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!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Regifting etiquette
Just wanted to give a tip to all those that like to regift items....take out the card you got from the other person before you give that gift again! I got a gift from someone this holiday season and when I opened it, the card was still in the gift!
Soltice walk, December 21, 2010
Last night my friends and I went on our annual Winter Soltice walk in the woods. It was a great night, the air was crisp, no wind, just a clear, beautiful walk with nature. We talked, laughed and looked for the different animal prints along the trail. I would of taken more pictures of the trail but it was too dark. After an hour walk, we headed back to a neighbor's house for hot chocolate and pizza! We stayed for hours just talking! What a great evening!
Decorating idea for free
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!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
My Christmas decorating this year!
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!
Winter Soltice walk
Tonight is the winter soltice walk....it has been a tradition for a group of us to do this every year! We walk the trail out in the woods...even though we brave the elements (20 degree temps.) we pile on the clothes, get out our flashlights and walk the mile talking and laughing! Then we head to an area restuarant for some hot beverages and more good conversation! The weather is only predicting a light snow this evening so it will be perfect! Just being out in the woods with all that beauty around us is what keeps us going back each year...I will be taking pictures, so more to come....
Monday, December 20, 2010
Neighbor Christmas Party
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!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Decorating on a budget
I am having a few neighbors over this Saturday for our annual Christmas get together and I wanted to decorate my front steps but I did not want to go out and buy anymore decorations so I looked around my house at what I had and started to put things together....this is what I came up with and it did not cost me a dime! I had these old jars ( tried to get rid of them at several garage sales but to no avail) and I already had the lights ( I always buy after the holidays at half price), I put the lights in the jars, went down the street and cut these red berries from my neighbor's tree ( I asked of course) put some extra ribbon around the tops and voila! Instant decorations for my front steps! It not only is beautiful but also adds extra lighting...
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