Christmas Lessons: Do's and Don'ts

I like to reflect back on holidays and think about what I have
learned that will make the next year even better!  So every
year I come up with a list of  Do's and Don'ts for our holiday.
I want to post them here today and maybe my friends in
blogland will post theirs and we can all learn together!  This
year we didn't travel to stay with family and no one traveled
to visit us.  I know many of you have house guests and would
welcome comments about that, too!  First, .....

The Do's.....
1.  Do buy yourself something very nice that you really need!
DH and I gave each other a new mattress!
2.  Do super clean the house before putting out the Christmas
decorations.
3.  Do plan some FUN during the holidays.  We planned to
go to two movies at the theater and really enjoyed ourselves.
Make of list of FUN things to do and do them!
4.  Keep your routines.  Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner as
much as you can at the same times.  Keep laundry done.
5.  Do eat lots of protein.
6.  Do make time to be alone.  Too much together time can
leave one frazzled.
7.  Do indulge in a few holiday favorites, such as a couple
of Christmas cookies and eggnog.
8.  Do attend and enjoy your local church services.
9.  Do listen to Christmas music all month long.
10.  Do watch Christmas movies on TV and DVD.
11.  Do PLAY.  We had the best basketball games in the
snow this year!
12.  Do visit your beauty shop for a new cut and color!
13.  Do send out Christmas cards!
14.  Do be generous in your giving!
15.  Do give MONEY to young people.  They need it!
16.  Do give MONEY to old people.  They need it!

17.  Do give MONEY.  Everyone needs it!
17.  Do buy fresh baked bread for the neighbors.

18.  Do make a plan to rest and enjoy the holidays!

You may have some other Do's that you would like to share!

The Don'ts....
1.  Don't remodel the house while the Christmas decorations
are up!
2.  Don't redecorate while the Christmas decorations are up!
3.  Don't do major cleaning when you should be enjoying the
holidays!
4.  Don't stay up all night cooking!
5.  Don't go to the grocery store EVERY day!
6.  Don't eat desserts ALL day! (Do eat protein)
7.  Don't buy too much at the after Christmas sale! ( I still
am trying to use up 75% off Christmas wrap from three
years ago)
8.  Don't eat at the office party.  I realized this year that half
the people didn't even come....it was the skinny half!
9.  Don't drive in snow storms to visit relatives.  Call them
     on the phone!
10.  And the biggest lesson I learned this year..........
[[[DON'T REMODEL THE HOUSE AT CHRISTMAS!]]]

Well, every year is different.  What did you learn this 
year?  What did you put on your Do's and Don'ts list?

Love,

Lottie

Day after Christmas snow!

What beauty God has given us today!

Do you have snow today?  We have squirrels and birds
and all kinds of critters running around in the snow.
Quite a show to watch.  Hope you are having a good day!
Love,
Lottie

Merry Christmas to all!

 

  Can you believe these two have

been stored in a box all year waiting for this week?  Can't see why

they can't spend some time out in January, too! \

Merry Christmas to all!

Update on Christmas Cards!

If I had doubts before, I have none now!  We
have received some of the most warm and
wonderful Christmas cards ever!  Thank you,
Elaine, for reminding me that it is the thought
that counts and we send out Christmas cards
to let people know we are thinking of them! 

And people have sent cards with wonderful
messages that let us know they were thinking
of us!  What a wonderful time of year!

Some cards are from old friends we have not
seen all year.  We meet in the grocery store
from time to time (maybe July) and we thank
each other for our card.  It is a way to stay
connected....a way to pick up where we left
off last time.

A way to remember we were great friends
one time and maybe again some day.

Some cards only say "Merry Christmas"
and contain the senders signature.  Others
have a long message about all that is going
on at their home.

When 88 year old Auntie writes, "I'm doing
fine!", it means she is using her walker and
getting around and eating good meals.... it
means something.  What a great card!

There are cards that have
come a long way across the
continent from a niece who
is in the Army.  Good to
read her long letter to keep
in touch.  Glad she is also
"Doin' Fine!"

DH sent lots of cards this year to friends
and family that I didn't even know. Oh,
wonderful cards we received!


So, next year, we will start our cards earlier
and write longer messages.

Now look what our neighbor did!!!!!!!!!

