And so it starts...

Yesterday I started decorating the house for

the upcoming holiday season.

Pulling out the boxes that hold years of

decorations I've collected. Stirring

memories of Christmases past.

Also the fun of adding new ones to the stash...

I fell head over heels for these cute glittered reindeer



while shopping the other day.




Of course I needed this blue one for my bedside table.


It's sure to put a smile on my face every morning


when I wake up and it's the first thing I see.




On the same shopping trip I found these little wire

trees. I love them!!!



Three trees in differing heights with tiny bells on

the end of each limb.



And two wire trees with glittered snowflakes.



I do love my glitter!




I haven't decided where all of this will go, but for now


everything is just coming out of the boxes and getting


cleaned up and piled on the sofa


and chairs and stacked on the kitchen table.


I have all week to place things around.






Anyone for a nap???

I went out to take a picture of the dusting of snow

we got yesterday and noticed that we

had forgotten to put the hammock

away for winter.

Brrrrr!!! I think I'll pass!

It has been real cold here the past few days.

When I got up this morning it was 8 degrees!

Now that is just too dang cold!

I'm sending you all warm hugs today.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

White Wednesday---over the fence...

I'm not sure what there is about a picket fence

that makes me love them so.

They just say community to me.

It doesn't matter to me if they are freshly painted or

or chippy and leaning, they are just so charming.

My dream of having one for myself has not yet

come true, but I still dream.

I have always imagined myself leaning over

the fence talking to my sweet friend Sarah.

Trying to solve the worlds problems

one conversation at a time.

I think a cottage looks so much more

inviting, so much friendlier

when surrounded by a picket fence.

Yes, I was the girl that always said

I wanted a house with a white picket fence

and a yard full of children.

Did you ever say that?






When I drive through unfamiliar towns,


I like to take the side streets and see all

the old homes and cottages with their

little white fences surrounding them.





All of these pretty little pickets were photographed

when I went to Hailey yesterday to run some errands.

The lighting was poor this day, so I apologize
for the pictures being a little dark.


Hailey is a small town 30 miles from my small


town Idaho. It is so full of charm that it just

seems to wrap you in it's arms.

I love towns like this.

It is much bigger than where I live, but still small enough

that is has retained it's wonderful sense

of community well.

No malls or shopping centers here.



Just a lot of cute picket fences!




Thank you to Kathleen at Faded Charm for

hosting White Wednesday every week.

Sanity day...

Today I drove the 60 miles to the nearest little big city

to go shopping and to buy our groceries

for the week.

My husband calls these my 'sanity days'.

These days are pretty special to me. I love the alone time

spent with just my thoughts to keep me company.

When you live in a town of about 450 to 500 people and there

are only two convenience stores in the whole place,

you really get to

where you crave getting out of Dodge and hittin' the stores.

Now don't get me wrong, I really love living out in the

country (sticks), but I would love to live a little closer to

a mall, or a Michael's, or a T. J. Maxx, than 60 miles.

Today was spent shopping for items to do some Christmas

projects with, and a little thrifting.

I found some silver plate that I couldn't seem to

leave behind. I love the butter dish.

I stopped at Barnes and Noble and did some serious damage

to my pocketbook. I will spend all of tomorrow looking through

and reading some of my favorite publications.

Have I told you before how much I love British decorating magazines?

These three are some of my favorites.

I also picked up this new Christmas CD of Andrea Bochelli.

It is AMAZING!

I played it all the way home. There are 2 songs on it that are

just so beautiful. No, I take that back, there are 15 songs on it

that are beautiful, but 2 that took my breath away.

'The Lord's Prayer' and 'I Believe'.

I had chills and tears in my eyes just listening to them.

I listen to Christmas music from now till the middle of January.

I love it!!!

I saw all sorts of great ideas for Christmas today and

I'm feeling very inspired.

All in all, it was a wonderful day all to myself.

I have all the garden work done for Winter, and look who

was a big help yesterday.

This is my sweet little garden faerie, Maddie.

She's my little 4 year old granddaughter.

You can see that the snow melted from that storm I

posted before. We have been enjoying days in the 50's

this past week.

We spread the last of the compost, which was my

final garden chore of 2009.

Now Winter can come to small town Idaho.


Have a wonderful Sunday!

White Wednesday...and coming down off my sugar high!

Oh my goodness...I am on sugar overload here.

!!!

I ate so many Snickers and Milk Duds

in the week

leading up to Halloween that I am still

flying high.

I want to share more on this later, but right now

let's see some white.

!!!

I went room to room in the house today in search of white

and this is what I came up with.

This tray of whites was in the family room.

I had gathered these pieces together yesterday

for a project I am doing for Christmas and they were

just laying on the sofa looking pretty,

so I took a photo.

Then on to the bedroom to find some white.

I thought that this reflection in the mirror was

definitely white enough.

Then on to the bathroom.

for French soaps in an iron urn.

I can't get enough of these!






I knew I could find a few whites in the studio.





These are some of my finds at flea markets and



sales this Summer.






Now back to the sugar thing.



Every year I buy the


Halloween candy and put it in an inconvenient


place for safe keeping, and every year I eat it and have to buy


more...so this year I tried hiding it from myself in the


camp trailer. I thought that since it was difficult to get to,


and very cold outside that I would leave it alone.


Nope! Now there is a well worn path to the camper


and a second


receipt to Target for more candy.



To view some yummy whites, run on over to Faded Charm

to see who else is participating in
White Wednesday today.

Saving the garden for later...

This week has been a busy one in the garden. Cutting things back,

mowing the grass short, and covering the tender roses.

The weather has been mild at about 50 degrees during the day,

perfect for getting the final chores completed.

By now you probably know that I enjoy flowers in their

dried state as much as I do fresh.

These are some that I will be enjoying all winter in the house.

These are some of the many peonies I dried early this summer.



They will be used around the house to remind me of

the past blooms from the garden in 2009.



Their colors look like the many flavors of sherbet to me.

Yum!!!




The roses were plentiful and I dried soooo many!

This Double Delight dried so pretty.

I'm going to enjoy these all winter long.

Can you believe that it is the first of November?

Today I am enjoying the company of two of my

sweet daughters and their children. They came home

to let their children experience trick or treating in

their hometown. I had such

fun passing out candy to all the little ones in town

and seeing

all their cute costumes.

I hope your Halloween was a happy one too!