it's about time

Where to start when it's been seven weeks since I last posted? It's been a combination of things. Not in a blogging mood, having a busy (a "good" busy) fall, and feeling like I have nothing to say while at the same time, having too much to say. 

{my darling Clementine is still doing well!}

I at least wanted to say hello and check in with you all and see how you're doing. I know the world can be very heavy on our hearts at times. Personally, it's been a good fall for me except for September 25th, a day I always dread. That's the date of my oldest son, Philip's passing. It's been 14 years, which seems like forever ago. It's still a very difficult day for me and Brian and I know it will be until we take our last breath. It doesn't matter how many years have passed. When you lose a child, the jagged wound in your heart is irreparable. 

Otherwise, this fall has been full of farms and petting goats and walking along the beach (Lake Michigan); reconecting with my yoga and Reiki communities; trying new-to-me art mediums (watercolor); and lots of one-on-one time with my friends.

{rocks and beach glass found along the lake shore}

The absolute best thing this fall was Tim coming home for a visit! It had been a year since we'd seen our boy. His time was limited while he was home as he was standing up in a wedding, but we enjoyed a day in downtown Chicago; hanging out for a bit at a couple of his friend's houses (with one friend and his wife and kids, I'm like their bonus mom and grandma ~ and with Tim's other friends, I've known them since they were in their late teens); a visit with extended family; just hanging out together watching a couple of movies; and an evening where Tim made us carnitas for dinner. 

I haven't been reading as much as I'd like lately. (Goal: less time spent on social media!) How about you?

A trip to the library and the threat of cold weather moving in next week spurred me on. I'm nearing the end of Absolution by Alice McDermott. I have mixed feelings on this novel. McDermott is a wonderful storyteller and there's some compelling parts in this book, but it's also a bit dry. I'll take a break from fiction and dive into a non-fiction book next. 

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is only a week away. To my American friends, I hope your day is full of gratitude and love.

💓

almost thanksgiving already

Hi friends, sorry I've been missing for awhile again. I'm reconsidering the whole blogging thing. Either I just can't get into it and don't feel like writing a post, or life gets too busy. I can understand why a lot of bloggers have given up and just post on Instagram. It's much easier to post snippets of your life there. 

One good thing since I last posted was that our son, Tim was home for a visit at the end of October. We hadn't seen him in a year! One of the things we did was to go to the Art Institute of Chicago. I hadn't been there in many years. What a fabulous museum and exhibits! We spent about four hours there ~ and I'd love to go back and do it all over again.

It is freezing here this weekend. Highs in the 20's during the day and down into the single digits - teens at night. Too early for this nonsense. It'll rebound back into the 30's and 40's next week, so...yay? (I need to be a Snowbird.) 

I'm one of those who don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I like to celebrate one holiday at a time. I think it's a little strange to be sitting around the table eating turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie with a Christmas tree glowing in the background and Santa staring you in the face. 🤷 But ~ you do you! Whatever makes you happy. 

So in my house, you will still see fall colors and decor.

I get a teeny bit in the Christmas decorating mood when I go into one of my favorite shops and seeing all the cute decor. 

Almost purchased this cutie (loved the vintage necklace most of all!)...and my friend who was with me was "encouraging" me to buy it. I passed and bought just a couple of smaller, less expensive items. 

My little love, Clementine is still with us. I thought for sure this past Monday that this was going to be her last week with us on earth. She had thrown up several times in the middle of the night, wasn't eating, and had weak back legs. Tuesday she rebounded and she's back to eating, though she's more dehydrated than ever and sleeping more than usual. It's so heartbreaking to see your fur baby decline and know the end is near.

Just a little bit of blog keeping...I've noticed that in the past few months, I've had more "Anonymous" comments than usual. I didn't know why this was happening until I saw a post by my friend, Kris at Junk Chic Cottage about it. It's a little confusing to me; something about third party cookies. (All I understand is cookies.) Kris shared a link to Linda, AKA The Fairy Blogmother's personal blog, where Linda explains how to fix Anonymous comments here. Sooo...if you are an Anonymous commenter, check out the link to see how to fix this.

To those of you in the States, hope your Thanksgiving is filled with love, family and/or friends, and good food ~ all to warm your heart and home.

🧡

on to christmas

Hard to believe Thanksgiving was less than two weeks ago. It's like we go from Thanksgiving to Christmas overnight and Thanksgiving is immediately forgotten. I think part of that is because a great deal of people start decorating before Thanksgiving. Way before Thanksgiving. I'm not one of them. However, each to their own. Whatever makes you happy!

Our Thanksgiving was lovely. My mom hosted, made tons of food, and the rest of us brought side dishes and desserts. We were grateful to gather in person again, after spending last Thanksgiving at our own homes due to the pandemic. Of course, holidays make me miss my boys even more...Phil's been gone for 12 years now and Tim moved to California two years ago.

 Here's my mom and Brian tending to the turkey, while my mom's pup, Marley is hoping that they accidentally drop some scraps. This was the first year we tried a free-range non-GMO turkey from a local farm. It was definitely different from the mass-produced store-bought turkeys. It had a stronger, more distinct turkey taste. I didn't care for it, but I'm not a turkey fan anyway. Bring on the stuffing!

Mom always sets a beautiful table, but I forgot to take a photo until after we were done eating.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, the annual ritual of dragging the Christmas totes from the basement upstairs began. As usual, Clementine and Monkey were in the thick of it.

Forget the blankets, tissue paper makes great bedding!

Thought I'd start by showing you the decor in my living room today. It already looks different from this photo. I'm always tweaking!

