Tuesday, January 8, 2019

EDGING INTO THE NEW YEAR...












Slowly, but surely,
 I am edging into 2019. 

 I am in no hurry 
to pack away Christmas and, in fact,
 most of it is still on display.
  I really dread the mess 
(that is the only appropriate word 
that I can come up with) 
that occurs when it is time.
  
I am trying to take it slow 
as I clean out totes 
of things that were not used this Christmas
 and get rid of all that is
 not needed in the future. 
 My goal is to get down to
 one tote per each room and,
 I feel, that is going to be
 a long, drawn out
 endeavor.




As I move along, 
I noticed how 
cold, crisp and clear
 it was when I took Robin 
out this morning.  

It appeared that the stars
 were shining at ground level.
  That is usually how it is
 here in our part of northern California.  

We do get some snow and rain 
but the majority of our winter days
 are filled with 
sunny and frosty mornings.





As I normally do, 
I will bring out the Cottage's snowmen
 to celebrate winter 
throughout January 
and this year, 
as I find some snowy, sparkely things
 that I didn't bring out for Christmas...




...I will sprinkle those around the Cottage 
as well. 
 I think their presence 
will provide us all 
with the feelings of winter,
 yet bring the brightness 
that I crave so much
 during this season.




Also there will be 
a few greens laced throughout,
 not only to keep 
the Christmas spirit going 
but to remind us of the 
wonderful spring 
that will come again.





A sprinkling of pillows, 
with warm colors and textures
 and,
 after a trip to Trader Joe's 
fresh flowers,
 will certainly 
be appreciated.





As I said,
 we are still surrounded 
by some Christmas but 
the parlor mantle 
has been the first
 to receive the winter treatment.
 I have tried 
to mimic the crisp, icy scene 
that I see outside 
as I edit my photos.





The Victorian Snow family 
that I made a couple of years ago 
is here again.
  Their blue finery 
blends into the color of the parlor 
and with white feathers 
and a string of tiny lights lit at night,
 they almost look warm. 
 I know they are looking forward 
to Downton Abbey 
coming to their local theater 
this year.





A string of 
"snow balls" 
just hanging around...





...along with some wooden...





...and some felt 
mitten strings
 reminding us that we don't have to
 step out of the door to know 
"Baby, It's Cold Outside."





I have brought back to 
the entry 
the bowl and pitcher
 full of bright flowers 
that I tend to use here quite often. 
 It always picks up my spirits 
during the dreary wintertime 
whenever I walk by and
 the Duchess of Snow, 
dressed up in her wintry feather coat
 and matching chapeau,
just seems to enjoy 
greeting our guests.





We did take the tree down today 
and put the finishing touches 
on the parlor 
for the month of January.

I got a new camera 
and have been playing with it,
 trying to figure out everything 
that I need to know 
to make it work to its best advantage. 
 So far,
 I'm not there yet and
 am not entirely sure, at this point, 
whether I should have made the change.
  The on/off button
 on my old camera broke and 
I was having to use a sharp object
 to get it to work, 
but I could still use it. 
 This new one has a wider lens
as you can tell by 
the above photo but
 I really need to sit down and figure out
how to use all 
the new settings.





All of these photos 
were taken with the new camera.  
If any of you 
photography specialists out there 
can see what I'm doing wrong,
 it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all
 if you offered 
some assistance.





Well, back to work for me. 
 My new year's resolution is 
to just get all of the 
2018 Christmas put away 
before Christmas of 2019,
 and how to be a better typist
 with a five pound chihuahua 
hanging off my arm!





Happy New Year everyone. 
 May 2019 be a good year 
for all of us!



...Judy...





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16 comments:

  1. Judy, I love your wonderful snowman collection. Some unusual ones too. Your parlor is so cozy and pretty. I just love your house. Wishing you and the Captain a wonderful new year. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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  2. I bring out the snowfolk after Christmas, too. Leaves some pretty winter in the house, and I must say, your winter looks so very lovely!

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  3. Judy,
    I so love that Victorian Snow Family!!! So sweet!! Did you ever do a post on how you made them????
    Your home looks lovely decorated for Winter!! I managed to do the outside of our house today and will be posting my outside Winter decorations tomorrow. I will start taking down Christmas inside the house tomorrow with the Living Room....
    I too am in no big hurry to take down Christmas...
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  4. Beautiful! I love your winter decorations.

