Have a Wonderful New Year...

I hope we all will be looking at a better new year...I am ready to leave 2011 behind...and move forward...

No resolutions for me just developing one good habit each month...I understand if you do something 21 times it will become habit and stay with you....so if you do one thing each month your chances of a few of them taking hold is much better...I got the idea from zenhabits.net  It is a excellent article ....

“Habits are first cobwebs, then cables.”  

Spanish Proverb

I wish all my followers, family and dear friends a Happy & Healthy New Year full of hope... I hope you will enjoy the posts I have planned & look forward to what the other bloggers will be writing about as well...

See you in 2012!! 

DIY Friday!! Re-purposing some of your Clothes!!

I have a hard time finding a top that has the look I want, the right fabric and is priced reasonably...Most of the tops that I like are far out of my price range...so I am redoing some of my own...These are some of the tutorials I am using....

 Tshirt + Dress

Fingerless Mitts

Men shirt into a Peasant Tunic...

Mine is going to be long sleeved, longer and made from hemp...I am also putting a small panel of coordinating cloth on the side.

Shirt Pillow

I thought this was a cute idea...especially if it is a special shirt that has been outgrown

Vintage Tablecloth Top

Time to hit the Flea Markets!!!

Have you ever gotten those 

little tiny bleach spots that ruin a top....

Get creative with a Bleach Pen...

Then you can  Make your own Pattern... 

of a favorite piece of clothing that you know fits you well...

Just some of my favorites that I wanted to share...

Happy Re-purposing!!

Our Holiday...

I was not sure how our holiday was going to turn out...My Yorkie, Lil Guy,  got very sick last Friday, the 16th, so I took him to the vet and found out he had two types of Lyme disease...this even after I used Frontline and diligently scoured my animals for ticks every day...

I got the medicine but it was a couple of days before I could get them into him.....my husband & I were really scared we were going to lose him....as soon as enough antibiotics got into his system, he started to turn around...By Wednesday night he started to act like his old self, Thank God...now he is back hanging out with Molly again...protecting the homestead...

We have our family get together on Christmas Eve...  

by Thursday I had to do a catch up...

 So I made my annual batch of Pinwheel cookies like my Gram did...her recipe... as well as a Lasagna and Pumpkin Bars...

I went out and collected some evergreens and pine boughs for the house..

I took my own advice this year and decorated with antiques and flea market finds...the only thing I bought this year was some new lights for the tree...

The centerpiece above is made with an old bread dough bowl I bought years ago at a yard sale for 25 cents... the tea light holder inside the bigger one is covered in Epson salts

 A pair of child skis I got from my Dad...

 some antique skates I picked up on Ebay last year for  $10.00...

I couldn't pass these up...

 my antique willow basket filled with Pinecones..

 My Dad's blocks that he had as a child...

 Grampa Swan's snow shoes which are 100 years old this year.

My Frosty that I have had since the early 60's....

As well as a new addition...My felt Swan that my daughter got me for my birthday this year as a tribute to Grampa Swan...

 So on Christmas Eve, the candles were lit....

 I found a neat way of saving a candle if you like that particular color...I bought these dark maroon candles many years ago and I have never found  this particular color since...so I just pop in a tea light in the hollow that was created from initially using them...that way you can use soy tea lights which are better to use in a home.....

and it is not complete without the Maine Lobster stew that has become a Christmas Eve tradition started by my husband and daughter....

then we listen to Dylan Thomas read his story "A Child's Christmas in Wales", a family tradition that my daughter's boyfriend introduced us to a few years ago...We love it...

We had a peaceful Christmas Eve,  we missed a family member who couldn't make it down, and enjoyed the company of friends that stopped by...so now it is on to a new year and I hope it will be one in which good changes for our country will occur...

So this is Christmas ....

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
                                                                      Isaiah 9:6

Even though Jesus was not born in December but sometime in the springtime...we still take this time to remember his birth...To think of his life and words...He helped the needy, the downtrodden, the suffering, the abused...and railed against the money-changers, the rich for their behavior towards the neediest and suffering...

Please remember those and help if you can the most vulnerable of our society....... the poor & sick, children and animals...they need help not just at Christmas but every time of the year....Christmas should not be about consumerism or profits!!!

Good Shepard Food Bank

St Jude's Children Hospital 

ASPCA

If you suspect abuse or neglect...PLEASE REPORT IT!!!

Just some food for thought....and hopefully action....

Nature’s Holiday Light Show

"Get ready for a spectacular holiday season light show this coming Friday night, December 23, as the annual Ursid meteor shower coincides with the dark sky of a nearly new Moon in what astronomers are predicting will be a phenomenal display."

The Ursids: Nature’s Holiday Light Show | Farmers' Almanac:

 From what I can find you should be able to see the display after midnight...The North seems to be the best place to see this...But if the night sky is clear, it should be a spectacular show...go outside and look towards the North Star...

Enjoy the show!!

Medieval Baebes

Secret Santa

Secret Santa gives away money | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Across the country, Secret Santas are making the holidays just a bit brighter for those who are down and out...This is a story from Maine...I guarantee you will not be disappointed to read this...

~~Mid Winter~~

It is the Winter Solstice...

short day.. long night...
now the days will lengthen..
During the cold & dark hours of midwinter,
our diverse Holidays traditions
 bring in the warmth, light &
fragrant evergreens pointing
forward to the springtime..

Tinker House

as the snow flies...it is time to plan..

The seed catalogs are arriving...

So I think of old windows...

Old Windows 

recycled & re-purposed into houses for garden greenery..

greenhouse

greenhouse

Inside...

   the warm earthy smell of the soil &

 the sprouts that signal rebirth

Time to start working on the plans for our next structure...

a Greenhouse!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

 Robert Frost

Photo Credit: Snowy Forest

A Bohemian Style Christmas

flickr

Jewel Tree

google.com

Ok I seem to being doing this lately..I post then come across something really neat to add...like this little Boho Christmas tree...Click the name to go to the tutorial...

Oh Christmas Tree

Photo credits: pinterest.com unless otherwise noted..