Monday, December 30, 2013

My-Oh-My! What Have I Been Doing?

Well, we are still enjoying the holidays. 
I can't believe that we are almost done with the year. Where did it go!? 

I have a sweet friend whose grandmother would always say that life is like a roll 
of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end the faster it goes! 

It's a true statement!!

Our season started early. Before Thanksgiving, actually. 
We splurged and bought tickets to the Michael Buble` concert. 
All I can say is "WOW! What a treat!" 
Add youth to a combination of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and 
Sammy Davis Jr. and you have the Michael Buble` show. 
What a great entertainer! 
We had so much fun!


Yeah... that's the big screen... If you look down at the bottom of the picture you will see 
Michael... Thank goodness for technology!

The weekend after Thanksgiving Sweet Daughter came over and helped me decorate the house for the holidays. We had so much fun. What a pleasure to have her at home again. 

The cards were out by the first weekend of December.


Of course there were manicures!


For Christmas Eve I made this soup. Short Rib and Barley Stew.
You can find the recipe here.
Oh! This was good! You SHOULD make this!!

 And this week I started a new project. A gingham afghan. I'm pretty excited to 
see it come together.  The pattern is here. I found it on Pinterest. 
SO, YES! People really do, actually, make SOME of the things that they Pin!
If you would like to see some of what I call inspiration just click on my Pinterest button 
on my side bar.

At any rate... In some ways I am glad to see this year come to an end. I don't want to 
go all maudlin on you... but for every fabulous thing that happened we really had 
something horrible to deal with. 
 I'm grateful that the Lord provides balance!
 Tomorrow night Hubs and I will share a very nice, quite, early dinner and then, with our
jammies on, will quietly say good by to this year and toast the new year in.
What will you be doing?







Thursday night... I will have the linky up for Fresh-Cut Friday! 
I hope you will join in!!





Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Still, Still, Still.


'tis the eve of our dear Savior's birth.
I wish you a Beautiful Blessed Christmas!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Holiday Manicures


Did you think that I gave up on my nails? 
No way Jose`!
I just haven't been posting a picture every week.



The first week of December was a very sparkly red. 
But this weeks Holiday Themed nails:
Spruce and Berries
I used Dana's awesome tutorial at The Wonder Forest





Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Scenes From Around the Livingroom

Hello and Merry Christmas!
Welcome to our cozy little home.

Our decorations don't change to much from year to year. I might 
add a little here or a little there, but for the most part, it is the same. 
I have actually downsized the holiday decor over the years.

 Here is the entry way. 
Nutcrackers to greet you and make sure you sign the guest book. 

 My Dad's copy of Handel's  The Messiah. 
He sang tenor for many years.
 Not quite sure how we ended up with a copy of it as the inside has a lable that reads 
Property of The First Baptist Church of Jefferson City MO. 
hmmmm .... shhhhhhh!
 The coffee table makes a nice landing for Santa's overflowing sled. 

This table reminds me a little of the big department store windows at Christmas time. 
My mom would drive my dad crazy until he would take us into Chicago to see the windows. 
That was when we lived in a suburb outside of  The Windy City.
 
 Santa is taking a little break and wondering how in the world he 
got all of those toys packed in the sled to begin with!

 Look at that face! You can almost hear him asking himself,
"Can I get one more teddy bear in there?"

 Here is the little pine hutch. 

 More nutcrackers.... do we have a theme here?




The Troops On Guard!

Next the tree...

I'm joining Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday




Monday, December 9, 2013

Just a Reminder...




After this weekend, I thought we (I) might need a little reminder.
Feel free to use this image if you want. 


Are you getting it all done?



Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fresh-Cut Friday Holiday Highlights







Just popping in to highlight a couple of our pretty participants yesterday.  The linky will remain up until Monday if you would like to join in please feel free to. 


http://nantucketdaffodil.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-holiday-centerpiece_24.html

 Monica shared a simple country centerpiece.


http://beautifulideas.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/the-festive-table/

Linda shared a beautiful table and showed how to mix faux with the real thing.





If you have been featured and would like to have a button, 
then please take one. 

Our next Fresh-Cut Friday will be  Friday January 3, 2014

What do you think about that?!



Thursday, December 5, 2013

Fresh-Cut Friday



Welcome! 
Welcome!


Come on in for our Christmas Fresh-Cut Friday


Today I am sharing one of my favorite combinations.
Red roses and evergreens. 
What an easy mix. You really can't go wrong.

Am I right?

I also polished my silver tea service and set the table for tea. 
I know my tastes go Victorian very quickly!

Can't help myself! I love it. 
It's part of why I love Downton Abbey so.


Also a great opportunity to use my grandmother's china and crystal.

Her crystal, Palais Versailles by Made by Tiffin Glass Company.
I rarely use these as they are so expensive to replace. 
They have a solid gold rim and a gold embossed thumbprint all the 
way around the bowl of the goblet. They really are stunning!

Her china
 Essex by Lenox

My first silver flatware. 
Dresden Rose by Reed and Barton.
Still love it!

So that is my contribution. 
Now let's see what you have! 

Today I'm Joining:





Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Reminder






Reminder! 
The linky tool will be up Thursday night.

Monday, December 2, 2013








Grateful, Grateful, Grateful.
Oh, so grateful!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
It has been such a great holiday vacation. The tree is up
and the house is decorated and the scentsey is 
burning Sentimental Cider. 
Thank you Lord for this beautiful season!