Beginning to look............

.....................somewhat like Christmas around the cottage.

Huge bunch of wonderful dried gigantic oakleaf hydrangeas from my 'tea lady' dear friend, Mary Ann. Great decorating potential in these.

Martha Stewart 'jingle bell wreath' from a few years back, on a silver hanger engraved with our family name - a lovely gift from dear friends.

If you ring my doorbell I'll be happy to show you around however I'm not done yet! This is the year I'm simplifying so holiday decorations have been edited, that takes time, and I'm just using things I really love to look at and which tie in with my simple French country, with a bit of Nordic thrown in, look.............mainly in white, cream and silver.

Busy weekend. Beautiful Christmas music concert, an annual treat, along with Moravian sugar cake and sweet coffee. Spent time in the gazebo yesterday afternoon putting up the Christmas tree - quite chilly so had to make a steaming mug of chocolate to warm my frozen hands. Worth it though, the lights sparkling in the crisp air really brighten up the night garden.

Wishing you happy, fun times decorating. I'll have more pictures to share later.

TIME for another Pink Saturday

I don't remember if I had a cute alarm clock such as this one...............

................but I do remember waking early before any buzzing or bells disturbed my Christmas Eve slumber.

I recall clearly the weight of the white stocking at the foot of the bed. Very early on Christmas morning, while the house was still quiet, I would wiggle my toes until I felt it there........much too large to hang, it was draped across the bed, the weight exciting, the anticipation building. My stocking was a knitted fireman's sock, long, thick, and woolly, given to me by an uncle who had fought fires following WWII bombing raids along the Devon coast. I used that sock for many years, Father Christmas was generous in the simple way that Christmas was in those days.

Money was tight at that time, there were only a few presents tucked in the big stocking, but that was just fine. There were no TV commercials, catalogues and gigantic toy stores displaying so many mass-produced and unnecessary gimmicks and toys. A doll with clothes sewn by Mum, perhaps a tin of watercolor paints, always a book to read.......and one year, when I was very young a big, brown cuddly bear, named Teddy of course. At the toe of the stocking were some unshelled nuts and always the special traditional Christmas orange........a fruit we rarely found in British shops during the year.

Oh what lovely Christmas times we had. Simple, quiet, not really starting until a couple of days before the 25th. No month long rushing about, stressing out and emptying the back account.

Happy Pink Saturday...............thanks to our hostess Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for making us think back and relive those lovely memories. I know I'm going to enjoy reading other bloggers stories today.

Sitting Pretty............

Some time ago I moved my laptop to the dining room table. After the redecorating project early this year, I decided it was the room I most enjoyed sitting in to write my blog, send my e-mails etc. The window is large and looks out onto the front porch and garden where the birds and squirrels come to the feeders. It's a bright room and the French blue grays make it peaceful and conducive to thinking and writing.

I didn't get far with the Christmas decorating last night. The rain came down in buckets, tree branches were snapping and power outages occurred in the area. It was scary, I was here alone as DH is on a business trip.

But, I did have a pretty chair to sit in! I'm thrilled with the way the French linen hemp grain sack used as upholstery fabric has changed the appearance of this aging chair.

We used the dark blue striped sack for the box seat, front panel and cording.....................the section with the monogram MT has been saved and I will make a pillow cover with it.

The textured dark blue-gray velvet was used for the back. This same velvet will be used to re-cover the seats of the regular dining room chairs.

What do you think of this little makeover? I think it looks great and it's very comfy, especially the padded back which the dining chairs don't have.

Sitting comfortably........soon

Remember the odd dining chair (that's 'odd' like in there's only one, bought as an orphan years ago) that sat in a corner awaiting a visitor or an extra dinner guest now and then?

Even Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt, kept looking askew at it stuck in the corner of the upstairs landing.

By the way, this Artemis was another recent great find at the Sleepy Poet in Charlotte, NC. You may remember the miniature bust just like this from ScreenDoor in Asheville, the one that found a home on my mantel. This new beauty is large and was waiting to come home with me...............and at 50% off how could I pass her by and leave her in that booth which was probably going out of business. She may have been tossed aside, chipped and cracked, unloved, with no chance of being admired in a special place. DH sighed, gave me that look, you know........good grief not another Greek moving into the cottage..........then gently wrapped her in a blanket and tucked her safely between our suitcases in the trunk for the ride home.

Anyway I digress, this post was to be about this odd chair. You may remember I painted it and sent it to the upholsterer with French hemp grain sacks and smokey blue-gray velvet. This chair, with fresh paint and a new dress, is now ready for a permanent spot in the dining room.

Tomorrow I'll let you peek.....................tonight I'm sloshing about in tissue paper and covered in glitter as I unpack, unwrap the Christmas baubles, so must away and get going on the decorating.

Mr. Toast's First Annual Christmas Tea

This afternoon will be special. Mmm, also known as Mr. Toast, my ex-pat blog friend in Colorado, is welcoming each of you to a Christmas tea.

Singing Christmas carols and songs will be enjoyable...............always fun with a group of friends. Come on, don't be shy, nobody cares if you can't carry a tune or hit the high notes.

We Brits are almost always 'tea-aholics'. Ingrained since birth, we are drowned in it from early morning until afternoon tea time............then later a quick stop at the village pub for something a wee bit stronger in the evening!!!

So dear blog friends, grab your warm sweaters, wrap your muffler around your neck, pull on tall boots, and throw on a toasty warm coat............hop a plane, ride the rails, buzz over on your snowmobile, roll up in a trusty 4-wheel drive.........but be sure to head for Aspen, Colorado where Mr. Toast will have a crowd of merry bloggers ready to join in the fun at tea time.

The warm and wonderful party outfit I will wear to tea, complete with wrist warmers - it looks perfect for chilly yet stylish Aspen.

Tables are set with special china cups and saucers. Teapots are steaming in their holiday themed cozies. Silver spoons and delicate cake forks add shine and say, "stir me, dig in". So many goodies to taste, holiday foods we save especially for Christmastime to nibble, munch, bite into and say, "Yummy, that's so good, worth waiting for all year". I know the candles will be burning brightly welcoming one and all to tea.

I carefully carried my special teatime treats across the miles last night. Luckily an old bearded guy in a bright red suit let me use his sleigh as he doesn't need it until Dec. 24! The journey was chilly and the reindeer, although friendly, kept trying to nibble the treats!


The British sherry trifle. Bottom layer is spongecake spread with raspberry jam and soaked heavily in good cream sherry. Real thick homemade custard, no instant pudding allowed here. Freshly whipped heavy cream topped with sliced, toasted almonds and strawberries. So absolutely fabulous, and it's not only made at Christmas - any time during the year when a really wonderful dessert is needed for a celebration, a Brit can whip up one of these beauties - our Mums taught us well!!

Beside the promised trifle, I also brought along this yummy chocolate no-bake torte - quite easy to make, rich and delicious, and any leftovers (that's a joke) keep well in the 'frig....................................


.....................and one more very English cake, always served with tea, the Victoria Sponge. This recipe every school girl learns in her first year of home economics - but it doesn't always turn out looking this good - I'll be honest, mine didn't!!

So hurry over to visit a fun and talented Englishman at his blog Hot Toast and Jam. He'll be waiting to pour you a cuppa and you'll enjoy meeting other bloggers who love tea. Let's celebrate the season with warmth and friendship.

*******

Teatime Tomorrow.....

Aspen, Colorado

....................I'm invited to Mr. Toast's first annual Christmas Tea. Imagine, a real British holiday tea right here in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.

Today I'm busy packing my warm clothes, making my teatime goodies and tonight I'll be on my way to Aspen...............IN MY DREAMS of course!!!

Hope you'll stop by too - there should be lots of yummy food, the very best warming English teas to sip, lots of fun caroling and meeting new blog friends.

Want to share in some pre-Christmas spirit before the rush?

See you for tea in Aspen tomorrow.

The Highway Home

A late Autumn evening. One major holiday over, another quickly approaching. Driving the highway toward home as the sun goes down. Clouds turn orange and pink behind the leafless trees. I love to see a deciduous tree's 'bones' when the leaves have been whisked away. Thoughts cross my mind.......will there be gentle snow or diamond hard ice coating these branches come Winter? Will the squirrels' nests remain safe as the North wind blows?

The road is straight, the traffic light, the sunset gentle........home creeps closer as miles fall behind us. I knit a few rows, read a few pages until the light dims. We chat about the last couple of days. The bright lights of the great city where we first met - visiting family and friends even older than us, wondering how many Thanksgivings remain for each one of us. It was lovely sharing stories of the days long ago.

Traveling I-95 South toward North Carolina.

The journey home was the destination.