Happy New Year!!

Even though 2012 was a good year, I'm ready to see what 2013 brings to Brambly Pines.   January, Elaine and Fred brought Chuck's Dad up to see where we live, for Chuck's birthday.  February we had Troy come and build the pagoda over the deck and frame the rooms/loft in the barn.  March, Shell and Genavive came up for their Spring Break week.  April, Ryan, Nicole,Lily Ryann, Hannah and Taylor were in Nashville for a weekend and came to spend the night with us, on their way home. Next, Fred and Elaine came up for a fun visit.  Also in April, Vickie came up and we went to the big quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky.  May, I flew down to Florida to surprise Shell for her birthday.  June, we went down to Montgomery for the Johnson Family Reunion.  July, Shell and Genavive came back up for a few days. August, we went to the World's Longest Yard Sale.  September, Christina and George surprised us with a few days visit.  October, I flew back down to Florida to surprise Ryan for his birthday.  At the end of the month, Fred and Elaine came up for a short visit and then Chuck flew home with them so he could help Shell move.  November 1, Shell moved to Brambly Pines with her two kitties and every thing she owns for a lay over until she can get settled in Nashville.  We had a great Thanksgiving with Lady Melanie coming to celebrate it with us.  December, brought Shell a job and apartment hunting.  We ended the year with a great Christmas even though there was some sickness between us.  I think we're going to have to go some to have a better year than we had in 2012.  I'm not expecting "better" just hoping it will be as good. " Happy New Year 2013"

Christmas 2012



Christmas mess returns!



My Blomberg Christmas



Garden Wind chimes from Ryan/Nic and girls



Ryan/Nic/girls present to Shell



Panties from Oma...the best!!



Chuck's Blomberg present



Christmas dinner



My Christmas dinner...sigh



Turkey, dressing, cranberries, green beans, mash potatoes...oh my!

 I want to say, in one way this was the best Christmas we've had since we moved to Alabama but to be honest with you, the first Christmas in the TT where we had just gotten electricity three days before Christmas will always be the best.  Then there was the first Christmas we were in the house and it snowed on Christmas Day.  How can you ask for anything better than that!  This year we had Shell here with us and it was like having a " real Christmas" again.  The problem with this year was, I came down sick.  I mean " really, really in bed sick"!! five days before Christmas.  By the time Christmas Day came I was up and about but even the smell of food made me " rethink about eating" again.  So, as Shell and Chuck ate Christmas dinner, I sat in one of the wing chairs in the dining room just to be with them.  Shell and I did our traditional 12 days of Christmas of presents this year.  What fun it is to open a present every day for 12 days, ending with our big present Christmas morning.  They aren't big presents, every day.  Just a little something that we think each other will like.  They could come from the Thrift store or even the $ store.  I wish I had done this for my kids when they were little.  A box came in the mail a few days before Christmas from our Blomberg family.  I had put the presents under the tree instead of opening them right then. It was like sharing Christmas with them on Christmas morning.  They are a huge part of our Christmas.  Just having all of our memories from the Christmas past is a big present to us. To top off our Christmas, we were able to "Face talk" on Shell's phone with Ryan, Nicole and all the girls.  It was almost like being there.  All and all, it was a very nice Christmas when it came to family.  The only thing that was missing was being part of Christmas Eve with the Peterson/Brisard/McLarty family party.  We did get to enjoy seeing all the pictures that were taken and shared with us.  So, Christmas has come and gone for another year where the years fly by way too fast.  The tree is down and all of the decorations are packed away in the basement.  Bring on the "New Year"...I'm ready for 2013!!  

Silly Cats



George, hanging off the porch



Camouflage Annie



Too much cat nip Oscar



Meeeeeeeeooooooooow

I have to say, having five cats here at Brambly Pines, they keep you entertained.  You never know what any of them are going to do next.  George is the one that makes me laugh the most.  Then, there is Oscar.  If he sees a human, he cries as loud and long as he can in one breath.  He can hold his breath longer than any cat I've ever seen.  Good thing the rest of them don't cry much.  Oscar does it enough for all of them.  I bought a new " kitty blanket" for Annabelle on crazy sale just before Christmas.  I was thinking...black, good color.  It won't show all the cat feathers ( that's what Genavive called cat fur, when she was little).  Well, when Annie lays on the blanket in the chair, you can't see her unless a little part of her "white" is showing.  I have looked in the chair, thinking she wasn't there and went looking for her.  It does keep things interesting around here.  

