No Place Like Home. Week 1 (part I )

I am delighted to be  joining in on a blog party  hosted by Sandy at  No Place Like Home to share  the special things  that living here  really make home  feel  really  homey!  

Well, it is finally the day after Thanksgiving and I can legitimately be excited about Christmas.  I cannot think of a better time of year to be confined at home with just my sweetheart, than Christmastime.  The senses are so engaged and tantalized that you can’t help but feel love, cosiness, and hope for things to come.

  Hubs went out today and purchased an early present for us to be able to really enjoy during the holidays. This cute Victrola multimedia sound system is just what we needed to enjoy the sounds of the seasons!  Listening to carols is one of my  favorite  Christmas pastimes!

We  do have our main tree up and decorated.  That leaves two smaller trees to go... but  trees are so important to  whole  climate of  a Christmassy home..It draws  you right into the room with its  warmth and  bright  lights!

I  haven't run across my  tree skirt yet,  perhaps it is time to make a new one to commemorate this year of years!  The arrangement below  seems to always be my first    project  each  yuletide season.. I love to switch it out  by the seasons and I    really  get my  love of Christmas   decortaing  in full mode  by starting small  but it does give a big punch.  Later in the evening,   I will plug in  its lights!

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have  another tree done and the   whole effect will be  so  divinely lit,  that  I might capture the  glorious  Christmas  love that  light and cheer add to a setting ...  that even when   we are  here  on our own this year,  we still  enjoy the majesty of the season in our  safe and  comfy home!                                                    I will be sharing more   on No Place Like Home in the coming days of Christmas!

Wednesday Hodge podge

Hosted by Joyce.

1. It's Thanksgiving week in the US of A so let's talk turkey. And by turkey I mean the elephant in the room because it's still 2020 and our blogs are a record of sorts of the times in which we live. 

Do you live in a state (or if you're outside the US, a country) that's instituted restrictions on the size of gatherings in your own home? What do we think about this? (keep it classy folks)

I do live in a state has  has suggested  no family get togethers,  so I did actually invite a friend whose kitchen is  torn up  for remodelling but someone had beat me to the mark.  So  Hubs and decided to  get take out  for  Thanksgiving and help the economy.  I have very mixed feelings about  the pandemic which I wont go into!

2. Let's move in a cheerier direction. Will there be corn on your holiday dinner menu? How so? Cornbread-corn pudding-corn chips and dip-cornbread dressing/stuffing-corn chowder-or regular canned, frozen or fresh corn in a bowl...which of the 'corns’ listed is your favorite?  There will be  cornbread dressing!  Yum!!!

3. What is there a cornucopia of in your home, job, or life currently? There is a cornucopia of love, for God,  for our family,  our church,   and our friends!

4. Have you ever quit something (such as a habit, a food, a time-sucker, a relationship) cold turkey? Is there something you need to quit cold turkey?  I was  so fortunate to quit smoking cold turkey..   I need to cut back on my  technology use.  But I'd probably fill it with more tv.. 

5. Share a favorite verse, quote, saying, or song lyric relating to gratitude. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.   I am so very thankful for my  salvation through Jesus Christ,  my church  that is led  by  the most  amazing  young pastor who loves mightily, my family, husband, daughter,  son in law and grands. I am thankful for the   my parents who raised me to seek God in all things.  

Tuesday 4

The Language of Flowers

Click the title above to return to Anne's page!

Do I have a favorite flower?  I, personally, love Hydrangeas!

Do I know my birth and state flowers?

My birth flower is the Water Lily and my state flower is the Flowering 

Dogwood

Is there a flower I love hanging in my house or garden..

I used to  hang Fuchia baskets,  but there are  a bit tempermental  so now outside 

I  always plant trailing petunias.  They do very well in our  area!

If I could plant a dream garden what I plant in it!

There would be scads of  hydrangeas of every color,    and  lovely tea roses.

There would be banks of For-get-me-nots, and  purple salvia.  A hedge of peonias  would 

 surround the whole.!

Happy Homemaker Monday

                                                                  Hosted by Sandra!  

     ♥♥The Weather♥♥

Mon

51°

33°

Tue

54°

38°

Wed

59°

51°

Thu

70°

45°

Fri

66°

47°

Sat

59°

38°

A little too mild for me liking!

♥♥How I am feeling this morning♥♥

I am doing fine...  I've been getting around much more than usual and it seems to be helping my over all outlook and capacity.  Exercise  is a good thing after all!

♥♥On my mind♥♥

Well, I am still praising God that with this crazy culture and dilemmas we are enduring, I still  am at very much peace in my inner soul. I know nothing takes God by surprise and His purposes will be fulfilled in His timing!  I shared  the   above because it is so true.  I  go to prayer meetings and I  pray fervently and   then leave it all in the hands of  the Creator  who  has a plan and it will be fulfilled in HIs own timing!

