Alan and Betsy - The Griswolds

We went and purchased our Christmas tree today.  I am so happy with it.  It measured about 9 1/2 feet when we got it home.  The best part is it only cost $20.00.  I couldn't believe it!  It had to be a Christmas miracle.  We expected to pay way more for one this big.  My daughter is telling me that I trying to be like the Griswolds this year.  

(Please overlook the towel in the floor, we had just watered the tree)

  It was so fun to decorate.  The tree now has 1000 lights on it.  We had to go buy all new lights because somewhere in the middle of all the moving all of our lights disappeared.  However, after we had went out and purchased all new lights I found them packed in a box under all the ornaments.

I can't share the finished product yet because I am saving it for the linky party.  I will share a sneak peek ... after all it is the season of giving and sharing.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  I hope your decorating goes smoothly and you don't loose your lights.  

Black Friday Fun

The holiday is here!  I spent my "Black Friday" looking at this...

I took my Dad to pick up his car in Nantahala.  I also took my best friend since high school...it was her first time visiting there.  She loved it and we laughed all day.

And then as I was on my way home I did stop for my favorite pizza at Nick and Nates Pizzaria in Waynesville.  They have this pizza called the "Nantahala" and it has an olive oil glaze, mozzarella, fresh garlic, marinated sun dried tomatoes, fresh spinach, feta cheese & oregano. OH!  SO YUMMY!!!!

Then I went through some of the most gorgeous specialty shops up and down the streets of Waynesville.

They were so beautifully decorated.  Made me ready to decorate for Christmas.

I think I will make me one of these.

The decorations were so pretty but the hutch begged to to come home with me.  Unfortunately, it and my pocketbook argued and so they agreed that they could not live together.  Much to my dismay.  I have tried to teach my pocketbook better manners but to no avail.  Bah humbug.

I love the lighted garland.  If I still had a fireplace this would have came home with me. 

No, I didn't post the picture upside down, these were hung all over the ceiling of this antique store/coffee house.

Apparently these grapevine wreaths are very popular right now.

They are huge and made from really big vines.

See what I mean.  I saw several of these decorated for Christmas and hung from the ceilings of huge rooms.  I think one would be fabulous for over a big rock fireplace or on the outside of a house.  

I had a fabulous Black Friday.  Hope you did too!

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Wishes...

Sunday Squirrel Watching

I woke up today and had coffee with my sweet Mr. Fix-It in my pretty new kitchen.  I love looking out all the windows at the woods behind my house. I love sitting at my island, drink my morning coffee and watching the birds and squirrels.  Most people don't want squirrels around because they get in their bird feeders.  The squirrels behind my house don't mess with my bird feeders now.  Mr. Fix-It built me some bird feeder poles out of skinny metal rods that stick in the ground.  

He thought the poles would be squirrel proof because they were so skinny.  They weren't.  So he fixed them.  

This is such a "redneck" fix.  He took grease and rubbed it all over the poles from top to bottom.    Mr. Fix-It, my Mom and Dad sat back and watched.  The squirrels would jump and slide straight to the bottom of the pole.

Jumping from chair to tree.

Then the squirrel would give up and walk off.   As the squirrel walked off the leaves and pine needles  stuck to his little feet.  He would shake them off so it looked like he was doing a little dance.

"You put your right foot in,

You take your right foot out.

You put your right foot in 

And you shake it all about..."

So I have been feeding the squirrels out of an old chair in the back yard.   I like watching them.  Today I had 3 of them and they were all fighting over who was getting in the chair. 

These are two of the three squirrels that I watched off and on today.  

Even the little birds were getting into the picture.  (bottom rung of chair)

I hope you took time out today to enjoy a few moments of your day.  

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.  ~Ray Stannard Baker 

Thanksgiving Made Special

I have read a lot about "How To Write Better Blogs" and "Ideas To Make Your Blog Better."  Everything says "keep it real" and "be yourself."   So here I am...trying to figure out what to write my post about when all I can think about is what I witnessed today and what all has happened in the past few days.  So here is my "real" week and it is not about decorating or the best sale I got today.  I wish it was.

Sometimes life says OK it is time to put things in perspective.  My mother found out this week that after 34 radiation treatments that her tumor had not shrunk.  That the treatments did not help. Monday she will go into the hospital for more tests.  Is there anything else the doctors can do for her?  I have been very down about it.  This week but today in particular, however, I was reminded how lucky I am to have been blessed to have my mother as long as I have.  

Yesterday one of the teachers at the middle school where I work lost her sister-in-law unexpectedly in a car wreck.  The husband and wife were both in the car.  The son-in-law lives close so he was called and went to the site of the wreck.  As the paramedics were putting the woman in the ambulance she tells her son in law that she is fine (and she looks fine) and how worried she is about her husband.  He is now in intensive care.  By the time the family gets to the hospital the woman has died from internal injuries.   This family is now trying to decided if they should bury the wife without the husband being able to attend or wait till he can get well enough to attend his wife's funeral.  He has massive injuries and lots of broken bones so he will be in the hospital for a while.   

Then today..

As I said I work in the office at a middle school. Today a dad came to pick up his son and had to tell him that his mother had just died unexpectedly. She was 36. The dad had left her in bed this morning..she was sick and not feeling well...he was going to take the kids to school and come back and take her to the doctor.  She was dead when he got back home.  They don't know exactly what happened.  She had been to the doctor the day before and had been told she had an urinary tract infection.  Not only is there a husband and son..she had a daughter who is a freshman in high school.  The Dad told me how distraught his daughter was.  I can not begin to know or imagine what this family is going through. 

