According to Plan

Thank you everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes, I had a great day!  It started with lovely cards from my family and a special gift from Mr. Tide.  He bought me a teleconverter for my big lens.  It is a special piece of equipment that can give your lens even more range, so it's great for trying to capture wildlife or things that are far, far away.

I slapped that puppy on just as soon as I could unwrap it and get it out of the box.  But there was a slight problem, it wouldn't work unless you were using manual focus.  This particular teleconverter overrides the auto focus feature on my camera.  Now that wouldn't be a problem except that the whole point of extending my telephoto lens was so that I could capture better shots of wildlife, like eagles, swans, herons, etc. 

All of those feathered friends I just mentioned aren't too keen on just sitting still and posing for portraits.  They are constantly moving, even if it's just a tiny head movement, so trying to use manual focus on something that is forever in motion just doesn't work.  And on today's digital cameras there isn't even a really great way to make sure you have sharp focus.  Remember on old film cameras when you could line up the two halves of the circle to make sure you were in focus...well those days are gone!  I would like to say that I can see as well as I did 20 years ago, especially for distance stuff, but the truth is I can't, so even on things that were sitting stock still I couldn't get a nice sharp photo. 

That meant that the only present Mr. Tide had gotten me for my birthday was heading back from whence it came.  I was fine with it, but he was really bummed.  It all worked out in the end though, and I ended up getting a few other lovelies to make up for it which I will show you soon.  In the meantime, I am back to long distance shots of eagles...these two were in my neighbor's tree today and I'm pretty sure I overheard them snickering about my eyesight and the fact that my teleconverter didn't work according to plan.

And another little hiccup of late, the winners of my last giveaway, I know you think I have forgotten you and left you in the lurch.  While I was sitting here thinking your photos were winging their way to your respective homes I got a little shock on Saturday when the mail was delivered.  I had carefully entered your addresses into the website of the place where I get prints made, only to have forgotten to click the "drop ship" button on each one.  So that means that it defers to my address as the default address...huge sigh!  So, your photos are all at my house and not with you...another huge sigh!  I braved Walmart (have I mentioned how much I hate Walmart?!) and bought some photo mailers so that I can get them in the mail by early this week.

Sometimes life just doesn't go according to plan I tell ya!  But hey, no one died, so it's all good in the end!

Shells for Christmas

No words today...well these are words, but you know what I mean.  It's my birthday, I'm 29...again!!!...and my dear husband bought me a new toy to use on my camera, so I'm off to try it out!  I hope you enjoy these shots of my Hepplewhite chest all decked out for Christmas!

 

Oh, a few more words...thank you for all of your wonderful comments about my kitchen windowsill, and my other coastal themed decor from my last few posts!  Have a wonderful day!

Coastal Christmas in the Kitchen

First of all, I want to take a moment to remember those who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor on this day 70 years ago.  May we hold them in our hearts forever. 

I finally have something I can share for a few link parties, which I haven't done in a REALLY long time. 

I gave you a sneak peek of my kitchen windowsill a few days ago, but I finally finished it up by adding some greens and a few other things here and there, so I thought I would share the whole thing with you today.  I know it's not the 9th yet, but I'm not good at being patient, so here goes!

Plus, I still have a few more things to put out in here, so I will share more once I have the whole room finished, but I didn't want to miss out on the party.  I love a good party after all, and I've loved seeing the wonderful  posts others have shared over the past few weeks.  There is so much talent in blogland, it boggles my mind sometimes!

Ok, enough chit chat, on to the decorating!  The inspiration for this year's windowsill was mother nature, burlap, and turquoise/aqua.

I started with my blue ball jars, knowing that I wanted them to be a focal point and provide some color.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to put lights in them like I had done in years past, but finally settled on a more simple approach and added little baby cedar trees to them instead.

I lived with those on the windowsill for a few days before deciding which direction to head in.  Then I remembered that I had some burlap ribbon, so I strung that all along the windowsill which gave it some nice texture.