♥♥On the breakfast plate

Cup of coffee and fruited yogurt, as usual! Thanks to my dear Hubs who has it ready for me every morning!  I am Blessed!Then  a bit later he fried up the bits and pieces of left  over  bacon    and we  had a bit of bacon with a toaster waffle..  What a honey I married!

♥♥On my reading pile♥♥

We are doing a study on Jen wilkens' book  in Sunday School and I am doing

another  study on Ann Voskamp's book,

This online study is  very good.. I had read the book years ago,  but now I am getting a fresh perspective!

  Charis- Eucharisteo-    Chara

Grace-Thanksgiving- Joy

♥♥On my tv♥♥

Youtube videos, Laramie, Hallmark movies,HGTV  The Create channel,  (a PBS station)

I  started watching Fairyland Cottage and Cottage Girl vlogs on Youtube on Tv..  oh,  that is  so  fantastic to watch them on  the big screen!!!

I will add another  great vlog.. Jeri Landers of Hopalong Hollow.  Her  posts  are   amazingly  beautiful.  Such talent and  hominess! I am hooked on these blog..so much better than regular tv! 

The Crown and Virgin River ***starts up season 2  this Friday night!

♥♥On the menu this week♥♥

No plans yet...  

I am however working hard on decorating for Christmas..  Harder every year!!

♥♥From the camera♥

A little inspiration!

♥♥Looking around the house♥♥

Everything is complagely topsy turvy.. boxes everywhere with their contents spilling out!  No place to walk.. Hope we  get through this  mess  in one piece!  But is fun, in a wearisome way!

♥♥New recipe I tried last week, or one that we really enjoyed♥♥

Brussel Sprout Salad

 ♥♥Something I want to share♥♥

Hubs and I are  doing Thanksgiving on our own,  so  we've alrady ordered our dinner  from   the restaurant here in town..  I think I've definitely passed the point of no return!

♥♥On my prayer list♥♥

Dear  God,  nothing takes you by surprise. You know everything that has transpired in the last  few years in  our nation..  I won't your time reminding you    but please  know  that our hearts are wrenching from the  knowledge that our nation  has  fallen beyond the pale into the  hands of an evil intity  that has been brewing for  a long itme  but  who has  reared its ugly head  mightiy  in the last   couple of weeks. Deception,   deception deception!!!   YOu know best   what is to be done,  so  we wait patiently for your help!   Thank you for your peace  that passes all understanding.

Devotional::

2020~The year I broke the rules!

 

I do feel like I'm breaking all the rules.. plus I think we have passed over into  older age  category.  😟

When we  discovered we would not be hosting  a  dinner for Thanksgiving,  we  just gave in.. I mean,  make that huge mess for just the two of us! SO the other day while we were breakfasting at the  Roanoker  we walked right over to the  take out  window and ordered  our Thanksgiving dinner as take out for  next  week.. so here  is where I am crossing the line of major rules!  We still had our Halloween decor up,  well, it wasn't much.. just a candelabra with orange flowers draping it and and a couple of black cats  on the dining table.. It actualy looked sort of cute...  but today,  when I  put  it all away and started planning a Thanksgiving table, I thought, Why?   To eat food out of a paper bag!  So that idea  when bye, bye,    so now I'm  gladly looking at a bare table  with visions of   Christmas ideas  swirling like snowflakes around in my head!  Problem is I feel my mother and grandmothers scowling down at me from on high.  I mean we've got it so much easier  when it comes to  celebrating  and feeding hoards of family and   killing the fatted goose, with your bare hands, etc..  and here I am so lazy I am skipping right over  Thanksgiving   decorating    and moving  on...  well,  I did send out  Thanksgiving cards  and  I have been counting my blessings!   Is it so bad that I  dont want to decorate the table for a Thanksgiving spread I will never lay!  so  I am breaking rules,   and    hoping  it doesnt come back to bite Me!

Wednesday Hodge Podge

Hosted by Joyce! 

     

1. It's Mickey Mouse's birthday (November 18)...happy birthday Mickey! He reads here, right? Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all? Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that? They're open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?

Hubs and I were among the very first visitors of  Disney World.. We went there in spring of 1972  on our honeymoon very soon after it opened.  My senses were  completely  over charged. I couldnt imagine how wonderful it was.  We were both like  kids  enjoying the wonders of the park!  We went back when Amanda was   a houngster  and  it was still jsut as magical.. Then    for    Amanda's  fiance's  graduation  from gradschool  present we all flew down to go to Epcot..  I loved it best of all. I loved the different countries represented!!!

2. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse? Would those who know you well describe you as more churchmouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse? 

Well,my Secret Place to  go to the Lord is a special chair  in the living room..  I do  my best praying and study in that spot..  I mostly go there  when I'm home alone.. I  really  need quiet  to  really  dig in!!!  defintely a  churchmouse!

3. The day before Mickey's birthday happens to be National Homemade Bread Day. Did/will you celebrate? Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What's your favorite kind of bread? NO, I won't celebrate Homemade Bread Day.  I am not a loaf bread maker,  but I make  wonderful homemade biscuits and scones! My favorte bread is sour dough. I   do make soda bread, but  I  am not good with yeast!

4. What's something you might say is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'? I guess Id have to say the Apple ipad..  I certainly use it enough!  I  use it for facetime and zoom!  Facetime is almost as good as a real visit..  except I miss those hugs and kisses!!

 

5. Let's keep the gratitude theme we started last week rolling on through November. Share with us five little things you're grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T. Gotta keep us thinking, right? 

Timely answers to prayer

Tasty sweet breads  and desserts

Thanksgiving get togethers

Tearful hellos  when we  see  each other after a long quarantine!

Teal evening skies as the stars come out

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today is the day I took down  the autumn decor and started    organizing the Christmas... We can do it because my Thanksgiving    will be just the two of us, after all.  So  why not!?!

Tuesday 4

 

Fun Times
Hosted by Anne!

Did you as a child or do you now like amusement parks, going out to

 places of entertainment? (theaters, themed parks, etc.) We lived very

 near Lakeside, one of the most popular amusement parks in the state 

during the 50’s and 60’s. I loved most of the rides but was sort of scared

 of the Shooting Star and the Peanut!Ever since 

I have always enjoyed cultural amusements, concerts, symphonies, plays,

 and films. I'm game to go anytime I can. One of my very favorites is going

 to the Barter Theater!


Which rides/parks did you enjoy the most or what snack foods to you 

enjoy when you are out and about? I loved the Merry Mixer, the Airplanes, bumper cars, and caterpillar. I have always been a pop corn girl. Even 

when we go to baseball games.


When you were a kid, what activities /games/places brought you the 

most enjoyment? I loved to play board games with my neighbor friends. 

 I , also was a great player of Barbie’s. We would take things we found 

around the house and create very imaginative Mid century modern 

apartments, inspired by the movie sets say, from Ingrid Bergman or 

Doris Day movies, or even those older b/w movies when the players 

lived in such gorgeous NY city homes.I will say again,,,we were very 

imaginative, but my friends always liked mine best.


Would you share with us a fun time or great trip that you've experienced. 

When our adopted daughter was 6, we decided to take a great vacation to Philadelphia. You see Hubs and I drove to Philly International Airport

 to pick Amanda up when she was 3 months old. She was born in S. Korea.

 So we stayed on our vacation in the same hotel we stayed in 6 years 

previously. We used the Airport conveyance from the hotel to the airport

 and showed Amanda all about that fatefully wonderful night she joined

 our family. We relived everything. The next day we toured everything

 in Philly, the history museum, which we all loved! And of course the 

Liberty Bell and Carpenter’s Hall. The next day we surprised Amanda 

with a special tour. We had recently read the Trumpet of the Swan to her

 and she enjoyed the love story between Lewis and Serena, two swans in 

the story who ended up living in the Philadelphia Zoo. So we toured the 

zoo from one end to the other and we were getting a bit concerned because

 there was no swan exhibit. Just as we were stepping into the gift shop on 

our way out, we heard a swan trumpet. We hurried to the sound and there

 in a lovely stream were two of the most beautiful swans you could ever 

hope to see. We were so delighted. So on the way through the shop we 

relented and let Amanda pick out one thing.. she picked out a beautiful 

stuffed tiger she called Tigger! We were pretty exhausted so we found a

 nice restaurant and then headed west to actually just drive through Valley

 Forge, probably 150 miles away where we had our next hotel reservation.

 When we got to the hotel Tigger wasn’t in the car! Oh, my! It was the end 

of the world. Dear sweet dad drove us all the way back to the restaurant 

and as providence would have it the cashier had Tigger under the register!

 We were super tired when we checked in there in Lancaster. Thankfully, everything at Lancaster was mainly driving with a few shopping stops, but 

such gorgeous countryside all around, and we were sure to ride the steam locomotive in Strasbourg.Thus ended our Pennsylvania vacation back in 1991. 

At 41, it was a perfect trip. I’m glad people have kids when they are younger, although we were getting along in age when we adopted. Couldn’t do all 

that now!