Christmas at the old house.....A Navy mom.

Our last Christmas tree at the "old house"......how sad

United States Navy------Air Crew

This is a picture of the fake little Christmas tree that I had in our living room last year.  How sad.....but it meant so much to me.

My daughter was on deployment (in some far off place, she can never tell us where she is, she is in the Navy)  and my son was home.....we were getting ready to move and all of my Christmas decorations were packed and ready to go to the new house.  If you knew me you would know that Christmas is everything to me.  I go a little overboard in my decorating, but it's what I love to do.   You can't see the pictures of all of the presents that were put around this silly little Christmas tree, but with the three of us there on Christmas morning, it didn't matter what size the tree was.  We were grateful to be able to have a last Christmas in the house that meant so much to all of us.

I wish my daughter had of been there.....it is never the same when she is away.  Her and my son are so close, and when she isn't there we always feel that there is something missing in our excitement over Christmas.  But we all know our country need people like her.  I'm a proud mom.

I know how moms feel that have their children away from them at holiday time, you have a little ache in your stomach, but you must carry on for the ones that are there.   I wish I had the words to explain it....

Well, until next time.....hug your children ...

Kayaking with the seals in Eastham, Massachusetts

Well hello!

There must have been over 200 seals on the sand bar.

I didn't even know I got him in the picture!

Happy babies!

Waiting and watching.

Truro Vineyards

Provincetown, Massachusetts   We had a great meal here.

Provincetown Again.

This was a great week-end!  I was able to check something off my bucket list......Kayaking with the seals!   I know that maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do in the waters at the Cape, seeing there have been great white shark sightings, but I had to do it.

We stayed at a friends cottage in Eastham, MA and enjoyed every minute of it.  We were up and out early on Saturday and loaded up the Kayaks, not knowing what we would see that day.  Our friends had already done the little jaunt out through the marshes and had seen the seals, but not us.  I couldn't stand the excitement.....my heart was racing as we paddled our kayaks through the marshes.....there were plenty of birds also, if your into bird watching, you would love it too.  As we were coming around the bend and into the clearing before it turned into open ocean, we spotted them~~~~~  OMG!  My camera was clicking away (but because of the reflection, I wasn't really sure if any pictures were coming out or not)  but I kept on clicking hoping to get at least one good shot.   They were everywhere, they were coming right up to the kayaks and looking so damn cute......I wanted to reach out and touch one, but I guess that would really be pushing things..... I just can't explain how awesome it was to be with them and to watch them play together and with us.  I have to say that it will be a day that I will always remember and it will always put a smile on my face.  To be that close to nature and feel like you are a part of something bigger is wonderful.  

If you ever have a chance to go to Massachusetts and want to see the seals, there are plenty of places to go and rent a Kayak.  But please always remember to keep and eye on the tide and to know when the tide will be coming in, you don't want to get stuck and not be able to come back to shore.

At night we took a ride in to Provincetown, and that is also something that everyone should experience...Enough said.   lol.

Before we left to go home we made a little stop at the Truro Winery and picked up a small bottle of wine,  They were doing a wine tasting and the atmosphere was very quaint.  Stop by if you like a nice local wine. The tasting was $10.00 and you got to keep the wine glass that you did your tasting with.

So, until next time......go and experience something local, and push the envelope.....live on the edge once and awhile.....your heart might like the excitement!

Happy Travels.....

Barbados.......The Ship Yard

I wish I had a lot of pictures to post from Barbados, but honestly, I was busy having too much fun.  We took a taxi from the cruise ship and went to a place that a friend recommended.  We were not disappointed!  I have been to Barbados a few other times and was never impressed with it.  The shopping is great, but really priced on the high side. You can spend  a  lot of time just walking around, and that's great if you're into shopping..I'm not.

We decided to venture out to the place our friends told us about.  The Ship Yard.  We got there and I was happy to find that it a had a great tropical atmosphere, a cute little bar, food that you could take out onto the beach and a clean bathroom!  Yes!  ( Thank you Todd)  We got a token for two rum punches, so needless to say we were all happy.

BUT the best part of the Ship Yard outing was the awesome rope swing they had and the HUGE blow-up climbing wall.  The guys loved that it was like an adult playground  I can't believe that I was the first to go of of the rope swing.....it was great.  You have to climb a ladder to get to it and there is someone there to help you out and he tells you where you should be and how to let go when it's time.  It really made me feel more comfortable to know someone was there watching to see if I lived or died!

I HIGHLY recommend this place!  If you are doing a cruise I'm not sure if this is offered, we did it on our own.  If you can't find anything on the ships  itinerary, please go check this place out.  You won't be disappointed.

So, until next time, venture out somewhere on your own, you never know how much fun is waiting for you!

Happy Travels!

Martini Madness and a little Zentangle .....Christmas gifts too!

As you might have guessed, I love (obsessed) to draw Martini glasses.  Now that I have moved to a new town, everyone of the bars and restaurants are getting one!  I think  all of my friends have at least one hanging somewhere in their house. ( thanks goes out to them...)

My favorites are the water colored ones...they are so much nicer when done.
There is one here too that I made for a shower gift.  The last name started with a W, and I put the wedding date on it too.  I think it made it a little personal, don't you?

