Looking back over life this week . . . . . .

 

 It's been a mixed week of trying to get niggling chores done in order to

 move along with Christmas preparations.

For instance, in the garden, cutting down the delightful dahlias now in their

 death throes. This one still beautiful. Hoping they will return next year.

Raking the never ending falling leaves - thank goodness Bob can still 

do this job - but next year we will most likely hire younger able-bodied 

yard workers - it's really too much for us now!

Putting away the daily decor and making room for Christmas - 

although this year I will keep it simple.

Last thing to decorate is the dining room table - my favorite space after the mantel.

It will also be the last . . . . .after I've completed writing the Christmas cards over

the weekend. . . . . they are scattered everywhere across the smooth, gleaming

 pine table, along with sheets of pretty postage stamps, address labels, lists,

pens etc. 

Stopped at a garden center in town yesterday to pick up some cut greens

and was surprised at the prices this year - so much higher than I recall.

This now seems to apply to everything we are purchasing though, 

especially food!

My choice of greenery for the mantel - $15 for these few pieces tied in a bunch!

Fresh wreaths such as at the top of this photo were lovely but priced so high,

some close to $100!

I'll scrounge around in the back garden and see if I can find more

evergreens and red berries later.

We decorated outside this week, fewer strands of lights due to

 my physical issues. Currently Bob does everything requiring bending

 and lifting! I went to PT twice this week and am now taking a

break until I see the neurosurgeon just prior to Christmas.

Hung wreaths - our very nice faux ones - with new red and black check

 ribbon bows, many candles in lanterns, and set some floodlights across 

the lawn. The cottage looks pretty once dusk fades and the inky darkness

 of these December nights blots the sky. The moon hangs low, a perfect

 clear crescent, stars are glittering, and the nostalgic fragrance of 

burning firewood creeps into the nostrils when I step outside. 

Although still warm, we did light a fire on Thursday night when

granddaughter Jasmin came for supper.

The coming of Christmas is a lovely time. Just need to stop, breathe, and

take in the simple things nature provides - they are the most important.

Hoping your weekend will be filled with treasures of the holiday season.

Remembering. . . . . . . . . .

Sometimes . . . . . . . . . just remembering is good enough.

Collect glowing moments.

The cure for boredom . . .

. . . is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

                              ~ Dorothy Parker ~

OK, the thing is, I'm never, ever bored. I'm always far too busy. 

Boredom is a word I rarely, if ever, give a thought to.

I consider myself to be a curious person. 

Ever since childhood I've been extremely interested in nature. For gifts I often requested pocket-sized nature guides to plants, weeds, wild flowers, birds, insects, even the small animals found in the meadows such as field mice and hedgehogs. I was fortunate in that I don't recall there being dangerous, poisonous, biting, stinging creatures in England's beautiful countryside that I needed to avoid . . . well perhaps a raging bull at a gate once, and a few horseflies now and then!

The older I became the further afield I would roam with those guidebooks, and a small notebook and pencil in my pocket. In winter I would don my Wellington boots and mackintosh - it was usually raining, or threatening to - sloshing through piles of wet leaves to get into the fields. In spring and summer I would traipse through a large nearby field at daybreak - before the cows arrived - gathering a basket of mushrooms for breakfast. Later, in sunshine, I'd watch the flowers opening, buttercups, celandines and daisies, as I lay on my back with clouds scudding overhead, swallows swooping low. Autumn was always, and still is, my favorite season. The colors of the mighty horse chestnuts and oaks were amazing, their leaves laying thick carpets of gold and bronze on the woodland floor, the chestnuts' copper-hued conkers shining as they peeked through their bright green prickly cases. 

We lived at the edge of the countryside. By that I mean in a neighborhood built after WWII to house families where the dads, and sometimes even the mums (both my parents served in the Royal Air Force within England during the war), returned to civilian life, desperate for housing.

We lived in my grandmother's tiny flat in town for a while, then we moved into a pre-fabricated home on a housing estate. Neat little cookie-cutter houses with small back and front gardens built quickly in meandering rows, bordering a village and plenty of woodland and farmland. I have vivid memories of that house as we lived there until I was seven. My mother taught me how to grow flowers and vegetables from seed - flowers I recall best were the heady perfumed sweet peas in summer, and powerfully fragranced sweet William that bloomed with autumn's arrival. The veggies were runner beans, broad beans, potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers and Brussels sprouts.

I found this little rustic cabinet when treasure hunting in Asheville, NC last year. I knew immediately it was to become my own cabinet of curiosities.  My plan was to refinish it, make it spiffy with perfect paint, but the longer I've put it off the more I realize it's just the way I want it to be. It already holds some natural curiosities and brings me a lot of pleasure. Searching for new, meaningful additions to the cabinet is something I've discovered to be most interesting.

The opposite of boredom is to remain engaged or 

interested in a subject.

I believe that curiosity just might be the answer here.  

Do you consider yourself to be a curious person?

Leather and Nature.................

If you don't live here in the south you may not be sure 

which tree sheds these beautiful seed pods. 

It is the Southern Magnolia, these coming from 

the smaller species called Little Gem. 

Blooming with huge white

flowers in Summer, permeating the humid air with heavy

but lovely perfume........southern nights would not be

the same without the the magnolias.

Heading into the doctor's office on Tuesday - DH was 

hobbling with a knee problem - I noticed the seed pods 

on the ground before seeing the magnolia tree, deciding 

right then and there I would gather some up on the way out. 

I saw a potential natural and unusual Christmas decoration!

....and the amazing laptop case?  

My recent win from the lovely and talented California 

designer Christina here at GREIGE.

She does everything right when it comes to decorating her 

own home, and then helping others take their spaces to 

another level.

Christina's daily blog is stunning, her giveaways are 

awesome.....and recently I was thrilled to win this 

sleek envelope laptop case made from one piece of rugged 

oiled leather and two solid copper rivets from a 

small California company named boutonne. It certainly 

makes a statement and will protect my much-loved 

MacBook Air for ages.

If you've not visited Christina at GREIGE yet you are in 

for a treat, head over to say hello, tell her I sent you,

 see the beautiful things in her home, and for sale in her 

online shop.