Winter's Still Here

Hi everyone!  What's the weather like where you are tonight?  Thursday nights and Fridays seem to be our days for getting wintry weather this year.  Right on schedule, we got sleet and freezing rain Thursday night and into Friday morning.  It was cold and dreary, so my husband decided to brighten things up a bit.

This was the first fire we've had in our fireplace this winter, and it was so cheerful and cozy.  We all enjoyed it.  :-D

I'm already looking towards spring, but I really try not to rush the seasons.  Life goes by much too fast these days without me wishing the time away.  So we're trying to make the best of the cold, gray days whenever we can.  Friday night we had a pot of homemade chili, a skillet of homemade cornbread, and a fire in the fireplace.

Speaking of the fireplace, I thought I would show you our "winter" mantel.  You've seen our fall fireplace...

 and our Christmas fireplace.

Now I realize this is not, as they say in the fashion world, "What the well-dressed fireplace is wearing this season."  :)  You only have to look in the magazines and the most popular blogs to see what I mean.  But, when you have a fireplace from the seventies, you have to work with it as best you can.  If we end up staying in this house, I would love to replace this mantel with a nicer one, and have the fireplace framed out in some decorative stained molding.  That would add such a classic look, but we'll have to see what the future holds.

In the meantime, this is what will stay on the mantel until spring...

I love pottery, and I think it is always a classic.  The nutcrackers are my touch of whimsy.  Yes, I do like nutcrackers in the winter; I think they look cheerful on the mantel.  These are not the same fellows I have on the mantel at Christmas; these come out after the Christmas nutcrackers are put away.

I especially wanted you to see this fellow, since I've been writing about feeding our backyard birds.  Isn't he cute?!  I just love his array of colorful bird houses.  :)

This is our German wine maker.  His leather apron reads "Im Wein liegt die Wahrheit," or "In wine lies the truth."  :)  Both of these nutcrackers were Christmas gifts from my mother-in-law.

 
I've always used pottery in our home because we have a community of potters here in North Carolina in the town of Seagrove, which is only about an hour's drive from where we live.  I've been visiting there off and on during the twenty-five years of our marriage.  This tankard came from Westmoore Pottery in Seagrove.  I love to go in this shop; it's like stepping into a historic building in colonial America or old Europe.

 source

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These are pictures of Westmoore Pottery that I found on their website.  You can read more about them Here.  They specialize in historic style pottery and glazes, and have even provided pottery pieces for historically-based movies.

Salt-glazed pottery pieces are my very favorites.

This mug is made by Rowe Pottery in Wisconsin.  The pattern is called "Provincial."  They sell these at my favorite local gift shop, and I've been admiring them for years. I finally bought two pieces with some of my Christmas money.

  This piece is the Provincial porringer.

...A cowbell from the German shop in Epcot Center at Disneyworld.  I thought it would look cheerful hanging on our fireplace.  My in-laws traveled to Austria many years ago, and they said that in the countryside, you could hear the sound of those pretty cowbells floating across the fields.  One of my great travel wishes is to visit the alpine country in Switzerland or Austria.

Two watercolors by local artists hang next to the fireplace.

...along with some candles and a snuffer.

The print above the mantel is a scene of Old Salem, North Carolina, which I've written about several times.

A wood fire is cozy and warm, and I love the cheerful popping and crackling sound the flames make.  The big drawback is that they're messy.  I always hate cleaning the fireplace in the spring because it takes forever to get it really clean.  The glass doors have to be cleaned at least twice inside and out in order to get all the haze from the smoke cleaned away.

Do you have a fireplace in your home?  Is yours a wood-burning or a gas fireplace?

Thank you for your visit today!  I'm joining:
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Denise