This is just a sampling of them (along with one of my other posts on wine slings).  I can't wait to add some of these to my Etsy site.  Well, just thought I would share these with you and maybe you can get some ideas that you would like to make for gifts this Christmas.   If you would like directions on how to make these, just send me a comment and I will be glad to help you out.

Until next time......Happy crafting and gift giving.  Christmas will be here before you know it!

Ballard Light Fixture, Finished Fall window decorations.

Here is the new light for over the dining room table.....

Ahhhhhh shes' a beauty!  I'm very happy with the way it looks.  WHEW!

Here is the dining room window, I'm thinking it needs a little more of something...?

I guess I really should go to a photography class..    ;)

I love my crows!   I have them out all year long, they just seem to go with every season.

I just love this light, have I already said that??  lol

This is just the start of my fall decorating....I finally found all of the boxes that I packed last summer for the big move.  It felt like Christmas morning when I was opening the boxes and seeing all of my stuff...It had been a year or more since the packing and I had forgotten what I had.....but oh I so missed my "stuff"!  Say what you want about having tooooooo much stuff, it makes my new home now feel like my home.    I can't wait to see what else is down there.  Oh!  I just remembered that I have orange matelic  pumpkins......gotta go get them.  I'll take a pic for the next post.  They really are different.

I hope you enjoy looking at some of these pictures, and maybe get some ideas of your own on how to decorate a picture window for fall.   Now I need to head outside and take the pics of my small stoop like I promised.....it looks really cute.  Stay tuned.

Until next time......happy fall decorating!    It may be time to go have a Sam's Octoberfest...mmmmm.

Tell me what you think.....more stuff on the window ledge?

Wall Decor.......

Oh yes, this will be done on one of my walls.  I love the brackets that are sold to make things stand out.

 Thank you Pottery Barn for the great idea!

Pottery Barn.......I love the 6 pictures going across a large wall.

This is an odd picture, but it was a big decision on should we paint this little part as the wall or the ceiling?  The wall color won out.

This is a dark corner in the kitchen and I was looking for something to make it look a little brighter and thought this was going to give me what I needed,,,,,,I was wrong.  Back to the store they went.

Well this is just a little post on things that I think might work on the walls of Applewood Lane.

The color scheme I'm going with are grey and a silver sage......not easy to pull together, but so far so good.  Keep checking in and see the walls of my new down sized palace......

Until next time......keep looking for the right thing for that odd wall.
AND Happy decorating.

Fall Decorating and saying good-bye to the old and in with the new.

Saying Good-bye to the old homestead.  

This is the entry way to the "little front porch"

I loved the sound of the frog spitting out water...my little fountain

Here she is!  Wow looking at the house from this angle makes me understand why it was time to "down-size"

My little porch with the Big window!

Our last Christmas at the old house.....   :(

I'm glad I kept the wind chimes.

Here are some pictures of my babies....lol

Early spring, not much was up yet.

Oh saying good-bye to my lillies was a hard thing to do.  I wish the ground had not been frozen when we moved out or these little babies would have gone with us!

I had to post some pictures from the old house for you so as my adventure continues with our new house we now live in you will be able to see how much of change we went through.  I have to say, now that I have a few Fall decorations up it is starting to feel a little more like home.  I wasn't able to put stuff up at all last fall.....thanks to getting a start on packing.  So I think this year I will go a little over the top!  Window decorated, CHECK.  Front stoop decorated, CHECK.  Small sunroom decorated, Check.  Check in again and please tell me what you think of the fall decorations so far.

I'm off to up-load the pics!

Until next time.....happy fall decorating, and go over the top with yours too!

Primitive Decorating......now it's time for change

My favorite shelf.....I'm going to use this at the new house too!

I Love Willie Rays. ( I should have taken the things down on the shelf from my husband's travels....ooops)

This jelly cabinet looked so pretty at night with the battery operated candles on.  The reflection off of the red Christmas balls  made it look so pretty...I also used these for Easter and filled them with easter eggs and white lights.

How do you like the cork board above the stove?  I kept my favorite recipes on it for a quick reference.

Looking at these pictures makes me miss the other house.  But it's only been a few months since we said good-bye to our home of 16 years.  It is soooooo bittersweet.

I really need to get going on decorating this new house, but between painting all of the rooms and laying new floors, decorating has had to take a back seat.  This week-end will be my decorating week-end  NO MORE PROCRASTINATION!

( I just noticed all of my sticky notes on the cabinet.....reminders of what to pack in what boxes..lol)

The black shelf was one of the things I liked best in our livingroom......I'm thinking of painting it white and putting it in our spare bedroom, but it will be decorated with beach inspired things...big changes!  Whew.  You'll have to see the before and after pics.  Stay tuned.

The jury is still out....not sure if I want to decorate the top of my kitchen cabinets at this house...maybe just a few chochkies. ( spelling??) Or should I leave them plain?  Hummmmmm?

Time to get going.......If anyone calls I'll be in the cellar going through the many boxes that are waiting to be unpacked!!

What do you think of the jelly cabinet with the Christmas vases?  I love to decorate with these, you can fill them with anything.  They are my "every season" go to.

Until next time.....Happy Decorating.   Hopefully you were able to get a few ideas from my other house.. And I'll have some more inspiration for you soon.