Little pops of color -

The amaryllis and Christmas cactus 'garden' on the dining room table - our

sunny spot - now has the cutest ceramic toadstools popping out of two pots!  

They are a gift which I'm really enjoying while sitting here awaiting new

 growth and hopefully blooms in the coming months.

 

After New Year's Eve we'll be 'taking down' Christmas, packing away

 the much-loved decorations, hoping they will make their way here

 lighting and brightening a more normal holiday season when December

 rolls around again!

Taking a little break for a few days as many of you seem to be doing 

this week.  Will return New Year's Eve. . . . . . . . . after all there's

really nowhere else to go!!!!

Take care dear blog friends - stay well and safe - and thank you for

stopping by often during this very different year. 

Your visits and kind words always make me happy. 

Hugs to everyone.

Singing the blues and purples . . . . . .

Each day the clouds build and thunderheads appear late in the afternoons.

Huge drops of rain plop heavily on the back deck, and I run outside to toss the 

cushions into the gazebo. Lightning illuminates the darkening sky, thunder

 cracks sharply directly overhead making me jump and the neighbors' dogs

 bark, or booms in muffled rumbles off in the distance.

Thunderheads (cumulonimbus) are the most dramatic looking clouds with their

tall and imposing shape. They grow vertically instead of horizontally, forming

into dense towers that can reach 20,000 feet, sometimes even more.

Late Summer sky over Raleigh while driving home from the State Farmers' Market downtown on Sunday. 

Sunday, we took a drive to the market for fresh farm eggs and tomatoes, and

ended up also buying a few pretty purple eggplants - they come in all shades, 
shapes and sizes now.

Despite garden conditions being disappointing this Summer due to a

 crazy weather pattern, I was shocked when Bob pointed to "a purple thing in

 the back garden on the arbor." Looking closer I found not one but two

 'purple things' dangling from the arbor. . . . . . . very late blooming wisteria

racemes! None bloomed in Spring but it's lovely to see them now.

While singing the blues, I have to show you this beautiful piece of handmade glass

 from Colorado. It was a gift from my neighbor. His kitty is Ms. Nala whom I've

 shared with you often. . . . . and this Summer I did take care of her for several
 weeks. The blue vase is sitting on the lovely mosaic tray made some years ago
 by my dear friend Penny in the North Carolina mountains. 
You can find her here at Enjoying the Simple Things.

Seeing home in a new light. . . . . . . . .

I was gifted with this beautiful contemporary style poster featuring my English

 hometown when I was visiting for Christmas last year - thank you again for such a

thoughtful present Jean (we gals have been friends since our schooldays).

 I really like the soft colors, quite different from often garish versions of posters.

Because I've been unable to find a ready made frame to fit, I purchased an 

inexpensive black artist's stretched canvas and attached the poster with

 double-sided tape. An easy-peasy answer and all done in a couple of minutes. . . . . 

. . . . . and I think it looks perfect.

The poster is hanging next to the bed and I really enjoy looking at it

 each day and remembering my beautiful faraway home on the bay.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Awaking to another horrendous happening here in America,
 last night's Las Vegas concert attack, just breaks my heart. 

I pray for all, those gone forever in the blink of an eye, those critically

 injured fighting for their lives, those injured who will need care and will remain

