Tag: random

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  I love reading your comments and I like to respond to each of you, especially when you’ve asked a question or have paid a compliment.  Some of you may not be getting responses from blog owners because we’re coming across THIS message when we attempt to reply –

noreply-comment@blogger.com

 Now, some people want total  privacy and I understand that sentiment…

But I would imagine some of you may not know that you have your email hidden so that people cannot respond.   If you have been wondering why no one ever responds to your comments, follow these simple steps to unblock your email.

1. Go to your dashboard,

2. Click “edit profile”

3. Check the box that says “show my email address”

4. Save your profile

It’s as easy as that.

The Way I See It

  As each year comes to a close, talk around the table turns naturally to  what we leave behind and what lies ahead.  During these discussions it  occurs to me that I have a mental image of what a year looks like, a road map of the weirdest kind.  I’ve often wondered if other people have a shapshot of the mechanics of a year, an image that just pops up when you’re thinking of a years’ block of time.

 There’s no way I can accurately describe what I see mentally – and the image I drew above  is not what I see as far as written words or lines. It is, however, the form I see when thinking of a year, the cycle.  

  There are a few things I notice when I examine this diagram.  July and August have the biggest block of space. I love summer – easy analysis, wishful thinking.  September through June are a typical school year. That’s one looong stretch.  December, or really Christmas.. is the anchor of my yearly model.  I have no idea why a year looks like this to me, and its been this way since I was old enough to imagine.  One other interesting fact … the year runs counter-clockwise. 

   So I’m putting this out to the Universe. I’d like to know what a year looks like to you.  Is it one long continuous string of months from left to right?  Is there a circular cycle in your minds’ eye?  Are you wondering if I lost my sanity among the gift wrap, boxes and christmas cookies I threw in the overflowing garbage cans outside This Old House…..

Sometimes you just have to let it go

 Those of you who know me well recognize my camera as merely another appendage.  While it’s true there are heavy sighs and some serious eye rolls whenever I arrive on the scene, who do they gather around when it’s all said and done to see their minute of fame, I ask you.  Ah, the woes of those who wield the camera.

(My hair! NO.. I don’t have make up on! I’m Fat! Oh no, not a picture..)  

 Last night we had a Christmas open house for family and a few friends. My 14 year old niece pried the Rebel from my fingers and took over the job for the evening.  I loved flipping through the images later to see her perspective.. sometimes you really oughta just let. it. go.   🙂

My sister and I.  
Oh no, my hair! No makeup! the dark circles!!..
*sigh and eye roll*
maybe even shock and awe

For the Love of Dogs

 For those of you who have been following along here with me for a while, you know I take pictures almost daily. Recently I was asked by a dear friend to take pictures of her three month old niece.  This baby was the most beautiful thing, she has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes – and the holiday outfits made her look like a true Kris Kringle baby.

 Out of respect for the family I won’t share their full portraits, but I did get permission from my friend to show you the picture I liked the most, seen below.   Our photo session was held at her house, and she was so generous in letting us dismantle her living room for pictures.  While she and her pup, Izzy,  observed patiently on the sidelines, Izzy fell asleep in her “mothers” lap.

 If this isn’t a portrait of real love, I don’t know what is.    

 

Rain, darn it.

 Oh, how I wanted snow.  The husband not so much. He’s probably doing a happy dance as I type, because when it snows,  for him it means a lot of plowing.

  This is what I see as I look out my office window… we are blessed with a neighborhood full of older colonial homes and I am grateful daily to be surrounded by the old New England charm.

  Although it’s hard to see in this photo, when we look out the back windows we have Mrs. N’s awesome log cabin up on the hill.  Our previous home had beautiful grounds, but it was set way back off the road. What I find I am enjoying most in our move to This Old House is the proximity to neighbors… seeing lights on across the street or over at Mrs. N’s. 
 See the dreariness of this morning?  For all of you who are complaining of snow…
YES, send me that semi truck full. I’ll accept the delivery.

 The eldest child is home from college for winter break
 and she has joined me in making cookies
for the christmas cookie collection.
We tried something new this year and it came out delicious!!
Have you seen these in the store? 
You should be able to find them in the baking section.
   Recipe is on back, similar to Choc chips.. YUM.

 

More Blog Love

 See the button on the right over there?  Everybody needs a little…

 Yeah, well no one needs the aggravation of trying to figure out how to make the “codes” of a blog button work if you don’t really know what you’re doing.  So after two hours of cursing the machine, I went to the expert –  Di of The Blue Ridge Gal.  She saved me with the flash of an SOS.  Go ahead, click on it.. it works!   The jingle, by the way, is a song written and sung by Mikes partners son, James.  Not bad, huh? 

Thanks, Di –

 And.. look what arrived in the mail from Misha in the Tennesee mountains!…. a moose, a snowman and a PEACE pillow.   Misha, your christmas card was beautiful too, Thank you.

 We had a serious winter sky early this evening… I’m hoping for snow.

Christmas Blooms

  Did you know that the plant we know as the poinsettia was once used as a fever medicine?  The poinsettia is a native of Southern Mexico. The Aztecs used it for practical things, like the extracted purplish dye used in textiles and cosmetics.  The milky white sap of the poinsettia, which we call latex today, was used in the fever treatment.   The Founder of the Smithsonian Institution, Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851) had attended medical school and had an interest in botany.  When he discovered Poinsettia plants in the Taxco area, he sent them home to his South Carolina plantations, where he grew them and gave them to friends and botanical gardens.  One of those friends, a nurseryman… began selling them under the now famous name, Poinsettia. 

For those of you who are local, Acer Gardens in Deep River has a terrific selection at good prices this year. They carry a huge selection of bows and wreaths too.. the two on my header are from their shop.

 I have two crazy geraniums who are still thriving on my back porch.  I’m going to try to keep them happy all winter, anyone have any tips?  There is a small heater back there that we turn on when we want to sit out there. The sun warms it up during the day and it is glassed in for the winter.

One Small Gesture Can Mean The World

 I’ve been following this blog for a month now… words fail me in trying to describe the courage and love and determination I witness within this family when I read their story.  I’ve posted about this  young man before, but this morning there was a simple request and I’m passing it along with the hope that some of you will join in. Many of you are so creative, and I’m thinking if we each just make or find one simple ornament to hang on his tree, what a gift it would be to let him know there are people all over who are thinking of him as he fights for his life in a hospital room far from home.  

Black Friday, Cyber Monday… that’s so NOT how I want to kick off this holiday season.  Let’s help decorate this soldier’s tree…. Click on the link below to read the post… there is an address to send your ornament if you care to join in.