Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie Pie

Happy Valentine's Day to You, Sweetie Pie!

Sending my vintage Valentine greeting and a virtual slice of cherry pie to you today.

Awhile ago I gave my toy stove and other vintage kitchen items a new home.  Right inside my pantry.  When you open the door there is a little space before the shelving begins.  I think it is meant for tall things like brooms.  One night when I was having trouble getting to sleep I formulated an idea...

The next morning I got up and gave the broom a new home in the garage.  I emptied out a tall, narrow bookcase I had.  It fit into that space perfectly with room to still access the light switch.

Now when I turn on the light my treasured vintage collection greets me.

When I moved to this house, this collection didn't look quite right in my more modern kitchen.  Now I can still see and enjoy it in my secret hiding spot.  The stove still makes it's way to the counter at Christmastime.  

Another night when sleep was slow to come I formulated a new home for my cookbooks.  Until that point they were housed in various cupboards where the weight on some of the shelves was concerning.  What can I say, I love to browse through cookbooks.  Sometimes I even use them for their intended purpose.  Ha!!

Tonight, for example, I will be cooking and baking a special dinner for my Valentine.

Wishing you a day filled with love and a special treat or two.

Outside on These Mild Winter Days

The snowdrops that I planted a few years ago aren't multiplying like I had hoped.  Still, they are a happy little sight to stumble upon in the garden at this time of year.

On one of our recent mild days I spent some time on the patio.

A nice variety of birds kept me company.

A few different woodpeckers enjoyed the full feeder and the suet that Brett had recently put out.

The tree outside my office window has been visited often by the Eastern Bluebirds.  They looked especially lovely with the brilliant blue sky background.

Over the weekend I was at my son's house.  While the guys were busy assembling something in the house I decided to take advantage of our 70 degree day and go for a walk around his neighborhood.  The first thing I noticed were daffodils in bloom at many houses.

At my house they are well out of the ground, but not close to blooming yet.

When I got back to my son's house I took a stroll around his yard to see if there were any spring bulbs sprouting.  The previous owner liked to garden.  In a patch of iris (I think) I noticed something sticking up.

When I pulled it out, a ceramic goose greeted me.

After brushing off the decaying leaves, I gave him a new home near the daffodils.  I think he will be happy once those pretty yellow flowers start popping out.  

Around the corner from the daffodils and iris I discovered a few well marked hyacinths awakening from their winter slumber.

I think the former gardener's grandchildren enjoyed painting rocks.  I've found them here and there throughout the garden.

Back home, the window feeder has been another popular spot with the birds.  This sweet little house finch was patient enough to pose for a picture.  A very fitting visitor for this Valentine week.

💝

January Garden Club Meeting

Our neighborhood garden club had the first meeting of the year this week.  A master gardener and the local extension agent gave a very thorough presentation on gardening in our area of North Carolina along with timely tasks like the above.

They brought lots of seed catalogues and garden related books for us to peruse.  

This Green Prints magazine is new to me.  Are you familiar with it?

It looks like it would be appealing to anyone interested in gardening.

Particularly at this time of year when we are doing more dreaming and planning than actual gardening.

Our garden club established and maintains a Monarch Waystation.

Volunteers (like me) take turns tending to it throughout the season.

This is how it was looking last September when I was on duty.

Houseplants were being raffled at the meeting.

My number was called and I chose this Christmas cactus.

It was a generous sized clipping with a few buds on it.  I am thinking they are going to be white.  The clipping was wrapped in paper with a bit of soil attached.  On the way home from the meeting I stopped at the garden center for potting soil and a new pot to put it in.

Came home, potted it and gave it a drink of water to settle the soil.

I noticed it didn't have any roots and decided to check online for instructions for potting a clipping like this.  It seems the preferred method is to put it right into soil and not water it for a week or until the roots develop.  Hmmm... hope I didn't cause a problem by adding water when I did.  Luckily it wasn't a lot of water.  I guess you can tell when the roots are forming by giving the plant a little tug.  If it seems firmly planted, there should be roots growing.  

Time will tell how successful this little project will be.

So far it's looking just fine.

Have you ever propagated a holiday cactus?  If so, what was your experience like.  Enquiring minds would like to know :D.

A Reading Challenge for the New Year

Snow is not in the forecast here, but very cold temperatures are.  It will be going into the teens a few nights this week so I have a pile of drop cloths all ready to cover up my potted plants and star jasmine when the time comes.  Last year I came close to losing the jasmine and my potted gardenia to extreme cold weather.  I am hoping that covering them through the worst of it will allow them to survive the winter.

How are you all faring in this harsh winter weather?

I must say I have been enjoying the snowy photos so many of you have shared.  

While filling the bird feeder this morning, I noticed a few pansies in bloom.  The landscape is predictably barren now so the pops of color attracted my attention.

