Shelly's Place Part One

You are in for a treat. I said I would do some posts just to show you all the visual treats at Shelly's house and here is part one. Shelly is the sister in law of Patty at Lemon Lane Cottage. They are all just the best. So thankful we have become friends. Okay on to the tour. This is just the kitchen folks. There is so much to look at here that it takes time to take it all in. Now this gal is a collector but let me tell you she is thrifty. So many of the cute things you see are from yard sales and thrift shops. We all want to go shopping with her to find her good places and glean some of her collecting skills.
Okay on with the fun. It was getting dark so some of my photos aren't the best.
This cherry valance she found at the thrift store. Can you believe that?

She already collects in red so adding Christmas is perfect.

She finds things and paints and modifies them to her colors. Her husband also helps her create some of her shelves and is very handy so she is one lucky gal.

Her attention to detail is fabulous. I wish you could all see it in person. So fun.

We think she needs a blog so she can share her place all year long. It is as cute decorated for everyday too.

Her Christmas tree in the kitchen. Next time I will share the sitting area and dining room. Isn't her place fun? Thanks Shelly for generously sharing your home with us and for letting me take so many shots and share it on my blog.

Linking to:
BNOTP
Dittle Dattle
Making Monday Marvelous
Coastal Charm
A Stroll Thru Life
Savvy Southern Style
Rednesday
FMFPTY Holiday Party

Blogging Buddies

Had the very best of days. Got to hang out with some of my blogging friends for the entire day.
Left to right is Kris from Simplify, Shelly our blogger in waiting, Patty from Lemon Lane Cottage and Debbie from My Vintage Daydreams. We met at my house and then headed to my favorite store Country General Store for some browsing and shopping. Worked up an appetite so we headed up to Glendora to have lunch and do some more shopping in the downtown area.

Next we went to Shelly's house. There are not words for this woman's house. It is the cutest thing ever. I will devote several posts to show you all the things there are to see in her house. She is not a blogger but needs to be to share her darling home and wonderful decorating skills.

Then it was off to Patty's for dessert and coffee. Her house was all decked out and just so cozy for Christmas.

She had the table set so darling and we had some wonderful goodies and just sat around and yacked and talked about kids and life and husbands and blogging. You know just fun girl stuff and I really had the best time and am so glad I have met them through blogland.

Patty made each of us one of these little owl ornaments. We exchanged some gifts and then had to call it a day.

Kris made us a flower pin in red of course. It will be so perfect for Christmas and Debbie gave us each some goodies and a personalized sign for our gardens. Mine says Elaine's Peaceful Patio. She knows how much I love it out there so I really loved my sign.

Thanks gals for such a wonderful day!!

Linking to:
BNOTP
The House in the Roses
Home Savvy AtoZ
Cherished Treasures
Wow Us Wed.

Frosty the Snowman

What is cuter than a snowman? Round and cute with a button nose. I love them and have been collecting them for years. Actually I am done collecting I think as I have too many. You know people find out you collect something and then bam you have a very large collection.
Here are a few of my favorites.

They fill my den bookshelves.

But with all collections you have your favorites. This one is fun and sparkly so I give him a place all his own.

But I think the sweetest one of all is this little guy by House of Hatten. The designer retired years ago so you can't get them any longer or at least new ones. Bummer because they were made so well and I loved her style.

Been cleaning and spiffing all day as some blogger friends are coming by tomorrow for a day of shopping, lunch and visiting so you know you have to get the house ready. So gals just remember, I live with four kids, two dogs and two cats in a house well lived in. I can't wait for tomorrow. Happy weekend everyone!!

Linking to:
Show and Tell Friday
Coastal Charm

Curled Up for the Night

Just heard from hubby that he is off to location #3 for the evening. Says it will be a long night which means he will be out all night. Thankfully the winds are not as bad and have died down. It is long dark outside and all my little twinkle lights and candle lamps are aglow. I am making the best of it. We had a big pot of soup for dinner and now I am curled up on my favorite sofa for a night of blogging and catching up.
Here is where I am except it is dark now and my little tree is all lit up.

I found the Buckingham Palace pillow in a thrift shop on the coast. $3. I sent it out to be dry cleaned and I just love it. It says made in England on the tag inside and is stuffed with feathers. I adore it and so does my little dog who keeps laying on it.

Linking to:
Bowl Full of Lemons
Show and Tell Friday

Hunkering Down

We are having terrible wind storms here in Southern California. Our neighbors tree was laying on their car this morning. Yard is a disaster but it is still too crazy to go outside and clean up. We are stuck inside and doughnuts were in order. See that pumpkin one? MINE!!

So we are staying in and everyone is still in their jammies and sweats. I am trying to get some cleaning done but the three foot tornado is moving from room to room leaving a path of destruction in her wake. My daughter's college classes were even cancelled today.

As you all tuck in safe today please pray for my lineman as he has headed out to get the lights back on for people. Be patient as I want him to come home safe to me.

Here is a poem someone sent me last year. I will share as it touched me when I first read it and it shares my thoughts and concerns for my husband perfectly.

