Happy New Year Dear Friends!

Another year is gone & can you believe that a new one is upon us? This sweet image was shared with us by Dawn (thanks sweetie) I hope you enjoy it. Last night we went to a wedding of a friends granddaughter & it was sweet to watch young love & think of all the new things ahead of them & in that reflection we all have a new year ahead of us. What will it bring? What new adventures will we have? What do you want to learn? Me, I am looking forward to new friends, travels, learning new skills in jewelry classes I have already signed up for (& am thinking of signing up for) & I want to learn to use Photoshop! I have wanted to learn to do that for a long time but, it eludes me. Also, I will be learning Quickbooks because I will begin doing the books for my husbands company. So, looks like 2010 has a lot of learning & challenges as well as fun ahead. What do you want to do in 2010? Tell us in a comment & on your blog. I can't wait to visit & find out what 2010 has in store for you! Happy New Year dear friends! Be safe!

Creating!

This is being created in my backyard right now. This is a photo from Christmas Eve but, it is snowing again here in Texas! I can't believe it! I'm not sure how much we will get tonight but, it sure is a pretty thing to see.
During the Christmas season I have been busy creating some things for our home & for gifts & I want to share some of these items with you. This is the wreath that one of the girls at the Christmas Tea spoke about. Yes, I decorate my bathroom too, so I wanted to carry the snowy theme on through in there. I bought these adorable children's ice skates at Winnie & Tallulah's in Athens, TX. They were so sweet & even said Lake Placid on the side. But, they were scuffed & needed some bling. White craft pain to the rescue! And then they needed serious SPARKLE & that was done using glass glitter. Simple to do & oh so pretty! What's not simple to do... replace those nasty old shoe strings with beautiful vintage seam tape AFTER applying the GLASS glitter. OUCH!!!! But, oh so worth it don't you think?
Last February I went with a friend to a needlework shop & while waiting for her I fell in love with this needle point stocking cuff. Mid December I went in for my first lesson thinking "I bet get started on this since the year is almost over". Seemed pretty silly to pay what I paid (needlepoint is NOT a cheap hobby to take up) for this & not work on it. Below is the progress made at the first class. I can say it is moving along nicely. I'll keep you posted.

Close up of Santa on the stocking topper.

More details...

A close up of my stitching at class. This really is fun!

Back in the fall I had taken a class to learn how to make rusched (ruffled roses) from Jana at Collected Treasures & I wanted to make something with this new knowledge. So, I started the search for vintage velvet. That is not an easy thing to find but, thank goodness for EBay! I made these 3 flowers for a hat that I wanted to give to my friend Susan. A pretty burgundy Christmas Rose with a couple of black velvet beauties to complete the hat. She loved them!

A close up of this little treat. When we went to lunch today Susan was sporting her new hat.

Just a few of the goodies that I have been creating. Now, back to the grind of balancing a checkbook that should have been done 2 weeks ago. Arggggggggggg creating is so much more fun. Have a wonderful week dear friends.

Pink Ice & Pan

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!!! And I want to welcome you to PINK Saturday. Thank you Beverly for hosting us again today. Now I want to introduce you to a couple of new friends. Meet Pan (yes like Peter Pan)! Here he is in his hat made for him by his talented Momma Nan. Nan's talent doesn't stop there!!!! I am sharing some of her amazing photographs of the PINK skies of her home in Alaska. Enjoy these photos & then I encourage you to go to her blog Retired In Alaska & view some more amazing photos that I have not included(Please tell her I sent you). Be sure to see the one of Pan & the PINK ice!

Does this take your breath away?

And this?

Did I tell you this woman is amazing with the camera? When I saw her photos they simply spoke to my heart & soul.

I think Texas has some beautiful skies but these colors are amazing. What an artist GOD truly is!

THANK YOU NAN & PAN for giving me your blessings to share your wonderland with all of us here today! PLEASE go & visit Nan & tell her how much you enjoyed her photos it is SOOOOOOOOOOO worth the trip. Also, go visit the other girls playing Pink Saturday today.

Chirstmas Eve Snow in TEXAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS dear sweet friends. Bless each of you & those you love. Let us all keep the REASON for the Christmas Season in our heart's & minds EVERYDAY! Thank you Dawn for the lovely nativity image you shared with us! BEAUTIFUL!!! Don't you love the look on sweet Mary's face as she gazes into the face of her sweet baby? I do!!!!

Speaking of babies, here is my sweet fur baby Ms Reba. We just brought her home from the hospital after a scare yesterday. She has the beginning stage of kidney failure & I thought she had taken a turn for the worse. I just couldn't face loosing her at Christmas!!!! It turned out it was colitis. After IV's (see her blue bandage) lab work, $400.00 she is back home with us just in time to stand out & WONDER what this white wet stuff is.............................

I don't remember EVER having SNOW on Christmas Eve here in Texas!!!! Beautiful!!!!! I had so envied the photos of the snow in Monica & Vicki's post. And now I have a few of my own to share with you.

This is my back yard.

I'll share more another day. I hope each of you are safe, warm, with loved ones & enjoying this beautiful time. You are each a GIFT & BLESSING to me! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

A Christmas Tea For My Precious Friends

WELCOME to my Christmas Tea!!! I had this today for my friends that live locally & now I am going to invite all of you to join us. I also thought I would ask Ceilo & all the girls(click on sidebar to see who else is playing today) at Share Your Cottage Monday to join us.

Here is the dinning room set with all of the yummy food. The lights shinning in my china cabinet & behind my vintage stained glass panels.

Another look at the table. I used my Saint Nicholas china from Fitz & Floyd. I don't get to use them very often so I thought this would be the perfect time to do so (otherwise my choice would have been crystal plates). The item closest to you was a bowl of shrimp for shrimp cocktails.

Here are some of the yummy desserts... a bowl of fresh fruit, a tray of fudge, chocolate covered cherries, & brownies. And then homemade gingerbread boys & Mexican Wedding cookies. Next a strawberry cake, a bowl of nuts & a plate of brie cheese. The BIG treat for me were those beautiful white iced snowflake sugar cookies made by my friend Lisa. She knows those are my favorite & she brought a tray of them for me. THANK YOU LISA! Below is another shot showing you the sandwiches which were chicken salad (bread cut in the shape of a snowflake) ham salad, egg salad & cucumber/cream cheese. I don't think anyone went home hungry.

And below is a view of the Tea Cart my sweet Daddy bought for Mother when they were in Germany. It is not one of my favorite pieces but, it sure came in handy today. I know the large silver electric pot is not very feminine but, I can tell you it kept the hot spiced cider pipping hot & it was TASTY! You can see my vintage sterling tipping pot there on the cart at the left back side... NO ONE wanted tea. And the coffee pot never had a drop used. My cedar chest (under the window) had all the tea cups & mugs lined up ready for use. Sorry I didn't take a close up shot of my china. It is DARN cute!

Being the typical bloggers we are... when it was time to eat everyone RAN to find their camera before we destroyed the table. Here Tiffany, McKayla, Daniel, & JoAnn watch Susan photographing the table.

Plates full & busy eating are Lisa, Joanna, & McKayla.

And JoAnn, Tiffany & Daniele with their goodies. After taking this photo I started filling my plate & the doorbell rang so, I hurried to let Pat in & told her to fix a plate & join us. We no more got sat down & started eating & Carolyn came in & I told her to fix a plate... DOG GONE IT... I didn't get any photos of sweet Carolyn & Pat because then we were all eating & talking so much & it never popped into my head that you missed the photo call. I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY MY DEARS!

Well, we all had such a good time being together & having a chance to visit & celebrate our friendship this beautiful Christmas season. For those who were not able to join us, we missed you. Special THANKS to my elves (JoAnn & Susan) who came early to help with all the prep work!!!!! My sweet friends you are all such a blessing to me! Friends are the best gifts of this season. So for the friends here & out there in Blogland, I want to THANK YOU for your love & support all year long.

Fredericksburg Home Tour Part Two

Before we visit the other homes from the Christmas Home Tour please give me one personal moment to say...Isn't it funny how we don't feel old until a special event happens in our child's life? Today is my youngest son's 33rd birthday. Where did the time go? How does the part of your heart that walks around outside of your body get to be 33? I am so proud of him. He is an amazing young man & is the most wonderful father to his two boys. Here he is Halloween night taking the boys Trick or Treating on our four wheeler (so they didn't have to walk so far). Later in the evening they are still Trick or Treating & even my sweet boy has a sucker stuck in his mouth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!! YOUR MOMMA LOVES YOU WITH ALL HER HEART!

And for the continuation of the Home Tour (see previous post for Part One) this home is called Settler's Crossing & sits on a 35 acre park like estate. This is a Kentucky "mansion" built in 1790. It is a 3 story 13 room home. Originally it was a log cabin style but, upon moving to Texas the home continued to leak after it was restored. So they plastered over the log exterior & this is how it looks today. Very interesting to see how the were able to restore this home to be beautiful & current.

The home below is actually a very interesting story. This is the entrance to the home. It is new construction. To the far right where you see the limestone walls...that is the old rock home that was on this property. The first part of the home which you can not see in this photo (because it is incorporated into the limestone home) was a log cabin built in 1840. It was built by the 19 year old owner who had immigrated to Texas. As the family became more prominent a limestone home connected to the original log cabin by a breeze way.

Here is a better view of the old limestone home which is NOW the Master Bedroom Suite & 2 of the guestrooms. Loved the porch off the bedroom with that wonderful gingerbread trim all around the top.

