getting her dressed for the holidays~

finally finished the tree decorating ...

she looks perfect....

biggie and chance marie relaxing listening to the sounds of christmas...

xox

***sunday morning...omg! there is a great horned owl sitting in our front yard, we are watching

him through the binoculars.....so exciting!***

O christmas tree ~

o christmas tree...

how lovely are your branches~

growing up i always seem to remember we had a birds nest or two

in the fresh cut trees my dad would lug home..

so my request this year to julie was a tall skinny tree with a birds nest in it and damn if she didnt just find me one!

a sweet little nest, just perfect to add to my collection..

her mom and her always go cut down their trees and

this year

was no exception...

it is sitting in the great room

waiting to be dressed for holiday occasion..

next subject..my hair...

so okay i have been wanting to cut my hair off for

sometime now...i just am so over

trying to grow it and fix it into some hip style

when i would much rather use that hair time in the morning

SLEEPING!

so i went to and did it and gradually it will become

PLATINUM blonde..hopefully by the big day in MARCH!

granted it does make my face look fatter but then i am rather fluffy and rarely miss a dessert, lol..tonight was no exception

it was a darling little slice of peppermint cheesecake..

yummmy...

wreck this journal round robin~

are you all familiar with the wreck this journal ...it is a great way to free your thinking when it comes spontaneous art.....in this round robin we all made our own journals and then added our own prompts on the pages....i have never really made my own journal before soi enlisted help from samantha kira and her

easy peasy journal....anyway i was quite proud
of my journal for a first timer

and the work that the round robiners did was so beautiful!!

have a look see for yourselves!!!

vera is licking the chocolate smudges off the above picture on the right side..

must be some good stuff!

rainy and gloomy and cold~

i had several hours until i need to get back to work and decided to attach a canvas to an old painting i had done a few years ago..

i love getting my hands all covered in paint and such..

especially when you arent in the best of moods which the weather is perfect for....

xox

the day after~

i was really tired after all the black friday shopping so i decided to sleep in, sometimes that isnt always that easy when most of the dogs sleep in your bedroom....most of time they just all go back to sleep after julie lets them out early in the a.m....i wasnt so lucky this time...vera was just not tired and ruby spotted the neighbors doing stuff in their garage and wouldnt stop growling...lol....

so i decided to get up shower and then head off to starbucks..

today we were on the hunt for the vintage lighted outdoor candle that you all

had growing up..do you think i can find them at any target-like store...heck no!!!

we went to evry friggin discount store and no one had them..

we bought the plastic santa last year

at walmart and we should had bought the candle, sheesh! what is the deal!

so after putting up some wreaths and hanging some giant christmas bulbs, i decided to clean out the flower beds since i didnt do it in september and i have to say it looks really nice, we have a little more to do tomorrow before the football games start

and julie becomes suddenly busy.....

so here is a few pictures of are minimal decorations, lol.......gargoyle needed at little ho ho ho!!
are you naughty or nice??
xox

thankful wishes~

in reflection, i am thankful to be able to get my butt out of bed everyday although this past week has been hard as i fell off of a rolling chair at work and jacked up my lower back!lol(thank god no one saw that)..i am so thankful for julie and the beautiful house we live in and the beautiful acres the house sits on..of course my beautiful daughter , my loving mom who is a saint, my pack of dogs and the 3cats......AND my new BLOG BANNER created by this beautiful gal .....
she is one hell of a photographer, check her out........
all my BFFs near and far and all the wonderful friendships i have made from blogging and my art retreats.....
everyone of you are in my heart
and a DAY doesnt go by
when i dont think of how grateful and lucky i am!!!

wishing each

and everyone of you a wonderful thanksgiving with family, friends and bountiful food...
xoxoxox

boiled peanuts anyone?

i dont understand the love affair the south has with of all things BOILED PEANUTS!???

she instisted that we had to taste the boiled peanuts as they were

sooooooo delicious, so i thought ..hmmmmm......hey i like peanuts

all kinds so i know i will love them...boiled peanuts.....crap was i wrong.....

they were gross and mushy and didnt taste a lick like peanuts to me...

julie liked them....
you lnow they look like little turds to me....picture courtesy of flickr

have a good weekend!!
xox

a great start to our road trip~

remember my post about the PBS 6part series on the National Parks..

well thursday we drove through the Great Smoky National Park, our first in are

quest to visit all of them...we stopped long enough to snap a few shots....

isnt this picture dreamy and grand...
here are the mama bear and 2cubs we stopped to watch..it was so amazing..
that will never happen again...
and we finally arrived to our destination early afternoon..... a little slice of heaven...

xox

fall roadtrip~

well, havent been on a roadtrip in a few months, julies mountain biking club has a rendezvous

in north carolina, so we packed up the suv and heading south to north carolina for the weekend! looking forwarding to going to the national park in the great smoke mountains

and finding some good trinkets and treasures on the way......

hope you all have a wonderful sunny weekend!

xox

look at these~

i went with julies mom yesterday to a cute shop that was having

their christmas open house.

the shop was decorated with lots of themed christmas trees and holiday decorations abound..it really put you in the spirit! they also have sprinkled throughout the shop various trinkets and vintage items! imagine me squealing with delight when i found these 2 books! they were a steal!

the covers are old and worn and the spines are holding on by threads which is fine with me as i will be

repurposing the covers!...

inside the larger book is a lined journal with red numbered pages in the top corner of the pages....

someone had started collecting recipes in this book.

also in the book

was a health crusaders certification dated 1919!!! i love creating a story in my mind who had these books and what their family and household were like and how they dressed and did they have pets and what kind of cars or transportation did they use..

all these questions are answered my mind much like a movie, lol..

does anyone else weave these stories with their treasures that they find out and about??

i just love finding unexpected treasures...

xox

exhibit~

i was recently asked to submit a piece to the true to form exhibit and silent auction for

charity to benefit breast cancer..the silent auction runs through december 5th...

each artist was given a blank mannequin to create as

they wished...it was very cool to see how each mannequin was embellished with each artists unique style..below are some of the artists pieces....hmmmm...which one is mine????

thanks for stopping by for a look see..

xox