Happy Thanksgiving 2012 and Decorated Mantel

Wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving this year!  I want to share with you my favorite place in our home, the fireplace in the kitchen.

This is truly my happy place.  DH keeps the fire going and the kitchen is always warm and toasty.

These are my only Thanksgiving decorations this year.  I retired and donated ALL my decorations to the school library where I worked.  I was a little sad this year without decorations in my home, so when I told DH about a really neat ceramic turkey at KMart, he immediately took me shopping and bought it for me!  It made me feel better instantly! (I don't know why I didn't do that for myself.)

Next to the turkey is a pot made by John Meaders, a famous folk potter in Georgia that we had the honor of meeting while he was still alive.  The burgundy basket I have had forever and fill with cinnamon scented pine cones.  I know these are simple decorations, but they make me happy.  More would be too much.

I called this my happy place.  The day we bought this clock at Walmart about fifteen years ago was a happy day.  Nothing special happened that day.  DH and I were shopping for other items on our list when we walked by this clock and we both thought it would look nice until we could afford something better.  We were happy bringing it home and putting it on the wall.  It was like a gift of happiness we gave to each other.

You can almost see the other pot on the left side of the picture.  DH made that one.  (He is the famous folk potter I know in SC.)

This is the warmest wood stove!  We have had it over thirty-four years, in two houses.  It was fashionable in 1978 to use wood stoves to heat homes.  We have a gas heat pump for when we don't use wood, but DH is stubborn about saving money and using wood.  This is a CRAFT stove.  We researched what kind of stove we wanted back in 1978 and decided on CRAFT.  The factory where these stoves were being made was in Gastonia, NC.  You could order one from the factory and save a little money, especially if you picked it up yourself.  We were newlyweds back in 1978, but we saved and saved and put together the $500 it took to buy the stove.  Then the day we were supposed to pick it up, DH had to work. That meant I had to drive his truck by myself 150 miles with $500 in my pocketbook to a machine shop and pick up the stove.  I was young and I was afraid, but I did it!  I didn't know then that this stove would warm our family for the next thirty-four years.

One more story.  I love my sons who love the outdoors and have hiked the US and Spain.  Sixteen years ago my son hung his lantern by the stove and said it looked good there. I can't bring myself to move it. I guess I have enough decorations for Thanksgiving.  Thank you for visiting.  Hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,
Lottie