December Magic

 I was going to call this post December Madness but that sounded a bit "Grinchy".  I promised to show some pics of the decorating I helped do at our Historical Society homes.  The homes turned out great and I think there was a good turnout on Sunday for the open house.

This was the area we decorated at the Freer house.  Our theme was the Nutcracker Ballet. I don't know how many votes we got for our tree but I thought it turned out lovely.  Jack and I were able to go to the open house for the volunteers and other special invites a few days before it was open to the public.

This was one of the trees at the Manor house.  I helped decorate the dining room there.  I can't believe I didn't take any pics there!

I'll throw in a pic of my handsome hubby instead!  This was at the Manor house...I'm not big on pink carpet!  Next we had our annual Church Christmas social and yes I got roped into decorating there too!

It was a lovely evening with good food and a nice program with music and a tribute to our Savior's birth.  

This isn't a great shot but all the tables had Nativity sets on them with greenery and lights and the lights around the room gave a nice ambience. I'm glad my own decorating was done because I was a bit over the decorating by Saturday!  Sunday my son and daughter-in-law came over with little Hazel and we went to the Candy Cane Trail to see the lights.

The entrance to the trail was decked out in lights and a hay bale made into a snowman.

Hazel was snuggled in as it was a cold night!

The trail was a pretty walk.

Trees lighted the way and music played all through the woods.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus were there.

I was overjoyed to see a beautiful Nativity also.

Seeing the Gingerbread family along with the cookie recipe made me want to go home and bake!

This was a super dark photo but you can see how long the trail was and I really enjoyed taking the half mile hike with Jackie and Evelyn and little Hazel.  She loved the lights!  Friday will have Jack and I heading out to Chicago to spend our annual Christmas party with my sister and family.  The weather is warmish here and there and I hope that means driving will be good with no bad weather.  This month is speeding by.  My shopping goodies arrive daily at the Pines thanks to Fed Ex and UPS.  I really need to leave them some cookies or something!  Enjoy the rest of the week and the last weekend before the big day!  Night all!

Deck The Halls

 I can't believe that my last post was Thanksgiving weekend and now it's already December 5th.  I thought I'd have a ton of things to write about after the past weekend.  I had many activities planned.  A sale at an event called "Christmas in the Barn".  It was going to involve parking in one spot and taking a horse drawn wagon ride to the barn.  Well, the weather wasn't ideal and we had some errands to run as usual on Saturday.  Jack said he'd go with me so we did take a ride to the event but when we got there we decided to keep on driving!  No we didn't end up someplace fabulous. Except maybe home!  Along with a stop at Home Depot.  The next activity I didn't go to was the annual Christmas parade.  You know I've blogged about it in the past about our little town parade.  Let me tell you this...it's no longer a "little" small town parade. There were thousands of people there.  It was televised to I stayed home and watched it.  I was awed at how elaborate the floats were.   I texted my sister and sent her a photo I took off the TV.

I don't know if you can tell how crazy crowed it was from this TV shot.  The parade went almost 2hrs followed by the lighting of the town Christmas Tree and then fireworks.

We are turning into a Hallmark town!  HGTV named a near by town...Medina...as a small town to visit for Christmas but I'm telling you we have them beat.  The next day, Sunday, the Mayor had a ribbon cutting on a new event.  It's called Candy Cane Trail.  It's a paved walk around Freer Field that goes into the woods and around for about a mile.  It's lit up with a million lights.  There was Santa and Mrs. Claus and horse drawn carriage rides and free refreshments.  I plan on taking that walk later this week with Annabelle and I'll show some pics of it then.  From what I've seen so far it's super cute. They said the electric bill to run the lights will be  $56,000. Kind of like my electric bill this month!  Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I didn't go there either.  But no worries.  We did decorate our tree and I finished the rest of the house.  Shopping is getting done and tomorrow I'll be decorating the Church for our annual Christmas social.  Tonight Jack and I went to an open house for the Historical Society's 3 houses that are all done up for the season.  I volunteered to help get it ready this year so we were invited to this before the public open house on Sunday.  It looked very lovely and all the trees were beautiful.  I will show those pics and the tree I helped decorate along with my friends, Bonnie and Sandy on my next blog post.  For now I'll just show my own home.

The dining room with the new rug I purchased for the Christmas season and for Winter time.  Very warm and cozy.

This old hutch was from my in-law's farm.  It really belongs to my son Phil but he doesn't have room for it in his house so it's lived here since we moved to the Pines.