What a beautiful mailbox!  I'm plan to copy hers next year and
the poor mailman will have have to hunt for where to put the 

Christmas cards next year!

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Lottie

Christmas Library

DH and I love to travel and a few years ago we visited Old
Winston-Salem in North Carolina.  What a great trip!  It was
Christmas and on the way up, we stayed at this beautiful B&B
in Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC.  It was called, The
Manor House.  Inside is a small library full of red.  How warm!

 

This is where I would like to stop and listen to Christmas
music and enjoy a cup of "hot" chocolate!  Join me!

Hope you are having a great day!  Enjoy your chocolate!
Love,
Lottie

Christmas Cards

It's December 10th and I've only received two Christmas cards.
One card is from my boss and the other from a distant relative
of my husband whom I've never met.  They always send a nice
picture of their children so I'm glad we are on their card list.

 

I wasn't sure what to do about sending Christmas cards this year.

Some complain that cards are too expensive or time consuming.

Some of our very close relatives don't send us a card in return. 

With email and text messages, it seems the Christmas card as

a tradition is disappearing.  But what better way to send the

message, "Wishing You a Merry Christmas!"  I looked back at

all the precious and beautiful cards I had saved over the years.

 

 I still want to wish loved ones a Merry Christmas, so I found

a box of simple and sweet cards at 20 for $2. 

 

The stamps cost $8.80 so with the cards it only cost around $11.

I spent Sunday afternoon writing out cards to all my family that
lived out-of-state.  It made me feel good to connect that way.  I
hope family is glad to receive their cards.

My dad is 86 and loves machines.  He doesn't like Christmas
decorations or cards.  All my life my mom called him
Mr. Scrooge in December.  So I try to find him a funny card.
He doesn't like my pets either, so I sent him one similar to this.

 

When it is cold outside, and you have to put on your coat

to go down to that cold mailbox and open it up.....it would

be nice to get Christmas cards instead of medical bills!

So, get out your address book and address a few cards to 

family and friends.  Maybe they will send you a card, too,

and you can put up a string in your hall to hang your cards

on.  Well, I mailed my cards five days ago and still only 

have two cards on my string so far. But I'm sure more 

will come in soon!  

What do you do about Christmas cards at your home?

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas!

Love,

Lottie

Christmas Tour of Homes

Anderson, SC is a pretty neat place!  Every year DH and I go
on the Anderson Heritage Tour of Homes walking tour before
we decorate our own blue cottage.  We love talking with the
owners of the homes about what they did with their gutters, or
how they chose the colors for the bedrooms.  Here are some
of the homes on the tour.  Hope you enjoy them, too!

I was so excited that 106 Webb St. was on the tour.  It was

built in 1897 and the owner is restoring it.  It is already a very livable home.

View from across the street.

 

This home at 707 West Market had incredible sunlight streaming 

in the windows!

 

There I am holding a guide book to the homes.  This home at 902 West Market

 was once in disrepair but has been renovated.  It is beautiful inside.  

 Across the street, 809 West Market, is the Marshall Orr House.

It is now the home of the Anderson County Woman's Club.

A bake sale was going on inside.  Here are a few pictures.

Then back to 104 Webb Street, where old and new exist together.

Sometimes you meet people who are so warm and inviting that it
makes your whole day!  We met a neighbor at the first house on
the tour that set that tone.  His home was not on the tour.  He is
an elderly gentlemen who had taken great care of his home and
had lived in the neighborhood for many years.

      His home is my favorite!  (....a blueish-gray cottage?....)

Thank you for coming along on the tour with us!  We enjoyed
your company!

Love,
Lottie

 

Let's Look at Leaves!

I love this time of year when Thanksgiving is over and we still
have beautiful colors of fall.  Many houses in my neighborhood
have already put up their Christmas decorations and lights with
leaves still falling.  Take a walk with me.  Let's look at leaves...

There are leaves everywhere today.  It rained last night and
no one is out making noise with a leaf blower or raking.
And it is just like magic outside with leaves everywhere!

Leaves everywhere.  How wonderful to just enjoy them for one
day out of the year instead of trying to rake them up.

Leaves everywhere outside my front door!

Leaves everywhere around the woodpile in the back yard.

Leaves all over the deck and chairs......they seem to belong.

