Grand ,Glorious Sun

After days of low pressure and dreary clouds,

we woke to a day of glorious sunshine

and trees arrayed in dazzling costumes

Christmas Memories

Come on in and share some Christmas joy, from our house to yours

Sit a spell

My new fascination with cardboard houses

Time to eat

The stockings were hung...

Time to open presents

The princess is absorbed in one of her favorite presents, "The Dangerous Book for Boys".

Almost to tired to play with his new toys
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The reason we celebrate Christmas.....Hope you all had a good Christmas. I wish you a healthy and blessed year in 2010.

THANKSGIVING IS OVER, THE LAST PUMPKIN PIE EATEN AND NOW IT IS TIME TO PUT AWAY THE FALL DECORATIONS AND THE PUMPKINS. I LOVE THE SPLENDOR AND UNIQUENESS OF EACH PUMPKIN THAT IS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE.....

BUT NOW THEY MUST GO, TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE PINE CONES AND HOLLY

A BEAR IN A CHAIR WITH APUMPKIN

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PUMPKINS BY CANDLE LIGHT

TEA FOR TWO

A LONELY LITTLE PUMPKIN IN A.....CHAIR

The SPLENDOR of PUMPKINS

NEXT WEEK PINECONES AND HOLLY

THAT'S A HOOT!

JUST AS I WAS GETTING READY TO MAKE THESE OWL CUPCAKES, MY SON CAME IN WITH SOME PICTURES OF MR HOOT HIMSELF. HE CAUGHT HIM SITTING IN THE BIG ELM TREE IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE. MAYBE HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT IT RIGHT.
I DON'T THINK HE HAD A GOOD VIEW INTO MY KITCHEN....
BUT HE DOESN'T LOOK TOO HAPPY! BTW HE SAT IN THIS TREE ALL DAY.

CORN CHIPS AND COOKIE CRUMBS

Today, my husband came in for lunch and grabbed his usual fare of corn chips and cookies, a handful of each in each hand. He then proceeded to make his way to the living room to watch football, leaving a trail of crumbs behind him. Without thinking, I did what any wife, who just cleaned the house would have done, started yelling. Then my poor husband did what any husband, who didn't want to hear his wife yelling, would do, he turned and went out the same way he came in----never to return---until he needed another handful of chips.

Tending the cottage

Today, I cleaned house, and I mean cleaned. I washed windows, scrubbed floors, wiped down the woodwork, and 0iled the wood pieces. Every muscle in my body aches but it was worth it for the clean-house feeling I have.

I used almond scented Liquid Gold to oil the wood and it reminded me of the hand lotion my mother used to use. I always knew she was close by when I smelled that smell. So besides the good clean-house feeling, I also have the comfort-of-a-mother-close-by feeling. Nothing could be a better reward for cleaning house.

Seasons

The other day on my way to the mailbox, a little glistening up in the big pine tree caught my eye. On a closer look, I realized it was an abandoned bird's nest. This beautifully designed nest perfectly housed a little robin family in the spring. I remembered I had watched an adult robin sit patiently on that nest through hot, cold, windy and calm days. Then after what seemed like forever, tiny heads popped up over the top of the nest and chirped loudly until their mother appeared with breakfast in her beak. In a couple of days the babies had left their nest and were hopping around the yard behind their parents, still being fed, learning how to pluck a worm from the dirt or grab a bug from a blade of grass. Then all of a sudden they were gone. As fall is fast approaching, many of the birds that entertained us all summer have gone to warmer climates. I really don't know where robins go in the winter but I know they'll be back. And what joy and excitement we experience when we see the first robin of spring.
So as the seasons change, now from summer to fall, I'm not abandoning my nest, (not that I wouldn't like to go to a warmer climate) just changing the decor of it. The summer flowers and birds' nests have been replaced with fall flowers, leaves,and pumpkins. The crisp fall air signals that we will soon be reading by the fire, making soup and putting an extra quilt on the bed. Before we know it we will be getting ready for winter...and then spring, when the robins will be back.
So go the seasons of life.

English garden

My english garden...

at the beginning of summer

Welcome

A home is not just a place to get in out of the rain, it is an extension of who we are. An intriquing combination of whimsy and romance, with a generous dose of peculiarity, a work in progress, ever changing. Decorating my home is how I like to express my creative side, but the real and true process of creating a home is with the unpredictable and the unspoken, in the stories, the memories and love that fills each room. There is no such thing as a perfectly designed room. Rooms that are truly lived in are part of our hearts and souls----collages of our lives.