Pocketful of Blue

For the past several years, I have purchased  a Susan Branch calendar to hang in our kitchen. Here is the 2012 calendar all filled up and ready to be replaced with one for the new year. I just love Susan Branch.   Her calendars are filled with charming watercolors all painted by her along with sweet little sayings and quotes. Sometimes there is a yummy recipe too. Susan lives on Martha's Vineyard and you might think she could be a bit pretentious but nothing could be further from the truth. She is so kind and down to earth. You can feel her warmth come through on her blog . One of those people that you would immediately feel at home with. She loves houses and everything about home   just like so many of us.  Here is my 2013 calendar ready to be filled up. Look how cute it is!! { I'm pretty sure she painted it in these colors just for me, right? } On a side note, I remember one year when my son was younger  and he

This is what I could see from my  front windows today. ~ so pretty ~ Don't you love a fresh coat of snow on the ground? Do you ever buy yourself a Christmas present? It seems I always find something for myself when I am suppose to be shopping for others. I saw this box with drawer thingie at Homegoods. I didn't buy it at first but after I got home, I just kept thinking about it. So here it is. The green worked fine for Christmas but I  will probably paint it. I thought this was the perfect spot for it on my kitchen counter. Did you buy any presents for yourself?

"This Christmas, God of peace, bless us all over again,  that we might live with a new, mature faith, that we might become peacemaking saints, that we might be instruments of your  Christmas gift of peace on earth. Bless us all that suffering may end,  that all may be healed,  that all may live in peace,  that all may radiate your love,  that all may be one." source source Wishing all of you a blessed and meaningful Christmas. I know I am not alone in saying many special prayers  for all of those  who have experienced  such  great loss and sadness this year.

I would love to show you more of the Christmas  decorations around my house this year. ~ come on in ~ I added some white items, pinecones, and greenery to this  basket which is a favorite of mine. Some pinecones from our backyard fill this little pail. I found this angel on clearance last year and  I think it is  my favorite ornament now. This pretty Santa found a spot  in our master bath. I kept most of my decorations simple and easy this year. I'm so happy you stopped by! I know how busy life is right now for all of us. Taking a little time out to visit your amazing homes is  a great stress reliever for me and also a respite from so much sadness.  I thank you for that. I also want to thank everyone for their sweet, sweet  comments on My Christmas Kitchen .  I wish you all a happy and not too crazy week before Christmas!! SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE ~ WOW US WEDNESDAY  CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone, Here is my kitchen all decked out for Christmas. I think I'm finally done decorating, adding more things,  then removing others, tweaking . . . etc. ~   I hope you enjoy  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   a little whimsy behind the kitchen sink  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   a cooking station using my holiday tins  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   a baking station for all of the baking I will be doing (or not)   ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄  Thank you so much for visiting my Christmas kitchen! I'll be sharing some other areas of my home soon. It has been so fun and inspiring to see how all  of you are decorating this year! CHRISTMAS TOUR OF HOMES ~ NESTING PLACE ~ also ~ COZY LITTLE HOUSE ~ TWEAK IT TUESDAY SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE ~ WOW US WEDNESDAY 

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Truvia® Natural Sweetener for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine.      Don't you just love yummy desserts?  I sure do but I am always trying to find something with less calories but still satisfies my craving for sweets.  I recently discovered Truvia® Baking Blend which is a blend of Truvia® natural sweetener and sugar.  It has 75% fewer calories than sugar but with still provide a sugar-like texture and moistness in your baked goods.  Love that!      We all know how quickly the holidays are approaching and like many of you, I will be doing some baking.  This year I am going to try some of the recipes on the Truvia® website.  One recipe that I definitely want to make is the Cranberry Orange Muffins . Here are the ingredients you will need: 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 1  1 ⁄ 2  tsp baking powder 1 ⁄ 2  tsp salt 1 ⁄ 2  tsp baking soda 1 ⁄ 2  cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled ⅓ cup Truvia

HELP ME THANKSGIVING DAY PRAYER O God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry; When I have work, help me to remember the jobless; When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all; When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer, And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency; bestir my compassion, and be concerned enough to help; By word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted. Amen. ~ Samuel F. Pugh I think this is such a beautiful and meaningful prayer. I want to try to remember these things more often in my day to day life. source ~ Happy Thanksgiving To All of You and I Wish You All The Blessings Your Hearts Can Hold ~

I'm so happy to tell you that our itty bitty and very old  second floor bathroom is no more. This project has been on our list since we moved to this house five years ago. The bathroom was located right above our front door so we had the idea   to add a dormer window to create more room and ceiling height. So what looked like this until recently . . . . . . now looks like this! I'm so excited to be getting this done! I think the changes are going to add a lot of charm and character to our house and I'm all about charm and character!! The little roof over the door is going to be a portico with brackets ~ there won't actually be any posts. • • • • • • • •  Here is what the bathroom looked like before . . . . . . and this is what the same space looks like now. There is still a lot more to be done but it is thrilling  to be this far in the process. I'm getting a lot of ideas for the bathroom as wel