This Season, Let Go and let Love!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!  I am so excited to get started.  As usual, I like to start in the kitchen.  I like starting in the kitchen because I do a candy land and elves theme that brings forth a sense of wonder and innocence, like that of a child.   When I start with this room it just sets me in the right mood for the whole season.  So for those of you who like to read that's what I'd like to post about today.

I am sure I must have posted about this already, but I feel very compelled to post again.  Maybe it's because I personally have very recently gone through a very difficult separation from a job I loved and people I loved as well.  Maybe it's because the news is filled with so much terrorism, hatred, division, apathy and disbelief.  Maybe it's because even with all our online communication readily available people are still rarely communicating but are more into observing and placing judgement.  If that's not the case in your world then you are certainly blessed.  Don't worry, I am not going to make this a post about all that is wrong in the world today.  Quite contrary!  I am posting about something that is still very right in our world today!

I feel so blessed to have found the world of online blogging in regards to decor.   It is such a huge joy for me to see all the pretty, sparkly, blingy and festive decor of the seasons especially during Christmas.  I am so pleased to be able share even one fraction of that joy with you as well.  That is what the heart of this post is.  Sharing Joy and sharing love! 

 I truly believe that is what is at the heart of most who share their decor, crafts, projects, and holiday decor.  We all enjoying showing what we have done as a sense of accomplishment but we also enjoy sharing the joy of it all too.  Isn't that right?

I am a Christian and for me the holidays are so much more then all the trappings, though that does not stop me from decorating for Christmas.  I know many of you are Christians too and I always enjoy seeing when you share your faith as well as your decor.  Many of us do not spend much time sharing our faith online, sometimes even in person, though it is still there.   Just because someone is not speaking faith matters to you consistently does not mean it is not there.  Often a persons faith can be seen more in their actions then in their words.   This is what I want to touch on today. 

 Too often I hear many who are so closed up in their minds and their faith that they are very judgmental towards others even more so this time of year then any other.   Many people love to go all out and decorate and celebrate ( I am one of them) and try very hard to share a little joy and wonder of the season.  I am always so saddened by those who comment about what a waste of money, time and energy it is to do so.    I am saddened by agnostics who use it as a way to point towards Christians as being hippocrates for decorating when they should be focusing on Christ.  I am even more saddened by those of faith who make comments about all the trappings being very un-Christian like.  This one gets me most of all, because I think it speaks to the heart of things.

I am not saying if you are Christian you should decorate, but I am saying you should not be so judgmental towards those who do.  Certainly, there are those who cannot decorate due to their health, age, or circumstances.  Maybe some people are traveling, maybe some are not as fortunate to do so.  Maybe some people just prefer not to decorate at all and maybe some prefer to stay focused on the true meaning only.  All of the above is fine we each can make our own decisions about how we choose to celebrate the season.  It is not up to us to judge how another celebrates.

  But what I hear way to often is judgement and I really have to question.  What really is your focus of the true meaning of Christmas if you get depressed or upset and so judgmental of others. Especially others who are trying to share a little joy and love.   For Christians, Christmas is not just about the birth of our Lord and Savior.  It is more in the joy of the Savior part.  The joy of Love, a love that sacrificed that which was most sacred for all of us....and for you!

Wouldn't it be nice if all of us as adults would enjoy the season like that of a child.  Doesn't God ask us to come to him with faith of a child?    Of course their are many concerns in life to compete with our enjoyment of the season.  But sometimes we have to learn to protect our focus.   Instead of focusing on all the excess's you think you see from others, think of it as an excess of pouring out of love.

  When I drive by a house that is all decked out in lights and ornamentation I can honestly say I never ever think they just want everyone to see what all they've got.  Nor do I waste anytime thinking it is better then what I do.    Never, never, ever!  What I do think is, Wow!  Look at all they did!  I think of all the time and energy that must have taken, I even think about the cost of what it takes for those who go all out.  Then I think, that family must surely love Christmas.  I also think they must surely love God and their neighbors (maybe they do, maybe they don't) but that's the message I get.  Because to me, what I see is that they are trying very hard to share a little joy and delight with all those around them.  Maybe, they don't know how to share their faith or their love in words, maybe this is the only time and only way they share it.  If it is, isn't that enough?  I say it is.  It would be nice if everyone was willing to sit and chat about their faith and heart things all the time but the truth is from what I have seen it is very rare.  It seems more and more rare each day as so many focus on only communicating discontent. 

 Discontent is appropriate at times but when it is a daily occurrence something is wrong.  Sometimes its a matter in our own heart, sometimes it's others.  You can only change what is in your heart and let God handle the rest.     

As the countdown to Christmas begins so goes the days of shopping left.  Does this stress you out?  I never stress over what others think of the presents I give either.  I stress over finding what I want them to have within my budget.  More often then not, I find way to many things and change my mind too often.  LOL!   My hope is that they will like what I give , but if they don't, oh well.  If they keep it or not doesn't bother me either because it is their gift.  It is theirs to keep or theirs to give away once I have given it to them.  I tend to trust that those I give presents to know it's the thought that is most important not the actual gift itself.  That I tried.   It they do not know this, that is beyond my hands, that's where I let go and let love.  

There are always so many things you can choose to look down on others about and unless you are willing to sit and speak deeply and truthfully with another persons heart in each and every judgement you have made, then you should just stop. 

 Or maybe, you could just learn to Let Go and Let Love!

Lets talk Turkey....

... about blogging, catching up, holidays, and everything else.  Okay?

OMG!  Can you believe it's November already?  I know right!  Time sure does have a way of flying by lately.  I do apologize for being such an inconsistent blogger, especially for those you whom may still be following me.  Mostly though, I just want to say a great big THANK YOU if you still do follow me!!!

Now for a little gobble, gobble, gobble.  I often feel like I have no business blogging at all lately.  I feel like this because I don't have the time, content, energy or commitment to devote to creating a beautiful blog.  I've tried so many time over the last few years to figure out where I want to go with this blog and why.    

I have given myself guidelines, that didn't work. I've taken long breaks but I always miss it so I come back with the intent of getting back into it regularly but then life gets in the way and I just don't have the passion that I see so many of you have to stick with it.  So I guess I must sort of be a seasonal blogger now because, this seems to be the time of year I share the most.  

So, with that in mind I hope you all don't mind that today I've popped back into blogland today to share my turkeys with you all.  It's a rainy Monday here and since I don't work on Mondays and it's Nov.2nd already it seemed like a good time to get those little gobblers out.  I've had my fall decor out for sometime now but not Thanksgiving yet.  This sweet little white Turkey dish is one of my favorites.  I can't figure out if it's a gravy dish or a candy dish though.  Any ideas?  I also had a wonderful brainstorm as I was cleaning out a china cabinet drawer this weekend.  I decided to pull out all my silver serving pieces; spoons, pie cutters, butter knives, etc.  Seems I'm always running around the day of trying to gather all these up from everywhere at the last minute.  I put them all together shown here in the picture above in my silverware caddy.  Big bonus, they will more then likely get polished ahead of time now too since I have them all out to see.  

I added my Turkey plates in front of my white Lenox dishes for fall display in the china hutch.  Yes, that's more silver in there that needs polishing soon.  I really want to make time to polish the silver this year.  I am not one to stress over it every year but sometimes ya just gotta do it.

I told you this post was all about the Turkeys didn't I? Sorry, but I'm not done yet, there are still more to go.   These cute little salt and peppas are some of my favorites.  I love the way they are sitting on top of the pumpkins.

Okay so maybe it's not totally just all Turkeys here, I had to share a few blessing signs as well!  I love this word BLESSING so much.  Do you?  I especially love seeing it.  I even have several pieces of jewelry with blessed on it as well.  I really don't need to be reminded that I am blessed but do need to be reminded to stop and make time to dwell on my blessings.  You see dwelling on all that I have been blessed with in life is so healthy for me.  It recharges my soul!  I especially love this time of year when it's so encouraged by all to dwell on our blessings. 

Talk about a blessing, this little one shown in the photo above has been an amazing blessing to us.  We love her so much!  She has grown so much since this photo.  I will need to do a whole post on her one day.  She's so cute and so so funny!

In the kitchen, I redid the bakers rack for Thanksgiving.  I felt compelled to get this set up today because early this morning I was online ordering a new tall pencil Christmas Tree for the kitchen.  Last year I didn't do a tree in the kitchen for the first time in years and I really missed it.  I have even less space in here for a tree then before because of table swaps and really don't want to do a whole lot of rearranging of furniture.  Hopefully the new tree which was on sale at, Michaels by the way will fit in nicely.  So now you know why, I had to get this Thanksgiving out right, guilty me!!!!

If you've made it this far and enjoyed what you saw please leave me a note.  I'd love to hear from you!  I do apologize that the quality of these photos may not be what you are used to seeing from me in the past.  I still have not quite mastered using my camera and downloading on my chromebook yet.  I can do it but it's quite a process and my iphone makes downloading to blogger a snap.  Soooo...this is what you are seeing, pics from my phone.  Yes, I also know that I could edit these photos better first with a few apps but again, I'm trying to be quick here because it seems the longer something takes me to do these days means it doesn't get done.  I'm hoping to slow down more one day, but it hasn't happened yet.

 Thank You so much for popping by today sweet friends, and for listening to the gobble, gobble, gobble.  I'm not sure if I'll get another post out before the big day and before we are all in gobble till you wobble mode.  LOL!  Love this!!!!  Just in case I don't, I would like to wish all of you a very
 Happy Thanksgiving!!!

&

Happy Fall Y'all!!!! 

Mary

Sailing Season Returns Tablescape

Hi Blog Decor Friends!  I know most of you are probably eager to be moving on to the Fall season with all it's rich crisp decorating colors right?  Well, I would be too if I wasn't also enjoying the last fruits of the summer season from a sailing perspective.  So, I hope you'll slow down for just a bit today and take a little trip with me first.  You see there is another season in the south if you are a lake sailor.  It's the season when all the heavy heat and stillness of summer begins to subside and the winds begin to pick up again just ever so slightly.

It's called the Return of Sailing Season. Truth be known we sailing fans of the south enjoy sailing almost all year long.   However everyone knows that the best times to sail in the south is usually in the cooler temps.   But....some of us fair weather wives are a little more selective in our enjoyment of the sailing season.

Some of us prefer days that are warmer but not as turbulent that lend themselves towards a more summery type season with just the hint of cooler breezes.

  

We are lake people but we dream of oceanic voyages while were out on the open waters.

We dream of warm bubbly waters ripe with windy currents and cool breezes to fill our sails.

We are not quite ready to let go of the warmth of summer but enjoy the allure of the season to come.

Finally, in celebration of that short window of time where summer ends and fall begins I have pulled together a tablescape I hope represents the best of both season.  Can't you just picture a hopeful maiden waiting among the cliffs of the lighthouse for the return of her sailor man?  I sure can.  LOL!  Ok, so maybe I've been reading just a tad too many romantic novels this summer!

Oh Well!  I may be dreaming here, but yeah, that's what I do.  (smile)

Thanks for stopping by and for taking a little voyage here with me into my world!

Happy Sailing Friends!

Mary

Decorative Denim Wreath

Calling all Decorating denim Divas!!!

  What do you think?  Do ya love it or what?  Well obviously, I love it and hope you do too.  More excitedly, I feel like I have finally figured out the decorating dilemma of what wreath to do in between seasons.

If you live in the south you know the dilemma I'm talking about.  We call it the dog days of summer!

It's that time of the year when all the stores are filled with fall decor.   Yet, it's still so dang hot you just can't quite bring yourself to commit to calling it fall can you?  So what do you?   I say, do denim!

Cool and refreshing denim blues.

Love me some denim, mixed with burlap and denim and lace.  You can't go wrong with that!

What could be a better fit (pardon the pun, no, not really) and what could be more welcoming then denim?  Are you with me here?

It all started for me when I saw this denim collection of ribbons and such at Michaels early this spring.  I wasn't able to decide what I was going to do with any of it then and so I waited.  Well, actually I waited and I waited and waited even more.  I was so in love with this line that I have kept it in the back of my head the entire summer.   Finally last week after walking in Michaels and seeing the whole collection at 70% off I was ready.  Funny how that works.  So I came home with all of this, which soon became....

...This!  Love, love, love!!!

I think denim is the perfect transition into fall, don't you?

Thanks for stopping by today friends.

Have a great weekend!

See ya,

Mary

Unexpected Delights

Hey Friends! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  We had a very nice and relaxing weekend.  Not quite what I was expecting but such a welcomed surprise.  I was expecting to be on the go and busy, busy, busy as most holidays are.  However, the Mr. and I took a few ques from the very quirky weather this weekend, changing plans and enjoying more time around the house then I thought.  I must say after a very stressful week at work it was such a nice surprise.

