MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ! ! ! !

I was standing out on the back deck the other day and found myself really appreciating where I am. It truly is quite beautiful. Fortunately, I do like the cold (actually enjoy it as a matter of fact). While in Florida, it was the one thing that was missing for me, especially around Christmas. I tried to get in the spirit while there by spending hundreds of dollars on lights to try to "brighten up" the holidays; but it's just not the same as a beautiful blanket of glittering snow. The wonder of seeing the ominous dark clouds in late afternoon and then awakening to the pristine covering of cottony snow, so gorgeous you don't even want to make foot prints in it for fear that the moment will end. Then...the kid in me comes to the surface and I can't wait to get out there with the dog and the baby and flop around trying to make the ever elusive snow angel without the tell tale hand print of the extra effort caused by age and weight as I try to get up from the flopping. And then there are the dog and child taking wild leaps at me as I try to make the perfect angel, so basically, we end up in a big heap, finally get up, and it all starts again.

First SNOW !!!, redecorating projects, and fun

The baby went to bed a bit earlier than normal, so I'm not in a sleepy, lazy, cozy wanna do nothing mode which has been the norm lately. It is part of the best things about having a little one, after you finally get them into a "routine". Toddlers are on the move pretty much all day, but, for mine, bedtime is a comfort to both of us; we snuggle into the big rocking chair with the white noise from a box fan in the hallway (thank you Sandra), read a few books and sing a few songs. I think it is just the down time we both need after the hectic, roller coaster ride being home with a toddler is. Enough already !!!

WE GOT OUR FIRST !!!!! SNOW Saturday. It was such a nice surprise. Snow is one of the things I really, really missed being down south, but I think we're in for a doozie of a winter this year. Like they say, be careful what you wish for...


Also, been working on some redecorating projects. Mainly just painting walls, but making the house "ours" as they say. So, doing a little experimenting with colors, we'll see what the final result is like; I have found that colors really fascinate me and with peri-menapause stuff happening Lord knows how things will turn out.

The flash on the camera makes this wall look baby blue, but it is a blue green with grey undertones - going for a more classic Victorianish look. Only painted this one wall in the living room the rest of the living room is off white.

New taffeta valences over windows. Deep burgundy that can look almost black with some gold crosshatch and dingle balls. I'll provide a more close up view some other time. I think the pink dolly stroller really adds the finishing touch to the look I'm going for though.

I also found this window scarf thing that I fell in love with to go over the trim work of the sliding doors that lead to the sun porch. The door was really bothering me, mainly because it just takes soooo much away from the room. The sliders will eventually be changed out to french doors, but until then, this is what I came up with.

And finally, the fun part...taking "Giraffy" for a naked tricycle ride through the house !!!!!!

I Had A Thought

I have decided that I do a bunch of wallowing in self pity (for lack of a better word) and I need to make some more positive changes to my life. One of the things I've come to realize (while reading an article in Readers' Digest of all places) is that I express very little gratitude and thankfulness. Now, according to this article, there have been studies done about being thankful and these studies have shown that people who exercise this habit seem to be happier, better adjusted, and healthier. Soooo...I have made a pledge to myself to express my gratitude; don't worry, I won't be regaling everyone with wishy washy, tweet tweet tweet, sappy stuff all the time, just occasionally. I figure if I can find three things a day to be thankful for, I'll be doing great. If I'm having a bad day, I'll go on a gratitude walk and be thankful for every step I'm able to take.
Here goes:
1) I thank God for the true friendships I have. Each one is special and unique in it's own right, but I treasure them equally.
2) I'm thankful for my continued growth as a person and spiritually.
3) And finally for today, I'm thankful for all the support and love my family gives me.
Have a great day everyone!!!

Happy Halloween

The long awaited for day arrived. We have had the costume that Caroline picked out hanging in the closet since it seems like April (I know it wasn't that early, but come on Christmas stuff has been on the shelves at the stores for a month) So with the addition of a boa and a purse, she is ready to go out trick or treating at 4:30. People weren't even home from work yet and when it came down to it, it wasn't the candy, I think it was the dressing up and walking around the neighborhood and seeing other kids that had her going. Now the day had started out pretty normal and I hadn't mentioned dressing up or candy, but there must have been a vibe in the air, cuz there was no nap or even a semblance of one and by 5:00 it was melt down time, crying, her costume hurt, didn't want the hat on, etc. Back home we went to hand out candy to other kids with Caroline helping and all was well. We had some tea on the front porch to keep warm and she fell asleep handing out candy at about 7:15. Whew, her first real Halloween over. I find myself already planning for next year. My plan after last year's holidays was to get out the day after each one and hit the decorations sales, so that's the plan for today.


The Princess getting ready to attend to the awaiting masses.

Speaking to the masses from the front porch.

Off to get some candy and mingle with the masses.

Pumpkin Carving and Working on My Happy Place

A friend's daughter voiced a love of carving pumpkins and since I had 4 needing to be carved and a two year old, I willingly agreed to have her help. She did a great job on them and took care of the two biggest. As you can see Caroline is busy tasting everything and it got to the point of her tossing the pumpkin guts around the kitchen; but we got it done and had fun at the same time.

I started working on my sun room again. Basically I'm trying to make this area of the house mine, where I can go and get away from all and to needlework, read, listen to my music, or generally just space out looking at the sky. It has been primed since we moved in about a year ago and has SLOWLY transformed into what it is now. The most recent change is painting the lower area below the windows an antique gold/yellow (mustard) and hanging swags to try to cover the ugly framing of the ugly windows. I like the idea of the swags but I'm not sure if it's the wrong material or if I should paint the window trim white like the rest of the walls (I don't think the antique mustard would be good because of the shelf being white and things maybe being too chopped up looking if I did it) Let me know what y'all think...PLEASE !!!! Also, as a reference regarding pre mustard paint, check out some of the most recent pictures of Caroline, I think you can get an idea of what it looked like.

After paint, looking from living room into sun room.

Same, but different angle

Had to show off the pumpkins.

Here's Some More

Finally got some pony tails in...lasted about 10 minutes.

A 16" cucumber, she ate the whole thing.

Being sassy at "Eagle lookout" (didn't want her picture taken)

Decides it's OK to have picture taken and is totally hamming it up.

Hamming #2
Hamming #3
Hamming #4

Playing in the raked leaf piles
Brett and Lili helping Caroline fill "scary" pumpkin head bags.

This is the end result of an extremely energetic toddler walking nearly all of a two mile hike.

A Month In Review

We went to FL and GA to visit family and had a wonderful time. All the pictures from the trip are in limbo somewhere in computer land. There were some great ones of Caroline playing with various reptilian type animals (snakes, alligators, and turtles, oh my). Anyway, the following is a pictorial review of the past month.

Reservoir from what I call "Eagle lookout" cuz I've seen eagles while there (beginning of Oct)


"Eagle lookout" different view (beg. Oct)


"Eagle lookout" (beg. Oct)

Pasture at trail head of Mary Edwards Trail on Mountain Rd looking towards Mt. Tom

Looking from the Mary Edwards trail towards the big maple in the middle of the pasture.

"Eagle lookout" again later a couple of days ago (overcast day, but can still see colors)

Today on the way home from the grocery store. I missed an amazing shot on my way there. I was coming down a hill and the sun exploded onto the trees on my left just slightly in front of me and no where else. The sky surrounding this light pocket was still overcast with dark storm laden clouds.

This is the intersection at the bottom of Mt. Rd. I thought the old barn surrounded by color was nice. On a better day, probably better, but oh well.

Having Fun

Caroline and I have been in the midst of a power struggle, so haven't been able to really focus on anything but the home life. I tried to go back to the work out place I had previously been attending and just couldn't bring myself to go on a regular basis, so instead of "wasting" 90$ a month, I figure I can treat Caroline and I to something cool once a month, like a museum or going to the beach and having lunch, just something different. We have also given up television except the am news for one hour and one hour after Caroline has gone to bed. Just in the past few days the child's temperament has changed for the better. Not that we were really "plugged-in", but it seemed like we were doing a bunch of sitting around in the TV room (sometimes playing with the TV going as background noise). I don't think much damage has been done, she has a GREAT vocabulary and imagination, but I've noticed she is focusing a bit better already on listening to what I say to her. Now it's only been three days, but it is pretty positive. Nothing like using your kid as an experimental lab rat, "just to see if all the hoopla is correct". I'll be damned if it isn't proving to be true, but we'll give it some more time.
BTW - I'm working on getting Caroline acquainted with the computer a bit and we spent some time today using the paint program and the picture above is the result.

Fall's Brook

Cheryl and I took a wander down a path that used to be less traveled in hopes of capturing a true money shot. Alas, no go on my end. Before we were even 20 yards into the woods, there were a couple of loud snaps, such that a larger animal wandering in the woods would make. Cheryl being in an even more remote area than myself and having had bears meandering through her yard, immediately went on alert. Brave me is thinking "OK, I don't smell anything so it must have been a moose or deer" Now until yesterday when I was informed differently, I was under the impression (I don't know where from) that bears really, really, really, really stink and if you smell something like rotten meat and sweaty socks you better get your pepper spray or play dead or do whatever the current escape with little harm theory is. We listened for a bit, I sniffed the air like a scent hound, not able to give up on the smell thing, and off we went on the mile long all down hill trek. We rock hopped and waded our way to the main falls were we ran into some unfriendly people. I had so many great memories of this little hike and was basically walking down memory lane. Throughout my life, with all the moving my family has done, there have been some very special, happy, feel at peace places and this is one of them. Anyway, it was such a beautiful day with no clouds in the sky to help diminish the brightness a bit that almost all of my pictures are too bright. I still had a great time trying to get creative and see some different things in everyday stuff.
Getting artsy with reflections.
Tried to get dripping moss at the falls.

One of the few open spaces above our heads. The sky was so pretty though.

Brave Cheryl on the actual falls. She hates having her picture taken, but I needed to show the perspective of how big our little waterfall is. As you can see, there is no waterfall due to lack of rain in our area.

Just some different views

This one is my favorite, it is actually a second, much smaller
waterfall. The water flows from one sheer drop to a little pool, about three times.

So Much to Catch Up On

Obviously, by what we are wearing, the weather has changed a bit for the cooler up here. The trees are even showing signs of color other than green. It seems early to me, but maybe it'll be a good winter sport year.

Thinking of something to do
Riding home from Gran and Gramp's house with her fresh picked lettuce; that's all she wanted, no tomatoes, no cukes, just a fist full of lettuce.
Not the most flattering picture of the house, but wanted to get the sunflowers in. Also, please give your opinion of the color we should paint (color choices on left of house). From top to bottom of samples: putty, dark sage green, and plum (purple).

OK Human Again

My version of the Blueberry Festivus
In order L to R: Caroline, David, Cheryl, Kristen
Standing: Brett

I was really quite a beautiful day and fun to hang out with friends in a different setting.



This little set of pictures are of Caroline just spinning around and checking out nature. Kristen posted some that she took the same day. Caroline is showing her true carefree happy spirit in these pictures. I just love them.