A View from a Window

Late, yes, I know.  However, this week I did actually take the photos from inside the door, through the glass instead of opening the door and essentially taking them outdoors.  So, here you go!

Little Blurry -- Maybe it is better with the door open!

This one turned out better!

I did go out a few days ago to see what was left in the garden after our freezes and I actually had the forethought to take the camera.  This is what I came up with

Hubs making yard art while making the birds happy -- being creative with shepherds hooks and bird feeders!

Seems the Pin cushion plants survived the freeze and are thriving!

Renegade mint coming up where it doesn't belong

Squirrel nest in the pear tree

Squirrel nest in the OTHER pear tree

Yep, more mint -- it is everywhere!

So there is the garden in late December/early January.  If I can get a photo of the Orange Cat, I will.  He didn't run away when he saw me the other day so maybe he is getting comfortable in the yard -- or else the multitude of doves are more interesting than he is afraid of us.

2012 Reading Challenge

I am going to try to do better on my 2012 Challenge than I did on my 2011 Challenge although I guess I didn't do too badly (18 out of 25) considering I started late.  I started a couple of books right before Christmas which I knew wouldn't get finished until after New Years so one of those is my first challenge book. 

The first book on my challenge list is "Aunt Dimity's Christmas".  I think this is my favorite of the Aunt Dimity series so far.  I mean, what isn't to love -- a rich lawyer, his lovely wife, their gorgeous twins, their cottage in the English village of Finch and a half frozen mystery man in the drive.  Factor in an absent hubby, a father-in-law attracting every widow in the village, a Christmas play and a nanny taking holiday in Italy -- what could possibly go wrong.

This was a delightful little mystery encompassing all the joy of the Christmas season with lessons to be learned for all.  I think it was the perfect read for the month of December and I would recommend it to anyone.

I Admit It -- I Lied!

I thought I was done with Christmas posts but JLSHall sent me the photos of the ornie I made her so I thought I would share them with you.

Since JLSHall's name is Joy, this came already monogrammed!

And, the back!

I have had the fabric that I used for the backing for quite some time -- kept thinking I would make some holiday placemats or something but never got around to it so when I finished the little Joy angel, I pulled this out knowing it would be perfect for this project.

I really enjoyed making these ornaments.  I usually give the kids Hallmark ornaments so one day they will have some for their tree when they are grown but this year I decided to do more of a "do it yourself" sort of theme and these ornaments were part of it.  Next year -- more cooking to go along with.

Tomorrow -- my, as usual, late addition to "A View from the Window".  I tried to get the cat in the picture but apparently he/she doesn't want to visit on Thursday.

Cedar Fever and the Last of the Christmas Posts

I officially have Cedar Fever -- I feel like I have the flu without the fever -- my eyes look horrible, my ears are hurting and my chest feels like I am in the beginning stages of bronchitis.  It is worse because I failed to shampoo my hair last night after being out in the wind yesterday so everything that was blowing around stuck in my hair and I should have washed it before going to bed.  Now I have to change pillow cases and wash my hair and take benadryl.  Yuck.

I am really just a little crazy sometimes.  I read blogs and love the photos on them so I always want to add a photo to mine.  The only problem with that is I forget to take them.  The same was true this Christmas.  I made four ornaments and wanted to show them here but, alas, no pics.  My son in law was kind enough to send me photos of the one I made for Beanie and here it is.

I can't figure out how to rotate the bottom one.  I made two more for Kathryn and Nathan and one for Joy.  If I can pics from them I will edit.

I also made Kathryn a purse but, again, failed to take a photo of that either.  Note to self -- well, you get it.

THE SEARCHERS

I was going to begin my vintage movie night with "Bunny Lake is Missing" but Hubs and I stumbled on "The Searchers" earlier and decided it would be a good thing to spend the afternoon watching.  It was on the Turner Classic Movie channel and was introduced by Ben Mankewicz.  Ben described it as possibly being the best western ever created.  I would have to disagree with him on that.

It is the story of a Confederate soldier (John Wayne) returning to his brother's home after the Civil War.  Shortly after his arrival there was an Indian attack which claimed the life of his sister-in-law, one niece and one nephew and the kidnapping of his youngest niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood).  It took years of hunting and Indian fighting but he eventually found his niece and brought her home. 

The movie was supposedly set in Texas but I am pretty sure it wasn't filmed in Texas.  If I had to guess, I would say Arizona, Montana or possibly Utah.  I have only seen a bit of West Texas but this just didn't look right. 

The cast was a big name cast -- John Wayne, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter.  However, with all those big names, the acting, for the most part of atrocious.  I don't know why half the movies John Wayne is in seem like comedies when they are clearly not. A bit of trivia here, his wife lives here in Fort Worth.

It was a good movie in spite of all the over-acting.  I have always loved westerns and this was always at the top of my list.  Maybe it is because I always thought Natallie Wood made a cute Indian!

Happy New Year!

I am wishing you all a Happy New Year this morning since I was out like a light at 9:30  pm. in a Benadryl fog! I finally got into bed at 10:22 p.m. and if there was any fun and frivolity to be had -- I was not a part of it.  Why you ask?  Well, between December and February I become like the walking dead  -- unable to hear, breathe, smell and barely talk -- yes, welcome relief for some, I know.  It is the season of Mountain Cedar here in Texas.  I was plagued with it my whole life in San Antonio and thought when I moved north I would be free of it -- upwind so to speak.  Yeah, not so much.  Thanks to the builders of the big, ugly condo behind me, it is worse this year because apparently they were able to buy hundreds of cedar trees at a great price and planted them all behind my house.  Yay!

Here is the map from pollen.com and you will see what I mean.

Doesn't it look like fun?  It will be this way through February and maybe by my birthday I will start to feel like a human again.  I wonder if I can sue the condo people for planting all these trees  after we talked to them about it.  Stellar folk they are.

So, enough about that -- on with the rest of my new year.

I am still reading the two books I started a few days ago -- "Aunt Dimity's Christmas" which I am almost finished with and "A Plain and Fancy Christmas" which I have just started.  I had planned to read both of them in December for Christmas but here I am, still reading and really quite over Christmas. 

I am going to try a new recipe I found in "Fine Cooking".  It is for chicken with lemons and oranges and roasted in a broth of juice and garlic.  I think it sounds wonderful  -- we will see what Hubs says.   I will have it with rice and some green veggie, maybe some carrots and a salad.  There isn't much to it and the only thing I am going to change about it is the cut of chicken.  I am going to use only white meat instead of chicken quarters as Hubs doesn't like dark meat.  If it is good, I will let you know.  If  not, well, you will be spared the details.

So, on that note, I am off to undress a Christmas tree and get things back in order here so I can get rid of all the cedar dust that has undoubtedly blown into my house from the property behind me.  Chances are I will be in another Benadryl fog is a while and Mucinex is my new BFF. 

Have a wonderful day, all! Happy New Year!

A New Day Dawning


This above all; to thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any men.
This is my new mantra, catch-phrase, philosophy -- one I have always subscribed to but seem to have forgotten in the recent past.  However, it will be in the forefront of my days from now on.

So, as we forge ahead into this new year -- yes, I realize it isn't New Year's Eve yet -- my only resolution will be to be true to myself.  If I do this, then all things will fall into place as they should.

Even though this year has not been a bad year in most respects, it wasn't the best either.  Our unexpected retirement had made me do a lot of thinking, mostly about time.  From childhood until now my time has been spent doing the things that need to be done during that time -- school, raising children, taking care of parents --all those stages of life and now I feel my time should be my own to be spent as I see fit. 

The first thing I intend to do is quit spending time worrying about being "old".  In the great scheme of things I am not that old -- not young but..well, you get my point.  My body might be aging but my soul is young and vibrant and interested in things and I am compiling a list of new things that I want to try and see.

The second thing that I intend to do is get back to some of the activities that I have always enjoyed but put on the back burner for a while.  I love old movies and I am going to make a list of those that I would like to view again and have "vintage movie night" once a week. I just love black and white movies and the first on my queue is "Bunny Lake Is Missing" -- a 1960 something psychological thriller.

