Happy New Year

An early New Year  Breakfast

A lovely    morning set for  two!
January always brings out the blue in me......  time for the blue transfer ware!
With a spattering of  snow and ice!!!!
Puts me right into the mood to    choose one of my new books   I  got for Christmas!!!
Of course, my first pick is....


Make It Pretty 

Return to Loveliness

Friends Sharing Tea 
Teacup Tuesday

  Grace at Home

 Thursday Favorite Things
No Place Like Home
 Home and Garden Thursday   

Old Fashioned and Easy

Last week  with our   dear  friends and neighbors who had moved  across town  called to invite us to dinner   it was   so sweet.... This family has meant so much to us through the years.  He was our daughter's favorite high School teacher and  as  a missionary to China,  and husband   to a  talented and lovely  Chinese  wife and is  fluent enough in Chinese  to  actually teach  online English course to  Chinese  nationals in China,  we  asked him to please MC  Amanda's wedding.  Her wedding  was  Asian inspired  ..  her  mother in law was  a missionary  to Taiwan and   married her husband there... and we had  some very important guest  from Beijing    in attendance...  Plus  our neighbors Scott and  Deborah's  four children were  so delightful....Here is a  sweet photo of   David, Deborah and one  daughter, Harmony.

 Of all the neighbors we've ever had this family  for sure is   hugely missed  so we were delighted to  go  see them in their  new home.

So I took  a simple, but delicious dessert.

 This old fashioned  apple crisp  is   so easy to make and   since I had  several varieties of apples I needed to use   they all worked   deliciously!  Just  peel,  slice  about  10 apples  for  a  dish   that size about  10 inch   quiche dish..  I  diced up my  butter to mix into the  dry ingredients 

 They were made up of  flour,  quick oats, cinnamon,  nutmeg, and baking powder

 just  crumble on top  and bake .. the recipe is in  a post   below.

Served up with  vanilla ice cream and  it was a huge hit!!

Sharing on  A Return to Loveliness.

Come Stroll Around with Me, Please

  I am delighted to have been featured on    A Return to Loveliness. I have followed  Kathy's beautiful; blog  from  almost the very beginning   of my   blogging  experience in 2008.    When  God spoke to us in His Word " Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things"  Phil. 4:8     I believe  He  was speaking of   Kathy's blog.... I am always   uplifted  by my  visits there!

Come take a stroll with me around the house,  won't you.. we'll   stroll  from room to room....    Living in a 1930's English Tudor home  is not   what  I suppose   the younger  generation is  looking  for   ...   I love the charm of  an older house...even though  I do not  have open    sight lines...  as I sit here in the kitchen a t my computer  station, this is   w hat I can see    .. right into the hall...

 and if I bend way over I can see   into  the  living room!

and   from the kitchen I can see into the dining room

  

So  I   walk into the  dining room    it's is just off to the  left  of my desk

  from there  I can see into the  living room  through the  typical  archway

 A few steps around the  table  bring me  right to the  threshold

 Looking back  into   the  dining room

Our house  makes one   circular path....   making    a sudden right  I'm  back  into the hall

a stopover in the  tv room.

  and then back into  the kitchen..

 out to the    sunroom..

now that we have  blinds all around the room,  it is cosier than ever!

  and back to the kitchen...  the heart of the home!

  I love   my   old,  very   charming     home....  with it's   chambers set  apart    for  various   purposes...

So  I  step  back over to my  computer station   (Ha..hA..ha  right below the  one  cabinet door that    hasn't  been finished   because  it had to be reordered and   took weeks to get it  installed...  well, it is what it is.... It's on the  painting schedule for later this week!)

   but   I think about    what   young buyers are looking for in a home....do they not realize that wide open spaces are  drafty....  or that  once  retirement comes  hubby and wife  really don't want to be sharing the same space all the time....  I love   the  demarcation of separation... as did our  daughter and her boyfriend when they were dating.  

Yes,  I   really love our  cosy     home  down   our  leafy lane

 but  we aren't getting any younger   and  I  just wonder  what   a prospective buyer would  have to say about  a home like ours.... our daughter says that the pendulum  is swinging back to more   traditional homes in Massachusetts...   but  I have yet to  see  that trend  change on the home  network....   so I just continue to say I  prayer each time I traverse to the second floor... and  am thankful  to have  a home filled to the brim with  charm, blissful memories,  and loads of love!

The Importance of Gratitude

My mind has been on Thanksgiving a lot today....  Our next prayer event is  about how important Thanksgiving is  to our spiritual  formation and prayer life...  so I have been  researching the Scriptures  and  seeking   appropriate  verses    as  headings for the various  group headings  for our  prayer  time... We are   utilizing the  ACTS  format

Adoration....Confession...Thanksgiving....Supplication

It was a glory time for me   as I  meditated on these  topics..  

Then it was time for me to join  hubby downstairs to make some serious decisions regarding  what to  purge and what to keep from my parents' household...  I found  their Bibles... it was a thrill to find my  dear  Granny's  (born 1895) Bible  where she had written the  birth dates and full names of  her  four baby sons who  were still born..  two before my  dad and 2 after him   from 1917-1923.  I  just  sat and looked at those precious names that I had never  seen before...

