Christmas Gold

Just a few quick pictures from our dining room before all the festivities. :)

I've had the sheer golden tablecloth for several years, but this is the first time I've used it. The dinner plates are Wedgwood, and the salad plates are Noritake; both belonged to my mother. The bone-handled knives and German silver spoons were antique store finds. We never got a sterling flatware set when we were married, but I have enjoyed collecting old flatware. Other collections include tole trays hanging on the wall, and milk glass in the corner cupboard. The cut glass pieces on the painted chest are part of my mother's collection. I guess collecting runs in the family. :)

Christmas 2011

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

xoxo

Mosaic Monday: Christmas Gold

It seems that Christmas brings out the magpie in me. Glitter-encrusted faux fruit are nestled in a cut-crystal bowl that belonged to my mother, with a rope of beads flowing over the top. Golden faux hydrangeas sit atop the painted chest in the red dining room in our little red house. Warmed by the southern light that pours into the room, everything shines all the more. It's beginning to feel like Christmas here. How about in your house?

Please note: there will be no Mosaic Monday next week. If I don't see you before Christmas, have a wonderful holiday!

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful images with all of us at Mosaic Monday!  

1.	A Garden of Threads	22.	Molly [frolicking felines]	43.	Crafty Gardener, Canada
2.	Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook	23.	Lorrie	44.	Gina, Art and Alfalfa
3.	Kim,USA	24.	Cindy @ Custom Comforts	45.	Snap @ Twisty Lane
4.	InaSandbox	25.	My Christmas Trees	46.	rain
5.	Bernie in Australia	26.	Dominique's Desk	47.	Cass @ That Old House
6.	A Back Porch Departure	27.	Black Eyed Susans Kitchen	48.	Brenda-DownMemory
7.	Christmas Home Tour	28.	Rajesh, India	49.	My Little Home and Garden
8.	{oc cottage}	29.	Christmas Village	50.	A Cupcake Christmas
9.	ellen b	30.	QMM	51.	Patricia
10.	Pondside - Christmas Memory	31.	Milk & Cookies for Santa	52.	Cassie
11.	Sands-Becky	32.	Christmas in the Living Room	53.	Leslie
12.	Lavender Dreams	33.	Life Among Mountains	54.	Moss Love
13.	Cathy	34.	Pat ~ Mille Fiori Favoriti	55.	Sall's Country Life
14.	Lavender Cottage	35.	Roberta	56.	My Third Eye
15.	Rajesh, India	36.	Rosie,mygardenhaven	57.	Vintage Wonderland Under Glass
16.	A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson	37.	Teacup-in-the-garden	58.	Special Moments In Time
17.	Yael - HomeGardenDiggers	38.	Mary Tingsgrove, KY	59.	xmas helper
18.	Riet, Holland	39.	eileen	60.	aima
19.	Extravagance @ My Place to Yours	40.	Life Images by Jill	61.	xmas tree
20.	Sweet Nothings	41.	Wandering Thought	62.	frosty palm tree
21.	The Cottage Wren	42.	Gillyweed.. Gift Wrapping	63.	NHGarden

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Christmas Reflections

It's beginning to feel a bit more like Christmas here. My good blogging friend Kate told me to do a little decorating, and listen to some Christmas music, and I would begin to feel better. And I do.

My husband brought me four armloads of red and white tulips, and some Godiva chocolates. Oh, how I love this man! Just seeing them as I walk through the room makes me feel better.

My children came home for the weekend, and we started on our Christmas decorations. The old and well-loved traditions help to bring a sense of peace, especially in this year that has, at times, seemed like one sadness after another. And while the sadness is still there, the quiet joy of the season is there, too.

Another blogging friend, Georgianna, told me that quiet reflection is as valuable as festive celebration. So that's where I am at the moment -- doing a little decorating, listening to a few Christmas songs, eating a little chocolate, and reflecting on how fortunate I am to have such wonderful and caring family and friends. Including you, my dear blogging friends. Thank you for listening, thank you for caring, thank you for your comments, encouragement and prayers for someone you have never even met.

Wishing you much love and laughter as you prepare for this Christmas season. xoxo

Mosaic Monday: Snowy Beauty

While I don't really look forward to snowy weather, I do appreciate how beautiful it can be, and I always hope for a little dusting around the holidays. So I guess I can call this another white Christmas mosaic. I'm so sorry it's rather small. I have to admit that I'm not really feeling Christmas too much yet. In fact, I'm in a bit of a funk. Just thought I'd put that out there. I know that the holidays can be difficult for some people, and that sometimes the stress of trying to make the perfect storybook Christmas instead just makes us depressed. So I'm going to take a moment to look around and appreciate the beauty all around me. I'm going to take one day at a time, and see where that leads me. Hopefully, it will lead me to a merry Christmas. :)

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful images with all of us at Mosaic Monday!  