Reading is, of course, one of my main interests now and always has been.  I have joined two new reading challenges for the new year.  The two books I am reading now will, of course, count among those completed early in the year. I didn't do so well on my 2011 challenge but, in fairness to me, I did start later in the year.  I love to read and, unfortunately, it was neglected to a large degree for many years and now I plan to indulge my desire and need to pick up the pace again.

My genealogical quest will be ramped up as will creating scrapbooks of the many boxes of photos we have.  I don't like "scrapbooking" as we know it today so mine are going to be more "vintage" -- black paper, photo corners and  photo descriptions written in white ink.  Even though I am definitely a 60's kind of gal, I really love all the trapping of the 40's -- just love it.

My family is the most important thing to me.  I will spend time with them, as much as I can, and be a benefit to them as much as I can.  However, in looking back at A's and my "middle years" much of our time together was separated by his job, sometimes for months on end.  It was a difficult time and now we need to take the time to try to recapture some of that time for ourselves, whether it is on short road trips, gardening, cooking, or sitting here staring mindlessly at football -- it doesn't matter -- we just need time.


The main thing that I will not be spending ANY time on is trying to be somebody other than who I am just to please other people.  I have served myself well for all these years and I think I like myself well enough to continue on.  That is not to say that I don't make mistakes -- I do -- or that I can't learn something -- I can but I will no longer worry about what other people think of me and I will not change one thing about myself to meet somebody elses expectations.

Lovely Christmas Things



I will admit, I have a weak spot for Christmas ornaments.  I still put baubles on the tree that my children made in school.  I love the look as opposed to the sophisticated trees in department stores.  I love getting ornaments from the children and display them proudly.  Here are photos of the ones I received this year.

From Beanie

from Kathryn

from Nathan

The one from Beanie is a collage of Christmas themed scrapbook paper framing a piece of original art a la Bean! It was laminated to insure that it lasts for a long, long time.

The lovely stars from Nathan and Kathryn were crafted from a recipe of glue, water and cinnamon, similar to salt dough but probably not as rough on little hands.  They are dated and initialed and smell gorgeous.

Over the years, JLSHall has been giving me Lenox ornaments and I have a nice little collection.  I love them, I love the feel of them and the colors.  This year I received this lovely tree.

It is so sweet because each of the ornaments on the tree is a package and when you give it a shake they all tinkle! Again, it is a lovely shade of green with gold and red accents.

I don't put these Lenox ornaments on the tree but rather I line them up on a shelf where they are out of danger -- well, relatively so.  They make such a pretty arrangement and I love looking at them.

So, now that I have had my ornament fix I hate to have to put them away.  I decorated in stages this year so it wasn't such a chore --- I wanted to enjoy it -- and I think I will undecorate the same way this year.  I can't say I will enjoy it but maybe it won't be so bad.

A View From A Window Thursday

I have been participating in an event every Thursday called A View From A Window, hosted by Jane at The Maple Syrup Mob.  Due to the holidays I have been remiss in posting the last couple of weeks so I will make up for it today.

The first two photos are from two weeks ago -- I got them taken but just didn't get them posted.

Rainy Day

The next two photos are from last week.

Chilly Day

The last two photos are from today.

Promise of a Really Nice Day to End the Year

We are having a warm spell these first few days after Christmas but if you look closely you will see that the freezes of days past have taken our umbrella plant, our cannas and all our purslane.  My husband doesn't care for bedding plants but I am thinking that some lovely purple and yellow pansies would be nice to replace the purslane.  What do you think?

Christmas Has Past --

And it was one of the bloody worst holidays I can remember.  Now, you must keep in mind, that when my children were small, I can barely remember a holiday where one or the other of my children didn't have an earache or a sore throat or a cough or some form of respiratory misery.   But, this year was our first to spend in the emergency room.

