Christmas On The Porch

Twelve days of Christmas

My tables always have "quick removal" displays for dining

Reds appealed to me this year

Picks and House of Hatten collectibles

There is a light inside of the log cabin,

and red berries now on the greens.

I kept coming back after I snapped photos.

That stucco you see is the original rear of house.

View from the family room couch

That empty basket beneath the table

is now filled with greens and berries also.

As always, my decor is just loads of picks plunked

into existing decor. I remove nothing unless

 I need a little space.

This time I removed a pitcher of flowers 

from the table so I could lay down greens.

Merry Merry 

Z

Continuing On And A few Stories

So from the dining area you enter the

 kitchen, family room and back porch.

Coming as soon as I save my pennies,

a new corner sofa and a complete rearrange to

allow additional seating here. 

The yellow cupboard 

holds additional kitchenware.

Notice the church board calendar

on the right wall. 

Many of you have commented on it before.

Also spot the Alice in Wonderland Door.

My Italian Vietri Cucina Dishes

Love these - I traded several days of 

organizing labor for these many year ago

and have never regretted it.

Some day I hope I can afford serving ware.

With each serving piece being nearly $100.00 and up,

I'm not holding my breath.

That cart used to hold my Dad's jigsaw in his workshop.

After a thorough cleaning,

I left it in it's original condition, 

chipped paint and all.

The round basket above the spices holds

a very old piece of a house Hannah found

in an abandoned lot in NYC.

She knew I would love it, and squirreled it away in 

her suitcase for me.

Guess who - another photo bomb from Howie.

and a bit of Justice's butt.

She's drinking water I keep on the

trolley shelf, so she can find it.

The small cupboard to the left of the pantry door

 was once on a boat, and holds more spices.

The double stacked doors hold the

laundry chute, and more pantry space.

The antique yellow-ware lidded crock

holds the dog treats 

and Howie knows the sound

from rooms away!

On toward the porch

The old man painting I bought 

for my Dad for $3.00 when I was eight years old.

He made the frame

from barn wood he found on our land.

The bakers table in front of the shutters

is very unique and

has swing out seats and 

cutting boards tucked in.

This old kitchen cupboard holds bar glasses and 

party goods for outdoor entertaining.

So that's the first floor except

 for powder room and laundry.

Stay tuned for upstairs coming soon.

Z

On The Porch

Spent the day on the porch

cleaning up, washing linens, dusting everything,

tucking the gourds into the trug

under the bakers table

This lovely old box holds some

 of my cloth napkins that I use each day

There are three fountains running

 in the yard now

the sound is wonderful

Many evenings 

I regret no longer having a sofa on the porch 

for naps and such

but the bakers table needs a home here.

Darling daughter and friends will gather here

next week for their long awaited reunion.

The Neighborhood

Headed outside via the back porch early this morning.

I just had to see the roses some more while I sipped some Joe.

Ran into this sweetheart, a pair of them have been  hanging out back here. I need to spot the nest. 

First bud on the rose bush from my dearest son.

 First bush to bloom each year right 

after the banks roses.

A riot of color

Aggressive little bugger. See it reaching up to 

embrace the mesquite tree in the middle of the yard?

That will be clipped, 

but I cannot bear to until the blooms are past.

The trumpet vine woke up yesterday.

Another faithful performer.

This lady lasts all summer and drapes over the wall to a walkway.

The association gardeners slice off everything on their 

side of the wall.

Idiots

These have been on the outside porch table since September?

Wish I looked that good that long...

I cannot help it.

 I love the light on this porch.

 I have recently met some wonderful new folks

 in the blogging neighborhood, 

new to me, not to blogging,

 and I was talking about it with my friend Chania.

( A brand new Grandma as of this morning)

We discuss just about everything, like old friends do, and in the course of the back and forth emails I wrote this to Chania..

"I view it as a neighborhood. There are those that come in for coffee and stay all morning, and feed the dogs while you are away..then there are the ones you see at the mailbox now and again and you both ask about the kids at college and comment on the blight affecting the ash trees in the area and after 15 minutes you wave and go home. Then there are the neighbors you see watering their lawn as you walk the dog and you nod and say good morning and wave at each other's cars as you leave for work. Then there are the neighbors in their car who slowly drive down the street, open the garage door before even turning into their driveway, pull into the garage and begin closing the overhead without even exiting their car. The ones in the neighborhood no one knows...Hey I think there is a blog post in that last paragraph...lol maybe this weekend.."

I often get emails from new bloggers and just as often they bring up trying to grow their blog etc and I always refer them to 

"big" bloggers with the same goals as they have.

I still have this post from October 2010

on my sidebar, explaining my decisions about blogging.

Yes, my numbers have grown since then,

but my attitude remains the same.

Those of you that have known me for awhile

 know where I stand on this, my goal has always been, not in the numbers etc but on the relationships, friendships that have flourished here and truly, I mean this from the bottom of my heart,

ENRICHED my life.

We are a neighborhood with various tastes, wants, desires and needs. There is room for everyone.

Now and again someone crosses your path

and WHAM you connect, and it is magic how 

the friendship unfolds.

That does not negate or lessen the relationships

that are more casual, just as friendly, just as lovely.

They are all precious gifts.

Who wants a neighborhood where 

they're all made out of ticky tacky

 and they all look just the same?

Have a great week.

Z

Simplify

Should I begin with the story of Howie locking himself in the bathroom today? (for those who don't know, Howie is a cocker spaniel). Actually that is misplaced blame as I did not notice he had curled up in the cool room to sleep and closed the door. When I heard scratching, I discovered the door was locked. How? I think Howie was playing games with me in retaliation for being neglected the  past few days. After 30 minutes of attempting to unlock the door and 2 frantic calls to SIL for advice - ( she has grandchild adept at locking situations)  After trying 6 different implements, success, hallelujah! and I swear he smirked as he calmly walked out..

HOWIE!

Other than that I, have been destroying the downstairs. Every room.

I had been anxiously awaiting the photo shoot to be over so that I could purge and pare down even more.

I started with the porch.

Simplify Simplify

The tables are piled high and bins are full of items to be sold or given away. I love this feeling of examining and assessing. Getting to the basics.

Keeping only the useful,

 or items I favor.

Do you even remember what it looked like last year?

I have a lovely bottle rack coming, so the bakers table

top will change again once it arrives.

Last two days for giveaway. Ends Midnight Monday.

My humble thank you for the generous response.

Many of you have shared with me your joy

at finding these new friends. 

I told you they were cool, and oh "the ribbon lady",

Carole, started a blog.

Welcome her, please.

z