A WINTER COTTAGE...

 

"Winter is the warmest season

Oh, you say you want a reason?

Is it warm when snow piles high and wide?

It is if you are bundled up inside

When it's storming, when it's raining

I stay indoors without complaining

Other people like to ski

Or sled down a hill, but not me

While you're bundling up in your jacket

I'm tearing open a hot cocoa packet

I don't mind summer, I'll make that clear

But winter's my favorite time of the year."

Author Unknown

Being inside a warm and cozy cottage 

does make winter almost bearable, 

so I have tried very hard 

to leave the best of Christmas 

and add some winter elements 

that make it a comfortable place to be.

The best of Christmas that I left for winter are greens and garlands. 

 Our community is surrounded by cedars and pines 

and they don't go away during winter 

so they look very much at home, during and after Christmas, as decorations.

  The cedar garland looks pretty surrounding the little rustic cabin 

and the old house painting and the twigs that were picked from the winter garden 

on the shelf above the sofa 

in the sitting room.

As you might have noticed,

 I have a lot of blue in the Cottage 

and that tends to set the mood for a cooler space.  

In summer it helps but in winter it needs 

something extra to make it feel warm...

 ...the texture of the pillows, the old quilt piece over the back of the sofa, 

the warm wood of the wagon 

and the higher pile of the carpet 

accomplishes that. 

 When lamps and candles 

are lit at nightfall, 

this Cottage comes alive.

 

The game table

 holds most of what was a Christmas scene

 on top of the old white cupboard 

in the kitchen...

...Mama Sheep 

lies next to a large bird house made out of barn wood,

 surrounded by greens and pinecones 

and a wooly yarn wreath.

Besides the one pillow on the sofa, 

I only brought one other snowman into the melee. 

 He is a tall, stately gentleman made out of cotton batting

 and wearing a top hat and a thick wooly scarf.  

He stands next to a little tree with snow tipped branches

 that is left over from Christmas.  

With a candle and a garland of cedar 

and another small wooly wreath on the mirror,

 he is ready to greet all who enter.

 

I didn't bring a whole lot of Christmas back into the dining room. 

 The red color of the walls is warm but dark 

so I thought the familiar arrangement with its bright flowers 

would add a cheery spot of color...

...and who better to bring it along 

would be Goatzie who looks perfectly perfect still 

on the table after Christmas.

The other Christmas left over

 is a little tree that sparkles 

from the light of the window 

in the dining room.

The one spot of winter that makes me happy to look at  
is the parlor mantel. 
 I left the Christmas garland up 
 with the addition of a 
string of wooly "snowballs", 
entwined through soft greens and winter berries...

 ...wouldn't it be a perfect touch 

for a winter wedding?

All of us here hope you enjoyed seeing the winter Cottage. 

 Our days lately are sunny and cold 

so being snuggled up here is just right. 

 I hope you are warm and cozy 

wherever you are.

...Judy...

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Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda