Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Enjoying Home And The Holly Days

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions, you'll find them here

I spent Monday at the mall.

I think I deserve a medal.

I'm not a mall shopper, but we do what we must for the people we love, especially at Christmas. I do most of my shopping in boutiques away from the mall, on ETSY, and in various other online retailers because dealing with the mall puts a chink in my Christmas spirit. It's actually not the mall so much as the mall parking lot. As my grandma used to say, 'Land sakes alive!' 

By the way, I'm just going to go ahead and add some Christmassy house pics to this post because if not now, when?

view into the great room from entry hall

I'm hoping I won't have to make another trip to the mall between now and the 25th, but never say never. I'm trying to get it together here, but we're still hanging pictures, moving furniture, and soiree-ing with friends so it's possible I've dropped a ball or two along the way.


Friday night our builder and his wife came over for dinner which apparently is something of a construction miracle. Several people I've mentioned this too told me they weren't on speaking terms with their builder by the time their home was completed, or possibly even a few months prior to completion. We still love ours, and had a really nice evening.

great room fireplace

They helped us hang pictures and will bring the last of our window treatments out sometime after Christmas. Mrs. Bob the Builder is having a chair recovered for me and we look forward to more dinners, and boat rides too once boating weather returns.

barn doors with the telly hidden behind 

On Saturday hubs and I dashed down to Atlanta to celebrate the university graduation of a friend's daughter. It was a lot of fun and I'm determined to make time for people and not just my to-dos in this season especially.


fireplace in the keeping room


The house isn't dark, although most of these were taken at night, but it's tricky getting a good photo in here. When I turn on more lighting there's too much reflection, so dark pics it is. I really need to get my good camera repaired...I suspect that would help.

a peek into the kitchen 

In other news, I have not wrapped a thing. True story. Wrapping is on the agenda for Tuesday, then getting the long distance gifts boxed up and posted can happen Wednesday.

Or Thursday.
Depends how I feel about facing the post office. 

                                                                  range hood all decked out for Christmas

Daughter1 and her hubs will be celebrating Christmas on the west coast this year which means mailing packages. I will resist inserting a boo hoo here because I need to set a good example, but boo hoo. On the bright side, we have a west coast trip planned for early in the new year and that helps a lot. 

I will have my Daughter2 here to spoil over the holidays and she's always a comfort. Plus she bakes like a rock star so bonus points. I'm loving my new range so much, but still haven't mastered all the bells and whistles. Daughter2 and I are going to figure it out together, because according to the owner's manual I can bake five trays of cookies at the same time without shuffling a single tray or rack. We shall see. 

 the dock

In the meantime...stay holly and jolly friends! 
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20 comments:

  1. I would still love my builder, too, if he built that for me! :) Your house is lovely and I can already feel the warmth of a home there. The thing I am curious about it that oven. Please let us know if you can really bake all those cookies without having to do anything other than put them in and take them out!

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  2. Everything looks so pretty and I bet you are loving being cozy in your new house. The lights on your dock are so fun!

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  3. Oh, Joyce, what a warm and welcoming abode you all have in this house. Wish I could stop by, see it in person and enjoy a cuppa java. You've done amazing in such a brief time. Abundant blessings!

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  4. Oh my goodness I LOVE what you are doing to that GORGEOUS home. How fun it has to be. Soo warm and welcoming and did I mention, GORGEOUS?! LOL I do know the "boo hoo" feeling, but a trip early in the new year takes the sting out of that for sure. Enjoy your week!

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  5. Everything looks so beautiful Joyce! That oven sounds amazing...

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  6. Beautiful pictures of the new home!

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  7. I love the beautiful pictures of your home. It looks so warm and inviting.

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  8. LOL at Pam's comment! Yes, I agree that I would also love my builder if my house looked like yours! Wow, Joyce. Your new home is just gorgeous. It also looks comfortable. That counts a lot in my book. Walk in, take a deep breath and just relax. What a wonderful blessing. Keep us posted on those five cookie sheets....

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  9. What a beautiful new home you have! I enjoyed hearing about your Christmas plans.

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  10. Your house is gorgeous! I not only haven't wrapped anything, but I haven't bought anything either. My tree isn't even up yet!
    OS is moving to the west coast in a month or so, not far from Portland.

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  11. I actually like the darker photos. They lend a certain ambience and warmth that a flash or brighter lighting would have removed. Beautiful decorations and boo hoo on not having Daughter1 with you. :(

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  12. Thanks for sharing pictures! I braved downtown today and scored a fantastic parking spot! Merry Christmas!

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  13. Absolutely beautiful! All of it! And how fun that you can light up the railings to the dock!!!

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  14. Everything looks gorgeous. I too hate the mall even when it isn't Christmas. I need to run to the Le Creuset store and am dreading it. Thanks for sharing your lovely home with us.

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  15. Joyce, seeing pictures from your new home give me hope that soon I'll have a turn at owning, decorating, and enjoying a home. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  16. I love all of it! Also, I love the 'idea' of a 'keeping room' does it just mean a sitting area within the kitchen? Is it a Southern thing? Anyway, I love the chairs in the keeping room and the coziness of it all!

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  17. You house decorations look lovely and of course you home is gorgeous. How nice that you have a relationship with your builder and that they helped you hang pictures. I will start wrapping gifts today for out of town. And like you I now need a package mailed to our daughter. It will probably be two boxes!! We will have our son here with his girlfriend on Christmas Day. Life changes and we must move with it. I have about 8 other boxes/envelopes going out also to AZ, FL, WI, IL, and TX.

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