happy day of love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've always liked Valentine's Day. It's a low-key holiday without any expectations (we don't exchange gifts), but a fun day to "celebrate" with extra love. 

I enjoy putting touches of heart decor around the house at this time of year, too. I think it adds some cheer to the usually dismal month of February. Though this year we've been lucky with a decent amount of sunshine and mild temps.

Do you remember the "Love is" comic strip? It was created in the 1960's by New Zealander, Kim Grove-Casali for her then-boyfriend and then appeared in newspapers in 1970. When Brian and I were dating (and maybe first married, too; I don't remember), we used to cut out the comic from the newspaper and give to each other if it pertained to us. 💗 I still have a bunch of them. 

I found this mug in an antique shop a few years ago and had to get it.

I like making a special dinner for Valentine's Day, too. When my kids were little, I'd make a heart-shaped meatloaf. Tonight for Brian and I, it's a lovely Bolognese sauce that I've had simmering on the stove all day ~ will boil some wide-tube pasta at the last minute; a tossed, green salad with various, crunchy veggies and a homemade Italian dressing; and a fresh baguette that I'll make into garlic bread. I also made one of Brian's favorite desserts: molasses cookies. Just pulled the cookies out of the oven and between the smell of those and the Bolognese sauce, my house smells amazing! 

Sending all of you LOVE.

it's almost time to say goodbye to monkey ~ and a tray of hearts

I am keeping this post short today as I can barely stomach writing on this subject. We decided today that it's time to say goodbye to Monkey. We've been talking about it for days and I just wasn't ready. I kept thinking he was going to rally like he'd been doing. But there's no more rallying. 

The only time he eats is in the morning and it's just a few bites of his food as we hand-feed him. He is even refusing fresh chicken and a lick of Kerrygold butter (his faves). He hides a lot of the time or just lies on our bed. The only times he moves is to go downstairs to use the cat box (we're surprised he can still do that) or to use the scratching post in the living room. He hasn't groomed himself in about two weeks so I've been brushing him every day.

I put him in his "nest" this morning just to see what he'd do. It used to be his favorite spot where he'd snooze all morning after breakfast. He sat there for a few minutes and then jumped down and went back into our bedroom.

We are using a veterinary hospice and euthanasia service where the vet comes to your home. There are four female vets on staff. One of those vets will be here tomorrow afternoon. It is time to give him the gift of peace. Brian and I are devastated and heartbroken. We have already shed many tears. This sucks. It's not fair because he's young (11) for a cat. He was perfectly healthy until this rare nasal cancer happened out of the blue. 

To change the subject and end with something pretty, I dug out all my handmade hearts and displayed them in a tray for Valentine's Day. Some of these were made by two blogger friends: Penny at At Home in English Valley and Carol at Art and Sand. The tiny vintage ones with the bows as well as the large quilted white and gray one on the right were purchased as a set several years ago at an antique shop.

Thank you for your support. It means so much to me. If you would like to pray for us tomorrow afternoon or if you're not the praying type, just send some love our way ~ all of it would be greatly appreciated and accepted. 
💔

the heart of winter

We got walloped by another snowstorm on Sunday. I know...it's "nothing" compared to what the east coast just got. But we're making up for lost time here in Illinois, with January packing over 20" of snow. 

As much as I don't like winter, I have to admit, the fresh snow is pretty.

Even prettier, Mr. Cardinal peeking out of the snowy arborvitaes in our backyard. 

Looking down our street...

Pretty to look at - yes. Fun to shovel - no. Especially when the snow is wet and heavy like it was. I'm just thankful Brian had the day off of work.

The days after snowstorms aren't so pretty. Reality sets in. Cars are covered in road salt, the snow piles on the sides of the road are slushy and black from all the dirt, and even the bird feeders take a beating. I went outside and broke off these icicles for the poor little birdies.

So now it's February which brings Valentine's Day. One of my favorite holidays as it's no-frills, just cheery pops of red and pink in the middle of a dull, cold month. As a side note, this plant in the white pot is the newest to join my household. I found it at Trader Joe's ~ ceramic pot included. I believe it's English Ivy. The plant didn't have an ID tag. 

In Brian's office...

A vintage bowl on the table at the end of the hallway holds some handmade (not by me!) hearts.

Just a few heart touches on and in the china cabinet...

Speaking of china cabinets, in my last post I had talked about looking for a hutch for my kitchen and getting rid of the china cabinet. I explained that this skinny cabinet had sentimental value, as Brian and I bought it when we were first married. A few of you said that maybe I could find somewhere else in my house for it. 

Backtracking a moment, here is the hutch I saw on FB Marketplace that was listed for only $50. While I was thinking about it, it sold right away. 

