Catching Up

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I know I’m a little late with my New Year wishes. I've had a lazy and laid back holiday. It’s been great. The kids all came home for Christmas. It was great having a little guy here. He got much more excited than the big guys. And I have to say, it warmed my heart to hear him call me Nana. :)

Let me play catch up for a minute. I never showed you our Thanksgiving feast. 

And I want to make sure they’re in my blog before we get too far into the new year!

We had dinner inside again this year because it was too cold and windy.

You can see years past here, here and here.

My sister found these planters that looked like bark. I brought some potted mums which we cut up and put them in oasis. Then we mixed in some other cut flowers and greens from the yard.   

I think they turned out beautiful.

 

The manly men and their manly tools cut some large logs into discs about 3 inches thick. 

They made a great base for the candles and hurricane globes.

Remember the little place card holders I made? Okay, so I had help. 

They went together with the planters so well.

And last was the abundance of desserts! Oh my, it was all so good.

But it’s time to say good by to all those sweets.

New Years Eve was quiet around here. And now that #3 son is back at college and the house is once again quiet I need to start working on a few things.

I won’t call them resolutions. Too much pressure. But definitely I have things I want to accomplish.

Those are just some of the things that come to mind at the moment.

• sew curtains for the kitchen
• post my kitchen reveal (I did not forget)
• paint the upstairs bathroom
• restock my etsy shop
• redo my cane chairs
• paint some furniture
• redo #3’s bedroom
• tend to my garden (have I told you about the stinkhorns I have? ICK!)
• paint the front door and all interior doors
• shop for a new chair for the living room
• lose weight (see above dessert table)

How about you? What’s on your list?

Hope you are having a great start to your new year.

Thanksgiving Tables and Place Cards

I cannot believe how fast Thanksgiving snuck up on me.

I confess. I did not even get any of my fall decorations out. 

I might as well just zip on into the Christmas stuff. But not until we get back home.

Right now I’m working on place cards for Thanksgiving.

And if you need a last minute idea, then this is for you.

We just cut down a little sapling from the backyard. A thick branch would work too. 

Then we chopped it up into little chucks with the chop saw. And by we, I mean he.

And then HE used the Dremel tool to make little slits. 

All he had was a metal cutting disc but I’d recommend one for wood. 

It took a bit of effort which isn't really safe.

I printed out the cards on some olive green card stock. I downloaded a brush set from Shadowhouse Creations that had a variety of tree silhouettes. Easy peasy. Except for a little printer glitch. There is always a glitch it seems.

Those of you that have been around here for awhile might remember me mentioning our big Thanksgiving feast that we have at my sister’s house in Jacksonville.

We’re down to 24 this year.

We like to eat outside under her big old oak trees. But Thanksgiving 2011 was too windy.

We had to move it indoors and the table overflowed with kids in the kitchen!

I think we were over 30 last year.

 

Here is what it looked like outside for Thanksgiving 2010.

And then back in 2009 we were able to set up outside as well.

Place cards can be really simple to do. They have to be when you make so many!

I hope we can be back under the oaks this year.

I’ll let you know if the weather holds out!

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Will it be big and loud or small and quiet?

And come back later this week. Skyland Drive has something to share with you all!

Think Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

:)

Thanksgiving Feast 2011

So, how was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Was it turkey overload for you?

My sister made a 24lb turkey and my nephew smoked a 16lb bird.

Plus we had a 10lb ham. Can you believe we only had enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

What little was left after that went into a pot of chili.

We did not get to eat outside like we had hoped. The wind was blowing too much to enjoy the dinner. So we went to plan B and stretched the dining room table into the sitting room.

 

And this didn’t hold everyone! We had 7 kids at another table by the kitchen.

I made up these place cards using photoshop elements. Then punched some hole in the ends and wrapped some ribbon around the napkin and out through the holes.

My mom suggested we all use the place cards around our wine glasses so we could keep them all straight. She is so smart! It was a great idea. They even slipped nicely around the beer bottles.

We used some silver creamer and sugar bowls to make the mini arrangement.

I brought some pots of mums and we just clipped the flowers off and stuck them in some oasis.

They came out so cute.

That’s my Halloween pumpkin on the cabinet that I never carved.

So we put it to use to hold another potted mum.

We all had a great time. Lots of food, lots of wine, lots of laughs.

This last shot was taken by my daughter-in-law to be. Yep, #1 son is now engaged!

She is a photographer as well. So they have a lot in common.

The poor thing was bombarded with so many people this past weekend.

It was an introduction to the family like no other.

We're so happy to have her and her 6yr old son join our family.

Oh and I almost forgot.

I will be doing a giveaway this week so be sure to stop back by!

Happy Summer!

That was one fast week! I got back from my trip on Wednesday. I think. The days are just flying by and I’m not sure what day it is. I had a great time visiting the family. Got to hug on my great nephews a bit. I miss my boys being that little and huggable.

The 7 hour drive down to Clearwater was a bit long. It was just me and #3 son. Oh and Henry. We were all there for my niece's graduation. On the way home I drove to my sister’s house in Jacksonville to break it up. Okay, and to play with the little guys a bit more.

 

I’ll share a few pictures of her house that is on the Arlington River. You can read more about it’s history here. It’s the oldest lived in home in Duval county. There are some shots here that my son took a couple of Thanksgivings ago. And some here from another visit I made.

There are some huge old oak trees on the property that are just dripping with Spanish moss. 

The porch ceiling are all painted blue. You can see the front porch that wraps around 3 sides in the other photos. Actually I guess it’s the back. The front is originally the river side as it was the only access to the house.

This is the original well. They found a bunch of neat old bottle down there. The top is screened off so no falling down the well. 

Next visit I will take some indoor shots. There are a few in some of the links. But not enough details.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer breaks. But I guess some of you are just starting with winter! So stay warm. I say that as my AC is running non stop.

I need to get back in the swing of things around here. Lots to catch up on too. My reader is ready to explode. Time to get the paint out. I’m missing the smell and I’m itching for some new colors. What have you been working on?

Linking up to:
A Beach Cottage: Good Life Wednesday

see ya,

Down By the River

I took a quick trip to Jacksonville to visit my mom for Mother's Day. We had a wonderful brunch at my sister's house. She lives in the oldest home on the St. John's River. It was a beautiful day and I thought I'd share some pictures I took of the house and yard.

This is the side of the house. The right side of the picture is all the original house and could not be changed. The part with the large peak. To the left was either changed or expanded but made to match the original style. The porch wraps all the way around.

This is actually the front of the house. The side that faces the river.The building in the back is the detached garage.



The view from the front porch. Can you see the double swing hanging from the oak?

This tree is huge!

This is the other side of the house facing the river.

Sorry they are so ginormous! I tried to get them a little bit bigger and they went to this. I just don't think Picasa likes me much.