Speaking of surprises, I couldn't help but getting excited when I saw this beauty pop up.  This was one of those unexpected joys from a long ago planted bulb that I had forgotten all about.

It has already started to fade some here but look how beautiful it still is.  Just gorgeous! Have you ever planted something and forgotten all about it until it blooms?  I can't even remember the name of this bloom.  All I can think of is stargazer lilly, but honestly, I just don't remember.

This beautiful plant always brings me such delight each year as it dies down during the winter and returns each summer fully of beautiful purple blooms.  It is called a Mexican Petunia and I just love it.  I have mine in a pot but have seen where some have been able to grow it in the ground as well.  I tell myself every year I am going to try some in the ground but have yet to do so.  

In my garden area by the pool I did plant several clumps of this Yellow African Iris.  I have lost a few clumps as they didn't take off quite like I had hoped.  I have clay soil here and it's quite tricky to find what will thrive and what will not.  The few clumps I do still have are hardy but hardly showy.  This is the first bloom I've been able to enjoy from these plants.

I stuck a few Blue Daze plants (two in each pot on each side) in with the potato vines in both of my Palm tree planters this year and had to remove one from each pot.  I am finally starting to see bits of blue peeking up on one side.  

I really can't complain about having to thin out this pot though because I am thoroughly enjoying the lush foliage from both the black heart sweet potato vine and the pink frost potato vine.  Both have done exceptionally well even in this extreme heat we've had.  

Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of the unexpected delights that caught my attention this weekend.  I haven't forgotten that I promised to share more boat pics with you too.  I will try and get back to that as soon as possible.  

As for me, I am headed to the Atlanta Market tomorrow for work.  We will be there through Sunday shopping our little hearts out for the store again.  It's such fun to be able to go and find things that are new and exciting as well as seeing all the new patterns and products from our usual vendors.  It's exhausting for sure but I am a shopper so its right up my ally.  Hoping I also can find a few more unexpected delights there too.  

Hope you have a great week as well!

Sincerely,

Mary

Decorating for the 4th of July?

Hi Friends!  I am wondering how many of you are decorating for the 4th of July this year?  Do you decorate if you are only celebrating at home or do you still decorate even if you will not be around?  

This photo above was one of my older 4th of July decor photos taken from a tablescape I did in 2012.  I am constantly amazed at how many times a week it gets pinned on pinterest.  I can honestly say this is probably the most pinned picture I have out there.  I guess folks must really like it.  I'm glad because it's one of my favorites as well.  

I really do wish I had the time to decorate like I used to for special occasions.  I recently shared my front door decor on my FB page because I thought that was going to be the extent of my decorating for the 4th this year.    Please excuse the dirty door and just focus on the cute flowers instead, kay?

 

But....as things often go, I got just a bit more inspired this morning and put out just a few more items to help us get that festive feeling I am craving.    

I  still didn't feel quite so inspired to go all out because we're not really spending the day at home.  Then I told myself since I have actually spent money on some of this stuff just sitting around in my craft room I really could should at least put a little more effort into it and bring some of it downstairs to enjoy this weekend as we come and go.  LOL!

So with very minimal effort I swapped out a few pillows on the screened porch and brought down a few of my older red, white and blue decor items.  Perfect for us nautical celebrating sailors!

This little bucket made it to the table this year after spending several years stored away in our old sailboat.  I only had to change out the flags which had faded a bit.   We are still undecided as to which boat we will be taking out on the lake tomorrow, the motorboat or the new sailboat, I know poor pitiful us right?  Actually, we feel very blessed to have such a delimma and to live in our lakeside town.   One things for sure, if we take the sailboat out which I hope we do, this festive bucket will be coming with us.  I promise I'll take pics of that to share with you soon if we do!

The final touch to my  very minimal 4th of July decorating this year is a trio of candles set in small red, white and blue buckets filled with corks to hold the votive candles.  I set them on the coffee table on the porch to add a little more ambiance should we end up here because the rains have washed out the evening fireworks show. 

 Pray not!!!

 

 

Well, I'm feeling a little better about getting festive now, how about you?  Did you go all out this year, or add just a touch here and there like me?  Whatever you have or have not done, I do hope you all will find yourselves celebrating with friends and/or family this year.

Happy Fourth of July Everyone.

and

May God Bless America!

Love ya!

Mary