Rose topiaries

Sitting here on this cold January morning sipping my second cup of hot steamy coffee, my thoughts take me to the garden.  January is the perfect time to plan your summer garden.  This year I want to plant two rose topiaries in pots by the steps as you enter the front door.  

Light pink with a sweet fragrance.  

     My sketch             

A rose hedge would be lovely too, or rosemary topiaries, maybe on the back patio.  What could be better for a cottage garden.  

I am sure you have ideas rolling around in your head, planning new things for your home or garden for the coming year.  

A new year, a fresh start...new opportunities, new choices, new ideas.  I feel a sense of optimism and hope as I plan for this new year.

Enjoy your day!  

Quiet week....

After the hustle and bustle of the holidays it's nice to enjoy a peaceful quiet week at home.  I just finished reading "The Golden Cup" by Marcia Willett, and ready to start "The Way We Were".  Love cozying up by the crackling fire with Otis and Riley snuggled close to me.  

This weekend I will start preparations for our New Year's dinner.  The family is coming and I will be hosting.  Pork and sauerkraut for good luck!  

See you in 2013!  

Garden decor.....

...for the new year. 

It's January, can you believe it?  Happy 2012 everyone! 
Over the holidays our family played Secret Santa at one of our gatherings and this is the gift I ended up with.  I love it!  It's a metal garden stake temperature gauge in the shape of a flower adorned with marbles.  It's perfect for the garden.  And as you can see the temperature is only in the 20s.  Brrrrrrr.  There was ice in the bird bath this morning.

So what's the best thing to do on a really cold bitter day?  Cozy up by the fire with a hot cup of coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) and enjoy reading your favorite magazine.   

Hope you're staying warm in your neck of the woods! 
 

January 2011

Happy New Year everyone!

A new year, a new day, new beginnings....

My wish for all of you my dear friends is that you will have happiness, good health, and peace in 2011.

We had a white Christmas this year and I wanted to show you some of our winter wonderland.

The snow was beautiful!

It's very unusual to get this much snow in North Carolina.







Otis and Riley enjoyed the snow, I think....


Our youngest daughter, Amy, was home for the holidays (from NYC) and actually got stuck here for an extra four days because of the weather conditions. Airports were closed and New York was practically shut down. So we enjoyed some fun time and loved having her here with us for the extra few days!




Look! Almost a foot of snow!

As I post this today, the snow is all gone, Amy has made it safely home, and our holiday with the whole family is now a warm memory of good times, smiles and cheer.

And....

I want to thank all of you, my dear blogging friends for a wonderful year of blogging. Thank you for your smiles, your kindess and your love. You have made this past year a very special one for me, and I look forward to another fun year of blogging with you.

Thank you all, and Best Wishes in 2011!

Hugs,

Donna

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone the best in the New Year.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

I'll be back blogging next week. See you then!

January 2010, and Pet Paintings

It's a new year!

The holidays are over ~ we've had our traditional good luck meal on New Year's Day (pork and sauerkraut, a Lancaster County tradition), and now (for me, anyway) it's a time for new visions, new ideas, new hopes and dreams, maybe new decorating ideas, new gardens...... NEW ANYTHING! I always feel a new energy in January (after all the holiday decorations are put away).

One of my NEW ideas that I've come up with this year is to paint "pet portraits".

Over the holidays I did some paintings for friends and family. As you know, Otis and Riley (my two little dachsunds) have been a subject of my paintings for sometime, so I knew it would be fun to paint other pets.

I was comissioned to paint the cutest little dog ~ his name is Jake. You can meet Jake at Linda n Jake's blog.

This is "Jake". Isn't he just the cutest?

This is "Dasher". He is my daughter's dog. Beautiful, loveable and the best temperment.

Meet "Bear". He's a friend of Otis and Riley's.

And, of course, Otis and Riley (the loves of my life), and two sweetest doxies around.

If you'd like to have a pet painting, any pet, please email me at dnlongenecker@netscape.net. For a painting 8x8 or smaller the cost is $40.00. All you have to do is send me a favorite photo of your pet.

Happy New Year everyone!

Rearranging

The rain has been coming down the past few days so I've kept myself busy indoors, cleaning, organizing, rearranging and decorating. I always get a spurt of energy early January after the holidays.

It's nice to get rid of the clutter.

Fluffing my nest.

And, for those long dark evenings inside, how about a 1,000 piece puzzle!

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Many, many thanks to all of you for your kindness and concerns, your thoughts, prayers and wishes for my family, my brother and the new year.

We had a safe trip and a good trip. My brother, Steve, is doing better than we expected. He was very happy to see us and we spent Friday morning with him. He has such a determination and will to live. He showed us around the lovely facility and we took some photos and met some of the wonderful caring people that were there with him. When it came time to leave, it was hard, but I knew he would be ok.

That same afternoon, we also visited my husband's father who was in the Brethren Village in Lititz. He has been ill and recovering from a stroke and some surgery. He was very happy to see us too, and we spent the afternoon with him and my husband's great grandmother that resides at the home. She is 101 years old. We had Otis and Riley along and they brought smiles to the faces of everyone.

We enjoyed a delicious New Years dinner at my mother in law's of pork and sauerkraut (for good luck), and it was so good to be with all the family.

Otis and Riley were played out till the weekend was over.

One thing for sure, Otis and Riley love a road trip and enjoyed coming along with us.

We saw the most beautiful sunset on our trip.

And now we are safely home and ready for the new year. Hopefully we will all be blessed with joy, happiness, health and prosperity in this new year. Best wishes!