Christmas Greetings

From my house to yours ~ wishing you and your family all the joys and blessings of Christmas.

Nature's Winter Splendor

Thanks to all who stopped by on the Holiday Home Tour - old friends and new friends were welcomed. I certainly appreciated all the generous comments on how nice my little cottage looks decorated for Christmas. I so enjoyed visiting many of your lovely homes also. The decorations were awesome and I may be stealing a few of your fabulous ideas for next year......if that's OK with you!

I've tucked the camera away for a few days.......will bring it out Christmas Eve as we celebrate with family and friends. Meanwhile, I'm sharing some beautiful pictures depicting the season of the year. These have caught my eye, even taken my breath away...........for even though it's cold, damp, icy or snow covered in the Northern hemisphere, Nature still shines through sharing her beauty and bounty just in time for Christmas.



Enjoy your weekend............Christmas is not only coming, it's just about here!

Holiday Home Tour 2007

"Welcome!! Please come in."

The sun may be shining, the Autumn leaves are still falling......we're still raking.....and there's not a sign of white stuff due to the warm North Carolina weather. However, Christmas is almost here and you're invited to visit the cottage. Many of you will have seen my photos already ~ but hopefully you'll enjoy visiting again as there are a few changes ~ you know how we just can't seem to stop rearranging! Those of you who are first time visitors are so welcome to my home at Christmas.

Let's visit on the porch a while - a cup of English tea, a mug of hot raspberry chocolate, an espresso perhaps, a sip of sherry or a glass of good red (let someone else drive you home!), sorry no iced tea - I'm not that Southern yet!! Perhaps we'll open that big tin of Belgian chocolate biscuits, or I can warm up the mince pies with the melting rum butter, or how about a bowl of sherry trifle? We'll all start the diet after the holidays, right?

If you're here after dusk we'll light the candles and the fairy lights.

We'll turn up the volume so we can hear the angels caroling in the background.

Now we know each other a little better let's step inside and I'll show you my favorite Christmas vignettes for this season. I love to decorate my dining room ~ snowflakes at the window and my 'little uglies' the jesters clambering up the corner etagere.Rosemary and perfumed candles add to the Christmas scent.My living room is cozy, especially later when the fire is blazing and the many candles burning.If you have time I'd love to take you on a quick visit to the back garden. Duck as you go through the arbor, there are Christmas balls and lights hanging which you may not see in the daylight! Oh I almost forgot to tell you, and you were so polite not to ask the whereabouts of my Christmas tree! Yes it's here, lighting up the gazebo again this year as we're limited for space in the cottage. It's very lovely at night and quite safe from the prowling wildlife as the gazebo is screened.

Thanks for visiting ~ wish you could stay longer but I know you have many other homes to see on this tour - visit hostess Tracey at Notes From A Cottage Industry to see them all decorated for Christmas. Have fun, remember the true meaning of this holiday. and always keep the child within your heart........believe.

A very Happy Christmas to each of you.

Nesting Time

I need to take a few days off to regroup, write 'to do' lists for baking and cooking, do this baking and cooking, clean house for company that may stop by, and rake up piles of leaves so they can get to the front door!

I want more time to read ~ love descriptions of Christmas in beloved books, such as Frances Mayes' account of Christmas Eve in Cortona in Tuscany. I was there once in a perfect Autumn and long to return for the Holidays.

I must stop burning the midnight oil and have more time in my nest snuggled under the duvet. But please come visit me next Wednesday when I'll welcome you into my cottage for the Holiday Home Tour 2007.

Enjoy your nest this weekend!

Holiday Home Tour

This should be fun. If you have time, pop over to Tracey at Notes From A Cottage Industry where she is hosting a virtual Holiday Home Tour for next week.

You can read the directions if you'd like to be included. Even if you, like me, have already posted pics of your decorating endeavors, many blog friends, old and new, will enjoy them again as part of this Christmas extravaganza being held next Wednesday.

Just think, travel to all those lovely homes without having to bundle up in heavy coats and boots, or trudge through snow or ice, or pay admission! You can have a hot chocolate at your side, fuzzy slippers on your tired feet, and you won't even have to drive home!

Look forward to seeing your home on the tour.

Pull up a Chair

Know what? I'm decorated out. I'm tired and I just want to sit down in a comfortable chair -~ perhaps with a few of those squishy pillows we talked about yesterday ~ with my feet up on an ottoman.

This evening I'm going to do just that - watch a movie and enjoy a snack and a glass of red! Netflix delivered 'Practical Magic' which I know is a chick flick set in what some say is the perfect house and decor for we vintage cottage gals. Perfect, dh is trying to get out of snowy Boston on his way to Phila. and not back here until tomorrow night, weather permitting. I'm almost done penning my Christmas cards ~ will finish tomorrow morning ~ tonight is my night to find a chair and flop!

These are pretty but don't look comfortable for watching the movie. The one above, with the amazing scarf, is at Anthropologie.
These are in the Brocade catalog ~ OK for dinner but not for watching the silver screen.

These below are elegant and French - from La Grange - again more for dining at an elegant country French table in Provence, or at my brother's home in Southwest France.
And of course this one I've shown before and it's the favorite of everyone ~ where did she get it?Well guess this is going to be the one ~ it's mine and I can sink into it wearing comfy clothes ~ perhaps even my jammies - bring me a pillow and that remote. I'm ready to punch buttons and be lazy for a change. Will let you know if I enjoyed the movie later.

Pillow Talk

Have you noticed how the majority of men dislike pillows and cushions? They never know where to put them. Whereas, women adore them...................placing them, piling and stacking them, throwing 'throw pillows' hither and thither, lounging back on them................feeling elegant, comfy, even romantic.

Women like fringes, ruffles, quilting, buttons, tassels, I even like writing...................embellishments adding luxury, elegance, even a quirky look.

Luckily my dh has a place to pile them at bedtime - he dislikes them but he knows I love them and that they're here to stay! My current pillows from the bed piled on the loveseat for the night.

Why the discussion about pillows? A friend told me that pillows are also the easiest way to decorate for Christmas. She collects beautiful Christmas inspired pillows and tosses them on sofas, chairs, beds, all around the house - instant comfy Christmas. I must discuss this idea with dh - but of course I already know what he's going to say!

Perhaps this Irish Father Christmas pillow might change his mind - after all it would remind him of his heritage.......................

Then perhaps I could add this one which immediately caught my eye - I love anything with pears and there's writing too. Goodness me, I think I see a possible collection for next Christmas!