. If you get a chance be sure to visit Snow Creek Farm. It’s a delight!