Brrr !!!

Here we are cozily in our little cottage awaiting another cold front, and this one is colder than the last one we had. Right now at 7:15 p.m. it is 49 and feels like it is 37, because of the wind that we are experiencing. It has been horribly windy all day long. We are not used to this kind of weather. :-) It used to be cold like this when we were kids, but through the years it got warmer. Last year was our first really cold winter in a long time. Here we are having colder temps even earlier this year than last. Tonight the expected low is 28 and with the wind, will feel like it is 14. I did not cover any plants, I did bring some plants inside, but that's it. We are more or less protected by privacy fencing and hedging. ~ We just went outside to move my potted bay tree to a more protected area.

I want to thank all of you who left comments about our Christmas tree and decorations. The only ornament that I made in the pictures on the tree was the red crocheted piece with flowers. The other hand made ornaments were from others. The little ballerina my late MIL made in a porcelain class that she took. This is one of my favorite ornaments. She also made the lace angel hanging over the arch that leads to the Nativity and Heavenly Host area. Twelve of the ornaments along the ceiling are DH's from when he was living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Lion were the last two ornaments given to us by DH's mom before she passed away. DH made the creche. Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the three wisemen and the donkey and cow, are little mud figures made in Spain, that we bought when we lived there in the early70's. I always go out and pick rosemary to put in the creche, as rosemary is for remembrance. In the silver s & p shakers at the front of the creche we have frankincense in one and myrrh in the other. The foil star in the shelf of angels was made by us as newlyweds in Spain. I got the idea to hang ornaments along the ceiling many, many years ago. I went around the ceiling with little brads and hammer in hand, placing the nails about 4" apart. I use Christmas tree hooks to hang them.

Today we did errands and one of our stops was Home Depot. We stopped at their Christmas tree display to see if they had any trimmings. DH had seen some the other day. I asked the salesperson there if they were free and he said yes, so I took a couple of nice smelly branches, thanked him and wished him a merry Christmas and we continued on our way. They do smell nice.

I made two loaves of Avocado Bread today, like zuchinni bread, only made with mashed avocados. I'll let you know how they taste. They smelled yummy while baking. Tomorrow I want to make banana bread, using up three ripe bananas.

Ok, before I fall asleep here at the keyboard, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The first three are Dainty Bess.









These next two are La Marne.






Confederate rose is next.






Here we have St. Vincent's Lilac.



And last but not least, tiny orchids, which are now indoors until the cold weather is past.



******

If we had no winter,

the spring would not be so pleasant:

if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,

prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet

******

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Christmas Decorating - Finished :-)

Well, I'm relieved and happy that decorating is finished. It only took about 12 hours all together. I did the tree Thursday, then did the rest this morning. I am happy with the results.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our cottage Christmas.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

************

What is Christmas?

It is tenderness for the past,

courage for the present,

hope for the future.

It is a fervent wish

that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal,

and that every path may lead to peace.

Agnes M. Pharo

************

It was a gray, rainy day ...

So I decided to go up into the attic for our tree and the decorations. This year I decided to do the 'big' tree. I was inspired because of two bloggers trees that they recently posted about. One is Donna's wonderful funky tree. It can be seen here, at Funky Junk Interiors. And the other tree is by Jeri. Her lovely tree with it's antique jewels can be seen here, at Hopalong Hollow.

After insulating the attic a year or so ago, DH did some rearranging up there and put all the Christmas boxes right near the ladder at the west end of the attic. It's all easy to get to and I enjoyed seeing the boxes and reading what was in them. My excitement for the days' project was revving up. I got the tree trunk in the stand and started putting on the limbs and then saw that the thing was crooked in the stand. It was slipping so wouldn't stand straight, having lost it's piece of cork that we had used before. I started taking bottom branches off, to see if I could remedy the situation with a shim, but that didn't work. I went out to DH's workshop and told him my problem, he came in to take a look, and ended up going back to workshop with tree trunk and stand. He brought it back in a little while later, ready to be inserted in stand and ta da, it's straight and should always be so from now on.

This tree was another one of our 'curbside' finds 2-3 years ago. It was right on the street east of us thrown out still all put together, but without a stand. Of course, FlowerLady had to have this tree because it was gorgeous, and FREE. Since our cottage is small, I got the idea, to leave off some of the branches on the back side so that I could move it closer to the wall and it wouldn't stick out into the room as far. It worked great, I just had to use some of DH's heavy little metal weights from his workshop. They work fine in the stand, on the back side.

The lights were also found curbside in the last year or so, and I was thrilled that they all worked. Once I had the lights on the tree, then the real fun began. Unpacking and hanging the ornaments. It was an all day job, as I walk around the tree seeing where I want to place each ornament. Sometimes I move them, because they could look better over here, or wait maybe over here. Ah yea, that's just right.

Some of these ornaments are really old, passed down from DH's family. Some my late MIL gave us each year until she passed away. She had started the tradition with her kids when they were little. Others we've collected through the years, and some were given to us, plus I was involved in a Christmas ornie swap with some friends for about 5 years in a forum, where we exchanged handmade ornaments.

After decorating all day, around 5 or so I was basically done with the tree, and pooped! Now I just have to hang ornaments where ceiling and wall meet, and set up the creche. That won't be until Sunday though, as I am working at my job today and tomorrow.

Here is a little peak at the tree as taken this morning from my little space. There will be more pictures once I get the rest done, and all the boxes back up into the attic.





The Christmas spirit

~ Love ~

changes hearts and lives.

Pat Boone

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Recent beaded needlework

Good morning everyone. We have been having 'cold' weather for us down here in tropical s.e. FL. Right now at 7:46 a.m. it is 41. It's too cold especially with the wind to work outside since Monday afternoon, so I worked on finishing my latest beaded needlework piece. I wanted to get this one finished because I want to start another one.

I really enjoyed working on this one just completed. I had some blue lace, and started cutting, and stitching, and one bead lead to another, until I felt like it was done. I had been inspired by other needlework seen on blogs. It was my first time making little ribbon flowers also.

Now I've got to press out the crease from the hoop, and then mount and frame the piece.

Right before I woke up this morning I dreamed about books on embroidery. I wonder why? :-)

Hope you all keep warm whatever you do today. I think it will be another indoor day for me.

Click on pictures below for larger views.










******

Take your needle, my child,
and work at your pattern;
it will come out a rose by and by.

Life is like that
- one stitch at a time taken patiently
and the pattern will come out all right
like the embroidery.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL