Pink Plans

Hello!  Well, I DID get the Christmas energy and decorated, baked, and worshiped.  We had a very sweet Christmas Eve candlelight service at home.  We saw all of our dear kids and their families.  Now I am taking down the Christmas things and I DO have that post-Christmas "out with the old, in with the new" feeling!  Yay!  We did not meet for our Little Women book club because of December busyness, but we will!  I have so many ideas and I have been studying everything Little Women.  The picture above is my notebook.  So far it contains thoughts, pictures and drawings. 

On Christmas Day, Kelli braided my hair. I wish I could do it but I am a fumble fingers when it comes to hair braiding.

April and I have been knitting Advent scarves and the scarves are getting longer and longer!

A special citrus ambassador sent me oranges and lemons!  I have eaten all the oranges and I am savoring the few lemons I have left.  YUMMY!

 

 

 

One day in December I made myself a waffle.  Aren't waffles fun (and pretty!)?

At the beginning of the month we went to New York!  I had never been!  We saw Music Man, Phantom of the Opera, and Hamilton. Wow!  I loved seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.  We stayed near Central Park. 

Today the outdoors is covered in snow.  It's a marshmallow world out there.  It's a good day to take down the second tree and tuck away all the Christmas cuteness.  Little by little, I'm adding more pink because pink is so cheerful.  January will be pink and maybe the whole of 2023 will be pink.  What do you think of when you ponder the color PINK?

Can you come over for a cup of cocoa?  That's what I am having for breakfast on this white December morning.  I have lots of canned whipped cream and sprinkles, too.

God be with you, kind visitor!  I like you. 

 

Waiting for Festive Energy

Hi Winter People (and my sweet Down Under friends, too!) Didn't Gladys Taber say winter people where the best kind of people?  I forget why at the moment, but be assured that it's a good thing to be a winter person.  As I was looking through my photos, I found LOTS of flowers and not so many other wintry things.  

Millie gave me the toadstool below.  It's so squishy and friendly, isn't it?  Are toadstools Christmas-y?  Hmmmm.  Gnomes sort of are.  I moved lots of my gnomes to the basement because I put toadstool stickers on the walls to cover up the areas that are in need of paint.  It's very Pom Pom-ish down there now. 

I don't have that excitement that makes decking the halls go fast and stay fun.  I keep waiting for it to kick in, but other than opening the boxes and thinking, "Aw, that's cute!" I have not sprung into action and made festive progress.  I will! Guess what?  The local granddaughters are going to read Little Women, too.  We'll have two December book club meetings and eat Little Women type food.  So far I have only found a few things that would be tasty for this endeavor.  One is mac and cheese (the March sisters ate it!) and ginger bread. I'll take photos and tell you of our activities and games.

Do you want to fill orange outsides with cloves again?  I do like stabbing them with a skinny knitting needle and bedecking them with LOTS of cloves.  I'll probably only do one.

Aren't these little flower ladies lovely?  See little Noah in the background?  Aw!  Forgive my dried up thumb (not pretty) but I am not a manicure person and I'm hard on my hands in the winter (sort of a compulsive hand washer - yikes).

Sweet Gumbo Lily made this for me years ago and I love it so, so, so much!  She also told me of a YouTube channel that you would all love. It's here if you want to click over: A Sweet Video

Today Bill was so nice.  He took the weed wacker to the remains of the flower beds and made them all tidy.  Next spring I shall be grateful again.  This year, the sunflowers ran wild and got on my nerves.  Next year, even though it's hard, I am going to pull up new shoots of cosmos and sunflowers because they wear out their welcome.

This is the first Sunday in Advent and they don't really acknowledge it at the church I've been going to.  They just aren't "high church" at all and that's okay, but I LOVE the celebration of Advent and I'm definitely doing it up big here.  I have a special journal for it, some great guidebooks, all the Little Women watching, listening and READING, a tea Advent calendar AND a lot of Advent knitting (a very pretty scarf that I shall show you soon).

We're going to a play tonight but tomorrow I hope to wake up feeling jazzy and festive so I can commence with the decorating.  

Oh, my turkey stuffing was not good.  I put apples and a bit of cinnamon in it and it did not go unnoticed.  They were very "thumbs down" about it.  My gravy wasn't my best either.  I sort of felt like maybe I'm past my turkey preparation prime, but my mom said, "Some years are like that." I think she's right.  I'll try stuffing again (no apples) soon.  I do make good cookies, so I shall make sure I bake all the kinds I like very soon.  I bought a big tin of cookies at Trader Joe's (why?) and ate 6 instead of lunch today.  (eye roll)

Well, let's get started.  I want my December to be holy and sweet, with candles and reading and prayers.  Stay tuned, sweet visitors.  xo
 

A Little Little Women Plan

Hello and happy almost Thanksgiving in the USA.  I bought our fat turkey days ago and it is thawing in the fridge.  My biggest worry this year is the stuffing.  Here's why - I don't really like stuffing so it's hard for me to taste test. I'm giving Christie's mom's recipe a try. She puts apples, onions, celery in with the bread cubes and uses a lot of chicken broth to moisten.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  I'll use the electric turkey roaster again.  First, I'll brown the bird in the oven, so it isn't pale.  I still need to run to the store for sage and cranberries.  Last year the grocery store was sort of a dry and sad spot.  It was as if the powers that be (big corporate bosses) didn't TRY to bring good cheer in the grocery store.  They didn't even decorate outside. This year is improved, but I think some of the decision makers are very afraid of offending some people, so they end up offending everyone.  Know what I mean?  It's grim. Remember when I was teaching and I felt the oppressive "no no no" concerning Christmas?  That was sad, too.  But... sad NO MORE!  I have so many fun December plans. 

Did I show you my sticky birds?  I ordered them from Etsy. I absolutely love sticking things on our walls. I printed the framed birds off of the web.  

I have lots of Advent materials.  I have a sweet journal with an old winter scene on the front.  I have Ruth Chou Simon's Advent book. I have our son Brad's Advent devotional. I have even more and I want to work with all of them.  But, I also want to have a Little Women Advent.  Right now I'm listening to the soundtrack of the most recent film and it's lovely just like the Little Women before it.  I ordered a Little Women cookbook, a Little Women knitting book, and a cute new copy of the novel.  Does it sound fun?

I've been praying for focus and I think the Little Women theme will be fun, sweet, innocent and playful.  I'll be free from some of my responsibilities soon, so I can dabble in the March sisters' world and enjoy thinking about Marmee and Orchard House. 

How are YOU?  Do you have any specific holiday plans?  Are you up and excited or dragging your feet?  Thank you for stopping in,  Sweetie Pie.

 

Stuff on the Wall

 (My sister sent me a hefty gift card so I bought this new Bible. It's called the Abide Bible.  I really love it!)

We had Noah's, Lizzy's, and my birthday this month so last week meant lots of lovely celebrating.  My mom sent me tulips from tulip land in Washington.  

Jenny wanted my Grandma Moses pictures.  She meant that she wanted them when we die😂 but I gave them to her now.  Anytime one of our children says they want something when we are gone, I am going to try to get them to take what they want NOW.  We'll see how that goes.  Anyway, I had to put something where the Grandma Moses pictures were so I found these Katie Daisy prints, had them laminated, and hung them in the dining room.  We aren't fancy here.  Aren't they perfect?  I especially love the "over the river and through the woods" print.

I was very sad about Queen Elizabeth's passing. I've been reading a lot about her.  My prayer group prayed about the wild and powerful hurricane that is descending upon Florida right now.  

Our weather has been absolutely perfect.  It feels like fall in the mornings.

We bought a new mattress and box spring.  We are waiting for the mattress to puff up (48 hours).  We decided to search for inexpensive mattresses that had high ratings.  I hope it's comfy!  We'll try it tomorrow.

I hope you are doing well. I hope you know that you are dearly loved and paid attention to by God who made everything and IS everything.  

My stomach is rumbling.  I'm going to eat some bite size shredded wheat.  What do you eat for breakfast?  I need ideas.

Sending heaps of love your way and thank you for visiting.  (BIG HUG!)
 