The buffet on the other side of the dining room.  I have a couple of Nativities there.  I have many Santa's but also many Nativities that represent the real reason for this season.

The covering on this table was made by my Mom. I've had it for about 35yrs.  I sure miss her and I think of her every time I see it.

Let's get jolly!  Hmmm...looks like Annabelle left a bone for someone to enjoy while sitting on the chair!!

In the foyer you can see the rug in there matches the one in the dining room only smaller.  I found the table covering at a resale shop.  I collect vintage linens. 

After giving away my corner armoire', I had to rethink where the tree would go.  No brainer, back in that corner.

Kitchen fireplace.  Maybe a fire this week. Baby its cold outside!

Ribbons on the kitchen cabinets...too much?  Nah!

Even Annabelle is in the Christmas mood!  She likes her little sweater and looks very sweet.  I hope everyone is enjoying this busy time of  year and can take some time for a cup of cocoa or what ever warms you up and watch a Christmas movie or listen to some seasonal music.  On Dasher for more Christmas!

A Time To Be Thankful

 We had a really nice Thanksgiving with family.  There were 14 of us that gathered around the tables! With that crowd one table isn't enough. Which I'm very thankful for!

The dining room table was pretty full.

So was the kitchen table.  The island was loaded with the usual suspects...turkey, dressing, and all other manner of goodness!   

We even set up some extra seating in the living room in case we had any extra folks come along. The rug under the table is a new one that we had to roll out upside down to get it to be flat.  I'll be showing it after I get it put in the dining room.  It's a bright one that will look great for Christmas and the winter season in that room.   Before dinner started I had anyone that wanted to get some pics for their Christmas cards go outside to the area I set up for that purpose.

My son Jack and my daughter-in-law, Evelyn.  Jack celebrated his 48th birthday on Saturday.  I can't believe he's that old!  (I'm not! Ha!)

Jack with my grandsons, Anthony (in red) and Cameron.  Love those boys!

Of course they had to be comedians! I laughed when I saw this! 

My granddaughter, Summer, and her pup Happy.  Her sister Driana wasn't able to come because she was working.  She's a nurse and as I know from my own experience, no holidays in the medical field. 

Evelyn's daughter Megan, and her hubby Landon, grabbed Annabelle for a photo shoot! 

After dinner some of us walked off calories to go meet our neighbor's new member of the alpaca family.  This is Espresso Bean! Or Beano as they call her! 

Welcome to the neighborhood Beano! I love the markings on her head and her white sox. It's the first one they have with markings.

Beano's Momma kept a close watch.  All the kids got to feed the alpaca and their horse, Temp.  Soon we headed back home and the gang started the pumpkin shoot.  Annabelle was not thrilled with the noise but she stayed in the house and curled up on the recliner with Summer and Happy.  They all took a quick nap.  Soon it was time for everyone to hit the road.  Take home boxes were packed with goodies and we closed the records on another family Thanksgiving.  It was fun to see everyone and be with the grandkiddos too.  They are all so busy with work, school, or both and we don't always get the chance to just sit and talk and laugh.  I mentioned that my son Jack had a birthday on Saturday.  He and Evelyn came over around noon and Jackie and my hubby watched the Ohio State game while Evelyn and I went shopping on small business day.  We  had fun going to all the cute shops here in Ashland and I got a few gifts for family and it was great to see so many folks out and about downtown.  We grabbed a smoothie and headed back to the car a few hours later.  I  happened to look  up and saw this:

I was surprised to see a hot air balloon.  In fact, there were 2 of them flying over.  It was chilly on Saturday but that must not be a problem for flying.  That sums up my weekend and I'm glad I'm off tomorrow so I can decorate for Christmas. Night all!

Take A Deep Breath

 Jack and I have been doing some choga..chair yoga...again after a little hiatus.  We also do a relaxing breathing exercise afterwards.  It's suppose to be good for your body and mind.  So as tomorrow is the big turkey day for some I say take a deep cleansing breath and enjoy time with family or friends or maybe just a quiet day at home.  Loosen up those yoga pants for some good eats.  We're hosting about 15 tomorrow. Sometimes we have extras and that's just fine.  I made all my sides on Sunday and pies were done yesterday.  Today I did the turkey that will get carved up tomorrow and put in the roaster.  It frees up my oven so I can reheat all those sides!  I have a few other goodies coming from my Granddaughter, Summer and my Daughter-in-Law, Evelyn.  I ran to the store today for a few items I forgot and it wasn't as crazy as it was Tuesday when I was there to get some things I forgot...I hate when I forget stuff! But all's good now and after dinner I'm planning on some good old pumpkin shooting and with the weather cooperating we should have good outdoor time to burn up those calories!  I made a little spot for anyone that would like to take a photo for their Christmas cards.  So here's a few pics of some of my decor that will come down on Friday.  I'll have more to post about after tomorrow and Saturday.  Saturday is my oldest son's birthday and he's coming over to watch the Ohio State game with his Dad while Evelyn and I go shopping for small business Saturday.  Busy weekend and soon to be busy December...whew, this year has flown.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kitchen fireplace has the season on a plaque.  I'm sad to see Fall end.

Many grateful hearts will be gathering here tomorrow and for that I'm super grateful!

This turkey dude I've  had for a long time and the little Pilgrim guy was found last week at a barn sale.

These teeny, tiny Pilgrims and turkey are at least 25yrs old.  They sit on my shelf every Thanksgiving.

The stove has had a workout these past days and I enjoy my little doo-dads on the shelf above.

The dining room is ready and we'll have another table set up across the hall in the kitchen and another in the living room.  I like to be prepared so nobody feels like we weren't expecting them. 

Jack got me flowers last week from the Lion's club sale.  They are so beautiful and still look fresh! I love fresh flowers.

We put our Christmas lights on the bushes and front porch last week when it was nice and warm.  We found about 4 bird's nests.  This one is super tiny.  It looks bigger than it is.  So sweet. We just leave them alone.  It reminds me Spring will be back one day! 

Last but not least we set up a little photo shoot spot.  We took down the Fall wreath, moved the pumpkins for the shoot out, and with all our pine trees I was able to make some greenery happen.  I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow and a good weekend ahead.  I tried to keep up with writing my thankful list this month.  I did pretty good with it and I need to write how blessed and thankful I am for my family, friends, and all my blog buddies!  Have a nice holiday everyone!

Thank You Veterans

 I try to do a shout out to our Veterans each year on Veteran's Day.   I'm grateful to all who have served or who are serving our country today.  I'm very proud of those who have served that are part of my family.  My Dad who fought in WWII.  He was in the Army and drove a tank.  A very dangerous job.  I'm proud of my brothers, Phil and Greg, who served in Vietnam. Phil in the Army, Greg in the Marines.  Greg passed away in 2021 and we sure miss him.  I don't have any photos of my brothers while they were in the service but I've shared pics of my Dad during his time in WWII.  My sister sent me a couple of new photos of Dad that I had never seen so I'm posting those today.  

Dad on the left.

Again, Dad on the left.

Thanks to all our Veterans.  I hope if you know someone who served in any capacity of the armed forces that you gave them a big thanks.  I'm happy to see that our little town did many things to let our hometown heroes know of our appreciation. There were community breakfasts, lunches, school lectures, free meals in restaurants and I'm sure other things that I don't know about.  Thank you and God bless America!

Quiet, It's November

 Be quiet..be very quiet.  If you've followed my blog for any length of time you know I always call November my quiet month.  It's the time before all the hubbub of December with it's shopping, parties, decorating, and food prep.  Plus lots more if you have kiddos.  Concerts, school things, etc. Through out my life there have been times when it wasn't the quiet and calm month.  I blogged about those times last year. This year I'm hoping for some time to gather my thoughts and remember my blessings.  I've even been writing down some things I've been thankful for each day and hope to complete 30 days of thankfulness and look back and remember that even simple things can make a day full of thanks.  But with the sweet we must take the bitter and a good friend of mine is going through a very tough time right now. Her hubby was put in hospice care on Saturday and she's really trying to keep it all together and just be with him through these last days. Jack and I have spent time with her and her hubby and many others have been there with support and prayers.  So I know this won't be the month of holiday thoughts and prep for her and we will be there for her in any way we can.  She's a woman of great faith and I know she will get through this.   So I'm going to just post a few pics of the simple things I accomplished in the first days of my quiet month. 

Raking up the few leaves we get since most of our trees are pines.  The big oak in the back yard does give us something to rake though.

Ahhh, the smell of burning leaves.  A fall staple if you're allowed to burn leaves.  Since we live in the country we can do this and it brings back childhood memories where everyone was allowed to do this.

Don't you know there's always some slackers that just want to soak up some fleeting sun? I guess Annabelle knew we would be soon turning our clocks back and she wanted to sun bathe as much as possible.  She's just no help at all! But we love her anyway!  I hope everyone's November is filled with lots of thankful moments.  Night all!