As Old as Santa

Santa's sure have changed over the years.  When we were little, Santa had a fake beard, hair and a pillow for a stomach.  His outfit was cheaply made.  You never questioned if he was real or not.  You just "believed".  These days, the Santa's are "pretty", with real beards and beautiful coats.  I'm not sure how many of them still have to stuff their suits to be jolly and fat. Probably not many of them.  I know when I took Genavive to have her picture taken with Santa every year when she was little, I looked for the prettiest Santa for the picture.  What fun it is to look at all the pictures from over the years of Genavive in her pretty Christmas dresses I made her and all of the pretty Santa's.  What is sad for me is, I realized that most of the Santa's of today, are the same age as me.  How in the heck did I get so old!!!!  I mean " as old as Santa?" I don't even want to think about it....sigh!

Christmas in Courtland



My second carriage ride ever!!!



Lady of Lawrence County



Lord Charles



Harris-Simpson House





Bynum-Simpson House



The largest Magnolia Tree I've ever seen!!!



Historic Down Town Courtland





Women in Period Clothing, walking around town

Every year, Courtland has a Christmas Tour of Homes/ Open House a couple of weeks before Christmas.  I wanted to go last year, but some how we missed it.  I made sure I put it on the calender this year and we went!  It was just Chuck and I because Shell had to go to a meeting in Huntsville that day.  I wish she could have gone with us because she would have really enjoyed it.  Maybe next year.  We went into the Heritage Museum and they gave us a map of the four homes that were open on the tour along with refreshments and drinks.  As we stepped outside, the whole down town was filled with Christmas music.  There is a beautiful park with a big fountain and two gazebos right in the middle of the square.  I came across four pretty ladies, dressed in period clothing.  They were getting ready to walk around the square to talk to people.  As, Chuck and I were walking down the street to the first Open House, a man came in his horse drawn carriage and asked if he could take us to where we were going.  Of course, he could!!!!  Wow! two carriage rides in one year!!  All I had to do is move to Alabama...ha.  It was really fun seeing the inside of the four houses and hearing the stories about them.  I kept trying to imagine what they really looked like back in the 1800's.  Oh how I wish I could have seen them all then.  I think that is my favorite time in history.  It was a really fun afternoon and I think I will put the Tour on my calendar again next year.  The best part of it all, it was all "free"!! 

Elf on a Shelf



getting to know the girls



Just the right size of adirondack chair



Always wanted an elf to help me sew



Hiding behind my Halloween masks



Having tea with the cats



Riding the rooster



I'm sure by now, everyone has heard of the "Elf on the Shelf".  He comes with a book all about his life and how come he moves to a different spot in the house, every night.  You are to give him a name and search for him every morning.  You wouldn't think that three grown adults would have fun with such a thing, but it has been challenging for each of us to come up with a different spot to hide him.  Some times, it takes some doing not only to hide him, but to find him.  ha.  We've had some laughs with what this silly elf has gotten into.  I guess there is still a little kid in all of us. 

A Little More Christmas



Bedroom lavender tree

 

Christmas Dishes



Dinning room cardinals



Fire Pit Adirondack Chair on the tree!



Updated Ceramic Tree with white lights, instead of the different colored ones.(plus the little red cardinal lights)



George even decorated his house!!

As I look around the house, there seems to be some kind of Christmas every where.  More so since Shell was here to decorate.  It is pretty and I do enjoy it but by the time Christmas comes, I'm ready for it all to come down.  I'm not really " Bah! Humbug!" but I let thinking about having to take it all down and put it away, spoil it for me.  As everyone knows, it's bad luck to have it all up for New Years.  I don't want to take any chances, so the day after Christmas, it all comes down.  I thought my "personal decorator" would be taking it all down this year, but since she has a temp. job in Nashville for a month, she won't be here for the fun job.  I'm going to play Pollyanna and think about all the exercise I'm going to get, going up and down the stairs to the basement and you know what that means!  I can eat Christmas cookies and German goodies as I'm doing it all.  (smiling)
   I think my favorite of all the decorations is the pretty lavender tree in my bedroom.  I think I could leave that up all year ( if it wasn't bad luck).  It's so nice to have it lit as I sit at my "writing table" and my pretty wing back chair, having tea as I write letters.  The radio is playing all Christmas music and it's so relaxing.  Speaking of the radio playing Christmas music 24/7.   I have a favorite radio station that I listen to all the time ...BUT when it starts playing Christmas music non stop the week before Thanksgiving, the station gets changed for a couple of weeks.  I mean, come on...Christmas music is pretty but after two or three weeks of it, it's just "too much of it"!! I'm just saying.  By the time Christmas comes, you are so sick of it, you are glad Christmas is over.  Oh, there I go, "Bah Humbuging" again.  I guess I need to dig out my Christmas shirt that says " Bah Humbug" on the front of it and put it on.  Just maybe it will snow on Christmas Day and have me loving Christmas.  Then I won't want it to be over with. 

Chalk Holidays

Another Holiday ....another fun chalk board.  Lets see, we have January, February, March and April covered with holidays.  Come May, the chalk board is going to be empty of the pretty writing.  I'm sure between Shell and I, we'll be able to come up with something for the non holiday months.  It sure has been fun having the chalk board in the kitchen.  One of my better ideas when we built the house.  :-)

A Kayaking Sunday



Chuck and Charlie





The three of us, taken by Charlie Seifried

Three years ago, when we first moved up here ( before we had water and electricity) we had gone to a book signing of the author and photographer of our beautiful Alabama Canyons book.  We ended up staying and talking to Charlie and Jim for over two hours that day.  We became fast friends with Charlie.  We have been to Charlie and Brenda's house for dinner and we are always running into Charlie about town.  A couple of weeks ago, we ran into him at Publix and he invited Chuck to go hiking with him and some of his friends.  Then, he invited us to go kayaking with him the next day.  We jumped at the chance since he knows the area really well and we're always trying to find new places to go.  This adventure was to track down a bunch of white pelicans.  I know...you would never think there would be pelicans in Alabama.  Well, there are and Charlie has wonderful pictures of them....hundreds of pelicans on the water and in the air.  As we came to Lake Wheeler there in Decatur, there they were!  Must of been over a hundred of them, floating on the water.  Then, there was a huge flock of them in the air too.  It was amazing.  I was so excited!  ...but by the time we got the kayaks in the water and got to where they were, they were gone.  (sigh)  We continued to paddle down the bayous of the lake and saw tons of cranes and other water birds.  We had to make ourselves turn back because it was going to be dark before we returned to the trucks if we hadn't.  It was a really fun day on the water with Charlie and his stories and camera. 

The Best Store Ever!

Hunting for treasures!



Shell's Christmas outfit she put together



Look what I found!!!! A Hollywood sweater!! ha.

About two years ago, they opened the best Thrift store ever!!!!!  It's not like your usual, stinky, junkie thrift store.  This one is huge!  It used to be a big department store.  The prices are crazy cheap and most of the time you find big brand name clothes that still have the tags on them. It's like looking for treasures.  When I say "cheap", I'm talking $2.48 for a sweater or shoes/boots, or a dress, or a skirt or pants.  Then, when you get up to the cash register, certain colored tags are even on sale.  Maybe 30%, 50% or 70% off!  Sometimes you are only paying pennies.  It just makes you smile.  It's just too darn fun!  You never know what you are going to find in there.  Remember the antique map that I wrote about.  We paid $12.95 for it and found out it's worth $150!!  One of my recent finds was a $650 Wilson black leather coat.  I paid $29 for it.  I have never dressed so well in my life.  Yes, my closet is busting at the seams...but how can you not have so much fun and it not cost you an arm and a leg. 

Beginning to Look A lot like Christmas!



This is the one!



Tie it down good!



My Personal Decorator



Ta-Da!! Our Alabama Christmas Tree!



Annabelle and her stocking



I can't believe how fast Christmas came again.  Where did the year go?  Looking back over the year a lot of things happened.  We had a lot of fun company come to Brambly Pines.  Chuck and I both went down to Florida, twice each. Chuck for his Dad's 90th birthday and then to move Shell.  Me, I surprised both the kids for their birthdays.  Shell packed up everything she owns, quit her job and Chuck helped her move to Brambly Pines as a stop over until she gets settled in Nashville.  I had surgery on my eyes ( which didn't do any good).  Ryan got laid off from his job because of them moving the plant to Ohio, but was lucky to find another great job just as he would be out of work.  Chuck and I had many fun adventures through out the year.  All in all, it was a great year!! 

 It's been nice having Shell here with us.  She has become my personal decorator. You know that personal decorators help take it all down too. (smiling)  We've already had some fun times with Shell being here.  I'm finally over the feeling that she is here for a week and has to go home soon.  With her only being two hours from us, when she moves up to Nashville, there will be a lot to look forward too.  Now, if Ryan and his family just wasn't so darn far away from us!!