Rethinking Christmas Decor

When I began decorating for Christmas this year, it was immediately apparent that something had to change.  Brett's health challenges have made it difficult for him to walk or even stand for very long.  In my heart I knew that the decorating would be solely my job.

Being a somewhat sentimental person (particularly at Christmas time), I anticipated a somewhat difficult process.

I think preparing for the party fueled the project.

I began with hiring a few helpers to bring down all the decor that has been stored in overhead garage storage.

When that was done, I asked them if they would like our 9 foot Christmas tree.  They did.  So off it went to a new home.

Strangely, that was a huge relief.

From there I went through every bin with an eye toward what pieces really held meaning or sparked joy (as Marie Kondo would say).

We still have a decorated tree.

It sports our favorite and most meaningful ornaments.

All the others found new homes.

This tree requires no ladders or stepstools to decorate.

It also resides in my favorite reading room.

We've also come to enjoy a beverage in here right after the lights come on most evenings.

In this open floor plan home it is also visible from most other rooms.

It was interesting to see what was kept during this process.

This postcard dated 1934 was something my mom held on to.

Obviously it was special to her when she received it from a little boy at age ten.  I think the Santa in his green suit is charming.

It needed to come out of the box I have been keeping it in and displayed on the bookshelf.  Might not mean much to others, but it warms my heart.

My vintage collection was thinned once again.

Now it is down to the most meaningful pieces.

Old family photos with Santa were given new frames.

I paired them with favorite snowmen collected through the years.

If you were to visit our home, you would most likely not notice

anything different as there is still plenty of Christmas festivity happening.

Behind the scenes things are much more manageable

and the remaining pieces hold memories and meaning.

This just might be the best gift we could give ourselves this Christmas. ;-D

Funny how priorities change as we get older.

❄ Wishing you a peaceful week ❆

Holiday Hospitality

Over the weekend we hosted a holiday party for a group of neighbors.

There were 23 of us in all.

I had intended to snap a few photos throughout the evening, but this is the only one I took.

One neighbor came early and assembled her homemade sangria.

Many oranges and lemons were juiced for this.

It was very tasty as well as festive.

One neighbor brought this darling floral arrangement in the Milk For Santa vase.  

Next to it is one of the waxed amaryllis I mentioned in my previous post.  They arrived the day before Thanksgiving.  This one is just beginning to emerge from the bulb.  There are four of them.  I'm curious to see how they do.  One hasn't started to grow yet.  They are supposed to take 3-5 weeks til bloom time.  They require no care and can be placed anywhere according to the instruction label.  I like that type of gardening, especially at this busy time of year.

Hosting this party forced me to do my Christmas decorating early.

Also forced me to clean the house more thoroughly than normal.

I'm happy to report that the party was a success and now it is so nice to relax and enjoy the clean and decorated house.

Have a wonderful week!!

November

In November our community offers the opportunity to participate in a walking challenge.  We are encouraged to track our daily steps and compete with similar communities around the country.  The more steps, the more money that is contributed to the chosen charity.  This year it is going towards a local food bank.

The first of November found me joining the group for an early morning walk around the neighborhood.

For me, it has been a great motivator to get outside and walk more.

We have had such mild weather.  Little rain and mostly blue skies makes for ideal walking weather.  Watching the leaves change colors was an added bonus.

On this day I stopped to take note of what was planted in place of the summer annuals.  It looks like a combination of dianthus, snapdragons and dusty miller. 

Back at home the Thanksgiving cactus is blooming.

The blooms on this one are beginning to fade.

It may be all done by Thanksgiving on Thursday.

For the first time I ordered some waxed amaryllis through an online source.  They are supposed to ship in November.  I hope they show up fairly soon as they would be welcome replacements to the cactus when their bloom time is done.

Thanksgiving is liable to be very low key here this year.

A few weeks ago we had two invitations.

For various reasons that has all changed.

It may be just Brett & I here or we may have a visitor or two.

We have a turkey breast in the freezer, plenty of potatoes, vegetables, cranberries and even a box of stuffing on hand.  One way or another we will celebrate and be thankful.

If you are celebrating, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

🦃

Fall Fun in the Kitchen

The leaves have begun to sport their autumn colors.

Mornings now are quite chilly.  The furnace hasn't been turned on yet, although it won't be long I'm sure.  

One morning this week I sat out on the patio hoping to see a hummingbird visit the freshly filled feeder.  

Never saw a one :(

It seems like only a week ago there were many.

I'll be keeping an eye out, but I fear they have begun their migration.

On that note, have you seen the David Attenborough documentary on hummingbirds?  Fascinating!

If that is of interest to you, check it out here.

Our next door neighbors just let us know that they are putting their house up for sale.  I will really hate to see them go as they have been such wonderful neighbors.  We moved in within weeks of each other and have enjoyed getting to know them.  Anyhow, she asked if I might be interested in her Kitchen Aid mixer.  I have been on the fence for many years about purchasing one.  Two things stopped me...

1).  I wasn't sure I would use it enough to warrant the price.

2).  (Don't laugh). I could never decide on a color and I was afraid I would wish I had gone with a different choice.

Through the years it just seemed easier to avoid that decision altogether.  Ha!  

So, now that I don't bake nearly as much as I once did, this beautiful mixer falls into my kitchen.

