Merry Christmas From Our Snowy Cottage to Yours!

 Hello + Hello!

Hoping you are thoroughly enjoying your

Christmas Season this year?

Are you getting enough rest?

Making time for the little things with your kids?

Riding slowly past all the pretty Christmas lights?

If not...remind yourself to do so ok?

That's the important stuff...the little things...the memory making.

>>>>>--------------->

Speaking of memory making....

we are so happy that we were blessed enough to get a little

snow this week!

(Maybe you saw my previous snowy black and white photo post?)

When you don't get much snow where you live...

this is a real treat!!

 

It was so wonderful....

Frosty even decided to make an appearance!

Praying you'll be able to experience a wonderful day

 filled with glorious

sssnow...snoW....snOW....sNOW.....S N O W !!!

(Just watched "White Christmas"....can you tell?)

It was a good day.

Memories were made & hearts were warmed.

>>>>>--------------->

So...

a very

 Merry Christmas

to you and yours,

&

may your days be filled with the wonder of the season!

xx

The Brinks

It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter.....

 Hello + Hello!

" Oh it's a marshmallow world in the winter....take a walk with my favorite girl..."

My favorite girl happens to be:

Olive.

 

She's my 11 year old

Fox Terrier.

(Also known as: Olive....the other reindeer.)

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

We had a nice little walk through the garden

this morning in the first snow we've had all year!

Gosh is was so pretty!

Olive becomes young again when it snows...

come to think of it,

so do I.

While the boys worked at building

Frosty...

(more on that another day)

Olive and I had a good time admiring little spots in the yard

that happened to catch our eyes....

 

It was awe inspiring, relaxing & joyous all rolled into one.

Hope you can get a little snow in your life this year...

I know I'm the better for it!

T.

xx

A Rainy Memorial Day Weekend...Time to Fire up the Tacky Lights!

 Hello + Hello!

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was lovely?

We had a very relaxing weekend, working on this and that....

but sadly...it rained. the. whole. weekend. long.

Boo-hoo.

Oh well, I got to spend a little time admiring the drippity drops

from the front porch.

 I decided to fire up the fun little find I got out thrifting the other day......

 Yes that's right....tacky trailer lights!

(this one's for you mom! ha ha ha!!!)

My dad always thought these little party lantern lights were the tackiest thing around

when we were kids in the 70's.

We had a trailer in a campground we used to visit, &

dad always made fun of people who had them.

My mom and I are of the less "worried what people think of us" version of folks.

SO.....

my hubby and I hung them up last night to give it a try.

We laughed pretty hard....but left them up for the night.

 We'll see if I'm brave enough to leave them lit in our respectable neighborhood....

Hey... a little granny/grampy trailer park chic never hurt anyone....right?

Now....

where are my lawn flamingoes?

 

>>>>>---------------->

 

T.

xx

It's Gravenstein Apple Season, Do You Need A Good Recipe?

 It's that time again,

Gravenstein Apple Season!!!

I

LOVE

Gravensteins!!!

In fact I wrote a wonderful blog post all about them last year

over HERE

&

I also invented a recipe for these tart lovelies called

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

over HERE

They are incredibly delicious I must say!

Thankfully there is so much you can do with this

antique variety of apples....

 

 

...because I have just a few to work with!!!

Hoping you're enjoying your

September as much as I have been.

I'd love to hear about it,

drop a line when you get a chance...

Cheerio!

T.

xx

Labor Free Labor Day

Hello + Hello!

I hope for those of you in North America that your

Labor Day Weekend

was fab!

We escaped to the great outdoors for a bit of a camping trip.

We took off for the river, slept in a tent, picked blackberries & gobbled up s'mores!

It was delightful!

Wishing you a happy

September...

&

hope to bring you more eye candy soon!

Cheers!

T.

xx

The Kiss of the Sun & Memory Makers

When I was a little girl, my grandparents had this sign in their garden.

They were both avid gardeners,

and I have so many fond memories of playing around their home.

After they had passed away, I couldn't get the saying out of my head.

So,

when I found one almost like it out thrifting one day I snapped it up.

I've had it in my garden for ever so many years now,

and it brings back great memories every time I look at it.

Now the words grace my garden too.

Here are a few snaps from my garden yesterday...

Hope you are enjoying/enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend?

Hoping your memories of loved ones were more sweet than bitter.

Also,

 here's to making new sweet memories with our loved ones

 so their future memories will be sweet too!

Thought I'd share just a few from our weekend....

Tristan (our oldest son who is an animal lover) with Speckles during our backyard tent-o-rama.

Proving great memories don't need to cost much at all!





Elliot, our little ham. He makes memories  cuter than anyone I know!



Have a great week my friends!

:)

T.

Frosted

 I simply escaped.

Escaped out the door.

Escaped out the door in my pjs, bathrobe, and slipper crocs.

No...I don't think anyone saw me...but then....who knows?

Yes.

I'm that kooky!

For Reals.