1.	Gillyweed.. Christmas Fruit Decor	22.	Life Images by Jill	43.	Roberta
2.	BAD washcloth. BAD.	23.	Sweet Nothings	44.	Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook
3.	Lavender Dreams	24.	Gina, Art and Alfalfa	45.	QMM
4.	Rajesh, India	25.	Christmas Primitives	46.	Dawn Treader Sweden
5.	Black Eyed Susans Kitchen	26.	Sall's Country Life	47.	The Cottage Wren
6.	Eileen	27.	Mountain Breaths	48.	The Cottage Wren
7.	ellen b	28.	Christmas Sideboard	49.	My Third Eye
8.	Lavender Cottage	29.	3 Bloggers Enjoy a C!hristmas Party	50.	The French Hutch Christmas Open House
9.	Home is Where the Boat Is	30.	the french tangerine	51.	Pretty in Pink and More...
10.	My Little Home and Garden	31.	Riet, Holland	52.	xmas traditions
11.	Pat@Back Porch Musings	32.	Lorrie	53.	Echarlotte
12.	Kim,USA	33.	Becky	54.	Twiggy
13.	Mary, MI	34.	Rosie,mygardenhaven	55.	Crafty Gardener, Canada
14.	Podso	35.	Bernie in Australia	56.	JBigg's Christmas Carolers
15.	ldh	36.	Ranu, India	57.	Nature's Christmas Greeting
16.	InaSandbox	37.	Très Julie	58.	Patricia
17.	Wandering Thought	38.	Julie @ Color Chic	59.	Leslie's Tree
18.	Cathy	39.	Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson	60.	Countdown to Christmas
19.	Snap @ Twisty Lane	40.	In The Christmas Spirit @ My Cozy Corner	61.	Sheila
20.	That Country Place	41.	Teacup-in-the-garden	62.	Pondside
21.	Pat ~ Mille Fiori Favoriti	42.	Tina´s PicStory	63.	Holiday Shopping

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Mosaic Monday: White Christmas

First of all, thank you all for your comments on my last post. Your thoughts and prayers are so greatly appreciated! There was a great outpouring of love and support from our church and our community this weekend, as the two families buried their sons. We are all striving to hold them close, and remember them in this busy season. I cannot imagine how difficult it will be for them.

As for my mosaic today, it's a repeat of one from years past. While my little red house lends itself to the traditional Christmas colors, sometimes I feel the need for something cleaner and calmer. Something a little quieter, more muted. Here is my version of a white Christmas. :)

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful images with all of us at Mosaic Monday!  

1.	QMM	21.	Life Among Mountains	41.	Rosie,mygardenhaven
2.	NYC at Christmas	22.	The French Hutch Choirs of Angels	42.	Neighbour Goods Market
3.	Carol@ My Painting Room	23.	Sweet Nothings	43.	Gillyweed...Chevron Patterns
4.	Lavender Dreams	24.	Molly (scenes of a frosty morn)	44.	Wandering Thought
5.	A Montana Life	25.	Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook	45.	Crafty Gardener, Canada
6.	Vee	26.	Life Images by Jill	46.	Rohit Sareen
7.	Eileen	27.	The 12 Trees of Christmas	47.	Sheila
8.	Black Eyed Susans Kitchen	28.	Mosaic: An Indian Bazaar	48.	Gina, Art and Alfalfa
9.	InaSandbox	29.	O Tannenbaum	49.	Brenda-DownMemory
10.	Rajesh, India	30.	Podso	50.	Pondside - Love, The Gift of the Season
11.	Winter Sideboard	31.	dharma owl	51.	Early Christmas
12.	Dab of This and That	32.	Ingmarie We/Refugium	52.	Christmas: Chapter One
13.	Mountain Breaths	33.	Teacup-in-the-garden	53.	Cass at That Old House
14.	frosty mosaic	34.	How to Make a Christmas Pin @ My Cozy Corner	54.	Roberta
15.	Cathy	35.	Mary KY/USA	55.	Leslie
16.	Kim, USA	36.	Dawn Treader Sweden	56.	Mary, MI
17.	A Garden of Threads	37.	{oc cottage}	57.	mama g
18.	Old Fashioned Christmas Inspiration	38.	Tina´s PicStory	58.	Ptat~ Mille Fiori Favoriti
19.	Bernie in Australia	39.	Synnöve	59.	Fishtail Cottage
20.	Dreamy Blue Bedroom	40.	Yael - HomeGardenDiggers

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Please Remember

This has been a very sad week for us -- two young men, who went all through grammar school and high school with my daughter, were killed in a car crash on Monday afternoon. One leaves a father, mother and older sister; the other leaves a father, mother and seven younger siblings. If you can, please remember them, their families, our schools and our town in your prayers. We are devastated.