Whenever my friend Suzanne visits New Mexico, she brings Biscochitos home to me as a treat. This delicious sugar cookie has two ingredients that make it unique: anise and brandy. I recently baked some for a party in traditional Christmas shapes. Suzanne kindly shared her recipe with me. We both agree that it’s best to…
This year’s mantle started with making a big boxwood wreath. I wanted something that would really fill the space over our fireplace. Simple brass candlesticks with red candles, tea lights, and greenery finished the traditional Christmas look that I wanted for this year. Red, green, and gold are my favorite Christmas colors. This view is…
Last year I made a Pottery Barn knock-off lighted garland and wanted to use it again this year. It looks pretty both day and night. For this year, I decided to update our wreaths from having just a simple bow to being adorned with red, silver, and gold balls. I like the pop of color…
I planned on spending most of the day last Saturday decorating for Christmas but had a change of heart when we had an unseasonably warm weekend. Mr. SP bought a new toy and we couldn’t resist going to the lake to try it out. I hadn’t been to the lake since the leaves fell from…
I’m a sucker for anything Christmas, especially vintage items. While Black Friday shopping in downtown Staunton, I found three items that I couldn’t resist adding to my collection: Santa in his sleigh, a Santa boot, and a Santa candy holder ornament. Santa in his sleigh was $12, the boot was $3, and the Santa candy…
Each year I anxiously await the blooming of my Christmas Cacti. I don’t take especially good care of these plants and even with my abuse, they reward me with blooms year after year. The pink cacti were gifts from friends when my dad died in 1997. The plant with the peach colored blooms was my…
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my home. Every year I enjoy making Christmas crafts to use to decorate my home. This year I made peppermint and candy cane wreaths for my kitchen windows. Peppermint and Candy Cane Wreaths One of my 7th-grade boys crafted the small wreaths above my peppermint and…
Yesterday my mom, aunt, cousin, and I had a fun-filled day of shopping and encountered no crowds and no traffic. We waited in no lines and witnessed no pushing and shoving to get a bargain. Admittedly, we didn’t get too many items checked off of our Christmas shopping lists, but we sure had a good…
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are enjoying a day filled with family and good food. I have a few more vintage Thanksgiving cards to share. This one has a really pretty design. It’s sent to Aunt Willye who received it before she married and became Mrs. Geo Funk. Lulu (Granny always called her “Aunt Lulie”)…
Today I’m enjoying a most appreciated day off. I thought I’d share one of my vintage Thanksgiving postcards. I love the farm scene with the turkeys on this card. Reading the back of the card is almost as much fun as looking at the pretty designs on the front. It looks like this one was…
November gardening has mostly consisted of mowing and raking at our house. After that’s been accomplished, we haven’t had energy or time for much else. One thing that I must soon do is to clear away my now dead vegetable plants and store the posts and tomato cages for next year. The garlic that I…
After relaxing last weekend at the beach and having a usual hectic week at work, I knew I had to kick it into high gear this weekend to get some things accomplished. The leaves were raked and the grass was mowed: Picture this covered in leaves; that’s what it’s been like week after week. It…