I know for a fact I would not have picked this brown color even though it is a pretty choice.

When I saw it I instantly thought it needed to be decorated for the fall season.  I tucked into a corner and nestled a couple of autumn themed garlands around it.

Once that was done, it was time to test it out.

Fall always puts me in the mood for Soft Ginger Cookies.

Having never used a stand mixer, I consulted the manual and got busy.

Soon the kitchen was filled with the sweet scent of cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  Yum!

I fixed up a plate to take to our neighborhood Mexican Train night.

A small way to share the generosity of this gift.

With the holiday season approaching, I expect to be getting a lot of use out of it.  Tell me, do you use a stand mixer?  If so, what are your favorite things to make with it.  I'm thinking it could really come in handy for mashed potatoes.

The recipe I use.

Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers.

I imagine your kitchens will be seeing a lot of action in the coming days.

First Fall Touches

Well, Hello There ...

Didn't mean to be away so long.

I've been having problems with being able to upload photos to my blog.  Since I'm not fond of blog posts with no photos, this was beyond frustrating.  My tech skills are very limited.  I tried my usual methods ( restart, turn off, unplug, etc.) to no avail.  Since I wasn't even sure what the problem was, I wasn't sure how to even "google it".  Today I made a stab at it and am feeling quite happy with myself that I somehow made it work.  Not sure if I just got lucky or what, but it's good to be back to it.

The weather here has been delightful.

The cooler temperatures and shorter days have inspired me to clip some hydrangeas for fall decor.

I rounded up several vases and filled them with some of my clippings.  Once the water evaporates, they should be dried and ready for adding to the various baskets and pitchers around my home.

While rounding up the vases, I went through my collection and sent most of them to new homes at the local thrift shops.  Lately I have been in the mood to declutter anything and everything around here.

Since retiring, I am looking at things with a fresh perspective and trying to organize our home (and garage) to align better with this new phase of life.

These limelight hydrangeas were picked a few weeks ago and have dried nicely.  I love how they pair well with my collection of brown transferware dishes.

Starting to sneak a few fall touches into the built ins.

While the calendar is still showing summer, the weather is hinting at fall which always puts me in the mood for nesting.

🍁🍂🍁

In The Late Summer Garden

One night last summer our hummingbird feeder disappeared.

Prior to that we had found it on the ground in the morning and had surmised that it was deer who had knocked it off the shepherd's hook from which it hung.

On that particular morning of it's disappearance, it was nowhere to be found and has still never shown up.

Twas a real mystery as we were quite sure that deer couldn't walk off with it.

Thinking it pointless to buy another, we have just planted flowers that we knew the hummers are drawn to.

I see them regularly on the lantana pictured above.

In March our garden club project was to assemble seed bombs.

Are you familiar with them?

If not, they are a mixture of wildflower seeds, kitty litter and soil mixed with water and rolled into balls.  Here you see them drying.

Once dried it was time to say "bombs away" and toss them into the garden.  We were told that we would not need to water them.  Nature would take care of them.  Knowing how diligent one must be with watering when planting seeds, I wondered how this was going to work.

Coreopsis

As summer unfolded, it was so fun to see many different flowers sprouting from those "bombs".

Candytuft

Zinnias

Another favorite with the hummingbirds.

Queen Anne's Lace

These are just a few of what has sprouted since I dropped a bomb on my garden... baby, you dropped a bomb on me. 🎶. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

All of the plants surrounding that Queen Anne's Lace have yet to flower so there will be many more surprises before the frost comes.

What fun this has been.

A garden themed puzzle for when the weather was just too hot or rainy to be in the garden.

Now that we are moving into late summer, the hummingbirds are frequent visitors to the garden.

As I had a gift card to Wild Birds Unlimited burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to give the hummingbird feeder another try.

This time I will try to remember to bring it onto the screened in patio at night.  First thing this morning I made some nectar, filled the feeder and enjoyed my morning coffee while watching them discover the new feeder.  Didn't take them long at all.

The man at Wild Birds Unlimited helped me solve the mystery of the hummingbird feeder bandit.

Yes, a true bandit in the form of a raccoon.

He said they are able to grab feeders with their little hands and will drag them back to their den (wherever the heck that might be).

Have you had any surprise in your garden?

Butterflies, Boating, Bouquets & Baby Bunnies

Beautiful Butterflies

This was the first one to show up over a month ago and now they are arriving daily in all sorts of different colors.

Boating

The middle of June found us enjoying the boat.

On this day it was a double decker boat with a slide.

After assuring Jaxson that there were no sharks in this lake, we couldn't keep him out of the water.  The slide quickly became a favorite.

Flower Bouquets ~ big & small

It's that wonderful time of year for gathering backyard bouquets.

Baby Bunnies

You know what they say about bunnies multiplying...

That has been proven in this neighborhood this summer.

This baby Eastern Cottontail was sitting at my front door the other day.  He/she was so tiny and adorable that I nearly opened the door to invite it in.  We have been seeing them daily.  Mommies, Daddies and many, many babies.  Last night we were sitting on the patio when one that was even tinier than this was entertaining us with it's antics.  They are a lot of fun to watch.

Depending on who you talk to in the neighborhood, they are cute or perhaps not so cute to the ones who have had their flowers and gardens nibbled on.

Well, that about sums up summer around here.

Hope you are enjoying your summer days!!

🌞