On Christmas Eve, with family and friends, met for the annual fish dinner of octopus, squid, cod etc..etc...being that I am not a fish eater, I enjoyed the dessert table instead. All in all, it was a very nice evening laughing and talking with everyone! Okay, now I am done...time to start walking again and stop eating the cookies! My usual resolution for the New Year...Wishing everyone a prosperous and better year! Next posting will be in 2011!
Just had to share this, I decorated my back stoop thanks to mother nature! As I would walk the neighbor's dog, I would check out the foilage and greenery in my neighborhood! I thought why not use them to save me some money and not have to worry about taking the decorations in, in case of bad weather (living near the snow belt, in the past, some of my outdoor decorations have been buried in the snow). I do not have to worry about plugs, electric bills and taking the decorations down after the holiday season has passed. I can keep these things out here until Spring if I wanted. First I found these red berries then the brown cone flowers, that had dried, and the greenery came from a pine cone tree, that shedded a few branches a couple of days ago when we had some high winds, I stuck them on a ladder I had, which is pretty rustic and sturdy for the outdoor elements, and put the berries and dried flowers in a watering can, but you could use a bucket (really anything that can tolerate the weather, not ceramic or pottery, will crack in the cold). So take a look around your neighborhood and see what you can come up with (but if something is on someone's property, please ask a neighbor if you can pick or clip it for your display). Have fun and share!
This year I have scaled way back on my decorating! Of course, I have sold a lot of my Christmas ornaments and trees so this year, I am using things that I already had! I love the large red ceramic ball in my red bowl, I did not know what to do with them when I purchased them last year for half price, but this year, they look great with some red beads and those huge pine cones that I found for free in North Carolina when I was visiting my kids around Thanksgiving time, I just sprayed them with white fake snow and they look great in my red bowl (which I did not really know what to do with when I brought it back from Calif. in Sept.). I think anything red goes anywhere during Christmas time! My glass cloches, I love to use to display my Christmas trees, Santas or candles...the small one is great, I just put a candle Christmas wreath around it and instantly gave it color! 
The bottles on my window sill, I bought several years ago but kept thinking I would fill them with goodies and give them away as gifts, didn't seem to happen. I love them by the window because they sparkle when the light hits them! I don't know if you can really see them but they have shapes of houses on them! I just can't seem to part with them! I really went very simple this year...more pics to come!
On Saturday, December 18th, I hosted our neighborhood Christmas party. We had losts of good food and played a really fun game with the story, A Night Before Christmas, using lottery tickets. It was comical watching all these grown up people hang so tight to the lottery ticket they were holding and not wanting to pass it on to the person next to them! In the end everyone ended up with a ticket but only a few winners! Greed was setting in...I narrated the story and almost could not get through it, laughing so much! Everyone had a good time and left with goodie bags and some great memories!
My Christmas Open House on Nov. 20th, 2010 was a big success! We had lots of fun Christmas ornaments and vintage ornaments. The trees made by my friend, Diane, were all sold! She does a wonderful job crafting all these things...see anything you like? Just email me at scusman52@yahoo.com and you can order almost anything. We served plenty of goodies and met some great new friends. It is a lot of work but worth it. Now, we are planning our next one in the Spring...keep checking!
Small cupboard, great for displaying items, puddy color $20.00!
The white garden wrought iron chair is really cute in the garden, good condition (35.00), black metal chair has a curved back and also looks great in the garden (7.00). The child's green chippy desk is only 20.00, also in good condition, has a middle drawer and 3 drawers on the side with a pull out board for writing notes on.
On Saturday with my good friends and neighbors, we walked for the Boo Wow Walk which benefits the Animal Protective League. It was a beautiful fall day and sooo many people with their dogs! A lot had themes (like Jeannie and Walley(dog))dressed to represent Breast Cancer Awareness this month, they won a prize for most creative theme....others just dressed up their dogs, the princess carriage with the three dogs won for the most imaginative theme! How cute! It was a lot of fun, being my first experience, for such a good cause! Please spay your pets! 