We'll rake tomorrow.  Today we will just enjoy the leaves.

Thank you for walking with me to look at leaves.

Love,
Lottie

PS, if  you're over my way tomorrow, I have an extra rake
and leaf blower.  We can look at the leaves again! :-D

Happy Thanksgiving!

Usually at this point in the Thanksgiving holiday, I am so frantic
from planning, cooking, and cleaning that it is crying time.  Not
so this year.  I am calm and feeling pretty good.

This year, because of medical issues, I can't cook the big
traditional dinner so my DH is doing it.  But my DSs asked
for a different menu.  They asked for broccoli and spinach
salad!  What sweethearts! 

Since May 8th, I've lost 37 pounds.  That is seven months
of healthy eating.  I never wrote down a single food, calorie
or carb.  I feel so much better!  I still have 40 pounds to
go so I'm half way there!  I still have diabetes but things
are better.  Here is what I did.

1.  Eat three vegetables every day. (Most important!)

2.  Eat three fruits every day. (Raw and colorful!)
3.  Drink 2 glasses of skim milk. ( I chose organic milk.)
4.  Eat a serving of lean protein every meal.
5.  In my mind, I counted 2 or 3 carb servings each meal.
Such as blueberries, a roll, broccoli, tomatoes and chicken is
2 carbs.
6.  Walk around the block 2 or 3 times each day you can.

No stress.  That was the important thing.  And eating for
vitamins and the nutrients was the goal.  So, because of
Thanksgiving dinner, we don't want to change our focus.
Oh, and DH is cooking the turkey this year!  What a
sweetheart!

Everyone enjoy time with your families!
(It is really not about the food.)

Love,
Lottie

Look for Beauty, and You Will Find It!

When I was young, I read a poem by Sara Teasdale about looking
 for beauty in life.  I've lost the poem but I think about the
sentiment often.  If you don't actually look for what is beautiful in
life, sometimes you will miss it. That is what I thought about today
when I glanced beside my front door and saw a lone rose.

I gasped it was so beautiful!  Then I think I heard a
whisper, "Look for beauty, and you will find it ...!"

Love,

Lottie

Beautiful Fall Day! Hey, why not paint the house?

The weather has been gorgeous this week!  We still have
temperatures in the 80's and no rain in sight.  Everything
is still green in South Carolina and the only hint of fall is
the beautiful Goldenrod along the roads!  DH decided to
paint the north side of the house to take advantage of this
beautiful weather.

I just love a retired man with time on his hands and an
itch to get his scaffolding out! Ha! :-)

Hope you are having a great day, too!

Hugs,

Lottie

Travel Gatlinburg, Tenn. - Romantic Gazebo

When we went to the mountains in Gatlinburg, Tenn., we stayed
at Oakmont timeshare. It was really more like apartments but it
had some beautful landscaping.  One night, on our walk, we
came across this beautiful gazebo! Notice the lights on
each post.  They were dim at night and gave the gazebo a
romantic look. But it was the aroma of the purple butterfly
bushes planted around it that made the gazebo like heaven!

Then we followed a path to a rose arbor.  Again, the scent was
like heaven. (DH is standing under the arbor.)

It was hot so we made use of the pool, both indoor and outdoor.

 

There were large pots of heat loving plants everywhere.  Yes, it
was hot!

The people who worked at Oakmont were the nicest ever. And

some of the other guests became very good friends that week.
But I have to be honest....the mattress was the worst I had ever
slept on.  I thought that was why I had such back pain and just
went on with the vacation with the worse pain in my life. I
should have gone to a doctor.   Thank you for coming along
today with us.  I'll post pictures of the actual mountains soon.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Hugs,
Lottie

Good Health and Good Sense

Hi,
    It's been over two months that I have been down and out
with some medical issues.  But things are better and I'm able
to sit in a chair and type tonight.  It was all my fault.  I've not
put my health first, like we all should do.  


Publilius Syrus, a Roman author, wrote in 1st century B.C. that

"Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings."

  
I've been working on my health and have lost 18 pounds.  REAL
food has made a positive difference.  There is still pain and difficulties,
but I'm exercising (walking) through it.  Things are slowly getting
better.  I hope to start blogging again.

My message tonight to you is to take very good care of your health!


Love,
Lottie