The House is Sleeping

You may know the phrase, "the lights are on, but nobody's home"...usually, it refers to someone who is "not so bright".
My husband chose to turn in early, and I love the house when it's this quiet...peaceful, not lonesome...although, I did find myself just sobbing this afternoon, listening to Elvis singing, "Blue Christmas"...my mother-in-law is coming, but once again, my son and his family won't be able to join us...just a bit of Christmas blues...but, I digress.

It's no wonder they set Christmas (for they really don't know the exact time of year...or so I've heard) to coincide with the darkness this time of year brings...we need light, and hope, and joy to bring us though the darkness, don't we? This is why I love the wreath in my bedroom...I snuggle down in my bed and enjoy the doves, passing the silver roping to one another...it comforts me.

So, I wander around the house with my camera, which can only pick up so much light, but I despise a strobe or flash, and would rather have the mystery of what isn't shown, as opposed to the glare of what is there... In the kitchen, I find the wonderful "Three Hens" ornament I've attached to our cake stand...My darling friend, Cam, sent it to me...I couldn't wait until Christmas to open it. She remembered I have a line of greeting cards I've named "Here A Chick" Greetings...I miss her so.

We (okay, my husband)moved our Ficus in from the porch, as the hard frosts have hit Texas...I have lit it, and the lights are the kind that fade in-and-out...I love it, even though it practically eats our small dining room.

My hand-painted glass, my wreath, and a lone Belschnickel (someday, I will know the proper spelling) adorn a sideboard that my husband put together from a kit I got at the Clearance Dock at JC Penny's - $50....

Miss Gussie Plushbottem Goodcat is snuggled in my bergere chair, that I got for $100, as it had literally fallen off the back of a truck...original price - $1,000....She seldom curls up in it, but tonight, everything feels warm and cozy.

I walk outside, and the neighborhood is unusually quiet, as we have dogs that love to bay at the moon (I don't have dogs, but the neighbors do, and they don't seem to mind the howling)...Tonight, I can hear the wind in the trees, and can appreciate my tiny, tinsel tree, peeking through the sidelight of our front door. It looks inviting..the only place I've used colored lights...

I don't go bazoo with the outside lights...just a few topiaries, lit, and a couple of pecan trees, wrapped in bee lights...There are too many inflatible santas, some even driving convertibles, adorning the neighborhood.....I have nothing against them, but am strictly a white light person myself.

And so, with that, and a wonderful cup of hot cocoa, I am unplugging all those lights, (except for the wreath in the bedroom, at least for awhile...and tucking in on a cold, winter's night...'night.

What a Weekend!

I seem to recall in my last post, writing about shampooing the high-traffic areas of our carpets....My husband was scheduled to play golf, but it was rainy and cold, so he (God love him) volunteered to do the whole thing. We have stained concrete throughout the house, except for the bedrooms and our offices (which are bedrooms in disguise), so that adds up to four rooms, which are fairly large...and lots of cat hair...and places where our darlings had deposited hairballs (ew)...This was Saturday, and we were entertaining two couples on Sunday around five...plenty of time, I thought...HA! I had thought about having it done professionally, but a husband is so much less expensive....First, there was the removal of the furniture, and when we took the mattress and box springs off the bed, I nearly fainted...If I were the Board of Health, I would have shut the place down. I am embarrassed and disgusted, and although we love our 13-year-old cats, we have decided that, when they finally go to their reward, no more cats...maybe a dog (or two), that can't fit under a bed. We worked well into the night on Saturday.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, and since we were doing a pot-luck thingy, I didn't have tons of cooking to do (crock pot chicken wings (very yummy), bought some grapes, made some blue-cheese dressing to dip the wings, some crackers and cheese, and a big bottle of wine).
What took alot of time was putting everything back; we had put aluminum foil on all the feet of the furniture, to prevent it "wicking"....and I thought it would be dry by early the next day...not so...so the foil remains...I did tie a few silver bows around the legs of my dressing table in the bedroom, and with the bird wreath and silver ribbons, it looked quite festive...the bed, not so much..
I was rummaging about in one of the giant Totes in my garage, and came across my starfish...I had put silver dragees' on them last year, and loved them...I also had this wonderful, gold seaweed wreath, so decided the bathroom could use a bit of decorating...just stuck the starfish in, along with a few seashells. I just noticed that one of the cross towel hooks is crooked...oh well. I shot this early in the morning...our bathroom is not this color, although, I kind of like it....the sun was just coming up, and the warmth of the light really changed the colors of the walls...
Glass block would not have been my first choice in our master bath, but the house was three-quarters finished when I found it, and it was done. Considering our property has several acres of woods behind us, and privacy isn't an issue, I would have loved to have a regular window...Oh well.

I lived on Cape Cod for years, and collected lots of seashells, and they are now gracing the deck of our tub.....along with sea sponges, and an orchid.

So, the carpets were cleaned, the chicken wings prepared; everything was set out nicely on our island in the kitchen, the bon bons were in my hand-painted tall cake plate domes (or bon bon domes, as the case may be). The music was set up, the candles were lit, and I was ready for my guests. I usually use fabric napkins, even for every day...I feel they are ecological, and I like the feel of them..even though they may not be ironed when it's just the two of us...This time, since everything was finger food (my guests were bringing shrimp and a vegi plate), I would use paper napkins...I was at the supermarket at 6:30 in the morning, and all I could find in the rectangular napkins were red, green and white...I bought white, and ten minutes before the doorbell rang, I decided they needed to be more "festive", so I rummaged through my stamp collection and found the "Peace" stamp. I could now qualify as the "fastest stamper in the West"..I liked the stamp so well, that I think I will use it on my Christmas cards.

My friend, Diana, laughed as I opened the front door, and said, "how much did you have to pay to have the deer grazing in your yard as we pulled up?"...She said, "I could just hear you saying..."que the deer"!

I'm cheating a bit here...this is a shot I took last summer...the deer have their "winter coats" on right now. Oh well...

On a serious note, this was my beloved, favorite deer, "Shadow", who followed me about, looking wistful, thinking, "corn?, will she give me corn?"...sadly, she was murdered by my neighbor across the street...no sport in killing tame deer in your back yard, I'd say. That's fine, I put a curse on his house, and he moved away..but, I shall always miss my girl...

I bring this up because I came across our wire deer, that holds our Christmas cards -thus far, only one card...it's early yet. I also found an "Elmer Fudd" hunter's cap ornament, so in honor of Shadow, I put it on her head, and stuck a toothpick in a cranberry, and created "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer Hunter" deer....revenge is sweet...I couldn't figure out how to make a gun for her, but instead, in the spirit of Christmas and forgiveness (not quite), I put a Peace Dove in her antlers. Oh well.

Speaking of the "Deerly Departed" (sorry, I couldn't help myself)...this is my "Gizmo", who several years ago, died in my arms...I was just crushed. I caught him on my dining room table, admiring a floral arrangement a friend had sent us for our anniversary. He was busted...I love this photo, and I've posted it for a reason...see below...

This is "Grey Ghost Gussie Plushbottem Good Cat"...busted her this morning on the kitchen table, inspecting the silver and crystal swans. Had to use a flash to get the shot, as I was sneaking up on her...hence the eyes......She's a good girl, and I can always clean the table...it did remind me of my Gizmo....

So, I said I would never have cats again, but I do love them so...hairballs and all......maybe we will get more...(my husband won't let me..I'll just bet)..oh well.

I am exhausted from the weekend...and blessed, because I am going to go take a nap...There are some advantages to being self-employed...this is one of them...

Yesterday Was "One of Those Days"

Yesterday was one of those' "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" days (okay, politically incorrect, but Abe had a sense of humor, in fact, one great quote from many was, 'They say I am two-faced; if I had two faces, why would I be wearing this one'). Anyway, I was on my way to the new resale shop here in Georgetown, and as I was backing out of my garage, I heard a terrible "Whomp" , and the garage door had come down on my car..making a scratch on the back windshied, and the car had bumped out the garage to the point that I thought we would have to replace it. So, children, always make sure your garage door is ALL the way up, before backing out.
I called my husband, and was so shrill I am sure only dogs could hear me, and he was late for a meeting and couldn't talk...just said, "sorry". So, I called the garage guy, and he said a new door would cost $650.00 (gulp-there goes Christmas), but after he had seen it, he fixed it - for $96.00, and other than a few, small dents at the very bottem, it's fine...praise the Lord.

Today, I am cleaning high-traffic areas of the carpet, so haven't had much time to make fruit, or much of anything else, so I thought I'd share some photos of the "Ghosts of Christmas Past"...We are having friends in tomorrow evening, and being obsessive-compulsive, everything has to be as close to perfect as possible.
I loved my garden bunny, and he was very "seasonal", spending the spring and summers in the lovely garden, and gracing my coffee table for Christmas. I gave him to a wonderful friend of mine when I left, as she was ill, and admired him so much.....

Our house in Wisconsin was so very different than our Texas home. I was sort of in my "Victorian" period then, and instead of "less is more", more was more. I did make the footstool, and yes, gave that away, as well. Gussie Plushbottem Goodcat is warming herself by the fire. It's a gas fireplace, and I like our real, wood-burning better, as the gas give a nice ambiance, but you might as well cut a hole in the roof as far as being energy efficient.

This is Raisenette Funicello Buttafuco Badcat...with the erie eyes..he and Gussie took turns, trying to get the decorations off the staircase. This was before I painted it all white...looked so much better than the orginal "spec house" oak that is everywhere in WI.

Gussie is much smarter than Raisen...she opens cabinet doors, and rummages around, while Raisen can sit for hours by a partially open door, trying to figure out how to get through it..God love him.

With the winters being so long, cold, and dreary, I painted our walls a raspberry, and then, put a tobacco glaze over them. Before I left, I painted the mantel white...much prettier.

This was our "big back yard"....I dont' miss the cold...........................................................at all.

My beautiful friend, Cam in Wisconsin, took this photo a few days ago...she's such a good photographer. I LOVE the Yellow porch railing, contrasting with the recent blizzard results. I've asked permission to use this as my Christmas card this year, and she said yes...thanks, darlin'.

Again, in Wisconsin, my theory was "more is more", and here in Texas, I just have wrapped a few of our Pecan trees in lights, and have a couple of metal, lit topiaries...maybe, I'll try photographing them at night.

So, now is the time for me to clean carpets, and floors, and finish making everything as close to perfect as possible.....stay warm, and remember, it's better to have the garage door open when backing out.