All day I have thought about the daughter and the son.  How hard to loose your mother at the point in your life when you need her most.  Those teenage years are so hard.  

Then it hit me as if somebody threw a pot of cold water on me. What was I thinking?  What had I been doing?   I had been feeling sorry for myself and for my mother who has been blessed with a life where she has seen her children grow up, who has held her grand kids and held a great grandchild.  I need to enjoy every day that I still have with my mother and enjoy and cherish each one.  

If  I am lucky in a couple of days I will get to sit down with my family at another Thanksgiving table and eat a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Sometime that day I will get a call from my Mom to come "taste test" her stuffing.  Does it have enough onion? Too much sage?  Is it too dry?  Need more stock?  I will get to eat her delicious pumpkin pie that she makes every year.  We will make fun of and laugh about the year that my sister made brownies that were so hard and burnt that even after three days of soaking we had to throw away the pan with the brownies still in it.  We will enjoy each other and I want to sit back and soak it all in.  I want to emblazon each moment in my mind.  

I hope each of you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving and cherish each moment of this holiday.  I want each of you to have the feeling of Thanksgiving that I have today.

I am thankful.

Adding Color Part II

Well I have looked, contemplated, and after much thought I have narrowed it down to two colors.  I am going back and forth between the yellow and the red.

I really like these:

Country Living

Country Living

Cottage Living

but I really like these too:

Directly Home

Country Living

My laundry room is right off my kitchen and you can see my red washer and dryer from it.  That is already a pop of red that can be seen from my kitchen.  I just like the warmth that the yellow adds though. 

 Decisions.  Decisions.

 

I have a red cabinet, table and hutch that Mr. Fix-It and I built several years ago.  This is part of the group I have.  See it hanging on the wall.  I have the matching red hutch and small table that goes with it.  This is a picture from my old house that we just moved out of a few months ago.  (oh and I really miss that light fixture...wish I had  taken it down before we sold the house.)

  I may move those to the kitchen and live with them for a few days and see what I think. 

Adding Color?

I love looking at pictures of other people's houses.  I have noticed that the ones that catch my attention and the ones that I like the most have a colorful piece of furniture in them.

home design

pottery barn

county living

our green earth

The painted furniture adds a bit or drama and excitement to the room.

 Here is a reminder of what my kitchen looks like.  Well it kind of looks like this...I do have new light fixtures and a new faucette since this picture was taken. 

I want to add a pop of color to my kitchen. 

I can choose from shelves, a small cabinet, and a large cabinet that I can paint and put on the opposite wall of this. 

What do you think?  What color would you suggest? 

Life is...

Feeling bad that I have not been able to post and I am just feeling bad in general (been sick).  Mr. Fix-It has broken a rib and we spent this evening working on finishing up the kitchen...slowly.   I will post picks by the end of the week.  Mom had PET scan on Monday evening so I spent the evening with her.  We are awaiting results from it.

Things have got overwhelming but life goes on.  My mom has this saying that every day "vertical and above dirt" is a good day so...Life is good.

Eclectic Thoughts

Our Greatest Fear

Author: Marianne Williamson

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,

but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give

other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

*Just felt like sharing today.*

Double Trouble or Double the Fun!?

25 years ago today I was blessed with not one but two of the most beautiful baby girls.  Identical Twins.



My mother told me at two months that she thought I was having twins so I mentioned it to the doctor.  About 2 weeks later he confirmed it.  It was a hard pregnancy for me but I would do it all again tomorrow if I could.  We had to go through hard times during the teenage years but more than anything they have brought me so much joy.  They have grown into beautiful women that I am so proud of.

Happy Birtday Girls.  Mom loves you and is so proud of you both.

Thursdays Treasures for $10.00!

I found this place!  It was in a huge building and it was called an "indoor yardsale" to benefit a church.   There were no prices on anything and when you got up to check out the older man behind the counter would give you a price for something and you would either take it or haggle.  It was very different than any place I have ever been.  I loved it.  This place was massive and it was the kind of place where you have to look through boxes and under stuff just piled on tables.  I saw SO much stuff that could been made over into other things,...lamps, game boards, dressers, tables, vintage chairs, and lots of junk.

I found this basket which had such a unique handle.  I have several  "butt baskets."  

The uniqueness of it appealed to me.

I found two of these architectural shelf brackets.  

This one is the smaller of the two.

Side view of first one.

And side view of the bigger one.

I haven't decided where I will be putting them. 

I found a whole box of these shoe forms.  I still have to clean them up good cause they look kinda rough right now.

I found some great books!  Even a copy of one of my favorite books "The Shack"

This one is an encyclopedia of "Wildflowers of North America."

The pictures would be great to take out and frame.

This is the second book about gardening.  It has lots of great pictures too!

My third book is even better!! It has pencil drawings that are great!

And copies of paintings.

My photos do not do these justice.  They are fantastic.  I want to use them for an arrangement in a grid pattern.  I am thinking maybe over the garden tub in the master bath.

These we got out of the trash.  We were going through a town where you put trash out on the sidewalk.  We don't have that where we live.  It felt like stealing.  I have never done anything like this before.  Actually Mr. Fix-It got them for me while I sat in the car.  I had seen them a week or so ago in a pile of trash out in front of a house that was being gutted.  They were still there when we went by yesterday so he stopped and got them.    I love them.  They are solid and heavy and need a good cleaning  and I haven't decided what I am going to do with them.

Thanks for stopping by my and seeing my treasures.  I only got to go through about 3/4ths of the building.  I can't wait to go back and see what other goodies I can come up with.

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