Christmas! Hello dear Reader. We had a very warm, relaxed, cozy and delicious holiday. The kids are in Connecticut. I spent today puttering and cleaning. So many things had fallen by the wayside in preparing for the holiday. I tackled our pantry and kitchen floor. The kids' rooms got a good vacuuming. Some of the Christmas decor got peeled away. My holly arrangements had been shedding. The next on the list for cleaning/paring is the fridge! The fur boys are just exhausted from the merry making. 

Hello dear Reader. Today I spent the afternoon crafting with my friend Elaine. She invited me to paint tea towels. She had the great idea to make them and is gifting hers to family members. We spent a cozy time listening to Christmas music and enjoyed a scrumptious brunch of eggs benedict. Her talented husband cooked for us and it was delicious! Together they have written and illustrated a book featuring their beloved Scottie, Dorothy Parker. I had the pleasure to read and see a first proof. It is a tale of Dorothy's introduction and adventures in Providence, her new home.

We used fabric dyes with a paint brush directly on the tea towels. With an iron we heat set the paint. They need to be washed and ironed before using. It was so fun and relaxing to do. I wish I had added a border to the cat towel. And that I had photographed some of Elaine's finished towels! Below is the scene from yesterday's snowstorm. Strangely today it was in the high 40's and yesterday's snow has melted away.

Hello dear Reader. I wish you could get a wiff of my kitchen. Today I hosted the second annual cookie-athon. Together with 4 dear friends we baked 5 types of Christmas cookies. The house still smells delicious, almost 8 hours later! This year we simplified things. Last year I was off my rocker and each baker, (we were 6) brought 2 types of double portions of dough. Today, we each brought 1 dough, doubled. Together we shaped and baked them. Our five varieties are: Cranberry shortbread, Butterscotch chip, Linzer hearts, Peanut butter blossoms and Snickerdoodles. Yum!

Hello dear Reader. Last night I was able to finish my new fridge painting. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Apparently not everyone is impressed. No matter, the world is full of critics. Tomorrow I''m hosting the second annual cookie-a-thon. I hope a certain someone isn't a pest. Threats of Santa's naughty list mean nothing to him. 

Hello dear Reader. I'm still rusty and getting my bearings with this new site for my blog. I just wrote a new post and when I published it, all my words were gone! I don't know if this ol' dog can learn new tricks here. But anyway. We are just 10 days from Christmas Eve! Wow, that's something!? No matter what I do, December always flies by. I've been making a conscious effort to enjoy the season. One of those, was to have these lovely ladies over for lunch. It was a relaxed and fun time. I made a super simple lunch of white shrimp pizza, salad and my Mom's foolproof Danish. It was a hit. We got a little crafty and made paper stars and cones for our trees.

On Saturday I was selling my work at the Florence Griswold Museum's Gathering of Elves. More than 1 patron was disappointed to find 4 vendors and not a gaggle of Santa's helpers! It was a relaxed event and I was happy to sell some calendars and ornaments. Thank you to friends who came by and new faces I met. While I was there, David asked if I'd like to participate in 2017's Wee Faerie Village and I said you bet! This will be the new location for my cutting, to avoid the vegetable garden from being trod on.

Over the weekend I baked my first fruitcake. It is in the style of my Mom's. She bakes a white fruitcake with mostly dried fruit and little to none of the rubber bits. Marc and Sophia are converts. I'm sure it won't be my last one I make. Today I was working on a new fridge painting. I wanted something more seasonal, so I thought the boys in sweaters would be perfect. It has been fun using color and paint. Bubbe was a pill and did his best to drink the paint water. He was wedged behind the canvas as well, so it was moving and unstable while I worked on it. Here's a more serene scene, that in moments will turn into an ornament and pine needle brawl. So much for silent night.

Hello dear Reader. I'm 95% done with decorating for the season. We put up our tree on Saturday, which is early for us. We were all around and I jumped on the opportunity. The tree was a bargin at 24.99 and I think is one of our best. Mr. Bubbe hasn't climbed it and I am so surprised. He and Finky have been snoozing under it and wrestling too. On Saturday I went to a Christmas bazaar at a local church. I was in heaven and found this 2.00 sled and some other treasures. I gave it a paint job.

This year my kitchen has a new color scheme, so I had to mix up the decor. I always like to set things up in a new way. It may be the same decorations but arranged so it isn't the same 'ol, 

Welcome to the new site, dear Reader. If you were having problems logging onto my site, there was an unknown error that caused it to crash. So this, fingers crossed, is my new site. Andrew made it for me. My blogging rhythm is a bit off. Of course when I couldn't post, I had the perfect post written in my head. Now that I'm here at the keyboard, my flow is off. I'll just jump in. On Sunday, Sweenor's had it's open house. As predicted, there was a line out the door! It was fun to see the kids, but we didn't get a view of the candy cane demostration. Here are the kids in their elf ware before their shift. Sophia had to loose the antlers, as they were getting stuck when she reached into the candy cases.