A New Look

Hi All!  I made a spur-of-the-moment decision after Christmas to have my blog updated.  I had communicated with Linda Primmer a few years ago about having her do some work on the blog, but I just never got around to making a decision. 

January Days

Happy Friday everyone!  I trust you all had a good Christmas and New Year.  This is one of my favorite times of the year -- after the Christmas holidays are over and we can catch our breath again.  I love putting out my new calendars, which are like lovely, clean slates, and knowing that I have a new, promising year ahead.  Amazingly, the temperatures here in North Carolina stayed below freezing from New Year's Day until Monday, January 8th.  It made being inside the house really cozy.  The sky was blue most of that time, and I loved seeing the long shadows of the leafless tree branches.  There is beauty to be found in every season, isn't there?   I have some catching up to do for sure.  First of all, I was saddened to read about the death of Sue Grafton, author of the alphabet mystery series.  I thought it was somewhat poignant that she made it all the way through the letter "Y", but didn't make it to the end of the alphabet.    

Christmas in the Dining Room

Hello dear readers.  The eve of Christmas is such a special time.  I'm sorry I've been absent here, but my dad had to be hospitalized again week before last.  He was there five days this time, and we're all thankful he can be home with us for Christmas.  I know some of you are missing loved ones this year -- some are spending first Christmases without a spouse, parent, etc.  I hope you will find comfort in the Christmas story more than ever this year.

I'm still decorating and haven't wrapped a single present, yet here I sit, typing away.  😉  Our dining room feels very Christmasy this year, so I'm sharing some pics with you.

Some Favorite Christmas Ornaments

Hello again!  I've been trying to get the house all decorated so I can share here on the blog, but it takes awhile.  I should have some pictures to show in a few days.  In the meantime, these are some pics we took last year during the holiday.

A Chocolate Pie Recipe

Hi folks!  Boy have we had some snow!  It sure has been pretty.  We just had a power blink, though, and I hope we don't have any more of those.

A few weeks ago, I shared a picture of the pie and the deviled eggs I made to take to Thanksgiving lunch at my in-laws' house.

Roses In The Snow

Hello there.  Is it snowing at your house today?  Here in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, it's snowing to beat the band, as they say.  Our little world looks like the inside of a snow globe at the moment.  It really is beautiful, but I was somewhat unprepared.  Luckily, we did stop last night for milk and bread and a few other essentials.  They were calling all week for the possibility of snow today, but as of last night, the weather website showed only a 40 percent chance here.  By this morning, it was 90 percent chance, with predicted accumulation of three to five inches.  Whoops!  ☃ ⛄

Just a few days ago, I snapped a few pictures with my iPhone of two fully-bloomed roses on our rose bush.  We had a cold snap last week, and I was surprised the buds didn't get frozen then.  However, they opened, and we had two perfect roses in December.

Autumn Into Christmas

Fall came late in our area, and so we still have some color left on the trees.  We admired the late autumn foliage on our way to my parents' house the day after Thanksgiving.  Though it still feels like fall, it's time to move on to Christmas preparations.  We're planning to put our tree in the stand this afternoon and put the lights and garland on.

Before we do that, however, I want to show you the living room and foyer (very minimally) decorated for fall.  After today, it will be a bit topsy-turvy while I'm in the midst of putting out Christmas decs.