Our holiday season began quite well.  We were invited to several "events" with my daughter, her husband and their small daughter affectionately known as Bean.  Not her real name, although it probably should be, long story, another time.  Anyway, we saw Santa, we ate out several times, we went to the Gaylord to see the lights and decorations, we were zipping merrily through the holidays and doing quite well.  Nobody was completely exhausted yet and things were getting done at a nice pace. Our weekly Advent lessons were anticipated and enjoyed. Moving on to Christmas Eve morning.  I was chatting with DD on the phone when she said something along the lines of "OMG, she's cracked her head open, gotta go".  Next phone call, was "how do I stop bleeding".  Next phone call, "what do I do if it won't stop".  Next phone call "why won't that damn ambulance get here".  Next phone call " we are in the ambulance, meet you at Cooks".  I finally got around to asking how large the cut was -- 1/2 inch but deep.  Five stitches in that tiny forehead.  The most unfashionable of bandages -- didn't go with the gorgeous Christmas dress at all but it did  make her look like she had bangs/fringe.  Have I mentioned that I am a nervous person? But, I don't flinch at blood so I'm all good -- sort of.

Church was fine although we were all shaken up.  The children's service is  always great fun -- it is so interesting to hear the children participate in the service.  Bean was in the middle of the fray so she was up for the challenge.

Didn't sleep too well that night, just worried but then, it is what I do best so there you go.  Christmas Day was spent at home with the kids coming over in the evening.  Our son didn't join us -- can't remember why, oh yes, I can,  never mind -- nothing unexpected here.  There was gift opening and a fantastic honey baked ham obviously cooked by somebody other than myself. The birthday cake for Jesus was good even though it is clear  that I can't write with frosting!  It was a good time.  Didn't sleep well that night -- oh yes, the mountain cedar is alive and well and pollinating profusely.  That will do it.

Monday and Tuesday brought us house guests in the form of DD, Bean and SIL.  Their heater was acting up and we had had a cold snap so they had an extended vacation with us -- great for us, not so swell for them.  Tuesday was spent with Hubs and I helping them out while they dealt with the heater people who don't seem to know much about heaters even though they are a large, well known company with really big trucks.  All of that was compounded by a gas leak at the meter -- gas company was out in a flash, took care of it and it was pronounced fixed.  The second heater guy was good -- it is fixed -- they are warm and all is good.  You probably haven't guessed that I am a nervous person.

So, that brings us to last night -- I was completely wrung out -- even a seasoned "nervous person" has their limits.  I have done a lot of soul searching and have made some New Year's Resolutions already.  After 61 years of holiday mania, family drama, striving for "perfection" and always failing in somebody's eyes, I am done.  Passing the baton so to speak.  I have officially become the Grandma that visits.  I will bring the bowl of potato salad or not.  I will help clean the kitchen or not.  Or I will sit home, watch my favorite movie with the Hubs and drink hot tea.  Whatever happens I will be living in the season, not of the season.  I have moved past the trappings of accepted and expected frivolity.  I will not be coerced or cajoled into doing things I don't want to do.  I will throw away every Christmas ad when they begin arriving in, what is it now, July?  I will participate when I want and send everybody good wishes when I don't.

I am tired and this rant will probably mellow over the next few months but I am serious -- I am  done.

Friday Fill-Ins -- December  16, 2011

It is official -- I am behind in the Christmas prep.  Today is going to be an interesting day trying to play catch up.  I am beginning to panic just a little bit since so much of what I have to do is mail order!  However, I am going to calm myself down a little bit by doing a Friday Fill--In.  So, here goes --


1.  Sleigh bells ring trying to lure the reindeer back that escaped this week in Dallas.

2.  It is coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees which is, from what I read last night, much more ecologically responsible than  using artificial trees.  Who knew?

3.  You're a mean one fake Santa. I think you need to be investigated and evaluated.


4.  Father Christmas sounds better than Santa Claus.


5.  Silent Night, when listened to on Christmas  Eve, always means so much to me.

6.  All I want for Christmas is  -- well, never mind -- ain't gonna happen anyway.  Significant jewelry might help.  On further review -- nah.

7.  And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching "The Shunning", tomorrow my plans include a visit to the Gaylord with Beanie -- thank you daughter for asking us to join in your holiday celebrations, and Sunday I want to be done -- but won't be -- as I said earlier -- I am lagging behind.