Really!

:)

Hey,

I truly felt that the weather of gorgeous sunshiny skies and thick frost warrented some capturing.

Wouldn't you agree?

After all, it was only the fenced backyard....not the front yard...so cut me some slack ok?

:D

 Jack had been busy...frosting everything.

No not really...

no one but my God could do this sort of handiwork....

 ....and what a lovely morning it was too.

Winter is most assuredly just around the corner....and I don't know about you....

but I'm asking for snow this Christmas.

We'll see how that turns out.

After all....I can tackle just about anything in pjs, a bathrobe, and slipper crocs.

:)

Cheerio to you my friend,

T.

XOXO

On My Porch this Christmas...

Just thought I'd Welcome you to my Porch this Christmas!

I often don't have enough time to decorate my own home the way I'd like to as most of my time away from mommy-ing and wife-ing is spent at

Grandiflora Home and Garden & Grandiflora Home dot com.

However,

this year I was bound and determined to decorate my lovely front porch no matter how long it took!

I was so happy to pull out the wreath I made last year and hang it by my front door!

 I also hung COLORFUL old fashioned C-9 style Christmas lights!

I know...I know...white is what most folks prefer....but honestly...I've decorated award winning light displays my whole adult life with white lights...and as much as I love them on other folks' homes,

I just get a little bored with them.

Our house is buttery yellow with a green metal roof & raspberry red doors;

it just screams for COLOR!

:)

 I pull out my vintage collection of retro quilts & throws to cover my

ratty antique wicker...

 ....and I hang large glittered red bells from each post.

I have a really cool Wool Felt Merry Christmas table runner from a few years back at

my shop Grandiflora

and hang it like a sign on an old glider rocker.

( All my old wicker and seating, some of which are not shown behind me in the photo, are all found at junk shops, garage sales, or dumpster diving! I've had the wicker settee since I was about 21 & only paid $20.00 for it! Nice huh? :)

 While I was taking these photos...little

Miss Olive

( Yes, as in: Olive.... the other Reindeer! )

was sitting rather patiently yet intently watching for the mailman...

.....watch out mailman,

for although my home is sorta sweet and candy-like this

Christmas Season...

the little ankle biter

might not be!

:)

Sending you all very

Merry Christmas Greetings...

&

Cozy Happy Holidays,

Cheers!

T.

xoxo

Gravensteins Oh How You Bring Me Back...

 Gravensteins.

If you know what one is....then I really don't think you'll need to read this post....

'cause you'll just

"know".

However...if you are unaware of what a Gravenstein Apple is, then you should stick around!

In my honest opinion...there is no other apple which captures the

crisp tart sweetness of

Autumn,

other than the humble

Gravenstein.

Sadly,

the Gravenstein apple doesn't travel or last very well.

They are the apple to eat immediately...to be savored during a sunny

Indian Summer afternoon

in September.

If you search your local

Farmer's Markets,

You may be lucky enough to find someone who would share some?!

Good Luck!

:)

I have such wonderful memories of picking Gravensteins up off the ground at my grandma and grandpa's home.

Their tree was HUGE

(or at least it felt like it to me!)

The Gravensteins were like

GOLD!

If one fell, it was ok to eat...but never, never should you try to climb the tree and pick one!

Horror of all horrors!

Gravensteins weren't just any ol' apple....no, they were the best of the best!

They were made into every possible concoction that my grandma could think up.

My personal favorite was:

Grandma Stremler's Apple Sauce Cake

Mmmmmmmmm.....

When we purchased our home just over 10 years ago

( a 1913 Craftsman Bungalow)

We were thrilled to find a Gravenstein Tree!

I knew instantly that I would be content to call this place my home....it just felt

"right" to have a Gravenstein Tree in my yard.

:)

So,

Now that I have little ones who can appreciate the

"finer things in life",

I do the same thing my grandma did:

Which is,...first make apple sauce...then cake!

Elliot and I realized that the chickens were pretty

HAPPY

in the backyard one day....and after much

chuck-a-cluck-a-lucking,

we found the chickens

(and Fuzzy the Turkey)

gobbling up our apples off the ground!

OH NO NO! I cried!

Those are OUR apples!!!

:)

So,

we captured our little cluckers

(and our one BIG gobbler)

and put them back where they couldn't get our precious

Gravensteins.



The sad unfinished chicken coop.

If you see my husband....tell him I really want it finished soon...the chickens should start laying anytime now...and I want to celebrate with an attractive coop in my back yard!

There is supposed to be a cupboard with doors under the nesting box for feed,

some trim, board & battens, & especially stain!

I want cute little shrubs

&

a little sign too!

Hummmmmm......

We'll see when that happens!

My hubby has been hunting for almost 2 weeks!

The good news?

He shot his Bull Elk (5x5 point) at about 35 yards with a bow and arrow!

So,

our freezer is

FULL.

We'll see when the chickens....who lay humble eggs....will get their due!

Stay tuned.....

:)