'tis the season blog tour - i'm up!

If you've been following Jemma's 'Tis the Season Blog Tour and visiting

the lineup of wonderful blogger's homes each day, then you will know that

my home is one of the tours for day four. So, welcome to Comfy House!

 Wipe that snow off your feet and come on in before you freeze!

I hope the fire warms you up a bit while you look around my living room. I went

with themes of red and gold and natural items for this room...

 

After our son, Philip passed away in September 2009, we lost our desire to

 put up a Christmas tree anymore. Our other son, Tim agreed with us. And

now that Tim is away at university and it's just Brian and I in the house, we

especially don't feel the need (or want) of a big Christmas tree. We found

a small tabletop tree and decorate it with some of the boy's ornaments that

we gave them every year as they were growing up. I still buy an ornament

for Tim every year. Someday, when he has his own home and a family, I

hope that he will especially treasure his collection of ornaments. And perhaps

he'll want Phil's ornaments, too. 

Let me show you into the kitchen where I used touches of red and white...

Coffee...would you like a cup?

 Or, perhaps you prefer hot cocoa. I have a batch of homemade mix. The Bailey's 

makes it even better. ;-) Maybe you'd rather have a cup of tea and that's fine, too.

 I have a motley assortment.

 I've been baking Christmas goodies so please have a cookie or a slice

of cranberry cake with carmelized pecan topping to go with your cuppa.

 The living room and kitchen are the two rooms where I did the most decorating.

But come on down the hallway and I'll show you the little bits I did in other rooms.

 The hallway bathroom shelves got just a few touches - a silver angel,

a bottle brush tree, and a glass jar filled with colorful ornaments that

match the towel and artwork on the opposite bathroom wall.

 I don't decorate our bedroom for Christmas, so I simply added a candle

and a vintage sleigh filled with blue ornaments on top of the secretary desk.

Across the hallway in my office, I decorated the top of the dresser with my

snowmen collection. The red chair with the quilt? That's my blogging chair. 

This room is still a work-in-progress. Next on my list is hanging some curtains.

 Aren't these the cutest nesting dolls? I found them at Goodwill a few months ago.

 I had to add a couple of Christmas kitties to the collection on top of my bookcase...

 while a corner wall shelf welcomes a hand-carved angel, three vintage mice,

and the classic Beanie Baby Christmas bear.

Thank you so much for visiting my home - I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Please be sure to visit the other homes on the tour this week.

 Monday, December 9th

Jemma of At Home With Jemma

Chris of The Cafe Sucre Farine

Tuesday, December 10th

Poppy of Poppy View 

Wednesday, December 11th

Sherry, Jess, and Nel of Red Rose Alley 

Patty of Home and Lifestyle Design

Thursday, December 12th

Melanie (yours truly) of Comfy House

Brenda of Cozy Little House

Friday, December 13th

Melinda of The Refeathered Roost

Saturday, December 14th

Kathryn of The Dedicated House

Dewena of Across the Way

Linking up this home Christmas blog tour two years later at Cozy Little House Holiday Link Up Party.

life is messy

 You know the old saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans?"

Last night, I was thinking that I was really looking forward to tomorrow (which

is now today) - my one and only quiet day at home this week. We were due

 for more snow overnight and the temps will be drastically falling to below zero. 

Which meant it'd be a perfect day for getting some Christmas baking done 

and maybe even curling up on the sofa for a bit and reading my novel. Ha! 

Not meant to be. (Insert photo of beautiful kitty in a sunbeam.)

I had a message on my phone this morning from my neighbor-friend's husband.

My friend had been in New York City this weekend visiting her ill friend, and fell off

 a curb in Times Square, breaking her foot in three places, as well as her ankle. Not

 only is this bad enough in itself, but my friend had recently been very ill herself, just

 getting out of the hospital around Thanksgiving. One of those, are-you-kidding-me-

enough-is-enough stories.

My friend's husband wanted to know if I could come and let their dogs out a

 couple of times tomorrow and Sunday while he was at work. He also said that

my friend would like a visitor. Of course, I will walk across the street and visit

with my friend today, but I will not go empty-handed. Normally, my friend loves to

cook and make healthy meals for herself and her husband, but since she's now

in a cast up to her knee and on crutches, I doubt she'll be doing much cooking.

So, I immediately started making a pot of soup. This is what my kitchen looks

like this morning while making soup, baking cookies, making myself some toast

and coffee for breakfast, and getting a package ready (on the table) to mail out.

 The thing is ~ the irony of all this is not lost on me. I've been in a real funk these

past couple of weeks, stressing over finances, not liking having to go to physical

therapy twice a week, concerned about certain broken familial relationships,

thinking about what I could do to bring in some income, and other "life stuff".

It was all weighing very heavily on me and boy, was I pissy lately.

Side note: I just noticed in the photo below that there is a jar of split peas on

the counter. Not lentils like the Jamie Oliver soup recipe called for. Oops.

Doing several things at once = distraction.

I think today was a wake-up call to get out of myself. Give me something to

think about and do other than concentrating on myself. Because you know what?

Everyone is broken in some way. Everyone's life is messy. And the more you

wallow in your own pity, the more cranky and self-serving you become. 

So, while the accidental soup is simmering on the stove and the cookies are in the

 oven baking, I will wash all those dishes by hand (another thing "making" me cranky

 - my dishwasher's been broken for over a month) and give my thanks that I

am physically able to do all these things. I'd rather have a messy kitchen than

a messy soul. 

Linking up to Green Willow Pond: What We Accomplished Wednesday

snowy monday

 

 

We got 4" of snow yesterday - just enough to make the landscaping pretty,

but also just enough where the roads were dangerously slick. And now the

temps have really dropped. We officially hit below zero tonight - it is now -1F.

I do not like cold weather. Knowing it's going to be like this for 2-1/2 more

months is depressing to me. I wish I could hibernate until March. At least we

have soup to warm us up. This bean and bacon soup was really good - 

hearty, tasty, and easy to make. It reminded me of a ham and bean soup,

though not as rich. I didn't have two cans of white beans ~ I had one can

of white beans and one can of pinto beans, so that's what I used. So use

whatever you have in your pantry. It's all good. But don't forego the fresh

rosemary if you can. I really think this added just the right touch to the soup.

You can find the recipe here. Serve with hot, buttery crusty bread.

holiday baking

It's no secret that I love to bake, and with Christmas coming up, I've been looking

at web sites and Pinterest boards for some baking inspiration.

This Cranberry Cake photo practically had me drooling on my keyboard.

It's from a site called The Kitchn and you can find the recipe here.

 A Pretty Life in the Suburbs posted the recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate

cookies last year. I made them and they were delicious. I am definitely

making them again this year. Here's the recipe.

How about a Christmas Blondie? This blondie delight is studded with white chocolate, 

candied cherries, and toasted walnuts. Brought to you by Better Homes and Gardens.

I'm a huge chocolate fan, but I also love a good molasses cookie around

Christmastime. These are one of Brian's favorites. From the blog, Mango

On An Apple, here's the yummy recipe.

 

Even if you're not a baker, you can whip up these holiday spiced nuts.

They'd be great for snacking, for putting out on the table for pre-dinner

snacking when company comes over, or even put in a pretty package for

gifts. Go check out the recipe at Mom Advice.

Speaking of holiday baking, next week starts the Blog Tour that I'll be

a part of. I'm still putting final touches on my holiday decor and even though

I don't put up a tree or do anything "fancy", I'd like to think that my home

is inviting and cheery for my family and friends. I can't wait to share it with

 all of you!

taking a breath and showing you my weekend finds

How can December be so busy already? I think it's because Tim was here for the

long weekend, Brian had a couple of days off work, and I've been dragging out

Christmas decor and working on various vignettes. Between taking care of the

usual household chores, making meals, running errands, going to physical therapy

appointments twice a week, yoga class, and finding time for friends and self - 

I'm a little breathless. There are piles of Christmas decorations all over the living

room and on the kitchen table but I know it'll all come together in good time.

Brian and I felt the need to just get out and go somewhere yesterday. We

were feeling cooped up and tired of household chores and doings. I was

feeling restless and edgy and couldn't decide what to do. We both need new

jeans but I didn't want to shop at any retail stores this weekend, due to the

crowds. We ended up going up to the road to the Volo Antique Mall. Even

though this place is only a couple of miles away, I just don't go there often.

I prefer going to thrift stores because I usually find better bargains. But yesterday,

we happened to run into an acquaintance who has a booth there, and she showed

me where to find the bargains! There are three booths rented out by the same

man and he prices his stuff really low, simply because he wants to get rid of it.

He was even having a 30% off sale! Here's what I came home with...

 I adore owls but overlooked this cookie jar at first because I thought it was

a cheap, made-in-China piece. Until Sue picked it up and told me it was made

in Italy! I still hemmed and hawed, saying it had light green accents and there was

no green in my kitchen at all. But Sue talked me into it...yep, it's all her fault.

For less than $5, this beautiful owl is now actually in my office on a bookshelf.

I'm using her as a bookend for some cookbooks.

This vase is the handpainted mexican design, El Palomar. I have a set of

dishes and cups that match it - all found previously at Goodwill.

Cute little owl teapot for $2.80...

 A piece to add to my white pitcher collection...

 Love this metal camel to add to a Christmas vignette...

And my other favorite find besides the owl cookie jar...this vintage mirror

originally from Marshall Fields. Can't wait to hang it up in my office!

 What did you do this weekend? 

Have you started your Christmas decorating yet?