Snow day

Anything can happen when you have a snow day. As a teacher, it's an unexpected gift that brings you back to your childhood when you see your school name flash across the TV screen along with the words CLOSED. My kids and I saw the sign together,  which was immediately followed by triumphant cheers!

The downfall is that you usually find out when your halfway out the door! The best part is that my family and I were ready for a little Christmas music and pancakes at 6:30 am!

A snow day before Christmas vacation is even more special because there is always more decorating to be done!

A few more walks in the woods collecting pine and white birch.

Always time for sledding!

It also allows time for the family to hop into the car for a photo contest to see who captures the best image of Christmas!

The smell of fresh pine inside!

You never know what you are going to see driving around enjoying the sites!

I feel grateful for such an unexpected gift, 

The Snow Day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Everywhere you go.

                        (There's no place like home for the Holidays)

Take a look in the Five and Ten.
Glistening once again,
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow

                       
                                       (shopping with family and friends)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store,
But the prettiest sight to see
Is the holly that will be
On your own front door.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Everywhere you go.
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel,
One in the park as well.
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.

                                     (Finding the perfect tree)

(Decking the halls)

(Romantic dinners for two)

(waiting to hang the stockings with care)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will start
And the thing that will make them ring
Is the Carol that you sing
Right within your heart, right within your heart. :)

Goodbye and Hello

We had an amazing summer here in Vermont. Plenty of sun, not too much heat and not too much rain. Just beautiful. My gardens were bountiful with veggies and flowers.

 Until last week. Last week we had a hard frost. It was as if mother nature just closed the stage curtain and said, "that's it, the summer is over." 

No, not really of course, because we have had some beautiful warm days since then. 
However, I couldn't save all of my flowers and veggies from the gardens. I stood outside that evening and just looked around. I harvested what I could. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend that you know you won't see for a while. 
Sigh...
Next day, I accepted that it was Autumn and it was time to appreciate it's beauty. A trip to one of my favorite nurseries was a start.

Which may explain may excessive pumpkin and mum purchases? 

Maybe? 

Here's to welcoming a new friend and here's to all the beauty of autumn. 

Here's to goodbyes and hellos. Here's to apple picking, warm fires and leaves crunching under your feet! 

~~Lamp post Love~~

A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. 
 ~Author Unknown

I had a fantastic and lucky summer finding goodies. Flea markets, antique stores and yard sales were the places for me. Shopping with a friend, I came across this little treasure:

Do you know that moment when you see a piece and immediately have a vision of what you would like it to become?

Well I definitely had the thought in my mind, but no idea how to make it work. Until, my father picked up a light kit at the local hardware store. I was surprised at how easy it was. 

With a little paint and a 4x4 post ...

And of course a light bulb, on it's way... A light  to lead us home. 

Sigh, 

Finally the lamp post that I have always wanted. 

Thank Goodness September and October are so lovely!

September 1st, and I am wondering where did the summer go?

Each day I purposefully try to take it all in...

Each and every moment goes by so quickly.

And no matter how I try to appreciate the seconds...

It can still slip away.

Seasons change and time passes by so quickly.

Time will pass regardless of our desires.

Appreciate this moment, and delight in the sounds, smells and sights that each season brings.

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the

year.” 

― 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What day is it?"

It's today," squeaked Piglet.

My favorite day," said Pooh.” 

― A.A. Milne

“Look at everything always as though you were seeing it

 either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth

 filled with glory.” 

― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I suppose there is a harmony in the future... 

" A harmony in autumn, and a luster in it's sky, which through summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!" ~Percy Brysshe Shelley

Enjoy each moment friends!

Timeless Life lessons

1. Gardening is good for your soul.

2. Happiness is not based on external status, it is an internal state. Learn to enjoy spending time with just yourself.

3. Limit your time on social media. It's not reality,    
people usually post the good stuff.

4. Be grateful for this moment, it is all there is.

5. The energy you put out is the energy you get back.

6. Life is a gift, something to cherish.

7. Be Active, Orderly, and Hardworking.

8. Share your Joy, It Gets doubled!

9. Love is the supreme expression of life, it is the essence and ground of all creation.

10.Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

~And one more for good luck...EVERYTHING CHANGES, EVERY SECOND. Take the time to appreciate...