Gettin in the Spirit….

I hope every one had a lovely Thanksgiving – mine was wonderful as in addition to the holiday, we celebrated my mom’s 97th birthday! She spent the day with me and we hung out, had some good laughs, loved her presents, and she took home lots of leftovers!  She’s not the biggest fan of turkey, but since I do Thanksgiving as a 30+ year tradition, we’re superstitious and I do the same thing every year. LOL! I love turkey, so later, I’ll dig in to another turkey dinner. YUM!

So, as I mentioned in my title, I’m trying to get into the spirit. I took it easy on Saturday, but I pulled out some of my decorations… I seem to have lost the box with the good stuff! I decided that it was too warm  to feel Christmas-y, so I  thought I’d give my imagination a nudge by thinking about my favorite things about this time of year…

I just love when the Christmas lights go up – I drive around at night and just take them all in… this is a home outside of Philly. Pretty, huh?

 

The Big City is so pretty during the holidays, especially at twilight.

Some years, I run up to New York just to see Manhattan at Christmas. Not sure I’ll have the time this year, tho.

It’s not Christmas without at least one reading on A Christmas Carol, and about 10 viewings of the movie versions! LOL.

Anyway, I thought about what I wanted to do with the apartment this year, and I decided to do the ‘less is more’ concept this year. For one thing, a small space like mine can look too cramped with too much decoration.  And. with me not home during the day, the cat can get into things that aren’t good for him!! So, I decided to do a little greenery, some lights in baskets and such…but keeping it simple. These pics didn’t come out good at all (cheap camera!!),but I’ll keep trying!

 remember the thrift shop chairs I got at such a great price? They are in my dining room now…

…with a few little goodies on the table.

A wooden bowl filled with greenery and white lights.

Some fresh greens here and there…

And a basket full of greens and colored lights – my favorite! (They look white here…)

And some simple pretties for the mantle.

Well, I’d better get off to work now… hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Sights and Smells of Thanksgiving

To all my wonderful blogbuds I have met this year, I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with this….

and this……..

and this…..

and this!!!

Whatever your traditions…whomever you are missing this holiday…remember all that we have to be thankful for… and enjoy the holiday!

~Terry

November 22—then and now

Then: Most of us over a certain age can answer the question, “ where were you 46 years ago today?” The day that changed America. Those of you who are younger, who were born after Nov 22, 1963, may not even realize the America you were born into because of the events of that day.

 

I was a fifth grader, sitting in class that day. The teacher was called out of class, and came back with a grey pallor to her face. We could see she had been crying, but at that age, we couldn’t quite imagine what horrible thing had happened. All she said was that the president had been shot, and to gather your things and go directly home. I looked at the clock and it was 1:15 EST. When I got home, my mom had our little black and white TV on, and she was sitting on the sofa crying. Except for meals and sleep, my family sat in front of the TV for the next 4 days, from death to burial, as it was called. (My brother’s senior prom was cancelled that night, and five years later, his graduation from college was cancelled because of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Those moments of our generation….) How could this happen? In America?

I think my love of history was born that weekend, and I’ve been stuck on that weekend in November ever since. I read every book, watched every documentary, video, and news broadcast (all available today both on the web and for purchase). Like when you rub your tongue over a sore tooth, each time I watch it I feel that same way – that sadness, that ‘what if’ feeling…. those gut wrenching black and white images….the end of American innocence.

This is what we lost.

Idealism. Class. Intelligence. Youth.

What would America look like today had JFK not gone to Dallas? Would we have had  the Viet Nam experience? Would we be so cynical, so divided, so angry?  Would “the sixties” have happened as they did? Would we have had Nixon, Watergate?  We’ll never know.

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Now: Well, I’m on vacation this week, and man, I need it. I had another week of driving all over the place for the flu vaccine clinics. I felt like I was living in my car, and my car looked like I was, too. Today, I finally cleaned it out, good it washed in and out, and it started to look like my little Civic again. Not going anywhere – just want to tinker in the house, (doing Thanksgiving here) and get a start on some modified Christmas shopping.

My girlfriend and I did craft shows and thrifts today – and she went CRAZY!!! She bought, and bought, and then bought some more!  I loved watching her have such a good time – she has had a rough year. I bought one thing – a fabulous chair in the thrift. I love this!! At the craft show, I was very careful not to buy what I could make myself, or what I didn’t  really get hid over the head with.  Anyway, I picked up this dining room chair for $20. Once I clean my DR, I’ll show you how it looks!

 

Hope you’re having a great weekend! As always, thanks for stopping over to see me! I hope to be back before Thanksgiving, but just in case I don’t – I hope you and yours have a most wonderful holiday.

 

What a week!!!

There is another side of the flu epidemic – flu clinics!! Here is southeast PA, the vaccine has arrived and the agency where I work has been contracted to supply the nurses – like, 200 RNs!! As the manager, I have spent the entire week driving all over two huge counties checking in at every site. Very organized, but thousands of kids coming thru each school site in a  just a few hours. Very organized, very orderly, very crazy!! I was at 5 different sites just today, driving over 100 miles in the nor’easter – yesterday was the same. I haven’t been able to keep my eyes open after 9p this week – and my legs – OH MY!! Sore!!  (ok, so I am an old lady!!)But, the good news is that I was able to get my seasonal flu shot on Monday, and my H1N1 shot on Wednesday – what a relief. I’m lucky that as an RN, I was able to get my H1N1 vaccine – the counties may not be be able to do the adult general population until mid December. So, that’s why I haven’t even been able to check out all of your blogs this week – just exhausted! Even my laundry basket full of folded clean clothes has been sitting in my living room for 4 days. Maybe now I’ll be able to get things back in order, because next week… I start it all over again!!!

I wanted to show you some of the things I got when I went up to Emmaus last weekend. I mentioned some firkins…..

How much do I love this firkin??? What a bargain at $10.  Already primmed in mustard. And how about this one….

(before)

 

and after….

And, let’s see… what else… check these out holders for $10 a piece. Can you believe it??

The textiles were an Aunt Daisy purchase, but the 2 small holders (already primmed!) were at the antique mall  down the street from Aunt Daisy’s that was telling you about. The seller is moving to Virginia, so everything in her booth was 50% off. Great timing on my part, eh? Will show you them again once I get my decorating started…. and I’m thinking about what to do with the textiles.

This is what the old furrball does while I’m working my butt off… what a life. LOL.

Good luck to everyone doing craft shows this weekend… we’re having some awful weather here with wind and rain, but there is a flea market down the street tomorrow morning that I just may have to visit!

Hope  you’all have a great weekend. I just want to get some rest!

A Double Drool Rag Post!!

Saturday was a perfect day to take a ride to Emmaus and stop in at Aunt Daisy’s – my favorite shop in the world! I talk about Aunt Daisy’s all of the time, but seeing is the only way to really show you the beauty of this farmhouse-shop. So grab the drool rags, blogbuds!

First of all, it was a perfect November day today. Crisp, sunny, golden day. This is what the shop looks like from outside the barn, where the have sale items.

A lovely small town, in Lehigh County. Is there any wonder why we love the Fall?

Before you get to the shop, there is a small outside structure, which ‘back in the day’ was a smoke house as well as where baked goods were made. Now – prim and early American goodies!!!

Inside…. the most wonderful furniture and accessories…. most of the rooms decorated as they would have looked way back when….

What a perfect  bedroom!

I loved both of these items – esp.. the old St Nick!

drooling yet??

Want more??

I love these textiles, and I picked up one or two.

Finally, I went up to the attic where there is MORE!!!

OK, I’ll take one of these, and two of those….

Is this perfection, or what??  So well made, too.

In my next post, I’ll show you what I just had to bring home!  And, I stopped at a cute but HUGE ‘antique’ mall where I priced up some very reasonably priced goodies..including a firkin! Gotta keep you coming back, right?"?LOL!

Hope you’re all having a great weekend! I’ll be doing some gardening at my mom’s today – uh oh, I’ll need Ben-Gay after that! LOL. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Ahh, November!!

"Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable, the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown
along the street or road by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese. 
Both are warnings of chill days ahead, fireside and topcoat weather."
-   Hal Borland

November is one of my favorite months. I know it gets dark earlier (the only element of November I’m not too fond of!) but there is something about November I just love. The leaves are now almost off the trees and are crisp underfoot, it’s frosty in the mornings, and there are a few special days coming in November that are special to me.

Most importantly, my mom’s 97th birthday is on Thanksgiving Day—what more can I say? I am so thankful that well into my 50’s, I have a mom who is elderly, yes – but fiercely independent, sharp as a tack, sometimes stubborn, and just plain fun. Anything I can do for her and with her is a true pleasure and honor. She still lives in the house I grew up in, does her own things (mostly, like laundry cooking, etc). I help her with the stuff she can’t do anymore, and she is an inspiration as I get older myself. I am so lucky to live close by and run over whenever she needs anything. I took this pic on Mother’s Day as we walked along the river.

And, as I often mention, I am a Kennedy fanatic, and “the day” comes every November 22.  Any of us of a certain age remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on that day 46 years ago. It speaks to the event of the JFK assassination that nearly 1/2 century later, it still feels like a recent event to those of us old enough to remember those awful  four days in late November. Our lives changed after that day, and the reverberations still effect us all these decades later.

And, I adopted my long-whiskered fur ball in November just about 4 years ago.  I had originally thought to get a kitten right before my other sweet cat died suddenly the day before Halloween. Oh, man, I was shocked and heartbroken when Bad Boy (my other coonie) just walked into the bathroom, laid down, and just died. The vet believes he had a stroke.   When I got to visit the breeder about 3 weeks later, she was adopting out Ozzy, who was already an adult cat. We just bonded, and that day, my very large and furry friend came home with me, and he’s owned my heart ever since. I knew she’d place the kittens easily, but an adult cat – well, he had my name written all over him.

So I love November, for all the special days it brings.  How about you? Is November just the beginning of the colder months for you, or do you find special moments in it?

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I finally had a chance to do some thrifting yesterday, even though it was pouring rain all day. I had the itch, but, sad to say, not much there!  I picked up a few little things I’m worked on, but like a real dufus, I forgot to take the ‘before’ pics. I was trying to do about 10 things at a time, plus watch the Phillies game last night (oh –so –PAINFUL!) but I can show you the end result. I also picked up a really nice piece of wood (probably was a light-weight cutting board, but bigger) and I’m going to try to make a sign from it. I have to start by finding where to get the stencils – so if anyone can help on that score, leave me a comment!

No trick or treaters last night – it was pouring all day, and the ball game was postponed until 9:30 or so. So, the kids couldn’t go out on that weather – and I know they were disappointed. My mom has bowlfuls of candy…gee, wonder who will be eating all of those chocolate bars? (Not me!!!!)

 

This little wooden box was only 50 cents…

 

The candle holder is ok, nothing great…

And that was it! Nothing exciting. But – next weekend, I will make another visit to see Judy  in Hereford, PA and  make a stop at Aunt Daisy’s in Emmaus – so wooowooo—I’ll be bringing home lots of goodies then, I hope.

Well, it’s time for what I hope is a better Phillies game tonite than what we suffered through last night! Ok, we can do it, right?!?!?!

Have a great 1st week of November – and – thanks to several new friends who are following my blog!