I snipped a wee bouquet for the windowsill of my home office.

A pretty reminder that spring will be our next season.

I've been in the reading mood since the new year began.

I just finished these three.  The Susan Wittig Albert series is one I have been making my way through for years.  I now have one left and have just ordered it.  Can't wait for it to arrive.

These were read years ago.  I have them displayed in my bookcase for their winter theme (and colors).  I'm thinking I might read that center book again while I'm waiting for my book order to arrive.  The author, Maeve Binchy, is sadly no longer with us.  I believe I have read all of her books.  I don't re-read many books as there are so many that interest me and only so much time.  However, her books about small town life in Ireland are just the sort that I am apt to read more than once.

Once I finish a book I enter it into Good Reads to keep track of what I have read and what I want to read in the future.  I noticed they have a reading challenge for the year and decided to take them up on it.  I have no idea how many books I might read in a year so I came up with what I thought would be reasonable yet still challenging.

I settled on 40 books.  It will be interesting to see if that is even close to realistic.  If I keep up at the pace I've been reading, I think I would far surpass it.  As I know there are other times of year when other things get in the way of reading, I tried to take that into consideration.

Time will tell.

❄❅❆

Stay Warm ~ Stay Safe

Settling In To A New Year

The scene on my calendar looks nothing like the scene outside my window.  Here the sun is shining and the temperature is 50 F.  No chance of snow anytime soon.  I always hope for at least one snowy day per winter.  Last year we had none.  It remains to be seen what will happen in the new year.

For the first time ever I had all of my Christmas decorations taken down and put away on New Year's Eve.  Usually it happens in early January.  For some reason this year I was ready to move on and have a fresh start on the first day of the new year.  

Now the house is clean and in order once again.

I left a few snowy touches in the hutch just in case the snow decides to fly.

I'm not one to make resolutions or select a word for the year.

Instead I tend to reflect over the year past and pull together my best plan for improving the areas that could benefit from some improvement.  After the excesses of the holidays, eating less and healthier always factors into my plan.  Moving more is addressed (over 10,000 steps yesterday and all 3 rings on the iWatch closed).  

Perhaps my biggest area to work on this year will be to step aside from certain situations that I know are beyond my control.  I am reminded of Doris Day singing "Que Sera Sera" (whatever will be, will be.  The future's not ours to see).  It really is so true.  I need to do better at remembering this.

With each of the areas I plan to work on, I hope to work towards them daily knowing that some days will be better than others.  

How about you?  Are you a word for the year or resolution maker?

I don't think it matters how it's done, but perhaps the important thing is to use the new year as an opportunity to take note of what is working well in one's life and what could use a bit of improvement.

May your 2024 be a year of good health and happiness!!

A Few Thoughts at Christmastime

After Christmas last year I took advantage of the 50% off sales and picked up a Christmas tree for my living room.  Perhaps I should call it my reading room because that is what mostly takes place here.

When trying to decide how I wanted to decorate it, I settled on using the very old ornaments that belonged to my parents.  Many of them are Shiny Brites and all of them are very delicate.  Worrying about them getting broken almost stopped me.  But, when I thought about how long I have had them I decided it was best to put every last one of them on that tree and enjoy it to the fullest.  Which is exactly what I have been doing.  Each morning and most evenings I make myself comfortable in my reading chair and this is my view.  Such a pretty and peaceful way to start and end the day in this busy time leading up to Christmas.

When I think of how old and fragile these ornaments are, it's rather amazing that there are still so many of them intact.  This Santa is one of my favorites.

Last week I was invited to meet a few of the neighbor ladies for lunch.

After lunch I invited them over for dessert.  I decided a variety of bite size choices would be best and baked pecan tassies, chocolate cherry cheesecakes and a new to me recipe, nutmeg logs.

In the morning I set the table with my Christmas china so that everything would be ready when we returned from lunch.

One of our topics of conversation was that the younger generation, for the most part, has no interest in owning sets of china.  When I got married 42 years ago I thought having a full set of china was such a thrill.  It made me feel so grown up and elegant.  Many years later I dreamed of owning the traditional Lenox holiday china.  When it became possible, I enjoyed setting the table with it for our Christmas celebrations.  In my mom's later years she gifted me four sets of it.  

Her last visit to my home was a Thanksgiving visit many years ago.

I decided to decorate the house for Christmas early that year and set the table with the Lenox china.  I know it brought her great joy and it still stands out as our last happy holiday celebration together.

Although both of my parents have been gone for many years, the memories old ornaments and out of fashion china evoke make me glad I still own them.

Our weekend weather has been damp and dreary.

Extra thankful for Christmas lights on days like this.

Today I'll be tackling the Christmas cards.

Probably another old fashioned tradition.  Yet one I will most likely be carrying on until it's obsolete.

Wishing you JOY for the season.

Happy Coincidences

After setting the dinner ingredients on the counter this morning I was kidding Brett about choosing a can of cream style corn to coordinate with the kitchen.  A happy coincidence.  He bought it last fall when he had a hankering.  It has been languishing in the pantry ever since.

Today it will be turned into corn chowder for dinner.  Which is actually another happy coincidence.  For in my family one never even says the words cream style corn without thinking of my Dad.  He loved the stuff.  Give him a heaping helping generously sprinkled with pepper and he was a happy man.  If he were still with us, we would be celebrating his birthday today.  It wouldn't be just any birthday, it would be his 100th.  Hard to even imagine that.  

I have a feeling that each bite of this simple soup will carry memories and warm thoughts of my dearly loved Dad and that will be the very happiest coincidence of them all.

🎵 Happy Birthday, Dear Daddio🎵

Are there certain foods that carry memories for you too?

While Waiting For Gardening Season To Begin

I couldn't resist popping a couple of these hyacinth bulbs into my cart at Aldi the other day.  

While waiting for the outdoor gardening season to begin, it will be so nice to watch them reveal their beauty.  Something to look forward to each day.

I brought this anthurium back into the house last fall after it's summer vacation on the patio.  Apparently it liked it's vacation because it responded by putting out many red heart shaped blooms.    The blooms have remained in place all this time bringing additional cheer to the indoor garden.

Recently, I attached a window bird feeder to the window here.

It looks out into a small courtyard that is protected from animals visiting.

Previously I had the feeder on my office window until a racoon kept knocking it down.

It's added new interest to my morning coffee ritual.

Each day I take up a spot amongst the house plants hoping they will make me less obvious to the birds if they happen to find my feeder.

By the way, the amaryllis plant to the left of my coffee cup has been growing leaves for weeks.  Big tall leaves with not a sign of a bud or bloom to be found.  Have you ever had an amaryllis do this?

I'm going to let it keep growing with hopes that sooner or later I will be rewarded with a bloom, although I am beginning to wonder.

For a week or more there was no action at the feeder.

I continued on with my morning ritual until, at last, I heard some chirping and soon found two visitors enjoying their breakfast.

This bird known as the tufted titmouse looked my way with a sunflower seed in it's beak.  Perhaps his way of thanking me for the breakfast buffet.  I hope he will soon learn that as long as he/she comes to visit, the buffet will be open for business.

☕☕☕

Getting Away From It All Without Going Far

Happy Monday, dear readers.

Did you have a good weekend?

Yesterday the sun shone and the mid-50 temperatures felt like early spring.

A hike seemed like a good idea.

Peeking through this split tree you may see a glimpse of what awaited us.

Mountain Island Lake.

Most of our hike followed along the shoreline.

So pretty especially when the sun touched the water.

Canoes could be rented.

Perhaps we'll come back in the summer.

I'm so glad that there are places like this just a short drive from home.

Open to all and free of charge.

A place to get away from it all, breathe in the fresh air and feel the sun on your face.

A place where littering is discouraged in a most creative way.

"Make today better without litter"

Also a place where lovers still carve their initials into tree trunks.

💘💘💘

Cozying Up The Gloomy Days

Another dismal day.  So far this month seems to be one after another with sunshine in short supply.  My tree will most likely remain in place for the rest of the month.  The lights stay on all day and help immensely in combatting the gloom.

Since the tree is totally decorated in snowflakes, icicles and snowmen, it looks suitable for this season of winter.

I am secretly hoping to see a bit of real snow before I tuck it away, but it's not looking too promising.

This post isn't meant to be about the Christmas tree as I'm sure most of you have moved on from that subject and into the fresh new year.

Instead, I wanted to share the built ins we added to each side of the fireplace in our family room.

I did put the rest of my Christmas decor away which necessitated shopping the house for items to accessorize with.  Books in blue and white, pine cones and snowmen came in handy as I wait for the snow to fall outside ;).

Before I put the Christmas decor away it looked like this.

A wonderful new place to spotlight my Christmas memories.

Everything from vintage Gurley Santa candles to photos of my boys and grandson on Santa's lap.

This project was done in November when the bookcases were added to the living room.  There was one little problem at the time.

The cupboard manufacture inadvertently sent two left cupboards for the other side of the fireplace.  So, I decked the one side with a few more old memories and the area to the right was a big blank hole.

Christmas photos were taken with that side left out.

I'm happy to say that last week the missing cupboard was put into place giving me one more spot to add some winter touches.

I do love the garden beauty on my 2023 calendar reminding me that although things are looking a bit bleak outdoors, the garden is tucked away resting up before the growing season gets underway once again.

I do hope that your new year is off to a pleasant start.

❄⛄❅