happy new year 2008!

wishing all my family and friends

near and far

the best for the
coming year!!

xox

christmas gifts

new haircut today!

i have received some wonderful unexpected gifts this year from some of my wonderful friends!

the below is a ceramic gingerbread house where the rooftop lifts off and holds a small waxed gingerbread man or woman that when heated with a tealight in the actual house, melts and gives off this heavenly sweet scent!! so love this!! this was from one of the my faerie friends that lives in oregon, her name is beecharmer, she provides my beeswax for use in my artwork and honey from her hives that is out of this WORLD!!!!! this sweet saint bernard ornament was a present from julie's grandma...
this little pouches were made by my cousin~khris, she is an avid knitter and felted these lovelies! she makes us handmade creations for christmas each year, cannot wait to see what she has up her sleeve for next year.....
the starbucks truck was a present to julie from me, i found this unique tin on ebay and that darling little dark headed gal is from julie to me, she said it reminded her of me..how sweet is that!!!!
this is a beautiful necklace made by my friend kecia,

i love that crown and the sweet bird, just so perfect....

you know i really love handmade gifts, it is just so special that my family and friends take the time and love to make something from the heart...

thank~you!!

xoxox

christmas wishes~

well another christmas is rounding the corner and i would like to wish everyone a wonderful

and safe christmas day from all of us at good manor...

hoping santa brings you all that you wish for!!!

xoxoxox

and the winner of my bracelet giveaway is maija.

i had to wake chance marie up for the drawing, she was out late last night enjoying the holiday festivities...lol

xoxox

present for stephanie~

my daughter wanted me to make something for her best friend~stephanie..

nothing like wanting until the last minute! anyway,this is what i

came up with and the EYES in the picture are my daughter's..

i think it looks great!

bracelet giveaway will be tomorrow as chance marie has been doing last minute

shopping today and she says she is too tired to pull a name..

winter solstice~

we have a beautiful winter solstice tonight! julie surprised me with dinner reservations at the ruth chris steakhouse, a place that i have been wanting to dine, then home to light the fire and candles and to open a few small gifts!! we toasted with my favorite champagne to all our wonderful friends and family and how blessed we both are.... xoxox

all better~

my sweet chance marie came home from the vet yesterday and is doing great!!!

her breath is already so much fresher, it is amazing and what is even more amazing

is she never acted like she was ever in any pain....i just adore her sweet kind face!

she is the queen bee at good manor and she is sitting or rather laying on her throne

where you can find her every night when it is time to go to bed......

thanks to all who wished her well and speedy recovery.....

it really made a difference in my waiting!

xoxox

holiday giveaway~

it is time for a little holiday giveaway, so leave me a little holiday cheer

and chance marie will draw a name next sunday the 23rd!

(this pending on how chance marie feels after her

tooth extraction on tuesday...

we might have to have a backup dog do the drawing!)

ps..rubys tests all came back fine,

so we will just have to take her in for monthly weigh~ins..

saturday surprises~

well the weather outside is frightful, but here inside good manor it is delightful!
julie has made one of our favorite dinners~kecia's tacos.....yummy in the tummy!

and for dessert julie is making homemade tollhouse chocolate chip cookies....mmmmm!

the weather is a mess and suppossed to get worse throughout the night, it has in order snowed,

sleet, rain and is suppossed to snow in to the night...so heather is here again with her

3lowrider

dogs..

this is honey on the left, but i call her mai ling, she has eyes that look like she is oriental, she is so so sweet and the rascal on the left is ogi(o-gee) named after a line of eyeglass frames..

heather nursed him back to health after he and his 6 other brother and sisters were dumped

at her vet officethis is hemi, he is one of nala's pups..if you remember nala is

heathers dog she rescued that was pregnant this time last year..nala

now lives with heathers best friend and her famiy with her other pup~rolo...

the past week i received in the mail 2christmas presents from kecia, one to put under the tree and one to open now...how beautiful and sweet is this garland, i have been wanting one of these and kecia delivered..

i am a lucky girl ....

thank~you sweet kecia

i love presents...

****

i was in a faerie jar swap with one of my yahoo groups and my faerie flew in

from nova scotia courtesy of lani.

my faerie is the java faerie, she was caught in a frappuccino bottle..

this faerie is on a constant caffeine high..

hehehe....

xoxox

this post took way to long due to the weather conditions messing with the satellite

connection on my laptop...

so nightie nightie, over and out...

friday musings~

today was my day off and it started at a new dentist for a cleaning and xrays..i havent been to the dentist in a 18months and i am lacking on flossing.....and no dental insurance, so it was a wonderful experience, my new dentist is right around the square from my work. the dentist office smelled so wonderful like a spa, it was so cool....long story short, i need to get back there for a deep cleaning on the back 4 corners of my mouth AND i grind my teeth?? what is up with that piece of information??? so, a night guard is in the future..
next on the list of to do today, is to take ruby to the vet..heather has been staying at good manor
the last few days and felt the rubys lymph glands were swollen and she is looking thinner than normal, so off to the vet after the dentist appointment and our vet is just minutes away...away, ruby has lost 12lbs and that is NOT good, so a full CBC is beng done on her blood and results tomorrow...

