frigid weather, some general chit chat, and a little more christmas

As I write this post, I can hear the winds howling outside my house and I'm watching gusts of snow fly past the window. The sun is shining but the wind chill temperature is already below zero. I know this is a horrible photo - I just grabbed my phone from where I was sitting and zoomed in outside the living room window to capture this photo of the sparrows lining the fence and fluttering about the bird feeder (and the mourning dove sitting on the branch on the left). The birds are all sitting there like the wind is a gentle summer breeze. They must have some good feathery insulation and super grippy claws in order not to blow right off the fence!

Earlier in the day, I went to open the side door (I can't even remember why now) and I heard this ripping sound and felt the door opening slowly. I was wondering what was going on and when I got the door open, I saw that the velvet ribbon from the wreath had adhered itself onto the ice on the inside of the door! The ribbon pulled away from the wreath as I was opening the door.

Inside, the cats and I have a better idea of trying to stay warm and snuggly, especially in the long, dark, cold evenings. I'm not much of a TV watcher so I've been doing lots of reading.

Last night I was reading on the couch and didn't realize at the time that the cats were each perched on the back cushions. When I got up and saw this, I grabbed my phone to take a picture. Zippo was in a hurry to get up and take my warm spot on the couch, so that's why he's blurry. 

On Monday, Brian was working a later shift so we had a chance to go out to breakfast. There's an old-fashioned diner in town that's been there "forever", but yet in the 26+ years we've lived here, we'd never been there to eat. I had a coupon for a 1/2 off breakfast, so we decided to give the place a try. I have to say, I give the place five stars for ambiance because it looks and feels like hometown Americana. But unfortunately, the food wasn't the greatest. Oh well, you live and learn. Sometimes it's fun just going to a new place instead of the usual.

A few more touches of Christmas around my house...a collection of Santas at the end of the hallway.

Every Christmas season, I put this special bunny on Phil's memory shelf. You'll see that on his scarf it says, "Joy Phil". As for the photo of the heart with the hand on it...when Phil passed away seven years ago, Tim painted that heart on Phil's bedroom wall. As an artist, that was Tim's way of expressing his pain. A few years later when we were painting Phil's bedroom, we asked Tim if he wanted to keep the heart on the wall or if we should paint over it. He wanted us to paint over it. So I took a photo of the heart and framed it for Phil's memory shelf.

In the main bathroom, I added just a few simple touches with angels, a bottlebrush tree, and a bathtub full of mini ornaments.

 Hard to believe Christmas is only 11 days away. I got some gifts wrapped today, which is actually a bit of a miracle. You see, I loathe wrapping (and I'm truly lousy at it), so I usually procrastinate and do that at the last minute. I'd like to make a few different Christmas cookies, too and get those in the freezer. 

How are your holiday preparations coming along?

Thank you for all your support and kind words on my last post. When you're in the thick

of yucky things in life, you go into a doom-and-gloom-panicky mode, right? I know we've

all been there for different kinds of reasons. The good news is: our water and well issues

seem okay now. The bad news is: the owner of the well company never called us back, 

even after leaving numerous messages. Great customer service! We will keep trying. We

 still have a few questions. And my dentist appointment where I got the first part of my crown

went...well, I don't want to say fine, because it certainly wasn't pleasant while I was there

and in the middle of it. But at least I like this dentist and he is understanding about 

my nervousness. He gives me little breaks and told me to raise my hand if I was feeling

uncomfortable. This is my fourth crown. I've earned queen status by now, don't ya think?

 I go back in three weeks to put the permanent crown in and to get more Novocaine on the

 other side to attempt to remove a cavity underneath another crown. 

On to more pleasant things...I was the winner in Connie from Crafty Home Cottage's

giveaway! Connie is not only a sweet, friendly woman ~ she is also artistic and does all

kind of crafts and needlework. Connie sent me a red and white dish towel with the 

cutest stitched house and heart. The bottom is trimmed in red and white rick rack.The colors 

go perfectly in my kitchen and the little house reminds me of Comfy House.

 There was also a matching quilted and stitched pot holder which I have hanging on

the side of my fridge. (Hello, old family photos.)

 Connie also sent me this beautiful red and white banner. Each little pennant

has a stitched heart. Adorable! I wanted to hang this in my kitchen, but the only

possible place would be my china hutch and it's too narrow.

