Merry Christmas

No matter what or how you celebrate....I just wanted to take a moment to wish you a very Happy Holiday!!!

Time to breathe!!

Yes....seems the month of Dec flew by with all it's busyness and holiday festivities!!
With Christmas behind us...by one day now....it's becoming time to breathe a bit. That is....after all the clean up is done...lol
I find myself up to my ears right now in cleaning up the wrapping closet. It's amazing how much paper & ribbon sprawl can happen!! I think I finally have it all "under wraps"...lol
I would love to have a good part of the clean up around here done by New Years!

I'm actually looking forward to some quiet time after the 1st of the year when I can sit back and plan.

I'd like to make plans for what will happen with my Torn Paper Paintings in the coming year....what I'll create & how differently I might promote it as well as what changes may come. Looking forward to big things.

I also want to plan for the rest of the backyard renovations such as the next step....the new deck as well as all the new plantings/gardening that will need to be done to enhance the new look.

Mark & I have also been talking about what we might like to do for a special treat for ourselves for both of us turning 60 this coming year!! We've been talking about planning another grand trip....maybe Greece or Ireland/Scotland.....or.....who knows. Fun to think about & plan.

Yes...2015 will be a banner year....I'm sure of it!!!
Sooo....until then.....I'm going to step back, breathe, and start planning!!!
Have a terrific New Year!!

Ssssh....secret santa

I've been sooo very busy lately that I haven't gotten as much art done recently as I'd like. The holidays have a way of doing that.

However, I am happy to say that I've finally managed to get my "secret santa" package ready to mail.
It is off to one of the other members of the art site I belong to. Sooo....as you might imagine....the little goodies inside are....yes....art related!
I just received a beautiful package today from my santa and I'm holding back...yes I am....from opening it up. I'm honestly just enjoying looking at it! Isn't Christmas fun!! :)

Holiday wishes

Just want to take a moment to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season.

May you all get to share lovely warm moments with your family and friends.

Lot's of the white stuff!!!

Snow....snow...and more snow!!!

I went outside last night during the storm to take these pics. I had intended to post them right away....but as luck would have it, before I could get the post up online....the power went out. DANG....I hate when that happens. I was afraid to turn the computer on again after that for fear that it would keep going on and off....which the power did! Sooo...I went to bed instead...lol

The pics are even nicer to look at if you click on them to enlarge them. The last pics I'd taken were of my back yard. I took the front this time.

The first one is a shot of my husband after he'd shoveled just enough of the walk to actually get out of the breezeway and into the front.

The next is of the lighted deer out front. He was actually the reason we went out in the first place. The large tree near him had gotten some very heavy branches and were threatening to knock him out.

The next pic is a shot of some of the lights in the front of the house. I love the way the lights shine through the snow.

The next one is of the gazebo further up front in the yard. It looked so beautiful with the lights shining through the huge pine branches.

The last pic is one that I took as I was coming back into the breezeway. I just stopped in my tracks. I think that this is just sooo pretty.

We have a small lighted tree in the breezeway and the glow from the tree onto the panes of glass on the window and door to the back yard looked so lovely with all the snow on them.

I'm thinking that this may be a shot for making my Christmas cards for next year.

Well....I can hear my dear hubby out there with the snowblower right now. Guess I'll go out and help for a while......at least brush off the cars!!

Our Tree

Finally......we've got our tree up and decorated. On Sunday we went out and bought a tree for our house and picked up another for my in-laws. We took their tree to them that afternoon and got it set up in it's stand and the lights on. We then came back home and made sure ours was all set with enough water and such, but were due out to a friends for dinner.

Sooo.....last evening we finally got a chance to decorate it. I will admit to getting just a touch sappy since this is the first year that we've had an empty nest at Christmas.
Our youngest daughter is now in her own place and fully enjoying her first Christmas on her own....but it's going to take a bit of time to get used to.

I guess we all know that this day will come....but there really is no way to really be ready for it.
*heavy sigh* It certainly is tough for parents to grow up! :)

Visuals of the season

Well....it certainly is beginning to "look" like the Christmas season.
Yesterday was the day of the Christmas fair sponsored by our local art group and held at their gallery.
MMmmmm, lucky me, I got to work the bake table! Will power....yep, had to have it!! I only had one cookie for the drive home later! Whew!!!

Now, this morning I awoke to a lovely visual. The first snow of the season!

Just a tiny bit....but enough to make everything look just beautiful! This first pic is the view from my bedroom window. It almost looks like a black & white picture, except, if you click on it to enlarge, you can just see a hint of color from a bit of grass showing through on the right and a tiny view way down on the beach level of a hint of the pink and green chairs that are still down there.

The second pic is another view from upstairs from a front facing bedroom. This is what the red maple tree looked like this morning! What a treat this all way.
I don't mind snow in this amount. Just enough to look pretty for a little while but not enough to have to worry about getting around in!

Being Thankful

Hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving Day!!!
While so many problems surround us at this time....it's still time to sit back and look at what we DO have to be thankful for!
I know I have much to give thanks for....a wonderful husband and family, a comfortable warm home, enough food, logs for the fire, a nice cup of tea, a good book......all the simple things. Things that get overlooked everyday!
Stop and take a good look at them today.
All the bigger things will all work themselves out in time.

Well.....off to take care of business now.
Gotta go get my Etsy shop ready for tomorrow's big sales!
Geesh....hard to believe we are now into the big Christmas crunch.
Take care and be careful out there tomorrow. I personally don't intend to get up and join the throngs of 4am shoppers. Yikes. I think I'll sit in my pj's with my coffee and see what sales there are online!