Yay September and a Moose

Happy September!  I haven't turned my calendar yet!  I must!  Bill cleared all the mess (weeds) from the flower beds and now I like them again.  We're ready for fall even though the temperatures are in the 90's and it feels like FULL summer. I tire of the heat, do you? When Bill was clearing the front beds he came upon a little snake. Argh.  I can't tolerate snakes at all so I am bugged by that more than a little. Have you seen any creatures in YOUR garden?

I've been knitting and knitting.  I made shortie socks.

I've been sewing, too.  I like these red linen pants.  I prefer this type of pants that are straight legged and roomy. 

These sweet peas came over!

Sophie's special friend came over and ate Chinese food with us and played four-square.

Kelli and Bryan saw a moose at their campground!

 It's Labor Day today.  I am trying to get all the stuff done for my children's leader role at Bible study that starts Wednesday.  I'm almost ready.  I would like to sew today and knit! I think I'm a little tired from the weekend.  I'm a smidge grumpy.  Oh well.

I've been reading wonderful books by Noel Streatfeild.  She was such a lovely writer for kids (and grown ups).  My favorite is Tea by the Nursery Fire.  It's about a nanny and I do love nannies.

Oh, I wanted to ask you about "cobbler" because I was thinking cobbler and crisp are the same thing but I made cobbler and it's very cake-y and I'm not sure it turned out right.  Please clarify if you can.

 

What have you been up to?

xoxoxo

Adopted Dolls

Hi Everybody!  I've been away for a while (from here - I haven't gone anywhere).  How are YOU?  I ordered this little Annie from Etsy.  She is so small and so perfect.  Her face is perfectly sweet, isn't it?

A neighbor gave me five dolls.  Do I need any more dollies?  No, but these are lovely!  Don't you agree?

I ordered this doll family for Bible study, so the kids can role play.  They are adorable.  I want to play with them, too.

Kelli and I are going to see my mom next week.  I think I'll take this wool and knit a pair of socks while I am there. 

This is the fancy fabric I was so excited about.  I made a "shift" and it is too form fitting so I look like a stuffed sausage.  It's okay.  I'll slim down and then hem it and wear it.  It's very soft but kind of thick (the fabric).

I'm off to meet some friends for breakfast and then a friend for lunch.  

I hope you are creating today, or baking, or reading - something luxurious anyway!

Thank you for popping  by!  I love you for it!

xoxoxo
 

Stuff Around the House

 

Hello friends!  This is my alternative to buying new furniture.  Because Timothy loves to scratch up soft furnishings, I made patches and applied big cat protecting plastic stickers to his chosen corners.  I like it.  Can you see my scrappy sock?

The peonies came and went and even though a snow shocked them earlier, they recovered and performed. 

The snapdragons came back!  Isn't that amazing?  They held on all winter, survived, and are glorious!

Yes, the squirrels can shimmy up this shepherd's hook.  They are so determined to eat the black sunflower seeds.  The birds have been enjoying them, too.

I bought two flats of petunias, white and yellow, and then I realized that that is A LOT of planting.  With all of these little pots housing one or two petunia plants, I shall have to do a lot of hand watering.  We'll see how long this lasts.

I hung new bunting.  Look at all the perennials!  

And look at the beginnings of my Beekeeper Blanket.  It's slow going but fun.  Do you like the colors?

I planted loads of Shirley poppies in back, but then these showed up in front!  Thank you, God.

The bees like the cornflowers, pincushion flowers and Jupiter's Beard!

For Timothy, these are the lazy hazy days of summer.  He is such a cuddle bug and for that I am so thankful.

 Jolly has arrived at Angela's!  She will blog about it next week so I will pop in and share the link.

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post.  I have time to cut out a top and pants today, so maybe I will.  Red.  The pants are linen like and the top is a very unique print.  You know you have to be in the mood to sew, so I hope I am.  

We had friends from Austria visit us and they said that they have a hot meal for lunch and then a cold meal for dinner.  I think I know what a cold meal would be (bread, cheese, fruit, egg?) but do you have any cold meal ideas?

Maybe the reason I have only sewn bunting is because my sewing, ironing, book, computer room is too full.  I'll try to fix it.

Time to take a bath and make the bed.  Then, we'll see.

Thank you so much for stopping by! xo