CHRISTMAS: SIMPLY DONE, PART TWO...

 

 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 saw

after 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 holidays

past 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 hangs

over the settle bench, gussied

up with a shiny string of

Christmas ornaments.  Little

twinkle lights are added along

with vintage quilt squares.

THE KITCHEN

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...