 with both physical and emotional scars, and those who thankfully escaped injury

 but will forever live with the terrible memory of what should have been a happy night out. 

~~~~~~~~~

"Just Ducky"

You may recall that delightful Fiona the penguin arrived with traveling companions 

a few days prior to Christmas. That large unexpected box from North Carolina's

coast also brought another wonderful surprise, the twins, Hannah and Phoebe! 

Such a beautiful pair of sassy ducks whom I'd also met earlier in that

lovely shop BAROUKE in Wilmington, NC. I loved the idea of ducks wearing
 wellies and shared them with you HERE in an earlier post.

Hannah and Phoebe, after testing the waters in the garden - where constant rain

the past couple of weeks have drowned and dampened everything outdoors -

decided that, although they had fun splashing in their polka dot wellies, they would much

prefer staying in the cottage now that cooler winter weather seems imminent and

they are not really into ice skating yet!

So, they are happy in the kitchen this week, celebrating a new year, bird watching 

through the windows, joining in the fun, and adding their cheerful "quacks".

Thanks again to delightful Jannett at BAROUKE who made Christmas,

and forever, very special for me with these delightful gifts.

Colorful Gifts and Home Decor at Oxford Green. . . . . .

I popped into the amazing gift/home decor shop 

Oxford Green this weekend.

Life is hectic to say the least. I'm trying to get ready for the upcoming trip and still 

work in other required chores on the TO DO list. It seems to gather projects and 

grow longer daily. 

Our air conditioning needs servicing - these last very hot days have been 

uncomfortable in the house with no cooling. . . . . .and the service guy has yet to appear.

The garden is growing non-stop and requires daily attendance. . . . . I swear the 

grass grows an inch every day now.

Meanwhile, thick yellow pollen coats every surface and birdsong is muffled by 

coughing and sneezing.

Oxford Green, a little oasis of beauty, is directly across from where I go for 

physiotherapy twice weekly. That takes a chunk of my time, but is necessary 

if I'm going to dodge the surgeon's knife and be able to toddle around those 

European cobble stoned streets soon!

I've tried to stay away from this lovely shop but gave in yesterday when 

looking for a couple of special gifts.

My previous post on the shop was last Fall HERE.

I told owner Shawna I'd take a few pics and write this little post on her delightful 

shop before leaving town, so please enjoy looking around here. . . . . . . . you will 

definitely see some treasures to brighten your Monday. 

If you live locally I would suggest a visit - you'll love it here.

Mug shots . . . . . . . .

Do you start your day with a mug of coffee?

I don't think I can get going without mine - just strong black coffee from

the beans I usually grind every few days. I have the coffeemaker ready to go the 

night before and push the start button as soon as I hit the kitchen. I don't add a 

thing, guess it's my daily wake up call and I have no inclination to change it.

However, when it comes to coffee mugs, sometimes I do make a change.

This lovely mug was a birthday gift last October from my 

granddaughter Jasmin. Here I displayed it in the fabulous vintage display 

dome she also gave me on that same occasion.

This is the perfect mug for me - large, white, and has a memorable

word ~ CALM ~ inscribed on it. It's a comfy mug to hoist even when full of 

strong java, the handle just right, and the free form design is a little edgy which 

I really like.

Since acquiring CALM for my morning coffee I've grown a small collection!

Now and then I stop by a HomeGoods store just to "look around". Don't we all plan 

to do that, but then end up making a purchase as they have such neat stuff.

So I've now added RELAX, CREATE and DREAM to my mug collection.

I'll continue searching for at least one more word - I like odd numbers.

Do you have a favorite mug? 

Do you use it daily - and what do you take in your coffee?

Anthropologie - home and gift shopping . . . . . .

I was at Anthropologie a couple of weekends ago.  

Having a branch of this shop just a couple 

of minutes from the cottage is fantastic. . . . .but 

dangerous!

When it opened a few months ago I could hardly contain 

myself, however I waited a couple of weeks before 

visiting because I was just back from Europe and there 

were bills to pay and more important things to do than 

'go shopping'.

Just walking into Anthro' is a joyful experience.

Their creative crew do decor like no other.

The clothing is of course beautiful, often unusual, and 

always expensive. I usually leave that part until last 

as I don't buy much of it other than if I spy a real 
bargain in the sale room.

However, the items for the home are wonderful, many of the

small things are quite affordable. Their plates, bowls,  

cabinet hardware, and candles are fabulous. Their selection 

of books is legendary - fabulous cookbooks, photography 

and decorating books from around the world.  

On this visit I immediately fell for the tiny salt 

and pepper set(first pic). Although a modern, simple design, 
I think they look good with my antique pearl-handled silver servers. 
Unglazed china outside with beautiful highly glazed bowls 
in shades of aubergine, a must have for a small dinner 
party, at just $5 each.

The plates with free-form edges and writing - 

I love anything with words - are special at $14,

beautiful glazing and unusual design. I bought two 

for dessert or teatime treats with a friend.

The sugar bowl, same unglazed exterior, with beautiful 

green glazed bowl and the sweetest tiny spoon, just $14 

for the set. A small gift I think anyone would enjoy.

Do you have a favorite store for gift shopping? 

Is it a national chain or a local one-of-a-kind shop,

such as the fabulous Oxford Green I shared with you 

a couple of weeks ago? Yes, I plan another visit there 
soon - I know Shawna will have plenty of gorgeous gift 
items for the coming Holiday season. 

Blogging with Blondie!

Jane, known to all as 'Blondie' from Blondie's Journals, and I have blogged and followed each other for many years. When she told me that she and 'The Husband' would be visiting Asheville again this Spring I was thrilled to think we could meet again for a second time. Then, the sad news came that they would be there when we were off on a trip overseas. There was no way we could drive west to the North Carolina mountains and be back in time to fly east to catch our boat! 

The good news followed later…they were driving to Asheville from Washington D.C. and would stop in several beautiful Virginia spots along the way, and then spend an overnight in Raleigh so that we could get together for dinner.

We are in disarray while preparing to venture forth on another Cunard 'Queen' very soon - more on that later! However, some quick cleaning, Jane you've no idea what got stuffed behind closet doors, fresh flowers from Trader Joe's, early Saturday morning baking and cream whipping, and we were prepared for a fun evening yesterday. 

Following dinner out - pic via the wait person - we came back to the cottage. Although dark, it was a perfect evening, warm and apparently mosquito free as we toured the garden a bit, then sat inside and chatted about all and sundry while enjoying dessert and coffee.

The time flew by much too quickly. We exchanged 'blog gifts'. The four of us get along famously. The husbands have much in common, and of course Jane and I found more than enough to chat about - bloggers were your ears burning? Don't worry we were nice!

Pic via Bob

My really beautiful gift from Jane - a wonderful 'teatime recipe book' with fabulous recipes from the world's best tearooms, with a classical music CD to play at teatime. I really love this - it has many of my favorite pieces of relaxing music - in fact I'm playing it now and it's breakfast time, and I may just play again at lunch time, and I've added it to my iTunes on the MacBook so I can travel with it too! Jane is great at choosing perfect gifts - thank you dear friend.

Enjoy the remainder of your trip Jane and A. Hug those Asheville gals for me please, and tell them I hope to catch up with them this Summer!

*******

Tomorrow, being a busy day of celebration, I will not be posting here. 
Wishing each of you a great holiday, and please, in between the eating, drinking, 
fun with family and friends, remember the meaning of this very special day.