red squirrel christmas open house

our annual christmas open house was held in november for 2 days this year. we had lots of fun- lots of buying and over-all good cheer. the food was great and the shop looked so festive.  enjoy pictures of the shop....

                                                

                                                                      

                                                                      blue section...

                                                              
             "new" cupboard that i filled up with apple-pie filling, candy, jam,  and other homemade  goodies.

we fixed the dining room up in the house as part of the shop. these are the items that katie made and also sells on etsy.

                                              our" pillow and girly" corner in the dining room.

                                                          more in the dining room...

                                                  most of these things sold in the first hour!

                         i had a few items displayed on the porch before coming into the dining room.  the reason i only had 11 cups is because one was found on the porch floor- broken. some "visitor" had come in the middle of the night and disrupted things- was it an elf or pixy? -                                                                                                                                                     

NO.... i was able to actually see the culprit early in the morning of my open house. a large, brown RAT!, yes, rat, was crawling along the curtain rod on the porch. i left the door open all day- hoping he wouldn't pop out right in front of anyone at the open house. he must have gotten out, as we haven't had any more incidences on the porch.  (the exterminator came and found rat prints outside in the snow and set some traps- whew!) this is the trap we put on the porch - it was alot larger than it looks here.

a lot of work, but worth it!



christmas traditions...

    throughout the years we have had many traditions- some have lasted and some have been broken sometimes "just because".  here are several that have stuck and some have even spanned a generation now.. my mom started this one-  we bake sugar cookies and decorate them - one for each person who will be sharing christmas dinner with us. each person finds their cookie with their initials or name on it. these are custom made to suit the person's situation or personality. (several of us like cats. one loves red hots ). well, you get the idea.

this is a wreath that i made when i was pregnant with joanna- 27 years ago. each little ornament is hand embroidered and stuffed and is attached to the wreath - one each day in december. the problem this year is that i found most of the ornaments on the floor when i came home one evening.  the felines had discovered new toys and it was a free-for-all!  i was able to retrieve all but one and am still hoping that one will show up.

cookie trays for the neighbors have always been a fun tradition- especially for the elderly ones who no longer bake.

cracking up candy canes for vanilla icecream- always a favorite- even though one can now buy the real thing.

decorating the tree  - even though it's alot smaller than those of yesterday. this one was purchased  at a thrift store and has vintage-type ornaments on it. (more detail a little later).

we always try to have festive tables during the holidays. we also hang our stockings in the dining room and have an additional tree there. nella is demonstrating how we sit at the table!  just kidding.

this shows more detail of the living room tree. jojo sent this cute danish pixy- it's the only colorful thing on the tree and reminds us of her . she can tell us the real name for this sweet little one..".hagen das"??? :o)

these are just a few of our traditions- the ones i happened to capture on film.  mostly we just enjoy the christmas season with each other and the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

sweet revenge

christmas time and i thought a cute decoration would be a  santa hat tacked on our maple tree- the one with  the face. .one week after i did this, this is what remained of my clever idea!  my former tenants of my shop (red squirrel)  found the perfect revenge...ergo the shredded cap... they've been waiting for 6 years for the perfect opportunity.  nice going, guys.

                               



birthday girl!

  a sweet  little christmas baby-. i wasn't a young mom at that point,  but this was a special one because she would be the last. there's something special about each of your children and she was the baby- forever. in the early years, she was a shadow to me. our daily trips to the school to fill the duties of pto president, were sweet- i always had a little buddy. her little red shoes and funny hats were her trademark, and the teachers and principal all knew her. she has been my friend for these many years- watching movies, cooking, shopping, decorating and giving me beauty and fashion tips. (what would we do  without our children?)
  dec. 11th  marks the quarter- century birthday of my baby!  yes, 25 years ago, we decided to get to the hospital in kittanning before the snowstorm hit. i didn't think i was quite ready to leave home, but didn't want to get snow-bound at home with 3 little kids and another on its way out. (i never found out what any of our kids were, so it was like christmas morning when the dr. would say---"it's a healthy girl/boy!" ). when i got to the hospital, i thought i would just sit in the lobby until i had to go to the labor area, but after checking me- that wasn't going to fly.  i was further along than i supposed.  our baby girl was born shortly afterwards . we didn't name her right away- in fact it took several days. the dreaded snowstorm finally hit and no one could get through to visit me so i spent several days in the hospital instead of going right home.
  and now my baby,"nella",  has a baby- a little girl- "lucy" who greatly resembles her mom at this age. this great circle of life goes on and is such a gift. i am grateful for all of my children and especially nella at this wonderful time of the year. happy birthday, dearie! you have been a true blessing to me.
 
 

it's coming!

i have pictures, stories and whatnot to share with all of you- be patient with me- i just returned from thanksgiving with shannon and family and my kitchen is cluttered with bags, cooler, packages, etc. i've noticed a few broken ornaments here and there and an odd smell coming from the frige....one of the downsides of going away. i'll have to wait for my computer-smart daughter to get over her cold and then help me put my pictures on a blog. ooohhh someday i'll figure this thing out! see ya soon.

Labor Day...Yeah!

soooo- this has truly been a labor day for me. the first half of the day was spent at the chandlery, cleaning and getting it in order for this week and the upcoming arts festival next weekend (sept 11th). a trip to the grocery store and then home to begin baking for the farmers' market tomorrow. i decided to make my english muffin bread and breakfast cakes this time. in no time at all this was my kitchen. yow! is all of this worth the potential $40  and some odd  that i will make?

             this was the end result of an afternoon of baking. i'll also sell jam and cold drinks... farm market, here i come!

 

took a break to make hamburgers for tonight- katie, josie and seth are coming over for dinner and one last bonfire.

it seems like it always takes a special day to really get things done around here--- my bed will look great to me tonight!

good day

every so often you have one of those "good days" and today was one of those. i woke up at 6:30 and went for my daily walk then came back and began working in the gardens. weeds were flying, plants were planted and everything started looking like the master plan. as i swept the walking stones and surveyed the final results, i almost forgot the many meltdowns earlier in the season when i "couldn't see the trees through the forest." (think that's backwards!!)
came in at 12:30,ate half a cantelope, showered, had a good hair day, and "de-catted " the house for the arrival of my sister- in law, who is allergic to cats. lynne arrived and brought a gift- oh my gosh- chocolate covered cashews! we then went to ding bats where we had great conversation and a wonderful steak dinner- dessert at dairy queen and then a quick trip to the chandlery shoppe in town where she picked out a pair of silver forest earrings. we visited some more and then she headed to bed where i am headed too. it may sound dull to some of you, but my life gets kind of hectic and this was just one of those layed back, do what i want, good days. see girls ? there is a light at the end of that tunnel!!! hang in there.