and tuesday chance marie will be at the vet for a tooth extraction as she has a cracked tooth(we knew about)that has become infected(gross), so heather cleaned it up a bit and she will start her antibiotics tomorrow in preparation for her surgery..no chance is my baby and i will be a wreck come tuesday...so that is what i am up to today and in a few hours i will be joining some old work friends for a happy hour at our favorite joint.....the in between, i cannot wait to bite into Ali's mouth watering chicken salad and fries...yummy!!

foggy rainy monday~

well, good thing i took those pictures of the first big snow of winter 2007 last week as there is very little that remains...so no snow angels sandy, you will have to wait until the next big snow and i promise to take some shots of my snow angels..... so a few more pictures of the day after, all the trees and fences were encased in ice, it was truly beautiful......

this is our beautiful black cat~wilma jolene, she is all that is left...her kids all left us for

good homes i pray..

she is quite sweet and lives large in our garage,

julie has her all set up with a heat lamp for the cold

winter days and nights ahead and her litter box is all set up also just in case we have to shut

the garage door all the way....julie even bought her a new flannel bed..nothing but the best for our little kitty...

snow day at good manor

just some pictures of good manor after yesterdays snow, it looks like a currier & ives picture

just beautiful, this morning everything was kissed with ice frosting, really really breathtaking

and you could see your breath, lol and promises of more snow tonight.....

parker and biggie playing with a frisbee for almost an hour yesterday in the snow....

rainy sunday~

it is a crap day here in ohio...rainy, cold and just icky! good manor is in the midst of a paint
job right now, a couple of friends actually cute boys are here painting the inside 1st floor .
we will be putting good manor on the market soon and hope to sell her to someone that
will love her as much as we do...anyway, i am sitting here drinking my starbucks coffee
with a little eggnog added instead of cream..try it is tastes so good..that tasty tip is
compliments of kecia.......these lovely gals are compliments of lisa volrath..she is giving 25

free images to download as long as you post her site to yours.....stop over and check it out!

sharons friday~

today was my day off and i really didnt have any plans until my dear dear friend sharon emailed me, so me, sharon and our driver~julie headed off to powell, ohio which is just a hop, skip and a jump from where we live..anyway she took us to this fabulous cool shop that used to be a ratty junk shop and now it is this beautifully decorated home store that has some really neat things......i came away with 7 1/2yds of this lucious upholstery fabric that was only $6 dollars a yard~this was a steal and then a few birds nests and a snowy owl...this shop will definitely be on my list of places to visit at least once a month.......ps and s..sharon knows the coolest places to go and she is a wonderful artist...she has the coolest style and i truly admire her art and love to take classes from her........xox

tuesday night~

just hanging out with my girls

saturday surprise

julie & i had the good fortune to be able to attend the opening of misty mawn's gallery showing

at a darling gallery tucked away on a corner in her hometown of erie, pa...we made a day of it

leaving early after a stop at starbucks of course....we were able to spend some time with misty

prior to her show at a totally cool coffee shop...misty is everything you can imagine, she is a beautiful free spirit with a beautiful smile.....and is so passionate about her beautiful paintings

as if they were her little children nuturing them....we just adore her and she made our thanksgiving weekend!!

and we did bring one of her paintings home with us

which we will treasure forever.....

thank~you beautiful misty..

xox

mail surprise~

HEY!!!!
look what i found in my mailbox today, a small box containing my new calling cards
personally made by the clever and talented heather

arent they totally awesome?

i think that they are brilliant and i am continually

amazed at what she creates for me..

merci! mon ami!

xox

ps...tomorrow another road trip to see the opening reception at a gallery for a totally

talented artist that is loved by many...more details to come..

black friday~

well, i am one of those "people"who get up the day after thanksgiving to SHOP!

yeah, i said it~SHOP!!! i LOVVVVVEEE to shop and even though i love mySLEEP!!

it has become a ritual, so julie and myself will be getting up at 4AM!! yeah, early i know..

but that is what we do....so we will be at joanns at 5AM when they open the doors and

then we will head over to world market and julie will go get our starbucks....

make mine

a venti nonfact gingerbread latte and julie will be a redeye or blackeye.....

then on to easton to shop until we drop!!!

...no rest for the weary tomorrow...

giving thanks~

i am thankful for a healthy body, my beautiful daughter, our 7dogs and cat-wilma jolene,a loving roof over our heads and a great job that allows me time off to take my continuing art retreats, my immediate family and my wonderful blogging family...it warms my heart to think of all the wonderful people i have met since blogging and i have some of the most treasured relationships i can think of with several gals i have met since blogging...and finally i am so thankful for julie because she encourages my art and is my biggest supporter and she lets me be me even when i am acting like inner 10yr old........ i really do not know where i would be without her.......okay enough of the sappy crap...i am getting teary-eyed.....love you all and have a safe and happy thanksgiving....... xoxox

gray sunday~

i was talking to one of my dear dear dear friends yesterday and she inspired me to make this necklace with a little surprise inside the locket.....

i love how this turned out and i just love her too...

i have a real love of old salt and peppers shakers..i do not like to pay much for them, just around $1 dollar or so, if i just have to have it, maybe $2 or $3...but usually just a buck....well these shakers hold another part of one of my collections, my button collection..i just love old buttons, especially ones that still have bits of the thread still on then & my favorite ~the white buttons..