Twenty-Eleven

A year of roses blooming wildly, sweet kisses, wagging dog tales, an empty nest 2.0, painted furniture, blackboard paint, to-do lists, green leaves and blue skies, walks with friends, a camping trip, birthday parties, family reunions, fresh eggs, compost, sun-dried towels, smoothies, new sheets, health worries, visits, high school, inspiration, tweets, Facebook, airport runs, smiles, crazy weather, fireworks, fires, fresh starts and sad endings, quilt fabrics, new art, daydreams, nightmares, holding hands, disappointments, welcome surprises, fun, laughter. 

The best of 2011? A tie between reconnecting with my cousins and knowing my BIL was going to recover. 


The worst?  Let's just say there are challenges ahead and we have our fingers crossed.  But then, all of us are facing problems either large or small, all of the time.  Some things I did right.  Some times I dropped the ball.  Next year I'll do better.  I'm making plans already; I love a fresh slate!

Clink your glass to the year that's passing,
Cheers!

Coming Attractions

These previews have been approved by the LSOGP:  

Appropriate for all Audiences. 

Coming soon to a place near you (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere).

"Yes, I'm talking about Spring", the annoyingly perky announcer chants with a lilt. Because, really, how can you say "Spring" in the cold darkness of winter without a lilt? Not possible.

On the Fifth and Sixth Days of Christmas, I rolled out the garden hose, attached the end to the bibb and watered three thirsty yews, two droopy rhodies, countless leafless rosebushes, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I checked the lettuce seedlings under the row cloth and found them flourishing despite a month producing stats of 0.0001 inches of precipitation and enough nights in the 'teens to create six inches of ice on the pond. 

I might have even scattered a few more packets of lettuce into the raised bed with the hope that someday we will have snow (that white stuff that falls from the clouds in winter, reportedly).  Gardeners, even Nevada gardeners, are such optimists.  Who else would dare to dream of more baby lettuce plants growing under their own little fluffy snow blanket which protects them from subzero temps while simultaneously watering them and providing lots of filtered light. 

Hey, it's the tail end of December and the thermometer reads sixty-six. It feels like mid-March here--at least for these two lovely precious days.  I'm grabbing these tantalizing days of faux-Spring gardening and storing them up against the feet of snow that will undoubtedly fall on every three-day weekend for the next two months.  

And yes, I did remember to disconnect the hoses--thanks for asking.

Sending wishes that you too are granted a respite to enjoy your heart's desire,

On the Third Day of Christmas

We braved the mall...and survived. 

We didn't find a new bedspread. Comforter sets are common but bedspreads, as you may not know, are far and few between. Worse yet, I have a definite preference for simple white cotton spreads and those are almost extinct.  I like our current one so much that I've cut off the frayed edge, hemmed it, rotated it ninety degrees, disguised the remaining hole as best I could and reattached the edging. 

Yeah, I really like the one we have! I have faith the universe will deliver the perfect item before our old bedspread is nothing but holes and threads. She said with her fingers crossed.

However...we did find fluffy towels in a lovely hydrangea blue (above the lavender in this photo)

 to replace the tan (atop the brown) we received.  Is there anything more luxurious than a thirsty thick towel?  Maybe one snatched from atop a warming rack! But that would actually qualify as decadent, wouldn't it?


Our last stop was the jewelry store.  Don't leap to any grandiose ideas just yet though.  My most cherished piece needed to be repaired and re-sized. I'm hopeful that by the Fifth Day of Christmas I'll be singing with a gold ring on my finger once again.


I'm thankful that Christmas leftovers provided a quick and delicious dinner when we returned to our cozy nest. I'm using those extra minutes to ponder what I want to focus on for 2012.  Tis good to reflect and reassess--we're all a work in progress!


Thoughfully,

Yippee, It's Solstice Time Again!

The winter solstice is like my own seasonal version of hump-day.  I'm so darn glad that it's finally the shortest day/longest night of the year. As in, let's just get it over with and move on. Now I can look forward to just a tidbit more light each morning as I head out to pick up my walking partner(s) and hit the hills. Even if the morning are butt-chilling, quad-freezing cold (note to Santa: if they make heated long johns they're at the top of my list. Just don't tell Stacy and Clinton), we'll have some gorgeous sunrises to admire!

The cottage is decked with color inside and out to combat the bleakness of long dark nights and a slumbering garden bereft of flowers.  My scrappy Christmas quilt is my favorite of all the wall-hangings I've made.  I can never decide which of the thirty-six squares is my favorite...but this animals star has to be tops for sheer silly cuteness.

 

No silver trees or monochrome decorations around here. Just an explosion of red-and-green, colored lights, polka dots and holiday cheer! 

No one will ever accuse me of being subtle or a trend-follower during the holidays.  It's kinda like "Mrs. Santa meets Buddy The Elf" as I commit whole-heartedly to kitsch, tradition, and COLOR.  It's a disease I get every December and I hope I never find the cure!

I could gaze at the reflections in my "soapbubble" ornament for hours on end.  Sigh.

Can you ever have too many Santas, snowmen, angels, snowflakes and reindeer?  Honesty compels me to answer, "Yes" as I'm donating the ones that didn't make the cut to our SPCA Thrift Store. The ones that remain may be overkill to you, but they're the perfect number for me. And that's what makes decorating and blogging fun...I can admire the burlap stockings and simple mantles at your house and turn around to enjoy my own version of the North Pole!

One thing you definitely can't ever have enough of: nativity lambs. Or nativity sets.

I'm going to feel like a kid as school lets out and I'm free to use the precious daylight hours to sew another doggy stocking, bake our favorite cookies, stir up some Five Minute Fudge, build a roaring fire, take Kharma for some extra-long hikes (because waiting is just so darn hard),

and generally revel in the holiday spirit.  Here's hoping you enjoy your Twelve Days of Christmas as much as we will!

Merrily,

Thanks for stopping by--especially all the late-comers like me from Funky Junk!

My Guideposts - Week78

Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.

~Vaclav Havel
who put his freedom on the line,
stood up for liberty,
and inspired change.
 
RIP

December Went Where?

• Because there's no way it could possibly be the sixteenth already. Please tell me I'm mistaken!

• I might not have a tree yet, but at least I found the time to put up last year's elf header on this year's blog design even if it doesn't quite fit.

• Dear Santa, please could I have an early present:  a battery charger for my ambition? or a giant pitcher of margaritas?
• Do good intentions count as presents?
• Rather than thinking of it as only eight more shopping days to Christmas, I prefer to think of the eleven thousand five hundred and twenty minutes that I still have to leisurely look for the perfect presents.  Certainly that provides more than enough time to get them wrapped creatively and sent to distant states too!

Not panicking just yet...although I probably should,