CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR 2015

Welcome to my 2015 home tour. Today I finished the outside decorating. Notice that I used the black and white ribbon bow that I made with the Bowdabra.

We have several old sleds. I hung this one up on the breezeway. I got this idea a few years ago from my favorite florist in Fredericksburg, Virginia Jan Williams.

Nothing says Christmas like a touch of red.





Here are the snowflakes in the windowbox from the inside.

Here’s a peek at the sunroom. Stay tuned tomorrow for the full tour.

Bowdabra

 

 

I'm not a big gadget fan but once in a while you find something that just makes your world a little easier. My sister Linda brought her Bowdabra up to Chris' so we could make bows.

I have tried for years the fold and twist method of making bows but this is just so easy.

Please excuse the bad hair. Someone forgot her hair dryer.

I love ribbon and especially the black and white. Look for these bows when I do the house tour.

Bradford. November 2015 Notice something missing? No snow.

 

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Quite a happy holiday

 

I hope that you all had a happy Thanksgiving weekend. Ours was full and we finally today arrived home from Carlisle where we spent the weekend at Chris’ new home. Since he didn’t sell his other house yet he was in the process of moving but it didn’t stop him from hosting Thanksgiving. Don and I, my sister Linda, and Dan and Gretchen slept at the new house while they still had their beds over at the old house. Luckily it’s only four miles between them. We are thrilled for Chris that he is starting his new married life with a beautiful new home. There is plenty of room for everyone.
   We enjoyed a feast on Thursday and played games..Pictionary and Apples for Apples. Friday while the guys set up Chris’ media room in the basement the girls went shopping. We didn’t go to the crowded malls but just hit the smaller stores around his house. I just bought a lot of little things from Michael’s and got a lot of Christmas shopping done.
    On Saturday Linda and I went to a craft show but came out empty handed. We then shopped downtown Carlisle. It is a lovely little town with very old architecture. It was small business Saturday and we had great fun going around to the little unique stores. I found a perfect store for me called Feather your Nest where I bought a piece of old iron fencing. I loved everything in that store…the white ironstone, the real greenery, the small items. I’ll be making that a stop every time I am down there from now on.  Linda and I had lunch at Spoons….and had soup as you can guess.  I love a good bowl of homemade soup. After some more shopping we headed home. I had put chicken in the crock pot along with barbeque sauce so dinner was already made. I also made sweet and sour kilbasa and a hot cracker dip. Afterwards there were more games. We didn’t have internet or cable yet so we watched a few movies over the weekend. I hadn’t seen The Other Woman with Camaron Diaz…really cute movie.
    Back home I have put away a few things but not unpacked yet. Tomorrow is another day. And tomorrow I have to tell you about Bowdabra.
  Sorry no pictures today. I’m too tired to download them from my camera.

Grateful

Why is it we take one day to be thankful for our blessings? Tomorrow we will share with friends and family if we are fortunate to do so and will be content and grateful. We will fill our bellies with traditional foods to the point where we can't stuff ourselves anymore. And we will be happy.

don't get me wrong, I will be happy and grateful right along with everyone else. But on my mind will be thoughts of so many more around the globe who do not have the joy that I am experiencing. My heart is breaking for them. Mothers who cannot find food for their children. Families torn apart seeking refuge. People with only what they can carry on their backs trying to find a better life. Such sadness.

I didn't mean for this post to bring you down. I just realize that I am so blessed and thankful beyond belief. Bless you my friends and enjoy a grateful holiday.

 

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Appetizers

Wrap bacon around a lil smokie. Secure with toothpick. Place on foil lined pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

This recipe came from my grandson Dan's fiancé Gretchen. She is such a nice girl and you can follow her on her blog Gretchen Runs. Not only does the blog tell about her passion for running but also includes travel tips, recipes, and their weekly adventures.

 

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Christmas in the kitchen

 

Today will be a little more decorating. I have the living room to finish up. It's at the ...worse until it gets better...stage. I knew I had a lot of decorations gathered over the years but it was an eye opener to see them all out at once like that. I'm so happy to be letting them go. And I will be gaining a lot of room in my attic. Each year things are getting simpler for me. For one thing I'm not physically able to do stamina wise what I used to. My hips are killing me today from all that lifting. But as my sisters says it will never be just a wreath on the door until I'm in a nursing home.

Speaking of sisters she gave me the partridge in a pear tree candle holder...one of my favorite decorations. Yes, that is snow out the window. We got a dusting. These next two days will be busy with Thanksgiving preparations.

 

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Countdown for Christmas

 

And so it begins...the Christmas countdown. Presents, cookies, decorating...it all gets done in due time. I started decorating today. I was determined that this year I would bring every bin down from the attic and go through them and get rid of what I don't use. And I did! I trashed a great deal and have some things to give to my family. It was a real mess for a while and I still have a few rooms to finish. I can't wait to show you.

 

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Randomness for today

Yesterday our Literary Club program was on Cuba today. Two of our members had traveled To Cuba and showed a presentation which was very informative. The meetings are always enjoyable and we sit and have tea and cookies afterwards.

Pink sky in morning, sailors take warning. We are expecting snow to be coming soon. We have been so fortunate to have great fall weather. Having the snow delayed this year has been so nice. We always hate to see it begins, beautiful as it is.

I've noticed that outdoor decorations have been beginning to go up. Some people, including me, like to do outdoor decorating while the weather is still nice. I remember years when we were out in the freezing cold trying to hang lights.

I saw this wreath on Pinterest that I was drawn to. Then I saw it was from Nell Hill's. There are some decorators that you really enjoy and she is one of them. You can subscribe to her new letter which is full of great ideas. I wish I lived near her store. She doesn't sell online.

 

I don't decorate with whites but I live seeing rooms decorated with white and ivory especially with a touch of green. And love black and white checked bows.

Last night we enjoyed card playing at my in laws. We've been playing a new game called 2500. It takes a long time to play especially with seven people so we usually only get one game in.

I hope you all enjoy a lovely Saturday.

 

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Sunflower

 

Last night I completed my second oil painting. I am especially proud of this because I used one of the sunflower pictures that I took as a reference.

 

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White pumpkins

I'm in love with white pumpkins. I see them all over and even have a few myself. How cute is that door decoration?

 

 

 

 

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Chef's 117

Today our Circle of Friends tried out a new restaurant in town. chef's is only open for breakfast and lunch and I hadn't tried it out yet. I wasn't disappointed.

The decor was lovely with two long tables made from wood

 

The breads are all homemade and delicious. Everyone enjoyed their food. I had chicken salad on a croissant.

Joan enjoyed an egg white omelet.

It was a nice day out with friends.

 

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Blackboard Art

 

I know you have noticed the recent trend in chalkboard art. It has become very popular but especially now at christmastime. Being a teacher I am personally familiar with chalkboards. I spend many days writing and doing math on the boards. Chalk is messy and one of the student's favorite chores was cleaning the erasers after school. I even had a small chalkboard at home that I used for notes and lists. But the chalk was a mess with fine dust all over so eventually I cut a piece of white board to put over the black.

Too bad I didn't know about those white markers back then. They seem like magic to me since they write in white but are erasable with water. I used them to organize my containers in my new kitchen.

Now I am seeing chalkboard art all over and even hopped on the trend when I did the banner a few weeks ago. Now I have an idea for my mantle in the living room. (Stay tuned). There are a lot of cute ideas on Pinterest for tags, signs, and wrapping paper. Looks like fun.

 

 

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Wooooo...dangerous trip

Yesterday we had our first snow of the season and it came down almost all day with huge flakes that covered the ground. We debated all day about going over to my inlaws but since we were away we hadn't been over in a few weeks. So we started out but when we reached town it was snowing fairly hard so we decided to just go out to dinner at a local Italian place that I hadn't been to in years. After our dinner I remembered why. I was very disapointed in the meatball calzone that i had. it was huge but the dought was tough and there were only two small meatballs cut into small pieces inside of it with cheese and sauce. So I ordered extra saucce and it was runny and tasted like it was straight out of a can. Don got a sub which was nothing to speak of. By the time we were finished the snow had let up so we decided to go to Eldred which is about a half hour away. The trip over wasn't too bad except we have to go over a big hill. Up on top of the hill the snow was beginning to accumulate on the road. The snow plows hadn't been out but we made it over ok. We enjoyed visiting and playing cards with Don's stepmother but after one game I felt we had better get on our way home because it was still snowing. I'm so glad we left then. When we started over the hill we knew we were in trouble. The snow was even deeper and the hill was so steep that we started to have trouble keeping the car on the curvy road. Even Don's excellent driving experiece in slush couldn't keep the car from veering towards the edge at times. If you've never driven in slush you don't realize how it can pull you where you don't want to go. We had to slow down to under forty miles an hour and were afraid we weren't going to make it clear up to the top. Between the sliding and wheels spinning and the thought that if we went off the road we would be stuck and in danger of having another car hit us I white knuckled it all the way up. I was holding my breath urging the car to keep going. When we finally crested the hill I breathed once more. Then there was the trecherous route down. The road was equally slippery on the other side. As we got to the top of the hill we saw the taillights of a car ahead of us quite a ways. We crept down the hill cautiously without slipping. When we reached the bottom we saw that the leading car was not so lucky. He was on his side in a ditch with another car stopped there to help them. Quickly the rescue squad came wth police cars and ambulcance. This Red Rock hill is infamous for accidents in weather like this. I'm sure after that they notified the plows and got it plowed and cindered. It was scary for us and we decided that we would never go over there when the weather was bad like that again.

 

 

 

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