And here is the other side of the house... A TWO STORY RED BARN moved here from Ohio. It has the original hewed timbers as the beams that shoot at least 25 feet into the air. AMAZING is the only word for this addition. They used the original siding from the barn to be beautiful wood floors that now grace these rooms. At the end to the right(downstairs) of the photo is a HUGE kitchen & then where you see where the porch begins is where their dining room begins. After those doors starts the doors that are in the GREAT Room.

A closer look at the barn/home. Again HUGE & AMAZING is the words for this!!!!! I so wish I could have taken interior photos for you. Upstairs on the kitchen end is more guest rooms. Over the GREAT ROOM the ceilings soar the full height.

Here is another one of the old building on the property. It has a screened in porch with yet more guest rooms. In total this home has room to sleep 32. I didn't show any photos of the property around this home but, it was beautiful. A creek with gentle slopping lawns down to the creek side property. A hammock in huge oaks... a tennis court, outside kitchen. AMAZING for sure.

And then a Christmas light photo of downtown Johnson City. Yes, Johnson like LBJ. It was the town where he spent his boyhood years (he was born on the family ranch about 10 miles outside of town) Here you see the Court House with the light streaming down.

Hope you enjoyed this little taste of Christmas & A Christmas Home Tour here in the Texas Hill Country.

Fredericksburg Christmas Home Tour Part One

I am so glad to join Cielo for my first Show Off Your Cottage Monday. And yes, I know I'm late to join but, I wanted to go ahead & share a home that we saw this past weekend on a Christmas Home Tour in Fredericksburg, Texas. THIS IS NOT my cottage but, a girl can wish!!!!!! Buy another LOTTO ticket hubby says. This old windmill stands watch over the house & has a strand of colorful lights strung at it's base. But, the colorful lights were no match for the beautiful Texas sky in the background! Here we are walking up the brick drive to this amazing home! The couple purchased the entire area & surrounding buildings then began remodeling & new construction. Fredericksburg is in central Texas in the hill country. The original area was settled by German immigrants that used the white Texas limestone for their homes. So this style is very typical of most of the homes in the area.

Below you see the old house to the front & to the left is a new addition. This home had soooooooooo many special touches. A media room with the drop down television screen complete with surround sound. The owner loves music & is/has been in a band so there is a recording/mixing room for his music. A huge indoor shuffle board upstairs... you are getting the picture.

The photo below is the wing to the right of the house coming out of the sitting area of the MASTER bedroom. The room was HUGE! The sitting area had a full size sofa & a couple of chairs in it. Standing in the doorway as I looked into the bedroom & said WOW he (the owner) said "Yeah you can sleep really good in there" with the most adorable little smile.

Following that rock path out of the Master will end you up at the pool area that sits next to this HUGE porch that has a full outside kitchen & has doors coming off the living room & kitchen of the main house. Words do not describe the inside kitchen. Too bad we couldn't take photos inside but, they had restrictions for security & privacy. So use your imagination... if this is the outside just imagine the inside!

The beautiful outdoor fireplace.

Standing by the fireplace looking back at the porch off the living room.

And the kitchen in the doors to the left in photo below. See the lights of the Christmas Tree twinkling in the windows below!

Standing on the porch & looking down the hill past the pool is the Guest House. Yes, the old building on the property was made into guest quarters since the house is only a mere 3 bedrooms (HA HA that is a funny word for this house.... MERE....). So the guest quarters has a kitchen, eating area, living room, 3 bedrooms & laundry room. Yes, the guest quarters are in the red building past that amazing pool & hot tub.

Standing on the rock path about to go down to the guest house you can see the fields below with another old rock building.

And this is what the pots sitting around on the porch & lining the paths looked like. There must have been 20 or more pots with poinsettia's, berries, greenery & herbs just dotting the landscape around the house.

A view looking back at the pool & patio from the guest house.

Looking out at the peaceful beautiful sky & field. I hear a noise... what is that I hear?

Yes, one of the owners planes (he has 2) has just landed on his pasture run way. He flies from Fredericksburg to Dallas to attend to business a few times a month.

A few more random shots of a shinning star of Texas Christmas Home Tour wonder.

See the flying G Brand done in metal on the back of the fireplace?

Another shot of the pool & pasture.

The sun is about to set & the sky is bathed in COLOR! Beautiful color from nature. I love the sunsets in our Texas skies.

As we are walking down the drive to go back to our car I again hear the plane & look over my shoulder to see it doing fly by's over the roof of the house( if you click on the photo it will enlarge & you can see it better) almost as if they were waving goodbye to us.

Thank you to Cielo for hosting Show Us Your Cottage & letting me take license to show someone else's cottage (if you haven't seen my Christmas decor please go to posts after this one to view). I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure & click the button on my sidebar to go & & visit the others playing today. And if you are not in Ceilo's group but, one of my friends or followers, thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you enjoyed the photos & hope all of you will leave a comment to let me know you stopped by & come back for more Home Tour photos later in the week. Have a great week & good luck with all of your Christmas preparations. Hugs!