Here's a tweaked difference...I changed up the decor on the shelves and put lighted branches in the wall cut-out, exchanging it for the wooden bowl of vintage wooden beads.

After looking for well over a year for a new chair for the living room, I finally found one: a mid-century modern leather chair that's quite comfortable. It feels good on my back when I sit in it; firm but not too firm. I discovered a warehouse outlet place in a nearby suburb that sells surplus furniture and appliances from Wayfair, All Modern, and Overstock. We really got a deal on this chair!

We don't put up a big tree, just a tabletop one. The ornaments are ones from the boy's childhoods. It's not all the ornaments...I'd definitely need a standard sized tree for that.

Can you make out the trio of singing angels on top of the shelf?

Those are a new purchase ~ from our favorite vintage store, Secret Treasures. They're Goebel, made in Germany. We don't need anymore Christmas anything, but we're both attracted to quality vintage pieces and couldn't resist.

Love the detail!

Our one other Christmas decor purchase this year was this vintage Merry Christmas light-up garland. This came from one of my favorite local shops, Vintage Art & Findings. In true tweaking form, I've now added the vintage wooden bead garland as an added layer hanging underneath the letters.

 Mantel decor...

How are you doing on your holiday decorating? All done, or just getting started?

💓

a long overdue hello

Hey there, friends! I've missed the blogging community and writing and sharing photos, but sometimes life gets a little hectic and blogging falls to the back burner.

After being gone so long, it's hard to know where to start. I've been uploading photos and writing, but the post was too long. The delete key has been my friend and so I'm sticking with a generalization for now.

Clementine and Monkey news: Clem is still hanging in there with her CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). You'd never know she's sick, as energetic and feisty as she still is. She eats well, too, especially for a tiny girl. I finally got brave enough to learn how to do her subcutaneous IV fluids at home, which I now do every other day. Brian and I make a good team: he sets everything up, and I'm the one who does the injection. We had a few mishaps the first few weeks; it was definitely a learning process. But so worth it in order not to be having to run to the vet all the time, not to mention the expense!

Unfortunately, Clem still has chronic skin chewing/barbering issues and they've gotten worse over time. She now has missing fur on her belly, legs and sides where she constantly chews. We have tried every medication possible for her, including ones from a vet dermatologist. We've changed her food, too. Nothing has helped. The vet is trying one last medication and then we're through with our options. 

In the meantime, I had Monkey at the vet this morning. He was born with the herpes virus and to-date, it's only shown up in his eyes...he gets eye "gunk" which flares up from time to time. About five days ago, I noticed he was congested and his purring sounds were coming from the sides of his mouth. The vet said even though my cats are indoor cats, Monkey can still get a cold since he has the herpes virus. So he's now on Amoxicillin and a probiotic. I'm telling you, sometimes having pets is like having little kids all over again!

This introvert has been quite social this summer and fall...seems I'm spending more time doing things with friends and family, and Brian and I have taken a few day trips. One positive thing about living in northeast Illinois is that we experience all four seasons. I know I complain about winter; it's my least-favorite season. And fall always makes me melancholy, though I try to find the beauty in the season through the beautiful colors and moody sky. Hope you don't mind a fall photo dump! This is what happens when I haven't talked to you all in a long time. 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we'll gather at my mom's house. It's sounding like we'll have enough food to feed an army, but there's nothing better than Thanksgiving leftovers! Wishing you all a happy and blessed holiday and thanking you for your friendship and hanging in there with me. 💓

not just yet

I've seen Christmas decor all over social media since the beginning of November. I've always been one of those who don't decorate until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time. Growing up, I never knew anyone to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Who can eat a turkey dinner and celebrate thankfulness for our food, family and friends with a Christmas tree twinkling in the background? It's just "bassackwards". Reminds me of the Sesame Street song that goes, "one of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn't belong." I think the onslaught of social media has pushed people to decorate earlier every year; a competition to be one step ahead.

But this year is different. There is no "normal". I hear people on Instagram saying that they need the cheer; that the bright lights and pretty Christmas tree make them happy. I totally understand that. Go with whatever makes you happy, especially this year. Christmas decorating isn't something that sparks joy in me: it's just another chore. So I'm waiting until I feel that Christmas spirit.

In the meantime, I do enjoy browsing the Christmas decor in independent stores. It's lovely and inspiring and I didn't have to do any of the work! One of my favorite local shops had just finished setting up their Christmas displays, so I went to take a peek last week.

I couldn't leave empty-handed and I'm a sucker for bottle brush trees, so these two came home with me. Mary, the shop owner, uses vintage materials to craft these trees. The red base on the white tree was part of a vintage chandelier from a restaurant in Chicago that closed. Mary said she had the chandelier for sale in her shop for a long time. It never sold. She took it apart and re-purposed the parts.

I received early Christmas cheer in the mail a couple of days ago, too. Kris from Junk Chic Cottage had a giveaway and I was one of the winners of these two wine bottle ornaments. Her note said no judgement from her if the wine didn't make it until Christmas. 😉

Back to Thanksgiving, what are you all doing this year? It'll be just the two of us here this year; we're staying home as we have some high-risk family members. I don't like turkey but Brian does, so we purchased a small frozen turkey breast at Trader Joe's. It has stuffing in the middle and is wrapped in phyllo dough. For sides, I'm making mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts with pecans, cranberry relish, and bourbon corn casserole. For dessert, I'll make a pumpkin pie. I know it sounds like a lot of food for the two of us, but we love Thanksgiving leftovers.

 

Whatever you choose to do for Thanksgiving, I wish you a safe and blessed one.

💓