What A Fun Little Christmas

Ha Ha! Merry Christmas! Steve brought home the best tree this year. Fit perfect...after we changed the living room around!!

We took up the sea grass rug and laid a brand new rug and pad down. Found another Dash and Albert rug for behind the sofa. 

Kitchen is undergoing renovation, Steve is building new counter tops and cupboards. We got a new faucet for Christmas! It's a humdinger, I will show you when we get the sink in, the sink that was in the woods. Lol, you'll see! 

Thank you to all who had the time to send Christmas cards, I love hearing from all of you. 

I saw that Bunny Williams used animal and African tribal patterns in her home! So I went and made a velvet, leopard skin pillow for this couch and brought up the Annie Selke pillows from my store room.  

I bought the first star a few years back and gave one to Steve's sister. Steve thought that they were so vibrant that he bought three more for Christmas presents this year. I hung an extra one in the window, over looking the woods. 

So, new rug, new sofa pillows, required two new pillows on the leather sofa and a slipcover for the ottoman. Lucky that I had this fabric in my stash and was able to whip them up. 

A big thank you to Jennifer who allowed me to sew along side of her, this summer, and gain some stitching confidence. 

So, as you can see, everything got moved into a new position. Moving my props around, I always say! 

The dinning table is now in the sun room, where we can keep our reading material at arms reach when we need to look up a bird or a description that has stuck with us.

I started this stained glass collection a long time ago! 

I found "Snowy Snowman" at Tom's grocery in Northport, eighteen years ago, when Steve and I were newly in love. It is the first decoration out and the last decoration to be put away, every year. I love tradition. 

Hung the wreath and garland to cheer the birds and chipmunks. 

All this before I got dressed this morning.

Merry Christmas to all!  

Winter Solstice Walk Through The Woods

What a beautiful day for a walk in the woods.
 The sun was shinning, reflecting off of the snow, giving everything a silvery glow.  

This looks like a great run to practice my short swings! In ski terminology, a narrow, steep chute that keeps you over the tips of your skis as you pop back and forth over the fall line. 

A field of shadows in gray and sepia. The sun is in the south. That ole sun is all the way down to the 45th parallel south of the equator today. The light is coming across the field from the side instead of shinning overhead.  

The light was so good today, bringing clarity to the mottled colors of the bark.  

When you need to envision how colors work with each other, take a look at the works of nature.  

Where some are able to visit museums to observe the play of color, in my area, the north woods is what I have to work with.  

The hoof of a Deer. 

You can see by the shadows how low, in the sky, the sun is today. 

We are having a slight warm up and snow traces the shapes as it recedes from the stumps.  

A long time ago, when men were kings, a young fellow pulled a trailer down the path into the woods and added on a lean-too. There he spent the first few years while building his log home. 

Complete, with outhouse! The young prince was not stupid and spent his winters in the south!

Until, one day, his vision came to be and he moved up on the ridge in his home built of logs. He never looked back and lives there still. The hermit on the hill. 

A bouquet of sticks. 

Weather is hard on the outbuildings. As they serve their purpose and then they deteriorate, much like the body of a human. 

How do you know when it is time to push them over into the hole? Or, maybe if you are lucky they fall over and bury themselves with moss and leaves. 

Sliver gray, here at play, on the Beech tree as well as the building. 

This truck should have a great big wreath with a red ribbon tied in a humongous bow! He is our workhorse around here, he did a nice job of clearing a path for walks in the woods.

And there you have it!
 A walk in the woods on the shortest day of the year, here on the northern 45th parallel. 

Where Did The Year Go?

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I loved watching the Little Rascals when I was young. But seriously, so many faces "fly" by when I read this quote!

pholar.co

It is nine degrees and the wind is out of the west at twenty one miles an hour. Looking at this embroidery I'd say I could finish four tea towels this winter! Looking at the bright side of winter solstice. 

cindyhattersleydesign.com

This is me, dreaming of living the winter life in Florida. 

Victoria Magazine

Just pulled up my sea grass rug, in the living room, didn't realize how drab it was! 

Astrid D'Eredità

If only I had thought of this way to preserve something special that I broke by accident! 

Flower Magazine 

I love a desk for personal correspondence, with all the bits and pieces of those to whom you write your thoughts and prayers too. 

The Glam Pad

Look at the painting in the far room, it speaks to me of quiet, summer afternoons underneath the trees. 

I had to dig deep, into my Pinterest files, to come up with today's reflections. It has been a full year since I sold my brick and mortar store and moved the decorating side of the business to my home studio. The shop was a great platform to display my decorating vignettes and take photos to post on the blog site. I find I have a lot less photo opportunities that are blog worthy. But something is coming down the pike and will be ready in the spring! Then I will have something to blog about! 

Until then, stay warm and enjoy the Holiday spirit of loving, giving and celebrating what life has given you.  Family, friends, health and wealth, kindness and peace be yours into the new year. 

A Hike To The Top

Rose Hips, I always look for the Rose Hips at the start of the trail. I never pick a branch to take with me, although I really want to! The shiny, red seed pods are so vibrant this time of year. 

Oaks, Iron Wood, Birch and Fur trees line the path, though the woods, to the top of Pyramid Point. 

The view at the top is overwhelming. 

We look down, upon, South Manitou Island and the Crib. 

Turned our backs to the wind and this is the view we see!

Trying to hold the camera still enough to take a focused shot! The wind is buffeting the long, heavy lens. 

I was too fearful of looking down the slope to the water because it was slightly icy, underneath the sand. 

Heading back down the trail the sun had come out and softened the ice/snow that coated the leaves, underfoot. Much easier hike on the way back to the car. 

The Birch bark had been cut away from the trunk of the tree, leaving it exposed to the weather. 

It appears to heal with a scar much like a scar on a human body. 

Steve and I celebrate "birthday months". His is October and mine is November! A very indulgent couple of months. One of our favorite birthday treats is hiking the cliffs that hang over Lake Michigan and then going to Art's Tavern, in Glen Arbor, for a cold draft beer and their hot and spicy chicken wings with blue cheese and celery.

Happy Birthday!!!

The Kid's New Kitchen

Pinterest

So I went for a visit to see the Tennessee side of the family and chill out in their little red brick townhouse.
 

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Kitchen inspiration was the topic on everyone's tongues. From the painter's 2 cents, ( what! no cents sign on the keyboard!) to the foodie who is writing a cookbook, we had no shortage of expression. 

Pinterest

Needing more counter space for the red Kitchen Aid mixer I thought we could paint a sideboard to add storage and an additional work station. 

thecreativityexchange.com

From the musician's point of view, other than what will make his wife tickled, was add canary yellow in the space to light it up some. Dark cabinets were suggested by the spouse. I like the grayed blue for the walls and white subway tile back splash and paint the cupboards navy blue.  

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Wall paper, both, the interior of the laundry closet and powder room and add happy yellow accents. 

Pinterest

One last thing, the musician wondered if he should paint his stereo cabinet, he is putting vintage rock t-shirts over the "speaker" doors!

All in all the happy couple just needs a coat of paint to revamp their kitchen, a tile back splash and some new light fixtures!

In the mean time, I am looking for large, yellow and white, buffalo check fabric for a valance over the kitchen sink and curtains on the windows at the other end. Taking down, in the big truck, my favorite piece of furniture I ever purchased. My antique, oak, 8 ft long, 36" wide table and 6 antique, oak captain chairs from the Masonic Temple, in Detroit.

Just have to schedule up the trip/time to go down.