 So I ended up hanging it on the wall above Tim's bed/the guest bed.

The sun is shining brightly here today but it is bitter cold. It was -5F when I woke up

this morning. I think this cold weather calls for some baking and cooking, so I'm off

now to make a dairy-free apple cake for Saturday. My mom and aunt are coming to

my house on Saturday - we're going to have a card-making day - and they're both

lactose intolerant. I thought it'd be nice to have a little treat with our coffee. And 

tonight's dinner will be stuffed manicotti, so that will take some prep work, too.

Happy Thursday, everyone. 

 

new stuff and extreme winter weather

I've found some great stuff at Goodwill lately ~ and the bonus is that I had a 30%

off coupon for most of the items!

A pretty scarf in the $1.49 bin ~

A brass candleholder, a vintage honey bottle, silver tealight holders ~

 

 An aqua Pyrex bowl ~

These cool decorations from Target (are they bookends? That's what I'm going

to use them for) that still had the original price tags on them ~

 

 Cute tin rooster - another brand-new item with the original Pier 1 Imports

price tag on it ~

A tall, wooden Santa that was 50% off ~

 

I also ran into Barnes and Noble today as all their 2014 calendars, planners,

and Christmas cards are now 50% off. I didn't need any cards since I only sent

out a few this year and still have plenty left, but I always buy a new planner

for the year and a calendar (this year it was the Chicago Cubs) for Brian.

But then I saw these little note cards and was smitten. I have this this thing 

for pretty note cards and you all know how much I love owls. I was thinking

that they wouldn't necessarily have to be used for writing little notes. I could

also use them on a homemade card, in scrapbooking, or even put in a little

frame for a decoration.

We had a ton more snow come down the past couple of days. I swear, it

didn't stop for 48 hours straight. Good thing it was a light, powdery snow. My

back can't handle shoveling the wet, heavy stuff. 

 

 Now the bitter cold is setting in. It was -13F when I got up this morning. The

high temp on Monday is forecasted to be -16F. How's the weather in your area?

Go ahead, those of you in wonderful, warm climates - rub it in!

bleak, blustery, and baking

This is what Monday looks like in northern Illinois today.

Bare trees, gray skies, cold and windy.

 And did I mention snow? Yeah, that stuff too. It's mostly swirling around in

the air and not sticking to the ground, which is fine with me. That means

easier driving and no shoveling. Guess I shouldn't be shoveling anyway

with the shoulder injury. I had my second physical therapy appointment

today and it went well, though I'm a little sore right now. I also have yoga

class tonight, so we'll see how that goes. Oh - and this area in the photo below

is the entrance to my house. I repurposed these broken iron trellis archway

 pieces as vine trellises. If I'm in the mood, I'll wrap some little white lights

around them for Christmas.

 

 I made homemade cinnamon rolls on Saturday evening. Dangerous stuff!

I delivered a couple to one of Tim's nearby friends who was in the middle of

 writing a research paper, and I sent more to work with Brian today. Here they

on the second rising...

After they came out of the oven...

 

And after I frosted them too heavily while they were still warm...

 

 BREAD MACHINE CINNAMON ROLLS

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

4-1/2 cups bread flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup white sugar

2-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Cinnamon-sugar mixture:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2-1/2 T. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/8 cup milk or cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place ingredients in bread machine in the order listed in recipe. Select dough

cycle and press start. When cycle is finished, let the dough double in size in

the machine. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; cover and let rest for 10

min. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21" rectangle. Spread dough with the 1/3 cup softened

butter and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Roll dough

up jelly-roll style and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13

pan (I needed more than one pan); cover and let rise until nearly doubled,

about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F/200 C.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 min. While rolls are

baking, make frosting: beat together the cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, 

confectioners' sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Spread frosting

on warm rolls and try to eat just one! Fall into fat and sugar coma.

Happy Monday, everyone.

transforming a tray for the winter season and some holiday talk

 I found this blue metal tray at the end of summer at Michaels for a few dollars.

I loved the bright color and it matched the other bright blue decor I had going on

in the living room. I used it on the coffee table for awhile - stacked magazines in 

it - then the tray was banished to the basement for the fall.

