A Downton Abbey Kind of Morning

Some cold winds blew into our area last night.  When I took

Bentley for his nightly walk, my cheeks were cold and rosy and

Bentley was all invigorated when we returned.  I knew then

that an early morning fire would be just the thing on Sunday.

So here we are.  Fire ablaze and classical music in the 

background.  It's all so cozy and relaxing.  Just the right

precursor to the next episode of Downton Abbey tonight.

My Mini Cooper and Union Jack cup is full of some 

nice hot coffee.  My own wee bit of England here deep in

the heart of Texas.  

Bentley is still curled up on the sofa sound asleep with his

head on the pillow and a fleece blanket tucking him in

cozy comfort.  He had a very busy day yesterday.  I am

here by the fire enjoying the peacefulness of a lovely 

morning and looking forward to episode 2 of the final

season of my favorite show.  Wishing y'all a lovely day!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Cocooning Syndrome

I've been experiencing Cocooning Syndrome.  I don't know that medical

science has addressed this issue or not, and don't care if they doubt

it's existence.  For me, this is a very real reaction to a hectic schedule.

It's a need to balance my social butterfly side with my home loving

and private side.  

My "sister" Robin and I have discussed this and we both need our

down time.  We believe that it is somewhat unique to being an

only child.  We love out friends and family and love being 

surrounded by them, but also love being alone.

Being alone is a time to be quiet and listen to my own voice.

I turn off the chatter of others and avoid the need to be 

interesting to others and not to feel that I am on stage.  My

alone time refreshes my spirit.  It renews my soul.  It aids

my creativity.  

So I have spent the past week taking down Christmas decorations

while listening to music I love.  I have carefully wrapped ornaments

and stowed them in marked boxes.  I have been sorting through

decorations I know I won't use next year and marked them for

donation.  

I have spent some time reading and making a list of all the books

I want to read this year.  I will share this list with you when it

is complete.  

I took down all the Christmas decorations in my miniature rooms

too and have started thinking of how to decorate the dollhouse

rooms for Valentine's Day.  Y'all know how obsessed I have 

been with miniatures for the past few years.  Sometimes I think

that decorating mini rooms is more fun (and certainly less expensive)

than decorating full size ones ;-)

I always enjoy my time in the kitchen, but the last few weeks during

the Christmas season there were lots of meals out and lots of meals

on the run, so I have spent the past week just taking my time and

enjoying the creativity of cooking.

I have enjoyed cuddling with Bentley under a pile of quilts and

watching old movies.  I mean really old movies like the ones

they air on Turner Classic Movies.   Here are some of my

favorites:

My Favorite Wife

Desk Set ~ love, love, love it!

The Women ~ the original, not the remake!

The Enchanted Cottage

One day I will write a blog post about the magic

that happened in my life after watching The

Enchanted Cottage for the first time.  It will

amaze you!

  For the past week I have lived

in a bubble of my own making.  It's been great and

now I feel refreshed and renewed and ready to 

take on the year ahead.  Look out world!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Potting Shed Adventures

Remember that I showed you the outside of my potting shed last month?

Well, today it stopped raining and the sun is shining and I decided to 

start gathering up the things that are going to live in this potting shed.

Of course there will be the requisite garden tools, but there will be

fun old junk too.   

Are you ready?  It's a jumble of junk in here ;-)

Here we are inside.  The walls are just unfinished plywood right now.

Have not decided what color to paint them, but I am leaning toward

a soft gray/green.  A dusty moss color perhaps.  I need to have a

carpenter come in and install a big window on the back wall that

will face out into the garden I am planning.  I want a real cottage style

garden with some climbing roses and herbs and veggies too.

A real English garden ~ the kind that Peter Rabbit would find appealing.

Oh, and I need a picket fence surrounding the garden too.

There is a lot of stuff to work with here.  This hand painted Parson's table 

will work against one long wall.  The table belonged to my Mom.

You can see her initials are on the front.

The wrought iron half moon table was Mom's too.  She used it

in her sunroom back in Idaho.  I will paint that stained planter.  Mom

and I found that at a thrift shop for one dollar.  

I think this wrought iron chandelier will look cute hanging from the

ceiling.  We found it years ago in a very cute shop in Bend, Oregon.

Here are some pretty antique looking shelf brackets.  Can't wait to use them.

This was another thrift shop find.  I used it in my old potting shed

back in Idaho.

Hand painted wooden canisters.  I think I will use them in the armoire

and fill them with seed packs.  I envision painting the armoire but leaving

the inside shelves painted white.  I will keep the doors of the armoire

open and fill them with old pots.

The requisite old battered chair.  This was in the coal room at the

end of our garage in Idaho.  One of those projects I just never got 

around to completing.

Well, there you have it.  Lots of old junk that's worn but well

loved and will have new life in the garden.  

By the way ~ did y'all watch the season premier of Downton

Abbey last night?  I think that Carson and Mrs Hughes are

the sweetest couple!  I was in tears when they kissed!!

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Downton Abbey Marathon at My House

The Downton Abbey marathon has begun.  We are currently watching 

season 2.  I brewed a pot of Earl Grey and made some cinnamon toast

with the crusts cut off.  I am ready to snuggle in and watch until the

new episode of the final season begins tonight.

I have to get my own refills ~ it's Sunday and no butler ;-)

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley

Tweaking in the New Year

It feels good to be back with you.  The last few weeks have been

full of travel and parties and visiting friends and relatives.  It has been

fun but hectic and now that the holidays are over I am happily 

slipping back into a regular routine.

It's quite chilly out today.  The skies have been very cloudy and there

has been a steady rain since last night.  David and I went out for

breakfast this morning because we had no milk for cereal and needed

to do a big grocery shop.  Once that task was completed and all the

food put away, we just settled into a cozy day at home.  

While David headed for his big comfy chair in the family room,

I headed for my studio to spend some time tweaking my blog.  I

don't really like to make resolutions since they are so often broken.

Rather, I like to think of how I can tweak my life to make it better

for the new year, and that of course also includes this little spot I 

share with you.  

I cleaned up the look of my blog a bit.  I was becoming tired 

seeing the same background I had for months.  I just wiped it all

clean and started fresh.  At the end of this month, I will be headed

into my sixth year of blogging.  So much has happened to me since

my very first post.  Everything is different and as much as I love

tradition, I feel that I am ready for a bit of tweaking.  The look of

this page is just the beginning.  I am not sure exactly what direction

the content will be headed, but I want it to head onto the path that

is uniquely my own.  I hope that you will follow me on this new

journey.

Bentley and I wish each of you a happy and healthy new year.

We hope that you find peace and contentment in each new day and

that you find joy around every corner.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley