Bluebirds At My Window

"Do you have any more of those tasty worms left?"

We have never had so many bluebirds at our feeders ever!

And we are so excited!!!

Husband has been under the weather and decided to do the bluebird puzzle we had that had never opened. It became very appropriate puzzle. 

We have had a couple of small snow storms and we are in a cold snap. Really really cold with a wind chill. 2 degrees F this morning brrrrr. So bread seemed a good thing to make. 

Our sunset on solstice eve. A very cold long night. 

Since I am done all shopping I am staying way away from the stores.

But a little store in the next town that has an eclectic mix of old and new was having an open house. There were only a couple of us in the store. While I could of bought lots and lots of lovely things most were out of my price range. I did purchase some cacao tea. Martha Washington's chocolate shell infusion. Martha Washington enjoyed this tea every morning for breakfast. George wrote this to his agent,

"She will thank you to get 20 lbs of the shells of cocoa nuts,if they can be had of the chocolate makers." It has a very light chocolate taste. I use no sugar only a drop of cream. It is very good and would purchase it again.

We are meeting up with our daughter and family tomorrow evening for a lovely dinner out. We love any time we can spend with them.

***

I want to wish you all a lovely Christmas or Hanukkah.

I hope you get to celebrate in the way you love. 

Sending Holiday hugs.

 

Homemade Christmas

We got about 3 inches of snow overnight last night. There have been so many ups and downs from pouring rain and high 40s to below zero windchill coming this weekend. 

I thought I would show you some of the Christmas things I have made over the years. of course I am a rug hooker. I hooked this santa a few years ago. I see things I would do differently but that is how it goes. 

We made this wooden crate into a little house. I glued some lights in the window voila Christmas!

I made a lampshade years ago from old christmas cards. 

This wooly wreath, I think I need to change out the oranges they have turned very dark over the years. 

 

I made this santa many many years ago. 

It was my first jump into crafts. 

*****

This was us with our Sweet B on the santa train. The years have ticked by so fast it seems like a blink. 

I scraped our driveway and cleaned the walkways.

After I came in I got a bowl of soup and finished my book.

It was a fun read with time travel. 

I now have my feet up watching old movies and nodding off now and then, a good day. 

Happy Solstice we now return to the light. 

Grammie Duty, Yahoo!

I was up showered and dressed bright and early Friday.

Over the hills I went to my Sweet Miss B!

Her parents were off to on a Christmas trip with her aunt and uncle.

She and her sweet friend had early release from school. I did the pick up and once we got home we decorated cookies!

Lots and lots of cookies. I love how creative they were. 

They made bags for all their friends and some to give to Santa on Christmas eve. 

    And kora well she sat dutifully waiting for a sprinkle or a cookie to drop. Clean up crew of one lol. 

And they made ornaments from bits and pieces. why would you not want a christmas turtle????

My sweet B has a clear phone case and she makes a new piece to slip in for each holiday! she painted it and then stitched the mittens. 

And speaking of stitching her stitched pants were a big hit at school so she is adding some more embellishments. 

Sat night we went to a tiny little theater in North Conway to see A Christmas Carol. Sweet B's science teacher was in the production.

And on the way in she met one of her good friends. So sweet to hear them so happy to see each other and have so much to chat about even though they saw each other at school the day before. 

This morning it was a chilly 6 degrees F. I walked the dog and sat at the table to look at the woods outside their window and have my coffee. I saw a little path to their neighbors house all frosty yet it felt cozy. 

****

My time with my grand is so precious to me she is growing up to be one amazing young lady and there are not that many more years she will want to decorate cookies with me. 

***

I don't have much going this week, a yoga class, a dentist appointment, and make a Christmas basket to drop off at the highway dept. Christmas is right around the corner. I have celebrated this month well. Have a wonderful week!!!

ICY!

We just get the snow cleaned up and it starts to rain!

making our steep driveway a bobsled run! I just watched the news and the worst is yet to come. I would have prefered snow this is a mess!

So I have stayed in and made cookies. Ugg doing to many things at once.

But in the end all was well. I have made 5 different kinds and will take the sugar cookies to be decorated with Sweet B. 

I also cut up a few oranges and made a pot of soup. 

So I have made good use of a rainy cold day. 

Now on to what I got at the church sale. 

This lovely large hand woven wool throw. I have cleaned it, now it is lovely, soft and warm. 

This jacket is Ralph Lauren and is perfect for spring or fall or if you want to dress up a pair of jeans. The leg warmers are for my winter walks or snowshoeing.

Croft and Barrow vest. I wear a vest most days in the winter. 

A holiday dish towel and a cookie cookbook. 

And at a thrift store I got this amazing real down jacket. 

Such great deals on this trip. After i got home I cleaned out my closet of all the clothes that no longer fit. I lost 50lbs during covid and have held onto the old clothes just in case. I have finally cleaned it all out. 

When I got home a sweet friend had sent me a set of cookie cutters.

I was just saying I wanted a small star cutter. 

My grand Sweet B has been stitching for some time and she has done a pair of jeans. Such a great job!!!

Bravo Sweet B for being handy with a needle.

I will leave you with the recipe for the cookies above.

It is from King Arthur Flour. 

*****

Have a wonderful rest of your week.

Kennebunport Christmas Prelude

My sweet friend and I met at her beach house in Maine. 

Sat morning bright and early we headed to Cape Porpoise.

We shopped craft fairs and a fabulous church sale.( More on that later)

For those of you who follow Mavis Butterfield we went by her house as we came into town. If you follow her blog she wrote all about how she was decorating her house. 

After all the shopping and sightseeing we went to lunch.

This place was A M A Z I N G!!! Batson River restaurant on Mile road in Wells Me, They also have one in Kennebunkport. 

All the tv's had the yule log on it and lots of Christmas music. If you come out of there with no christmas spirit there is no hope for you.

We had festive drinks I think mine was white Christmas and hers was Naughty and Nice, both tasty.

There were several trees and also the island of misfit toys. Every surface was decorated. 

The two Cathy's who never take selfies lol. 

(I am in the glasses)

And after all that we drove deep deep deep into the woods to walk among the lights.

There were little gnome homes all along the route. 

It was so sweet to hear the kids with their families seeing the lights and being so excited. 

And this morning we woke up to it snowing. 

This picture is the sun trying to come out after the storm.

We walked the beach the waves were soothing, the snow festive. 

I am home unpacked and I have a stack of Christmas cards to open.

I have made a spiced chai and I am counting my blessings. I will be here for awhile. I am blessed beyond anything I could have dreamed up. 

Hoping you are in the Christmas spirit. Remember it is the small things that count. 

*******

To answer a question I got about a cookie walk.

It is a fundraiser, lots of people make cookies of all kinds to donate.

Then when you go on the walk you pay a certain price and they provide a container and you walk down the table choosing cookies to fill your container. Hope that helps.