he
We left off here last time
when the sun was shining on
a cold winter's day. Now it is raining
and has warmed up a bit, but the Christmas spirit is still alive here in the Gold
Country as we continue on with
our simply done Christmas.
THE SITTING ROOM
I haven't gone to any great
lengths to decorate in the
sitting room. To be honest, I am so disappointed that we didn't get
the room painted but, since it
is the room we spend the most
time in, I had to do a little something.
The spine doctor that the Captain sawafter his bout with sciatica suggested he
get an exercise bike so that went into the library. We had to find room
for the chairs and the lamp
table then so they came into the
sitting room. It is not a bad
fit so will stay here temporarily,
at least until we paint. In
the meantime it is a good place
for Santa to take a rest and spend
time with his number one
reindeer.
That's all folks!!
THE DINING ROOM
Tried and true is always a good option.
If it isn't broke, don't fix it so I didn't do
too much. Everything is pretty
much the same from year to
year in the dining room...
...the only real difference is this old
sweet fruit or produce box that we
found in our neighbor's junk pile. With
his permission, I found a place to set
some smalls that otherwise sometimes
get lost in the shuffle.
The old prim Santa rides his sled
on top of the table...
...along with a wooden salad bowl
filled with cedar boughs, holiday fruit
and veggies and a "welcome"
pineapple. Most of them are dried
from year's past and I'm
hoping the pineapple will
dry over time also.
The usual suspects from holidayspast are gathered again and
Bitty Morsel has taken two
newbies in hand. They are the
Kindness Twins, a thoughtful gift
from a cherished friend, just
because. I love them.
A plain faux cedar garland hangsover the settle bench, gussied
up with a shiny string of
Christmas ornaments. Little
twinkle lights are added along
with vintage quilt squares.
I didn't put a tree up in the
kitchen this year, but placed
smaller trees around instead.
Not any of them with any
special ornaments, just the
usual wishing star, a few dried
orange slices and some sparkles.
Goatzie hauled a large snow
covered tree in his cart, to
the town square of Holly Farms...
...where all the villagers were
tucked inside their little red
cottages.
I found these charming plates on Antique Farmhouse...
...sorry, Santa, I'm hoping they will
hold real cookies soon.
I also added them to the table dish stack along with a variety of other
holiday colors.
I thought a red and white checked
tablecloth would give the
kitchen that extra Christmas
spirit.
I always put together the Captain''s
favorite candle of the season.
I hope you enjoyed our Christmas
Cottage this year. I am putting
together one last post and it
should be coming your way in the
next couple of days. In years
past I have featured the Cottage
by candlelight. I will attempt
to do that again this year,
but it might look a little
different from a new
perspective. I am anxious to
see that myself.
I was using Picasa
to edit my photos from the very
beginning of writing this blog.
When Google quit backing it, I was
still able to use it, until my computer
crashed. I was so disappointed
to hear that I couldn't get
Picasa on my new computer.
I am now using Gimp and it is quite
different. (I heard from authority, my daughter, that she likes my photos better
now) I don't know what Google had
in mind after not backing Picasa
because Google Photos can't compare
in my opinion. So far Gimp is pretty
good, but after the holidays I will
check out some other sites for
comparison. Any references
would be appreciated.
This new
computer is taking way more time to
figure out for me but it is
like a wonderful Christmas gift
when I can figure something
new out. I still have to learn
how to get my watermark back on
my photos and I would like to enlarge
them back to how I did before.
However, I will not give up...
...I will be making lemonade
out of lemons!
Have a wonderful time as we get
closer to Christmas.
...xxoJudy...
