Put the kettle on...

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Here we have a tea kettle crafted from vintage papers in collage form. Just lovely.

"The frolic architecture of the snow"

 A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem,
The Snow-Storm describes the day here in Northern Virginia as well as much of the Northeast.

A gift over the Christmas holidays, my slippers are good to wear to today.

The King's Speech primer

The nippy temperatures of the winter allow for much movie watching.  Last night and courtesy of Netflix, I watched Bertie & Elizabeth.   Previously aired on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater, the movie tells the tale of the Royals in the early 20^th century.  Very well done.

Return to Cranford

 I wish I had the chance to watch the second of the Cranford stories at Christmas time as it is a wonderful and warm story.  Return to Cranford takes one back to this 19th century village and its strong woman including Miss Matty Jenkins played by Dame Judi Dench.

 The locations remind me of my collection of small porcelain houses that I collected while traveling around the United Kingdom.

Definitely an "add" for your Netflix list.

small domestic glimpses...

 I am amazed at the blooms on this African Violet during the winter months.

Winter crafting...

The nippy winter conditions are intended for creating.   These diminutive wreaths are made from bay leaves, studded cloves, dried beans, cinnamon sticks and either pinecones, magnolia seed pods or sweet gum pods.

a winter welcome...



I love boxwood wreaths so much, I leave this on display well into the winter and uplit in the night.



Is the butler's pantry a place to store trousers?

There is much talk suggesting that PBS has shortened and edited the footage of Downton Abbey, for fear Americans would lose interest and/or lack the background knowledge to fully understand the British vernacular, circumstances unique to the era, etc. I must confess, I did find it necessary to google "entailment" at the closing of the first episode for supplementary clarity of this legal verbiage. So, Laura Linney appears in a prologue to set the picture for those on the other side of the pond, prior to viewing. Apparently, should one watch the series in DVD form, rather than the PBS version, one will see it in its entirety, unrevised.


A most humorous composition authored by the creator of the series, Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes can be read here. Do scroll down to his remarks which will not only cause you to chuckle, but disclose many of his premises for the tale.

Care to add comment??

"What's a weekend?"

I am so enjoying Downton Abbey on  Masterpiece Theater.

Keep calm....



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A holiday gift from my dau. Thank you!



Bali Ha'i

To ring in 2011, the Colonel and I caught a performance of South Pacific at the Kennedy Center.  A remake of the 1949 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, the production featured talented singers and actors, for sure. We were seated in a box, complete with our own coat closet which housed our coats on a chilly evening.

Following the performance, glasses of Moet-Chandon were served. Fun party hats were distributed.  A great time  it was!

Best wishes in the new year...

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