I just love Fall! I had to take a picture of these beautiful trees across from my house...they are soooo colorful! I decorated my kitchen table with some fall accessories. The cloche I paid only $15.00 for and with the wooden pumpkin under inside just adds to the decor...I love it!
What a great day for a nature walk in the woods and to enjoy the festivities with the Covered Bridge Festival. We discovered the water falls in the southern part of my county. Enjoyed the warm weather, the colorful leaves and the time spent with really good friends.
I am having my first garage sale online....these items are for sale. The green chest is an old blanket cabinet, has a drawer at the bottom and the top opens to store blankets or other linens, it is really a neat piece for only $50.00, the ladder next to it is $30.00...great for hanging towels in the kitchen or bath. White bucket, neat for plants onlyy $4.00 and the small display box $12.00. The green farm table (middle picture), has $35.00, green wooden house $10.00, small primitive horse..great for ontop of a table or cabinet $20.00, the blue 3 drawer cabinet asking $7.00...small childs red chair $10.00 and the puddy medicine cabinet (heavy) $20.00, small green stool $6.00, has curved legs-different! 
About two years ago I went to this estate sale and I saw this chair...it is really old and very unique, it was priced at $35.00..I don't know why I did not buy it but I could not stop thinking about it! I was obsessed with it...I could not sleep thinking why did I pass it up? Will it be there in the morning? Who would want this beat up old chair...me that's who!!!! Well....I got up bright and early and went back to the sale and sure enough it was GONE! The lady at the sale said yes another woman had bought it...I was heart sick...so for 2 years I searched every sale, antique store, flea market..you name it..I kept looking. Then to make matters worse..I saw it in the Country Living magazine..I knew I had to have one. I contacted the lady in the article, she had a antique store, she told me that was her high chair as a child and did not have another one! She would keep an eye out if she came across another one (she lived in Maine ), I never heard from her but I did not give up...as the years passed, an antique store opened up down the street from my house, I went in it, even though the two women running the shop were bit--es! NOT FRIENDLY AT ALL! I hated to even buy anything from them because of their snobby attitudes! Then it happened....I went in the store and there was the chair! I asked them where they got it and rudely told me they just bought it at a yard sale and IT WAS NOT FOR SALE...they wanted it for display (the older woman said it was her daughters)...I told her my story about looking for this chair and how I missed it at that estate sale...she did not care about my situation or love for that chair..IT WAS NOT FOR SALE! I even lowered my standards and came home and called her and offered to pay $20.00 over what they paid, she said,"Oh we can bring it to a flea market and get over $150.00 for it!" I thought you BIT--...I know they only paid $35.00 for it and she gave me this song and dance that her daughter bought it for A LOT OF MONEY!!! I was not giving up..I went into the store with my good friend, Pat, and had her distract the owner while I took a picture of it with my cell phone and gave it to a woman that makes furniture and also travels to flea markets for primitive pieces...she said she had one similiar to it and would paint it red..I bought it from her but it was not the same..it was not primitive! So...as time went on, I put it in my mind that those two bit--es were not going to give in, there shop closed and I did not see the chair anymore.. wait my story is not over yet over the weekend, I went with my friend Pat to Burton Flea Market with over 400 vendors, it was only 55 degrees out and we were walking around the circle when I looked over at this one group of vendors and there it was....THE CHAIR! I could not believe it!!! I thought I found it...little did I know when I went to pay for it, it was the two women that owned the store in my town that closed...of course they marked the chair up about $30.00 and gave me this song and dance about how they JUST DECIDED to sell it on their way to the flea market...I wanted to tell them to go .........themselves but I just wanted to get that chair...yes, I swallowed my pride and purchased the chair for more than I know what they bought it for and I listed to their BS. Finally, it was mine....I did have this sick feeling in my stomach though, that I gave into these two pric----, I would of been thrilled if it was anybody but them! Oh well, I got it and now it is in a good home! I guess the moral of this story is never give up..if it is meant to be, it will happen! 
