Friday, November 22, 2013

Bumping The Recipe


The light in the house today, 
a rainy dark day, is so perfect for me.
This is always my favorite light...
A hot cup of coffee,
warm snuggly clothes,
gentle music and a good book.
Heaven
Join me?


It's 10 a.m. and yet the trees look like early evening.
Justice photo bombing.








I didn't adjust anything in the shots.
This is the "temperature" in my home most days.




I finally had to turn on the heat.






Up there?
Top of the stairs?
My studio


I'll be there all day.
Bumping the recipe from earlier because the light
 is just too delicious today.

Z

Crockpot Bella and Pot Roast Revisited

I posted this recipe
1-2-2010 
and it is still a go-to when 
chuck roast is on sale
Remember Bella?
I love her


All the ingredients are here
This time I used ketchup with balsamic vinegar 
All in one bowl





Spicy Wine Pot Roast
3-4 lb beef pot roast- I use chuck
salt and pepper
1 small red onion chopped
1 package brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/8 tsp garlic powder


Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper - place in crock pot.
Combine remaining ingredients -pour over meat.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
I serve over buttered noodles.
Super Simple

If you wish - take the broth that is made
and mix with a little flour/milk to thicken 
Perfect for the rainy day we had yesterday.
Lots of leftovers




Thursday, November 21, 2013

Darling Daughter - Dearest Son

This week and 
my two favorite people 


Hannah at work on
She is Production Designer on the film.
You can check it out at the link above.
oh, and like it on facebook if you wish.
Lots of photos there.
They are working so hard on this independent 
film and we all should support independent films.


Ben creating the signage 
for the wedding of his two friends.
According to his girlfriend,
they were the hit of the party.
He cooks, designs, writes, works in film media,
does standup, repairs broken 
everything for me.

One very lucky Mama
And they're home in a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I giggle just saying it.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Few More Touches



Justice has a habit of sleeping behind the wing
chairs in the living room.
A few days ago she got under and behind the chair 
and while trying to leave, got turned around,
confused, and ended up trapped 
and howling under the tree. 
She nearly toppled the tree,
and thank goodness I was home.




 I borrowed this fencing from my pal Sue last weekend.
It needed to be repaired so after a bit of surgery last evening,
I placed it around the tree to prevent any more mishaps.
It touches the back wall preventing her 
from getting under the tree in any way.


I loaned a few bottle brush trees to Sue
for her to use this year, 
and when I saw how many I still
had in the box, well..
a few more showed up here and there
 at oldgreymare.

The ones above are tucked into crystal door knobs.
I also loaned out some garland and some bed springs...
She liked what I had done with some in the table boxes.


Tis the season to share with our friends and family


Monday, November 18, 2013

Family Room


Those of you who have been around oldgreymare awhile 
know that I always use containers to decorate my tables 
during any Holiday. In a moments notice it can be whisked
off the table and out of the way.
Makes for super easy entertaining.
Each year I change it up, but always using
 the same materials I have gathered over 30 years.


Last year's box















My folk's old firkin



The tree in this room is all green ornaments
I start with green frosty berry picks,
tucked in all over the tree.
The required birds nest is in here also.


Lots of big flocked cones and TaDa!


Still more to come and lots more to do.
Stay tuned

***
I have to take the time to address this one last time
 because it seems to happen to me quite frequently now.

"No reply comment blogger"
There is a new RANT over in the 
**** It Bucket

erin's art and gardens has left a new comment on your post "Family Room": 

i'd like to point out, in case someone doesn't know, that if you change over to "Google +" you will have a "no-reply" e-mail...i have switched back to Blogger because of that. 

Erin made a good point.
 I'm confident that many Google + users are unaware of that fact.






Sunday, November 17, 2013

Wraps And Tags


This time of year I gather all my supplies
 to wrap gifts and make tags.
I make it organized and pretty so the 
process is a joy.


This year there is only one color way.
Natural Black Cream




I put everything in transportable trays
 so I can work upstairs in the studio 
or downstairs on the porch.


I pull items from my 50 drawer apothecary as needed
Punches, Envelopes, Stamps






Darling Daughter's B-day is coming
I go to the trays and start playing.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Evening Twinkle





It's fun to walk through the living room
 in the evening.
Everything twinkles.

Working my way through
room by room
adding and subtracting 
till there is just enough twinkle.

Twinkle quotient is directly
proportional to room size
subtracted by tree quantity
divided by tree height 
multiplied by energy level of
decorator.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Balls In The Bedroom


Felted balls are the theme in the bedroom this season


felted snowflakes and birds


felted tree toppers


snow people with buckets of balls


felted trees and touches of blue



jars of balls




A large felted wreath with a touch of felted mistletoe
yeah.... like THAT'S gonna happen!


Felted garland with frosty balls




 The view over my toes each night

For some reason seeing this garland
of felted and glittered balls makes me smile

Balls In The Bedroom