Here they a re written in her own hand....names that I had   heard spoken of,  but  really had no idea.... names  usually spoken in hushed tones....  what a treasure to me to  find her Bible that I knew   dad had spoken of having but  we  never could find....until today.  I also found  an old  lovely  well worn Bible  a great friend and neighbor  had given mom and dad when they moved  out of my childhood home to   be closer to their parents  in their  old age. I  want to give it to  Amanda,  as  it, too, is  in mom's precious hand and she had written  all the important dates of  Amanda's  aunts births and marriages...folks near and dear to Amanda's heart.

I think  what will mean a lot to Amanda is that this is the Bible dad carried to church each week from 1973-1997 when his eye sight started failing him and  we bought him the large print Bible. Dad passed 2 years ago this Christmas at age 94.

Precious memories!

And so then I  made  another  command decision about  Christmas this year...we are at an age  when  it is time to start  downsizing our " doing"  at the holidays...  oh, there will be decor aplenty,  but when I  transplanted this topiary in the living room    to decorate it for autumn...

As I was decorating it for  fall...

I thought  silly me....  I have  two of these   small trees.. I will just use one in the sun room  and this one in here and  decorate it throughout the year.....   and   not do  the  whole Christmas tree "thang"  this  year.... our babies arent coming ( whisper....Amanda will be having  her second baby!!!!)... and  for  my  fun and fellowship here this season ,  these trees will be  great....  I  am really looking forward to Christmas  now this  year,  because there is nothing worse than  taking down the Christmas tree after the holidays are over!!!!

I am sharing on  

Return to Loveliness

 Make it Pretty Monday

A Running Flame

I love the change of seasons when I can in earnest make changes to the house  that  make a seasonal statement..

  One of the reasons I love  Victoria Bliss magazine so much is  for the  delightful sentiments shared  in many articles...  like this one....

Autumn burned brightly,  a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.  

~Faith Baldwin

 I think that  line   inspired me in my    fiery decor this  season!

Upon entering  the home you   are met by  the welcoming   creatures so prominent in our   yard....  who are drawn to the  blazing  light of   a cheerful   hello..." Welcome to  our   home.  come  on in and   sit a while and enjoy  some fresh brewed tea!"

As you  rest on the   sofa  your eyes will  be  alight with  the  warmth of the  mantel..

     

It  recieved  a visitation of myriad  leafy branches,  gourds, pumpkins, and  fairy lights to set them all ablaze.

 My  sweet  black cat that my  dear mother crafted  in her heyday of   creative arts will be my only tribute to  the October holidays,,,,,   for me.. I am   already  into the bountiful harvest theme.. for there is so much for which to be thankful!

 I have  transformed  late summer sunflower  arrangements  into autumnal   clusters by  removing the cooler colors and  adding the  warmth of  gold and  orange!

 These gingko branches seem to be  overtaking the   sideboard,  but  I do love them so much....   My favorite   autumn tree is the  bright yellow of  the silver maples!

 This year my addition to the   autumn visitors  to the table   is  this  lovely Native  American couple...   as well, they   are and were  very welcome  to the feast of  Thanksgiving!

 I am loving my new  salad plates that I am using along with  my  black transferware.  I   had been wanting something seasonal for  fall...  YAYAYAYA!

 The sideboard  side of the  room  hosts my  gorgeous prints  I  purchased while in Ireland...  of the  village of  Adare, and the Gap of Dunloe! They serve as a reminder of the  wonder  time we had but also  focus  my praise on the Lord for   His   amazing creation and    mighty acts!

 

I wish ya'll stay for supper....  we have a lovely pork roast in the oven.. more than plenty....please  plan on  stayin' a spell....  we have so much we could  talk about

I am sharing on  

Metamorphosis Monday

Return to Loveliness

 Make it Pretty Monday

Ole' Time Celebration!

I am sharing with

A Return to Loveliness
I  had the honor last week to    set up and   help  a dear friend in our choir   and her husband  celebrate their   fiftieth  wedding anniversary...  of  course,  this was more  like a  shout out   to honor their    marriage,   but  it was   a  fun opportunity for me to   revisit    memories  from  special times in my own family, too.

 I thought it would be nice to  make  this framed  memoir to  not only decorate the  table in the choir room,  but also  a token for them to keep...

When I heard that the  choir director's daughter was making  chocolate raspberry  cupcakes,  I immediately thought of stopping in at fresh market and  purchasing these lovely  dark red  sweetheart roses  and babies' breath!  

A  very simple reception  indeed  for  we choir members  to enjoy and    pass along our  very best wishes and congratulations to the   great couple...but  for me...

it had been eons  since I had   tasted or  even made  raspberry  punch with     sherbet  an ice ring, and    ginger ale.. well, to be honest this was  a punch my grandmother made  so many times  in my presence,  but I had never made...   now that  brought back soo many   wonderful   memories... and   everyone  told me it was  truly delicious on a hot summer's eve!