Thursday, December 31, 2015

IT'S A BRAND NEW YEAR!!!









The Cottage is all a-twitter 
because it is the first of the new year 
and almost time 
for the sixth, and final, season of
 Downton Abbey 
to begin.






The Grand Duchess of Snow
 is setting the pace 
for the opening act.

 You may remember her 
from last January 
when she was referred to
 as a Foster Farm reject 
by none other than 
the usually complimentary Captain.

 This was a very unlikely situation 
but he is 
still sticking to his story!

 However,
 the insults just roll off of her
 like water off a duck's back 
and she still maintains
 her calm and aristocratic demeanor. 

 She is aware 
of her station in life 
and she stands tall.





Lord Victor Snow





Lady Victoria Snow


Also, 
a part of the party
 will be Lord Victor Snow
 and his elegantly beautiful wife,
 Lady Victoria.

 They are a handsome couple 
and always fulfill their obligations
 with charm and grace.






Of course,
 there are the downstairs groups
 that can be seen in various places
 in the Cottage
 during the month of January.

 They have been
 tidying up the Cottage,
 putting away the Christmas decorations
 in record time
 so that they all might convene 
in front of the telly 
to watch 
the long awaited festivities.






The nanny 
is plumb tuckered out,
 as she has been working long and hard 
to teach the Snow twins
 the perfect manners 
they must present 
as this will be their first time
 allowed as part of the story...

if this doesn't work out,
 she might be going
 from the frying pan
 into the fire!


Let me introduce to you...




Master Peter Snow




Mistress Penelope Snow






...otherwise known 
by their loving parents as:
  The Snow P's.






They are all dressed 
in their finest 
and are waiting for Albert 
to bring the car round.






"Master Peter, 
you must put that snowball down
 before we commence our journey."







Downton Abbey 
begins their final season on
 Sunday, January 3, 
at 9:00 PM 
on Masterpiece Classics. 

 Check your local listings for time in your area.






Hope everyone 
had a Merry Christmas 
and my wish for you 
is a 
happy 
and 
healthy 
New Year.


...Judy...






Sharing today at:























Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A MOST WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS...










Well,
 here I am 
waiting for company.

 My mom snapped a photo
 and she was so thrilled 
(her words, not mine)
 with it 
that she decided it would be
my official
 2015 Christmas portrait.





Cruzer




Rosie


My cousins
 arrived late Wednesday
 and after sitting in traffic 
for a long, long time, 
they were exhausted.


We went out 
for breakfast Christmas Eve morning 
and I left a present 
for my people in their car.

 I had eaten sneaked 
some of Rosie's food
 and it didn't sit well with me.

 What started out to be
 a very crappy day, 
(Mom's words, not mine)
 turned into a wonderful one.






Cruzer 
was trying real hard
to snatch that turkey...






...while Rosie and I
 were patiently waiting
 for a crumb to drop.


It was all such great fun!






One of the best things was
 that it snowed on Christmas Eve. 
 At least, all of my people thought so.

 They kept repeating
 something about dreaming 
and a white Christmas.

 You know me,
I wasn't too thrilled,
 and as far as
 Cruzer and Rosie were concerned,
they live by the beach,
 so what do they know!






Anyway,
 we had the most wonderful Christmas 
and hope you did too.


My mom will be back
 in a few days 
talking about some very special stuff
 and she was so excited
that the nice lady named Sandi 
from Rose Chintz Cottage
 added her post about decorating 
in the dining room
 as one of her features
 on her last linky party 

 Mom says
 thank you very much, Miss Sandi. 
 She is honored to be included.





  
Can't quite figure 
this one out. 
 Everytime 
I hear a car go by 
I always look out the kitchen window
for my cousins to show back up,
 but they haven't so far.

 Mom says this makes her feel sad.

 What's up with that?


...Kai...


Sharing today with:


















Tuesday, December 15, 2015

CHRISTMAS AROUND THE COTTAGE - PART TWO...











Welcome Christmas!


"And so -
 Christmas comes to bless us!
Comes to teach us how to find
The joy of giving happiness
And the joy of being kind."

Gertrude Tooley Buckingham
"There Will Always Be A Christmas", 1940







This year,
 we have deviated from the norm 
for Christmas;
 the norm being a faux tree
 and mostly faux greenery.

  We decided on a fresh tree 
for the first time
 in a number of years.
  Even though faux trees
 are usually beautiful to look at,
 we got so tired 
of trying to stuff those branches
 back into the boxes they came in!

 Above,
 a plaster Santa and tree
 are nestled among fresh pine branches 
with candles and pine cones,
 backed by a needlepoint picture 
I worked a few years ago
 of Noah's Ark.






There is no substitution
 for the wonderful smell
 that lingers throughout the house.

 Those spray cans of pine "scent" 
just can't compete!

 In the words of 
someone I greatly admired...


"Gather peace from nature.  Decking the halls of our home with fresh evergreen boughs encourages us to inhale the scent in slow, deep breaths."

Tasha Tudor







Santa comes
 in many shapes, sizes and colors
 this Christmas,
 and a few are assembled
 on the sitting room shelf,
 along with some whimsical trees
 fashioned out of
 bits of twine and yarn...






...these two places 
are the only ones
 where I used faux greenery.

  The fireplace mantle
 is a no brainer
 because of the heat from the stove
 and I didn't fancy
 needles falling down on us 
while sitting on the sofa
 under the shelf.



















Another large
 paper mache Santa
 that I made 
sits on the game table
 along with a vintage
 Tom and Jerry set
 that belonged to my mom.






In the chimney cupboard 
a few houses
 from the Hallmark -
 Sarah, Plain and Tall
 collection...






...along with a pottery heart
 that celebrates
 two of the simple pleasures
 of Christmas.









The parlor mantle
 is set 
with the blue of the wallpaper in mind 
and a few vintage reds 
to pick up the colors
 from the other rooms.





This lustre
 was given to me
 by an elderly friend of the family
 many years ago
 who knew that I loved antiques.

  It originally was one of a pair
 but when we went through 
the 1989 earthquake in Santa Cruz, 
one got broken.






We found our Noble Fir
 at one of the tree lots in town. 
 It was the first one we saw
 and we didn't take anytime to tag it.
  It looked pretty perfect
 but it was actually hard to decorate. 
 I couldn't find many branches
 to hang an ornament on 
where it would hang free,
 so I mostly swagged it
 with glass beads,
 popcorn strings
 and a long strand of wool pom poms
 that I made last year.

 We used the math of 
100 lights per one foot of tree
 so it has 700 lights on it,
 and I think we could have added
 a couple more strings.






Santa
 seems to be the "man of the hour"
 at the Cottage this year.

 Here another
 large ceramic jolly old fellow
 stands on the entry chest 
along with a sign that proclaims
 how we feel about Christmas around here! 
 I didn't make this Santa,
 but I did repaint him.
 He was pretty in pink 
when I found him
 at a thrift shop.










The kids are coming
 to celebrate with us
 for a couple of days...
so the guest room
 has taken on a bit
 of the Christmas spirit
 too.








I can't tell a lie...
especially at this time of year...
these guest room pictures
 were taken last year 
as I haven't gotten around
 to decorating yet in here,
 but it will be exactly the same,
 I promise!






We brought
 the old screen door 
in from outside 
and it makes a perfect frame
 for a cute tin sign.





I've shown this
 in the past 
but it still remains
 one of my favorites.























A trio of vintage elves
 are having fun
 just hanging around 
like they have done
 since Tami's first Christmas.

 The elves are vintage, not Tami!





...no matter how hard 
he may try,
 Olde Scrooge
 just can't put a damper
 on the Christmas festivities...






...and the stockings are hung with care.






Please
 join me in sending warm wishes and prayers to our friend Diana
 She, and her family,
 will be going through
 a rough time this Christmas.


I'm going to take
 a short time off 
to catch up with a few projects,
 so I wish everyone a


MERRY CHRISTMAS


and I will return next year!


...Judy...






Sharing today at: