Merry Christmas

"For unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord."

To Be a Child

"You know what it is to be a child?  It is to be very different from the man of today.  It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear....."    Francis Thompson

Table Set for Thanksgiving

 Wanted to share our place setting for Thanksgiving. (Please forgive the glare, but we were enjoying sunshine from the french doors in the dining room.)  Our dishes are Currier and Ives that belonged to my grandmother and this is the first time we have used them.  The napkins are real; I found them at a thrift store a couple of years ago.  The orange berries were gathered by Galileo and I from our sweet neighbor's front lawn. This same sweet neighbor also let me know that he has a holly tree in his backyard if I want to gather red berries for Christmas~oh yes!   I know that I did not follow the exact rules for place settings, but this is how we do it at Linton Cottage.  It was just what we needed and made a beautiful table for us.

One of our yummy deserts ~ carrot cake.  Those are orange sugar pumpkins on top; it was decorated by Little Cowboy.  We also had a hen, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, English peas, roasted green beans, mac and cheese, fresh baked bread, pound cake and ice cream.

My sweet husband and I went to morning mass while the boys slept in, I was able to get a little walk around the neighborhood before finishing lunch preparations, and then just the 5 of us sat down to a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch.  We definitely had many blessings to be thankful.  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, also.

Thanksgiving Decorations

Remember the Halloween Tree?  Well, it is now the Thanksgiving Tree.  This picture does not do it justice, but to me, it is sweet.  I cut leaves from scrapbook paper and this afternoon I had Galileo* and Little Cowboy* write things for which they were thankful on the back of the leaves.

Too cute and funny.  We have things such as Mom and Dad (too sweet), our cats, food, my brothers, NaNa and Pops,  and the funniest one ~ "computer".  This was written by Little Cowboy after I, trying to give him hints, asked him, "What is something that you use all the time?"  I was thinking more along the lines of water, his bed, etc.  Well, at least he is honest.

 This is "Turkey Under Glass."  

 Our new chalk board in the Butler's Pantry.  This was once a bulletin board that I just painted with chalkboard paint.  I do hope the cork board will hold up.  I love the fact that we can write on it with chalk and also pin notes, pictures, etc.

 In this picture you can see the board that we placed on the wall that holds hooks for essential such as backpacks, jackets, and shopping bags. It was once just an old board that I found and knew it held potential.  What you may not see is that I still need 3 hooks to finish it up.  Must pick those up right away.

 My laundry detergent.  The other day I placed this chipped transferware into the jar and am loving it to dispense the detergent into the wash.  Forget that old plastic scoop; this almost makes laundry fun.

 I am working on getting the Butler's Pantry (which also serves as the laundry and entryway from the garage) decorated.  It serves many purposes and I love it.  I will share more pictures as I continue to create what I want to be a very functional, but welcoming room.

*To protect the privacy and for safety, I will use nicknames for our 3 sons.  They will be referred to as Michelangelo (who is 22 and away at college),Galileo (14), and Little Cowboy (12). 

Three Weeks

Only three weeks until Thanksgiving.  Are you getting ready?  

Happy Halloween

Wonderful Autumn Weekend

Yummy hot chocolate topped with whipped topping and Halloween sprinkles.  This was enjoyed cuddled with a blanket and my sweet husband in the swing on the back patio.  We have a gas lantern on a pole on the back patio of our new cottage.  I am loving the soft light it provides in our backyard so that I can enjoy sitting out on these cool autumn nights.

 Sweet hands of our youngest son helping his mom clean out our pumpkins.  Boy, I am glad that even with all of his texture sensitivities, he enjoys cleaning out pumpkins.

 Jack-O-Lanterns are carved and ready!!  Designed by each of the boys and carved by their Daddy.  They were lit last night and look great. 

Ready for All Hallows Eve

At Linton Cottage we are looking for The Great Pumpkin.  The cottage is all decorated for Halloween and I wanted to share the fun and comfort we are enjoying this weekend.

 Ummm.  Yummy caramel apples.

 These two spooks we have had over 20 years and they always make an appearance in October.

 This is our Halloween Tree that I have been putting out for several years now.

 Hanging from its limbs are reproductions of vintage Halloween postcards and little cat and pumpkin people.  The printouts for their little heads came from Martha Stewart and they are glued to chenille strips twisted to make their bodies.

Thanks for your visit.  I will try to post more later; plans for the rest of the weekend include mass, a little cooking, pumpkin carving and hot cocoa!!

Welcome Autumn

"Come, little leaves,"
Said the wind one day.
"Come down to the meadow
And we shall play.
Put on your dresses
Of red and gold,
For summer is past
And the days grow cold."

As soon as the leaves
Heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering,
One and all.
Over the meadow
They danced and flew,
All singing the soft
Little songs that they knew.

~George Cooper

Say Good-Bye to Summer

Shine On Harvest Moon

Oh how I love the beautiful Harvest Moon.  

(Turn off the music at the bottom of the page to enjoy this fun video.)

Those First Few Words

There's something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they will take you. ~Miss Potter