A Lineman's WifeA woman who always stands strong.

When the rain and wind and lightning starts, she silently begins to prepare his things.

She catches the phone on the first ring, she knows he won't rest for a while.

His bag is packed and she kisses him goodbye with a smile as he walks out the door, he has enough to worry about

    without seeing her cry.

As his truck pulls out of the drive she prays "God keep them safe tonight".

"Where is Daddy" the kids want to know, Working she says and he'll be home soon.

Fighting back the tears she hugs them and smiles he loves you all now go back to bed.

She worries about the long dangerous hours that he is out while the rest of the world is tucked into bed.

She knows all it would take is one easy mistake and her lineman would be no more.

She would have it no other way

Lineman are born to do what they do.

They never complain. It isn't a job to them, it's their life.

Strong dedicated men and their wives are the same.

H. Bennett, a lineman's wife

Linking to:
The Charm of Home
At the Picket Fence
The Thrifty Groove
Common Ground
Potpourri Friday

Red White and Blue Christmas

My patriotic tree is all done in the den. We have our main tree in another room so I like to have a little one in here to enjoy. I am laughing as I just noticed the happy fall sign in the background. Oops. Forget to pack that one away.

Red stars, glass flag ornaments and star lights are the simple decorations for this tree.

A few flags tucked in for good measure and this tree is done.

A patriotic banner tucked in the old garden bucket is the finishing touch.

This year I decided not to take down all my everyday decor, but just add Christmas touches. Less work after it is all done is what I am aiming for. I want decorating to be put up and taken down in an afternoon. That was my goal this year and we pretty much achieved it.  Here in the den some simple Merry Christmas blocks were placed right in front of my fabric angels.

I have one of my huge bins completely cleared out. I put a big box of old decor no longer wanted out for Goodwill. I have been purging for each holiday this year. You always buy new stuff so you have to get rid of the old toads I say. Who really wanted a fabric reindeer wreath anyway. Not me. How is it I ever thought that was cute?

Linking to:
Wow Us Wed.
Women Living Well
Whatever Wed.
Rednesday
No Minimalist Here
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground

Frugal Challenge-Sticking to a Christmas Budget

Every year I always exceed what I had planned on spending for Christmas. You know you have an extra person or two, you spent more than you should on someone. So this year I created my list. A column of everyone that I needed to buy for. Then I figured out how much I was going to spend in total. I then prioritized the list and decided how much I could spend on each category dividing each category with the money allotted to it.
1) My kids (Hubby and I bought new dining chairs for Christmas)
2) Our family
3) Friends
4) Teachers and other extra little gifts needed.

Now doing it this way made me adjust down some of the amounts I thought I could spend all the while staying within my money allotted for each gift category. So much easier for me to know exactly when I am shopping what the maximum amount is I could spend on each present. That notation is next to each name on my list. I also realized I could maybe make something like a baked good or meal for a few older neighbors. This is something they might enjoy more than anything I could buy. So far so good.

Linking to:
Time Warp Wife
Coastal Charm
BNOTP
Raising Homemakers
Women Living Well

Christmas Has Arrived

 It's here. The spirit of the season has hit me and the decorating has begun!

We spent all of yesterday afternoon and evening decking the halls. Our outdoor lights are up and the house is pretty much done. Our main tree has yet to arrive as we like to go pick it out as a family.

As always we moved some furniture around and placed both dry sinks next to each other to make room for the big tree. My prim tree is sitting atop the child's dry sink. It is my favorite tree. Filled the little cupboard shelves with our collection of sheep.

I will share more later on but this is my more prim side of Christmas decor. To me the more subtle colors are warm and welcoming. Of course other rooms have more bright red but in here it is more toned down. You will see some of my prim snowmen scattered about.

Linking to:
BNOTP
Coastal Charm
Table Top Tuesday
Return to Loveliness
Mod Mix Monday
Wow Us Wed.

Sunday Greetings

Just popping in to wish you all a blessed Sunday. The last day of this wonderfully long weekend. My husband works so many hours that it is such a treat to see him up watching the Military Channel every morning when I get up to make coffee. He loves all things history and can watch hours of the Military Channel or History Channel.
We spent the day yesterday working in the yard. It was 83 degrees. I was in shorts and a tank top. Crazy. We cleaned out planters and spiffed up the house to get it ready for lights today. In the morning though we spent over an hour in Walmart. It was blissfully empty and we got everything on our list and bought a few Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. I like to finish my shopping as early as I can. I am almost done.
So today the Christmas bins come down and the holiday magic begins. I can't wait to show Q. She is at the perfect age for the magic of Christmas. She of course keeps telling us she wants a trampolene for Christmas. Sorry Q but Santa will not be bringing one. We would have not much yard left with that on our lawn.
Hope you all have a wonderful last day of the weekend. Next time I will post some Christmas cheer.