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  5. Judy, I think your photographs are wonderful! You're not doing anything "wrong", but everything right. A person has to get to know their camera and get comfortable with it...and you're doing great! The Snow Family is awesome, and I love your parlor - so pretty!

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  6. Judy, your snowmen (and ladies) are fabulous. I love how you've decorated and filled your rooms to welcome January. I STILL have my Christmas trees up, can you believe it? The decor is gone, but the trees are still dressed. We spent the last weekend entertaining my family to celebrate my sister's birthday, my mother's one year passing anniversary and Christmas. So I didn't have time to get it down before 20 people showed up. Tomorrow night, I am entertaining again...and oh boy, I just can't imagine getting them down before the crowd arrives. Hopefully this weekend, I'll get to it and maybe put a few snowballs up myself!! Have fun with that camera!! xoxo

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  7. Oh Judy I am swooning over your snow peeps. The snow carolers are just too adorable. I was going to ask where you got them and then read you made them. Oh they are just too cute. We are finally in the throws of winter here in the midwest. Very cold and snow coming this weekend. Ugh!!! I cannot wait to see life, flowers and more sunshine in the months to come. Have a good Friday today. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  8. Hello Judy! So much loveliness in this post! I love all your delightful snowmen, they are darling! Add such charm to your home. There is always a new learning curve to a camera, what kind did you get? Is it a point and shoot, or a DSLR? If you have any question, send me an email, I will try my best to help you. It seems that the focus may be on manual if it is a DSLR possibly. Just a thought, but then perhaps you've already figured it out :) Have a blessed New Year!

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  9. How wonderful that you are purging Christmas a bit at a time. I don't think I could ever get down to one tote per room....maybe I could...nah....
    Love all your snowmen, too. I do like to keep a bit of winter decor out until the end of February. I am already anxious for Spring- xo Diana

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  10. Judy, everything looks gorgeous as usual! The photos are great.... love how you give them the "old" and vintage patina. It's fun to play with a new camera. Mine is fairly old now, but is a point and shoot and does great outside.. but the indoor pix leave much to be desired.. that's why I hardly ever take photos of the inside of my (very dark) house. The snow men and ladies are just darling.. love their blue coats and how they are nestled among the soft lights and feathers and glittery balls. Love that scene. I'm never in a hurry to "take down Christmas" so all my stuff is still up.. I'm enjoying it. One of these days, I'll just suddenly be ready to put it all away, but so far I'm not. My tree is still up and I love it at night. Hubby put some lavender lights on it and it looks so neat at night. Since I didn't put that much up, there isn't much to put away. I'm not really looking forward to spring yet. I'm enjoying the quiet dark days and time to relax, watch (binge watch) some TV shows and craft if I want to. Yard work and gardening is just alot of hard work, so not ready for it yet! At some point, I will be though.. I know from experience. We are having cold days.. very gray and some fog which is not normal for this area. We live in kind of a "bowl" so the fog and air inversions seem to plague us alot in the winter months. If we would have known this, we probably wouldn't have moved here! Oh well... we try to make the best of it. Enjoy the cozy days ahead... Hugs.. Marilyn

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  11. I love your snowman family. What a great job you did making those. The pom pom garland is a nice touch on the mantle too.
    I still have totes from the attic down that I was going through to get rid of some stuff, but got kinda got frustrated and threw some stuff back in and up it goes again in the attic. I guess outta site outta mind. Not good, I know.
    betsy

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  12. Replies
    1. Tanza, thank you so much. I appreciate your kind words..Happy Week to you..Judy

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  13. I love seeing your whole room. It's so cute. Your snowmen are darling.

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  14. It is looking like winter wonderland at your house, Judy. I love all your snowmen and the sweet winter touches. I miss having a big soaker tub- there isn't one in this rental....definitely something I am looking forward to in my next home. You are doing a good job with your camera. I am definitely in need of one!
    Have a great night, Judy- xo Diana

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  15. Oh my stars, what a wonderful collection of adorable snowmen! They are all just precious. I love bathtime, like a kid! I'm going to start adding candles now,your photo looks so soothinexg. Great post!
    Happy Sunday! Warm Texas hugs,
    Nancy

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy