"Out with the old...........and in with the new"...............

This phrase,  I always reflect on as the end of another year is quickly approaching...........

don't you?

And although I agree with it in many ways...........such as the way communication has changed for us all..........thank goodness for the Internet and cell phones.............

and I could not live without my washing machine.................

or indoor plumbing..........

But there are some things.......................old...............I still love.........and don't want to change.

I love my new digital camera............

but I cherish old black and white photos.............

especially with family settings..........

don't you?

 

Although I have really good new garden books..............

I have found that the old ones I collect

are a valuable and reliable source to my gardening success.

Being an embroidery artist.................I love trying new techniques

but there is nothing more beautiful than vintage embroidery............

I think.

And we all love those old recipes, handed down from Grandmothers and Aunts.........to our mothers............and then we make the same ones..................

every year!

I understand the stability and comfort new houses can offer............

but there is just something about an old house............

it calls out..........."rescue me............

be my family."

 

None of us can resist or forget......

our old companions.......

can we??

 

And now...........the subject of "old friends..........new friends"

I love making new friends.........and feel so blessed to do so................

and they soon turn into my old friends...........

cherished more and more as the years slip by.

When it comes to the real meaning of

out with the old..........and in with the new............

I know we should all toss out those old regrets..........mistakes that we made.............

things that we never want to happen again............

But for me, I am glad that I sometimes remember these old things...........

for these old things is what made me into the new person I am today.

If these things had not have happened,

I would still be that same old person, ..........

doing the same old things.

Some day..............when I age to be" ancient"............I am sure that these

grievances will come to visit me now and then...........

but I am also sure.....that I will have no regrets.......

because of all of the old and new things that I learned along the path of  my journey.

 

Here's wishing you a happy closing to this year,

may you look back at it.........a little wiser.

If your heart has been saddened.............may a door to new happiness swing open

with the new year approaching.

May all of your regrets and mistakes

only serve to remind you that you have become better through it all!

****** Having guests for Christmas dinner?*****
I have a great recipe for a spicy snack mix that they can munch on while waiting for the feast!
Visit my cooking blog for the recipe. Just click onto the link
My Country Kitchen

I am only gathering a few eggs to stuff in my pocket

now that the extreme cold weather has come...........



The chickens spend most of their day gathered together in the warmth of the heat lamp in their coop.

It's been 8 years since I purchased store bought eggs...............

 today, I bought my first dozen of eggs from the store and was shocked at how pricey they have gotten to be. 

As most of you know...............I have fallen in love working with cement.

I am a woman obsessed! I can find a cement mold in any thing I look at!

I found these old candy molds and knew instantly what I wanted to do with them.

So............from this...............

 

 

to this..................

to this...................

and now this!!

Isn't this the cutest little rooster?

The little hens are cute as well!

And I am having fun deciding which colors I want to paint them in.

 

When my hands aren't busy with cement...........or embroidery..........

They am busy decorating for the season..........

with my loyal helper..........Sophie

Salem thinks he is a help as well..........even if he is actually removing the Christmas balls with a swipe of his paw.

How about you?

What are your holiday plans?

Are you traveling or are you staying home this Christmas?

I would love to hear!

 

 

 

My son hit a patch of icy road, lost control, hit a fence, and

totaled his car..........

 He walked away without a scratch.

We are so greatly thankful.

At this time, my memory goes to these words...........

Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed.

It is an intruder and a thief, and yet in the hands of God,

adversity becomes the means through which His supernatural power is demonstrated.

Charles Stanley

 



Silver bells............it's Christmas time............on the prairie

Sometimes, I am slow to realize that all of you  probably get very tired of seeing prickly brush, icy woods, and brown, golden shrub............. on my blog.............no matter how much I always consider it to be  pretty.

So I decided to give you some Christmas cheer to give your eyes a vacation from all of that.

I put our tree up today...............by myself.

Years ago, this used to be the exciting part of our Christmas celebration. I would make hot cocoa, pop popcorn, and have decorated sugar cookies on the table, as my 3 young children would happily pull each and every ornament out of the box and display it on the tree.

My husband was the one to apply the strings of lights.

 

 

 

Now our 3 children have grown and flown away from these childhood fancies, my husband is busy away at work............so Burl Ives  is my assistant as he sings Christmas tunes to me.

I also did not use our vintage balls this year. They have been a part of our tree every year for 30 years, but last year, they started showing their fragile-ness, so I have decided to decorate

with new balls and little silver bells.

 

 

One thing that will always be the same on our tree is our Christmas angel. She has been on every tree even when my husband and I were dating and fixed a tree together. She was the one we picked out. I think she came from Gibson...........do any of you remember this store?

She has had her head glued back on, her dress puffed back out and her wings straightened, yet she still smiles down as she sits on her tree top.

My camera cannot cope with the flashing lights so the best shot of my tree is a little blurry, but full of cheer. It is really pretty to go outside when it is dark and look in at it through  the window.

How about you?

Do you have vintage balls from years and years to adorn your tree?

Or can you not resist the pretty new ones with the festive designs?

Hope you enjoy this cheery break from the west Texas scenery!

 

What a difference a little sunshine can make!

Here is the early morning field last week after our ice storm..........

and here it is this morning,..........with the temperature reaching up to the 70's later in the day.

 I have to say...........I love the woods even in their frozen state

with the ice dripping off of their limbs

and the pasture and prairie grass stiff and not moving..........

Out comes the sun..........and every thing looks alive again.

Even Sophie is more happy about taking a long walk........

 

maybe we went too far this time............she is headed back home without me.

She's that little black dot you see up the road a ways.

Now is the time for all of the pretty Christmas trees to start showing off their shine, full of Christmas cheer.

This was in the middle of a parking lot in Lubbock TX. this past weekend.

Here's hoping that a little sun and Christmas cheer has made it's way to you!

Good Times, Good Food, And Good Memories Made...........Happy Thanksgiving!

 

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
~Grandpa Jones

I listen to the sound of crunching ice

from Sophie's feet as she  hurriedly runs ahead of me in the early morning woods,

that lie in a mixture of light snow and sleet. The ice  stings my face as I walk behind her.

In no time she has found a scent and has bounded out to the cotton field, where some creature has made it's way earlier.

After a while, the wind started blowing the ice harder and Sophie realized.............

it's cold!

It didn't take her long to leave the frozen grounds and to  find her favorite place to warm up.

While she sleeps,

I think I will get busy in the kitchen.

 

Knowing that we were due an ice spell, I gathered up the remaining pumpkins from the patch. I plan to cook down a few of these for fresh pumpkin pie making. The rest will be split and laid out in the woods for the critters to enjoy.

There is a certain quietness to the woods when it lies underneath a blanket of frozen white...........

no matter how many times I have noticed this...........

I still feel "in awe" of nature and her amazing ways............

I love the words of  Lady Bird Johnson

a genuine Texas Lady,

as she quoted.............

When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I'll know I'm growing old. 

Lady Bird Johnson

 

Hoping this finds you having  a warm weekend............

even if it is snowing.



A few weeks back, an archway, made from vintage ornamental gingerbread..........

sat out in the yard of a vintage shop and found it's way into my heart.

The next day, it was riding home with me

where it was placed onto the ground and into  the process of making it pretty again began.

 

I thought it was pretty the first time I saw it...........

but it had so many layers of gunky paint that the detail in the flowers and leaves were hidden.

Because of weather and other tasks along the way, I applied stripper and hand stripped away at this for a few weeks.............

until finally, it was time to paint

and to see each detail

and all of it's beauty come  through.

Now it stands out in the garden space that I am working and planning on.

The grounds look so barren and dry..........but I am planning on creating a vintage country garden , filled with other vintage items, as I come along to find them, as well as  roses, wisteria, Italian Jasmine.........and of course...........Zinnia, my favorite............. With this archway.........

opening on the path to it all. Decorating the garden will be the easiest and most fun...........getting the plants to agree to grow and remain there will be the hardest........especially with the hot and challenging elements of our area.

Whether I am successful or not...........one thing holds true. This piece will always be here, inspiring me to pursue my dream.

Another dream of mine is also in the making.............

as most of you know,  my work is hand embroidery...........

Flowers are one of the things I love most to do............

I am currently working on opening up my vintage shop to sell my glassware and dishware. I am also creating matching linens to sell along with it.

To find out more just visit my embroidery blog by clicking on to this link

Yesteryear Embroideries