Artful Journey

Aine and Deet’s dining room is ready for Christmas. New windows, all new wainscoting crafted by Deets, walls primed and painted by Aine create a warm and welcoming room for my parents’ dining room set. So many wonderful memories and meals were enjoyed at this table. It’s nice to see it being used again, and new memories being created here.  Table lovingly refinished by my parents. Brunch on blue willow china Cheers with mimosas! Happy to start the Christmas festivities. More baking to come. Holiday greetings  Hopefully delivered on time! Warm holiday wishes For the new year.  

 This year our traditions are going to be a little different. We will do as much as we can, until the day we can celebrate to our hearts content.  We will bask in the comforts of home. We will enjoy our Christmas tree, with the many ornaments we have made and collected over the years.   Some of the ornaments gracing our tree.   A little help goes a long way. I love our tree! We picked up a miniature rosemary tree. We will plant it outside in the spring. All that hard work deserves some homemade cookies and a cuppa! Cheers and Merry Scriptmas!

 Holidays are the perfect occasion for flourishing.  Flourishing seems joyful. I love reindeers and  Navy and white combinations. I also love flowers, so we indulged with a trip to our favorite garden center. Color abounds on poinsettias  Inspiration for watercolors. Cute decorations  Inspiration for our Christmas projects.   Although we are used to being housebound with Covid protocols, we wanted to get in a socially distant excursion. Fun times are considered essential before the snow arrived...mission accomplished!  

 Of comfort and joy at the beach... Mild temperatures meant a beach day with some big waves Foggy and ethereal  Fueling up with coffee and the cozy issue of Bella Grace Joy..painting  ...inking And getting some mail ready To spread the joy And say happy holidays With flowers!

 The holidays offer a great opportunity to practice some flourishing. Dressed for the holidays  And of course, it’s always a good time for baking! Love these  Gingerbread cupcakes With Gingerbread sprinkles  On my holiday plate! The flourishing is inspired by Heather Held’s beautiful flourishing. The cupcake recipe is from one of my favorite sources for recipes, Sally’s Baking addiction. Everything from her site has been delicious! Gingerbread on the tree! Cute, but not to eat.... I love Gingerbread but especially at the holidays. Anytime, I can add molasses is a good thing, and serving up something delicious on one of our many Christmas dishes adds to the festivities. Happy baking holidays!

Thanksgiving morning usually starts with a road race. Due to Covid, this annual race was held virtually. Not as much fun as being in a big crowd, but we were able to schedule our run at a time that was convenient, which was really nice. No trip to Ireland this November means we are getting low on our Irish tea stash and no advent calendars filled with chocolate. This too was tweaked finding a great advent calendar with Maman jam, our favorite! What cute packaging of tiny little jams A great way to try different flavors! We never put up our tree this early, but this year definitely called for starting the holiday a little early. As the song goes, we need a little Christmas right this very minute. Putting our jam to good use With breakfast on Christmas china. Goodbye to fall excursions  And hello to illuminated nighttime walks  With my word of the year, I am choosing to tweak the traditions a bit and find joy wherever I can. Stay safe, stay well

So much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Creative pursuits on a small scale Cards for friends  Watercolor and die cuts Mail exchange With my favorite harvest postage stamps Pie- orities Southern Living chocolate pecan pie Cheers Cranberry and Prosecco Health and Happiness