The Wonder of Winter

above image from www.fitnessservice.com

Dearest followers and friends,

I am sorry for the long pause between posts.

Things have been unusually busy

 in my little corner of the world.

above image from www.tfsr.org

Creative endeavors always seem to take a back burner

to making sure stockings are filled and presents are wrapped.

Especially when trying to fit it all in between the end of the workday 

and bedtime stories.  

above image by Bill Kopitke from boston.com

It would seem that nourishing the soul 

should take precedence.

After all...

it makes a lot of difference in how we perceive happiness.

above image from japanican.com

Although... waking up to exuberant, pajama-clad children 

-who are eager to learn if Santa came-

is also a good way to nourish the soul.

above image from media02.hongkiat.com

And getting the week off of work between

Christmas and New Year's Day 

does make me quite happy  :-)

I intend to use it well with a few large beautification

projects around my house.  

I will post my accomplishments.

above image from www.sierraclub.org

May this week before Christmas

nourish your soul and fill your life with happiness

-wherever you may be-

Evoking November

November is a very special month...

It is a time for being thankful.

It is the month in which I was born...

and my son was born.

November means crisp autumn nights and auburn morning skies...

time spent indoors curled up in a blanket or someone else's arms

It is a time for pumpkin spice lattes and new york times best sellers...

of classic movies and late night scrabble games by the fire.  

It evokes the true sense of home...warm and serene

and the true sense of family...comraderie and love.

May November be just as magical for you.

(I should give credit to all of the images above as not one of them are mine-but I have no idea from which blog or website that I took them.  I just thought that they were so beautiful together.  I will try to find the sources again and post them in a later post.  The third image is from the Ralph Lauren Home website.  Please forgive me producers of these photographs and thank you for allowing me to share them.)  

Posh Pumpkins

Since pumpkins are the premier vegetable...or is it the premier fruit...

for the early autumn season

(Google even expresses some question as to which it is-which thankfully makes me feel a little less stupid for not knowing)

-and-

because they are a wonderful ingredient for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

(go here for a scrumdiddlyumptious pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe)

-and-

because whether cinderella, jack-o-lantern or jack-be-littles...

all pumpkins make great decorative accessories

(go here to find out about all the different types of pumpkins-there are so many!)

-and-

are you still with me?

because I seemed to have acquired so many pictures of them..

I thought that this would be the perfect pumpkin post for this cool but lovely

October day.

I created my own version of the pumpkin display above

I will display some photos of my version later.

Please come again.

It's a Scary Subject

Halloween is drawing near...

...so is my desire to decorate for the season.

However-the season always seems to disappear 

before 

I have as much as a black wreath on the door or a skeleton in the window.  

I think that is why I adore 

gathering and glaring at photographs of other's Halloween decorations.

They make me feel as though I am there-

in the spooky spirit and haunted happiness 

of Halloween.

Simone Lagies

-the imaginative lady who evoked these eerie images-

certainly brings out the ghostly gawker in me ;-)

(All photos above except the skeleton hello and black crepe wreath 

were published in Better Homes and Gardens October 2007 issue. 

Skeleton hello is from a current catalog whose name I cannot remember because I tore it out without noting it..oops.

The black crepe paper wreath is from Family Circle magazine)

May you be enchanted too.

Nest Nostalgia

It seems that before I got married my house was just a little cleaner

 (who am I kidding it was a heck of a lot cleaner ;-)

and...a little more organized.

I miss that.

These photographs are from the house that I lived in pre-wedding vows.  

Seems like everything appears cleaner and more organized with a white canvas

hmm...I wonder if that would work in my sons' rooms ;-)

I thought these photos were appropriate for White Wednesday-so I am linking on up!

Inspiration via Organization

If a clean closet is a sign of a clear mind...

 then I am on my way to one crystal clear mind ;-)

I have been wanting to create a craft/office space in our basement closet 

for quite some time now.

Just recently...

 I decided to begin by clearing out the boxes and boxes 

of home decorating magazines

 that I have amassed through the years.

Every morning

I set the alarm 10 minutes earlier.

I shuffle to the kitchen to start the morning brew-

then I scuttle down the stairs to choose just the right magazine.

The next few minutes are bliss.

I sit at the kitchen island-

sipping my morning sustenance 

(usually a vanilla sustenance although fall puts me in the mood for something more like pumpkin spice)

and sift slowly through the pages.

While admiring all of the glorious photographs-

I choose some favorites and tear them out.

(storing pages is a lot less space consuming than boxes full of magazines). 

Not only is it a wonderful way to begin the day

-fully inspired-

and an efficient way to solve my storage issue-

It allows me to share my inspiration with you.

Now it is off to indulge in a little evening sustenance...

Good evening wherever you are.

Photographs courtesy of House Beautiful, Country Home and Traditional Home

Home Tour Heaven: The Conclusion

I am sorry that it has taken so long to post these photographs.

I have been a bit under the weather.  

I had a wonderful time voyeuring through the seven gorgeous homes 

on this year's Park Hill Home Tour.

Now without further adieu-I will go straight to answering the trivia questions

(as promised in my first Home Tour Heaven post)

It was this charming 1934 tudor (above) that boasts a 

master suite which encompasses its own floor.

This absolutely beautiful 1932 tudor and-I must admit-my favorite house this year

evokes the ambience of Provence with a courtyard decorated in tree stump benches 

and ornate iron lanterns hanging from tree branches.  It also has the kitchen countertops made from limestone slabs that came from Denver's courthouse steps.

Another tudor-this one built in 1934

(I say that you can never have too many tudors ;-)

has the exterior of an old house but 

the interior of a mid-century modern ranch.

The fourth and final stately tudor built in 1932

has a sunroom that was featured in a recent addition of 

Remodel Magazine.

The Italianate and Spanish Colonial Revival home pictured above 

was not only the house to which I was assigned as a tour guide

but is the also the place that features a dining room 

painted in chartreuse with a coffee ground glaze.

It was truly exquisite.

I am giving less attention to the 1928 mission style home pictured above-

only because I posted the photograph in my original post.

It isn't any less deserving nor wonderful.

It is also the home of the antique cotton candy pink apothecary cabinet.

Another mission style lovely built in 1928 and again given less attention

because of the first posting and not because it doesn't deserve attention.

This fabulous home has appeared in a design book titled

"Updating Classic American Ranches"

(I so wish my 1964 classic american ranch resembled this beauty ;-)

I had hoped to take interior photographs as well but we were asked not to do so.

Of course, I saw a few people-Nikons in hand-breaking the rules.  

At that point I thought that perhaps I should have been a little less reasonable.

Before concluding-I want to say thank you to Loui of Mountain Mermaid for making a special trip to meet me on Sunday.  It was truly a pleasure to finally meet you and I look forward to getting together soon.  

May you have a weekend filled with love and laughter.

I am linking this post to Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday

I can't think of a better source for inspiration than a 

Home Tour featuring vintage Denver mansions!

Voracious Vintage

As the Friday work day draws to a close...I am seeking inspiration for the weekend.

Seeking inspiration always draws me to the many "beautiful home" books that I have 

stacked on the coffee table and sitting next to my bed and scattered on the kitchen island

-you get the idea ;-)  

I have a lot of them! 

You can never be too inspired right?

The lovely photographs above come from a book by Bari Lynn called Eclectic Living 

(the link to the book can be obtained by clicking on the post header Voracious Vintage)

It truly captures the beauty of vintage decorating and creates a nostalgic ambience 

of bygone eras 

-all while maintaining a timelessness that makes it appealing in the present.

This book not only provides gorgeous photographs-

it also shows you how to get the same look with your own vintage finds.

I consider myself fully inspired :-)

I am linking to Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday.  

Have a beautiful weekend