Nativity and flowers in bloom

Good morning Folks ~ It is a gray, drizzly morning, the temp. is 69 and feels like it is 64. The rain is bringing us a ‘cold’ front. Ha. High 60’s are the predicted low temps for the next few days. To me that’s not cold.

Yesterday on the 4th anniversary of my dear husband’s ‘home going’, I set up the nativity. He made the creche many, many years ago for our humble Spanish ‘mud’ figures, that we bought when we lived in Rota, Spain while he was stationsed there in the US Navy, early 70’s. We bought 8 little figures in the town square from a little shop.

I went simple this year, so only a few ‘heavenly host’.

Nativity ‘mud’ figures, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, three wisemen, a donkey and a cow.

The ancient angel at the back of scene is ‘old’. I bought it at the flea market many, many years ago for $1.

God came down to earth as a little babe, born in a humble stable in a lowly manger.

His name is Jesus, He is Immanuel, ‘meaning God with us.’ He is the reason for this holiday season. May we all feel His love, mercy and tenderness for us, and may we feel that way towards others. Love is a wonderful gift to receive and to share.

The angel hanging on the left was my husband’s when he was a little boy.

The silver salt shakers in these two photos hold frankinsense in one

and myrhh in the other.

The lace angel below was made by my late MIL. One of my favorite Christmas ornaments from her.

The next pictures are of some delicate, old angels. I got them many years ago at the flea market or a yard sale.

Now for some flowers that are in bloom right now. Photos taken yesterday.

The first photo is Downy Jasmine. I bought this from the local veggie market because it had 2-3 different kinds of butterflies flying all over these plants. I found out from my ‘butterfly’ friend Jessica that the males love white flowers.

George Tabor Azalea

Lantana

Panama Rose

Next two photos are of Ruby Hibiscus blooms. I have quite a few volunteers from seeds of this plant.

Spicy Jatrohpa

Tropical Hydrangea

‘Paul McCartney’ Rose

‘Picnic’ roses

That’s it from Plum Cottage and gardens.

I’m meeting my brother-in-law, husband’s brother, for lunch.

Happy Christmas holidays ~ FlowerLady

December happenings at Plum Cottage

Hi Folks ~ I hope things are going well as you ready your homes for the holidays. I finished my little tree, but still have the Nativity to set up.

Here’s my tree with the ceiling light on.

Off

Some ornaments

Mr. & Mrs. Snowman, made by a friend in an ornie swap many years ago.

The little porcelain ballerina was made by my dear husband’s mother.

The red crocheted heart was made by me.

This angel that I’m using for the tree topper was also made for an ornie swap. This friend has since passed away.

Mr. & Mrs. Lion were the last ornaments give to us by my husband’s mother. She gave the kids one every year as they were growing up, then as each child became a married couple, she continued to give one to each couple. This year she happened to give each couple ‘animal couples’.

I have been working on beading Christmas presents. I am loving the process with each one. An idea pops into my head and then I go with it. I will show them after the holidays. I am inspired to get my sales tax # and re-open my Etsy shop.

Here are the latest color of beads used on two of the pieces.

Something not so Christmasy has happened. I’ve been having pain in upper & lower jaws, left side of my mouth. I knew there was a tooth that needed to come out up top, but didn’t know what was causing the pain on the bottom, back tooth.

The pain was awful the past couple of days, I made an appt. yesterday afternoon and got in this morning. I had the top tooth pulled, there was no saving it.  The bottom problem is that my very back tooth is loose, so I made an appt. to have it pulled next Thursday. I could have had them both pulled today, but I just wasn’t up for that.

This is how I looked after I got home, shot up with Novocaine. Left side is turned down and totally numb, left nostril also numbed and numbed up to my eyelid. That’s all gone now, and I’m glad of that.  I was given a prescription for Vicadin in case I needed it, but I opted not to use it.  I bought Aleve instead. I don’t like taking meds at all, but ibuprophen didn’t do so good with tooth pain and the dentist recommended Aleve.

Not my best selfie.

The past couple of weeks I have been googling about healing receding gums, and remineralizing teeth. Read about Bentonite clay and ended up buying some Redmond Earthpaste toothpaste for a healthier mouth, with only natural ingredients.  Lots of great reviews. Bentonite clay draw toxins out of our systems, and our mouths are full of unhealthy things. Bentonite clay is good for a lot of uses. I also ordered vitamin supplements that are great for teeth, and good health in general and ended up ordering, a calcium, mag and D complex, Ester-C with citrus bioflavonoids, zinc pincolinate and CoQ10 with BioPerine. While reading all of the reviews on each supplement, I read that zinc cleared up acne. Well, while I don’t like to talk about it, since menopause, I’ve been dealing with adult acne. I never had any acne as a teen except for that once-a-month spot that would pop up. As we age, zinc becomes depleted in our systems, so maybe that’s the cause of my acne. Reading that zinc clears acne has me excited to see if it will work for me. All four of these supplements are great for dental health. So if any of you are having problems, you might want to check these out for yourselves.

Ok, that’s it. I’m starting to get sleepy, 5:47 p.m. I took an Aleve and that should be good the whole night through. I’ve not slept good for the past few nights, this morning I got up around 3:45 and put some oil of cloves on my two painful areas and just stayed up. That oil is awful to taste, but works great for numbing.

Hope you are all well and enjoying each day. Tomorrow makes 4 years since my sweetie went to be with Jesus. I miss him every single day, but knowing where he is gives me peace.  We will be reunited one day, until then, may I age gracefully and gratefully.

Happy Christmas holidays ~ FlowerLady

‘Skinnytaste - Fast & Slow’ Book Review

 

Good morning Folks,

Here is my second overdo book review.

The book is ‘Skinnytaste Fast & Slow’ by Gina Homolka.

This is a book that would make a great cookbook for any cooks on your gift list or to add to your own collection.  There are wonderful recipes for starting your day or for evenings you need a quick meal, or for those days you want to use your crockpot while you do other things, knowing a delicious meal will be ready at the end of your day. Nutritional info is included with each recipe.

This is a beautiful hard back book with easily understood recipes and wonderful photos that will make your mouth water in anticipation. Just look at the photo above on the cover of the book.

I have quite a few recipes marked to try and look forward to doing so.

This book is a complimentary copy for reviewing this book from Blogging For Books.

Happy cooking and healthy eating ~ FlowerLady

‘All the Pretty Things’ book review

 

Hello Folks ~ I hope the start of your Christmas holidays is going well.

I have two book reviews that I need to get done, with all that has been happening, I am behind.

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Here is the first one, ‘All The Pretty Things’ by Edie Wadsworth.

This book is a journey of living a life that wasn’t always nice, of love, of forgiveness, of survival and God’s tenderness in the way he cares for one of His little ones.

This is a true story, it will bring tears, make you angry at the unfairness of what life deals out. But in the end, God works through all crisis times as we trust in Him, bringing us into a closer relationship with Him.

I was inspired and encouraged to trust Jesus more in every circumstance in my life. He is always with me, His everlasting arms always holding me up.

This book was given to me by Tyndale House for reviewing purposes.

Sincerely ~ FlowerLady