Holidays

We enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving day at our daughter's home this year. What a treat! We had the traditional dinner with a big juicy turkey and all the tasty trimmings and it was SO delicious! ~ I think I won't be able to eat for a week!

I am truly thankful for my family.

~~~~~

And now that Thanksgiving Day is over we move on in a flash to the next holiday. Isn't it funny (or sad) how there are Christmas decorations, Christmas trees and even Santa in the mall before Thanksgiving.


In the past we've always put our tree up about two weeks before Christmas. This year I'm in the holiday spirit early. I've been dragging things down from the attic and started decorating.


Below is a small tree I put in the study on top of the desk. It gives such a warm glow to the room at night.



The mantel is decorated with garland and our granddaughter's Christmas stocking.




Some old Christmas song books on the coffee table.

A little sparkly decoration for my paperwhites. The paperwhites are budding already!




And some new little holiday projects for my etsy shop.



Only 26 more days till Christmas!

Back in business

The computer is fixed and I'm back and running again. Some kind of nasty little virus took over and locked things up. It's amazing how much we depend on our computers.

So, while Otis and Riley and I had our enjoyable little break, I realized how much stuff I got done. Could that mean I was spending too much time on the computer? Hmmmmm.

When I was on my way to Greenville the other day to pick up the computer, it started snowing! It was so pretty. I tried to snap a picture of it in the car, but I don't think you can see the snowflakes. It sure put me in the holiday spirit.




I painted a few snow paintings for my etsy shop and added a few more things for the holidays.


Now I will try to get around to visit each and every one of you and do some catching up. I may not be posting as often as I was before, as there seems to be so much to do.


Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Taking a break

We're having some computer problems right now so I thought it was a good time to take a blogging break.

Otis and Riley and I will be back later.

Thank you, dear blogging friends.

Gratitude

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

Have a wonderful weekend.

Lights on

On gray rainy days I usually find myself turning lights on all over the house, how about you? Today is one of those days. I have lights on in the dining room, the living room, the kitchen, the study, the bedroom, the baths ~

good for the mood, but maybe not the electric bill.

The lamp in the photo below, Galen and I bought when we were first married. It's one of my favorite lamps.
 

Kitchen lights bring a warm glow from the red walls.

 This lamp (below) in the study is another one we bought early in our marriage at an antique shop.

This lamp was my grandmother's ~ I replaced the shade.


You can find night lights all over our house too! These lights stay on all the time. This little rose night light I found at Goodwill. I think I paid $2.00 for it.


Another Goodwill find. This one sits in our bedroom on top of the armoire.


There are night lights in the bathrooms.


The one below we got at auction years ago.

 

Would you believe, another Goodwill find! This one sits in the kitchen on top of the refrigerator.




And this little night light (below) which we have in the dining room, we bought on our 25th anniversary in Wilmington, NC at an antique shop.


Of course, lighting candles on a gray day helps the mood too, and it makes the whole house smell good...it also saves on the electric bill!

The great outdoors

I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided some fresh air and sunshine would do the trick. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly, but nice and sunny. I put Otis and Riley's leashes on, and out the door we go.

Ahhhhhhh, to breathe in that fresh fall air. Otis and Riley were so full of energy they pulled me down the street. They love to go for walks, it makes them really happy.

Nothing like a walk on a sunny day to make you feel good. On the way home, I picked up the most beautiful colored leaf. And I found some beautiful green moss growing at the foot of an old tree, I picked up a handful.

I put the moss in the flower pot that I planted with paperwhites last week. And look at the color of the leaf ~ isn't it gorgeous?

Feeling better after making a fresh pot of coffee (great for headaches and clearing your head), I decided to do some gardening.

A BIG cup of coffee.

I started raking the leaves, lots of leaves in the front yard. Otis and Riley watched from the door.

After I got tired of raking I thought I'd tackle the hedge in the back yard. It needed some trimming.

Till the day was said and done, I was feeling MUCH better and had accomplished quite a bit.



The great outdoors can do wonders for a person's frame of mind!

Veterans Day

Honoring those who have served.

Sunday afternoons are for playing

We went to the park Sunday afternoon.

Our granddaughter, daughter, and son-in-law came over to spend the day with us. We went to the park to enjoy the outdoors and also to run the radio controlled car that our son-in-law has.

Looks like pretty serious stuff.

Maddie and her Dad got it running.

Other kids in the park came by to watch and had fun running and chasing after it.

Dasher dog came along too. This little guy made friends with Dasher.

Dasher's waiting for someone to throw the pine cone.

There were a lot of people out enjoying the beautiful fall weather ~ taking walks, feeding the ducks, fishing, having picnics and playing.

I love days like this.

It was a wonderful day to play in the park.

"Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting."

~ Author Unknown ~

Coffee

A morning without coffee is like sleep.

~author unknown

I've been working on a few projects to put on my etsy shop for Christmas.

It feels strange painting holiday crafts when it's sunny and warm outside and temps in the 70s, and I find myself humming Christmas tunes after coming home from shopping because the stores are now playing holiday music, isn't that crazy! The holiday decorations are going up everywhere.

This is a painting I did on wood. An old vintage Stanta Claus.

"All hearts come home for Christmas" sign.

"Tis the season" sign.

"Believe".

"Jingle Bells" wood sign, with little jingle bells attached to the red and white ribbon.

"Deck the Halls".

Cardinal note cards.

And, this is a marble chaser Galen made in the shop and I painted. Special ordered, it's going to be shipped to a little guy just in time for Christmas.

This is the "tortoise and the hare racing marble chaser". There are two tracks starting at the top where you can race the black marbles and the white marbles to see who wins!

More to come! Keep checking back.