Linking to:
Seasonal Sundays

Post Thanksgiving

Today I cleared out all of the fall decor. Every last bit was tucked away in their boxes and hubby put them away in the garage. I have yet to get out the Christmas decor and I have to admit something. I am liking the cleaned out less cluttered look of my house and almost hate to admit that I don't want to clutter it up again with the Christmas decorations. What is happening to me? This is so not me.
 I don't like this feeling. I want to be so excited to get the Christmas stuff out. Usually we do it the first weekend in December so maybe I am rushing myself from the usual routine. Every day full of errands and running kids here and there and doctors appointments. You just crave time to do nothing.  Today I watched and napped through two Doris Day movies. Heavenly. Tomorrow we will do a little Christmas shopping. Didn't go anywhere near a mall today. No way. This has been the first time hubby has had a day off in ten days so we try to squeeze in a little shopping because December is always a busy time for his department.
Okay, so you all get your holiday decor pictures on your blogs so I get inspired and run out to the garage and grab all my bins and holiday up my house. I am counting on you. My kids will never forgive me if it doesn't look like Christmas barfed in our house. That is their description not mine. 

Thanksgiving Wishes

It is Thanksgiving Eve-Eve and because tomorrow I will be busy cooking and cooking and then cooking some more I wanted to wish you all a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving. Thanks for bringing such warmth and friendship into my life. I am lucky to have got to know you all in some small way. See you on the other side with Christmas lights on.
 Oh and I am dying from this show "Last Man Standing" It is our life except that instead of the twenty year old having the baby, we did. The man has three daughters and a toddler grandchild in the house. We have the same age daughters and then our three year old and it is so us. We have had some of the same situations and conversations and it is as if someone visited our house and decided to do a show on us. In one episode the dad acts like a crazy man over something and a parent of one of the daughter's boyfriends acts shocked and he says that when you have raised three daughters (in our case four) then you see how well you do. Whoa, I am getting punchy now so off to bed. One benefit of having a three year old in your forties is that you have no trouble falling asleep and when you do, you sleep like a rock. Some of my friends complain of sleepless nights but not a problem over here. Q makes sure I sleep well every night.

Linking to:
BNOTP

Yellow Day and a Wonderful Surprise

Made my weekly stop at Goodwill and for some reason there were some darling things and all in yellow. First, an older rolling pin with painted yellow handles. Eee gads I have lots of rolling pins with painted handles but have never found a yellow one. I then spotted the little golden plaid thermos and had to have that but the find of the day was this yellow check drink cooler. It is so fun and has all of its parts. I don't think I would use it but for display how cute is that? My basket was full of a little bit of sunshine I tell you.

Also, last week I received this darling surprise in the mail from Debbie at My Vintage Daydreams. She is the sweetest thing and knows my daughter and I love owls. I love the faces on these bowls. She also tucked in two fall towels and a maple leaf hook. I am so excited to meet her in person on Dec. 3rd. We are having a little blogger meet up so I will get to see her and thank her in person. Thanks Debbie!!



Well today is house cleaning day in prep for all the cooking and baking I will start tomorrow. Wrapped up my grocery shopping yesterday. It was busy but everyone seemed festive. All of us trying to choose the right turkey. I grabbed a Starbucks in the store for a treat and took my time and got in the mood.
Right now I am sipping a cup of coffee and summoning the will power to get up. My dryer died yesterday so we have laundry hanging all over the house. This is only going to last for a few days as six people and no dryer equals lots of wet laundry. Don't they make things to last any longer? My dryer is less than nine years old. Last one I had was hubby's grandma's, an old Maytag, and it lasted for over 30 years before it croaked. I think we will be in Lowe's on Friday if it can't be repaired before then.

Blast From the Past

My girlfriend just sent this to me and I about died. We were roomies at the Miss United Teenager pageant way back in 1984/85? What a crack up. Could I have had any more eye makeup on? Some girl there told us we had to have very dramatic makeup. She said dramatic not clown like so I guess this shows I had no clue. I still don't wear much makeup. Some comic relief for the day.

Farewell Colors of Fall

Anyone like me and sad to see the warm colors of fall give way to the brighter colors of Christmas? Don't get me wrong I love Christmas and love the red and white but there is something about the warmth of the reds, oranges, greens and golds of fall that just stir my soul.

My home is sort of decorated in those colors all year long so I must love them. I even have two prints with pumpkins on the walls all year long. It is just my most favorite time of year weather, food and decor wise. What is not to love?

We are enjoying a cool fall day with rain on the way and literally that just makes me giddy. I think when you live where is is warm a lot of the year, cool days are such a treasure. You really savor them.

Oh to be able to tuck pumpkins in among my little shelves all year. There are people that celebrate Christmas all year so I will officially be the person willing to celebrate fall all year.

Somehow I think I won't find many Christmas trees in oranges and purples so I will have to be content with the fading flowers on the patio and enjoy them for one more week because then comes December and out comes my second most favorite color combo, red and white. So who could say no to decorating with those colors.

Linking to:
Seasonal Sundays, Sundae Scoop
Sat.Night Special, Sister Sunday
Met Monday, Life Made Lovely
Tabletop Tuesday, Coastal Charm