All Is Merry and Bright

Thanks for stopping by on a day so close to Christmas.  I know you must be busy, so if you're reading this in the midst of this holiday season,  I  am especially thankful for your visit.  Today, our wish for a white Christmas was granted by a freshly fallen blanket of snow.   Here's a peek of my attempt at snowflake making. 

It's not that I'm fickle with my lighting, but I do admit this is the 3rd fixture in my kitchen that Henri has installed for me in the last few years.  This one's a keeper though.   I'm sure of it. I am totally in love with my new kitchen chandelier. 

So if the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, a way to my heart is through bright and shiny things and Henri must know this. While I'm in the kitchen gazing at my new light fixture I might as well keep baking.  My freshly baked Russian Tea Cakes that I boxed up for Christmas Eve.

While browsing Pinterest I came across a recipe for pistachio cranberry cookies that are ridiculously easy to make.  Just add a small box of pistachio instant pudding & pie filling, 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and 1 cup of roasted pistachio nuts (shelled) to a Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.  We've been sampling the cookies as I bake them and I have to say these are pretty darn good too.   

So yesterday, while we were out trying our best to walk off all this cookie sampling, here's a shot I took of some pretty red rose hips.   Later, when I loaded up my pictures,  I noticed I caught the blur of a couple lobstermen passing in a skiff as they headed out to their boat. 

Then today while it was snowing (and in-between baking) I snapped a shot of this cardinal as he briefly lit on a branch.  It's badly out of focus, but I like the contrast of color in the snow.

Henri took this one today, but we don't know what kind of bird it is.  (We only know it's not a chickadee.)  I haven't looked it up yet, so if you know and have time to comment, please do tell us.  

I just realized I have never even shown you a picture of a lighthouse in Maine before.  So here's a close second for you.  Our lighthouse bird feeder mounted on the railing of our deck.   And for your viewing pleasure, here it is in today's freshly fallen snow. 

Nightfall in my kitchen. 

I hope your holidays are all Merry and Bright too.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Sweet Surprises

This is what I found on my camera this morning, even though I slept right through sunrise.  The view from our bedroom window that Henri captured for this sleepyhead. 

Want a quick snack idea?  I found the "everything bagel" pretzels at the grocery store last night and thought I might dip them in some white chocolate morsels for a sweet and salty treat. 

And then this morning inspiration hit me as I melted the morsels and then got distracted.  The white chocolate set up too fast and so I just slathered it on between 2 pretzels. 

Just look what Lee from The Way I See It sent me in the mail recently.  A lovely handcrafted rose pin. All I did was leave a comment on her post and she awarded me with this beautiful customized creation.  I just love it!

She has had her artwork featured in Somerset Apprentice, and she lives right here in Maine too. Thank you so much Lee, it was a very sweet surprise! 

Evergreens and Gingerbread

 This year I have a freshly cut tree.  And a new buffet in my downstairs kitchen.  I'm excited about both. 

The buffet is a chippy white painted dresser that I discovered was the same height as my kitchen counter top.  So I filled it up with some freshly baked gingerbread men. 

And a fresh cut spruce that I added as a table top tree inside my crackle painted urn. 

Everything smells so fa-la-la- lovely!  The scents of Christmas time gathered all together on my new buffet.  

My glittered pine cones have a wonderful cinnamon scent as well. 

I even have some paper whites growing in a Terra cotta pot. 

My table top spruce is decorated with a few mercury glass ornaments. 

I added some vintage and very distressed silver ornaments under a glass cloche atop a silver plated pedestal dish.  If you look closely, you'll see a starfish and white sea shell tucked in along side them. 

Truth be told, the gingerbread men you see in this picture are the first batch I baked.   Today I made another batch and then I moved the contents of the buffet around twice.  Just playing and having fun. 

The day sure does go quickly this time of year.  It gets dark here at 4:00 pm. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at what I have been up too.  I hope your day was just as enjoyable as mine was!