BUSY BUSY ~ ~ ~

Our tree, cut and decorated by my mister!! The rug is a vintage piece found at the Lakeside antique show this summer.





Antique aprons and bonnets in the back entry hall ~ covered with Christmas things!





Bottle brush trees with antique and folk art Santas in 'Marge's cupboard'!





A hooked Santa pillow in among antique bears and vintage Santas on a sled.





Redware Santas ~






Miniature carved Santas on a reproduction cupboard.





Miss Luci and her friend made these huge paper snowflakes!





Went to a fun and festive dinner at friend Adelle's!





Her centerpiece was a collection of hand-carved trees by local artist, Tim Gorka!







Sonny making peach and blackberry jam the week before Christmas ~ Tad and I watch!





Christmas morning, I made a Black Forest cake and Sonny baked an apple pie in an iron skillet!





Before everyone arrived! There were only 20 of us since the Seattle family spent Christmas in Cabo San Lucas!! We had a fun day with lots of good food and not a lot of craziness ~ that was a blessing!!





The week before we celebrated Luci's (on the right) 11th birthday and attended her Christmas concert!





And last but not least, we celebrated Tad's 49th birthday yesterday with another family gathering! Cheryl got him a tuxedo t-shirt and it set the tone for a cute picture with his girls!







This beautiful arrangement was at the Happy Grape, where some of us went later on last evening, to celebrate DIL Cheryl's upcoming 50th birthday! Our first stop was Mike's pizza pub ~ it was karaoke night and we were treated to my son Teddy singing a little song for all to enjoy!! We laughed till we cried! He's recovering from shoulder surgery but always entertaining!!

And that, my friends, is why I haven't blogged very much! To say nothing of the fact that we didn't start shopping until December 21!! But we got it all done and wrapped ~ amazing to me!!! We live on the edge here ~ it keeps us on our toes!!

I hope each and everyone had a blessed Christmas ~ Sonny and I are very grateful for our large fun-loving family and for everyone's good health and good humor! We're enjoying the journey!!


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                                             MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

We're having fun here!  Sonny is baking an apple pie ~ I'm putting together my Black Forest cake ~ and we're wrapping gifts because we didn't start shopping till last Saturday!! There will be twenty of us today ~ the five Seattle kids are in sunny Cabo San Lucas for their holiday (they went swimming with whale sharks yesterday)!!  Hope you're spending your day with family and friends!  Merry Merry everybody!

Alice and Sonny

TIME FLIES WHEN ~ ~ ~

We're having fun ~ and fun we had last weekend! We saw Santa Claus in the old village of Zoar!





Only an hour and a half away, we went to their annual Christmas in Zoar celebration.





This was taken thru the window from the second floor of the gardener's home. Even the winter garden was beautiful!





Love the greenery adorning the wing of this private home that was on tour. The main structure was a log house ~ very warm and cozy!

If you double click on the above pictures, they will show more clearly ~ Blogger and I have issues!!





The greenhouse was attached to the gardener's house ~ would love to have one at our house!





The Zoar Hotel was also open but we were running short on time so now we have to go back! It was a cold but beautifully sunny day for a walking tour!





This is on the ceiling of one of the buildings and is still the original paint ~ one of the guides told us that it is a religious symbol for the Separtist community that was Zoar.





The tinsmiths shop was a cute little place, too.





There was a craft show in the old schoolhouse ~ love Schooners' red ware!





This hooked rug hung over their booth and was made for them by Carl and Mary Gimber ~ what a great gift!

We really had a fun day ~ our first time in Zoar ~ hopefully not our last! Then we drove to Cleveland for a fun Christmas party with all of our lake friends!!







Friday night was our Homebuilders party ~ Ma and Pa were out again!! Sonny is going to be the new President ~ second time around ~ he was president 25 years ago, too!

Maybe today, we'll decorate ~ hard to get anything done when we're flitting from here to there!!

Hope you're all having fun, too!


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ANOTHER FUN EVENING ~ ~ ~

LOVE this whimsical castle! We we're invited to Kingwood Center's Christmas open house for members. We are not ~ but were happy to join in on the fun!





Each room and tree is decorated by various local garden clubs.





Loved the dining room dressed in peppermint!





Kingwood Center was the home of Charles King ~ a local industrialist. Very well known, the home is a mansion and the gardens are palatial!





There were trees in every nook and cranny. One of our customers decorated this tree with paper snowflakes made by Newhope students, where Tad went to school.






This is one of the libraries and shows the enormity of the house.





The grand stairway is the backdrop for this huge tree that stands in the entry hall. Mr. King left funds to support this grand place but in the recent economy, that has changed. Still a beautiful spot in the middle of Mansfield that needs lots of local support.





One of the many friends we ran into, took our picture in front of yet another tree. Outside, snow fell lightly, just as though it had been ordered to add to the evening. We were shuttled from the parking area to the grand entrance by limo ~ very swanky for our little town! Thanks to friends Janet and Tom for inviting us to join them!!

Hope you're having a fun and safe holiday season! We're off on another adventure today!! Time to wake up rip can winkle!!!




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A NICE EVENING ~ ~ ~

At Malabar Farm ~ thru my membership in the Malabar Spinning and Weaving Guild, we were invited to an open house for volunteers ~ I don't, but I will now!





This is the grand stairway at the front entry to famous writer, Louis Bromfield's home. We were able to tour the home and have a lovely wine punch and a light supper ~ very nice!





There were many trees and all the furnishings are original to the house.





This was Mr. Bromfield's huge half-round desk in the office of his large home.





Big beautiful trees flank the living room fireplace ~ so cozy.






The dining room dressed and ready for guests.





The centerpieces were really pretty.





The breakfast room table held a display of pictures and replica of the wedding cake of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall! They were Bromfield's good friends and were married in the house. There is a photo wall of many celebrities of that time who came to the Pleasant Valley to rest and relax on the quiet country estate.

The state of Ohio now owns and maintains Malabar Farm, obviously with the help of many volunteers. I think we will join them! I do a show there in the fall ~ it's a great place to spend the day!

And not to be ones to let any grass grow under our feet, we left there and joined friends for dinner!! A fun evening for sure!




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CYBER MONDAY SALE ~ ~ ~

Same as my Small Business Saturday sale ~20% off patterns and sparkly wool ~  refer to the previous post!  I sold a few of my own patterns for which I am very grateful!!!  Orders will go out this week!!

Thanks to all!

Alice