Since I've been incorporating gold accents into my decor now since fall, and gold

also being a lovely color for Christmas decor, I decided to spray-paint the tray

 gold and resurrect it from the basement. So, here's the tray before:

 And, the tray after:

I am not getting ready for Christmas just yet - I'm one of those who believe the

holidays should be celebrated one at a time - so Thanksgiving is definitely

first. We'll be having dinner at my mom's house on Thanksgiving so Mom is

making the turkey, but I'm the designated veggie person. I've been looking at

some vegetable recipes in magazines, blogs, and Pinterest and have come up

with a few that sound really good. Anyway, last night Brian and I window-shopped

around what me and Penny affectionately call the "Fancy Pants Mall" and I must

say that some of the Christmas displays were really pretty. This tree is in 

Pottery Barn - interesting, but in reality, who would really put these gigantic

woodland creatures in their Christmas tree? Each to their own, I suppose.

Maybe if you lived in a big log cabin house with soaring wood ceilings.

Crate and Barrel was more my style. Always has been. Even as an older teen,

when I worked at Marshall Fields (now Macy's, much to this Chicagoan's chagrin)

in a mall, I would go to Crate and Barrel on my lunch break and look at all the

beautiful home furnishings and decor and daydream about what my house would

 be like someday. I still have some wooden Christmas ornaments that I bought back

 in the early 80's before I was married. Crate and Barrel still has a nice assortment

 of unique ornaments; some were as little as $2.50.

Typical man - "You go ahead and look around, honey - I'll relax right here on

this comfy couch."

Hope everyone is having a great weekend...it is so cold here today! Going 

down to 8 degrees F tonight. So thankful for my warm home.

when it's too cold to go out

 When it's 5 degrees F. and the wind chill is below zero,

I stay indoors.

I really needed to make a dreaded Wal-Mart run, but I'm putting that off.

So, I started a project today. Organizing my huge pile of cut-out recipes.

I cleared the kitchen table to use as my work space.

I took manila envelopes and wrote a category on each one...appetizers,

brownies, cookies, muffins, cakes, breads, chicken, pork, beef, vegetarian, rice,

potatoes, salads, fish, veggies.

 And I went through each and every recipe and got them into the appropriate piles,

and then stuffed the envelopes.

I threw out a lot of recipes, too. And I still have too many.

Are you working on any projects around the house?

This is just one of several for me. But it's a dent. 

christmas eve musings ~ and the impact of red

 Happy Christmas Eve to all my blogging friends!

My husband is working today, so it's been a quiet day at Comfy House.
I am finally feeling better since having a bad cold and had that cooped-up feeling.
So I put on my winter coat and went out for a walk.
It's a gray day and the dry, cold air made me cough a lot again, but it
felt good to breathe that fresh air and move this body.

When Brian gets home from work, the three of us will have our own little

Christmas celebration with hor's d'oeurves and opening presents as Brian has to
 work tomorrow, too! Yep, there's those places that are open 24/7.
 Doesn't matter if it's Christmas day...hospitals, nursing homes, police departments,
 and fire departments are all open.
 (I'm sure I forgot some professions.)

It will be a bittersweet Christmas morning with Brian being at work,

and no little ones to be waking us at the crack of dawn like they used to.
We miss our oldest son every day of the year (for those of you who don't know,
he passed away three years ago), but moreso on holidays.

Moving on...I've always loved touches of red in decor.
Red goes with practically any other color and can really add that something to a room.
Red is warm and positive; energizing and cheerful.

My bedroom desperately needs a makeover and is the next room that WILL be done,
but for now the color scheme is light blue and white.
I nearly forgot that I had a quilt with primary colors packed away and that the
one side had little red and white checks. I folded it lengthwise and placed it
at the foot of the bed, then added a holiday pillow with a red bird on it.
Much better!

And, remember I was looking for a white tablecloth to go under my Christmas runner?

I couldn't find one in my table's size. I remembered that I had a vintage tablecloth

that I picked up at a resale shop a few months ago and...

it had red in it, so why not?

The white and blue plates are my wedding china - Noritake Ireland, Brambury pattern.

The little reindeer plates - no markings on the back. I found them at Goodwill.

Here's to a peaceful, safe, and healthy Christmas from my house to yours.

xoxo