I tend to let my decorating evolve over time, but I usually have some sort of vision of how I want it to end up, or at least which elements I want to use.  I loved the blue of the mason jars, but I felt like something was missing until it dawned on me that I could use my turquoise/aqua insulators as votive holders.  They add just the sparkle I was looking for, and they look so pretty when I light the little tea lights each evening.   And I also love that they are chipped, don't all match, and are well worn, all part of the rustic charm I was hoping to achieve this Christmas.

As I wandered around my house gathering things to add, my collection of seashells seemed like a logical choice to incorporate into my coastal themed vision.  I have all sorts of shells, so I just grabbed a few and spaced them out over the sill.

I debated on putting 3 blue ball jars, one in front of each window, but I felt like it needed a little height in the center, so I grabbed these wooden shore birds which normally sit on top of the TV armoire in the living room during the warmer months.  And I fashioned a wreath out of cypress to hang on the biggest birdie.

Just below the windowsill, next to the sink, I added some vintage ornaments that had belonged to my parents and grandparents and a few other ornaments I have collected over the years.  I purchased the peppermints on copper wire a few years ago, and since I didn't have anything yummy to fill my candy jar with, they did the trick!  A pretty white Cyclamen I picked up the other day when I bought my wreaths is nestled into a big red bowl.  I love to have flowers around all throughout the year, but especially when everything outside is on its way out.

Santa seems to be eyeing something to his right...not sure what, let's hope he's not trying to make a break for it!

And because it's Christmastime, it never hurts to remind ourselves to believe, in whatever makes your heart sing.

Candy canes fill a pudding basin and get weighed in along with some fresh greens on top of my vintage scale.  My little sea urchin votive holder adds a little more sparkle to the kitchen.

So there it is, my coastal cottage inspired Christmas kitchen.  I think baking will be a lot more fun in here this year!  I can't wait to see what the rest of you did in your kitchens!

Click HERE to see more Christmas in the Kitchen inspiration!  And to visit some of the other Christmas link parties you can check out the list below.

 AND

Click HERE to visit the Christmas Home Tours at The Inspired Room!

AND

I am also linking up to the 24 Days of Coastal Christmas at Sally Lee by the Sea!  Click HERE to see more Coastal Christmas decorating ideas!

Simply Put

In keeping with my Coastal Cottage Christmas theme, I decided to decorate my living room sparingly and mostly with natural elements.  On top of the TV armoire, I added numbered mixing bowls (which were a birthday gift from my daughter last year), and filled them with fresh cedar.  Starfish resting between each bowl adds a touch of beachy'ness and conveys the coastal feel that I wanted to have all throughout the house this year.  The two musical Santas on the far left are from the 1960s and bring back memories of my childhood as my mom put them out every year.   I also love that their bright red outfits add a pop of Christmas color to the room.

I filled my glass wall vase with sprigs of cypress and tucked a single white poinsettia blossom in it to continue the green and white theme.  The white chenille throw belonged to my grandmother, and most likely dates from the 50s.  The nautical themed pillow was a steal that I got from Williams-Sonoma Home last year, I think I paid $19 for it and it included the down insert and free shipping...woohoo!


 

Simply put, I didn't spend a dime on this decor, and you have to love that this time of year when spending can get out of hand.  

I hope you are all off to a great week, and that you've found your groove this holiday season!

The Manger Down the Road

This time of year, as I drive past the sheep farm down the road, I can't help but hum a few Christmas tunes to myself...especially this one!

A Coastal Cottage Christmas Sneak Peek

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments, not just on my last post, but on every post!  You are my inspiration!  When I visit your blogs, stop by your Pinterest sites, or get your emails I find myself striving to try new things, expand my horizons, and just be a better person...so thank you!

And speaking of getting emails, the email gremlins struck again this week.  I know I sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but it's gone from just being annoying to really affecting my work and lifestyle!  Apparently a friend sent us an email inviting us to a Christmas party this evening, and if they hadn't texted me last night asking if we would be coming, we would have missed it completely...ugh!  So dear email, you can mess with a lot of things but I'm putting you on notice that you better not mess with my social life by losing party invites!!!

