Happy New Years Cannons to Resolutions

 We spent a quiet New Years Eve with lovely old friends this year .... a semi 'casual' dinner, with courses, starting with seafood bisque ....

 See how Terry is?  She always sets a lovely and creative table, mixing her Haviland Limoge, Crystal and Pier One finds .... I love her tables, they are always a bit of art ... oh and did I mention the Family Heirloom Tiffany Candlesticks? :-)

 Steve has his toys too, a real cannon ... and boy is it loud!  Above we see my Mr. P ready to shoot it off, and then Steve himself at the helm ... So you see, our quiet evening, watching a film festival award winner, named 'Sweet Land' and the first of BBC's 'Call the Midwife' .... did end with a bang!  Thanks Steve and Terry you guys have the best girl and boy toys ever!!

And just to finish off the post, I thought I would share my 'poster child' for my #oneword focus this year.  I have chosen the word 'gracious'.  I have always wished that characteristic came naturally to me, and now I am going to work on developing it.

The woman in the picture above is Ruby Olson Haight.  She and her husband David B. Haight, of the quorum of the 12 apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to which I belong, both passed away in 2004.  I had the opportunity to meet Ruby on several occasions and always found her to be perfectly gracious.  Such a lovely woman, just seeing her picture, this one taken the year she was married, reminds me to slow down, and take care of those around me.  Thanks for you amazing example Ruby!

Best wishes to you all as you strive to be a better you in the coming year. 

Dear Lizzie is Always Delightful

Oh no, the lovely Christmas season is over ....  Of course my tree is still up, and it may take a few weeks for me to decide I am really ready to take it down ....

Thankfully I made nice memories again this year and have some pictures that I can come back to, to remind me of lovely times, places and people ....   Places like Dear Lizzie in Highland, a charming shop I have blogged about before.

Met a good friend there for lunch and a gift exchange too ... Dear Lizzie is the perfect spot, because it is halfway between her valley and mine .... And we both adore the place!!

I am sharing a few shots from our lunch date ....have I mentioned that they are also a bistro?  I had an amazing chicken pesto on a baguette, while Stacy had a yummy sweet spinach salad. 

This is there party nook!  How fun would that be? 

Yep that's me ....

And Stacy .... What a lovely and amazing girl's day out.  Thanks Laura, you do an amazing job.  Dear Lizzie never fails to take my breath away!!

Bethlehem Dinner First Christmas Reenactment

For years Our family Christmas Eve tradition has been Bethlehem Dinner. This is my son Ben and his friend Hannah, pretty cool, they both have Biblical names,eh?  My newest grandchild, 6 week old  McKenna, stands in foe the baby Jesus.

We eat off wooden dishes with our fingers .... Imbibing 'new wine' (grape juice).

I make big round, rough loaves of bread that we tear apart and dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The menu also includes mountains of olives and grapes, and a large beef roast cooked all day in the crock part until its falling apart.

Of course we eat by candle light ....

All of that is followed by my husband reading the story of the Nativity from Luke.

Sorry about the bad picture of my son as the angel ....

But the shepherds are awesome, in their 'sore afraid'ness, don't you think ....

Also loved sweet Reagan's genuine awe of the production!

Hope your Christmas celebration was lovely, Merry Christmas.

Wendy's Christmas House Tour

 Its just two days until Christmas, Yikes!  I do however have just a minute to put up a few shots of my friend Wendy's house that I took last week when we exchanged our gifts ...

 I love her stuff, such vintage fun ... and if you are local keep an eye out for her, she is going to be selling on our Reclaimologists and Other Crafty Chicks face book page ... She has awesome stuff, and a real eye for the vintage everyone wants these days!

Merry Christmas all!!

A Pink Christmas Gift

I have been collecting pink goodies all year and now it time to gather them and send them to the pinkest of destinations....

 These cool pink vintage ornament earrings are hilarious AND pink.

 My friend Stacy, the lover of pink, has added hot pink ornaments to her pink and white tree this year and it looks flat out amazing, I love the name of the blog post "Pretties in Pink"!

I thought, given her brighter pink addition that she might appreciate this antique hot pink ornie ...

Along the side of this photo is a few inches of the pink and white garland I made for her ... not sure how she will use it, but it will be adorable, trust me.

With her love of all things pink and all things French, she's bound to adore (or laugh hilariously at) this sweet pink treat, right?

Other gifts include a lace girl card, a lovely pink glass bead bracelet, a pink measuring tape and cute pink dotted Washi tape.

 The goodies are gathered, and ready for the final wrap.

I thought the sweet pink winged angel I found on Graphics Fairy was perfect as the crowing touch!! 

Just for fun you can go and take a peek at Stacy's blog post about her gift of pinkness. 

Merry and Bright with Antlers

I've been working on my black, white and silver mantle for a week.  The final touch was a pennant banner: Merry & Bright.   

I found this awesome graphic at my go to place, Graphics Fairy ... I tried these two shapes, and liked the triangular shape best.

I hadn't planned to add the black trim, but after glittering the edges and adding black buttons to balance the black letters, I still needed a bit more definition ....

Here it is in place with the black urns, white balls, silver garland, antique wood candle sticks and a white tree.

I love how it turned out.

Thanks for coming by to take a peak!

Hobble Creek Barn Boutique

This past week I managed a quick visit to a favorite Holiday boutique...

It's called the Hobble  Creek Barn Boutique ... It was held in an empty former grocery store ... But I remember selling antiques at this boutique when it was actually held in a barn ... Many, many moons ago.

it's still full of amazing crafts and antiques. .... Loved it.

So many clever and talented collectors and crafters ...

... And as always, shopping is one of the best parts of the holidays for me. Merry shopping, we have just a week left to enjoy, so have at it!