Sunday, November 29, 2009

I am always on the lookout…..

for pixies and elves!

I went to 2 of my most favorite stores in this area for their Christmas Open house.

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What is in this BIG BAG?

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Ahhh…..they’re shy!

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I had so much fun at Magpies and Old Towne Market. 

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Old Town Market has a huge Christmas store in their basement

DSCN2692 and I was trying to see everything when these precious Pixies caught my eye!

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I got a new winter time Boyd’s bear at Magpies.

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As you all know…..I love toys!

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What fun we’ll have this holiday season!

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Enjoy your week!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Weekend FUN!

We’ve watched 2 of the best movies this holiday weekend!

We loved “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Very cute story!

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But we found one we hadn’t heard as much about and liked even better! A perfect winter time movie…..”New in Town” with Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. !

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This movie is wonderful and we will definitely be buying it and watching it over and over again! Very sweet!

For some winter time meals, I’ve found the most wonderful blog, The English Kitchen…click HERE ! Such great recipes!

I like this chart!

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It is from Typcut.com !

Enjoy your weekend! Let the FUN begin!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

From the mountains of North Carolina!

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Hope you all enjoy this special day and take time to count your blessings.

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Here are some NC turkeys I photographed!

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I hope they got away!

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Happy Thanksgiving

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us."

"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best."

"Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789."

--President George Washington, 3 October 1789

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

“Wednesday Wee Ones”

This is a Himstedt doll named Julika. She is one of my favorites of course!

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Everyone says she is very lifelike. She is 32 inches tall and has amazing detail.

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Well, sometimes I turn around and my dolls get in trouble. (Sadie is another Himstedt doll)

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Especially when Johnny is around!

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Don’t pull her hair!

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My son, David gave me the collection of small TY dolls. They are so sweet!

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And boys like to play with dolls, too!

Here’s Max ( a Zapf doll)…

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and Johnny (Lee Middleton doll) !

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Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

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Take time to play, maybe get into a little mischief and for most of us COOK! Enjoy your day!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Rugged Hills, Gentle Folk

My Friends & Neighbors in the Big Pine Valley    by William J. Weber

This is my favorite Fall book.

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Big Pine Valley is very near land we have in Bluff, NC.

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I love the photos….

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it really takes you back to country ways

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and simpler times.

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How blessed we are to live in this beautiful country!

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Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

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Monday, November 23, 2009

The “Best Of”….

I keep making lists of the best of my favorite things!

tree-girls_print_5x7_flat_e-500x699 I ordered my Christmas cards this morning and want to share my friend, jen’s blog HERE and her love, liette shop HERE ! She is an amazing artist and her cards are beautiful! I am so excited to get some of her new design this year. (And she has a Nov sale going on right now!)

Other sites I have found these past few days…..

The Toymaker website HERE ! They have printable cards and projects! I am in LOVE with this beautiful bird and plan to make some of these!

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Go to this page on the website to download the pattern on your computer to print. (this is just a thumbnail)

My girlfriend, Brenda posted about this blog and it is just amazing! If you love HGTV decorators, you will love this blog, Make Mine Beautiful…HERE ! She’s having a giveaway right now for followers! Tell her I sent you!

I love Sugar Pie Farmhouse! The recipes are amazing and the blog is FUN! Go HERE to visit!

And for some absolutely wonderful down home cooking visit my girlfriend at A Tasty Thought by JG HERE ! She puts all of her recipes in printable form that is just the BEST way to save them!

I also love Mary Jane’s Farm , Gooseberry Patch , and the Mary Englebreit blogs.

There’s not enough time to visit all my favorites! But it does seem like everyone puts on the very best at the holiday season!

Here’s a list of Best Christmas movies.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965):

A Christmas Carol (1951)

White Christmas (1954)

The Santa Clause (1994)

The Polar Express (2004)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993

Home Alone (1990)

I don’t see “Funny Farm” or “Little Women” so I don’t think the list is complete! We love “While You Were Sleeping”, too. What are your favorite Christmas movies?

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Enjoy your Monday!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Classic Movies

This morning I woke up with an idea to find some lists comprising of “Best Of” movies.

Last night we watched Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck and I want to see MORE!

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I googled some of our favorite actors to find out which movies were their best.

Tonight I hopped on my blog and looked at my favorites and saw that ‘great minds think alike’!

My friend at Freckled Hen has compiled a wonderful list of Romantic Classics! Go to her blog HERE ! I can’t wait to find some of these, too! (I check DVDs out from the library)

Here are a few of the lists I gathered using Google as my search engine.

Best of Audrey Hepburn:

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Wait until Dark (1967)

Sabrina (1954)

My Fair Lady ( 1964)

Charade (1963)

The Nun's Story ( 1959)

Funny Face (1957)

The Children's Hour (1961)

Love in the Afternoon (1957)

Best Cary Grant Movies:

Notorious (1946)

North by Northwest (1959)

His Girl Friday (1940)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

The Philadelphia Story

The Awful Truth (1937)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Houseboat (1958)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Charade (1963)

Best Alfred Hitchcock movies:

The 39 Steps ‘35

The Lady Vanishes ‘38

Notorious ‘46

Strangers on a Train ‘51

Rear Window ‘54

Vertigo ‘58

North by Northwest ‘59

Psycho ‘60

The Birds  ‘63

Rebecca ‘40

Pass the Popcorn!

And have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Mary Engelbreit sayings

I thought “Bloom where you are planted” was a common quote but I had some comments that said they had never heard it before and my hubby said he hadn’t either. So I did a little google search.

I’ve always loved Mary Engelbreit cards and items, I think that’s where I heard it.

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It was fun finding unusual things on my search. I didn’t realize there was fabric, but look at this beautiful apron in this ETSY shop! And look at this dress HERE! In fact do a search in ETSY and you will find many beautiful things! I LOVE ETSY!

Visit Mary’s blog HERE! It’s packed with fun things to do and beautiful art!

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I love these Christmas illustrations!

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And remember…. ; )

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

“Wednesday Wee Ones”

I have had the MOST fun finding treasures lately. I’ve gone to a few different shops and that has helped.

I bought this little serving tray that will be fun to decorate with in my kitchen. The tray is just a about the size of a saucer.

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The critters will have to find somewhere else to play. I think Christmas candies would look beautiful on the tray.

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I also found these 2 bowls…and I love dishes with roses.

DSCN2645 They are made in the USA which makes me happy, too!

DSCN2647 And I can’t have ‘wee ones’ without some pretty dolls.

DSCN2648 These girls have already been in the spotlight but I put this cute little winter time bear with them today.

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Trina Kay

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Lacey

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Enjoy your day! Take time to PLAY and find a few treasures along the way!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A COOL walk in the park!

It was cool and windy today and I wasn’t sure if I would go for a walk

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but once I got started it was fine. The sun even tried to peek out a time or two.

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I walked back to my car and stood next to my car to take photos of the clouds.

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It depended on which way you looked!

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You can tell the sky is a little ominous at times.

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Not much color left

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but a few trees are beautiful!

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I didn’t alter any of these photos!

Here is my mystery duck.

(some of the duck photos have been cropped and sharpened)

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There are a pair that are in the pond most of the time now. I think they are Merganzers…but not sure! The shape of the head looks like one.

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We’ve seen Merganzers in Florida.

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My friend, Sherry from Q’s Corner has helped with the identification. It is a female Common Merganzer. Thanks Sherry! Go to her BLOG to see some of the most amazing bird and nature photos!

Have a wonderful day!