Back to finding another place in my home where I could put my skinny cabinet...

Our house is small. The only place it could possibly go is the living room. There's no room in any of the small bedrooms. This corner and the wall to the right is currently a work-in-progress anyway. The cheap, ugly IKEA chair you partially see is just temporary. We desperately need a nice armchair for that wall. I've been looking for a deep blue velvet one. They're out there but wow, are they expensive! There are cheap ones, but we don't want a cheap one. We are looking for a quality piece of furniture that's going to last. Our second choice is leather. In the meantime, to fill in this space, I ordered that tall shelving unit from Target. It doesn't do a lot for me. This whole space is just "off". I'm leaving it alone until we find an armchair. Anywho...maybe the skinny hutch would indeed look good in this corner? Only time will tell. First things first: finding a new hutch for the kitchen and an armchair for the living room.

In the happy news department, Tim is flying in from California on Thursday for a quick visit. We're due for some more snow on Thursday, so I hope his plane isn't delayed. Of course, as a mom, these kinds of things worry me. And doesn't it just figure...we're in for an Arctic blast this weekend, with wind chills up to -30F! I'm sure he won't miss this weather one bit by the time he flies back to California. 

Stay well and safe. 💓

still in the throes of winter, but robins & valentine's day decor add some cheer

We're still in the trenches of winter here in northern Illinois and I'm officially sick of it and longing for spring. Two weeks ago we had a couple of big snowstorms, then we had record-breaking cold, and now this evening into tomorrow morning, we're under a weather warning for an ice storm. They're saying travel will be nearly impossible on untreated streets and not to be out unless you absolutely have to. I don't have to go anywhere, but both my husband and son will be traveling home from work tonight. They're also saying we could easily lose power from snapped power lines and falling tree branches. If we lose power, that means we won't have any heat either.

All worrisome indeed, but since I can't do anything about the weather, I can at least take pretty pictures. These were taken 1-1/2 weeks ago at a neighboring farm where I was picking up my custom pork order. Their hogs are pasture-raised and supplemented with a non-GMO, organic grain mix. If I'm going to eat meat, I feel better ethically eating meat that's been humanely raised and not fed GMO corn and soy. And our bodies thank us in the way of good health with that part, too.

 Last week I walked into my living room and saw a flash of orange out of the corner of my eye. I looked out the window and did a double-take when I saw a robin! I know not all robins fly south for the winter: there are "winter robins". Nevertheless, I have never seen one in winter. I ran to get my phone to take a photo and had to take this through the living room window, plus zoom in - hence the blurry photo. Someone on Facebook commented that she looked pregnant, too. Either that or she's just very fluffy!

 It's been gray and gloomy outside for what seems "forever". So I'm always glad when it's time to start decorating for Valentine's Day because the pops of red and pink add color and cheer around the house. Even though we don't make a big deal out of this "holiday", I've always liked it because there's no stress...and who doesn't like hearts?

In my bedroom, a tin heart and a hand-stitched Cupid pillow hang from the side of a bookcase...

and best of all, a heart banner made by Connie of Crafty Home Cottage hangs above my bed. I treasure all the things my blogging friends have made for me over the years.

In the kitchen...

Inside my small china cabinet...three out of the four hearts in the white box in the middle were made by Carol of Art and Sand. The fourth (the one in the back, right) was made by Penny of At Home in English Valley.

"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love" (Hubert H. Humphrey)

Thank you for both. 💓

sweetness and love

I poked around in my tub of Valentine's Day decor the other day and ended up putting most of the decorations back. As with decorating this past Christmas, I'm really feeling that less is more lately.

I added just a few touches in the kitchen and my office.

A simple place setting on the table...oh, hello Clementine on the chair!

Added just one heart to the china cabinet. I'm liking the red, white and yellow...it's cheery. I didn't feel like removing everything and starting all over with all Valentine's Day stuff.

Like the china cabinet, the kitchen cart had enough stuff on it, so I simply added a heart bowl with a little birdie on it (found at Target years ago), and filled it with stuffed hearts (gifted from Carol of www.artandsand a few years ago...as are all the stuffed hearts in this post) on the middle shelf.

In the office, I stuck some more stuffed hearts in the little drawer of the vintage letter holder. This piece belonged to Brian when he was a boy. Can this be considered vintage already...are we that old?!

On the cookbook shelf in my office...I got the pretty plant pink polka dot plant on the top shelf (in the rose planter) for just 79 cents at Aldi today. I bought two: the other is in my kitchen. And I made a little banner with vintage Valentines and hanging ornaments to string across the middle shelf.

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...but how much love we put in that action." (Mother Teresa)

Linking up to Share Your Cup #182 and Thoughts of Home on Thursday #1.