So, on to a sneak peek of my kitchen Christmas decor.  Like I said, this year will be simple, and I've coined the term Coastal Cottage Christmas for the look.  Oh heck, I'm sure someone else coined that phrase, but I'm going with it.  Mr. Tide and I stopped by a friend's house last night, and as we chatted about how as you get older you sometimes lose your gumption to put stuff out, we all decided that less truly is more for us these days.  I noticed that she too had embraced a simpler style of decor and her house was warm, cozy and beautiful!

As you can tell by the photos of my kitchen windowsill, this year will be a little less dazzling, not like in years past, which you can see by clicking HERE and HERE.  Still, I'm loving the natural elements, the pops of turquoise, which will be a theme found throughout my holiday decor this year.  And I'm not completely done with the windowsill yet, I will be adding a few votives so that I have a bit of dancing light up there in the evenings, just not the twinkle of Christmas lights like in years past.


 

I also managed to get a few greens and two big beautiful wreaths from a local Mennonite family yesterday.  I love, love, love the smell of fresh greens and can't wait to incorporate even more around the house over the next few days.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more pictures of my house during this year's holiday season, so stay tuned.

Looks like I'm on track, on budget, and still completely out of my mind...which is as it should be! ;-)

I hope you each have a wonderful week, and keep those inspirational posts coming!

In Shreds

I'm making progress on my Christmas decorating for this year.  As you may remember, I was torn between using all of my traditional decor, or going with a more simplistic and natural approach.  I finally decided to go with a more restrained look this year, and I'm embracing a coastal cottage look that I'm liking a lot.  I've also decided that I will try and only use what I have on hand or what I can find in nature.  My goal is to spend little or no money aside from buying some fresh greens that I can't find on my own.

There are still many more things to do...weird since simple should mean I'm done already right?!  What I have found is that simple isn't always easy.  I find it takes a lot more thought to use less and edit out the unnecessary yet still have it convey a festive look.  And I've always thought that I was a less is more sort of person, turns out I'm a more is more kind of person, but I'm liking moving over to the "light" side!

As much as I'm loving my pared down look for the holidays, I'm not loving some other things going on around here these days!  Like my email which is still giving me fits!  The fact that our son's tire blew out while he was driving home...thankfully he was fine!  The money I set aside to finish our backsplash is now going to 4 shiny new tires, which aren't cheap.  I dearly want my backsplash done, but I want our son to be safe WAY more!

And speaking of shredding, Misty Belle, yes that cute little pup, who is over a year old now, has taken to chewing on things!  The other evening while watching Glee in our living room I caught her nibbling on the skirt of the couch.  What the heck?!  She has never done that before! 

I guess sometimes, even when you are finding your groove in one part of your life, another part can be completely in shreds.  Let's hope she gets through this wacky phase quickly.  I know I've said I want a new sofa for my living room, but she didn't have to take it so literally, unless of course she has a puppy bank account with a furniture fund in it that I'm unaware of!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

My Dream House

I have this recurring dream, well it's a nightmare really.  It starts out innocently enough with Mr. Tide and I shopping for a big new house.

The house has plenty of rooms with high ceilings, a large well appointed kitchen, and lots and lots of storage.  The high ceilings and storage are both things we desperately lack in our current house, so my "dream" house seems like the perfect place to move.

Sometimes my dream house is also located on the water, just like this house, and sometimes it's even better waterfront, with a big huge pier and a luxurious boat at the end of it.

But each and every time in my dream when we have bought the other house, and we're moving out of this one, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness...shear despair actually!  I break down in tears at the thought of leaving this little house behind.  The dream always ends the same way, with me crying and regretting our decision to move.

So I guess with all of its quirkiness, lack of storage, 8 foot ceilings, and other shortcomings, I really, truly do love this place.  And when we have a sunset like the one pictured above (these photos are all straight out of the camera), well I think it's easy to see why leaving this place would break my heart!

In other news...I am WAY far behind on returning emails, or replying to comments, but I will get there...maybe, hopefully!

And the song below, which was written in 1943 during WWII, is probably not unlike my dream, only much, much worse.  Not knowing if you would ever come home and be with your family again at Christmas must have been a nightmare I can't even begin to imagine!  I hope that during the hustle and bustle of this crazy season, you will slow down and really enjoy those around you, and not focus on the things you and everyone else wants, but be thankful for everything you have!