9 days til Christmas

With temperatures in the teens and blustery, blowing

snow, I am thankful to be inside.

My outdoor chores are done as quickly as possible

these days ~

*making sure the hens are tucked in with their

heat lamp and plenty of food and water,

*gathering eggs

*de-icing the cats' water bowl and replenishing

their food

*shoveling the sidewalks & retrieving the mail

~

Inside there is so much yet to do, as I have not

even started any Christmas cookie baking

or present wrapping.

The decorating has slowly begun...

...and I've made a few glittery banners.

I'm off now to finish decorating {except for

the real tree, which will go up this weekend}

and then I can start baking.

What are your plans for the week?

long lost projects...

My patchwork Christmas table runner is finally,

finally done.  It was four years ago that I 

picked up a couple Christmasy fabrics with the

idea of making one.  Every year I would forget about

it until December, and by then I would be too busy

to make any progress on it.

This year I was determined to finish it...no matter what.

~

Do you have any projects in limbo? 

holiday baking

I'm baking the desserts for Thanksgiving dinner

at my Mom's:

* mini cheesecakes with cherry topping-{yet to be added}

* two pumpkin pies

* one peach/blueberry pie

Tomorrow I will count my blessings

and give thanks.

Hope your day is full of goodness,

Deb



anniversary hiking trip

 This past weekend, Mike & I decided to celebrate

our 28th anniversary with a hiking trip to Devil's Hole.

The weather was perfectly cool and sunny,

and the leaves were at the peak of color-perfection.

{even the Ladies Room was lovely}

{a couple of many, many sets of stairs}

{many fallen rocks ~ this being the largest}

{the Whirlpool rapids}

{cable car across the Whirlpool}

{the Whirlpool}

A perfect day spent soaking up nature's beauty.

I was hoping for some snow...

Happy New Year everyone ~ I hope yours will be full of joy and good health.

Today I took down our Christmas tree, and I was sad to see it go. I will especially miss its sparkly glow which has brightened the long dark evenings.

One of my Christmas wishes was for new cross country ski boots to replace my worn cracked ones, and of course, for some snow on which to ski.

I think it started snowing the day we bought the boots...

...and I don't think it has stopped since.

Below is what it looked like this morning...

It is the fluffiest, most beautiful snow, and this afternoon it still continues.

I think we have at least 2 feet...

Not to be picky, but if I could just have some sunshine now...please :)

{As promised, there is a small giveaway--I will try for tomorrow.}

~Deb

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, all of you, who have stopped by this year!

I can't imagine a nicer bunch of people.

My sincerest wishes to you and yours for a

Merry Christmas

and

a

Happy, Healthy New Year.

~Deb

{Please stop back soon for a little giveaway.}

still making ready

Almost ready...a little more baking today and some wrapping of gifts.

{ For knitterbeader, who asked how I made the ornament wreath

~ I made it several years ago using a green styrofoam wreath as the base, and attached the ornaments with hot glue.

The vintage ornaments were found at yard sales back when I used to find them for a dollar a box.}

a productive third week of Adven

Lots of busy activity here this past week::

the house has been decorated,

just a few finishing touches left to do.

Some cookies have been baked::

chocolate covered shortbread

cherry filled crescents

peanut butter with chocolate kisses

chocolate-orange biscotti

buttercream-frosted cut-outs
&

cherry double chocolate cookies

A tree was found yesterday at a local tree farm,

and today was decorated.

{sorry, no pictures yet}

I even fit in a little time to start the long awaited

Christmas patchwork runner.

There is not much method to my madness,

I just wanted to get it started--finally!

Whether I get it finished is another story...

And, in the evening I sit and do a few rows on something for me...

{more details to follow}

Hope your holiday preparations are going smoothly!

Advent reading

At teatime during Advent I love to sit and read from this treasure of a book that I found at the library book sale ~ It is called The Home Book of Christmas {don't you love that title!} and is from 1941.

Today I read 'A Letter to Her Family' by Louisa May Alcott, who spent Christmas Day, 1875 visiting hospitals to deliver gifts,

here's an excerpt:

..."I got home at five, and then remembered that I'd had no lunch; so I took an apple till six, when I discovered that all had dined at one so the helpers could go early this evening. Thus my Christmas day was without dinner or presents, for the first time since I can remember. Yet it has been a very memorable day, and I feel as if I'd had a splendid feast seeing the poor babies wallow in turkey soup, and that every gift I put into their hands had come back to me in the dumb delight of their unchild-like faces trying to smile."

My inspiration for the day.

thanks for the gift ideas!

Happy second week of Advent!

This is my Advent candle arrangement for this year ~ my napkin tin has been repurposed,

I put some floral foam in the bottom,

pushed in my candles,

covered the foam with some moss I found in the woods,

then topped it off with some evergreen sprigs, also from the woods,

and some rose hips from my rose bush.

{I've had trouble finding pink and purple tapers, so just used some white ones instead.}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for sharing all your great gift-giving ideas::

jewelry::dog scarf::dishcloths::dish towels::family-recipe aprons

teapot cosies::fingerless mittens::lap quilts::handmade soap

knitted sweater ornaments::knitted wine bottle covers & wine

gingerbread houses::and more

To find out more, please see the comments section from my last post.

And here is a wonderful idea I learned from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts. I recently made some earrings as gifts, and pinned them to some vintage postcards as shown in her book:

"It's a good thing!"

I blog for bliss

My 1946 edition of The Winston Dictionary defines Bliss: 1. the highest degree of happiness; heavenly joy
Today I'm feeling quite blissful over the release of Tara Frey's new book "Blogging for Bliss" in which I have the honor to be included. I have to admit I have not seen it yet and am dying to get my hands on a copy.

To find out more about all the creative persons featured in the book, please head over to ArtsyMama's book release party where you will find links to their sites, as well as an interview with Tara Frey.

In celebration of the book I thought I would share what blogging for bliss means to me, and as having to write is not my favorite task {I would rather sew/craft/knit/bake anyday :)} I will just let the pictures do most of the talking...

Blogging for bliss is sharing the simple pleasures that bring joy to my everyday.

Bliss is baking a lemon cake with simple ingredients and eggs fresh from the henhouse.

Bliss is crocheting a colorful wool blanket from leftover balls of yarn.

Bliss is sitting quietly in the sunroom with a midmorning cup of English Breakfast tea, a freshly baked cookie, and some knitting on my needles.

Bliss is using all my flea market finds::floral dishes, old mixing bowls, bread tin, linens, and vintage furniture~to make my kitchen cozy.

Bliss is learning a new craft.

Bliss is sewing something useful using linen and floral cotton, and embellishing it with some embroidery.

Bliss is making the laundry room a place in which I don't mind spending time.

Bliss is thinking about all the women before me who loved to sew and giving new life to what they've left behind.

Bliss is combining aqua with red.

Bliss is learning to sew patchwork, combining new and old.

Bliss is the whole creative process.


Bliss is having a business doing what I love.

Bliss is making a house a home.

Bliss is enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Bliss is feeding my family from our garden.

Bliss is taking a nature walk.

Bliss is the arrival of new baby chicks each Spring.

And,

Bliss is readers who offer kindness, encouragement, and support ~ thank you for stopping by to visit, it means a lot.